Secret Goals

Athletes are funny creatures. Most of us have very high expectations of ourselves but how and who we express our goals and expectations seems to vary based on natural ability and strengths. I read a Taylor Phinney interview where he said he wants to win a World Championship in the next 4 years and the Pursuit at the 2012 Olympics, and I didn't bat an eye when I read that. The kid is 18 and finished 7th in the Pursuit at the Olympics, his goals seem wholly realistic. A lot of elite sprinters seem to have a sort of brash confidence, but it seems like a necessary part of sprinting. They just come out and say they think they can win a stage or a race, but what about the rest of us?
When I was at the OTC we had nightly meetings and in our first meeting the athletes were asked what out goals were. Most of the goals were within reason, a bunch of people expressed a desire to qualify for Paracycling Worlds. The people that rode regular bicycles generally wanted to have some success in local and regional USAC races. Some people expressed a desire to ride faster time trials, and a few people talked about going to the London Paralympics in 2012. Overall every one's goals seemed reasonable, and I think that a lot of people were holding back, being cautious about what we said to not sound presumptuous or cocky. A lot of us were holding back.
The discussion of goals is funny, you have the reasonable ones. I want to win a road race, I want to upgrade to Cat3 this season. I want to be a 2 in the next few years, I want to go to Para Worlds this year, and I want to go to London in 2012. That's reasonable stuff. Then there are big goals, the kind that take years to achieve and are only mentioned to select people on rare occasion. In general they are extensions of reasonable goals. Then, you have the mack-daddy goals. These goals exist on the edge of the realm of possibility. They are never spoken about except in passing and usually as a joke, and I'm not sure that these goals exist in the mind of every athlete.
The athlete that does carry these goals views them as no joke (but would not let on about this), but as something that takes them away from the everyday grind of intervals and local group rides. It is something to think about as a you drift off to sleep, knowing that enough dedication might just get you there but it might not. It hangs in the balance of fantasy and reality making that time before sleep the perfect time to contemplate this goal/dream.
Maybe you are wondering if I am one of those people that has a goal hanging between fantasy and reality. Yes, I will admit to having about 2 of those at this point in time. You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to share what they are, though.