Riding and Preparation

It is the time of year where a cyclist is devoting a lot time to hard work on the bicycle with the impending goals having fun while racing. I know I often am driven to get on the bike because I know the homework on the bike is the only way to do this. This involves some thought with your training and having some structured training blocks to follow. Blocks start in December/January and are typically 3 weeks long with 1 week of recovery and might look a little something like this: 1) Build 2) Endurance 3) Tempo 4) Short Intervals 5) Long intervals. All of which can be accomplished on different terrain, with different training partners or group rides. 

However, as I have had the opportunity to ride during the middle of the day lately I have put many hours along the white line with only myself as company. During some of the rides lately I have reflected on the fact that regardless of the hard work and the desire to be prepared for race day, I simply love to ride my bike. 

I like the freedom of the open air, the freedom to ride whatever direction or loop I want to ride. The freedom that only human powered propulsion provides, in this case pedal strokes. I enjoy the bike whether I am on the road, the dirt, or the grass. The feeling of speed, the smell of the seasons and the interaction with the environment. It allows you to become one with your machine and temporarily displace the static from the rest of the world that requires your attention and decision making. Yet with all the freedom the bike also requires you to focus in 3-dimensions to keep the dirty side down.

Bike racing is not always easy – life is not always easy - and often it is too easy to find things to complain about. But when I think about all that I am grateful for, I realize how just powerful a tool of tuning out of the world and tuning into the pedal stroke and heart rate really is. It is therapeutic, it allows me to be in the moment when I get back home to the wife, the kids and the stress of 2014. 

Ride On!