Falling Behind

If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.

This is not only a great description of what happens during racing but an all enveloping description of the way I have felt for my rides these past few days. Even my blog posts are suffering! After a couple of weeks of rest, then a surprise summer cold and finally a few days of travel and ramped up client demands, I found it does not take long to find myself alone and falling behind with every pedal stroke.

Few other aspects of my life seems to unravel so suddenly as when my cycling time slips down in priority. It’s not usually by choice and sometimes unavoidable, but it does quantify my constant effort and commitment towards ride time. For some reason, the hours on the bike I spend pushing myself carry a unique value. Oddly enough it is a value that only I recognize. But essentially It’s like having to pay twice for something I’ve already earned-my speed and fitness level.

Sacrifice has value and it also pays off in the sweetest rewards. But if you slow down, the rewards  diminish.  Then you begin to ask yourself questions about where the rides are taking you. Most of my rides take me to very familiar places. Unfortunately, those places seemed much more enjoyable a few weeks ago. It’s now time to change things up. Adding new types of riding, training for cyclocross, more fat bike,  some single track, new group rides, night rides and anything else that gives training a new flavor and keeps you motivated.

It is almost fall and it is time to re-stoke the fire, refuel the mind, and reset some goals to get the locomotive up and running once again. The engine takes a while to warm up but it will be there soon enough and time riding through the fall season is the best time of all.