CERV
Posts:151
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| 07/26/2013 11:05 AM |
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Not so many years ago, riding was about seeing what my limits of suffering on the bike were. How fast? how hard could I push myself?
This morning I did something I've never done in a race or a ride before. I was out for our Friday early morning championship of the world ride that a lot of the fast guys in town regularly show up for It's about 50km full gas. About 85% of the way through the ride I was riding on the front, and had just counterattacked a move a couple other guys made when it suddenly occurred to me that I didn't particularly feel like suffering so much this particular morning, so I just sat up and watched the ride disappear into the distance.
IHalf my brain was asking the other half, "what are we doing, why are we stopping?", but the other half didn;t care.
I've never done that before. I've been properly dropped, but today I wasn't in any real difficulty, just didn't feel like hurting so much.
I must be getting old. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/26/2013 11:13 AM |
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HTFU.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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CERV
Posts:151
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| 07/26/2013 11:28 AM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 07/26/2013 11:13 AM
HTFU.
sigh.......while I know you're right. the espresso I went for instead was still really good. |
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 07/26/2013 11:31 AM |
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| The spirit of competition.... |
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Entheo
Posts:317
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| 07/26/2013 12:03 PM |
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whereas in years gone by i would have a tractor beam attached to the rear wheel two inches in front of me for 50-100 miles (as well as my fair share of pulls) i now suffer at my own pace. i am getting old, but still happy to be able to get on a bike and hurt myself. :-)
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 07/26/2013 12:20 PM |
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lol...I reached a point a few years ago where I realized that I was no longer capable of putting myself in the pain cave.
Not saying that I didn't ride hard or couldn't get fit and all, but I just no longer had the ability to ride until I could not turn over the pedals one more time. I knew my body too well and knew what I needed to do. I wasn't trying to cat-up, I wasn't planning on winning...I knew how to ride wheels when I needed to, so I could not work when I didn't want to.
On one hand, I realized that I was never going to be The Man riding like that, on the other it felt nice to be at a point with my riding knowledge and fitness where I didn't HAVE to kill myself to enjoy a nice fast ride or make the front group. |
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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stronz
Posts:447
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| 07/26/2013 12:48 PM |
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| I say congratulations! I loathe everything about the "Friday morning world championships" (beautifully put IMO) faction of cyclists. Waaaay too serious and absolutely not why I ride. Don't get me wrong -- I love pushing it and working hard. Hey you can always join back up next Friday -- but its ok to back out of the pressure cooker that group riding can sometimes be. |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 07/26/2013 01:37 PM |
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| I've been struggling with this for the last few years...if I figure out the answer I'll let you know. |
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steelbikerider
Posts:66
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| 07/26/2013 03:13 PM |
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I'm at that point now. Sometimes, I just don't want to or I don't like the group dynamics so I sit up. A number of times when I wasn't comfortable with the group, an incident or crash happened later so I was happy to miss it. Other times, I think of all the things that I need to do when I get home and realize that I can't dig too deep. I keep thinking that I want to race again but not wanting to train very hard puts a real kink in that plan.
Other days, I really miss the time when the weekend race was the most important item on my to do list but I do enjoy riding now as much or more than I ever have. |
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Pin0Q0
Posts:229
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| 07/26/2013 03:14 PM |
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| I ride fort the love of riding and the challenge that goes along with it. It's a horrible and egotistical statement, but it feels really good when you fly by other riders barely breaking a sweat (reward for your suffering), the only difference is as Entheo pointed out, I choose when to suffer (I just happen to like it). "Choose" is the key word, so as long as you have the desire to choose it's all good. |
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C2K_Rider
Posts:173
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| 07/26/2013 03:41 PM |
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Same here. When I want to ride hard it is for portions of a particular road, not the whole ride. It's my choice. for the rest of the ride I just enjoy it. And take some pics now and then.
Yep, getting old. Let the youngin's do the hard work! i've have nothing to prove to anyone anymore... |
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Cranky Tom
Posts:58
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| 07/26/2013 03:51 PM |
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| I hit that point a few years ago and at first it really freaked me out. I've competed hard my whole life and it just felt weird to see that fire start to burn less hot. Then I took stock and realized that I'm in my mid-40's and I've got a marriage, 4 young kids and a business to manage and that what I really needed was for cycling to be a reliever of the stress from the rest of my life and not something adds more stress. I figure I just got to my limit and my body started telling me that burying myself on the weekly world championship ride and dealing with all of the egos, etc. was taking a lot of the fun out of riding. Now I've got a core group of guys I ride with and I'll occasionally jump into the groups and ramp up for a competitive event now and then but as soon as my level of enjoyment drops off I dial it down. I don't know, sometimes I feel like that's all a rationalization for me just getting "soft" as I get older but, whatever, at least I'm enjoying cycling more these days than I was when I was trying to force it. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/26/2013 03:58 PM |
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| I can suffer at low speed but much less so at high speed :-) |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 07/26/2013 04:04 PM |
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I'm accepting that this fall when I do Cycle Oregon, I will not be as strong as I would like. My focus is on my house and riding because I love it. I'll be strong enough to enjoy CO, but hanging out with pacelines, etc won't happen, That's OK.
Last year, the final year of my '50s, was my biggie. I was in great form for CO and did the fixie justice for a very hilly week. To get there, I went out every Thursday and rode a 40 mile loop with 2000' of climbing fixed. Those rides were hard, As I got stronger, I moved up the gear. It paid off. I didn't see a climb that was too much. Pacelines weren't fun early, but by the end of the week, I was holding my own and I would have to remember to slow on rises. But I paid. After CO, I was burned out to a deeper level than I ever remember. I used to love fall riding in my racing days, getting to play with that form. Not last year. Riding hard was zero fun. Just maintaining my mileage to set a new yearly record was work.
I don't regret last year at all, but I have no desire to do it again.
Ben |
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vtguy
Posts:298
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| 07/26/2013 04:40 PM |
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| I, too, used to be much more serious about the bike than I am now. I still ride or run every day, but usually alone in the early am. I'm certainly less competitive, but I enjoy my cycling more than ever. I no longer have performance goals -- just want to be fit and healthy. |
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