Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

the sky is the limit

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For the first time ever, I’ve been riding my bike in the winter. For those of you who don’t live in California, I suspect you’re wondering “what’s the big deal?” With running always in my #1 activity spot, no sport has ever been considered in the winter time. But our winter thus far has been dry and relatively mild. A few added layers and the sky is the limit (so long as you have the endurance to get you there).

Speaking of endurance, while mine is not what it was this time last year, my experience in pacing myself to push for longer distances than I am trained up for has come in handy — that is as long as my ego doesn’t get in the way. You see, when my ego starts comparing my speed or hill climbing abilities against other younger or more experienced cyclists, I wear down more quickly and feel unfit for any sport. You and I know that this is a total lie.

My goals right now, be it cycling, running, or yoga, are centered on fun, recreation, and building a solid base for a time when more aggressive goals are sought. I don’t want to suffer from pushing myself harder than I am physically capable and miss the beauty all around me. Similarly, I want to enjoy the community of athletes (runners, cyclists, and yogis) rather than be at odds (in competition) with them.

Although I do lose sight of these goals, from time to time, I am lucky to have a couple of great friends who will hear me out but then pull me from the wreckage of juls-self-bashing. It’s because of these wonderful friends, that I continue to get back out there and go for more and more. After all, the sky is the limit. It is beautiful and warm…and in time I will build the endurance to get me closer and closer to it.

More on Foxy’s

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Doing an organized ride is vastly different from running a race. There are no spectators out cheering you on. There are, however, plenty of cars who will be pissed at you if you block the road. Oh, yeah, the roads aren’t closed. Water and nutrition are available, but don’t expect anyone to stand by the side of the road handing it out. Finishes are not anything “official” meaning, if you don’t report that you’re off the course, nobody will be out looking for you. If you do come in to say you’ve finished, they might smile and say congratulations. They may simply direct you to the food.

They are alike in that the fun-factor and/or challenge level is up to you and how you approach the event. Think it’s going to be impossibly hard, and it will be. Go into it with the mindset that you’re in for a beautiful day, you’ll have a better chance of seeing the beauty all around you.

And when your back is hurting with 40-50 miles of steep climbs ahead, a few works of encouragement, and a laugh when you admit that you’re thinking of going “metric” is all it takes to keep your chin up. This is especially true when the turn off for the metric century is 20+ miles behind you.

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100 miles of ups and downs

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I’ve been at a loss for writing up my century ride. I figure I’ll spare you the mile-by-mile report and just focus on a the ups and downs. In 100 mikes, one experiences A LOT of them: mentally, physically, and topographically. I’ll just hit the main ones here and, in all likelihood, sprinkle a bit more about the ride throughout the week.

Downs

  • I was plagued early on with the return of back pain
  • As the ride continued, other parts of my body cried out in the choir of pain, pain, pain
  • We rode past the vineyards of Napa but I did not taste a single drop of wine
  • There were hills: VERY BIG, LONG HILLS

Ups

  • I got to experience riding in a real pace line
  • I tackled those BIG hills with only a little whining
  • I stayed relaxed and even enjoyed the descents
  • I was not alone
  • I FINISHED

Lessons Learned — the hard way

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Similar to a guy finding out, the hard way, that a moist shirt rubbing up and down on his nipples will bloody his marathon finish picture, I learned a few lessons a little too late. For example, did you know that many cyclists actually remove their sunglasses while tackling a steep ascent so that they can wipe the sweat from their eyes more easily? Sweat in the eyes, if you didn’t know, BURNS! Furthermore, the burning feeling leads to near-blindness (although temporary). Unfortunately, it wasn’t until hours AFTER my ride that I was given this nugget of golden advice.

Likewise was the bit of information about my saddle. Never in all the years that I had my other bicycles have I needed to check to see if I had a screw loose, although I’m sure many of you have suspected that this may have been the case from time to time. Quite possibly, this is because I never spent as much time on the road as I have in these past 2-3 months.

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