Categories: FolkloreLa Vie VelominatusThe HardmenThe RulesTradition

The Fasting Ride

Today is a good day to ride.

I’ve been doing fasting rides on the weekend, before breakfast and maybe also before lunch, depending on how long the ride is. The longer the ride, the lower the intensity. Also the more likely I am to meet my old friend, the Man with the Hammer. I might bring an Emergency Gel, in its glass tube, but I never use it, no matter how enthusiastic his visit is.

I love the hollow feeling you get just before his visits; it sharpens your senses and brings out an awareness that is hard to achieve with a sated belly. I’ve read that mountaineers experience euphoric hallucinations when they are on the verge of collapse, high up on some Merckx-forsaken snowy mountaintop. Similarly, La Volupté seems to make her appearances just prior to our own collapse, like a siren calling our ship to the rocks where her lover lies in wait with hammer lifted high.

The impulse is strong to avoid the dreaded bonk; we feel weak and if we’re riding in a group we will be unable to hold the wheel in front of us. It is not a pleasant experience. But when we continue riding in this state, the body will eventually adjust and find a way to carry on, albeit at a lower pace. Where prior to the collapse we felt a special awareness, afterwards there is a special numbness; a cloudy haze clings to us, insulating us from external stimuli. There is only us, the bike, and the road before us.

In these moments, the body becomes an automaton; the mind still works but its connection to the legs has been severed. The hands push the shifters and pull on the brakes as needed almost without influence from the head. This is for the simple reason that thinking is the least valuable thing one can do at times like this. Thinking will only lead one to become aware of the suffering. Thinking will only lead to wondering why we are putting ourselves through this. Thinking will only lead us to consider making a phone call to be collected in a heap at the roadside.

None of those thoughts will make us a better Cyclist.

I have had my espresso this morning; I am ready to ride. I look out the window and see the rain drawing its shifting patterns on the street outside my house. My phone tells me what the temperature is, but it does not tell me how cold it is. Only the ride will tell me how cold it is.

Today, I set out to meet my old friend once again; the rain will make his visit all the more brutal. Today is a good day to ride.

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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DavyMuur says:

Feb 25 2016 at 1:08 am

Yeah, not sure if purposefully riding on empty to meet the MWH is such a good idea, but that top photo is magnificent!

You can almost feel the cold nipping at the end of your fingers; the punishing gradient, and the determination to keep that gear turning over.
RobSandy says:

Feb 25 2016 at 1:15 am

@DavyMuur

Yeah, not sure if purposefully riding on empty to meet the MWH is such a good idea, but that top photo is magnificent!

You can almost feel the cold nipping at the end of your fingers; the punishing gradient, and the determination to keep that gear turning over.

Oh yeah, I'd love to be in the top photo. But then I'd be racing, not training.

But if I met the MWTH in a race it would mean a) I'd made a lot of mistakes, b) my race was over.
Teocalli says:

Feb 25 2016 at 1:22 am

@DavyMuur

Yeah, not sure if purposefully riding on empty to meet the MWH is such a good idea, but that top photo is magnificent!

You can almost feel the cold nipping at the end of your fingers; the punishing gradient, and the determination to keep that gear turning over.

The theory, and I believe backed by some science, is that it helps train the body to burn fat vs using ready glycogen you would get from breakfast.
Oli says:

Feb 25 2016 at 2:01 am

I like a good bonk in the morning.
wilburrox says:

Feb 25 2016 at 3:27 am

@Oli

I like a good bonk in the morning.

Well good luck finding a good one !
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 25 2016 at 4:30 am

@Oli

I like a good bonk in the morning.

Ha! Thanks for that, Mate! First line I read this morning on the V site and it killed me.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 25 2016 at 4:38 am

Holy FUCK, that lead photo is AMAZING! I need a shit-ton more details on that photo. What race? What year? What rider? (unless that is what @universe was talking about with his Franco Chioccioli comment). Not the Gavia in '88, is it?
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 25 2016 at 4:46 am

Reminds me of one of my top Five most favorite cycling photos ever.
fignons barber says:

Feb 25 2016 at 5:18 am

@Buck Rogers

Holy FUCK, that lead photo is AMAZING! I need a shit-ton more details on that photo. What race? What year? What rider? (unless that is what @universe was talking about with his Franco Chioccioli comment). Not the Gavia in ’88, is it?

yes, Gavia 1988. He was in the maglia rosa at the start of that epic day. He went on to win the giro a few years later....
Nik_L says:

Feb 25 2016 at 5:55 am

... afterwards there is a special numbness; a cloudy haze clings to us, insulating us from external stimuli. There is only us, the bike, and the road before us...

This. This is EXACTLY how it is. Legs engaged in just-turn-the-pedals-over mode, head hanging, hollow eyes staring 1 or 2 meters out in front of the front wheel, brain barely registering anything - but somehow also somehow completely focused on - the kilos counting down to home.

Superb insight (yet again) @Frank