Thursday Thoughts ~~ How to End a Cycling Career

I believe in competition.  More I believe that everyone should enter some kind of competition, at least every two to three years.  Yes, that’s pretty general, and it could mean anything, but I’ll get to cycling specifics in a moment.

I like the idea of “Formal Competition,” on a somewhat regular basis.  It’s good for us.  We learn things in the contest that we could not learn any other way.  And win, lose, or draw, a good race can be a lot of fun.  But…

Please note, I used a term, “Formal Competition.”  I’m much in favor of this.  The “formal” means an organized, sanctioned event.  One with rules.  One that has impartial officials, and one that takes place in a controlled venue.  On a level field, the contest has real meaning.  It’s kind of important too, that all the participants know that a race is on.  I’m not in favor of street racing, or “secret racing,” or “charity racing.”

There is something about cycling that brings out the competitive in us.  I don’t know why this is, and I don’t understand it.  I’m put in mind of something Faulkner wrote, to the effect that, if there were two horses in a county, one could be assured that there would be a race.  Maybe that’s part of it.  Certainly a lot of the marketing of the cycling industry centers around competitive sport.

However, we should all remember one thing.  Cycling is a pastime.  It should be fun.  Wasn’t it the element of Joy that brought us into this?  I would guess that most would answer yes to that question.

And therein is the problem.  You see, we got into it for joy.  And at some point most of us start to be competitive.  Whether that competitive urge is expressed formally, or not, it tends to get expressed.  Then comes the part that can be corrosive.

I see this scenario play out far too often.  An individual in early to middle adulthood returns to cycling.  Usually there is the excuse of needing to recover fitness.  But the bike is chosen as a means to this end, because it is fun!

Then, after the suffering of returning to fitness, the individual drifts toward the contest.  There are some mixed early results.  Then comes some form of success. Next thing, the now not so new rider is “training,” and doing a lot of racing.  Racing becomes an obsession.  “Fun rides,” vanish.  It’s “march or die!”

This individual doesn’t know it, but their days as a cyclist are numbered.  Racing rules!  But racing is an extremely harsh mistress.  And one day the results begin to diminish.  So, urged on by various bicycle-specific “beauty magazines,” the obsessed competitor begins to ride harder, train more, and have less fun doing it.

The day will come when this person will “hit the wall.”  It might be an injury that does it.  It could be a crash.  It could be just one lousy race too many.  But the adult-child who returned to this delightful pastime, grows weary of it, and walks away.

What’s the cure?  The only thing I can figure is, don’t take yourself, your bike, or your racing too seriously.  And when it starts to get intense, leave all the training tools at home, and go for a long, slow ride to the grocery store.  Look at the world!  Maybe invite some folks who are really slow along for a ride, and make sure you are at the back the whole way.

It’s a thought.

My Sore Hurts and My Tired is Hangin’ Out

Yup.  To use the Texas vernacular,  “A’hm tarred!”

Lots of stuff happening, and lately a good bit of it meant losing sleep.  It’s been good, but how much of a good thing can one person take?

We often advise simplifying life, keeping things in perspective.  Focus on the fundamentals.  So?  We do try to practice what we preach.  But sometimes Life just happens.

Monday night was a great and wonderful ride.  Good companions, great terrain, fabulous riding conditons.  But it mean staying out late.  And this morning, due to an unavoidable obligation, it was an early early wake up.  That meant, dashing about, performing duties, and not getting any riding in today.

I mention all this simply to point out that everyone has those moments.  I’m counting on the habits of cycling to re-right the old war canoe.  Tomorrow is a good day to ride!

No I haven’t looked at the weather forecast.  I’ll do that in the morning.  I really don’t care what the weather holds.  I’ll dress for it, and ride anyway.

May you all do the same.

See you on the road!

Ride Report (And a hint about the next one):

Last night was the Fall Equinox Celebration Ride.  And a most excellent ride it was!

To begin with, the weather was wonderfully cooperative.  It was a mild evening, and it cooled quickly and delightfully as the sun left the sky.  Sunset occurred as we left town, and we were pretty much in full darkness shortly after 8:00 P.M.  It never got cold, but it was pleasantly cool throughout the evening.

The moon was nearly full, and had ascended into the sky before we departed.  It lit the night wonderfully, often hanging right over the roads we traveled.

Traffic was light, especially was we moved farther away from town, and it pretty much stayed that way.  Sure we had a bit of traffic as we returned, most notably as we rode northward on GA-74, but even that was quite light.

The Route:  We left “The Fred” on time, and rode south out of town.  We started the ride by following the Novice Loop, backwards, but that changed fairly quickly.  After about five miles we turned off and rode toward (and through) Woolsey.  From there on, it was mostly Terra Incognita.

Initially, we traveled more east than south.  We rode past Woolsey, and out between Hampton, and Griffin.  By the time the route turned we were actually on the outskirts of Griffin.  We skirted Birdie (which is more a state of mind than a place) and slipped back to GA-92.  After a brief stretch of 92, we again found our way onto more rural road, and slipped through Vaughn, before turing toward Brooks.  A quick trip through Brooks (all trips through Brooks are quick), set us well on our way home.  Finally, we came up GA-74, and then turned onto Redwine, and finished with a trip up the Peachtree Parkway, from the south.

This blog is beginning to attract wider attention.  For that reason, we are no longer posting names of event attendees.  That said, we had XX happy and cheerful riders along.  A good group, and a lot of fun.

Stats:  By the GPS, we covered 42.9 miles, in 3:02:00.  This is pretty respectable for night riding.  The pace was brisk, but the crew seemed to be enjoying it.

The quote of the night:  "This night stuff is cool!  You can't see the hills, so you don't feel them as much."

We can hardly wait for the Mid-Fall Celebration Night Ride, next month!

The Big Hint:  The Mid-Fall Celebration Night Ride will have a different start/finish location.  We’re going to do a remote start, a bit to the south.  Details will be forthcoming soon, but for now, know that you will have to drive about 30 minutes from Peachtree City to get to the start point.  As for the rest of the big hint, there will be bridges involved.

It’s Getting Dark… Let’s Ride!

Tonight is the night!  We’ll be going out to do the Fall Equinox Celebration Ride.  If you are new, this is an intentional nighttime ride.  Lights and reflective equipment are required.  (That means a good strong headlight, a strong flashing taillight, a reflective sash or vest, and reflective ankle bands.  More on that in a bit.)  Of course we’re requiring helmets too.

We’ll rally at the Fredrick Brown Amphitheater, in Peachtree City.  Ride time is 7:30 PM (sharp).

Sunset will be at 7:38 P.M., and Civil Twilight will end at 8:03 P.M.  After that it will be dark.

Our ride will cover somewhere between 40 and 45 miles, which means we are going to be doing most of it in the dark.  Pace will be a comfortable touring speed.  We plan to keep the group together, but we’d like to be done by 10:30 to 11:00.

The Route:  As usual, I’m keeping my cards close to my vest, but I’ll divulge this much.  There will be hills, but no monsters.  (Churchill has expressed a concern.  Churchill, you may tell your servant that we will not be traveling on Rockaway Road.)  The terrain is generally fairly gentle.  I think I can predict, with a high degree of confidence, that we will put most of you on roads you haven’t seen before.

Now, here’s a suggestion:  The requirements for these rides represent our considered opinion and experience concerning the minimum equipment for safe night riding.  Is there a maximum?  That’s a question that could be debated endlessly.  Obviously, at some point, the sheer mass of additional equipment would be so great as to prevent the cyclist from moving.  But that said, there is room for consideration.

What is essential, and what can fail?  Good reflective gear is essential.  Bouncing a car’s lights back at the driver is a great way to be seen.  Hence we require vests and ankle bands.  At first blush, it would seem that these reflective pieces are not prone to failure.  They require no batteries.  There are no moving parts.  But…

On closer examination, there are two types of reflective clothing.  One uses a process that makes cloth extremely reflective.  Scotch, has a trademark on this process, and there are others who market similar types of reflective gear.  The other common reflective part uses a multi-layer vinyl material.  And the two do not work in quite the same fashion.

The reflectivized cloth material actually is much more visible, but…  It loses most of its reflectivity when it gets wet.  On the other hand, the layered vinyl material is a bit less reflective, but it retains almost all of its reflectivity when wet.  I guess you put your money on a number there.

As for lights...  Here’s a handy concept.  Lights have been known to fail.  The bulbs burn out.  Batteries have a lifetime, and are notorious for not giving a lot of warning before failure.  It’s really not a bad idea to have a backup light.  We’re not talking about a light that comes on when you go into reverse here.  Instead, the concept is the same as skydivers having a “reserve chute.”  It’s a pretty good idea to have some kind of emergency second light.  After all, finding oneself in the dark, a long way from home, is a truly uncomfortable situation.  With today’s ultra-bright compact LED type lights, a second one is pretty easy to carry.

Tomorrow:  A brief report on tonight’s ride, and a few tantalizing details about next month’s Mid-Fall Celebration Night Ride.

Friday Follies ~~ A Cyclist will always have ten more miles…

When I was a young cyclist, just then beginning to investigate the idea of touring, I was privileged to be present at a particular “bench racing session.”  (“Bench Racing” is what performance oriented cyclists call it when they get together to exchange advice and to lie to each other.)  The topic turned to a recent incident, in which a relatively local individual was discussed.  This man had been out on a long ride.  He had gotten into trouble, and stopped going.  The conditions were bad, and the man had suffered severely from exposure, requiring hospitalization.  He’d stayed out, without rescue, for a long time.  Our local paper (a small town bi-weekly) had carried the story in some detail.

The paper described the things that the unfortunate cyclist had done after stopping.  He had attempted to construct some kind of shelter, and had been unsuccessful in starting a fire.

One of the people present at the discussion was an older and very experienced cyclist, from Europe, with a lot of touring behind him.  (Let’s call him Hans.)

Hans expressed an opinion.  “That man should have kept going.  He should have continued to ride.”

Several others argued with Hans’s viewpoint.  “He was already exhausted, and lost, and in a remote area,”  one man said.  “That’s why he stopped.”

“Besides,”  another man added,  “When you’re lost the best thing to do is stay in one place, so you can be found more easily.”

“This is not so,”  Hans said.  “Yes, the man was exhausted, but not so much.  He did a lot of things after he stopped.  So?  He could have still been riding.  Really exhausted means that riding is no longer possible.  And as for the advice to stop moving?  This applies to when one is lost in the wilds.  Not so much on roads.  He should have kept moving.  It would have kept him warmer, and the chance of finding help is much improved.”

Someone protested that the unfortunate couldn’t ride any more.  To which Hans replied,  “Bah!  Any cyclist always can go ten more miles.  If you can mount the bike, you can ride for ten more miles.”  I’ve remembered that advice, put it to good use, and given it a lot of times since then.

To brand new riders, ten miles equates to a really long way.  But anyone with a bit of experience realizes that ten miles is a relatively easy accomplishment.  I’ve found the “ten miles more” statement to be generally true, and I have put it to extreme tests.

There is an interesting corollary.  It comes under the heading of,  “The fact that one can do a thing does not mean one should do it.”  And here is where a little bit of judgment comes into play.  There have been times when I have been in remote areas, alone, tired, sick, cold, and on the bike.  The best way out of the situation was to keep going.

Now take this past weekend.  I was riding the “100 Mile Loop” of the Cox Atlanta Bike MS event.  That loop is actually 105 miles long, and it is hilly.  The day was hot.  I was having fun.  I managed to get behind the fuel and hydration curves.  By the time I hit the lunch stop (at 80 miles), I was in a bit of distress.  I felt lousy.

Lunch stop cooling, sitting, food, and drink helped me a lot.  I got back on the bike and continued.  By the time I arrived at the stop at 93 miles (one I would usually skip), I was again really feeling it.  I elected to withdraw and get a ride in.

The question remains, could I have completed this ride?  I think the answer is yes.  But I would have paid a penalty for it, and risked injury.  The ride was supposed to be for fun.  It wasn’t “for record.”  There was help readily available.  I used my judgment and took a lift.  As a result, I had a good ride on Sunday, and a great one on Monday.

That statement, “Any cyclist always has another ten miles in them,” can go a long way.  But it’s wise to know when to apply it.

A NOTE OF PRAISE AND THANKS:  The SAG drivers at the Bike MS event are true heroes.  They were fantastic!  I was far from the only rider who had trouble dealing with the heat.  Those selfless volunteers did outstanding work making pickup on literally hundreds of heat stressed riders.  They did it with style, care, compassion, efficiency, and a lot of hard work.  More, they maintained good cheer throughout a long and difficult day.  I can’t say enough good things about them.  I can only say,  “THANK YOU!!!”

Thursday Thoughts ~~ The Everyday Anytime Bike

Remember what it was like as a kid?  You could just go get your bike out of the shed and ride it.  Maybe, you had to pump the tires up.  No other special preparations were required.

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about that.  What kind of bike is ready all the time, at any time?  What stops us from getting on the bike and going for a quick ride?  Why not just jump on the bike to go to the store for that small item?  Why not grab the bike to run over to Billy Bob’s or Linda Sue’s to watch the chop suey western?  What stops us from this?

Sometimes capitol C Cyclists seem to get so caught up in the gear.  We know that clipless pedals are a terrific boost to efficiency.  We know that the correct shorts improve comfort.  But are we so fashion conscious that we are afraid to simply get on a bike without a lot of folderol?

Is it, maybe the bike?  What does an “everyday anytime bike” look like?  Is it a cruiser?  Maybe an older and somewhat battered hybrid?  Suddenly the bike manufacturers are bringing out a bunch of new, entry level type bikes.  They seem to have the thought that “less is more.”  These things have fewer bells and whistles, less suspension, less complexity.  They look like they would be more serviceable, more capable of being instantly ride-ready.

I wonder if we don’t let ourselves get caught up in all the “stuff,” and miss the ride.  As I write this, I am thinking about putting together such a ride ready bike.  Of course I am.  And that’s the problem.  I have a stable of bikes.  Surely at least one of them is ready to go at a moment’s notice, and with no real preparation?

Can it be that the act of cycling is interfering with riding?  This will take more thought.

Coming UP!

It’s time to charge up the lights and go do it again!!  Yes, this coming Monday night, we’ll go out and celebrate the change of the Seasons once more.  This is starting to become a tradition.  So…  This time, on 20 September, the night before the Autumnal Equinox, we’ll go out and do yet another 40 to 45 miler.

Venue:  Once more, we’ll meet at the Fredrick Brown Amphitheater, in Peachtree City, Georgia, USA, Earth, Milky Way, Local Group, Universe.

Time:  We’ll depart a little earlier this time, as it will be getting dark sooner.  So we’ll be leaving at 7:30 PM (sharp)

Distance:  Somewhere around 40 to 45 miles.

Pace:  A comfortable night group touring pace.  We’ll keep together, but expect to be able to finish the ride in around three to three and a half hours.

Route:  As usual, I’m going to keep routing details to myself.  I’ll promise two things.  One, it will be different.  Two, we will not go up Rockaway Road.  Aside from that, you can expect hills, flats, headwinds, tailwinds, paved roads, and mostly rural riding.

Be prepared:  It is getting cooler.  We are now into a typical weather pattern for this time of year.  Temps will likely be in the mid 80s at ride time, but they will be falling, and could drop as much as 10 degrees while we are out.  Remember too, darker feels colder.  I’d recommend bringing a pair of arm warmers and possibly a wind-shell or wind-vest along.  Just in case.

Requirements:  As usual, helmets.  In addition, you will need good headlights, a good flashing tail light, a reflective vest or sash, and reflective ankle bands.