In my favorite scene from Lawrence of Arabia, T.E. Lawrence, after lighting a colleague’s cigarette, allows the match to burn down to his fingertips before snuffing it out. Having witnessed the stunt, the dim-witted associate attempts it himself, only to blow out the match before it gets anywhere close to burning down. “That damn well hurts!”, he states, barely concealing his amazement. “Certainly it hurts,” replies Lawrence with the cool calm of a man who is at ease with The V. “Well, what’s the trick then?”
“The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”
The trick to becoming a better Cyclist depends, they say, on one’s capacity to suffer. Riding faster is easy, after all; all you have to do is push harder on those flat things attached to your feet. But that, as many of us have discovered, is the complicated bit.
Our ability to suffer is driven by our willingness to push ourselves, to resist the signals our bodies are sending – whether those signals tell us to stop an effort, to stay inside when the mercury drops, when the rain falls, or dipping into the cellar for a session on the trainer rather than for a bottle of wine. To walk the difficult path of becoming a better cyclist requires, in a word, willpower.
Many of the obstacles along that path require us to eschew the wisdom taught to us by our elders and society. Listen to your body, they tell us, when in fact our bodies are chatty things that have only a few sensible contributions to make. Stay inside when it’s wet, or you’ll catch cold, the folk knowledge claims, while in reality those who stay indoors are more likely to catch cold and if we were to heed that advice, we would rarely throw a leg over a top tube during non-summer months. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger… well, I suppose they had to get one right.
In practice, weakness breeds weakness and strength breeds strength. We may not allow ourselves to take the easy path, for nothing worth travelling to lies at the end of it. If we relent to the pain during an effort, it only makes it easier to do so again next time. Allowing ourselves to stay off the bike for today’s bad weather makes it easier to do so again tomorrow. On the other hand, enduring today’s cold steels us for tomorrow’s chill.
To claim we enjoy suffering, that we enjoy the pain of an effort, or that we enjoy riding in the wet and cold is a bit misleading. While I believe there might be those who possess a perversion that does indeed allow them to enjoy pain, for most of us, we have merely discovered that the burning of our muscles today strengthens them for tomorrow. We have learned that submitting to the deluge or climbing aboard the trainer in winter helps build towards a result that won’t be realized until our planet reaches the next equinox. Rather than enjoying suffering, we enjoy what suffering does for us and have learned through practice to associate current pains with future gains.
Personally, I enjoy riding in the rain more than most, certainly when it comes as a refreshing change from riding on dry roads. I enjoy the rain splashing up from the road, or the cold air in my face. But to say I cherish riding throughout the cold and wet Winter months is certainly an overstatement. During this time of year, I have to push myself to go for a ride every single time. When I am warm inside, there is no part of me that wants to pull on cold-weather gear knowing I will be cold and uncomfortable for the duration of the ride. Instead of thinking about whether I want to ride, I simply do it; focusing on desire or comfort does little to improve the condition. Quite the opposite, in fact – a frozen toe is better left not contemplated when one lacks the means to warm it up.
The trick to becoming a better cyclist doesn’t have so much to do with our capacity to suffer. Certainly we suffer; the trick is not minding that we suffer.
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@Rob
I agree that Julie Christie was a total bomb shell in that movie. But I can't stand that movie overall. It's been getting below freezing down here and commuting to school has become extra fun in the morning.
@xyxax
Hey man, I was just trying to sound tough. I am a scientist, after all. Well a Computer Scientist. But if it helps, I think referring to software development as "Engineering" is ridiculous. It is not Engineering and none of the principles apply. In fact, applying Engineering principles to software is largely responsible for how much software sucks.
I love Science so much, I capitalize it. Take that, @ChrisO.
@minion
I have no clue what you're saying. None whatsoever. Not the words, not the message. Nothing. Sorry. Would love to tell you otherwise. I feel like I'm back in grade school asking the cool kids whats so funny, all the while not realizing that I had toilet paper sticking out of my trousers.
@RedRanger
I'm with you. I love old movies more than is healthy, but Dr. Z is just a deader for me. I would love nothing more that to walk up to someone and say in a sophisticated tone, "You know what's great? Dr. Z. Fucking fantastic movie." But I can't make it through.
Arabia does it for me, though. Fantastic film, front to back. Extended ed, widescreen. Also have the old version where they flipped it and his watch was on the wrong side. The tossers.
@ChrisO
You're right to think that way. I used to be better, but the last few months have been a killer. No excuse. I'll be proof-reading an extra time her on out.
Not my posts, though. Just articles. Because really, I can't be bothered if you lot can't. I'm just one of you when we're posting.
Just found a typo on the VVallpapers. Before long, I'll be the pendant.
@jank
+1. Very nicely put.
@frank @minion
I know exactly what he's talking about having been Head of Drama (ie, as a teacher) at a top Melbourne private school. Getting colours may have been easy if you copied a movie... Not so easy on my watch.
Seriously, it was 3 1/2 hours? Wow. The missus and I didn't stay to watch Kevin Spacey finish his Richard III a few weeks ago because it was going to go 3.20. Life is just too short.
Frank, your article has given me an excuse to post this link to a recent article on consumate hardman Juric Robic which some of you may have seen.
Suffering is all in the mind apparently: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/sports/playmagazine/05robicpm.html?pagewanted=all
As a sidebar Marcus and I had the pleasure of meeting G'rilla in the flesh on his recent visit to Melbourne over the weekend after he joined us on our regular Saturday ride along bayside Melbourne. It was quite a thrill and we look forward to hosting other Velominati should they come through Melbourne with a bike in tow.
Lawrie of Arabia is one of my all time favourite movies. Omar Sharif loping up to the well in the desert - Lawrence yelling 'no prisoners, no prisoners' - pivotal scenes, magnificent cinematography and a must-see for anyone who enjoys epic movies.
Very good article frank. Everyone elses contributions are certainly making this an interesting thread.
Coincidentally, I was looking up some cycling related quotes yesterday (my life is pretty dull) on the interwebs when I came across this one from one Scott Martin, which I thought was quite accurate at the time but now fits this thread very well....
"Pain is a big fat creature riding on your back. The farther you pedal, the heavier he feels. The harder you push, the tighter he squeezes your chest. The steeper the climb, the deeper he digs his jagged, sharp claws into your muscles."
It's for articles like this I come here, and I think that this is my favourite.
@rhys, I couldn't agree more really.