"I'd like a time trial helmet, made out of hair, please"
We’ve remarked many times on the connection between the pained musician and the Cyclist. Layne Staley and Marco Pantani being a prominent example of a reflection in a pond of mental strife. Perhaps something about finding strength – or at least some kind of peace – through suffering is a personality trait that Cycling shares with being an Artist. But sometimes it is much more simple than that. Sometimes, you just want to get psyched to get out and ride. Or to stay in and ride, as the case may be. @blackpooltower lets us in on his own dirty little secret.
Yours in Cycling, Frank
Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and the other assorted Ramones like Linda (yes, really, I checked) might not look like God’s gift to the performance-minded cyclist, despite Johnny’s quite aero hair, but in fact they’re practically a secret weapon.
I’d love to say that my training is all Man-With-Hammer-seeking epics and Moser hill repeats but frankly I live in central London, an hour from anything resembling countryside so, whisper it, I do also spend some time on the turbo. Filthy habit, I know. Sorry.
Although, you know what? Graeme Obree did a fair bit of indoor training and if it’s good enough for the JK Rowling of cycling (which is to say: made it with no one’s help, on welfare/benefits, therefore a total hero) then it’s good enough for me.
Of course indoor training is a bleak prospect without music. And it can’t just be any music. It has to be the right music.
So, if there wasn’t a band whose entire output was recorded at between 90 and 100 bpm, with irrepressible energy levels and just the right blend of anti establishment individualism (totally fake in Johnny’s case), catchiness and outright dumbness to keep an underperforming wanabe racer spinning those stupid fan blades round for one more effort … you’d have to invent them, no?
But no need. The Ramones, AKA punk rock pot belge, exist. Or at least their music does, and that’s the bit you need.
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The East Germans reportedly had their racers pedal on a turbo trainer facing a brick wall and ride for hours to build "mental toughness." I suspect it might also build extreme weirdness. Music would undoubtedly help in both regards.
@Ccos
that just might be the best explanation of Jens' "personality quirks" ever...
WTF??? All right... I'll bite. But to be certain I can go upstairs and plug in a classic Les Paul (no I don't have a friggen Mosrite) to an ol' Marshall right now and rip off one Ramone's tune after another and never raise my HR above that of me sitting on the sofa right now.
I have tunes I like to listen to when I ride. It's not often and it's certainly not in groups when I ride with earbuds but there are times when I do. And you know what? I can imagine that Beat on the Brat might be a real good ride. I Wanna be Sedated?? Maybe not on the hills but I could enjoy. A lot actually. A classic indeed. I'm thinking if were gonna be an all out effort then it'd have to be Blitzkrieg Bop that'd I'd wanna lay down the hammer with.
This web site is goofy. Cheers.
Hey Ho, Let's Go.
The Ramones rule. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue makes any climb go quicker
And a little Joy Division for the descent.
30 some odd years ago, a cassette of “It’s Alive” was permanently ensconced in the huge yellow “sports” Walkman dragging down my wool jersey. Pretty much every song from the first three albums, but they played so fast live you could fit the entire double LP on a 60 minute tape. Insane tempo, but with a break every half hour to flip the cassette.
Stiff Little Fingers. And I ain't talking about my own podgy digits after 90 mins looking at The Sufferefest.
I find listening to Blue Monday for 7:30 minutes at 132 bpm pretty well fucks me up. Even worse on a turbo-trainer.
@pistard
The demise of the cassette was followed by the epidemic of ADD. Coincidence? I think not. I did a 10 day bushwalk with Ritual de la Habitual on one side and Vs on the other. No need for the bic pen rewind that trip.
Fast forward to today, downloaded a Tabata interval track set to Turning Japanese and inserted it into multiple roller playlists. It's way ahead on my "frequently played" list. I'm now afraid that if I hear it in public I'll sprint for 20 seconds then rest for 10.
Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks.
There should be a rule prohibiting earphones on the bike--unless your DS is screaming at you on the other end. At which point, the coolest thing you can do is flick the bud out of your ear and bury yourself to the sound of the hell hounds screaming in your brain. Without hijacking this thread, music on the bike could be the single most dangerous thing a cyclist does. I'd wear boss orange socks or ride without a helmet before I impaired my hearing outdoors. On the trainer is different, but prepare the way you would ride.
To the point of the article, however, I find my bigger problem is keeping the faster beats in my head. How many rides have been endured with Frightened Rabbit's "Acts of Man" or Bob Geldof's "Great Song of Indifference?"