On Rule #6: Resistance

This man isn’t about to quit; that’s V Face right there.

Strength can be a fickle thing this time of year, when the training isn’t as consistent as it should be; it comes and goes, sometimes several times in the span of a single ride or even a climb. Like a rosy-eyed dreamer I keep awakening as I train, thrown like a rag doll between a state nearing euphoria and one resembling purgatory.

My mind is what drives me as a Cyclist, it is what allows my to keep going despite the burning in my legs and lungs. It is what pushes me to leave the comfort of my home to climb aboard my bike when it is dark, cold, and rainy. But there are times when the legs won’t go or the body fails in some anomalous way when we are struck by the reality that we are but puppets, pushed and pulled by forces that exist outside outside the jurisdiction of our will.

Whether or not the body fails, the mind can still resist. It can resist easing back. It can resist turning around. It can resist turning the bars to steer away from the extra climbing loop. Giving in is the worst kind of weakness we have in Cycling. With time all the acute reasons why we want to quit will pass; the acid will flush from our muscles, the gasps for air will give way to steady breathing, the cold will leave our bodies. But quitting, and the doubt it cultivates can last much, much longer.

Quitting begets quitting. It wears down your confidence and makes you question yourself. It asks questions of you that you will struggle to answer when the 2am Ghosts of Lost Opportunities come calling. Worst of all, quitting gets easier the more you do it.

Before my rides, I will decide if it is to be a hard day or an easy day; whether I will do the extra loop with the big climbs or look for the flatter roads. Once on the ride, I will shut off the part of my mind that asks those questions and simply shut off the part of my mind that processes those considerations. I will not stop until I am done.

Our strength may be fickle, but our minds are steady.

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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frank says:

Feb 4 2014 at 1:51 pm

@Mike_P

@wiscot

@zugo

I don't quit. My problem is different. I have trouble stablishing new goals and challenges. I'm now trying to do a transition to a more experienced group of riders from my currently "newbie we only ride bycicles" group. It's really hard for me cause I don't wanna be the last guy on the peloton. I need to take some shots of The V.

I think this is one of the great things about the bike: the ability to set goals and achieve them - even if it take a shitload of suffering to do so. I know the Rules say it's not about distance, but distance is a very good way to set and achieve said goals. For example: as the year progresses, my rides go from 50kms to 80kms, 100, 120, 160, 200, 200+ The goal this year is a 320 kms ride. Sure, time and daylight sometimes dictate otherwise, but there's also great joy when you head out on a ride, feel better than you thought you would and blow past the goal for the day. Truly a win-win.

+1

@zugo put that ego in a box for a while, join that faster group and accept the batterings for a while. You'll not be at the back for too long, but in my humble opinion "I don't want to...." is a path to certain disappointment. I prescribe liberal doses of Rules #5 and #10

Agreed - the best way to get better is to ride with faster people than you.
Gianni says:

Feb 4 2014 at 2:16 pm

@wiscot

@The Oracle

Between getting up at 5:00 am to get the wife and kids (and me) off to work/school, and putting the last kid to bed at 8:30 at night, my only conceivable time for riding during the week is 8:30 to 9:00 at night. It has been oh-so-hard to force myself down into my 45 degree basement to crank out an hour's worth of pain on the trainer/rollers. More often than not, I've been losing that battle and going to bed. I think I'll print out this post and stick it to my bedside table.

Hey, as they said in Life of Brian, "You lucky, lucky, bastard!" 45 degrees? I think my garage is in the high teens, low 20s these days! You have my sympathy for the time-crunch thing, but 45 degrees sounds like luxury to me!

See you on a cogal this year? How about the Cheesehead Roubaix? Your former "local" roads . . .

We used to dream of having a basement. Our hovel sat on a bog. My da would dig a hole in the bog and put my rollers in the hole. And we were lucky.
The Oracle says:

Feb 4 2014 at 2:25 pm

@wiscot

@The Oracle

Between getting up at 5:00 am to get the wife and kids (and me) off to work/school, and putting the last kid to bed at 8:30 at night, my only conceivable time for riding during the week is 8:30 to 9:00 at night. It has been oh-so-hard to force myself down into my 45 degree basement to crank out an hour's worth of pain on the trainer/rollers. More often than not, I've been losing that battle and going to bed. I think I'll print out this post and stick it to my bedside table.

Hey, as they said in Life of Brian, "You lucky, lucky, bastard!" 45 degrees? I think my garage is in the high teens, low 20s these days! You have my sympathy for the time-crunch thing, but 45 degrees sounds like luxury to me!

See you on a cogal this year? How about the Cheesehead Roubaix? Your former "local" roads . . .

Of course, even 15-20 degrees sounds delightful compared to the negative-15 it was the other morning.

I'm up for a cogal, of course, although let's keep it somewhere south of that 320km mark you were blowing out your ass earlier. What weekend is the Cheesehead this year? I'd have to check my calendar. I couldn't make it the last two years.
Mike_P says:

Feb 4 2014 at 2:26 pm

@Teocalli welcome back! Hope the white stuff has been good to you and you've not broken anything
Mike_P says:

Feb 4 2014 at 2:28 pm

@Gianni

@wiscot

@The Oracle

Between getting up at 5:00 am to get the wife and kids (and me) off to work/school, and putting the last kid to bed at 8:30 at night, my only conceivable time for riding during the week is 8:30 to 9:00 at night. It has been oh-so-hard to force myself down into my 45 degree basement to crank out an hour's worth of pain on the trainer/rollers. More often than not, I've been losing that battle and going to bed. I think I'll print out this post and stick it to my bedside table.

Hey, as they said in Life of Brian, "You lucky, lucky, bastard!" 45 degrees? I think my garage is in the high teens, low 20s these days! You have my sympathy for the time-crunch thing, but 45 degrees sounds like luxury to me!

See you on a cogal this year? How about the Cheesehead Roubaix? Your former "local" roads . . .

We used to dream of having a basement. Our hovel sat on a bog. My da would dig a hole in the bog and put my rollers in the hole. And we were lucky.

Did you live in a Monty Python sketch?
xyxax says:

Feb 4 2014 at 2:43 pm

I most often hear the little voice of quit in 2 situations: those long drawn-out efforts where everything hurts, the legs can barely turn the pedals, etc and the short retina-hemorrhaging full gas stomps that make aortic dissection seem like a nice way to relax. Quitting is much less likely, personally, in the former than the latter. And it shows.
xyxax says:

Feb 4 2014 at 2:45 pm

@Mike_P

@Teocalli welcome back! Hope the white stuff has been good to you and you've not broken anything

Like a nasal septum?
wiscot says:

Feb 4 2014 at 3:05 pm

@The Oracle

@wiscot

@The Oracle

Between getting up at 5:00 am to get the wife and kids (and me) off to work/school, and putting the last kid to bed at 8:30 at night, my only conceivable time for riding during the week is 8:30 to 9:00 at night. It has been oh-so-hard to force myself down into my 45 degree basement to crank out an hour's worth of pain on the trainer/rollers. More often than not, I've been losing that battle and going to bed. I think I'll print out this post and stick it to my bedside table.

Hey, as they said in Life of Brian, "You lucky, lucky, bastard!" 45 degrees? I think my garage is in the high teens, low 20s these days! You have my sympathy for the time-crunch thing, but 45 degrees sounds like luxury to me!

See you on a cogal this year? How about the Cheesehead Roubaix? Your former "local" roads . . .

Of course, even 15-20 degrees sounds delightful compared to the negative-15 it was the other morning.

I'm up for a cogal, of course, although let's keep it somewhere south of that 320km mark you were blowing out your ass earlier. What weekend is the Cheesehead this year? I'd have to check my calendar. I couldn't make it the last two years.

Hey! April 27 for Cheesehead Roubaix. Fireman's Park, Newburg.

I got a 250kms ride in last year and felt damn good at the end (all things considered - cramping left foot). That's why the goal is 320 kms this year. Or 200 miles as we say in West Bend.
Puffy says:

Feb 4 2014 at 4:48 pm

@GogglesPizano

Would be great to even get out on a Rule #9 ride that I could consider quitting... instead we sit here in the realm of not a chance one would even go out due to personal safety / extreme frostbite type of weather .... maybe a couple more weeks

Perfect. Take your rule #6 lessons on the trainer. Pretty good place for it I'd say.
Puffy says:

Feb 4 2014 at 4:56 pm

@zugo

I don't quit. My problem is different. I have trouble stablishing new goals and challenges. I'm now trying to do a transition to a more experienced group of riders from my currently "newbie we only ride bycicles" group. It's really hard for me cause I don't wanna be the last guy on the peloton. I need to take some shots of The V.

Who are you kidding? Of course you have a problem with quitting! You quit before you even started buddy. Joining the fast group and getting dropped day in and day out is best thing you can do to school yourself in rule #5 & #6. Each time you get dropped it will be closer to the end of the ride until one day you don't get dropped.