Blasphemy?

Have I been sacrilegious in calling my rides ‘sacred’? Sometimes I feel a tinge of guilt for doing that, because sometimes, the rides really aren’t quite sacred. And I mean it in every sense of the word ‘un-sacred’. You see, sometimes I am not all focused on the task at hand, i.e. riding. At other times, I am distracted by worldly desires and pressing issues. Yet at other times, I am purely selfish – this can include, riding to lose weight, riding to de-stress or riding to have something to do because my husband is yet again out of town. The blasphemy lies in the very twist of believing my rides are sacred when they aren’t (well, not always). The dynamics of human interaction, group behaviour and social communication just adds to that complexity. I observe the way the cyclists ride their bikes, it’s probably the same way they lead their lives. Being a hopeless romantic myself, I cannot help but enjoy the romance of dawn, totally at peace with my emotions. At other times, in total emotional disaster and disarray, and that’s probably when I am distracted, too quiet and ignoring the present company. Perhaps at times, I feel like I’ve lost the affection and attention I thought I used to have. Perhaps it is the tension of uncertainty, the very same tension that can bring about excitement and a certain high. Let’s just say that women are probably confused creatures, contradict ourselves, give mixed signals and sensitive at the wrong times. I’ve just proved it, didn’t I? SACA Road Race 2, Changi Business Park 4 April 2004 It seemed like ages since the first road race…it must had to do with my very erratic life since that day. I was a workaholic the moment March began, working overtime and overworked for a sports conference my department was organizing. It ended on 13 March, during which I fell ill, boss told me no way he can afford me taking sick leave…so I pressed on. 14 March was my birthday, yet another milestone, to mark incremental aging and depletion of youth. By then, I had not gone for my rides for 2 weeks because of work and the nagging illness/fatigue. I embarked on a painful comeback on Tuesday, 16 March. It wasn’t painful, I felt like dying. My legs were heavier than lead, my lungs were deflated and my will was weak. I gave up on myself, tears already forming in my eyes, threatening to roll down my cheeks. I told my teammate I needed to pick up my fitness b4 riding with the team again. The next day, I heard 2 new ‘babes’ joined the team for training. I skipped the ‘babe-watch’ and went for my own secret ride, fighting my ghost of failure alone. Then on Friday, 19 March, I came back riding with the team again, hoping I was in acceptable shape. Coach was riding with me the 2 laps of Changi, which I was totally grateful for. He wasn’t just there for me when I’m fit, he cared to ride and pull me when I’m down and slow. He also shared about how “Dynamics relates to how a rider constantly maximizes the bike and body efficiencies to match and produce maximum power or control over the constantly changing terrain encountered in cycling.” Whatever that meant, I figured it out for myself. It helped that I was in the analytical mode for speed-testing for my new windsurfing gear. Each session, I tuned my sail differently, analysed the effects of that day’s conditions on my sail, board and fin. I also changed new fins, shifted the mast track position, and tried as many permutations of gear combination with as many wind/wave conditions. My new sail is a model of North Sails called R Type, not to be confused with Honda Type R. R Type is an awesome sail, it’s like I had jumped from a 1.6litre car to a 3litre car without being fitted with an equivalent engine. I did not have the weight to hold down the power, especially when the wind picks up. I had to tweak with the tuning and change different fins to manage the differences. You see, fins are like wheels. It’s the only contact with the water and it’s very very important. Since I started riding, I kept a diary, only include the mileage for each ride after the SACA Road Race 1 coz it was then that I learnt how to use the speedo to clock each ride’s distance. By the time I applied my understanding of speed dynamics from windsurfing to cycling, and making adjustments to the way I ride. On my 29th ride on 29 March, (how significant), I felt the improvement. I endeavoured to maintain and stabilize that new-found riding style. I wasn’t confident that I managed a breakthrough in my riding, hence not able to decide if I was going to race on 4 April. Then I thought I should just race to be there to support my team and be a good sport. Told coach I was racing the day (3 April) before race day. I turned up on race day and there goes…looking forward to more riding…Waves and wheels are great!