They say admitting it is the first step to recovery, but do I want to recover?
Riding outside is a treat, beautiful scenery, rolling hills, cars, traffic, near death experiences, having to drive a half hour to get out of traffic and be able to move more than 5mph...huh.
The stationary trainer, something I used to dread just like any sane normal cyclist. Until necessity due to weather forced me to spend some quality time on it. I know its crazy and it doesn't seem right, but being able to hop on and just do workouts with laser precision has its upside. There are so many things to focus on when you are on the road, most of them necessary to ensure you don't get run over by some motorist. On the trainer I can just focus on how my legs feel, how my HR responds to power changes, the pressure from my feet to the pedals, the efficiency as my legs go around. There is nothing to distract from how my body is responding to the work. I like feeling each muscle as it contracts and relaxes, the burning sensation as you push harder things that you sometimes miss when you are on the road.
People (again that mysterious infamous "they" of the inter webs) say that its mentally draining to be on the trainer, but between the sensations of my muscles and some help from audiobooks the time just flies by. I cant spend time in my own head, without anything to distract me. Ironically something that before this endurance training was to be avoided, I always needed some sort of distraction.
This is a 2 lane (technically) road, not wide enough for two cars to pass and the speed limit is 60mph both ways...WTH? Its a bit of fear in the new environment, just driving these roads gets the blood pumping when you don't know what is over the next crest and another car comes along the other direction. Its beautiful to look at, but riding on it is another matter. There are roads I've heard of where you wont see more than a car for hours, but it takes so long to get outside of the city to them that it just doesn't seem like the effort is worth it. I will need to get out there to work on bike handling skills and practical application of power and I will when the weather gets nicer and I'm not freezing waiting in traffic.
I thought riding with some of the cycling groups to get to know the roads and get more comfortable would be good...but I only have a tri bike and they are forbidden from riding with the cycling groups here.
Ridiculous that this makes me nervous when I used to spend my time on another set of two wheels at 180miles per hour, taking sharper corners with my knee dragging along the pavement.
(Me racing my R6 super sport...before this triathlon addiction)
I miss riding in Texas, massive wide open roads that just went on for miles. I could hop on my bike and be on a highway service road with two lanes going one way and a massive shoulder to myself with barely any lights and tons of visibility....and yet I still got hit by a truck.
So for now I will continue happily along on the trainer, thankfully enjoying something that most detest to get me through the winter.
Carpe Diem
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