No Talent

I should clear something up, lest anyone reading this blog get the wrong impression about me. I have no talent for cycling. Sure, I can ride over 100 miles without much trouble, and I can often hang with the faster riders on a club ride. I even like to think that I have occasional moments of greatness, even if they are rare. Although, truthfully, those moments are not really so great when considered in the company of serious road racers and ultra-marathoners. Talent in this context equates to natural genetic advantage, of which, I have little or none. I suppose that I've always known this, but never had any reason to consciously acknowledge it. While riding on Sunday, however, I had an epiphany, of sorts, that forced this issue into my conscious thought.

The ride was my default weekend ride, from the George Washington Bridge to Bear Mountain and back. I was looking forward to my first post-camp long ride. I was hoping to see some noticeable improvement. As it turned out, the few things that I noticed suggested anything but improvement.

First, about 20 miles into the ride, my right knee started to hurt. I made some saddle adjustments (raised and moved forward) that helped a bit. I guess I'm still getting the Rivendell fit issues worked out. I also took some Advil, which also helped. Up until this year, I never had knee problems. Now they are becoming a regular event.

Secondly, about 20 miles later, half way up Bear Mountain, I started coughing. I was already spinning as easily as I could (which was not really that easy given the 6-7% grade) to try and keep the pressure off of my knee, yet started coughing anyway. The cough is another new problem this year.

Third, by the time I reached the top of the mountain, I was about 30 minutes behind my riding partner. David always drops me on the climb up to the top, but I usually get there abut 20 minutes behind him. So, after a month of training, I lost 10 minutes. The worse part of it was that I was breathing hard most of the way up, so I could not even convince myself that I was in better shape -- just injured. I was bummed about it, but mostly ignored it and thought about other things. Maybe I would feel better on the second half of the ride.

That brings us to the final straw... The last climb of the ride is a two mile 4-5% grade at the New York/New Jersey border -- starting at about the 70 mile mark of the loop. It was here that I had my mini-epiphany. As usual, David dropped me at the beginning of the climb. For a few seconds, I considered going after him, but realized that this would be bad for my knee. Afterall, I need to be disciplined to stay healthy for the long tours. At the same time, however, I realized that even if I was willing to sacrifice the knee, the cough and the anaerobic heart rate would prevent me from catching him anyway.

So, even though I had a solid jump on my training, and David had only ridden 6 miles since our last trip to Bear Mountain 2 months ago, I was no closer to catching him than I was last season. This was when the reality of my natural talent was pushed into my conscience thought. And it stayed there.

Thankfully, most of the goals that I have set for myself do not require excessive talent. To accomplish my goals for the year, I mostly just need to be well-prepared, disciplined, slightly masochistic, unemployed, and a little crazy. I think I have those mostly covered.

I took the day off on Monday to recover my knee. Today, I took a short easy spin around the neighborhood -- again, mostly testing out some equipment adjustments. The knee felt OK. But, then again, it always does for short rides...

Photos

Photos on Bear Mountain...

A shot of the Bear Mountain Bridge as seen near the top of the mountain

View to the north from near the top of the mountain

Looking back from the top

Looks like the ride back might be cold and wet

Playing with color saturation

Sunday Ride Summary:

Route: George Washington Bridge to Bear Mountain Loop
Distance: 85 miles
Speed (avg/max): ?? mph / ?? mph
Riding Time: 6 hours 35 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours 01 minutes
Power (avg/max) ??? watts / ??? watts
Calories Measured at Wheel: ???
Heart Rate (min/max/avg): ??? bpm / 190 bpm / ??? bpm

Tuesday Ride Summary:

Route: Neighborhood Ramble
Distance: 13 miles
Speed (avg/max): 13.1 mph / 24 mph
Riding Time: 0 hours 58 minutes
Total Time: 0 hours 58 minutes
Power (avg/max) ??? watts / ??? watts
Calories Measured at Wheel: ???
Heart Rate (min/max/avg): 101 bpm / 155 bpm / 133 bpm

Miles this Year: 1763