Here comes sickness.
Can you feel that? That itchy, twitchy feeling… that’s anticipation, it’s expectation, it’s Belgian fucking racing fever! You know you’ve got it, and you can’t fight it, you don’t want to fight it, you need it bad because it’s been way too long. Some may call it Spring Fever, Cobblebone, or Kassientitis. It manifests itself deep in the bones, chilling your very core, while simultaneously warming your heart. This is the best time of the racing season, and it’s affecting me more than ever, because I won’t be attending the clinic this year. And that makes me sick.
While the VSP doesn’t kick off until some 300k Italian sprint bores us to death in a couple of weeks, we all know that the real start to the season is this weekend on the bergen of Flanders, and we want the worst possible weather for it. As we bathe in sunshine in the bottom half of the planet, those of us inflicted with the sickness really long to be wrapped in our Flandrien Best and getting dumped on by cold rain and icy crosswinds on some shit-covered road, just waiting to get to the next sector of stones, the next steep and slippery climb, where once on it you curse with all your deep-seated hatred until it is crested, and a strange sense of joy briefly appears, not giving itself up fully until the first Malteni is opened hours later. It’s the medicine that doesn’t cure anything except a lack of Flahute in the system, and that’s just how we like it.
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Anyone see the end of Le Samyn? Not Terpstra winning (legend), just watch everyone in the lead bunches cross the line, they're all fucked. Awesome!
@Beers
Looking at those highlights one thing is clear, parking the team bus along the route on a filthy Rule #9 day is sure to lead to some Anti-V moments from the riders who aren't interested (Gilbackwards, I'm looking at you)!
@Beers
They were the only 28 hardmen who made it to the finish...
@Mikael Liddy
Yes, the announcers on Sunday said that he had won the Junior P-R as well.
I have not seen a good interview with him yet so no idea if he is cocky or humble or what but it was really cool to see him this last weekend in both races and I really look forward to seeing him ride in the future.
@Mikael Liddy
FUCK YEAH!!! My third favorite race of the year by far (Only behind P-R and RVV). Fucking LOVE this race and I WILL ride this cyclo within the next 3 years once I move to Germany this summer. I have ridden the P-R cyclo and this one and the RVV cyclo will be completed before I leave Europe!
@Beers
Great to know! Thanks for the heads-up. I'll watch it on the rollers at lunch today.
@Buck Rogers
I rode some of the white roads in the rain a couple of summers ago. As usual, the Pros make it look way easier than it really is. I found some really rough roads by accident. My tyres were fucked. I got all kinds of shit in my brake pads that I had to pick out with a knife. I cried for my rims.
But Tuscany is just as you imagine it is. Those Italians have it all figured out - gelato, coffee, wine, cheese and an afternoon nap. And bike racing.
@Harminator
So in other words, fucking paradise!
@Buck Rogers
We spent a week based in Florence on our 5 week honeymoon through Europe, I have to go back with a bike...
I received some inspiration today from a TrainerRoad workout that I wanted to share and fuck me Freddy, I've decided to do my sharing here...
It was an FTP over & under workout with a lot of time spent either 5% over FTP or 5% under. If you've experienced Trainer Road you will know that the workout is overlaid with pithy comments about the workout or about general training that are designed to keep you engaged and motivated and to ensure that you're doing the workout correctly.
Today, during the 4th 5 minute session of over/unders the folks at TrainerRoad inspired me.
I will paraphrase.
Pain is in the brain and your brain is designed to protect you from pain.
When the going gets tough you need to keep that shit from your brain - the less it knows, the better. If you engage in negative self talk, if you put a death grip on your bars, if you hunch your shoulders up around your ears, if you let your pedal stroke get all ragged! If you do any of this stuff, your brain will start to figure out what's going on and will issue well intentioned orders to your muscles to shut things down - pronto! You see, the brain is trying to protect you from harm - it really doesn't know any better.
Instead, we need to embrace the suffering with the confidence of someone who has been down this road before and knows where it goes. We need to find the perfect pedal stroke. We need to breath deeply. We need to relax our shoulders and lighten our touch on the bars and welcome the suffering in to our midst. Just as we never want to betray our suffering to our friends or our enemies, we need to understand that the most important person that we need to fool is ourselves.
Later in the session - after the second last interval - Trainer Road started talking to me again - most riders post their strongest results on the last interval. It makes no sense physiologically, you should be at your weakest. But, your brain sees the light at the end of the tunnel and knows that there is just one more set and then it's all over. Voila - it gets easier. And it was your brain that made it happen.