I parked myself in front of the TV to watch Tour of Flanders on VS yesterday along with a six pack to compliment the fun weekend. I love watching those one day races where everyone is putting it on the line. It was also cool to see the team tactics of Quickstep. I’m starting to gain a little more appreciation of tactics as I watch these races - now that I’m doing some racing myself. Devolder’s final attack was brilliant. Quickstep owned that race.
As I was driving home from Walkersville, I was randomly throwing out thoughts to Igda. Something hit me and it had to do with racing triathlons (and I guess Duathlon as well) vs bike racing. I’m not sure I’ll be able to describe precisely my meaning here, but I’ll give it shot. Essentially, why I’m drawn to both sports right now.
In triathlon, it’s really a race against yourself. What I mean by that is this. It begins with your training. You swim, bike and run a lot. After countless laps in the pool, you have a pretty good idea within a few minutes of what you’ll be to do at a given distance/race. If you train with power on the bike, you also build a pretty firm idea of the effort level/pacing strategy for a given distance and still be able to throw in a solid run afterward. The run becomes sort of a mystery during the race because if you have screwed up on the other two or nutrition becomes an issue, the run can either be miserable or totally dialed in. Again, pacing and knowing your abilities is key. In every event, there’s a target to shoot for which results in the overall time. Everyone gets to it in a variety ways, i.e. everyone has their strong event. Some are lucky enough to really excel in all three, but most have their one or two go to plays during a race which can make the race unfold in variety of ways. Setting skill aside (especially the swim), the winner is generally the one with highest Lactate Threshold. They can simply go harder and faster than everyone else for an extended period of time without blowing up. I know I’ve put this in pretty simplistic terms which doesn’t really give the time needed to excel in triathlon justice, but that’s not my real point. Stepping away from triathlon for a bit has enabled me to see more clearly why I do like the sport and got hooked on it in the first place.
I can’t count the times I’ve studied the previous results for a race. You build a very firm idea of what you’ll need to achieve in each leg to put yourself in contention, whether it be Age Group or Overall. Goals are set during training and before the race. It’s mano-e-mano. When you toe the line, there’s nowhere to hide. Just good old fashioned hard work and the will to push yourself extremely hard. It’s very Darwinian. The weak are left behind and the strong survive. I like this about the sport. Of course, this can also be said of cycling. It just takes longer for the weeding out process to work its way out.
In cycling, one sport to focus one. And honestly, it’s really not that complicated to train for especially when you don’t have to make 5:30 a.m. swims and log a bunch of running in throughout the week. The main reason I put tris on the backburner this year was to free up some of my time, both at home and work. I’m hoping to make things as simple as possible. Plus, I really like riding and it’s probably my best event out of the three. In my limited time racing bikes, it has become evident that personal tactics and team tactics play a huge role in the outcome of race. I like that. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a team sport. Although I’m not on a team, yet, I can imagine that the drive to push yourself to support a team member or just flat out punishing yourself to your job for the team can be extremely fulfilling whether you win or lose. Again, I like that added dimension. Right now, I’m really just focused on building bike fitness. I enjoy seeing how hard I can push myself. Plus, I think I realized early on that in a cat 5 race, you’re not really helping yourself become a stronger cyclist by sitting in the pack. Granted, when I do upgrade, I’m sure there will be races where sitting in will be a struggle at times. But to me, I think I’d rather save the money and go noodle around on my own. Bottom line, it’s just fun to be on the bike a lot right now. I also enjoy lining up at the starting line wondering, “ok, how’s this race going to go down?” It’s always evolving and fluid somewhat unlike a triathlon unless some unknown shows up. I will admit, I’m looking forward to doing some TT’s this year. That will be a new experience since I don’t have to throw a swim in front of it or worry about running afterward!
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