They're definitely still there, but why aren't they working the way I've trained them to?
“You should take some time off.”
“Why don’t you rack it up for a while?”
“When did you last take a break?”
“I’ve spoken to a few people, and we all think you just need to put the bike away for a while.”
For someone who loves to ride their bike – not always racey, sometimes just pacey – these aren’t great things to hear. Why stop doing what you enjoy just because conventional thinking and exercise physiology suggest your lifestyle is unsustainable? Riding is fun and racing offers (lots of) room for self improvement. But there comes a time when we need to stop, and recharge. And not just for a few days mid-trip.
But what are the signs, how do you know? Lethargy and tiredness are part of the everyday routine after a while. Sore legs are the norm for most of us. Apathy towards getting on your bike and riding is quickly fixed by a suggestion of some singletrack or alpine pass that must be ridden, or an event that has to be raced. So sometimes it comes down to our body just giving up, saying enough is enough and you need to just… stop.
From recent experience, this hurts. Obviously the physical effects of your body ceasing to function normally are unpleasant, but unfortunately there is more to it than that. If you have become accustomed to identifying yourself by your chosen sport and passion, to be robbed of that is akin to identity theft. There is, quite literally, no wind in the hair. No opportunity for some snaking singletrack to put a smile back on your face. Your ability to self medicate a bad day via exercise has not just been diminished, but destroyed.
Time. It’s essential. We can all heal, we can all recover. Most of all the time away rebuilds a hunger that you weren’t aware could diminish. But it burns deep, you want to ride strongly. You want to push, you want to struggle, you want to hurt. And eventually you can – and finally I have.
Looking at the past seven days – which were perhaps the first piece of the “Euro 2011” puzzle – I don’t see any dead time. The hours on the bike this week were minimal, but the effort was high. The riding was fun, and with a purpose – to get strong! It’s tough, but there’s a long Northern summer ahead of this Southern summer, and as I was recently reminded, “you can buy a plane ticket, but you can’t buy form.” Never a truer word has been said. So that’s the end of an enforced break – and the start of a new season.