My Own Little World

The “Pain Cave” is a place well known by most athletes. It is that deep, dark, dreaded place where one goes to push oneself to his/her physical and mental limitations.

But how crazy would you think I am if I told you that I enjoy the “Pain Cave”? If riding so hard that when I sit up, and I can’t breathe for 15 minutes is fun? Well it is... I absolutely love testing my limits and love even more when I exceed those limits and set a new bar to go out and try to beat again.

This past weekend I traveled with the eight other members of Team Specialized Racing Juniors to Valley of the Sun in Arizona. The race started out with a 14-mile time trial, “the race of truth”. In the weeks leading up to the time trial I spent hours on my Specialized Shiv, working on raising my power output for what would turn out to be a 32:05 minute test of ability to suffer. These hours were spent going out and seeing what wattage I could hold for 30 minutes, trying time and time again to suffer a little bit more, go a little bit harder, and sound even more like a vacuum cleaner with a cat stuck in it.

All of the time spent in the “Pain Cave” paid off; on race day I went out, found my own little world of suffering and rode 10 watts harder than I had at any point in time during training. My little trip to the “Pain Cave” ended 32 minutes and 5 seconds after its start, and put me at sixth on the stage (and GC), setting me up in good position to end up third overall two days later.

So next time you go out to ride, challenge yourself to enjoy the pain that comes with kicking your own a**. Because if you are anything like me, then riding yourself to the ground is actually enjoyable. And being able to show up to school (or work) the next day and trying to explain to your friends why you were so happy about going 1 watt harder or 1 second faster just adds to the pleasure.

Jason S