the tao of cycling: grab a big gear and get out of the saddle

Friday, July 25, 2008

grab a big gear and get out of the saddle

I have a friend who rides a mountain bike. he used to ride a road bike, decades ago, so he knows the other side as well.
when I started riding a few years ago, he gave me a short list of advice. two things stuck with me:
1. cadence, cadence. it's all about cadence.
2. when climbing, every so often grab a big gear and get out of the saddle.

at that time, I didn't understand either bit of advice, as he used words I was slightly familiar with, but in ways that were foreign to me. cadence? well, sounds like rhythm. must be about pedals going around and around. "grab a big gear?" huh? saddle, ok, I got that.

and now, it all makes sense. I have had cadence drummed into my head (be a spinner, not a masher, spin those legs around), and I get it. cadence has even become one of those beautiful words for me. it flows, it's smooth, I like it. which does not mean that I always keep a beautiful one when riding. but I get it.
and the big gear: make it harder, stand up and push yourself a bit. give your bottom a break, and let your legs have a new experience for a minute or two. I get this one, too. (though I still am completely confused about "gearing up" and "gearing down" . . . which way is which? are higher gears harder or easier? I'm always backwards here.)
these bits of advice took a while to connect with my reality, but once they did, they became staples in my bicycling larder.

the other day I was talking with a friend about her goal of becoming "unstuck." she felt that her life was hovering instead of expanding and soaring, and she told me about some steps she was taking to un-stick herself. this is a great visual, and it quickly connected in my mind with grabbing a big gear and getting out of the saddle. grab that big gear: try something new, different, challenging, or on your list of future goals. get out of the saddle: leave your comfort zone, expose yourself, reach further than ever before.

cadence: keep going, keep moving, keep your momentum, switching gears when necessary.
grab a big gear and get out of the saddle: reach for those stars, give yourself a new experience, push just a little more than you think you can.
because you can.

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the Male Ego

The other day I was coming down a canyon in my drop bars (two years ago I would have said, 'what's a drop bar?'), working hard, when I came up on two guys who were also heading downhill but at a more leisurely pace. I passed them, said hello as I did so, and pulled back into the bike lane. a few minutes later they went flying past me, faces looking dead ahead, not a single bit of acknowledgment that I even existed on this planet let alone was involved in and enjoying the same sport they were.
I have to attribute this to the male ego. what else can it be? now I know we all have egos, myself included. and mine even shows its ridiculous little head once in a while, or perhaps more often. but the difference between mine and say, those of certain men on bicycles, is that I KNOW mine exists and I can LAUGH at mine. I know my ego was quite excited to pass those guys, and I could also smile because I knew if the men had really been working like I was, they would have kicked my butt down the hill.
I think I pissed them off.
and I'm sure I will be sharing with you much more of my thoughts about the male ego . . .

a little history

I was married, and I had a mountain bike which I rarely rode. we separated, I moved out, and four months later someone stole my bike. the next spring, 2005, I bought myself a new mountain bike. I rode occasionally, and in april 2006 I rode in my first century, the Cactus Hugger in St. George, Utah. I made it 54 miles on that mountain bike, and it took me about 6 hours. I think that included the rest stops where I prayed that someone would steal my bike again . . .
in june 2006 I started riding my mountain bike five mornings a week, a 45-55 minute loop that was intended to be all about exercise. and what I found was that I loved the quiet, peaceful morning full of bird chatter and barely breaking sunrises. by that fall I was hooked, and began considering the purchase of a road bike. I rode up emigration canyon for the first time that Labor Day of 2006, panting and plowing along on my trusty (heavy) bike, and a month later I was the proud owner of my own road bike: I had become a two-bike girl!
a 17-week-long "power camp" over the winter and a handful of new friends kept bicycling front and center in my life, and when spring of 2007 rolled around I was ready to hit the pavement. I rode my first century the end of april, when I again went to St. George and completed that Cactus Hugger. it took me about 7 hours, but this time I rode the entire 100 miles with about 9300 feet of vertical gain. woo hoo!
I started riding canyons around our area, emigration and millcreek, city creek, big cottonwood, little mountain and big mountain, and once--yes, only once--little cottonwood.
then in september of 2007, I rode from Logan, Utah, to Jackson, Wyoming, in the slightly infamous LOTOJA race. I rode, I did not race. and I completed the thing, crediting my good training buddies, the incredibly perfect weather, my support team, and an amazing convergence of all things positive in the universe.
I put in about 3500 miles last season, and as of today, july 19, 2008, I have about 1700 in, adding to it every day.
I have again signed on to ride the LOTOJA race, and my goal is to have just somewhere near as great a ride as I did last year. oh, and to have someone fun to talk with along the way as I got incredibly bored last year . . . star valley is still a nightmare scene in my biking memories . . .
and here is a picture of the machine that has helped me reclaim my life.