Don't cross-train; train for 'cross.
I recently upgraded my phone, tablet, laptop, and TV to their most modern respective operating systems. These devices are now are so interconnected that they know what I want long before I do. In fact, I might not want it all, but no one can tell because I’m already doing what they told me I want to do. Presumably while driving.
I have become quite adept at texting while riding my bike. My phone buzzes, I reach into my pocket, examine the message, and determine whether I should answer that particular buzz immediately or wait until I’m at a stop or at home. I don’t navigate any kind of logic tree to make this determination; I simply respond to my inner monkey and tap away my inane response. I should not have this skill, texting while riding. By all rights I shouldn’t even have my phone with me. I shouldn’t need to be reachable when I’m on my bike. That’s part of the point of being on my bike.
There is something about being out in the wilderness that flips a primal reset switch in my soul. Mountain biking and backcountry skiing often take us away from phone networks and traffic the way little else can. The problem with mountain biking is a lack of the hypnotic rhythm that riding on the road offers, which is part of the enormous appeal of riding a bicycle; the rhythm of the legs pedalling along has a trance-like quality to it and the spell is broken whenever the bike hits a root or a rock or a rut. This, for me, is the appeal of a good gravel ride or even a good Cyclocross ride: you’re still on a road bike with most of its hypnotic trappings, but you still get to descend into the wilderness and experience the great escape from technology. Along with just enough technical riding to make a tantalizing cocktail of Awesomeness.
Fall is here, which means the road season is all but behind us; ahead of us lie chilly, wet rides in our Flandrian Best. And Cyclocross. I have an extensive background riding rigid mountain bikes in the 90’s, which makes me almost automatically good at Cyclocross. Except Cyclocross also includes running and remounting. My basic trouble with training for ‘Cross is that I never do my drills for things like remounting. My remount looks like a wounded duck trying to ride a pogo stick. I could master it, of that I’m certain, but once I’m riding my bike I find it nearly impossible to climb off just for the privilege of climbing back on.
In the immortal words of @G’rilla: I don’t cross-train. I train for ‘cross.
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@Buck Rogers
Wow, that's quite a character assessment.
@Ccos
Remote heart transplants.
@frank
You must get a lot of calls from Wall Street and D.C then.
@frank
I know what you mean, I've recently benn obliged to have a work phone and occaisionally, answer it. But if I get an urgent call out if work hours it means I've really REALLY pissed someone off.
but hey, it's handy for checking velominati and playing Angry Birds...
I am not sure how many of you have ever trained for the cyclocross season. In years past, I would come out of the regular season and jump on my cross bike and just race. This year I actually have been putting in the effort to work on specific skills and run with and without the bike. I can not believe how sore my legs are from the training I did last Thursday evening. I actually had to cut my Saturday group ride short because my legs had no power and burned with the slightest efforts. My legs are still tender on Monday. I have a new found respect for the men and women that train for cross season. I thought I was in shape having one of my best road seasons in years. But, my legs could not tolerate an hour of cyclocross training without screaming back at me. Who has been there?
@Sparty
I have not trained for cyclocross but I can relate to your running experience. Back when running was my primary avocation I ran with a group once or twice a week. Even at almost 40 pounds above my current weight, I was one of the fastest in the group. When I began road cycling four nights a week I assumed that I could continue running once a week or so. I believed the weight loss from road cycling would transfer to faster runs. Nothing could be further than the truth! Even after losing 20% of my body weight I couldn't keep up with the slower members of the group. The repetitive nature of cycling had developed my muscles in a certain way and it felt as if my legs were fighting themselves in order to run even a few feet.
Therefore, I am not surprised that your best road biking season has made running, with or without a bike, more difficult.
@frank
Hey, you know, when applying for your next gig feel free to list me as a reference. Always willing to help a mate out!
@RobSandy
Emergency text home.
@Frank, please tell me you're kidding here, and pulling our collective shaved leg, right? Using a telephone while riding your bike?? Surely, the only valid reason why one should be carrying a phone while on a bicycle, is so that one can call a loved or trusted one after a bad crash or non-repairable technical mishap? Said phone should be switched off until such mishaps may occur. (By the way: what is this 'texting' of which you speak? Aren't we supposed to use telephones for the delivery/exchange of spoken missives?)
The ride is a sanctuary, after all - and using the phone while riding, sounds suspiciously like multi-tasking. To the best of my knowledge, the boffins have found out that multitasking is bad for you: It means you are trying to do two things at the same time - and you inevitably end up doing neither well.
@Buck Rogers
Buck, as an old fart who realizes too seldom that he knows very little about anything, I couldn't help laughing out loud at this. Cheers!
@chris
Thank you very much for the link to the "Used to be a human being"-article. Great read, and really thought-provoking. Excellent stuff.