Hold That Thought- image by ride2monza
I did go out seeking endorphins and inspiration. These articles don’t just write themselves. A climb and descent might just get enough O2 to the brain to knock something loose. Descending from our climb I did get inspired. An article about Rule #55; a descent is enjoyed so much more if you climbed it first. Smoking down the route one just slogged up is some sort of justice. The universe is balanced out. A descent is barely enjoyed if done before the climb. That descent is fun infused with dread. I’m dropping like a stone, Il Falcone cannot enjoy this. He is going to have to pedal all the way up this thing. Il Falcone is gravitationally challenged. Madonna! Climb then descend or descend then climb. This issue comes up always when living on the side of a volcano. If I was a good climber and a uncommitted descender I would feel differently.
Done and dusted, I was thinking, another article generated from just getting out and cycling. Get home, shower, a refueling lunch and knock this out. Maybe lunch should include beer. Write with alcohol, edit with caffeine, a wise man told me. Too late, I had bike brain.
Bicycle Brain- [bīsikəl brān] Torpidity and lack of mental clarity as a direct result of stewing gray matter in hot blood, carbon dioxide and electrolytes. He had such bicycle brain that he lost his wallet between the bench he was sitting on and his bike, two meters away.
ORIGIN Old English brægen; related to Dutch brein. (of course the Dutch would be involved).
I should have known this would happen but that is how bicycle brain works. It’s treacherous. There is little point is going out for a ride, seeking inspiration for a Velominati post, when such ride wipes the frontal lobes clear and infuses the brain with the dreaded dumb juice. I like to think everyone gets this condition but the evidence is not there. Geraint Thomas finishes every stage of the Tour with some genius remarks for the press. Yeah, well maybe thirty minutes later, after a shower and snack, he is on the Sky bus with a thousand meter stare and a little drool cup pressed to his chin. God I hope so, then we would have one thing in common.
And yes I have lost my wallet between the bench I was on, removing my cycling shoes and the two meters to my bike.
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Been working on a project all summer that requires laser focus. And not riding enough. And here I am working away on Labor Day (U.S.) BUT, with a good day, I'll officially crush the project. Cycling of late has solely been about getting to my office to work, but it does give me time to brainstorm.
I cannot wait to put my Bicycle Brain on for a few weeks and just ride and enjoy life.
How then to explain the endemic nature of bicycle brain amongst those never to have thrown a leg over a bike?
@Steve
I would contend Rule #55 is more about those who get a lift up and decend never to climb. If you have a situation where after the decent you are forced to climb - that's within the spirit of the rule. I agree it is always stupid to involve motorvehicles where not completely necessary.
As alluded in the Article, there is a school of thought in the next town south of here that the best thing is to drive to the top of their climb, decend and ride back up because you have no choice - you must complete the climb to get home. Personally I think that just shows a mental weakness, that they need that carrot. It also detracts from the enjoyment of the decent but seems you don't have a choice. If I lived on a mountain top, I wouldn't be driving down, climbing, decending, and driving home again... as you say... stuipd.
A couple of years ago, towards the end of a long ride, I stopped to buy some water. The liquid was duly decanted into my bidons and a gel consumed. I then walked to the garbage bin to dump the bottles and wrapper. I set off for home only realizing about ten miles later that I'd left the bidons at the gas station. The staff brought then in a kept them safe for me.
I live in an area of England called The Fens - flatlands that were reclaimed from the sea. The road that passes my place is one foot above sea level! so there is no chance of me embarking on a descent before a climb - unless there is a mineshaft nearby that I haven't yet discovered. I rode a 61 mile loop the other day and my Garmin showed that my total vertical ascent was 4 feet! To what do I attribute my bicycle brain?
@sowtondevil
Generations of inbreeding?
I live near sea level, I have to climb something before I can descend. I like it that way around.
Climb before you descend makes perfect sense. Three years living at the top of a mountain meant every ride started with a long, chilling descent and ended with a sweaty, steep climb. Overdressing for the descent was necessary if I wanted to reach the bottom rubber-side-down, but then I had to carry all that rubbish on subsequent climbs.
Now I have the luxury of starting from (approximately) sea-level and from there it only goes up - unless I'm headed for the Dead Sea.