Drafting Youth July 22, 2007

The title of this post has too many connotations in our war-weary land, but it is a bicycling metaphor I’m after here, so my apologies to those brought to this site with other topics in mind.

A good workout has many emotional/psychological levels or spaces, and sustaining and enjoying workouts can be a full-time mental exploration of those spaces, particularly in the first weeks and months of kneeling before the Gods of Aerobia and praying for the endorphin blessing.

There are choices to make. Do I worry about my speed, or do I just pedal comfortably? Do I resent the super-fit team riders whose rear aspects become way too familiar, or do I look to them for inspiration? This vocal committee in our heads can present a very energetic struggle, or it can be virtually silent and existential. One choice I have made in this ongoing conversation has served me well, and its pleasures were brought to me once again today.

In the course of any workout, there is no average speed and no typical motivation among riders. Passing is very equal opportunity, and age and gender are not great predictors of workout speed. However, age is a somewhat better speed indicator, as young people generally have not endured a thirty year hiatus off the bike. And as people of any age or gender work to establish a more fit physiology for their futures, growth happens slowly as tissues grow and the chemistry changes, so everyone is on some path, our bodies obeying some quiet natural curve of change. In other words, older riders get passed a lot. How to cope with grace?

As anyone who has ever appreciated a coach can tell you, it is impossible to drive yourself to your full potential, to find a level of performance beyond what you believe your capacity to be. We generally aren’t even aware that we hold such beliefs while we are in the midst of exertion. In fact, we usually tend to find a level of comfort beyond which we don’t tend to venture, at least for very long periods of time. Younger cyclists present us with an opportunity.

Today I was passed by a woman who was pedaling an extremely consistent 20 mph pace, using an efficiency of pedaling motion and posture I admired extremely. My first thought was, “Whoa, what a machine.” I was in the latter third of my mileage, so I was less than inclined to fall in with her, but did so nonetheless, keeping a hundred feet or so behind. After a mile or so I was aware that I was at my maximum output, and that output moved past my maximum after about three. Hearing my hamstrings warning of “cramps a’comin’!” I backed off, grabbed a few gulps of water between pants, and watched her disappear down the trail. Awesome.

I have enjoyed this service before from other younger riders, and I yet to have the pleasure of thanking them for their pace. Without their lead, I would not have felt the limits I’m working to push past. Occasionally I am aware I am providing the same service to others – I pass riders only to sense them falling in with me for awhile, some distance back. I would never imagine that we’re not competitive out there – we all want to be faster than everyone else – but in practice it’s a pretty decent cooperative community of coaches. I’ll use this blog to thank my coaches in print – thanks for the inspiration and leadership, and for all you teach.