Fitness. The rhythm, the feeling of precision in our movement, the sensations of The Ride. The temptation of knowing we might in some way control our suffering even as we push harder in spite of the searing pain in our legs and lungs. The notion that through suffering, we might learn something rudimentary about ourselves – that we might find a kind of salvation.
Cycling, like Art, is based on the elementary notion that through focussed study, we might better understand ourselves. But to describe Cycling as a an Art does it an injustice. An artist, they say, suffers because they must. A Cyclist, I suggest, suffers because we choose to.
This element of choice, what psychologists refer to as the locus of control, is part of what allows us to feel pleasure through suffering. Through this choice unfolds an avenue of personal discovery by which we uncover the very nature of ourselves. Like Michelangelo wielding his hammer to chip away fragments of stone that obscure a great sculpture, we turn our pedals to chip away at our form, eventually revealing our true selves as a manifestation of hard work, determination, and dedication to our craft.
Having chosen this path, we quickly find that riding a bicycle on warm, dry roads through sunny boulevards is the realm of the recreational cyclist. As winter approaches, the days get shorter and the weather worse. Form tempts us to greater things, but leaves us quickly despite our best intentions. Its taste lingers long upon the tongue and urges us to gain more. Even as life gets in the way, we cannot afford many days away from our craft before we find ourselves struggling to reclaim lost fitness.
To find form in the first place, and to maintain it in the second, is a simple matter of riding your bicycle a lot. This simple task asks of us, however, a year-round commitment to throwing our leg over a toptube in heat, cold, wind, rain, or sleet, lest we spend months fighting to reclaim last year’s lost condition.
But with riding in bad weather is revealed a hidden secret. It is in the rain and the cold, when all the seductive elements of riding a bicycle have vanished, that we are truly able to ensconce ourselves in the elemental qualities of riding a bicycle. Good weather and beautiful scenery, after all, are distractions from the work. Without them, we have only those elements that we ourselves bring to The Ride: the rhythm, harmony between rider and machine, our suffering, and our thoughts. As the rain pours down and all but the most devoted stay indoors, we pull on extra clothing and submit into the deluge.
We are the Few, we are the Committed. We are those who understand that riding in bad weather means you’re a badass, period.
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@Vin'cenza
Sorry to hear. Hope you heal soon. Glad to hear your rig is ok(rule 4)
@marko
12 weeks I suppose. Planning to work on more graphic design aimed at cycling -- I have some pet projects to thrive on.
@Jonny
12 weeks to build new cycling goals -- a paradigm shift.
@RedRanger
Still wearing yesterday's (race crash) base layer and left arm cover, I am already starting to 'smell' the 'aspiration' of more training and upgrades.
@Vin'cenza
Really sorry to hear that, Vin'cenza. 12 weeks because they won't pin it?
@xyxax
Right clavicle has 9" steel flat bar from Jan 2010 crash -- 12 weeks recovery. Trying to avoid any surgery this time and allow bones to stay aligned. Expecting 12 weeks recommended with or without metal repair.
@Vin'cenza
Well, that dodeca-sucks.
@Vin'cenza IMHO (not personal experience) the recovery is quicker if you get a plate, but there are often complications. So If you can keep yourself in shape with indoor sports for 3 months, go for it. Otherwise enjoy knowing you'll be peaking enough since you're going to be properly training for awhile after you get back on the bike. You've earned it the hard way. Try not to be too well hydrated while you're not riding though. Funny about the dying breath from your dual flats on The Sword. It will be resurrected again!!!
Despite a little rain, today should have been the first day in my weeks ride rotation: To work and back today (12.5km each way) and tomorrow. I alternate bewtween cadence drills, and power (anaerobic). I mountain bike Wed's AM (8.85km 366m of climbing), and Thurs night (18km, 314m climbing), taper Friday (work and back again. Then I should be ready to dish out The V to the "C Group" on Saturdays club ride.
But... Despite my Velo-hemenant adherence to Rule #9, complete preparation of Bike #1, The kit, and my soul for a sub-9°C wet ride. I was turned back by none other than the sound of car tires sliding on wet pavement. I want to be a bad ass, but not road kill. I don't even think wearing a YJA and/or judicious application of those stupid little LED lights like a hippie on the way to a critical mass would have made it any safer to commute on city streets around here. Oh Well. I'll hit some hills after work. That'll harden me up...
@mtnbikerfred
Good points and well delivered. Thanx mtnbikerfred. Went thru (2010) adding stainless steel on the right clavicle. No Holds Barred on the training advice! Will end up loving cycling even more.
@Vin'cenza
Sorry to hear about all this, mate. Good to know the bike is well. Get back on the road soon!