It ain't like I've been logging major miles or mega hours, but I have been managing to get an hour to two at a time and have been trying to insert a little bit of intensity into the rides... without totally ripping myself to pieces and working my way into yet another injury. I've been doing some relatively simple rides during lunch at work and then did some quality riding over the past three days off. I've been putting some good miles on the fixed gear too, which I really love- for as much as I love my lightweight, high performance race bikes, I am happiest when ploughing along on my steel road fixed. Spinning a 46x16 with 170mm crank arms on a 20+lb steel bike just feels like "home" to me. That said, I've certainly been getting out on the geared bikes as well. The roads around the office are so not-flat that it kinda hinders my desire to ride fixed in the deplorable level of fitness I currently possess. Once I've gotten enough fitness to muscle over the hills at work, I'll be back to doing hill repeats and sprint intervals on the fixed during lunch... but until then I am happily grunting my way along on my race bikes. (It's good to be this spoiled.)
I find the ride data from the past three days to be kinda interesting (but then again, I'm a total dork)...
Friday- fixed gear ride around the bay area here and one of my regular training loops with only one real "climb" riding back home through downtown to my apartment; 1:12:30, 17.5av/35.2mx MPH, 21.3mi, 80av/ 157mx RPM, 144av/ 175mx HR.
Saturday- hopped in on the local training ride- "Chilis"- and suffered with the group for about 40min before blowing apart, though I did have two good efforts in the group first. I then peeled off on my own and put in a couple of solo efforts with a bit of intensity; 1:48:26, 18.3av/ 42.7mx MPH, 33.28mi, 70av/ 129mx RPM, 138av/ 180mx HR.
Sunday- rode down the hill from my place on the fixed to Fiesta Island (local flat, circular training loop) and put in a couple of high intensity efforts riding deep in the drops of the bars (to simulate racing on the track) along with recovery laps; 1:31:59, 18.7av/ 33.3mx MPH, 28.71mi, 84av/ 146mx RPM, 153av/ 182mx HR.
None of the numbers really stand out, but I am pretty pleased with today's numbers after the way I blew apart on Saturday's ride. Given how dead I felt after the ride Saturday, it's nice to see that my legs and heart both turned around pretty well for today. After a slow start this morning, I was pretty happy with how my legs felt during my efforts. Not that I'm likely to follow through on the "threat", but those hard efforts had me contemplating an attack of the Masters Hour Record... or at least attempting to build up the fitness to try. I just need to get somebody willing to motorpace me on a regular basis... any takers out there?
****
All this recent return to riding has plagued me with a burning question; why are roadies (and I am one) such assholes? I love "my people", but many of them are regular sh@theads. Many people far better than me at writing about the topic have covered this before, but it's an amazing fact that so few road cyclists- especially the Ricky Racer types- appear to have any kind of social skills, or are the most obnoxiously elitist and self infatuated bunch of jerks on the planet. Don't get me wrong, I have many friends who are nice people and even happen to ride road bikes... but the overwhelming majority of people I encounter on the road are seemingly unaware of the world around them, or are far too important to acknowledge the existence of others on the road.
Now, I'm not such a candy ass that I'm all upset about not getting a wave or hello from my fellow riders. I'm "upset" (and have been for years) that there are so few folks who seem willing to recognize that they do not have sole possession of the road or that they are not, after all, the greatest thing to ever grace the surface of the planet.
I have all kinds of cycling apparel after all these years on a bike and on teams, working with various companies (previously working for a clothing company) and having good friends who are kind to me. My clothes range from the team kits for teams I am on/ have been on, teams I have worked with or still work with and "regular" cycling apparel. It never ceases to amaze me how I am treated by other racer-types if I'm riding in camouflage by not wearing team gear, but regular cycling clothing- you can almost smell the disdain and the "what a dork" disgust. The flipside to that however is the response I occasionally get from "regular riders" who give me the "elitist jerk" stares if I am riding in team gear... or the need to chase me down, pass me, and sprint for the next light or hill so they can "win" or "beat the racer". About the only folks who don't seem to have an immediate attitude are the people riding beat up mountain bikes as road bikes or the occasional recumbent riders.
Seriously, what happened to not being a prick? What happened to not instantly judging somebody by their clothes or their bike? Honestly, many years ago this was not the case- I have more than a few fond memories of riding as a young roadie in Alabama and never being given the types of attitude that fly around so easily now. We cyclists were a tiny group, so we were much less exclusive and much more inclusive of others on bikes... any bikes. Maybe now that our numbers have swelled, it has become necessary for some to treat all other cyclists like underlings who must bow to their superiority. (One could make all kinds of assumptions about the manhood/ womanhood of some of these people... bald spots, little blue pills, the need for younger wives and expensive cars to compensate for shortcomings, etc...)
I have made it a personal crusade for many years to make an effort to at least nod or give a slight wave of the hand from the handlebar when I see other riders- riders of all types. I've even been known to exaggerate the wave or sit up and scream "hello friends" to passing groups of riders, just to get ANY response from them. Unless you are at lactate threshold during intense interval training and are blind/ deaf from the effort and intensity... nod your damned head at least! For real people, is it any wonder that many people see cyclists as pariahs? We treat our own people like sh@t, run red lights and stop signs with abandon, yell at motorists who don't see us (right or wrong) and generally act like total jerks... why?
I'm sure I'll get blasted by some folks for these comments, but for crying out loud... this "I'm better than you" BS needs to stop. I have a feeling that if we treated each other with a little more respect, we might start to get a little more respect from non-cyclists. How does the expression go? You can't be loved by somebody else until you love your self?
If you're reading this, maybe you're not one of the people profiled above, but I'm sure you know the people I'm talking about. Maybe you actually are one of the elitists I'm talking about... if so, pull your head out of your ass, clean off your glasses so you can see the world around you and try acting a little less like your bib shorts are three sizes too small. If we all agree to at least acknowledge each other's right to exist and have space on the road- whether we approve of the other's bike/ clothing/ drivetrain choice or not- maybe we can actually get back to the business of enjoying the sport of cycling... rather than finding ways to separate ourselves from each other.
Maybe I'm the one who's the asshole here... I wouldn't be shocked... but I have a feeling I'm not alone.
Tim
Now, I'm not such a candy ass that I'm all upset about not getting a wave or hello from my fellow riders. I'm "upset" (and have been for years) that there are so few folks who seem willing to recognize that they do not have sole possession of the road or that they are not, after all, the greatest thing to ever grace the surface of the planet.
I have all kinds of cycling apparel after all these years on a bike and on teams, working with various companies (previously working for a clothing company) and having good friends who are kind to me. My clothes range from the team kits for teams I am on/ have been on, teams I have worked with or still work with and "regular" cycling apparel. It never ceases to amaze me how I am treated by other racer-types if I'm riding in camouflage by not wearing team gear, but regular cycling clothing- you can almost smell the disdain and the "what a dork" disgust. The flipside to that however is the response I occasionally get from "regular riders" who give me the "elitist jerk" stares if I am riding in team gear... or the need to chase me down, pass me, and sprint for the next light or hill so they can "win" or "beat the racer". About the only folks who don't seem to have an immediate attitude are the people riding beat up mountain bikes as road bikes or the occasional recumbent riders.
Seriously, what happened to not being a prick? What happened to not instantly judging somebody by their clothes or their bike? Honestly, many years ago this was not the case- I have more than a few fond memories of riding as a young roadie in Alabama and never being given the types of attitude that fly around so easily now. We cyclists were a tiny group, so we were much less exclusive and much more inclusive of others on bikes... any bikes. Maybe now that our numbers have swelled, it has become necessary for some to treat all other cyclists like underlings who must bow to their superiority. (One could make all kinds of assumptions about the manhood/ womanhood of some of these people... bald spots, little blue pills, the need for younger wives and expensive cars to compensate for shortcomings, etc...)
I have made it a personal crusade for many years to make an effort to at least nod or give a slight wave of the hand from the handlebar when I see other riders- riders of all types. I've even been known to exaggerate the wave or sit up and scream "hello friends" to passing groups of riders, just to get ANY response from them. Unless you are at lactate threshold during intense interval training and are blind/ deaf from the effort and intensity... nod your damned head at least! For real people, is it any wonder that many people see cyclists as pariahs? We treat our own people like sh@t, run red lights and stop signs with abandon, yell at motorists who don't see us (right or wrong) and generally act like total jerks... why?
I'm sure I'll get blasted by some folks for these comments, but for crying out loud... this "I'm better than you" BS needs to stop. I have a feeling that if we treated each other with a little more respect, we might start to get a little more respect from non-cyclists. How does the expression go? You can't be loved by somebody else until you love your self?
If you're reading this, maybe you're not one of the people profiled above, but I'm sure you know the people I'm talking about. Maybe you actually are one of the elitists I'm talking about... if so, pull your head out of your ass, clean off your glasses so you can see the world around you and try acting a little less like your bib shorts are three sizes too small. If we all agree to at least acknowledge each other's right to exist and have space on the road- whether we approve of the other's bike/ clothing/ drivetrain choice or not- maybe we can actually get back to the business of enjoying the sport of cycling... rather than finding ways to separate ourselves from each other.
Maybe I'm the one who's the asshole here... I wouldn't be shocked... but I have a feeling I'm not alone.
Tim
