Category Archives: Cycling

Ouch!

Posted on by

Mornings have been…brisk.  Well below freezing this week and if I thought it was challenging to ride at 5 above, it’s considerably more so at 7 below.  I still manage to work up a sweat which is mildly concerning from a what-if-I-break-down-and-freeze-to-death perspective – clearly haven’t figured out the layers yet.  So much simpler to ride in Calgary summers.

The comments (and readership if I’m honest) here are pretty slim.  I know most all of my regulars in the real world (and thank you for your continued patronage).  Even my international readership was quickly traced to my travelling family (thanks for reading while in Italy guys!).  I do however get a whack of hits thanks to this photo.  Rasmussen.  I ripped it from the web and posted it up while snidely remarking that I’d rather not be a cyclist if this is what they look like.  Well Mr. Rasmussen the Pro Cyclist gets lots of hits from people looking for what I assume to be real information, so they land here, curse the site for misleading them and leave pretty much immediately.

Waiting for first-time-comment moderation (a policy introduced thanks to the voluminous spam this blog attracts) was a legitimate comment from some poor schlep who landed here searching for Rasmussen.  I skimmed it quickly, finger already on the mark-as-spam button when something caught my attention.  It lacked the usual content “ Your blogging is best I have read.  You have many expertise on this subject and I will come to here much often!” signed by triple X email address.  Sure.  Anyway – I opened my eyes a little further and re-read it, still mostly asleep.  I caught “oh my god”, “look” and “Rasmussen” and I said to no one in particular – I know – how translucent can a guy be?  I patted myself on the back for garnering a comment from some random interweber all the way from the fatherland of pretzels and giant beer steins.  A smile slowly crept across my sleepy face as my finger headed for the “oh yes, definitely approved” button as I read it one more time.

A new comment on About is waiting for moderation:
Author: Silk
Oh My God.
I’d rather look like Rasmussen.

Oh…ouch.  That’s a hurricane hook kick to the ego.  The comment was posted to this picture of yours truly.

Now I know it excels in its dorktastic Fredulence.  I was told I looked like a mall cop before I posted it.  It’s intentionally ridiculous but it’s still me.

The comment stung because the author highlighted my dig at Rasmussen.  What I did was steal a picture of a real individual, post it on my blog, then mock his appearance. Seems fair to have my picture mocked as well.  It wasn’t particularly nice of me and frankly I didn’t give a moment’s thought about the individual in the picture.

But then this is the internet where nobody is safe from ridicule and ripping, and worse yet, I’ma  true fred banging on a legitimate, prize-winning pro cyclist.  Who am I to mock his glow-in-the-dark pastiness or his Buchewaldian physique?  I’m sorryish.  Almost.

What’s the difference between a doping cyclist and a doping bodybuilding?  One dopes to be strong with the least amount of mass possible, the other dopes in pursuit of the greatest mass, and volume, they can afford.  Otherwise both compete in sports that, apart from massaging the competitive drive in its participants and the wallets of sponsors, do nothing.  Both are clearly obsessed.

We think nothing of snickering at the “elite” bodybuilder who looks like a circus freak because they’re so extreme, so far outside of normal as to be cartoonish.

Markus Ruehl - freakishly big

So is Rasmussen.

Extreme

His single-minded pursuit of pro-cycling excellence leaves him looking like a caricature.  I’d even been advised that “that picture of Rasmussen on your blog – it’s going to drive people away.  You should warn your readers that it’s there”.

So does being outside the norm – and just what is norm anyway  – mean you’re a fair target for unflattering commentary?  Everyone or just some people?  Celebrities?  Unknown, nobody bloggers?  I’m not sure I know how to draw the line.  As a parent I don’t want people making my kids feel bad about their looks – there’s an entire cosmetics and fashion industry that can do that thanks – and it would be unconscionable to poke at someone else’s.  What about strangers?  Friends?  Family?  I’m thinking the last two are clear “yes” answers.  If I can’t rib my own friends and family, how will they know they’re in the cool group? I don’t know.

At any rate,  I can take my dorkinian helmet with its nü-rider accessory mirror off, put it on the shelf and become an average, anonymous, polite and apologetic Canadian and I’m pretty happy with that. Besides, Best Wife will take me even with the nerd-pot strapped to my head and she’s the only one I need to impress.

Crime and Punishment

Posted on by

Not a lot of riding in last week, just 2 days.  Between Best Wife being laid out by some monstrous flu bug and my inability to set a morning alarm Friday, I managed to ride just Monday and Thursday.  A large disappointment I must admit, and a far cry from my stated goal of 175km per week.

But Thursday…what a ride!  When I walked out of the house I could hear – but not feel – the wind blowing all around.  You knew the wind was going to be a factor and it was going to be a serious one at that.  I shrugged my shoulders and resigned myself to further “training” as I strapped on my helmet and opened the gate.

I headed east towards Centre street in the morning darkness, senses on high alert as the possibility of getting run over was high on my mind.  It was dark, cold and windy – not the scenario you entertain riding in when you’re driving to work all bleary eyed with a coffee in one hand and doughnut in the other.  I was feeling pretty good after two days sitting at home tending a sick wife and 3 rowdy monsters and was happy to be out.  The wind, for all its noise at the house was forgotten for the moment.  I made good time down to the 32nd Ave connector and headed for the path.  The last couple of times I’d opted to ride the skinny trail between 32nd and the barrier, it had been littered with city-owned road construction signs laying across the path making for treacherous obstacle avoidance in the omnipresent threat of being squished by the heavy traffic on my left.

I picked my way through the dark path, my MEC headlight providing enough illumination to stave off complete darkness yet not allowing my eyes to adjust completely.  It was the first point I noticed the wind again as it was, for the first time in week working with me instead of against me and I sailed along seemingly effortlessly.  It was when I was riding south along Deerfoot that I turned my attention to the beauty that is a wind at your back.  Pedaling along at a nice clip and the air was dead still – no wind flapping my jacket, no air rushing past my ears, no tears from my eyes – it was like riding in a pocket of stillness.  Effortless, quiet, perfect.

Not being one for effortless, quiet and perfect, I shifted up two gears and put some heat on it.  It was a thing of speed (relative admittedly) and beauty, eminently satisfying and most rewarding.  It’s the biggest smile I’ve had riding in a few weeks.  I was punished for this crime of glee, of uninhibited joy.  On the ride home the wind was howling as strong as it had been in the morning, changing only from north north west to north north east.  Or just north.  “Training” I sighed and put my head down to fight my way home.

Slacker!

Posted on by

Friday’s ride to work hinted at something I’ve been suspecting for a while, chiefly that I’ve been slacking.  And that I need to make some adjustments to the bike’s setup.  That same day I had a rewarding ride home despite not setting any records or finding any rabbits.

I’d let a lack of sleep, energy and the ever-present headwind slowly re-set my effort level from panting-and-sweating to I-put-some-effort-in.  Sure it was a real effort and you couldn’t say I wasn’t trying at all but it was far from my best efforts.  This all-out effort was one of the chief rewards I (re)discovered when I started riding this summer and I’d been letting it slip away.

Now I know, you can’t always perform at that level – there are days when nutrition, sleep, motivation and / or any number of other factors conspire to bring you down a notch or two.  I get that.  The difference – for me – is that while you need recovery days to, well, recover, you don’t grow by putting in a good effort – that’s not enough.  The mind and body and their remarkable adaptability will grow to perform almost any task you continue to throw at it.  The brain’s now-accepted plasticity means it will devote more physical brain real-estate to a task that has received focused effort and attention be it math, martial arts or cycling.  Anyone who’s ever done anything physical – shovelling dirt all summer, lifting weights in the gym, stone mason (okay that might be a long shot all things considered – lost art that one) – knows that your ability to perform the task after a few months of work is vastly improved.  Your mind and body have adapted.   Cool.

However, the downside to the adaptability is it’s conservation of energy.  It takes effort and energy to change – to grow new muscles, to fire more neurons and bridge more synaptic gaps – this is all energy intensive.  What does this mean?  It means you’re a bit like your co-worker who always does everything required, but never works overtime, never volunteers for extra work, never moves outside what you’ve asked of them.  Adaptation comes to a halt as soon as you give it the signal that hey – we’re good enough now thanks.  Progress comes to a halt.  You must push the bounds to grow.

As I rode out this morning, a couple of factors conspired to push me back into the panting-and-sweating zone from what has become my effortful-yet-casual mode of late.  I found myself pushing harder than I had in weeks, re-discovering the Grail zone in the process along the way.  As I approached the 8th Ave overpass, another rider shot in ahead of me having come down from my right on the far side of the overpass.  His quick cadence implied that he was at least an attentive cyclist and the growing gap confirmed his speed was slightly faster than mine.  I briefly pondered following him but you know how that goes – we’re going the same direction, he’s not leaving me in the dust and therefore I must try.

I thought I was going to lose him on a couple of occasions as he managed to put some distance between us before I sorted out the best gear to reel him in.   I slowly bridged the gap and when I’d caught up to him, it occurred to me that I might not have it in me to get the job done.  It was not a quick pass and required an unsuccessful attempt at looking casual as we rode side by side for the eternity it took to get by.  I found a surprise burst of energy as he moved into my peripheral vision so I picked up my pace again, dropping him as best I could before taking my exit and heading east, while hoping he was headed west so I wouldn’t have to burn myself completely trying to keep my lead.

My point?  Good question.  Oh yes – that I wouldn’t have pulled that off if I hadn’t been in push-to-adapt mode.  Good enough wasn’t going to cut it.  The best part?  I felt fantastic all morning and that win – petty as it might be – fuelled my good mood (and sarcasm) all day.  I look forward to another adventure with the Grail tomorrow (assuming whatever sickness that is presently ravaging my wife is gone and I actually get out of the house – I arrived home this evening to find her sicker than I’ve ever seen her).