The weight of fatigue is taking its pound of flesh
If the only kind of wind they have in Belgium is a headwind, then the only kind of flats they have in Northern France are false. In Vlaanderen, they specialize in a delectable combination of the two. (Everything that isn’t a windy false flat, it appears, is a windy cobbled climb.)
The most obvious way to get your head kicked in on a bike is to point your bike down a road bespeckled with loads of climbing. It doesn’t matter what sorts of hills or mountains you’ve got at your disposal; the Commutative Property of Climbing states that big climbs and little climbs will jack you up equally so long as you do the same amount of climbing. But a long grind into the wind on a dead-straight false flat might be the most mentally agonizing kind of riding you will ever do.
The riding we do on Keepers Tour generally revolves around the iconic roads in the region, but to focus on those portions alone is like evaluating an individual’s life via their photo albums; some of the most amazing moments are experienced in the margins where no one is looking for them.
The rides we set upon were long days in the saddle, often leaving from the gite and requiring some time to arrive at the spectacle of cobbles or climbs; 20km to the Trouée l’Arenberg or 30km back from the Carrefour de l’Abre, for instance. For me, the rides back are what stand out the most; the group is weary but excited from having ridden some of the most amazing and difficult roads our Sport knows, and the late afternoon winds are blowing swiftly across the landscape. Talk is sparse as our legs are heavy with fatigue and we are each of us confronting the familiar barriers our minds and bodies lay before us at times such as these.
These moments when the body and mind want to give in but something intangible drives us on are my most cherished moments of Cycling in general and Keepers Tour in particular. These are moments when each rider is riding on the strength of those around them. The Laws of Physics tell us that it is impossible to make something from nothing, that the only energy we get out of the system is that which was fed into it.
The Laws of Physics obviously don’t apply to Cyclists.
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I look at that photo and say, ugghhhhh. It doesn't look like fun. Just looks cold, grey, sloppy, muddy, wet and we then we hear about the wind? Doesn't sound like fun. Yet, why is it that I wish I'd have had opportunity to experience the ride? I want to have been there? Strange sport/hobby/passion. Cheers
@Optimiste
Like your formula, why not make it V= #10^(n+1) (pronounce ten to the power of n plus one)
Great writing here, Frank. Lots to ponder as well.
As for the margins, mine are the ones overlooked in my cycling life, when I'm not road or cross riding for training, but commuting. I have a mental database of dastardly climbs and false flats all over town that no matter how many times I ride them, or how I say I'm just commuting, I won't try to go fast...they still are damn hard.
Every time I see them I think "that doesn't look steep," and yet I'm out of the saddle and stomping the pedals just to get up it.
If I have learned anything from the lack of riding that I've done lately, or would it be the riding that I haven't done lately, is that so long as I'm on the bike, things are good. When I'm not riding, I become an incorrigible human. So, please, bring me the time to ride. The time to remember the rules. I don't care what the weather is like.
Frank, you finally made a Rush reference.
@Frank
"But a long grind into the wind on a dead-straight false flat might be the most mentally agonizing kind of riding you will ever do."
Spot on. I have lived this truth over my past dozen or so rides. Likely to have it occur again today.
The only saving grace for you Frank was the fact that you were riding on holy ground with fellow Velominati.
@frank the deep dull ache that's been hiding in my legs since Sunday has been driving me harder on the bike this week. Not because I need to get back from some hallowed parcours but because I know that to give in to it would waste the effort I've put in already and that Friday's rest day and diner out will be all that bit sweeter for it.
Off the bike, I'm better for it as well.
@brett
It may be immeasurable but it will help you to hit and/or hold the numbers on the Other Meter when your body is screaming at you to make it stop.
Something found in the margins of a book I read somewhere;
But since I'm not that keen on the walking part;
"But they that meditate upon the V shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall face the wind, and not be weary; and they shall climb, and not faint."
Vive La Vie Velominatus
long wet flat into the wind was the hardest part of 200K event I rode last year that had 3K of climbing in it.
and the last 40K when I was delerious (first one of these events for me), riding along the coast of the Irish sea, in late afternoon sunshine, with 0 gas left in the tank, and one other rider to keep me company - was pure magic