The first thing I learned was that Getting Old Sucks! Of course, this is not cycling specific by any stretch, but when I discovered this, I was not a cyclist. Actually, I felt like a has-been more than anything else. I had stopped riding at the end of 2013 because of a crash. From November to August I gradually got heavier, slower, and more lethargic. It didn't happen all at once, but by August I was not feeling like myself and felt that I had aged 10 years in a matter of months. I learned that cycling had a place in my life that was beyond that of a hobby. It was the key to life, the key to feeling good about myself.
Not that weight is the end all, be all of fitness or how you feel, but when I started riding again I topped the scales at 205 LBS. My lightest while I was riding in 2013 was 174 LBS. Obviously, things had taken a turn for the worst, and I was feeling all the negatives from the weight gain. I learned that being dedicated with a training program, and paying attention to what you ate was the key. I've always been told that you add weight quicker than you can take it off, but the graph above shows that to not always be the case. In a period of 3 months, I had reached my goal weight of 180 LBS, actually 179 LBS. I was feeling 10 years younger again, and my riding ability had taken off!
That leads me to another thing that I learned about my body. It doesn't forget something that it has done for so long. The performance that took me years to achieve in the saddle I was able to recoup in just a couple of months back in the saddle. While my first ride was dismal at best with a muddy 14.9 mph average albeit over 50 miles, I was able to very quickly improve on that number. It seemed that thanks to time on the stationary trainer, I was getting my legs back, and getting back into shape. Right on the heels of that 50 mile ride that nearly killed me, I was riding a strong 62 mile route, followed up by a very strong century (second fastest time ever). It was partially due to my training regime that kept me on the bike for 6 days a week, around an hour or more every day. I also know without a doubt that my muscle memory was still there and I was able to tap into my previous 12,000 miles on a bike in order to get back into the groove.
Coincidentally, one of my goals for 2013 was to ride a 50 mile route at a 20 mph average speed. That was the one goal on a bike I could never accomplish. I came close, but had to let that goal go as 2013 came to a close. I didn't feel bad about it, but I remembered "the one that got away." Well, as 2014 came to a close, with only four months of riding time under my belt, I turned in my first ever 50 mile ride with an average of 20 mph!!! Really?!?!?!?!?! After all the training I did in 2013, I hop back on a bike after 10 months on the couch and bang out times like that? Awww, who am I kidding, I'll take it! It turned out not to be a fluke either. A couple of weeks later after getting over one of the worst colds I've had in a long time, I scorched another half century with an average moving time of 20 mph. It was official, I had broken that 20 mph barrier, and I was still improving. In fact, my training average had gone from 17.5-18 mph up to a solid 19.25 average. I'm sure some of that is due to the new SL4 Tarmac, but no matter how you split it, I'm doing the work, and these numbers are from the same guy that turned in an all out 14.9 mph performance just months before!
While I was doing all of this training, I learned some other things about myself. I learned why I needed to ride so desperately. It wasn't just for the fitness aspect, it was something much deeper in my psyche. I am pretty sure that I suffer from PTSD, although I am not diagnosed. All of the symptoms are there, and had been getting worse through 2014. I think I was able to identify a lot of areas where cycling proved to be very beneficial before and had kept my PTSD at bay. Without it, my brain became a war zone. I'm happy to say as 2014 is coming to a close, I have all but stopped thinking about the negative stuff that had kept me up at night just months before. I've learned that the bike is not only my gym, but my therapist. This was a very good realization because I'm pretty sure the bike costs about what a doctor and a trainer together would run me for several years. Regardless, I know I should have buyer's remorse for spending all the money I have on cycling, but I'd do it all again tomorrow knowing what it has done for me physically, mentally, and emotionally.
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Something else I have learned through my reentry into the cycling community is that I don't want to keep all this positive to myself. I seem to have a knack for using my bike as a vehicle to make a difference in a larger world. In the past, I have participated in the Tour to Tanglewood where I raised money and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis. Over the years, I have raised nearly $10,000 for this cause which I'm quite positive has made a lot of difference. After getting back on the bike again, I decided that I wanted to try something a little bit different. I decided to change gears and do a different stage event for a different cause. 2015 was going to be the year of "A Ride to Remember." This three day event would add another nearly 100 miles to what I was used to riding for a charity ride, and would introduce a much different motivation. This time I was riding for my wife's family, and quite possibly for her. I hate that I hadn't known about this ride before, but I'm glad I found it now, and plan to do everything that I possibly can to make a difference here as well.
Without even trying, it seems that I'm already making some waves for this ride. Even though I just registered for "A Ride to Remember" in early November, my quest for donations landed me a contact at the Kernersville News that ultimately resulted in a front page article on the first day of 2015!! I'm going to count that as an accomplishment for my abbreviated 2014 cycling year. It makes me feel really good to take something that I love doing, and using it for the betterment of others, and helping those that I love all at the same time. I don't think that there can be any more pure joy that that!
Speaking of my cycling getting attention in the printed form, I became aware about the time I was getting back into cycling that a post that I had made about a year before on Facebook had been put into a book. "Why I Ride" is a collection of first person testimonies from cyclists about why they ride. When I wrote this post, I just barely hit on the reasons I've now determined to exist. However, It was a bit of serendipity to see this post again and realize that it had made it into a book. It was almost as if the universe was telling me I was making the right decision about getting back in the saddle again. I'm rediscovering the fun that I felt about cycling before, and for that I'm very thankful!
My end of year stats aren't as impressive as year's past with my longest ride being the single century that I rode, as opposed to the 11 I completed in 2013. My total mileage is just over 2,000 miles which is only a third of the 6,000 I rode in 2013, but it represented only a third of the year to be fair. I did no event rides, no group rides, although I did try a group ride once. I was foiled by one of the strangest flats in history which killed a tire and my chances of riding with the group before I even left the parking lot. I might not have done as much as I have in the past, but My own personal achievements of getting back on the bike and improving my personal performance far overshadow the concrete numbers that the year recorded. I'm in the best place on a bike I've ever been I think.
As you can probably tell, the end of my 2014 cycling year is reading a lot more like the beginning of a season. We have the training improvements, the self actualizations, and even a few accomplishments scattered in for good measure. Even with the close of the year, I have no idea what kind of cyclist I am about to become. Most are looking back at this point at the cyclist they were at their peak. While others were cranking out impressive rides, I was flipping channels on the television, while they were sweating, I was eating, and while they were doing what they loved, I was missing a very important part of me. Now, I'm riding again, and finding that my time off didn't hurt me as bad as I thought it would have. I've actually come back faster, stronger, and better than when I left the sport. Obviously, I'm still improving, so the so called "off season" will be a real page turner for me. I'm looking forward to Spring when I can get out on the road without the added bulk of winter kit, and see what my legs are truly capable of. Even if I see no further improvement, I can still look at my recent experience as being similar to that of the Phoenix who rose from the fire better and stronger.
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