While everybody in the universe who can pedal contested Page County, Millersburg, Elk Grove, and a bunch of other events over the past two weekends, I took a much-needed break from racing. I like to think of this time as a polar bear sees hibernation; a chance to disappear for a while and emerge bigger, badder, and ready to kick some ass. Except that (a) nobody knows how a bear views hibernation and (b) from what I recall from my “Planet Earth” DVDs, the bear actually comes out weakened, starving, and often with cubs in tow.
I’m digressing. It is unlikely that I will be either starving or in possession of a bear cub at the end of this hiatus.
Instead of racing, I’ve been doing unstructured rides for 2-3 hours at a time. Although my coach described them as ‘mellow’ rides on my training calendar, I interpreted that to mean ‘ride at the edge of agony’ and have taken up surfing the front of the local group rides. It’s more exciting than riding alone and forces me to work harder than I might if I was solo or riding with somebody in front of whom I’m willing to slack. I’d sooner chew my arm off than willingly drop off the back of a group of hard-charging guys, men in primary color jerseys with helmet mirrors, and the HPC tweens.
So the rides have been fun and a nice change of pace from doing interval training. I tried the Sunday morning Coppi ride and Thursday night RBC ride and enjoyed both, although it’s easier to ride hard when you know the route. (Actually, it’s easy to ride hard no matter what, but sometimes – like two Sundays ago during my first Coppi ride – you look back and realize that you missed the turn that everybody behind you took.) I’ve also gotten to ride with some excellent riders, one of my favorite of which is Nima from the Kelly Benefits team. Nima is fast. Nima rides hard. Nima makes my legs cry. I now end each ride by asking Nima to please come back next time; he is kind enough to not roll his eyes.
Sometimes when I am wheelsucking, he spits/drips sweat and I can feel it hit my arms or legs. I have not stooped so low in my Obsession With Fast People to not find this unpleasant, but it has crossed my mind. Maybe it will make me faster? Maybe I sound creepy. In my defense, my natural instinct is to cringe and yell “Dude! Gross.”
I’m just really enjoying the opportunity to be challenged, especially outside the stressful environment of a race. When somebody shows up at a group ride and other people groan because they know the ride just got harder, I get excited because I know it will make me faster and stronger when I try to keep up. Now I’m constantly thinking about the next ride, wondering who will come out, how the sprints will go, and how my legs will feel. Come to think of it, this is not entirely unlike the thrill of racing.
And with that, I think it might be time to end hibernation.