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Cycling season is over. Cyclocross doesn’t count. Cyclocross is mud and wet and cold and in many ways it is the most miserable thing I can think of. I remember one race watching some of the juniors waiting in line, in freezing temps, for the use of a hose so that they could have their parents, or friends, aim the thing at their mud-caked bodies, while still wearing their kits, and spray them off. I felt so sorry for them. Why go through this terrible ritual just for the sake of a 45 minute race on a course that could be described as a replica of a World War I battlefield? I did a few of them and I guess it’s just not for me. Cold, wet conditions are not my friend. I need to be very warm in order to perform optimally and ‘cross just is not normally like that. Current conditions are definitely not an accurate representation of the mean conditions that normally greet racers. It has been in the 90s this week and there have already been at least two local races as far as I can tell and the racers are sweating like war horses as they pedal and run up hills and all that crap that’s part of cyclocross. But that will soon change and it’ll be back to rain and cold slop and those of you who do this sport will regale instagram and facebook and twitter with tall tales of heroic exploits and “Almosts” and I will have to unfollow all of you. And enough of that. I have a lot of friends that participate in that kooky sport and some of them are actually really good at it…some of them are pretty dominant. Thermal skully hats off to ye…
But the road season is over now. Except in Belgium where Jack and Robert are slaving away doing kermesses and muddy crits and having an all around great time…according to social media. I have been so impressed with the development of those two. First IB has really taken care of them and the team has made it possible for them to do what a lot of young, talented racers dream of. But for us masters and the other young guns who train relentlessly day after day and week after week over the winter and spring just to be in shape to do one-hour crits in the summer…the season is finished. And that sucks. I loved this year. it felt different than years past. Team Heroes was pretty damned good and we had some great results. The other strong teams in this region were still strong but we had an answer for anything they threw at us and we were more proactive in our race strategies also. Personally, I had a great season and won some races and raced hard and tried to be a good teammate and I think all of that was pretty damned neato. And hell no I am not thinking of doing some ‘cross races.
Crits are fun. Going super fast on bikes in extremely close quarters with a bunch of other guys who are bumping bars with you and always searching for better position and attacking and countering and bridging and cornering so hard you can feel your rear tire slide a little bit…all of that is super addictive and I miss it already and it sucks that we have to go through winter and trainer season before we can do all that shit again. Damn! That was a long sentence! Long sentences are sort of fun, though, aren’t they? They create a sense of anticipation and a buildup of tension until at the end, there is some sort of combination of words that creates a resolution and you can sigh and start something new. Like music. I’m rambling now. No matter…it was crits we were talking about. I like cornering the best. I love being at the front of the group approaching hard corners and just blazing through them as hard as I can and looking back at what sort of gap I created. The sensation of the rubber gripping the asphalt and the tension in the wheels as you reposition your body low and forward on the bike so your center of gravity is correct is just pure roller coaster school and I highly recommend it to anyone with a healthy bit of aggression and killer instinct.
Killer instinct is something I talk about a lot with the athletes I coach. I firmly believe you are either born with it or you are not. Now, that’s not to say that there are not varying degrees of killer instinct, because there are. There is no such thing as an absolute, IMHO. But it has been my experience that the riders I have placed on teams or coached fall into two camps. Those with natural killer instinct, whom I call Killers, will generally be more successful in races, with less effort on my part. They simply “want it” more than the other guy. There is an inborn need to be better than everyone else. And while they may not ever actually be better than everyone else, they will always work toward that goal. I can tell if an athlete has killer instinct almost immediately upon meeting them. There is a sort of fiery-eyed confidence that radiates out from a Killer. And it infiltrates and punctuates pretty much everything they do in life. You have to be careful with them, though. They can be a bit emotional when things don’t go their way. I’ve seen pure phenoms go to tears when they missed out on the winning break and had to roll in with the peloton in ignominy. Or at least ignominy according to their aggro-addled brains. Killers are the fun ones to coach. They always want to do more. They always want to push the intervals a little bit farther. They will always skirt the high edge of the zone they are in and they will never miss an opportunity to sprint you if you prod them.
The other athlete, the one without natural killer instinct, will often test very high for FTP or maximum sprint power but it is much more difficult to get them to the point where they can be competitive in races. It can happen, but it just takes a different approach. These athletes want to be competitive…they want to be bike racers, but they tend to be too analytical and tentative when faced with extremely fast-paced challenges like fast, hard cornering or positioning during a sprint. It tends to be very easy to get them in really good shape but when it comes to applying that fitness to the actual sport, it takes a lot of conversation and sometimes a practical, hands-on approach like making them follow you through hard corners on a practice crit course until they can stay on your wheel…or making them stay in the top six or eight riders in a very difficult local group ride…a “worlds” type ride or local Hammerfest. These athletes find it difficult to do these things because their personalities are not conducive to that sort of riding. But…with a lot of practice and some practical and/or motivational conversations, the non-killers can become pretty good bike racers. Oh and by the way, I am building a website for my coaching biz. it's called Zone-6 Coaching. I'll put something on social media soon. If anyone is interested, let me know. Yes, I know what I'm doing.
Tired of talking about that also. So here are some things that make me happy during bike season: Bikes and asphalt and hot sun and water bottles…10 x 10 tents and sticky skinsuits and shit! Where the hell is my rear wheel?! Furiously attempting to pin a number on when it’s 93 degrees and you got to the venue a half hour after you wanted to. Tom always leading the first lap, no matter where we are. Tom always knowing about a thousand different people NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE. Harry’s Jorts and the Bri and the girls with their love affair with many different brands and patterns of socks. Court off the front. Court off the front. Court off the front. Aaaaaand Court off the front… Don just generally being the most selfless teammate I could ever imagine. My need for hour-long warmups on the trainer while Tom and Harry casually pedal around for fifteen minutes and whatever, dude… The general awesomeness of the atmosphere at Indy Crit and the teams always congregating in the same spot under the usual tents with teammates, friends, and family hanging out and cheering and bullshitting and drinking beer and hot damn it’s just such a great sport…
What a super rambling, possibly incoherent piece of nonsense this thing is. I apologize if you read it all and missed something important on the TV like some stupid platitude-filled post-game speech by one of the overpaid NFL players that just narrowly missed getting a concussion today (to be sure, I like the NFL and watched most of the games today). Everyone hates Trump, especially the NFL right now...well, except Jerry Jones. Sports and politics mixed up like concrete and hair-gel and who the hell cares, anyway? (probably a lot of us, but it sounded good)
I need to go and watch the new Star Trek now and then go to bed. Beth is already being magnetically drawn toward the stairs. The Tempurpedic mattress uses the Force to draw her in and she falls asleep in five minutes nightly. Wish I had that ability. Oh well… Later,
-C
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