Cycling: Week Three Report

I’ve been riding hard four to five times a week (and on a bike doing something the other days) for three weeks now so I thought I’d bore you with some observations. Anyone who has ridden a bike will probably laugh at me and say, “Oh how naïve”. But, keep in mind, this is the only exercise I’ve ever enjoyed and stuck with.

1. I’m a bigger guy. Not a competition size, and I never would be. Too tall, too broad. But I could stand to lose a few pounds. You’d think after three weeks of such hard exercise, I would have lost weight. But, no. I’ve gained weight. Three pounds.

2. To be fair, all three pounds are probably muscle on my thighs. I’ve always had large thighs, but riding at a constant cadence for the purpose of endurance have change them. I’d say they are about a third larger than they were and I’m starting to see definition.

3. And with that increase in size has come soreness. As my wife likes to say, building muscle is breaking down and rebuilding. Well, last night she massaged the muscles in my legs, specifically muscles along the sides that I can’t seem to figure out how to stretch before and after I ride. Holy crap. Talk about agony and ecstasy. We had just watched a documentary on Cycling.tv about a team’s quest for greatness and the opening shot was of a rider getting a massage. He was screaming and tears were welling in his eyes. To a much, much, much lesser extent, I understand why he was doing that.

4. The muscles feel good now though. I took a short ride this morning to blow off some steam and shot right up a mile-long hill. Well, maybe not shot up, but I didn’t tire out like I did when I first started that hill.

5. I now understand what it means to “crack” on a ride. I was a little more than halfway through my ride on Saturday (far from my car, across a river and in a different county). On my return trip, I cracked. My legs just didn’t have it in them anymore. Luckily, there’s a good downhill section and that part of the ride, so I was able to complete my ride and not die. But, man, going over that looooooong flat road was hell. I never thought I’d pray for a hill, but I knew that if I had an uphill section I’d have something to push against, if that makes sense. But the flat plain was just killing me that day.

It’s not the same as running out of energy, because I wasn’t exhausted. My legs were fatigued.

Good news is that I recovered and was able to take my leisurely cool down around the lake. But I will never forget that stretch of road. It looked really long.

6. Cold weather is coming and I have some decisions to make. Years ago I rode in cold weather a lot. There’s nothing like the feeling of cold, dry air slicing through lungs desperate for oxygen. It sucks. So does that feeling of needing to rebend your fingers that are so cold they feel like they’ve molded into the shape of your handle bars.

I think I set a temp limit this time and then pick up a trainer to keep in shape. I’ll ride outdoors in good weather and on the trainer in bad. St. Louis is unpredictable, so it could be in the 70s in December. Plus, the trainer will be a good opportunity to get used to the SPD bindings. I’ve had other cyclists explain, “Yeah, in the first week or so you’ll fall over a lot trying to get your feet out, but you’ll get used to it.” I’m getting multi-use pedals so I can ride with Gert on a whim. Plus, there’s something about being able to have one foot free for a few strokes while going through an intersection that appeals to me.

7. The Physicist has pointed me in the direction of the bike, or at least the style of bike, I want for the riding I want to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mountain bike. But it’s too heavy and bulky for what I want to do. That being said, it’s probably a good training tool. Like, my wife says, it’s like putting weights at the end of a baseball bat. So I have a goal of a bike that will probably cost me a minimum of $1200, if I bring my own pedals. I’m looking at a few other brands too, but this one comes highly recommended by a few people whose opinions I respect. Besides, with that bike I’ll be able to go farther, harder and faster. Plus, it’s closer to what the cyclists I admire ride. Not that there’s anything wrong with MTB. And I could at least have a chance to catch those Cannondale guys from last week.

Okay, sorry to bore you. Back to your regular lives . . .

And, yes . . . I'm becoming one of those people. And I like it.