A few thoughts come to mind when one thinks of the “off season” in cycling. One can look forward to taking anywhere between one week to one month off the bike to both physically and mentally rejuvenate, and start the following year as fresh as possible. Others might just look forward to regaining weekends to spend time with friends, family, and if you are a junior bike racer, having an opportunity to pretend you are a normal adolescent for a few months. Personally, when the thought of the off season comes to my mind, long, treacherous, cold, slow miles are what I think of. To some cyclists, this might seem like necessary dirty work that needs to be completed in order to reach the finishing line first in when it counts, but to me, it’s more than just miles.
As I got back on my bike after taking what seemed to be the longest two weeks off the bike, I began slowly revamping the training and piling on the base miles. Over the years, I’ve had the chance to talk to a great number of professionals and top level amateur cyclists. To my surprise many of them had expressed their dislike in training. It seems not all, but some seemed to view training as a requirement that needs to be fulfilled in order arrive at the starting line of a race fit. In my point of view, training can sometimes be a drag. (Usually when it is extremely cold or rainy…but considering we live in beautiful California it is usually not the case…knock on carbon…). This all led me to an epiphany; training time is reflection time, reflection on not just my day or my week, but also racing in general. These long arduous miles are a fantastic time to reflect on the previous season, reminisce on great times, re-live the sorrow of the close calls, remember the pain of the crashes, but most importantly, it is a great time to psychologically prepare yourself for the upcoming season. My thoughts tend to digress during 4+ hour rides, and spend a majority of the time getting mentally prepared for what awaits me, and in this case, it was the 2011 racing season, possibly what will be my toughest, most crucial season of my so far short racing career. I usually think of dream scenarios that would play out in order for me to win races I’ve always wanted to stand atop the podium of.
All in all, most of the preparation for racing is done during the base miles, whether it be the headwinds, climbs and just general tough times you suffer through, or the amount of hours you spend mostly by yourself, left alone to reflect on what the upcoming season will be like, and the toughness you will have to endure to persevere to a higher level. Something we all aspire to…
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