The Cyclist

The chiselled guns of a Cyclist

Being away from the bike is agony. Even for the day, while I’m at work, my mind swims about, thinking about my next ride. I worry that I won’t be home early enough to get the ride in that I’d planned – or worse yet – ride at all. I agonize over my decision not to ride in the morning, or to work, hoping one missed day doesn’t turn into two doesn’t turn into a week.

I wonder at which bike I’ll choose; I can visualize them hanging there, in the workshop, quietly waiting to be set free from their prison – a bike is only free when it’s being ridden. I imagine they discuss among themselves which is entitled to be ridden next; they might even place wagers on which will be the lucky one. I’m not sure with what bicycles might place wagers, perhaps a bit of grease for a creaking quick-release that I haven’t noticed yet.

All day, I evaluate how my body feels. Sitting folded up at a desk is a horrible place to judge one’s weight; I’ll lean against the desk’s edge and wonder if there was less of me touching it yesterday. I’ll feel the muscles in my thighs as I cross my legs in a conference room, and judge whether they feel stronger than the day before. Sometimes I’ll feel for the fibers in my muscles with my fingertips and then realize that the other people in the room with me probably find it odd that I’m rubbing my legs absentmindedly. To be fair, I find it odd that they don’t know what it feels like to be in shape.

It is a mystery whether I’ll be strong on the bike today or not. At the office, there is no way to know how I will feel; I won’t really know until I put in a real effort, which usually happens on the first climb of the day. Strength is a strange thing; the other day I felt blocked during my warmup but hit the top corner of the first climb so fast I almost lost my front wheel. Almost losing your front wheel in a corner on a climb is a special feeling.

Tim Krabbé wrote, “Non-riders. The emptiness of those lives shocks me.” Indeed; we are Cyclists, the rest of the world merely rides a bike.

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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portemat says:

Sep 4 2015 at 8:37 am

@ChrisO

The Tour of Cambridgeshire. I entered because it was 1) I live in Cambridgeshire and 2) it was on closed roads. I didn't start it thinking "this is a race", just that it would be a nice (albeit hopefully fast) ride.

That I managed a qualification time was a bit of a surprise to me, which has spurred me on to focus considerably more on training with a purpose. Hence this week being my first encounter with any form of tapering.

(other benefits include the compulsory wearing of a national jersey on Sunday, as well as it being the push I needed to finally put myself into Rule#33 compliance!)
wiscot says:

Sep 4 2015 at 9:02 am

@RobSandy

@KogaLover

@chris

Another give away would be the beer sponsor.

That’s also what caught my attention: Amstel Radler. Yet, Radler comes in 2 varieties: 0% and 2% alcohol. So if the ad was for the 0%, then it would be the soda-sponsor. I cannot tell the difference between the 2 though but it is a nice drink after a ride when it’s cooled. I lived in Amsterdam for many years so Amstel is -against better judgement sometimes- my beer.

Cruzcampo was more of a giveaway for me.

Next challenge, name all the other riders in the photo.

Kevin Reza for FdeJ but no idea on the other rider.
chris says:

Sep 4 2015 at 9:16 am

@portemat

Nice work. I'm also up in Cambridgeshire and rode the Tour of Cambridgeshire but was riding with a mate who is fairly new to the sport so it was more social than anything else. Where are you based?
portemat says:

Sep 4 2015 at 9:20 am

@chris

South Cambs - roughly between Royston & Cambridge
wilburrox says:

Sep 4 2015 at 10:39 am
@chris
@wiscot

That’s all sound advice. At the moment, I quite happy buying him bikes (and safety equipment). There’s three reasons for that.
1. If I din’t I’d have to up his pocket money and give him more jobs. His life is busy enough as it is at the moment and works hard for what he gets.
2. His involvement in sport to a great extent hinges around his attitude and commitment to his school work. If he puts a lot into that, I’m happy to support his down time.
3. I want him to lean to look after the bikes he has now before any more come along.
The restriction on aerobars is purely about him learning to ride what he has to a high standard.

Ancillaries, like shoes, pedals and kit (other than essential club kit) he finances himself.

As fantastic as it would be, I have no expectations that he’ll make the pro ranks and whilst I’m willing to make sacrifices to ensure that he can get to events and the like, I’m fully aware of the need to balance it out between him and the other two. Your’re right, though, it’s amazing what parents will do in the belief that their little darling is the next Wiggo/Beckham/Federrer. Love is blind.

At this stage, I’m happy that they’re all hugely into sport, healthy and want to ride with me.
Gents, in a way its a bit of a shame... but if my daughter expressed interest in growing up to be a pro cyclist on the woman's side of equation I may be doing my best to help her find other interests. Maybe I have a wrong perspective on the opportunity and maybe things could change over time. But...

Still, I love nothing more than seeing her jump in to races, get positive results, a pile of medals at home, and tremendous confidence about life in general. When she experiences good things happening (earning state championship jerseys) from a little training and commitment? Life experience there. In meantime, given the Jr's fields here in states, and her having to mix it up with older boys in the mixed fields... she's gonna be on a damn nice and safe bike to do so.

Still, her go to bike for the neighborhood? The beater BMX bike. She loves it.

>>> happy that... want to ride with me <<< Exactly! Very lucky in that regard indeed.
MangoDave says:

Sep 4 2015 at 12:01 pm

@KogaLover

...I enjoy going downhill because it means I will need to go uphill again.

I like your attitude on this!
MangoDave says:

Sep 4 2015 at 12:14 pm

@wiscot

"This comment is also based upon an NPR story this morning about the number of parents who unrealistically believe their kid is heading to the pros in their particular sport and the crazy sacrifices they make to do so..."

Heard that story, too. Sadly, my ex-wife had delusions of grandeur for my kid's equestrian hobby. The ex was convinced that my daughter would be in the Olympics one day (based on exactly zero evidence). The horse cost way more money than they had, and now my daughter has permanent back injuries from getting pushed to hard to jump too high before she was ready. I'd like to get her to ride bicycles with me again sometimes, but so far no luck.
wiscot says:

Sep 4 2015 at 12:57 pm

@MangoDave

@wiscot

“This comment is also based upon an NPR story this morning about the number of parents who unrealistically believe their kid is heading to the pros in their particular sport and the crazy sacrifices they make to do so…”

Heard that story, too. Sadly, my ex-wife had delusions of grandeur for my kid’s equestrian hobby. The ex was convinced that my daughter would be in the Olympics one day (based on exactly zero evidence). The horse cost way more money than they had, and now my daughter has permanent back injuries from getting pushed to hard to jump too high before she was ready. I’d like to get her to ride bicycles with me again sometimes, but so far no luck.

Sorry to hear that. If there's a gig that has to be way more expensive than cycling, it's horses. Those things are crazy expensive! Hopefully the back injuries will not prevent her from getting on a two-wheeled steed.
Teocalli says:

Sep 4 2015 at 1:20 pm

@MangoDave

@KogaLover

…I enjoy going downhill because it means I will need to go uphill again.

I like your attitude on this!

It's why I live on the top of a hill............I think.

There's nothing quite like going out for 150 km and knowing that you live on the top of the second highest hill in the county. OK our south UK hills might not be that high but they make up for it by going straight up the gradient.
The Pressure says:

Oct 15 2015 at 3:36 pm

@RM2RIDE

"And then, on every good day: click, click, and off we go." Perfect! The owner of the "guns" in the lead photo says when he's feeling down, a ride will make him feel happier. And when he's cheery, a ride will make him feel even better...works for me.