I have been reading about marketing and how a person's perception colors their view of reality. The book is fantastic and I highly recommend it. The name of the book is Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely. One of the premises is that perception before an event greatly influences how we experience the event no matter our age, experience or result.
What does this have to with cycling you ask. Well here is the lead. I noticed at Solvang that when I had a certain amount of nervousness about an event, like riding with the B group, I did not do as well because I saw myself at a disadvantage. I felt I was working harder and getting less results. Once I moved to the C group the pressure was off but that in of itself did not allow me to do better. Once the pressure was off I was able to enjoy myself more and the enjoyment allowed me to have a positive attitude.
Now that I am back from camp and I have been able to analyze my behavior and since I have read Ariel's book I realize that my negative attitude, "This is hard", "These guys are better than me" or "I am too slow," greatly affected my results. When I changed my internal jabbering to "This is fun," "I can do this," and "I am riding really well today," I felt I rode better, the ride seemed easier and I had a much better time no matter what the results.
Here is my lesson learned. Instead of my usual mantra, hydration/rotation or nutrition/position it's now, "I can do this." So far on yesterdays LTs the strategy worked well. I hereby vow to always have a positive attitude and strive to put a positive spin on whatever i am doing, no matter how hard.
I do find myself slipping into negative thoughts but i am learning to push them away. I always knew cycling was 25% mental, now I have the reasons and the method to push the negative doubting thoughts aside.
One more piece of the puzzle. See you on the road.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Time can move slowely
By being a cyclist I have finally learned about Einstein’s theory of relativity and time. Time is a very funny concept. Einstein says the faster you move the slower time moves. Dr. Who says that time is a funny stringy ball kind of thing. I don’t understand Dr. Who but Einstein is correct, the faster I ride the slower time moves, especially inside.
The other day I was doing SEs, slow cadence peddling at high watts, 80% with pops at 120% and the 2mn pops took forever. Not to mention the length of the Sunday inside rides. I swear that 3 hours can seem like days, weeks or eons. The only thing that makes time move faster is talk, no matter how odd (I will be back to that in a second) or some kind of distraction.
Back to talk making time move faster. Most of us inside riders have a repertoire of jokes and stories. If we are board enough we will resort to worse and odder stories. The funny thing is that the listeners don’t seem to mind how odd the conversation is. The banter makes time flow. I have the reputation of being a good talker. I need the blather so I can ride and not fall off the bike, it keeps my brain from seizing. One could say that talk is the lubricant of time. More talk, the faster time moves. No talk or time lubricant and time screeches to a halt.
Here is a simple way to test my hypothesis. Ride by yourself inside for 3 hours. Check the clock when you start riding but don’t look at the clock as you ride. Then as you ride estimate the amount of time you have ridden. I suspect you will think you have ridden longer then you really have, in fact you will think you have ridden much longer than 3 hours. In fact I am riding now and trying to pass the time, but time is not moving as fast as I would like so to speed time up I will type and talk thus going to mach 2.
Yes time is starting to move, I feel much better, the ride seems shorter. But I need more speed like on Star Trek, “Scottie I need more power.” Scottie replies, ‘Captain I can’t violate the laws of physics.”
Yes we can violate the laws of physics, we have the secret ingredient of time. I will now move to mach 3. GTG, see you on the road.
The other day I was doing SEs, slow cadence peddling at high watts, 80% with pops at 120% and the 2mn pops took forever. Not to mention the length of the Sunday inside rides. I swear that 3 hours can seem like days, weeks or eons. The only thing that makes time move faster is talk, no matter how odd (I will be back to that in a second) or some kind of distraction.
Back to talk making time move faster. Most of us inside riders have a repertoire of jokes and stories. If we are board enough we will resort to worse and odder stories. The funny thing is that the listeners don’t seem to mind how odd the conversation is. The banter makes time flow. I have the reputation of being a good talker. I need the blather so I can ride and not fall off the bike, it keeps my brain from seizing. One could say that talk is the lubricant of time. More talk, the faster time moves. No talk or time lubricant and time screeches to a halt.
Here is a simple way to test my hypothesis. Ride by yourself inside for 3 hours. Check the clock when you start riding but don’t look at the clock as you ride. Then as you ride estimate the amount of time you have ridden. I suspect you will think you have ridden longer then you really have, in fact you will think you have ridden much longer than 3 hours. In fact I am riding now and trying to pass the time, but time is not moving as fast as I would like so to speed time up I will type and talk thus going to mach 2.
Yes time is starting to move, I feel much better, the ride seems shorter. But I need more speed like on Star Trek, “Scottie I need more power.” Scottie replies, ‘Captain I can’t violate the laws of physics.”
Yes we can violate the laws of physics, we have the secret ingredient of time. I will now move to mach 3. GTG, see you on the road.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Camp Recovery
For the past 2 weeks I have been recovering from bike camp. During camp I did 310 miles in 6 days and rode with an intensity two and a half times greater then I usually do. I did well during camp, learned a ton and road at or above my level. I had a great time and was super charged up when I returned. Unfortunately my body was not as pumped and I hit a wall the Thursday after I returned.
What does the wall look like? Well it is not pretty. My legs became wobbly and lost strength. I also lost the fire to train for the Etape this summer. Loosing the incentive to train is very odd for me. (I may not be the fastest person but I strive to be the most consistent trainer knowing that time on the bike will make me better.) Finally, that Sunday when I had a very easy 1.5-2 hour ride planned at the bike gym I could not do it. Every minute seemed like 5, I could not muster any energy to ride the course, I had no interest in continuing. At the 1 hour mark I unplugged, dismounted from my bike, put everything away and went home.
Its 1 week later. During the last week I have been stretching, all my riding was at submax, and I am doing functional training at the gym. Slowly my legs have been coming back. More importantly my desire to train and my cheery attitude have returned. Today the sun is out, the birds are tweeting, its 45, and I can ride outside.
On todays 3 hour ride my legs responded to the sprints. I did not mind the cold and I wanted to ride. Its amazing what a little recovery time did for my mental outlook. I think I am back.
See you on the road.
What does the wall look like? Well it is not pretty. My legs became wobbly and lost strength. I also lost the fire to train for the Etape this summer. Loosing the incentive to train is very odd for me. (I may not be the fastest person but I strive to be the most consistent trainer knowing that time on the bike will make me better.) Finally, that Sunday when I had a very easy 1.5-2 hour ride planned at the bike gym I could not do it. Every minute seemed like 5, I could not muster any energy to ride the course, I had no interest in continuing. At the 1 hour mark I unplugged, dismounted from my bike, put everything away and went home.
Its 1 week later. During the last week I have been stretching, all my riding was at submax, and I am doing functional training at the gym. Slowly my legs have been coming back. More importantly my desire to train and my cheery attitude have returned. Today the sun is out, the birds are tweeting, its 45, and I can ride outside.
On todays 3 hour ride my legs responded to the sprints. I did not mind the cold and I wanted to ride. Its amazing what a little recovery time did for my mental outlook. I think I am back.
See you on the road.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The consciousness of cycling
When I first joined VQ I was surprised to learn that there was more to riding a bike then peddling. In fact I was surprised that learning to ride was so complicated. Sure I can ride and at times I can ride fast but am I riding efficiently, am i conserving enough energy to achieve my goals?
I have read that there are 4 levels of consciousness.
Unconscious incompetence: You don't know what you don't know.
Conscious incompetence: You know what you don't know.
Conscious competence: You know what you know.
Unconscious competence: You practice what you know unknowingly.
It is really easy to get from unconscious incompetence to to the next step during a ride. All it takes is any experienced rider yelling at you and telling you what you are doing wrong. For example while riding in a pace line I have often heard, I am too far behind or I need to get closer to the person beside me, or I need to keep my elbows and arms in; unfortunately my faults are extensive and I will spare you reading the laundry list.
I have diligently tried to learn from the other riders by watching them. For example I often watch the riders I consider the best and look at their cadence, position on the bike, or form. Robbie has repeatedly explained the art of cycling. I have often heard him say, spin the legs, it will keep them fresh or it is better to burn a match, work over your limit for a short period of time, to stay with a group because the group will eventually ease the pace and you will be with them.
However what people don't talk about is that hearing, learning and doing are all separate and for me, come slowly. This past week Robbie was amazed that it has taken some people so long to learn a simple lesson. The lesson I had a hard time learning was burning a match. I have heard the talk many times but never really understood how to apply matches to riding hard. Do I ride hard and blow up just to limp home alone? Do I not take anytime at the front, a cycling faux pax in a friendly ride, and what is a match really, how much energy, when do I use it and how do I use the energy? These questions dog me during a ride and in my contemplative off times. (Yes even hyper guy has down time.)
The only answers I have found is time on the bike, and repeatedly hearing more experienced riders comments/suggestions. By riding I have found understanding, not that understanding translates into action, that is why I say time on the bike. Time on the bike is giving me confidence in my abilities. My conscious incompetence/competence comes from time, riding and hearing the message over and over. I guess that is the dirty secret of cycling. It's butt time and experience like everything else. Damn and I thought it was all about peddling.
I have read that there are 4 levels of consciousness.
Unconscious incompetence: You don't know what you don't know.
Conscious incompetence: You know what you don't know.
Conscious competence: You know what you know.
Unconscious competence: You practice what you know unknowingly.
It is really easy to get from unconscious incompetence to to the next step during a ride. All it takes is any experienced rider yelling at you and telling you what you are doing wrong. For example while riding in a pace line I have often heard, I am too far behind or I need to get closer to the person beside me, or I need to keep my elbows and arms in; unfortunately my faults are extensive and I will spare you reading the laundry list.
I have diligently tried to learn from the other riders by watching them. For example I often watch the riders I consider the best and look at their cadence, position on the bike, or form. Robbie has repeatedly explained the art of cycling. I have often heard him say, spin the legs, it will keep them fresh or it is better to burn a match, work over your limit for a short period of time, to stay with a group because the group will eventually ease the pace and you will be with them.
However what people don't talk about is that hearing, learning and doing are all separate and for me, come slowly. This past week Robbie was amazed that it has taken some people so long to learn a simple lesson. The lesson I had a hard time learning was burning a match. I have heard the talk many times but never really understood how to apply matches to riding hard. Do I ride hard and blow up just to limp home alone? Do I not take anytime at the front, a cycling faux pax in a friendly ride, and what is a match really, how much energy, when do I use it and how do I use the energy? These questions dog me during a ride and in my contemplative off times. (Yes even hyper guy has down time.)
The only answers I have found is time on the bike, and repeatedly hearing more experienced riders comments/suggestions. By riding I have found understanding, not that understanding translates into action, that is why I say time on the bike. Time on the bike is giving me confidence in my abilities. My conscious incompetence/competence comes from time, riding and hearing the message over and over. I guess that is the dirty secret of cycling. It's butt time and experience like everything else. Damn and I thought it was all about peddling.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Camp is over
Today is Sunday and camp is over. No riding today just packing up and heading for home. I want to shove all my clothes, clean or dirty into my suitcase. However i need to find stuff and the ever expensive 50lb luggage limit looms large. In fact when I was done packing, my luggage was definitely over the limit. Ah what to do?
Saturday night was the awards ceremony. The main awards were the Team Competition, Men;'s, Woman's & 50+ GC awards. The coaches had a good word for many of the campers and there was special recognition awards. Finally it was time for the main event the big awards.
The team competition was very close. The winner was Metchka, my team. We received a $50 gift certificate to the Trek Store of Highland Park. Then they announced the 50+ category. Tim Z won by a mile. He raced very hard and passed all of the GC contenders on the road. Tim definitely deserved to win. I came in second with 2 other riders, Dave H and Lydens. Great guys and a pleasure to win with them.
You may ask what was my favorite part of camp? The answer is easy. It was spending 1 solid week riding, talking bikes, bonking , fighting through the bonk and being treated like a professional rider. I worked harder, rode further then I have before. Bike camp is about proving to yourself that there are no barriers; proving that you are getting better; and learning how to be a better rider.
I had a very successful camp. Now its back to the grind moving towards my 2 big goals the Horribly Hilly and the Etape.
Saturday night was the awards ceremony. The main awards were the Team Competition, Men;'s, Woman's & 50+ GC awards. The coaches had a good word for many of the campers and there was special recognition awards. Finally it was time for the main event the big awards.
The team competition was very close. The winner was Metchka, my team. We received a $50 gift certificate to the Trek Store of Highland Park. Then they announced the 50+ category. Tim Z won by a mile. He raced very hard and passed all of the GC contenders on the road. Tim definitely deserved to win. I came in second with 2 other riders, Dave H and Lydens. Great guys and a pleasure to win with them.
You may ask what was my favorite part of camp? The answer is easy. It was spending 1 solid week riding, talking bikes, bonking , fighting through the bonk and being treated like a professional rider. I worked harder, rode further then I have before. Bike camp is about proving to yourself that there are no barriers; proving that you are getting better; and learning how to be a better rider.
I had a very successful camp. Now its back to the grind moving towards my 2 big goals the Horribly Hilly and the Etape.
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