Trouble in paradise

There are many perils in which one must face in everyday life. We as a society have built safeguards to protect us from ourselves and from others. We take calculated risks daily. I ride my bike and therefore understand the risks but also understand the rewards. I was able to take a long ride over the weekend to ponder my troubles. The ride started in a resort town high in the mountains, there are many who say that the rate in which towns grow is ruining the very reason for visiting. In this journey, I rode through one resort that having been infused with money over the past few years is expanding. I turned around in a very high dollar resort town thinking of the pioneers who years ago traversed the pass to find pristine land. As I looked at the growth and listen to the din of traffic shuttling people, I realized that my problem is only a minor one. When I got back to the mountain retreat, I grabbed a cup of coffee and came to the conclusion that I didn't need to leave home to beat the heat. I needed to go to a place that had a working coffee maker.

Credit , where credit is due

In my last post, I started in on the importance of connecting breath to workload. I referenced an article in Mountain Flyer Magazine, however Steve Ilg and his book entitled Wholistic Fitness deserve the credit for introducing me to this school of thought. I was riding this weekend and that came to mind. I really appreciate the Wholistic Fitness concept, well at least about 95% of it. Check it out with a google search. His books were what I enjoyed the most. They were straight forward and not over the top.

The weekend allotted for two good rides. Saturday morning was a great fixed gear ride. I was able to turn the pedals over for about two hours and enjoyed a ride along the front range. The highlight of the ride was through Red Rocks, the world famous concert venue. I have ridden through here many time and the scenery is truly spectacular. However, this Saturday morning I took a different exit down to Morrison. Absolutely beautiful. I am always amazed at how much more you can see and participate in, when riding your bike.

Sunday I got a chance to do one of my favorite rides, a trip to the top of Lookout Mtn. Always enjoyable and always a good work out. From pillar to post, I believe it close to 5 miles, and gains over 1,000 feet. Needless to say, for a thick thug like myself it is always a challenge. My best time so far this year is 32:40. By no means great. Although I have been marking my time as measurement for improvement, I do try not to focus on it. The ride is really very enjoyable with a lot to offer and not just a great climb. I think that the fastest time up is around 22 minutes. I could be wrong, but that is the number I did hear.

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Connecting to my breath

I am confident that most people have some appreciation of the importance of breathing especially as it pertains to cycling and working out. Breathing when cycling as become a focus of mine of late. From the article in Mountain Flyer, I have been trying to make a conscious effort towards connecting my breath with the workload that I am producing on my bike.

With that said, this morning on a trail ride I had two revelations. First, if I concentrate when breathing I can bring in about 10-15% more oxygen ( an estimation) into my lungs. During the climbing portion of the ride, when I am between 90-95% of my max heart rate, that extra oxygen really made huge difference both with in my ability to maintain overall power and my ability to recover. I know this may seem like obvious stuff and that most people may know and understand his important connection. However, this was a big step for me today for improving my efficiency in climbing hills on my bike.

So the connection has been drawn between concentrated breathing and improvement in efficiency. But as usual I continue to ponder, and as a result, I come to my second revelation. That posture on a bicycle can have a dramatic effect on your breathing. And that by improving my posture on my bike I was able to improve my breathing and therefore improve my efficiency on the bike. I found it truly amazing how much more freely the air was able to move through my lungs.

So today I found a couple of connections between breathing and cycling. Even though I may have found some ways of improving efficiency, simply connecting my breath to cycling and participating in the present moment proved the most rewarding.

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Trail Energy

Do you ever have one of those rides where it seems like people are very nice and good "hello" somehow, seems to provide you with a little extra energy? Or maybe it happens during a race. You are struggling and someone offers some kind words of encouragement and all of a sudden you are able to find a "little extra"? Well, I had one of those rides this morning. Nothing extra spectacular, but some good "hellos" and "have a good ride's" that simply made me feel more comfortable or relaxed or empowered by a sport that I love. I have never quite been able to put my finger on why this transfer of energy has a powerful effect and why it is uplifting.

I am fascinated by the transfer of energy through smiles, hellos, and kind words. After spending time thinking about this phenomena, my brain usually gets curious on the why some cyclists choose not to participate in this transfer of energy. Why they are so absorbed in their ride or workout they choose not to transfer positive energy through interaction. To be honest, I know it is those people who stomp my ass in a race. That is OK. But it is the people that can offer positive trail energy and still kick my ass that I truly admire in our sport.

Keep it Simple,

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Something to get excited about

In my constant search for cycling related items that contribute to my enthusiasm for the sport, I believe that a new jewel is now available. It is called Mountain Flyer Magazine. They can be found at http://mountainflyer.com I love to read a good bike magazine. This strong publication has had an immediate impact on my cycling. I measure the quality of a publication with one simple litmus question, does the magazine provide new and creative insight into the sport that I love so much. To me, that is what the major publications lack, a little soul for the sport. Sure they can put together publication that offers eye candy but in the name of sales, marketing, and advertising they opted to keep articles to a certain word count and edit the content as not offend and potential advertising contributors. Their choice, I simply do not care and do not spend my money on those pubs.

Sorry for the digression, back to Mountain Flyer. SAHD first brought this magazine to my attention. I think it is worth your while to check it out. A couple of favorite articles from this issue include " Training with a Circus" for those who juggling work and families. Probably my favorite artice is "What if Budda Raced a Bike?". Sure it is a little deep, but that is what I like and speaks about finding your place within a racing atmosphere.

Keep it simple.

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Delay

There has been quite a long delay in posts. A comforting thought is that no one really follows this website. However, I find it theraputic and will work to make consistant efforts towards this blog.

One of my highlighted cycling events has come and gone. The Breckenridge Firecracker 50 mile mountain bike race. For me this was a true challenge to finish and I did. I certainly did not break any records, but I got it knocked out and that felt good. For a long time now, I have wanted to really work at becoming long distance racer/participant. The 50-100 mile plus stuff. This is a real challenge especially with a family and two great children, plus working full-time. This 50 miler was my first real step in continuing to move in that direction. I have the bug and want to continue to feed it with another distance event.

Earlier I commented on my intent to finish. Right now that is where it starts and stops with me. Taking some pride in the accomplishment. Maybe someday it will be race for me, but for now finishing is the task at hand.

While preparing for the Firecracker SAHD and myself often road together bantering support back and forth. This one stuck for me.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Good Day,

Simple-Cyclist