There are few pleasures in life as great as to achieve a goal, to accomplish something that doesn’t come easily. Great lessons are taught through this activity; we learn that it is our determination and not our doubt that defines our limits. We learn that through studied discipline we can cultivate the skills required to work incrementally towards becoming what we want to be.
This is true for our personal, social and professional lives – and any other aspect that I may have left off. But to achieve our goals is usually a rather complicated mess; it requires introspection, it often requires reliance upon others to do their part or at least not interfere with you doing yours, and it is usually rife with hard choices of long-lasting and difficult to understand consequences.
In its most basic form, Cycling provides us a path to discovery in a less complicated model than do our actual lives. We train our bodies, we become more healthy. We become more healthy, we train more. We become stronger, we go faster. We derive more pleasure from our efforts. We experience reward for sacrifice. We associate progress with the pain of an effort. We enjoy Cycling more. We ride more. We become healthier still. We become stronger still. We go even faster. We suffer more. We associate more pain with a greater sense of achievement. And though it all, we discover it that unlike every other walk of life, in Sport we are islands: what we find here is only what we have brought with us.
Eventually, exercising will become training. The activity becomes richer with the application of the discipline that comes with this rebadging. Exercise is something you do regularly but without structure. With training comes a study of your body and how it responds to stimulus. Long rides have a different effect on the body than do short ones. Successive hard efforts have another effect, as do longer and shorter periods off the bike.
Training Properly requires discipline and patience. It means you don’t just throw your leg over your machine and pedal off to ride along tree-lined boulevards. Training Properly means having a plan for each day. It means heading for the hills one day, and the plains another. It means controlling yourself and not trying to set your best time up the local climb because you feel good that day. Training Properly means restraining yourself on a group ride and not joining in on the town line sprints if your plan doesn’t call for it. Training Properly means leaving for a ride despite the rain falling from the heavens and the loved ones whom you leave at home.
Training Properly comes down you and you alone; much can be learned from books and coaches, but the path is yours to walk. The discovery is yours to experience and to shape into what you are seeking. There are, however, some basics to keep in mind. Also keep in mind I’m not a “Sports Doctor”, “Physiotherapist”, or “Smart”. And never take medical or sporting advice from Some Guy On the Internet.
Be patient. Have discipline. Train Properly. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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@minion
@Nate
Whilst I'm totally unqualified to do that, I'll happily try, because it is much more interesting, otherwise, see your physio, as your Doc is probably out riding his bike (or wants to be)
Before I read through the comments and find something to be argumentative about, I just wanted to say that is a Great Article.
@Nate
Yes!
Fantastic comments too. Best thread in ages.
@frank
You're completely right. Luckily, my cycling friends know me well. And since I usually plan and lead the "Tuesday rides" for our group, I also take care that everyone has a clear picture what the ride will be like before we start. Since I live in an area with plenty of (shorter) climbs, we usually take it easy in the flat, connecting sections and only "declare race" on a few of the climbs.
As mentioned, my time for cycling is pretty limited. So usually my body has enough time to recover. The biggest challenge for me is not to get slower in the next couple of years. And with time being the limiting factor, I need to focus on proper intensity since I just cannot do more km's. (An excellent read dealing with this topic is "The Time-Crunched Cyclist" by Chris Carmichael.)
A couple of years ago, I discovered that cyclocross would be the ideal cycling discipline for my situation. And I can highly recommend it to everyone who likes to ride the pain but has too little time to train properly for road racing. CX races usually last less than 1 hour (except for elite riders and pro's). So you don't need a lot of 3--4 hour rides to be prepared properly, plus you can compensate some lack of fitness with superior riding skills (at least in the hobby and C/B amateur categories). But you can still enjoy the competition in a bicycle race. Of course, I still do both, road cycling and cx. But with road cycling alone, my performance would be much worse than it is now.
I like how this thread has morphed from a discussion of training into a discussion of "bike-life" balance. Such a great topic for us Velominati, many of us whom (I sense) are in similar positions in life--30's or 40's (or older), family, work, lots of commitments, and a love of cycling. I already have a hard time fitting the cycling into my schedule (have to get up in the wee hours of the morning to fit it in during the week), and thank Merckx the VMH is pretty supportive, because she recognizes (bless her insightful heart) that the physical amd spiritual benefits I get from regular cycling makes me a better person.
Right now we're in a position where my wife can move up to full time from part-time for a few years, make a bunch of extra money and get her student loans paid off, which obviously would put us and our kids in a much better position in the long run. We're both going to have to give up things to make this work, and, as much as I hate to admit it, weekday riding may be one of those casualties. It sucks, but whenever the duties of the Velominatus Paterfamilias and Rule 11 collide, the VP is going to win out. In the face of that, this thread is one I'll remember; so many of the comments are really all about remembering to enjoy the time we have on the bike, rather than lamenting the fact that we are not on the bike.
VLVV*
*(I saw roadslave use this Velomiscrit abbreviation, and I move that it be immediately added to the Lexicon).
@Buck Rogers
I've never understood what the bard is?
@Marcus
OK, I figured it out now. And that is one of my all-time favorite quotes. Chapeau.
@frank
This guy:
@gaswepass
Unfortunately, I have our first mandatory team meeting / training ride on 3/24, but I would suggest treking up to Ripon,WI to ride in the Red Hawks Spring Classic on 3/24. Best $10 to $20 you can spend supporting the College bike team. And they mean it when they say to leave your carbon hoops at home!
http://www.facebook.com/events/288035971258846/
I am sure I will be recovery rolling like I am nearly peaking on 3/25 but in the Beer City, not little Moscow.