Tyler Hamilton, Mountain Bike and some random thoughts on cycling
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:36 pm
Just when I thought I had turned the corner, history repeated itself. This time and maybe for the first time, not because I was an idiot but for other reasons. To be specific, my old running form and speed was rapidly coming back to me. It was from a combination of some running, some intervals, some weights and some spinner bike work outs. But two very bad runs in a row started to set off alarms. Hurt quickly became harm. Old chronic injuries that I had finally resolved came back with a vengeance. This followed a 6 K and at most a 10 K run. I did not wear a watch and so although the pacing was hard, I was not attempting to reach some artificial level. I was sore, stiff and tired. I did not sleep well, my mood was getting worse and I lacked energy. My body was reacting as if the distances I had run were actually 2 to 5 times as long as I had actually run.
I contrast this with the spinner bike workouts that followed where muscles felt better, I had a ton of energy and as I had to rip my sweat drenched shirt from my body once completed, I felt great.
I then attended a talk by Tyler Hamilton. I will contrast with the talk I attended by Dean Karnaze. Hamilton looked like me and was relaxed in jeans and a t shirt. Karnaze was pompous, arrogant and aloof or unfortunately the impression I had in meeting most the elite runners I have met. Dean was wearing his running gear and so he looked like a goof. Dean came out to a slick presentation of his greatest hits. He talked a little, answered a few questions and then left. That entire process took around 30 minutes. I saw the projector and thought, here I go again when Tyler stepped on stage. You could tell he was very nervous even though he must have given this talk hundreds of times or more. Even told us we made him nervous as everyone was focused on what he had to say. There might have been 10 slides at most but the focus was on the words. Tyler then answered questions for over 90 minutes and I left the building a good 20 minutes after that and he was still talking to people. With runners, I felt like the stranger in a strange land but the vibe of cyclists was welcoming. I later heard Dean was to set a easy pace and messed that up, Tyler spoke to a bike shop staff member manning a booth as just two cyclists talking about bikes.
Although I had every intentions of buying a Mountain Bike in theory, these recent events confirmed it was now a necessity. I made the decision to skip the second of two 10 K running events I had entered and now I am seriously considering never doing another running race again. The validity of this thought seems to have been confirmed as when I went into bike shops, I dealt with young men who were clearly very serious cyclists and were anxious to share their knowledge with someone who knew almost nothing about mountain biking. Again, I contrast with several experiences in running specialty stores where once had to say that I had run the Boston Marathon twice so the clerk's advice as to why I was making the wrong shoe choice was noted along with the fact her 10 K race times were where my slow long run training time would have been at the 10 K mark.
As I like to think, the Universe was unfolding as it should. As the race running chapter of my life was closing, everything was pointing towards bike riding. To emphasize, riding NOT racing.
After test riding, talking and researching, I bought a pimped up Giant Fathom Mountain Bike.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/bi ... 49/100800/
The above is the basic model. When the bike shop I now frequent got this model into their shop, some mountain bike dudes got together and pimped up the bike to what they would ride. Shorter stem, Carbon fibre handle that is wider and a better drop seat. It was to show people what could be done to the base model to essentially make it into a bike that the staff would use. One guy even got his bike to show me. If there was any doubt my decision to go from racing to "just" riding was a good one for me to make, as I was leaving the store the guy who had helped me buy this bike and my road bike said, "you are going to have a lot of fun on that bike". Not I am going to be fast or my performance will be better or I will be able to train more and unsaid with all of that in my case at this juncture in my life, also a lot of pain,misery and suffering. But that it was going to be FUN.
I would be lying if I said I am completely comfortable transitioning from competition to fun. They say running and in my case racing is addictive and so the heroin I had been using will have some methadone to ease me into a different paradigm and mind set. There is the 10 K race on May 28 an a duathlon in September. The Fondo in July is timed but they still maintain it is not a race. There are three waves: race in wave 1, ride hard in wave 2 and finish in wave 3. I picked 2 as I am not racing but on the other hand, merely finishing is not quite good enough for me or at least not yet. And as it turns out, a perfect way to describe where I am.
I have looked into bike racing. Given my strava results and also looking at the results of the races I have found, there is no danger of me ever challenging for a place on the podium. I believe I could be decent, maybe in respectable but I sense is that if I try racing, it will corrupt, maybe even poison the love I have of getting on my bike and seeing where the road takes me.
I would remiss to add that running and racing has been very, very good to me. But when I started down that path, I knew and sensed that my racing body would have a best before date. That sitting on a recliner, bloody feet and four ice bags going that I had to grab as many brass rings as possible as quickly as I could for there would come a day when a good jog might be the only thing I could hope to do. I am not quite at the jog point and still can run but I have come to the inescapable conclusion that to push my body to race, a jog may be too much to ask. I still plan to "run" or jog as when having a bad day at work or life, sometimes there is no better medicine than to get on my shoes and run away from those problems and stress. Without a race on the horizon, when I do such runs I can say whenever that point comes where I feel better, I can stop and head home. And if need be walk all or part of the way back. I cannot seem to do that if I have race and so better to admit defeat and stop racing than to risk doing something to my body that does not go away with rest and treatment. Plus, it is time to experience new stuff and really looking forward to exploring some cool mountain trails.
I contrast this with the spinner bike workouts that followed where muscles felt better, I had a ton of energy and as I had to rip my sweat drenched shirt from my body once completed, I felt great.
I then attended a talk by Tyler Hamilton. I will contrast with the talk I attended by Dean Karnaze. Hamilton looked like me and was relaxed in jeans and a t shirt. Karnaze was pompous, arrogant and aloof or unfortunately the impression I had in meeting most the elite runners I have met. Dean was wearing his running gear and so he looked like a goof. Dean came out to a slick presentation of his greatest hits. He talked a little, answered a few questions and then left. That entire process took around 30 minutes. I saw the projector and thought, here I go again when Tyler stepped on stage. You could tell he was very nervous even though he must have given this talk hundreds of times or more. Even told us we made him nervous as everyone was focused on what he had to say. There might have been 10 slides at most but the focus was on the words. Tyler then answered questions for over 90 minutes and I left the building a good 20 minutes after that and he was still talking to people. With runners, I felt like the stranger in a strange land but the vibe of cyclists was welcoming. I later heard Dean was to set a easy pace and messed that up, Tyler spoke to a bike shop staff member manning a booth as just two cyclists talking about bikes.
Although I had every intentions of buying a Mountain Bike in theory, these recent events confirmed it was now a necessity. I made the decision to skip the second of two 10 K running events I had entered and now I am seriously considering never doing another running race again. The validity of this thought seems to have been confirmed as when I went into bike shops, I dealt with young men who were clearly very serious cyclists and were anxious to share their knowledge with someone who knew almost nothing about mountain biking. Again, I contrast with several experiences in running specialty stores where once had to say that I had run the Boston Marathon twice so the clerk's advice as to why I was making the wrong shoe choice was noted along with the fact her 10 K race times were where my slow long run training time would have been at the 10 K mark.
As I like to think, the Universe was unfolding as it should. As the race running chapter of my life was closing, everything was pointing towards bike riding. To emphasize, riding NOT racing.
After test riding, talking and researching, I bought a pimped up Giant Fathom Mountain Bike.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/bi ... 49/100800/
The above is the basic model. When the bike shop I now frequent got this model into their shop, some mountain bike dudes got together and pimped up the bike to what they would ride. Shorter stem, Carbon fibre handle that is wider and a better drop seat. It was to show people what could be done to the base model to essentially make it into a bike that the staff would use. One guy even got his bike to show me. If there was any doubt my decision to go from racing to "just" riding was a good one for me to make, as I was leaving the store the guy who had helped me buy this bike and my road bike said, "you are going to have a lot of fun on that bike". Not I am going to be fast or my performance will be better or I will be able to train more and unsaid with all of that in my case at this juncture in my life, also a lot of pain,misery and suffering. But that it was going to be FUN.
I would be lying if I said I am completely comfortable transitioning from competition to fun. They say running and in my case racing is addictive and so the heroin I had been using will have some methadone to ease me into a different paradigm and mind set. There is the 10 K race on May 28 an a duathlon in September. The Fondo in July is timed but they still maintain it is not a race. There are three waves: race in wave 1, ride hard in wave 2 and finish in wave 3. I picked 2 as I am not racing but on the other hand, merely finishing is not quite good enough for me or at least not yet. And as it turns out, a perfect way to describe where I am.
I have looked into bike racing. Given my strava results and also looking at the results of the races I have found, there is no danger of me ever challenging for a place on the podium. I believe I could be decent, maybe in respectable but I sense is that if I try racing, it will corrupt, maybe even poison the love I have of getting on my bike and seeing where the road takes me.
I would remiss to add that running and racing has been very, very good to me. But when I started down that path, I knew and sensed that my racing body would have a best before date. That sitting on a recliner, bloody feet and four ice bags going that I had to grab as many brass rings as possible as quickly as I could for there would come a day when a good jog might be the only thing I could hope to do. I am not quite at the jog point and still can run but I have come to the inescapable conclusion that to push my body to race, a jog may be too much to ask. I still plan to "run" or jog as when having a bad day at work or life, sometimes there is no better medicine than to get on my shoes and run away from those problems and stress. Without a race on the horizon, when I do such runs I can say whenever that point comes where I feel better, I can stop and head home. And if need be walk all or part of the way back. I cannot seem to do that if I have race and so better to admit defeat and stop racing than to risk doing something to my body that does not go away with rest and treatment. Plus, it is time to experience new stuff and really looking forward to exploring some cool mountain trails.