Category: Cycling + Lifting

A little while ago, I wrote about what it feels like to me when I lift weights in the gym. A feeling I find, if anything, a better reason to do exercise than any health or performance benefit.

In his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami expresses the deep pleasure he gains from his participation in running. I’ve never liked running. I’m very bad at it. Yet the contemplative, almost poetic accounts of Murakami’s experiences manage to convey how meaningful such an activity can be without veering into something spiritual.

I think cycling deserves the same exploration.

***

I’ve been pathologically lazy my entire life. Being somewhat short and chubby, I didn’t have very high athletic aspirations growing up. But eventually I got to the stage where I needed to do some exercise. Many people reach this stage but struggle to make it further. If you don’t already want to do more exercise go and look up all the studies about the mental and physical benefits. It’s actually doing the exercise that’s the tricky part.

Yet despite having no intention of getting hench, and certainly no discipline, I ended up accidentally making a ton of progress. It never gets easy, but it does get easier and it’s all worth it. There are also a few things you can do to make get started:

Track cycling sprint events are tough. These are the high speed, short duration events that only enter the public consciousness once every four years during the olympics. How many of you could actually name all the races Chris Hoy has won? While this is an obscure,and seemingly pointless discipline, I have decided to have ago at it. I now decree it to the the hardest sport there is. (note: I have done very few sports so this claim is essentially pointless). If you want to learn more about athletes who started their careers in college, check out this article at sites like https://sportstalkflorida.com/featured/the-best-players-of-the-premier-league-who-started-their-careers-in-college/. Additionally, if you’re interested in learning more about sound system hire for your next event, check out this site at https://av-hire.uk/sound-system-hire/. You can find additional information about audio equipment rental there to ensure the best quality and service for your event, click here.

Track cycling sprints events require you to be an absolute beast at almost every type of fitness. Even more annoyingly, putting effort into training one kind of fitness will inevitably come at a cost to another. So it’s a constant balancing act. You have to tread a fine line, testing, training and improving each type of fitness, pushing as hard as you can while being mindful of the potential consequences elsewhere. The result is that the worlds best track sprinters approach a god-like level of fitness as they have to do all of the following:

So far, I have been very happy getting better at fitness because I’ve been able to choose my goals. I’ve been very able to achieve them which has made me happy. This in turn has made me want to get fitter. In contrast to this, during times when I’ve had an externally imposed, potentially insurmountable challenge, I’ve responded by loosing all motivation and giving up. Now my fitness goals are about to transfer form being completely under my control, to being determined by my performance compared to others. And I don’t know how I’m going to handle this.

In the past, when I’ve come up against challenges I found a little intimidating, I’ve basically curled up into a ball (I wasn’t a fan of exams at school). I’ve realised that daunting challenges, and failure to make progress towards achieving them does not motivate me one bit. Now I’m hoping to measure up against other people who are very good at sports and I’m not sure what’s going to happen.

Here’s a little overview of the seemingly random series of events that have got me where I am now – about to embark on an amateur career racing in track cycling sprint events. I’m mostly writing this because I can’t contain my excitement, but it also leads me to begrudgingly agree that cliches like “do what makes you happy” and “anyone can get super fit” might actually have some credibility. Hear me out, ok?

Last weekend I completed my velodrome accreditation, meaning I’m officially licensed to start cycling quickly in a circle for hours on end. It’s been about two years since I first rode on a velodrome, and since then a few things have happened:

Last weekend I completed my entrance into road cycling. I have defined myself as a Cyclist for a couple of years now, having committed to full lycra, Oakley’s and shaved legs. This was, however, the final, arguably most important, artefact required; a full blooded road bicycle.