The race calendar tantalizingly drips promises of adventure and competition in front of us. The weather has finally cleared, the wind subsided… The open road beckons and tight, twisting single tracks awaits. And how do I feel about that?
A mild disinterest, at best.
My buddy and co-blogger Sheldon appears to be literally bursting at the seams with excitement over the upcoming season, but at this moment I just can’t rally my spirits, despite my best efforts.
So far I’ve been doing my best do put on a brave face – I have been getting out there and have managed to put a decent amount of miles under my legs. Long rides, hill repeats, even some interval work… It’s all on the books, and though I’ve been actively supporting my team mates and friends to buckle down and train hard, when I look in the mirror it’s just not in my heart.
I look back on last season, building up to the Transrockies, and sure there were times of burn out, where I struggled to keep momentum, but there was always the grand promise of the TR.
So what’s a disenchanted cyclist to do, when the season has yet to begin, and motivation is already stagnating?
Well – Quite obviously I can’t say for sure, but here’s my (hopefully) foolproof 6-step-plan…
- Get back to basics
Focus on why I fell in love with cycling… Just get out there and spin the legs. Don’t focus on the kilometers or the power output, but rather focus on the journey – Taking the time to enjoy the sights and sounds along the way. Take some pictures, chill out on the side of the trail for a bit, just soak it all in.
- Get inspired
I think I’ll lead with what got me stoked about things last year, a combination of The Collective, Roam and Seasons, coupled with videos of the past Transrockies. I think I’ll also toss in a descent mix of the odd Rapha film and independent flick. Since I’m doing my best to balance four sometimes conflicting interests in cycling, I have to ensure my inspiration is nurturing all of these needs (ie. mountain, road, cyclocross, and urban/commuting)
- Get mechanically re-connected
Many times I find that working on my bike to be a relaxing and zen-enducing activity – even if it’s just givin’er a good wash. Even though I’m not riding, it settles my mind into a state of preparedness and makes me want to ride. I need to get back in touch with my machine… Wait, that doesn’t sound right…
- Get goal driven
Though I’ve set some loose goals, and definitely have some “A” level races have yet to formally sit down and get organized. I would imagine, that having a formal plan in place will help focus my training. Being able to have targeted, measurable goals to work towards will undoubtedly be motivating.
- Get de-stressed
I need to focus on using training as a release… This has been a fairly aggressive year so far, many moving parts – I won’t bore you with the details, but rather than seeing training as an additional stressor, I think I’ll try to focus on incorporating it into my life as a form of stress relief. Sometimes easier said than done.
- Get some friends
Last season I was pretty regular on Dailymile and it did a pretty good job at keeping me motivated, seeing how other people are doing, being prodded by my friends to get out there, but this season I just seem to busy to manage another “social network.” I’ve been keeping track of my training, but mainly from a personal perspective.
It’s been tough attending any group rides that have been going on with my team or my friends as well – Most people seem to want to go riding on weekend afternoons or early evenings during the week. Unless it’s a truly epic ride, I prefer my weekend rides to start early and end with some room left in the day to take care of other stuff, and as for the weekdays… Well without a car, it makes attending events like weekday hammer sessions, or Midweek Mayhem pretty tough. I guess it’s just training… Maybe I’ll just ride there and see how long I can hang on ;-)
Any other thoughts? What keeps you motivated?
Ken – I think you are on the right track when you mentioned “just riding for fun”. Fun is what got us all to swing a leg over a bike in the first place, and without fun, riding can very quickly become a chore.
A few suggestions for ya –
- do a bike ride you’ve never done before. Say, a casual but long night ride on the river pathways. Fish Creek is super cool at night!
- try riding to the Tuesday crits – go really easy on the way there and I might almost guarantee you’ll feel great during the race. And you get the bonus cooldown ride home afterwards.
- remove all electronic gadgets from your ride experience and just ride without worrying about speed, power, blah blah blah.
- Are you interested in the track? Thursday track league has started and that is really fun and a great workout.
Most important though is to recognize that feeling blah can be a symptom of too much training are other underlying health issues so take a break, dont worry about it too much, and just keep riding.
Cheers!
I’d second the riding for fun thing. If you don’t feel like training for racing then don’t. Just start riding for fun, riding whatever you feel like it.
You’re not the only one who’s felt like this. I myself took a break from training, I just rode when I wanted, equally didn’t ride when I didn’t feel like it. I started organizing races and didn’t have much time to train so I used this rationale to un-guilt myself from not participating in ‘structured’ training. You know what – I got faster. I know of another pretty fast Elite dude who’s done the same thing.
Training plans are good, but they are not the end all and be all of fitness and bicycle riding enjoyment. We’re not bringing home a pay cheque for racing our bicycles so we shouldn’t be stressing about training for it either. I’ve seen too many guys get into this sport who end up taking it way too seriously (which is good) that they burn out in a couple of seasons (which is bad) and quit the sport, never to be seen at an AB Cup again. I think this is because some guys (and I’m not saying this is you Ken) but in general, some guys forget why they started riding & racing their bike in the first place: FUN!
So forget intervals, training hours, & power zones until those things sound FUN again.
Of Road to Athens is a great motivational flick too.
If your interested in rekindling your passion for racing, I suggest helping out an organizer (like myself) put on an event. You’ll be reminded real quickly why you love the sport.
Cheers,
Mike
I just ride when I want to, and I’m not at the level of having a training plan, yet given my competitive nature, I still struggle, going into races, not to apply so much pressure to myself that I lose track of the fun. I think it really comes down to how you approach things in your head – but it’s certainly easier said than done.
Most of what I was about to say has been posted above but I will bore you with it anyway.
Ken – #1 is the key. If you are not enjoying yourself you will have a difficult time dedicating yourself. Unless race results put food on the table, the only reason you should be out there is because you love doing it.
This was my first year of somewhat serious training over the winter. I know a few people who have burned themselves out from training and I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to me. The first thing I do is make sure I am going to enjoy the ride that is planned out. I am not much for road riding or anything that resembles one, so when that is the plan for the group ride, I don’t go. Why would I want to subject myself to something I am only going to complain about? What I find then is that my training rides are also my fun rides. Rather than watching my HRM or doing hill repeats, I try to make a climb I have never made before (or gives me trouble), try to rail that corner a bit quicker than last time, pick a more difficult line (rather than the fastest line) to challenge myself and sharpen my skills. Another thing I do is keep my trails fresh or even ride my favourite trail backwards – it doesn’t even seem like the same track going in the opposite direction!
Awesome comments guys… Truth be told just knowing that I’m not alone in my state of semi-disillusionment is comforting.
I think as long as I do my best to keep fun number one, all will be well with the world.
@BikeBike – Track is something I’ve been pondering for a while, I think I’ll hit a Thursday session, if for nothing more than to watch.
I can see what you are saying. I set some big goals, and though I didn’t train hard this winter, as soon as the snow melted I started training really hard. Going for 50km when i didn’t want to ride at all. Not only did I not get faster, I’m currently not riding because of a tight IT band.
Once I get myself riding frequently again, I think i’m going to take the above advice. I still want to race, but I’m just going to ride when I want for how long i want and enjoy the sport. If that translates to mid pack or latter half finishes, oh well. if it helps me out and translates into top ten finishes even better. I’m still excited to race, but i haven’t been excited to train lately. I can’t get excited about knowing I need to do 3 hours of base today. I think I just need to change it up, and I think i’d be better off riding my favorite trails for 2 hours because I want to.
I just wanted to comment that it is really all good advice, and I’m going to get back in the saddle soon and take that advice.
Some beautifully inspiring video of non-race, all-fun type riding:
http://vimeo.com/10647514
On another angle you need to get out for a trail ride my friend. After a long winter of icy and gravel road rides, the mountains bring it all back into perspective.
Ken, my man! This weekend will hopefully re-spark that excitement. Once you get the feel of the ‘scene’ again, racing and riding will sit in a new light. Trust me. I’ve been gettin’ pretty wrapped up in things here on the org side, but been to a few races and, it’s the scene, and the people, that really gets me pumped for it. Without that, I’m sure I’d be suffering the same fate as you right now. Busy home and work life, make it so riding and especially training can be a real chore to fit in sometimes. Something else though, is make an effort to get out with you gang more often. That’s the best. Riding on your own is, okay, but it gets blah pretty quick. Last night I was out with RVC and we sorta hooked up with Hardcore and there were like 30 of us rolling through the valley, just riding and chatting. It was seriously cool. Like I said, this weekend, it will all come back, and we have lots of good racin’ to look forward to soon after right in your neck of the woods too. Good times, good times!
-S
sheldon has a good point. I’m kind of injured now so i volunteered at the race last weekend. And it pumped me up so much for getting back at it. I don’t care if I’m back of the pack. But it was great being back in the race scene, eating orange slices and bananas after the race and talking about bikes. I love the mountain bike scene and the race scene. that might help too, but that is kind of included in your point about friends.
Ken, just stopping in to see how your weekend at the races is progressing. I’m going to watch a crit in Saskatoon tomorrow before heading to the field. Can’t wait to see those Cat1s…
Have fun.
c
P.S. To add to BikeBike’s suggestion about riding new routes, I’d say that riding old routes with new people is equally as invigorating as they may see the ride differently ;)
I’ve joined DailyMile today. Get on there, buddy!
Thanks for all the support – Especially everybody at the Bacon/TransStoney this weekend!!
Gotta say… I’m definitely feelin’ the love, and starting to get my mojo back. Thanks again!!