Can every day be like Saturday?

No, I don't mean, "Can every day BE Saturday?" I mean, "Can every day be like LAST Saturday?"

It was such a great day on the bike. Rode with the team. Felt strong the whole way. Even on the hills, pushing till the top. Even at the end, when I knew my body was tired, strong till the top of the last little climb to my house.

I can smell the finish lines of the coming season. I can see the competition. I can feel my fitness coming. I just need race days to be like Saturday.

But better.

What do the voices say?

It is SO easy to tell other people to do the right things. Especially in training.

Listen to your coach.
Do your intervals.
Record your workouts.
Eat the right macronutrients.
Get plenty of rest.

That last one is a doozy. Probably the easiest one to ignore.

With so much to do - a full-time job, a full training schedule and a social life - it's difficult to get enough sleep, slow down or admit that it's time for an off day. The voices in my head go back and forth, arguing these points nonstop. Just like I keep having to tell them, "No excuses," I also have to ask them, "What are your true priorities?"

Just this morning I found myself reassuring my teammate that a few days off the bike are better for getting over being sick than getting back into training too soon, while at the same time convincing myself that I should get on the trainer tonight even though I feel a cold coming on.

Luckily, I have a coach. I like to think that, for the most part, I do what my coach tells me to do. And today he told me to rest.

Ok, Coach. You win over the voices today.

Trapped by the SLUT

Yes, that's what I said.

Those of us who live in Seattle lovingly call the South Lake Union Streetcar by its original, inconvenient acronym, the SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley).

This "trolley," or "streetcar," has rail tracks that run along a few of the major routes to and through downtown. Most of the roads that house the tracks have two lanes of auto traffic running in each direction, with the tracks running through the middle(ish) of the right lane (each way).


So the cyclist riding on these roads is faced with the decision of exactly where to ride. The way I see it, there are three choices:

1) Ride to the right of the tracks. This seems like the default place to ride, but it's really a horrible little surprise, because as you approach a SLUT pickup location, the sidewalk juts out to meet the tracks, as well as gains approximately 8" in height (for ease and safety of SLUT passenger loading). So now, not only are you riding gingerly alongside the tracks of death, but you are also centimeters from clipping your right pedal on the bus stop. Not really a good option at all.

2) Ride between the tracks. This option appears to be the best - at first. You can ride along, happily contained within the confines of the two rails, avoiding most car traffic, and riding fast enough to outrun the SLUT itself. But then - the tracks turn a corner! What? You didn't want to turn the corner? Too bad! If you decide you want to go straight instead, you risk having your wheels eaten alive by the tracks as you try to cross them at an angle restricted by the distance of the two rails from each other. Not a good choice.

3) Ride to the left of the tracks. This option can actually be broken down into two sub-options.

3(a) Ride to the left of the tracks, but in the right lane. This causes you to hold up traffic in the right lane, while forcing the cars in the left lane to (if they make any attempt at considering your safety) slow down, and sometimes move slightly into the lane of oncoming traffic. Not so great.

3(b) Ride in the left hand lane. This causes you to hold up traffic on the right lane, and forces cars to pass you on the right if they feel they must. It also creates uncertainty among all drivers, because, well, why would there be a cyclist in the left lane if they weren't turning left at the next intersection?? Are they going to return to the right lane without notice??

I've decided that option 3(b) really is the best choice. Sometimes I get faked out, because the tracks make like they're going to create a nice big opening in the right lane, making 3(a) the best choice, but then they come right back out again, and confusion ensues. So now you can take my evaluation into consideration the next time you're commuting through South Lake Union. Or, if you don't live in Seattle, you can mock those of us who have to deal with the SLUT.

No Excuses

This is my mantra for at least the next few months.

No excuses.

It's been getting me through a lot lately. It got me to indoor class on Tuesday, when what I really wanted to do was lie in bed. It got me through all three of my 12-minute intervals last night, when I kept asking myself, "Is 10 minutes really that much shorter?" and thinking, "I should really get off the trainer and get ready for my dinner arrangements."

So I think it's working. No excuses.

Fake It Till You Make It

Right? I think I've been doing that my whole life, so why stop now?

Thus, on Saturday I rode with a certified pro - well, I don't really know if they get certificates, but he certainly gets paid to ride his bike. I didn't crash him out, which I count as a success.

And in a few weeks I'm going to start leading an indoor cycling class, just like another pro I know, and a few other aspiring ones as well. Luckily it's really hard to crash someone out on a trainer.

So I think this counts as fakin' it. No real plans to "make it," but like I said, it's going to be a breakout season. I can smell it.

Or maybe that's just my grimey jersey. Uff.

Knee-High

I did not know that you could ride through mud puddles that were up to your knees, and still come out upright on the other side! But there are quite a lot of things about mountain biking that I still need to learn, and riding in the mud and rain today was another whirlwind lesson. We were out for almost two-and-a-half hours, and it flew by. Now THIS must be what training in January is supposed to be like. All the forest greenery practically got me high on oxygen. I could get addicted to this.

Commute

I recently started biking to work. It's amazing how much more there is to sense when you're on a bicycle. Today I was particularly cognizant of the smells. There was the appropriate smell of freshly brewed coffee emanating from a Starbucks. There were the sharp fumes coming from the transit bus. The two men who got off the bus left a trail of cologne in their wake. Much more pleasant was the woman's perfume as she crossed the street in front of me downtown, while I waited for the light to change. Then the sweet smell of baked bread, and hot cookies. The scent of garbage. And chemicals - paint?

I think about my ability to identify all of these smells, and can't help but feel it is a wonderful brain exercise, just riding my bike to work.

2010

This year begins a new journey. A recollection of the enjoyment of cycling and racing. A true understanding of the dedication of an athlete.

Stay tuned.