Doubt
Doubt is a pretty powerful thing. When it comes to competition, doubt is the enemy of champions. One has to believe in the process, methods, metrics - "feel", and the relationship between you and your "influencers" is an integral part of the whole deal...
Some folks will go to great extents to convince themselves that the path of action they choose to follow is the "right" one. They'll construct all sorts of algorithms, conduct tests, analyze - some of them will be rigorously scientific, others will be based in psuedo-science. Often times, in the world of performance, things wind up being "in the noise" due to improper tools, insignificant effects, tradition and lore, or quite simply inadequate experience. In these scenarios, folks tend to go with what they believe to be true. Sometimes they might be right based on pure luck, coincidence, or plain old over-exuberance. Sometimes they might not be right, though. The important thing is that in the end, some wind up champions. But why?
Ah, if it were only so easy as believing the numbers.
In my experience, bike racing is not a math problem.
Take, for example, my recent experience this weekend at the San Dimas Stage Race. I was completely outclassed in the W/kg department (as evidenced by my 57th place showing at nearly 4.5 W/kg for ~17.5 minutes in the 35+ masters class). Truth be told, I doubted myself after seeing the results last friday evening... I thought, 'damn, no way I can go much faster - I'm as light as I've ever been, and putting out within a percent or two of my maximal power for the duration, and I totally got my ass handed to me. No way I can be competitive tomorrow in the road race.'
Bull-shite - on the drive up, I cranked up some old-skool Tool - Aenima style:
http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/aenimalyrics.php
and rememebered all the good days I've had ridin' bikes - road races, the lot of 'em... I stuffed the doubt that had kind of crept back in to the side. Have I mentioned that I don't think bike racin' is a math problem!?! ;-)
Well, sure, during the road race with all those guys that were puttin' out in excess of 5.5 W/kg in the hillclimb the previous day, I was put into difficulty - but only really once. Second lap up the little hill just before the finish - got a wee bit freaked out at the bottom as dudes were blowin' and I was in a bad spot. Over the top it was a bit rough, but the cake topper was that just after the descent, dudes started to sit up - nuttin' like goin' across gaps after a rough patch...
I could have given up, no one would have cared, or noticed - I mean, it was the freakin' San Dimas Stage Race not the USPRO championships... But I didn't give up - homey don't play 'dat!
It got way easier after that second lap, and in the end, the 2.4 hour effort was not maximal - just a pretty moderate tempo session according to my heartrate monitor, supercomputer, and measured kilojoule expenditure (I've hurt way worse for a few days after maximal efforts where my KJ expenditure was 30% higher for the same duration!). On the bright side, I did wind up getting in nearly 15 minutes of goin' hard time - certainly a wee bit more than the races I've done so far this year, but really, not anything too severe for a 150 minute effort.
Indeed, I was pressed a couple of times in the circuit race (the second lap…kind of a rude awakening…and, of course, in the finale). However, a few might believe that this 2.4 hour, non-maximal effort was above and beyond what I can do during a 40k TT in terms of watts. WOW, if I really could hold at least that power for 2.4 hours I'd be pretty impressed.
Yeah, in the end I wound up ninth in the circuit race (third in the bunch sprint). I was pretty happy with that placing (the main bunch finished a minute or so down from a break of 6) - it was my first top ten in the "pro" 35+ fields of the year. Something I can build on, I think. It's a long year...
This weekend was a great confirmation for me - in that, it summed up my experience as a bike racer - severely underpowered and outclassed, yet, somehow I still manage to be there when it matters.
It's a killer to doubt yourself, your methodology and your metrics when it comes to analyzing and improving your performance. I don't doubt mine, do you doubt yours?
Bike racing really isn't a math problem - race your strengths, run what you brung, and most importantly have fun!
Peace,
-kraig
PS - here's the chunk plot of that San Dimas Circuit Race (I'm 69kg, BTW):
Some folks will go to great extents to convince themselves that the path of action they choose to follow is the "right" one. They'll construct all sorts of algorithms, conduct tests, analyze - some of them will be rigorously scientific, others will be based in psuedo-science. Often times, in the world of performance, things wind up being "in the noise" due to improper tools, insignificant effects, tradition and lore, or quite simply inadequate experience. In these scenarios, folks tend to go with what they believe to be true. Sometimes they might be right based on pure luck, coincidence, or plain old over-exuberance. Sometimes they might not be right, though. The important thing is that in the end, some wind up champions. But why?
Ah, if it were only so easy as believing the numbers.
In my experience, bike racing is not a math problem.
Take, for example, my recent experience this weekend at the San Dimas Stage Race. I was completely outclassed in the W/kg department (as evidenced by my 57th place showing at nearly 4.5 W/kg for ~17.5 minutes in the 35+ masters class). Truth be told, I doubted myself after seeing the results last friday evening... I thought, 'damn, no way I can go much faster - I'm as light as I've ever been, and putting out within a percent or two of my maximal power for the duration, and I totally got my ass handed to me. No way I can be competitive tomorrow in the road race.'
Bull-shite - on the drive up, I cranked up some old-skool Tool - Aenima style:
http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/aenimalyrics.php
and rememebered all the good days I've had ridin' bikes - road races, the lot of 'em... I stuffed the doubt that had kind of crept back in to the side. Have I mentioned that I don't think bike racin' is a math problem!?! ;-)
Well, sure, during the road race with all those guys that were puttin' out in excess of 5.5 W/kg in the hillclimb the previous day, I was put into difficulty - but only really once. Second lap up the little hill just before the finish - got a wee bit freaked out at the bottom as dudes were blowin' and I was in a bad spot. Over the top it was a bit rough, but the cake topper was that just after the descent, dudes started to sit up - nuttin' like goin' across gaps after a rough patch...
I could have given up, no one would have cared, or noticed - I mean, it was the freakin' San Dimas Stage Race not the USPRO championships... But I didn't give up - homey don't play 'dat!
It got way easier after that second lap, and in the end, the 2.4 hour effort was not maximal - just a pretty moderate tempo session according to my heartrate monitor, supercomputer, and measured kilojoule expenditure (I've hurt way worse for a few days after maximal efforts where my KJ expenditure was 30% higher for the same duration!). On the bright side, I did wind up getting in nearly 15 minutes of goin' hard time - certainly a wee bit more than the races I've done so far this year, but really, not anything too severe for a 150 minute effort.
Indeed, I was pressed a couple of times in the circuit race (the second lap…kind of a rude awakening…and, of course, in the finale). However, a few might believe that this 2.4 hour, non-maximal effort was above and beyond what I can do during a 40k TT in terms of watts. WOW, if I really could hold at least that power for 2.4 hours I'd be pretty impressed.
Yeah, in the end I wound up ninth in the circuit race (third in the bunch sprint). I was pretty happy with that placing (the main bunch finished a minute or so down from a break of 6) - it was my first top ten in the "pro" 35+ fields of the year. Something I can build on, I think. It's a long year...
This weekend was a great confirmation for me - in that, it summed up my experience as a bike racer - severely underpowered and outclassed, yet, somehow I still manage to be there when it matters.
It's a killer to doubt yourself, your methodology and your metrics when it comes to analyzing and improving your performance. I don't doubt mine, do you doubt yours?
Bike racing really isn't a math problem - race your strengths, run what you brung, and most importantly have fun!
Peace,
-kraig
PS - here's the chunk plot of that San Dimas Circuit Race (I'm 69kg, BTW):
posted by kraig at
8:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home