Another elite-level cyclist with whom I’ve had the pleasure of racing with – and learning from – over the past couple of seasons gave me some valuable advice as the 2009 season rolled to a close.
“Andrew,” he said, “the best thing about serious riding is not riding.”
Granted, this conversation was held as I was lamenting to anyone who would listen how poorly my late-season campaign had gone and how burnt out I was, and granted his comment was geared more toward resting than alternative exercise, but I like to think that I’ve taken his advice to heart.
Sort of.
The next words off his keyboard were “beer, girls, ice cream.”
The point he was trying to get at, I think, is that all of us in the elite peloton are so deeply entrenched in our training routines that we can sometimes lose sight of the other good stuff that’s out there. Cycling is awesome, it’s a sport that I hope will be a life-long hobby for me, but even I know there is a time when you have to step away, and take your helmet off. Or, at least, trade your bike helmet for some other kind of helmet – a pith helmet, for instance.
As the off-season winds down and I segue into an intensifying training load that will occupy most of February, I’ve just taken a moment to evaluate how effective I was this year at wearing different helmets, after trying to take at least part of the advice offered to me by my brother-in-spandex.
BikeSnobNYC is fond of poking fun at the alternative training fads that seem to come along each year, be it roller skiing, speed walking, Jell-O wrestling Hungarian midgets, or whathaveyou. He may poke fun, but I think it’s valuable to spend time doing things that are good for your body and soul, and that don’t involve your bike.
For me, this winter, that’s meant trying to get up into the mountains, for some good, old-fashioned, bipedal locomotion, sans wheels. Also known as hiking.
Schlepping a heavy pack up the steep side of a mountain does not relate directly to race situations, but the exhilaration of standing on a rocky summit, on a clear, cool day is pretty much unbeatable, and totally unparalleled. So far, I’ve stood atop five of the Adirondack high peaks during this off season. With a little luck and some creative scheduling, I’ll get a couple more in before racing starts in earnest.
And even if you can’t work on leg speed while wearing snowshoes (trust me, it doesn’t work), few other things that I have done have left me with such a complete, satisfying sense of being truly worked.
It’s a feeling that always reminds me that I may be a fit bike racer, but there are other measures of fitness – just as there are other ways to fill your days. I’ve been glad to be reminded of this world beyond bikes, and I highly recommend others give it a look.
And with that, it’s time to hit the rollers.
Oh, and we can talk about beer, girls and ice cream another time.
Andrew J. Bernstein is not nearly as pretentious as the persistent use of his middle initial might suggest, he simply wants to stand apart from all the other Andrew Bernsteins! Andrew is a Cat 2 road racer, currently riding for Champion System Racing, an elite-amateur team based in Hell's Kitchen. Originally from Brooklyn, Andrew now lives in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he is Sports Editor at The Saratogian, a daily newspaper. He also writes for Velo News, and keeps a blog on his writing and riding adventures at Good Bye Blue Mondays.
