Surprise! None of these.
The most important body part to be trained for cycling is: The BRAIN.
I know this to be true from my very beginning into the endeavor of cycling.
Prior to any group ride, I had a series of questions that I required be answered before I would even consider setting my alarm. How far is this ride? How many hills are there? How steep are they? What would you compare them to? How many hours will it take us to do this route? What will happen if I can't do it? Is there a SAG? Can someone help me change my tire if I get a flat? How many people are riding in this group? Is anyone going who rides at my pace (slow!)? What if I get lost? What if I am dropped?
I never saw myself as a worrywart but I was terrified I would experience one or, worse, ALL of the very worst answers to these questions. What's worse, I continued to ask these questions while ON the ride too.
I was only riding a few weeks when the ride leader, an incredibly patient man who is full of the HOLY CYCLING SPIRIT once told me: "Riding is 90 percent in your mind and 10 percent skill." I didn't believe him. He didn't know me. He didn't know what a completely inept example of an athlete I was. He didn't know I was never much of a physical person. He didn't know...
But he did know. Because as I continued to ride and pushed through the swirling fear, overbearing unknowns and the rolling eyeballs of seasoned cyclists on the group rides to grow stronger, I found he was not only right, he possessed an uncanny ability to not answer the questions but to squelch them. He refused to humor me with the answers because they would only be followed by more questions and more questions. When it came down to it, he had enough belief and faith in not only me, but every single person who showed up on a bike. And, what's more, it didn't matter what kind of bike or bike apparel or bike gear, he treated everyone the same.
With each mile, with each ride, my mind became trained. I trusted my body to get me where I allowed my mind to wander, and amazingly, I got there. I became limited only by where my mind would go. As my brain expanded to believe that I could ride 50 miles, I rode 50 miles. As I trained it to think it could ride 75 miles, then 100 miles, I rode it.
Today, as I contemplate the return to the road, I remember my retraining begins with my brain. I must continue to get on my trainer and the spin bikes at the gym to prepare my body for the miles. But like before, I can't discount that I have to train my brain. I am only limited by what my mind can believe. I will believe that I can get back on a road bike and ride for miles and miles. I will train my thoughts around seeing myself on a shiny new road bike zooming down the south side of Usery Pass. I will practice thinking and seeing and smelling and pedalling and....forgetting,
Until I have retrained.
When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something. - Robert Browning
1 comment:
This is about the Girls Gone Riding rally yesterday, since I'm not sure who to direct this to. I was surprised that no race bibs were handed out. With the bad weather yesterday, how were the organizers able to keep track of everyone returning safely or identifying who needed help on the ride? Also, I would have liked to have seen markings on the pavement directing us where to go. I felt the map directions could have been better organized and simpler. Thanks for letting us finish, but the weather conditions at the end didn't seem very safe and I got off and walked at certain points due to the high winds. I was surprised we weren't all pulled off the course. I would not do this ride again without seeing some changes to the organization of the ride.
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