Everyone's dialogue starts to diverge at this point, but there are a few themes. After your first "Easy Day" in place of Hill Repeats: BRAIN How was that? BODY We feel great! We forgot how nice a bike ride could be. EGO l o s i n g. f i t n e s s. r e d e e m! BODY Right! Right! No more nice riding, no more nice guy! Go deep! BRAIN Wait, wait, that doesn't make sense! After your first "Easy Week" with limited intensity and no group ride: BRAIN That was nice. BODY Says you! Everything hurts and we're dying. Riding feels better than not riding. EGO c o r r e c t. g o. d e e p e r. g r o w. s t r o n g e r. c r u s h. t h e. a d v e r s a r i e s. BODY We can't! We can't do any more! And rest feels just as bad as riding right now! Aaaaagggghhhhhhhhhh! BRAIN Well, maybe there's a book or podcast or something about this. Surely we aren't the first. After about 6 months of cycling your training, you're starting to understand the wax and wane of fatigue -- and the accompanying wavy, slower, but continuous improvement in fitness. When you honor your need for rest, that is. Now you hang with the group. Occasionally, you take a few pulls at the front. Occasionally, you set the pace. Occasionally, you welcome a new rider who tried to chase you on the bike path. Then, without warning, you get invited to a Race. You've reached an advanced level as a cyclist and athlete. Your brain is confident and your body is excited. But, despite it's self-serving ways up to this point, your ego knows something you don't: you're not qualified for The Race. He's about to be crushed. He's about to be mailed back to the bottom of the pyramid. Except it's a new pyramid. You've crossed over. You're an Advanced Cyclist. You are fitter, faster, stronger, and more skilled than nearly every person who throws leg over top tube for a bike ride. But this is the pyramid of Bike Racers. So joke's on you: you're back to Novice. You know how those old table tennis video games would start with one ball and it gradually picked up speed? You mastered that, won all the levels with perfect scores, and felt pretty good about yourself...until you realized the game would start all over. With 2 balls this time. This series ends here. But you're not done, oh no. You have the categorized system of Bike Racer levels to climb. It won't feel much better than this climb did -- most of the time, it will feel even worse! But remember how fun it was to get stronger as a Cyclist? It's even more fun to get faster as a Racer. Saddle up.
