March 1 is the unofficial beginning of the 2008 cycling season. The elite racers have been on the road since December, suffering through early morning rides where the wind speed exceeds the temperature. I admire them. (Seriously.) Meanwhile, hacks like me have been spinning on indoor trainers in basements and garages, trying to establish something resembling an aerobic base. Here in Farmville, we’ve been basking in warm weather for the last several days, and my bike and I have been able to get in some badly needed road miles. In just over three weeks, it gets real for everybody.
People who know me know how much I love my bike, cheap piece of 105-tin that it is. Really, I wouldn’t trade it for one of Armstrong’s TdF Treks. Why not? Because it takes only a few miles to develop an emotional bond with a bike that rivals what you might get with a dog. And I’m not kidding, dog lovers. My bike keeps me fit, brings me a kind of joy I can’t find anywhere else, and it gets me back home. (When you’re eating a Power Bar on the side of the road in the literal middle of Virginia-nowhere, 25 miles from home, it hits you how important that last part really is.)
Oh yeah, and my bike doesn’t pee on the carpet.
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One of my most enduring childhood memories is Dave Stoller drafting a semi on an Indiana highway in Breaking Away. Stoller has become my hero. He was a true world-class cyclist who either didn’t know it or didn’t really care. He could ride side-by-side with the best, but only after working his ass off to get there. Like the film itself, his riding was for pure joy.
My 2008 goals are somewhat modest. I’m shooting for 4,000 miles in season (3/1 to 10/31), two sub-six hour centuries, a climb up Pilot Mountain that does not include puking over the side of it, and an overall average speed that I’ll keep to myself. But my most serious goal is to ride my standard 22+ mile route for at least 20 mph. The fastest I’ve ever done is 18.8 mph, but yesterday I reached my turn-around point, 10.44 miles in, at 20.1 mph. I’ve never broken 20 mph over any distance, so for me that was a serious pre-season victory.
Can I do this? I think so. My training DVDs, which I understand are eschewed by elite racers (why?), have helped me tremendously. My outside rides this week both came in over 18 mph. I wasn’t breaking 18 mph last year before July. So I’m already way ahead of last year’s pace. But I’m weak on the hills, which is to say I couldn’t go much slower if I just got off my bike and jogged. For that reason, my overall stamina isn’t up to par, compared to where I was in August and September, my strongest months last year. But I’ve maintained 20 – 24 mph on the flats for both rides this week, which is simply the fastest I’ve ever ridden. That’s not fast enough to race, so I don’t have any illusions about how quick I’m moving compared to other cyclists, but it feels great to experience a real improvement over last year. Hopefully, good things are in store for ‘08.
For 2008, I’ll be blogging about my usual subjects, movies, physics and astronomy, and how the fundamentalists are going to destroy democracy in the United States. But I’ll also be logging my rides, including my spin sessions, enough so that this might turn into a de facto cycling blog. So be it. Now get on your bikes and ride.
Post-script: After I started this article, I learned of Sheldon Brown’s death. For those who knew him, even if it was only through the web as I did, this is very sad news. He was a great ambassador for cycling, and a human encyclopedia on the subject. We’ll all miss him.
