The wife and kids are out of town, so I am alone. And so I get to indulge. And yield to supressed cravings, i.e. ride bikes a lot. And by riding bikes a lot, I don't mean doing structured interval training. I have this nagging feeling that I should be doing some hard structured intervals. As I helplessly watched the peloton roll away in the Uintas a couple weekends ago, I solemnly swore that I would be doing 2x20 threshold intervals yesterday, and today for that matter, and for the rest of the summer. Rather than doing dumb intervals though, I did what I felt like doing: ride on the dirt in the mountains.
Yesterday I rode for 5+ hours in Park City. I started in town and rode up Skid Row to Lost Prospector to Solamere to Deer Crest to Deer Valley to Mid-Mountain and eventually exited at the Canyons. I saw 6 people. I punched it up the climbs a few times, hoping that by doing so I would somehow get the benefit of doing intervals. I'm not sure whether my legs benefited, but I surely was happier. Fruits of indulgement.
Today I was planning on taking it easy and then hitting the RMR, because doing so would, in theory, make me a faster racer. But then Eric and I got talking and before I knew it I had talked him out of a 4 hr ride to Ogden in Zone 2, and into a "Zone 2 mountain bike ride" -- whatever that is. I think he felt like he was caving a bit, and therefore indulging. But I suspect his guilt wore off as we began riding into the cool recesses of Millcreek Canyon. Mine did. Eventually, we hopped on the Pipeline, rode to the Big Water trailhead, and up Big Water to Dog Lake. But that's where the indulgement ended. Eric wanted to get some "road miles" in, and rather than riding to the Crest, we exited out to the Big Cottonwood Canyon road, rode up to Solitude, and eventually home. It was a good choice, because we were both low on food and I would have bonked for sure. Perhaps the hardest part of the ride was not stopping at the Silver Fork Lodge for a full meal. I should have in the spirit of indulgment, but I didn't.
Note: I'm messed up. I get that it is indulgement to be able to go biking while the family is gone. But why should I consider it indulgement to go mountain biking rather than doing intervals? The Samurai is suppressed. Or is it repressed?
Jared, I totally understand your need for indulgence, when my family is out of town I tend to pummel myself by indulging for hour after hour, compromising sleep, eating poorly and then doing it again. Great insight!
ReplyDeleteIt's all a matter of what you want to get from the ride. Is it about enjoying the ride? Or is it about enjoying putting the hurt to the people you ride with? Too bad it can't be both.
ReplyDeleteWell put, Junkie. I think you can have both, but it's a balancing act. If you spend too much time just enjoying the ride and not enough time training, racing won't be much fun (assuming racing is what you want to do). If you spend too much time training, riding won't be fun anymore and you'll burn out. But if you get the mix right, you'll kick butt with a smile on your face.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thanks for dragging me up there last night, Jared, even though I'm pretty sure you tried to kill me in Big Cottonwood.
I had a post a while back called "You might be a roadie if..." I think I need to add "You might be a roadie if you feel the need to resist having fun (indulging) on a bike ride."
ReplyDelete(The ironic part about the roadie list is that my mountain biking friends and I are guilty of most of the items on the list)
Good to see you and Eric last night. Sorry I didn't stop to talk - I was focused on topping out so I could rest.
ReplyDeleteI like your creative route.