Thursday Thoughts: Accountability

I am not going to do the standard fall back and spend time on a “Halloween” theme. Hope you all survive that just fine. Me? I won’t be there.

For the cyclist Autumn is an odd time. We really want to keep riding, but it’s difficult. The days grow shorter… And colder. Then, to add insult to injury, the bureaucrats mess with the clock! Suddenly it gets dark an hour earlier!

Most of us have some kind of coping mechanism. Many of us start slipping a bit. It’s not unusual for adult cyclists to “fall off the wagon” completely. By Thanks Giving, it’s all over. We are out of shape, and gaining weight. Not for nothing are there jokes about the Old Guys Who Get Fat in Winter Racing Team.

Lots of things can help. Here are some of my favorites. Use what works for you.

Pick a Spring event and enter it! Pick one that will be demanding enough to require some serious training. Commit to the thing. Write a check. (Once you have money on it, it is real!) Then work up a written training plan. Post this where you will see it each and every day. Keep a training log. In writing. Post your progress in your log on a daily basis. These things tend to give you some accountability. They keep you focused.

Join a Spin Class. (Accountability again.)

Get into a routine of gym work. I know! It’s boring and creepy to be at the gym, but it helps you.

Pull your “standby bike” off the hook and get it into good riding condition. Do the work yourself. Learn how. This keeps you thinking about next year, and how you are going to ride. Once this task is done, tackle your prime ride, and get it fully maintained and functioning perfectly.

You don’t have a “standby bike”? Maybe now is the time to purchase that. You could find a “beater” and work it up. You could plan for, and acquire, a new bike as the primary, and then use your current one as the “standby” or “rain bike.”

Think about some of the things you want to do on the bike next summer. Find pictures that capture that. Online, in bike magazines, etc. Post these pictures on the inside of your front door, on the refrigerator, on the bathroom mirror, and other places where you will see them regularly. It helps.

Ride whenever you can.

Stay in touch with your cycling friends. Try setting up some regular weekend rides with them. The hlidays will interfere with this, but if the routine is established, it will survive the interruptions.

Keep the Faith! Spring will come!