Solo Artist

Solo on Haleakala. Photo: Elizabeth Keller

I walk away from social gatherings with an acute sense of accomplishment whenever I haven’t offended anyone and when my friends all stayed awake. I view myself as a bottle of wine that keeps getting better with age, but I’m slowly coming to grips with the notion that I am actually a bottle that may be corked. The great irony of life is that as we become more comfortable with who we are, we become more annoying to be around.

Fortunately, I enjoy being alone. I haven’t always felt that way, but my natural charm means I have had to cultivate a taste for it. That isn’t to say I don’t like being around others – quite the opposite – but being alone allows me the opportunity to reconnect with who I am. This is especially true when riding my bicycle. Riding alone, there is nothing to do but focus on the sensations of the ride: the wind in my face, the smells in the air, the sound of my tires as we hum along together, rider and bicycle.

Doing a long ride alone is an exercise of discipline. The little voices in your head may start quietly, but they build to crescendo inside your skull after a few hours of solitary suffering. The doors and patios on the cafés at the roadside start looking larger and more welcoming with every kilometer that passes under your tires. A point comes, on these long rides, at which Rule #5 becomes a matter of continuing on with the task; a determination to finish what you have begun.

We learn fundamental things about ourselves when we are alone in the Pain Cave, after we’ve dropped the flashlight and watched helplessly as it rolled off the shelf and into the void. Questions come knocking, and they won’t go away until you’ve dealt with them. This is when we grow, when we build confidence in the face of doubt.

We are lucky to find ourselves at crossroads where every direction leads to more suffering, where the direction we choose is irrelevant. The choice is simply to suffer or to go home. In a world where we have made a science of luxury, we Cyclists choose to suffer.

Vive la Vie Velominatus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

The Pressure says:

Nov 24 2013 at 4:36 pm

@frank I laughed at your statement that" as we become more comfortable with who we are, we become more annoying to be around"!! Well said. Cycling seems well suited to this maturation process. I do however love the VMH so I must feign some civility in social gatherings. Yet on the road I need only the hum of the wheels and the occasional visit from the Man.
xyxax says:

Nov 24 2013 at 5:01 pm

I've learned that the best policy is to keep the internet between my friends and I. I love the cogals and talking shop here but solo riding is perfectly apt. On a long solo ride, no one knows you're an awkward introvert.
le chuck says:

Nov 25 2013 at 6:06 am

@DCR

To answer your question: No, the sole are not stiff enough for most people. I bought them because when I started training seriously I developed a case of Hot Foot pretty bad. At the time I was using a pair of Bont's which I had not appropriately heat-molded b/c I didn't really know how. I spent hundreds of hours with the softer Vittorias over the next six months and Hot Foot improved a lot. Using the Rollers also helped smooth out my pedal stroke and now I can wear the Bont's without discomfort. Have a good one.
DCR says:

Nov 25 2013 at 7:26 am

@le chuck

@DCR

To answer your question: No, the sole are not stiff enough for most people. I bought them because when I started training seriously I developed a case of Hot Foot pretty bad. At the time I was using a pair of Bont's which I had not appropriately heat-molded b/c I didn't really know how. I spent hundreds of hours with the softer Vittorias over the next six months and Hot Foot improved a lot. Using the Rollers also helped smooth out my pedal stroke and now I can wear the Bont's without discomfort. Have a good one.

Ah thanks for chiming back in before I bought a pair. I am used to my carbon soles with almost no flex so that may not work.
Rom says:

Nov 26 2013 at 4:04 am

So solo rides can be awesome, but what's the minimum, comfortable number for a non-solo ride?

Two seems too few to make an impact with a bit of traffic about, so I think four is a comfortable minimum in this situation.
jkweber33 says:

Dec 1 2013 at 7:02 pm

That was a very inspiring article. I've noticed when applying Rule #5 in other challenges in life, it makes you learn more about yourself, which makes you a better person.
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