No technology can increase the energy of the willpower of the rider, nor can it lessen the doubts which sometimes overwhelm him.
– Bernard Hinault
As I swung off the main road, I was momentarily consumed by the simple thrill of my tires leaving the hard tarmac and hitting the rough gravel of the unpaved forest road. It was a brief distraction of the sort that keep me falling in love with the sport over and again; these small thrills fill even an ordinary ride; all you need to do is notice them. Nevertheless, the reality of the climb I was about to start was never far from the surface of my mind. I’d been preparing for it for a few hours; the heat, the gradient, the diabolical nature of the sandy gravel.
We never get used to the pain, it never stops clawing at us. The best we can do is harden our minds against what is to come and endure it, pulling the most from ourselves along the way. Mostly, we learn that pain is quickly forgotten and its sharpness begins to dull the instant we finish the effort. Then we train ourselves to remember that point and use that to resist the urge to stop. The Will is the only weapon we have in this fight: when it is strong, we fly; when it leaves us, we falter.
I’m horribly finicky about my equipment and my kit, that’s not news to anyone who knows me. Everything has to be perfect – always – but extra care is taken to guarantee perfection before an important ride. On a good day, it won’t matter whether the machine is silent or the bar tape clean; those things will never give me good legs. But if the legs are gone and I need to rely even more heavily on my mind, a creaking chain will start the tailspin into psychological collapse. The technology in our equipment can never stoke the fire of our determination but it can choke it off in an instant.
The best gains aren’t found in technology; they are found in building the strength of your Will; the Cave is a lonely place – if you don’t bring it with you, you won’t find it where you’re going. No one compels us to ride hard, to suffer. No one even asks us to. The choice to suffer is ours alone. The Will, it comes only from within.
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@frank I love posts that cut to the essence of cycling. The will. Gold.
@unversio
You've captured it!
@frank how about a haiku contest at the end of the VSP? Kinda like an ITT at the second last stage.
@Owen
Man The Butler has 5 speed and down tube shifters, you were lucky. In fact.........
@Teocalli Exactly. And we were happier in those days, because we had down tube shifters.
@freddy
Thanx. I plan to incorporate this into a design project soon after. And will let you know when. In fact my design career is about to go full tilt ciclismo. I especially appreciate the 'unlimited maximum' -- inspired by Emerson -- at a stop during solo training. Began to think about no end in nature -- no end in cycling.
@unversio
endless cirlces
Regarding equipment...about a decade ago I spent a few years running on the hilly powerline behind the plant during lunch breaks. One day I forgot my running shoes. So I put on my work boots and ran anyway. My running buddies thought I was crazy, but I follow the old racing adage "Run what you brung". Years later I showed up to my first real charity ride (a century in Maine that shall remain nameless) with a Jamis mountain bike to which I had fitted road tires. It was leaning against a porch, and I was walking around. Some pros who were participating (and shall remain nameless) noticed it there and mocked each other, suggesting laughingly that one or the other should ride it in the century the next day. I did. Pussies.
Love this article and its implications for cycling and life.
@KW For the past 13 years I have almost exclusively ridden a 23-24 pound Trek 1000 (red white and blue) with Sora 7spd. I had upgraded to better drive train, wheels, and cockpit components, but it got stolen. My brother and I had bought the same bikes back in '01 and he was no longer on the Enlightened path so he gave me his. When I've really looked at it I've at times felt embarrassed about my ride, but once I start riding it doesn't really matter any more. The Sora still shifts like I need it to, I turn the pedals over as fast as my too fat to climb self can, and I just ride as hard as I can. In the end that's what matters. Of course, I am in the process of building up a new to me steel bike...
@Optimiste I often think about going more old school with down tube shifters...maybe on a second bike, when the above is finished.