@scaler911 likes beer and pizza, as we all do. I bet Jensie does too. He races more, we drink more, he has to finish each stage at the Tour, us, not so much. There must be a balance to all our cycling lives. Since we don’t have to earn a living racing we can relax a bit but this word “relax” maybe where the trouble lies.
Yours in Cycling, Gianni
“For him who has no concentration, there is no tranquility”- Bhagavad Gita c. BC 400.
If you ask people close to me about my ability on the bike, you’ll probably hear different versions of the same story, “Scaler is a genetically talented cyclist, but it’s too bad he lacks focus.” I’m the first to admit it. If I put any energy into developing a solid training plan, laid off the IPAs, and (my VMH’s fine/ healthy cooking aside) stopped having pizza and Monster energy drinks for staples at work, I might be able to be consistent in my beloved craft. Instead, I have a few flashes of decency, but I’m mostly just pack fodder and excuses these days.
I’m consistently amazed at people that have this ability to focus. It’s akin to a superpower I think, like flying or laser beams shooting out of your eyeballs.
It really breaks down to a few different types of focus, with the endgame being the same. Focus from a global perspective: setting and achieving season-long goals, from winning the TdF, to being the first up the big climb at your local Tuesday night club ride; abiding the hard days of winter Rule #9 training; not having that 5th slice of combo pizza that you wash down with your 4th (or 8th) beer. Focus in the short term- be it tapering before a Grand Tour, or spending time in the shop making sure your rig is cleaned and tuned to perfection before your group ride. Focus in the moment- being right near the front before the big climb, finding just the right gear, the right stroke, position, rhythm. This is the one place I can find that focus. All the joys and troubles of day to day living melt away. All that’s left is the deep, singular objective of the task at hand. Pushing a little harder to bridge to that wheel 50m ahead of you; not making eye contact with them as you stay in focus, or my favorite-smiling and saying “Hi” just before grabbing the shovel to make the Pain Cave a little deeper.
I firmly believe that this, along with choosing the right parents and a bit of luck is what separates us mortals from the pros.
There are many hours and kilometers where we suffer alone. Velominati strive to Look Fantastic, and we make sure our machines glisten and are properly silent. We study our heros as well as the douchebags. This all requires some form of focus, and I hope that I get as good at it as others here already are.
VLVV!
-scaler911
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@scaler911 Great article! puts me in mind of an old joke.
Old Bull and his son strolling over the top of a grassy hill and as they gaze down they see a field full of heaffers. Dad...let's run down there and fuck a few of those heaffers the young bullock says.
No son, let walk down there and fuck the lot!
That's focus!
I've coached or help coach dozens of young riders over the past 8 years. Many were supremely talented, a few have even gone on to greater things in the sport. The difference, and nowadays it's the easiest thing to spot? Focus. I think that even that is genetic.
I decided give up alcohol for lent.
On the first day I modified that decision to giving up beer for lent and drank a nice McLaren Vale shiraz.
The next day I switched to giving up bad beer for lent and drank Leffe red followed by shiraz.
Not everyone has focus so sharp...
good one @scaler911. Being able to remain focused on cycling/training/racing while working, breeding and blimping and all of the other day-to-day obstacles; these are the things I strive to stay on top of while staying focused on the bike stuff....without much luck!
I really like the part where you indicate different time scales. Anyone who has ever juggled priorities (that is, everybody) has had to deal, consciously or otherwise, with the need to move in and out of different time scales. This can be a real trap because it's always the case that some time scales are friendlier than others.
There's an old Zen saying ("Zen" meaning "meditation," meaning the disciplined daily practice of something difficult and sometimes tedious as fuck):
Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
well written scaler.
was having a chat with one of our colleagues about the neuter that cat 3 (which is my hopeful, hopeful goal mind you) is- the physiologically gifted children of well selected parents essentially "start" up here (you reading this scaler?) with hopes and good n bad days. Those that are blessed as such decide- whether to do the work to take them over that threshold into elite status, or battle it out in the trenches. The reward for fairly hard work as a 3, getting the results and earning the upgrade, is to battle it out with the other physiologically gifted super athletes- which is as awesome as it is hard.
the less gifted will grind and grind with varying intensity, slowly advancing from beginner to the 4s. rapidly advancing through the 4s is ill advised for this less select group- once you get booted to the 3s, you will then be in the world of the amazing physiology described above. stay a 4 too long and be a sandbagger- there is no being "patron" of the 4s (the rabble publicly,viciously and unceremoniously throw you under the forced upgrade bus).
personally, I'm biding my time and trying to decide whether when the time comes, should I be face up, face down, or on my side when said bus is running me over...
Focus is such an allusive intangible. Some training and race days I have focus. Other days 'I having a very nice time.' You never know which it is going to be.
Well said. In a couple of sadistically challenging races this year I came to the realization that cycling focus is very similar to the meditation that we practice at my Taekwondo dojang. Go to that calm place and the effort just seems to flow out of you. I still feel the burn and the pain in my legs, but not in my brain if that makes any sense. That's the mental payoff that keeps me going back to the pain cave again and again! Good job!
@Deakus Careful, a bullock in some places is castrated. ;-)
Nice work, Scaler! I chalk up my sucking to a myriad of reasons, but most really lead back to focus (or lack thereof). Thanks for the inspiration, forced me to dig a little deeper as I was imploding while doing a video from The Sufferfest.