Those things in life that are worth having are those things which are difficult to come by; perseverance is made more rewarding by the volume of messages ignored by the mind as we work towards a goal.
Fatigue comes in many forms and is normally framed in negative connotations; weariness, exhaustion – both things to avoid. For a Cyclist, it can carry a range of meanings. We may become weary of riding in the rain, as I normally am at this time of year; stuffing my shoes with yesterday’s newspaper post-ride in the hope that the dry accounting of our current events will somehow render my shoes less soggy the next day. We may become weary as we approach the big climb of the day when we know what suffering lies around the bend. To push on during an effort despite an overwhelming exhaustion that lays bare our spirit and threatens to stop our legs from turning.
But fatigue can be a beautiful thing. The fatigue that registers as a result of the post-ride status check is the gauge by which we measure satisfaction in our work. Even during the ride, we find that fatigue may not always be the sentinel of the Man with the Hammer; even as the wave of exhaustion washes over us, we learn through practice that we can continue or even lift our effort.
My favorite fatigue is the kind that sets in during a long ride; when the body has acquiesced to the mind and the signals of discomfort and pain have stopped being sent. The legs at this point take on an almost anesthetic quality to them, they don’t hurt but they don’t feel either; they have a thickness that, while they lack the punch they have when fresh, allows us to continue to push on the pedals for hours on end.
This happened to me during my most recent long ride. It was a cold, rainy day – cold enough that snow fell at the tops of the two major climbs of the day. The last big climb came at 160km and, while there is no such thing as a flat route in the Seattle area, the roads home lacked the steep grades that characterize our urban streets. The descent from Cougar Mountain froze me to my core. Starting in the snow and ending in the pouring rain, I arrived at the first of the minor climbs on the way home and pushed the button on my left shifter to slip into the little ring. Instead of making contact, my frozen hand slipped limply along the lever and did little more than jiggle the button.
This presented an unusual problem. At this point I was tired after having a piled a load of kilometers in my legs. I was also becoming just the slightest bit annoyed at how cold I was. I swerved dangerously as I experimented with bashing different parts of my hands and arms against the disappointingly stubborn shifter to try to get it to budge. Inanimate objects and I have an uneasy history, and I soon found myself giving it the customary inputs involving profanity and questioning the pureness of its mother.
Having that unpleasant business out of the way, I resigned myself to riding home in the big ring feeling fortunate that my right hand was still capable of shifting so at least I wasn’t riding a glorified single speed. And then it hit me: it was actually quite easy to carry on this way, riding in the big ring. The legs still managed to turn over and I hardly felt a thing as I pushed harder on them whenever the road pointed up. Even a few of the hills on which I struggle to stay in the big ring during my usual training rides seemed to pass under my wheels without giving undue notice.
That sensation of power combined with the heavy fatigue I carried with me distinguishes itself as one that comes only during my longest rides on those days when my form is good enough that the effort hasn’t cracked me entirely. Wholly unlike the seduction of La Volupte, it does bear a vague similarity in its rarity. Powerful fatigue; vive la Vie Velominatus.
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@scaler911
We've all ridden the Worlds?
While I can certainly speak to fatigue and the "Thousand Yard Stare", I am happily deficient in Rule 9 opportunities. Although the CA Cogal route had snow on it yesterday (you can see the road cut upper right):
I stayed down low where it was only 5* and windy. Typical SoCal winter. 30* followed by snow, followed by Merckx-knows-what. PS Nice prose, Frank.
Amen brother. And get yourself a pair of shoe-dryers; MUCH better than newspaper. An essential piece of gear for riding in the rainy northwest.
@King Clydesdale
You know, as much as I'd love a nice spring right now, I am quite pleased by the winter we had down here in Portland. I was able to ride most weekends this whole year without worrying about rain.
Sure that's changed a bit in the past month, but it'll get warm soon enough. The first few rides of the year above ~25 c have me suffering heavily and wondering who made the air so thick and hard to breathe.
@mcsqueak
Here's some unreliable modeling, temperature and precipitation forecast anomalies for the coming months:
No promises, take from these what you will. Sure looks like a warm spring though!
@Ron
A mechanical is one thing - this had nothing to do with my shifter - it was all in my frozen hand. It was useless - never seen that before, but absolutely could not push on the levers. Crazyl.
Couple things on this. First off, they clean up very, very well. I'll soak them overnight in a bucket of water with laundry detergent overnight a few times a year. For the rest, I do indeed stuff them with newspapers - a trick taught to me by Nico from Fizik - it soaks up the moisture and keeps the bad smells out. Also, I wear overshoes in almost all bad weather - wool Belgian booties in Summer/Sprint/Fall and neoprene in Winter.
Also, shoes are indeed meant to be used, so it doesn't bother me that they get wet or dirty - and neither condition seems to affect its performance.
Finally, I'm super - SUPER sensitive about my gear - I wouldn't be able to switch shoes between good and bad weather without getting little pains etc. Don't know why I'm so sensitive about that stuff, but I'd have to buy two pairs of identical shoes in order to be OK wearing one in rain and one in sun - and even then, I'd struggle with it.
@mcsqueak
I can't explain it, but I can attest this happens. This is what I think might have to do with that same anesthetic effect. Any time I have any kind of event - for as long as I can remember, my warmup has always involved a full effort to flush lactic acid all though my body. Seems that once that's been done - and provided I can get a full recovery before the event, I will indeed feel stronger.
I went 15 seconds faster on the Zoo the first time I did it when I was 20 pounds heavier than the second time I did it. The first time, I rode it three times before the race. By the time I did the event, I was totally numb and went faster than this last time when I made sure to save myself and keep fresh. Big mistake. (Granted, this was a 2.5km hill climb - very different from a longer race in terms of how badly you want to singe the muscles to coax out some strength.)
@Steampunk
...and the optimism to believe that when you meet him, you'll shake hands. Not likely to happen, but hope is a beautiful thing...
@King Clydesdale
Suffering! Ha! Hillarious! We've had the best skiing ever! Every day the VMH and I have skied this year, its been powder. 20, 30 or more inches overnight is nothing at this point. Same story again this weekend. It's been amazing. The trick to weathering the PNW winters is also being a skier. Though I look forward to riding in dry shoes one time soon.
@co-mo
Cool! Thanks for the tip!
@scaler911
Poetry!
@Oli, @936adl
Its not the official post-ride recovery ale of choice for nuttin!