Bike reflections

Cycling has consumed me.

In the last three months, something clicked. In the last month, it clicked really, really hard. I sit quietly now at Starbucks to contemplate what is going on, to shape it, to try to avoid losing it in the coming winter months. This feels very important to me, but it might be one of those passing things. I hope not.

What's happened so far?... remembering, taking notes...

In April, I took my old green Gary Fischer bike out on the road. I was winded after riding about 3 miles and struggled with the hills, but it felt great.

In May & June, I rode that bike around the area. 10 miles was a stretch. The bike was not in good shape... couldn’t hold certain gears on the hills. I promised myself if I could get up to 40 miles in a week, I’d buy myself a serious bike for the summer, and put in serious training time. I did that, working my way up to 8-mile rides, then 15-mile rides, then finally a serious 24-mile ride up to Carlisle. I recall feeling that Carlisle and Bedford were a really long way to go from home under my own power.

On June 26, I picked up a new LaPierre from ATA. Wow. What an amazing ride experience.

In July I put in over 100 miles on about 7 different rides, mostly on the weekends.

In August, I first rode with the Monsters. That was 40 miles. Out to Harvard. A huge stretch. I did pretty well, considering.

I got in only about 75 miles in August, in large part because I was backpacking for a big chunk of that.

In September, travel kicked in, and I’m not sure what else - but I only got in about 50 miles, in part because I was trying to find time on weekends and it was raining. Not a great month for exercise.

And then in October... the weekend weather worked out. I had a week of travel to Basel, but only a week. I spent time with the Monsters. And I started biking in to work, thanks to Tom Evans showing me how. And somehow I got in almost 470 miles, averaging 4 days a week on the bike.

I feel fantastic. Those hills that were tough in May, June, August, even early October - not tough. I think I’m trimming fat off. I’ve got this ‘permanently somewhat muscle sore’ feeling that is sorta nice, telling you that you’re pushing it.

Now, it’s not all roses. I rode 35 miles with the Monsters today (and 40 yesterday, and 30 two days before), and I got dropped off the back of the group pretty regularly. I struggle to keep up with the pace in pacelines. I can do hills fast for the first 20 miles, then they start to kill me. That said, I learned from Dan Holin that my gears are arranged for flat speed, not for hills, so I’m going to have to get that addressed.

It’s amazing riding with this gang:

  • Being in the pack and moving along fast is a total blast.

  • Most of them are older than me -- all of them are in better shape.

  • They’re incredibly supportive. No complaining when they wait, and people come back for me.

  • The conversations and perspective on the world are really interesting.

I like this group. I want to be a part of it. I want to be a worthy rider... to be able to keep up with them, to compete in the sprints and on the hilltops the way others do. It’s incredibly compelling to me.

I also like feeling the way that I have been. I know I’m pushing it, I know I’m improving. It feels fantastic. It feels like I’m finally in the groove I’m supposed to be in. I’m improving in ways that I never did with running, and I’m loving it in ways that I haven’t loved other kinds of exercise.

I’ve started thinking about how to commute in the winter, and this has led me to peruse hundreds of bike web sites, trying to learn what I need to know to get through that. I like this subculture.

Some concerns, though.

  • I think I’ve overdone it. I’m a bit cooked today. The last 10 miles today, I was done. I’m not feeling up to commuting tomorrow. My body needs a rest.

  • I need to learn to pace, to train. When to push, when to do intervals, when to do hills, when to take time off. Thus far it’s just been “go hard” and “if there’s time, go biking”.

  • I noticed that my “push like crazy” is sort of like how I work. If I’m not pushing, then I feel like I should be -- unless I just recently did, and the road ahead is clear, in which case I give myself permission to coast.

  • I’m a bit worried about the coming winter. Will my interest pass? Can I keep things going? Will the Monsters community help? Can I do like I used to do with snowboarding and come off the off-season in even better shape then when I went in?

  • Am I overdoing the fascination with it? Will it all seem stupid in a few months, or is this becoming part of my life?

  • Am I doing this to the exclusion of other things? Is work suffering because of this? I haven’t quite found a way to really sit and focus when bike commuting in the way that I used to when driving. (Although: that didn’t work that great when driving, and, last Friday, I stopped at Starbucks on the bike and that worked just fine for concentrating.)

I want this to work so badly! I want to get into the right kind of shape! Time to get a bit more serious with the program, with diet, and with pacing. Injuring or burning out isn’t an option. This is too good.

And a final note - Michele has been so amazingly supportive. Get out, she says, you’re a happier person when you’ve gone exercising. Need a better bike for commuting? Makes sense... take a look. Two hours on Sunday to go biking? Ok, that’s probably best. Wow, I’m so lucky.

So what are my goals for November?

  • I’ve got travel coming up for the first week. So in that week: stretch, core, some running cardio.

  • When I return:

    • 2x commutes a week, minimum.

    • 1x ride on the weekend, minimum.

    • Starting Chris’ indoor class.

    • Learning from that class how to handle training (intervals, diet).

    • Keeping a basic core program going - 2x week on mornings or evenings I didn’t commute.