THREE on the benefits of cycling, no destination required
There’s an age-old battle between drivers and cyclists. The car driver is usually on a mission to get somewhere. There’s something to be accomplished, an appointment to be kept, or a job to be done. The cyclist, on the other hand, is usually less concerned with the destination and more interested in the going. I’m generalizing with the distinction between drivers and cyclists, but there’s a critical distinction between focusing on the destination and focusing on the ride.
Psychologists have researched this distinction and concluded healthy individuals strike a balance between desiring to reach a destination while enjoying the journey. When we focus entirely on the destination, we risk training our minds to focus on what’s lacking. That can lead to feelings of depression and unhappiness, and it could cause us to ignore the benefits of one’s current circumstances. Focusing exclusively on the journey carries its own set of risks. Imagine enjoying a bike ride so much that you had no destination in mind. You could end up in the middle of nowhere, exhausted, wishing you’d given some thought to where you were pedaling.
This lesson is very much like the act of riding a bicycle. In order for the bike to work, it needs to be pedaled forward. There is necessary change with each passing moment. Each moment positions the rider for the next. If you look too far down the road, then you might ride yourself straight into a pothole. Conversely, if you look straight down for the pothole, then you could miss the incredible view.
You might read this and be thinking of the balance on how you spend time between your work and your family. Maybe this example made you think about your current fitness and how it’s not where you want it to be. It’s a beautiful struggle. Turn your eyes up the road, careful to look ahead just enough to see where you’re going, and start pedaling.
Joe Maloy, 2016 U.S. Olympic Triathlete, Co-Founder and Editor-at-Large
• Do cyclists need to strength train in order to improve on the bike? The contrarian view is that strength training isn’t necessary because the sport relies on cardiovascular fitness which, they argue, can be trained on the bike. The viewpoint in favor of strength training argues that even though cycling is primarily a cardiovascular sport, “leg strength is still imperative.” According to USA Cycling’s article Strength Training for Cyclists: A Practical View From a Cycling Coach, “Cycling is a power sport. Power equals force times speed. Force is the amount of effort you put into the pedal stroke and speed is your leg rpm. And while some say strength training for cyclists is not required, it can be a beneficial component of a cycling training program.” Coach David Ertl writes that strength training can simulate the effect of a long ride.
“One rule of thumb is that the day after a good lower body workout, your legs should feel like you’ve just ridden a hard 70 miles.”
• Generally the off-season is when we focus on building strength. If what would normally be the middle of race season has turned into an extended off-season for you because of race cancellations, Bicycling magazine has identified 10 Essential Strength-Training Exercises for Cyclists as a starting point. If you’re into kettlebells, kettlebellsworkouts.com put together this list of 8 Kettlebell Strength Exercises for Cyclists. Of course, the usual advice applies: seek professional guidance or talk to your doctor before starting any training program.
• Last month we shared a few articles about acclimating to training and racing in the heat. This month, Outside magazine continues the discussion in its Sweat Science column titled, The Benefits of Heat Training, Reconsidered. Alex Hutchison, author of the book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, looks into research that indicates, “Sweaty workouts do enhance your endurance, according to a new theory, but it may take longer and function differently than previously thought.”
• Whether you’re training outdoors or working out inside a recently-reopened gym, you’ve probably contemplated whether or not you should be wearing a mask while exercising. (Some gyms require everyone to wear them, while most states and communities with mandatory mask orders have exemptions for outdoor exercise.) GQ waded into the debate, talking to a handful of athletes and experts. How 5 Serious Athletes Are Handling the Coronavirus Mask Dilemma. If you’re inclined to wear a mask while working out, they also have recommendations.
• Although most amateur swimming, cycling and running races have been canceled for the second half of this year, professional athletic organizations are moving forward with plans for a controlled return to competition. NBA players arrived this week in the so-called "bubble" in Orlando. Engadget reports their plans include keeping players and team personnel in isolation. NBA players will also have the option of wearing an Oura smart ring, according to The Athletic’s Sham Charania who first broke the story. On Twitter, Charania posted that the ring “could help with early detection of coronavirus” by tracking temperature, respiratory and heart rate.
• As the summer wears on, you may start to feel pangs induced by the lack of race events to participate in. But there’s more to life than a podium finish. Take it from John Candy’s character in Cool Runnings:
“A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
This made-in-Hollywood lesson for athletes can serve as a mantra for how to keep a positive mindset, especially in the absence of competition. “I’d made winning my whole life. And when you make winning your whole life, you have to keep on winning, no matter what.”
• China’s ‘Bicycle Skyway’ in Xiamen looks like something out of Zwift, but it’s real. The 5-mile-long elevated bike path, which hovers nearly 17 feet above the road and can handle 2,000 bikes at a time, has been open for three years. Still, this Business Insider article deserves a second look. At the time of its opening, the Danish firm that designed the structure, Dissing + Weitling Architecture, told Business Insider that the cycleway is the longest of its kind in the world.
• The Tour de France should be underway right now. With the race delayed until the end of August, the Tour partnered with Zwift and Amaury Sport Organisation to produce a virtual Tour de France on YouTube. The video mirrors an actual race broadcast, complete with helicopter aerial footage, graphics and race announcers. “We couldn’t have July without a celebration of the world’s biggest bike race,” the announcer says. “We start today with the first-ever virtual Tour de France.” Stage 1 started on July 4th and the virtual races continue for the next two weekends. All of the events are fundraising for five global charities.
