I came strongly into the Fall, stronger than in other years thanks to a late-season objective to do well at my first Heck of the North gravel classic in Minnesota. I was light and I had built good power and endurance by riding the steep gravel roads that pepper the North Cascades and suffering through brutal interval sessions on the windswept stretch of road along Shilshole Bay. I was good at hurting myself.
With the race behind me and the first of the next season’s objectives many months away, I entered into what in many ways is my favorite time of year to ride: Winter. The months between objectives at that time of year provides a kind of serenity on the bike that is hard to find when goals are looming. Focus shifts away from building a sharpness in the muscles and towards putting in long base kilometers at steady speeds. There is no need to push hard on the climbs, just slip into a nice tempo and explore the beautiful quiet of a steady rhythm.
With that serenity comes a different kind of suffering; not so acute but where the cold winds and rains harden the mind against the long hours of discomfort and somatic pain. Simply staying on the bike all day, riding from sun up to sun down, is suffering in itself. The willpower and discipline needed to hold the course and do the Work is itself an entirely different but very real kind of suffering – even if the suffering is not intense at any given moment.
But as Winter slowly loosens it grip and the days grow longer, so too do the objectives for the coming season loom nearer. It is time to pull myself out of steady rhythms and once again build towards the sharp sensations of a hard effort. I find I’ve nearly forgotten how to do it; my body resists the signals coming from the mind; its first impulse is to employ the Scotty Principle, I’m givin’ ‘er all she’s got captain! It seems my mind has forgotten that whenever it gets that message, there is always another 10 or 20 percent left to to be taken from the body.
Janus is the Roman god of beginnings and transitions; he has two faces – one looking to the past and one to the future. I’m transitioning from one kind of suffering into another; the work I did yesterday will make tomorrow’s ride a little bit better. My mind navigates through the mixed signals it receives, and the body responds and adapts. To transition is to explore the boundary between two seemingly separate entities. Science explores the boundary between ignorance and knowledge; art explores the boundary between reality and imagination; Cycling explores the boundary between the mind and body.
We are Cyclists. The rest of the world merely rides a bike.
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This past winter I used The Sufferfest videos to help change up my winter riding. They are high intensity interval training videos and they make you SUFFER! I hit the road this past weekend for my first outdoor ride in 4 months and I cannot tell you how much better I felt than in previous years. I am a recreational rider/triathlete and I will most definitely be using these videos in future winters to help me push back on Scotty and say, "Dammit man I need more!"
At first I though you wrote that you ride along Shithole Bay. Yep, that would be suffering if windswept.
At first I thought you wrote that you ride along Shithole Bay. Yep, that would be suffering if windswept.
I'm entering the spring season in the form of my life. The worst form of my life. Fat, indolent hours passed on the sofa, comfort staples of onion rings and tacos and an over-reliance on fizzy, amber-hopped recovery beverages without the justification of mileage. Ah well.
Better late than never. Last week, the commute returned with a vengeance as daylight permeated the dark Southern CA evenings. Where a week previous, evening miles would have been spent as a hood ornament on the bonnet of a myopically maniacal pick up driver, last saw golden evenings sweating over the top of Griffith park. The steady rhythm of ascent, matched with breakneck rushes down. (Oh and a wipeout in a massive pile of sand washed down by the rain - note to others, when encountering a patch of sand wider than 2 bike lengths of indeterminate depth, failure is a near certainty. An increase in speed merely accentuates the magnitude of said fail.)
Oh and I discovered a new (to me) wee brute of a hill out in my regular weekend stomping ground. Climbs 400m in 3k - not fun when rocking the winter Kaiser-belly on 11-25.
Nevertheless, a little bit of pain never hurt anyone....
Agreed. Winter kilometres always appear to be the hardest on the surface, the kind that you don't honestly want to do deep down inside. One completed then it's another matter altogether as you gain that inner satisfaction of a job well done, the hurt turned out to be beneficial, the pain cave was not quite as dark as expected. Let summer wait, I'm enjoying the now.
In winter I usually focus more on mountain biking as the UK roads can be a bit miserable in winter (British understatement) and cars are a big enough hazard without their windscreens obscured by mud/rain etc. However, this winter was so bad that off road you risked sinking without trace in a quagmire of primordial proportions so I ended up buying a winter road bike and have done more winter road miles than probably I've ever done and really enjoyed it - once I bought the correct winter clothing.
From early December I've left the warmth of my bed and abandoned my family, out of the house by 6am every Saturday and Sunday. Rides of 2,3,4,5 now 6 hours, plus turbo sessions 3 times each week, as part of my return to some semblance of fitness and being the rider I've always wanted to be but have never been. I've dealt with weather as I've never managed to before and I'm still a long way from where i want to be. This needs to be a great season cos my poor VMW and kids need more of my time. This community has directly inspired this madness in me and I'm hugely grateful for it.
VLVV
@Mike_P - sounds like serious work, chapeau!
While the earliest of the flowers bloom here in the PNW there is still a chill in the air; and so the body yearns for the short rib risotto while the mind knows the rocket salad is the path to climbing weight.
But I'll be fucked if I'm not going to order the beer. That's just crazy talk.
@Mike_P
Family time versus time on the bike. Around my household there is theme going on -- Sheetrock and Ride. I'm either handling the enormity of remodeling the house for the overall benefit of the wife, kids (3) and myself -- or -- riding whenever possible for the overall benefit of the wife, kids (3) and myself. When either are behind me, then there is just the benefit. Time and energy are gone, but the benefit is greater. And then I'll go further -- not with the house though! Eventually the theme will be Ride and Ride.