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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Buck Rogers says:

Feb 26 2016 at 4:53 am

@universo

Planning to ride Passo di Gavia in my lifetime, so why not 2017. Hoping to have pedale forchetta with me and all others willing to go.

I just received orders to move to Germany this August for the next 3-6 years!!! I might just be in for this trip on the Gavia. Cannot WAIT to be living in Germany full time for the next multiple years!!!
universo says:

Feb 26 2016 at 4:58 am

@Buck Rogers

Good. Let's keep me accountable. Much is projected to happen this year, but this day on the Gavia will be the pay off.
1860 says:

Feb 26 2016 at 5:52 am

@Buck Rogers

Where in Germany are you going to be based? I lived there for 8 yrs, am now based in Vienna, Austria. Looking forward to a cogal somewhere close.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 26 2016 at 6:03 am

@1860

@Buck Rogers

Where in Germany are you going to be based? I lived there for 8 yrs, am now based in Vienna, Austria. Looking forward to a cogal somewhere close.

I will be working at the Landstuhl Military Hospital right next to Kaiserslautern. And yes, a Cogal will be in order!!!
Harminator says:

Feb 26 2016 at 6:32 am

@Buck Rogers

@1860

@Buck Rogers

Where in Germany are you going to be based? I lived there for 8 yrs, am now based in Vienna, Austria. Looking forward to a cogal somewhere close.

I will be working at the Landstuhl Military Hospital right next to Kaiserslautern. And yes, a Cogal will be in order!!!

Holy shitballs, Batman. The European dream. So much goodness surrounds. A $100 flight or day's drive could see you anywhere from the cobbles to the Pyrenees. No excuses now for Keepers' Tour 17.

I rode the Gavia last year. Its a beautiful symphony. It didn't hurt me too badly. I also did the Mortirolo soon afterwards. If the Man with the Hammer has a basecamp, its on the Mortirolo. Highly recommended.
Johnny Mac says:

Feb 26 2016 at 6:44 am

There's an interesting section in Michael Hutchinson's book 'Faster - The Obsession, Science and Luck Behind the World's Fastest Cyclists' where he discusses the science behind the 'fasted ride', and that while you might be in fat-burning territory for a long time, you're also probably in protein-burning, eating-your-own-legs territory as well. For those who haven't read it, it's a very interesting book. It also discusses at length something @Gianni wrote about in one of his articles dating back to 2012 (Choose Your Parents Wisely) that ultimately genetics will decide the difference between champions and those who come close. Hutchinson for example has an incredibly high VO2 Max figure, but his rate of blood lactate build-up is also high meaning he could never quite cut it with the best. Definitely recommended reading.
Harminator says:

Feb 26 2016 at 6:49 am

Re the Fasting Ride. I fear the bonk as much as the next guy but could always afford to lose a kilo or 5. I remember reading The Secret Race and Domestique and being ready for the pro peloton doping stories but shocked by the eating disorders.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 26 2016 at 7:25 am

@Harminator

Definitely. I'll be about 25 miles from the French border and about 2.5 hours from Liege. Spring Classics 2017, here I come!!!
Ron says:

Feb 26 2016 at 8:00 am

@Johnny Mac

There’s an interesting section in Michael Hutchinson’s book ‘Faster – The Obsession, Science and Luck Behind the World’s Fastest Cyclists’ where he discusses the science behind the ‘fasted ride’, and that while you might be in fat-burning territory for a long time, you’re also probably in protein-burning, eating-your-own-legs territory as well. For those who haven’t read it, it’s a very interesting book. It also discusses at length something @Gianni wrote about in one of his articles dating back to 2012 (Choose Your Parents Wisely) that ultimately genetics will decide the difference between champions and those who come close. Hutchinson for example has an incredibly high VO2 Max figure, but his rate of blood lactate build-up is also high meaning he could never quite cut it with the best. Definitely recommended reading.

Yup, I got pretty far in my sport-of-choice as a youth. Worked very, very hard, had the attitude that I was just as good as the best. Now that I'm removed from it, and a bit older, I can watch the sport and see what separates the absolute best from the very good. While sometimes it can be hard work and repetition, there is definitely a genetic aspect to being on top. In team sports, if everyone is a bit taller, stronger, faster...well, that 2nd tier team is just overmatched.

That said, there is nothing wrong with pursuing sporting to the highest level you can reach. It's satisfying and though I'm not much for official competition these days, I'm still proud to call myself an athlete.

And, as more and more folks take up lifetime sports...you can still spot the true athletes in the pack of people out engaging in sports. On or off the field, just something about how one carries themselves, their build, and their Casually Deliberate movements convey hours and years of training.
Teocalli says:

Feb 26 2016 at 8:31 am

@Ron

And that little bit of the brain that ;its you do this to yourself.......