Mindful Thoughts for Cyclists by Nick Moore

Author:Nick Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leaping Hare Press
Published: 2017-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

TUNE IN TO YOUR LEGS

We need to let go of the ‘no pain, no gain’ mantra that pervades life, not just sport – the deathly notion that, somehow, if it doesn’t hurt, you’re not trying hard enough, and won’t see the best results. As long as you can get up that hill somehow – even if it means walking part of the way – that’s all that counts. How fast you do it is utterly unimportant (unless you’re racing, of course).

Yet we must also be aware that some effort is required. Our muscles enlarge and strengthen only when we ask them to do more than they’re currently capable of. Not Nietzsche’s ‘that which does not kill us makes us stronger’, exactly, but we must break them down (carefully) in order to build them up. So tune in to your legs as you ride. Focus on your perceived effort – how hard you feel you’re working. Could you sustain this effort all day? Recognize when you’re asking your body for extra power – on a hill, for example – and how easily it can provide it (or not).

The great Italian campione of the 1960s and ’70s, Felice Gimondi, said: ‘Basic physical strength is necessary. But you need to have a little imagination, to be intelligent and calm. You need mental control. It is self-control.’ And, he might have added, you need to be fully in the moment, not worrying about what could happen, or might lie ahead.

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