Before the New Year, it was my ride up Haleakala. At present, it’s Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2013. Before Haleakala, it was one of the various Cyclocross races and before that the Zoo Hill Time Trial. The targets change, but throughout my life as a Velominatus, there always seems to be a goal looming over the horizon which spurs me on. Training, for its endless nature, is like painting the Forth Bridge in Scotland: it takes a year to paint and you have to paint it every year.
In contrast to my opinion of painting a bridge, training is something I fundamentally enjoy. Lucky for me, I love training for the sake of training; I don’t feel any compelling need to do a particular ride in any particular time. What I do feel, however, is the need to do any particular ride in a better time than I have previously. I’m fortunate to delight in the process of finding form and fitness, of getting better. I love seeing the improvement; I love setting incremental goals and reaching them through the elementary process of working towards them.
Cycling, in this way, presents me with an incredibly rewarding outlet for that bit of my nature that lives on seeing marked progress. In every walk of life, things are complicated. The deeper we wade into any endeavor, the more embroiled we become in the mechanics of staying afloat – to say nothing of actually moving towards an end. Yet, Cycling is simple; put in the work and the results come.
The more complicated my life gets and the more conflicted my priorities, the more I find I love Cycling for its elemental simplicity. Set a goal, make a plan, follow it. There is no one to look to but yourself. There are no external dependencies. There is only the endlessness of The Work.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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Alright, back to cycling. I want to go on a training ride with Forest Sagan & Teddy K.! Despite the grind of the PRO life, these two honestly seem to just be livin' large, lovin' life. (on the other hand, when is the last time anyone has seen Wiggins or Evans smile? Those two seem like downers.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR3qEj9AF_Q
And how about Sagan's catch in the Tour of Oman? He rode up to the three man group, which included Nibali, and left them in the dust. That has to hurt Nibali's confidence with Milan Sanremo looming...
Speaking of Vincenzo, check out the little dude! Sweater, collared shirt, sporty jacket for a day at the races. Nice!
@Ron
It would have been too late as I had already bought the trainer. I have rollers as well, but am not skilled enough to go hard on them, stand, etc. so for intervals I figured the trainer to be a better way to go. I definitely envy your southern location, though I guess I didn't pick up on your VMH's southern accent if she had one. Certainly a lovely gal though - definitely a keeper if she was willing to stand outside for 6+ hours in to cold to watch guys (and girls) ride around in the mud!
@VeloVita
I am no maniac on the rollers but find I can do a sufferfest on them. I don't stand up for efforts, but can otherwise get a very good interval workout. They are twitchy, but got more manageable when I adjusted the wheelbase--you might want to try this, key is to get the front roller directly below the front axle. You might want to check this. It's much more bearable than the resistance trainer.
@Steampunk
Man, I wish I was in the position to be upset at being ~80Kg. If I'm the recipient of a miracle, I might be down below 90Kg by this summer! (Also had to take a sabbatical from booze)
@Steampunk That race/ride sounds AWESOME!
Do you nordic ski? It is an AMAZING sport, totally kicks ass and can be as brutally hard and tiring as cycling. It used to be what LeMan and Phinney Sr and a bunch of others did in the off season. I have been getting in about 3 to 4 skis a week and it is such an amzing workout. You really should try it if you do not already do it, esp with all your snow!
I hear you about the post-goal let down, though. After P-R and the 2Much on 100 I just could not get motivated. Felt like I had achieved all the year's goals in t weeks.
@Nate
I am definitely in the minority here but I actually love my rollers. If it weren't for my Doc's orders I would be riding them at least twice a week. I love setting up a youtube vid of an old pro race, usually in Italian or French and turning on the fan to cool me down and spinning. I ride for hours on them and it really doesn't bother me.
@Nate
I'll have to try that one too. My front roller is a little farther forward. Maybe that's why I can't stay on the damned things. Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason. Haha.
The medic offshore just did the electonic body mass / fat % test on me yesterday, and withut going into the nitty gritty it would appear I am in the 'healty' range but I could drop 3 to 4 kg and be at the bottom of the range, so at least I know what is possible and have a target. Will re-test in a few months see if progress is being made.
@Sauterelle
Having your front axle slightly behind the roller axle is typically the recommended position. Having the axle directly on top puts your bike at a slight upward angle - your rear wheel rests on two rollers so is slightly lower than an axle placed directly on top of the roller axle. However even when directly on top, the handling is still fine.
Any handling problems with the axle slightly behind wont be the fault of bike position (one guess as to where the problem may lie if it aint the bike) - the handling fun only begins when you start getting your wheel axle ahead of the roller axle!
Best thing to do to improve handling skills on rollers is practice doing things like taking one hand off at a time then the other, etc etc. You should find your core engaging more to balance the bike instead of your hands - which is what you want. And whenever you are fucking about on them trying to improve balance, try riding faster, the faster you ride, the easier rollers are to balance on...
And you don't necessarily need to stand up to do hard intervals on a trainer! Only time I ever stand up on rollers is to give my arse a short break. And I dont stand up too high...
Disclaimer: I have fallen off rollers. It fucking hurts.
@Buck Rogers
Get the LeMond Revolution as well Buck. Combine them with Kreitlers and you have everything you need other than good weather and dry roads.