Change of Plans...

 From a recent FB post I made:

So ... the funny thing is ... as a certified slow learner it has recently dawned on me. Bicycling more than 12 hours isn't hard ... it's just dreadfully boring. Boring boring and boring.

Only two events were beyond my physical ability at that time. Race Across the West in 2010 (415 miles in 24 hrs) and the Race Around Ireland in 2017 (208 hours in about the same amount of time).

The rest ... I stopped because I ... just ... lost ... interest.

Funny it has taken this long for me to `get' that.

A sense of `relief' in some ways.  Clearly there was a time when doing (or attempting) massive endurance cycling things was important.  To `prove' my manhood?  To show my capacity for doing extremely difficult physical and mental things?  To employ an activity that consumed my anxious energy, grinding anxiety of existence.  (No doubt about that last one).

For whatever reason I think I have the `grinding anxiety' under control.  It's not so `grinding' at this point.  And I don't think it has anything to do with age and the physiological realities of aging.  

Over the next indeterminate period of time I'm going to see what substituting `intensity' for `volume' does for cycling satisfaction.  It's definitely going to be difficult (it hurts to push the body into tempo pace for long periods of time). 

1. A fourteen mile, 800 feet of climbing, out and back course (Kirkland-Canyon Out & Back) will serve as the `intensity' based training course;

2. One warm-up lap at average of 14.3 mph.

3. One or more `tempo' pace laps at no less than 15.5 mph. 

And then see what that does in the way of physical stamina.  

RESULTS:

Must have been a good day.

Lap 1: Goal 14.3 mph; Actual 15.2 mph

Lap 2: Goal 15.5 mph; Actual 17.5 mph.

Had a great time.  

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This is an exciting development for me.  It means that the `strain' of time commitments and sense of neglect I've experienced for quite a while is likely to end.  

Even more, given the actual results of this `change of plan,' I'm looking forward to doing better on the bike.  For so, so, so long I struggled and equivocated with putting up big miles on the `board.'  Though that may happen it will not be my only goal.

I'll be 3/4 of a century old in a few weeks.  Of course, I don't `feel it.' And I think that has as much to do with genetics as diet, exercise and wonderful family.  

I'll be paying attention to numbers: weight, bpm, blood pressure, comparative performance over decided courses.  And then, with a few organized events coming up (12 hours at 24 Hours In The Canyon in June, 12 hours at the World Time Trial Championship in October) I'll see what I can deliver.  Twelve hours is not so long that I'll lose interest and start thinking about family, work, family ... work.

Altogether this is a good new development.