That philosophy, it occurred to me, is good universal advice for just about any situation. And it's an especially good mindset to have while on the bike.
I've noticed that whenever I find myself in a hurry in everyday life, or on the bike, bad things happen. I make mistakes. I cause unnecessary mechanicals and sometimes fall and get hurt. That's exactly Coach Wooden's point. If we're in a rush, we don’t take care of the situation, we’re too busy looking ahead. We set the stage to make mistakes. But on the other hand, if we're quick, it's completely different. We're in the moment, in control and we act with purpose.
This happened to me a couple times recently while on the bike. I keep track of my average speed on a 51-mile out and back ride I do a lot just to keep the fat at bay. I've broken the ride down into a series of splits I track on my Garmin and have gotten familiar with what split times show a faster or slower than average pace.
On one recent ride, I had a nice, fast overall time about two-thirds into the ride. Knowing this gets me a little anxious, because I want to make sure I keep up the good pace, and I double down on going as fast as I can. So I had a hurry-up mindset. I came to a short, very steep pitch that climbs quickly from under a bridge, up to its sidewalk. Close to the base of the climb, I shifted to my small ring. But wanting to keep my speed to the max, I hurried the shift. The chain was thrown clear of the small ring. Spinning wildly with no chain, I hit the steep pitch, lost momentum and couldn't pull out of my clips. I fell to the right on the pavement, and scraped my elbow breaking my fall. I was miffed about losing my speed to a thrown chain. I got up, angry at myself for losing time and falling off the bike. I wondered if the fall knocked the rear derailleur out of alignment and if shifting would be a problem the rest of the ride. I looked behind me to see if anybody had seen my colossal bozo fall. There were no witnesses. But then I got a grip and realized I needed to: just. calm. down.
I put the chain back onto the small ring, and walked to the much flatter alternative route up to the bridge. At the time, I was sure what happened was a mechanical failure of my components. On the very next ride, the same thing happened, at the very same place. I’m happy to report I didn't fall off the bike the second time.
But after those two mishaps I test shifted from big ring to small when the gears weren't under maximum load, and there was no shifting problem. So the next time I hit that section, I made sure to shift to the small ring a little bit earlier than right at the base of the steep pitch. And the shift, not hurried, went smoothly.
Those little scenes told me one thing. If I shift in a hurry, the chances of a thrown chain go way up.
I've seen the pros throw chains the same way. In the Tour de France a few years ago, Alberto Contador passed Andy Schleck on a steep pitch, and because he was caught off guard, Schleck's reaction was a hurry-up, panic shift to a smaller ring. But he threw his chain, had to get off his bike, and Contador never looked back.
Once while riding with a buddy, I surprised him on a long, steep climb and passed him. His knee jerk reaction to stay with me was a hurry-up shift that jammed his chain into his derailleur sideways, and rendered his bike in need of expensive repair. I had to ride back to the truck so we could get home and he could take his messed up chain and derailleur to the shop.
So.... now I try to catch myself whenever I feel rushed or in a hurry on the bike. Just to keep the operator errors to a minimum for a better shot to keep mechanicals and/or injury out of the ride.
Where did THAT come from?
After a series of frustrating experiences of late, I was proud of myself for taking them in stride. I didn't lash out or melt down, even though a few times it seemed the only sane reaction to what was happening (work-related BS). Instead I did what the Dude advises in such circumstances. I abided. Or at least I thought I had. When I told my buddy Marc about a particularly harsh setback, he had good advice.
"Get on your bike and clear your mind," he said.
This, I’ve come to learn, is always good advice, unless the weather’s bad. I got out on the bike and rode my regular 51-miler. Egged on by an annoying TCFS rider that passed me, I burst into high gear on one of my regular short sprint segments, and hit an uphill speed far faster (19-20 mph vs. a typical 14-15 mph) than I'd ever ridden on that stretch. I did the same thing on my final sprint to end my ride, which involved passing, ironically, the same rider, quite a bit later in the day!
The source of that extra energy, I thought later, was a molten core of pent-up frustration in my body that funneled some serious giddy-up into the legs. I'd tapped into pure firepower I didn’t even know was there. Who knew?
Let it go, bro
Ever have the experience of riding down a steep descent, when you swear you hear your bike calling on you to let it go all out, full speed? I have, for sure. They say that's what ski racers have to do in order to get down a course as fast as possible. They have to let fear be damned and let the skis run as fast as they want to. That's what my bike says to me on speedy downhills: "Let me run, full out, no brakes!" It usually happens when I'm holding off my full downhill speed a bit because I feel close to losing control. But when I have pushed through the fear window and let the descent speed happen full on, I've had the biggest thrills of all on the bike. But the key is to have a sense when pushing through the fear is smart, in which case there are thrills to be had, or not, when there can be the disaster of losing control and crashing. It's a slippery slope, but hey, that's just one example of why we ride, right?
Safety is no accident…
On a recent ride I came upon a rider that had fallen off his bike, and was lying face down on the asphalt, a T-shirt wrapped around his head. One of his shoes was on the other side of the trail. Other riders had stopped and were calling for help, it looked like he was the only one hurt. After they confirmed they were handling it, I rode on, stunned at how serious the guy may have been hurt. He didn't seem to be unconscious, but he wasn't moving, and may have suffered a tremendous head smack on the asphalt. It didn't look like he'd been wearing a helmet. On the way back, an ambulance had come and they were loading him in.
This is the type of scene that makes you think about the fragility of staying injury free while riding a bike. This was a Saturday afternoon, the guy was out on a cruiser bike, likely enjoying his day, until whatever happened made him crash. It looked like he may have tried to avoid hitting another bike, but I couldn't tell for sure. But his day ended with a trip to the hospital, and maybe a devastating head injury that may have changed his life for the worse, forever.
Wearing a helmet won't necessarily stop a head injury from happening, but it can lessen the odds of it happening.
A friend recently was out spinning on his bike and got his front tire wedged in a groove, possibly a railroad track. He was thrown off his bike and fell hard on the pavement. He dislocated a shoulder, hurt an arm and hit his head in the fall. But his helmet took the blow and cracked, saving his cranium. He's always talked up the need for every rider to wear a helmet, for the very reason of what just happened to him. He was lucky, but only because he did the right thing. He wore a helmet. If he hadn’t, he may have been sipping soup the rest of his life.
Deals, schmeals
I'd asked for a new pair of padded riding gloves for Christmas, and my wife got me the ones I wanted online. They were a major brand, not cheap. But as I wore them on rides I discovered the padding on the hand side of the gloves, which is key to keeping your hands comfortable, was all but minimal, almost flat, like they didn't sew in all the padding they should have. I recently bought a new pair at a bike store, and was able to make sure the hand padding was nice and thick on the gloves, as advertised. Online shopping can be convenient -- until you don't get what you ordered. Buy at the shops with the best deals for your bike stuff. Online buying, especially when you add in shipping costs, might not be a deal. But definitely sometimes they're winners.
Til next time, remember to put on a helmet every time you get on the bike. And then, do whatever it takes to keep the rubber side down.
Have fun and be safe out there.
— Mark Eric Larson
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