the tao of cycling: comments from the quads

Friday, October 15, 2010

comments from the quads

my legs are begging me, clamoring, shrieking, please get us back on a bike! please, please.....
it's not because they're bored.
I'm currently in fort worth, texas, on a vacation with my kids, and I did not bring my bike. I believe it's been two years since I've been on any kind of a vacation without my bike. that one was only for two days, but this one is four days long. four days in a row, off my bike? eek.
I came into this thinking it will be good for me. stretch my comfort zone, expand my horizon, that kind of thing. push me into doing something different.
so I brought my tennies and some jogging/walking clothing, and yesterday I went out for my wog. or my jalk.
the weather here is gorgeous, absolutely perfect for being outdoors. the highs are around eighty degrees, with overnight lows in the upper fifties. there's a gentle breeze, and the skies are cloudless blue blue blue.
and no matter how fit and in shape I might be, there is obviously a huge difference in muscle usage between riding a bike and jogging, for my legs are talking to me every time I move the tiniest bit. I took the time to stretch four different times yesterday afternoon/evening, and then again before I went out today. I stretched for almost ten minutes when I finished my miles this morning.
and my legs are still begging, screaming, pleading with me to let them just spin a darn bike around instead of this ridiculous pavement pounding action I've forced them to do. please, susan, a bike!
nope. I am committed to my horizon-expanding plan, and will hit the road sans machinery again tomorrow. and possibly the next day. I still harbor this secret desire to be a runner, you know, and there is this little part of me that sees this enforced-bike-free time as an opportunity to step a bit closer to that goal. I don't want to give up cycling, but it would be nice to have the ability to run, as well.
so, I'll let those muscles keep complaining, and I'll tough it out because I have a self-improvement goal here. whether I'm getting closer to becoming a runner, or simply pushing a boundary, it's all movement in a good direction.
ow. time to hobble over and get a glass of water. ow.
get us back on a bike . . .

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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.