Mind Over Matter – Adverse Weather
I wake this morning to the sound of gentle rain, a thick fog chokes our abode in dewy mist, a supple breeze blows through rustling the leaves – the time is 6am. My nose picks up a faint scent of fresh coffee as I rise from the bed in a sedative state. Consuming coffee 1# for the day, I find my senses as heightened as a brazen stallion at a stud farm eager to work. Cooking up my relegious breakfast of two eggs/toast/pieces of fruit and coffee 2# I re-enter my room donning my uniform of fluorescently colored lycra.
Homoerotic techno playing in my head, shoe covers worn, training food in my pouch(s) I exit our house to my loyal waiting steed. Exiting the premise I recall the ghastly climate that awaits – @#$% ! The right hemisphere of my brain mind grumbles to return to bed, abandoning the ride till the weather eases. Yet athletic passion desired the 3 hours of exacerbation at hand….so forth I ride.
How many athletes would turn and run? How many would grin and surge forward with reckless abandon?
The cyclist that crawls back to bed has been defeated. The conscious decision was made not to ride in incliment weather, yet cycling as a sport requires a strong mental preparation component. This entails riding and racing in adverse weather conditions, as elite endurance athletes it is a intergal dynamic of our sport. One must rehearse for anything mother nature unleashes, racing in wind and rain as well as hot and humid days in training preparation. Yes it may be dark, windy, cold and dangerous and commonly you will be training alone at the mercy of drivers, rogue turkey militia and slick pavement. This is why one must remember their goals, purpose and reason for training so diligently, the weak minded athlete who refuses to get dirty must re-evaluate these objectives when needed to.
The grinning cyclist viewing the wet, windy cold weather thinks “I can do this, I can tough it out, this will make me stronger”. His affirmation of self talk will boost mental confidence allowing him to stayrelaxed through-out the training ride. Riding so focused, the damp frosty mountain air no longer carries a bite, the piercing rain is just water, the thick fog parts itself allowing a clear view on the road ahead. Kinetic energy wrought from fluid pedalling warms the core body temperature, a mantra plays in the cyclist head “looking good, feeling strong, nothing can go wrong”. The morning weather improves during the latter portions of the ride, returning home the cyclist has more time to work, recover and prepare for the next ride.
To be fair, life has its ebbs and flows, and you’re not always going to be able to be as motivated as you’d like. Sometimes you just have to push through. But the more you’re able to sustain a level of motivation that’s sufficient and healthy for you, and the more skill you have at adjusting the direction and intensity of your motivation when one or both are out of whack, the more likely you are to get the most from yourself, enjoy your cycling, and achieve your cycling goals
As cyclists we must prepare ourselves to ride in poor weather, both mentally and physically. An ability to ride on slick roads, corner, desend, sprint can dictate whether a race is won or lost. This skill can only be accomplished through aggressive physical training, a similar environment cannot be artificially generated nor duplicated in any manner, you must simply invest your time outdoors. The mental component compliments the ability to ride in wet conditions, as dirt is flinged in the eyes, fellow racers slip and fall left and right, it falls upon the mind to dictate how far the body can push, how it can overcome fear. Pre-race training in inclimate weather defeats fear, austerious we ignore any preconceived notion of falling, slipping, breaking bones when we remember previous soaked rides. This allows us to race harder and faster carrying that extra speed on a decent, around a corner, sprinting to the finish line.
My finest rides and races have been in the rain, becoming so focused and attentive of the road ahead I zone out. These are the rides where I re-discover flow, where there is no anger, sadness, happiness, pain – just peace. I ignore my legs screaming for oxygen as they drown in lactate acid, ignore the dirt in my nostril and mouth, ignore the cold wind blasting my thin frame with it’s icy talons. Layered in garbage bags and lycra with hot tea exchanged for a bottle of water, I rode until my hands went numb, until the -15 Canadian weather became unbearable. I feel no fear, no dread of ghastly weather, I have ridden through the worst allowing me to tackle anything mother nature may throw my way (to a logical degree).
To the cyclist who ventures forth in incliment weather I applaud your strive, your strength, and your indefatigability
-Take care eh
-EuroG
Keep sharing. You’re doing a great job. Hope more folks will discover your amazing talents of writing and training hard and dedication. You certainly deserve a huge audience. Wish you could get picked up by a pro cycling team, your training is probably just as hard as most pros. You’re doing alot right now with your training and article writing and twittering, that’s a huge task but I really appreciate it.
Just wanted you to know that there is someone out there that does and I hope that more people would find out about you and start following you too. You’re definitely worth it.
As you know, in the cycling world one can be really good and not get noticed but I hope you stick with things and see out your dream to the end. You’re an amazing person, they don’t come any better in terms of dedicated cyclists with a huge passion. Don’t forget it, you’re the best. You’re the best. Keep doing the great job you’re doing. And remember that someone out there appreciates your hard work and sharing. Definitely!
Just wanted to throw some positive words your way because you do deserve it and I think you should be getting alot more attention than you have gotten so far. You’ve got alot to offer to everyone – a pro cycling team perhaps and even the average cycling enthusiast you put into words things that aren’t easy to experience unless they go through what you do but everyone can learn and appreciate what you have to say.
I just dont wanna see you burn out without having gotten someone’s true words of encouragement. That happens probably alot more than we’d like to admit to, where someone really gives something a shot but didn’t get some nice words to keep them motivated. I hope you’ll get alot more supportive comments from people in the future because you’ve earned them no doubt. From your sharing and such. You’ve got an insane talent for writing about cycling but that’s because you’re an incredible cyclist! You’re probably the most dedicated cyclist I’ve ever known of what they go through, I’m sure others have done the same but since they didn’t share like you have I didn’t really truly know and appreciate their passion for the sport. Whatever your future brings, you can be proud of what you have already achieved on the bike no doubt about it. I’d say the only thing you’re missing is a pro contract which I find it hard to believe someone like you couldn’t handle their own with any team of pro cyclists on their daily training rides knowing all you do. Again best of luck pursuing that cycling dream of riding shotgun to whoever you idolize and one day being team leader.
To whomever left this overwhelming message – Thank you! …-G
Thanks for post
AWSOMENESS!!!!!
thank for helping a brotha out dude!
Hey! Muchas gracias!
It is the coolest site, keep so.
Greet!