the tao of cycling: real

Monday, March 15, 2010

real

power camp is over.
I rode my real bike out in the real world today under a real, blue, sky, while staring at snow-covered white mountains and being pushed, gently, by a genuine wind.
sigh.
it felt good.

soon will come not necessarily a moment of truth, but an assessment that will tell me the truth: as I transition to outside riding, I will learn whether or not all of the pain and exhaustion was worth it. given, the laughter and joking and kinship with similar twisted souls is a plus, no matter the physical outcome.
but it would sure nice to be just a little bit faster-better-stronger out there.

today was not a test.
today was a recovery ride, as I am in recovery week before the (I'm so embarrassed to admit this) power camp extension month begins. because even though camp is over, so darn many of us couldn't bear the thought of giving it up, the powers that be decided to offer a four-week reduced class schedule to keep us going.
yep.
beginning next monday, class will be held on mondays, wednesdays and fridays, at the beautiful hour of 5:15 am. so we'll be able to transition back into the real world instead of being shocked by sleeping too much each night.

but this week is recovery. being gentle to oneself. allowing the body to build strength after we whipped it thoroughly last saturday, giving us all a chance to back off after weeks of pushing forward, gung-ho.

so tomorrow morning is yoga, and quite possibly thursday morning as well. if the weather holds, I'll have another outside ride or two. I'll think about visiting the weight room, and I will only consider attending a spin class if the weather turns to rainy, gloomy yucch.

today was sweet, authentic, real.
I like that.

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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.