A few years ago, I wrote about some Life lessons I had learned over the years through my participation in cycling. Bicycling can be just a fun form of recreation for the whole family. If you are so inclined, a cycling lifestyle can also lead you into explorations of physical performance, nutrition and even human psychology. It is all up to the individual as to how far one chooses to go down this rabbit hole.
A lot has happened in the world since I last wrote about things to be learned from an activity that is not always clearly understood by its participants and observers alike. We are struggling to emerge from a pandemic that some would like to see continue and most everyone has had some pretty hard life lessons over the last year.
Do you have any new insights?
People Still Need to Step Up
The pandemic has been tough on leadership and role models everywhere. There have been lots of mistakes to learn from and a few shining examples of how to lead under uncertain circumstances. Here are a few observations:
Indecisiveness is not rewarded
Like picking and staying with a line through a turn, commitment to a decision is essential. You still have to trust yourself and those around you to follow a decision through to its natural conclusion. Opportunities to re-evaluate your course will be available further down the course. Being focused on everyone’s safety through the turns is our job of the moment.
Integrity is everything.
When we agree to terms and conditions of a contract, all participants are expected to honor the bargain.
During a race, I once struck a bargain with a very tall rider who was struggling on the climbs. He was deadly fast going downhill but mountain climbs were just not his forte. I was pretty fair at climbing but not especially fast coming back down. A deal was struck in which we agreed that I would let him draft me going uphill and he would then provide the same service to me going downhill.
A win-win situation. All it took was both of us honoring our agreement.
There Is a Time to Be Right and There Is a Time to Let Go.
The nature of road racing is such that there is not a cop or a nanny on every corner. Things happen out on the course and riders can and do behave poorly. Not every personal affront though is actionable.
I once had a rider pass me in a no-passing zone and he ended up with a trophy and I did not. (Obviously the days before everyone got a trophy.)
Frustrating? Absolutely.
Something I got over without complaining to anyone who would listen? Absolutely.
Disappointment in Life is part of the scheme. We don’t always get what we want when we want it. Temper tantrums will get you attention but rarely get you what you need.
If It Isn’t Working, Don’t Keep Doing It.
When we are younger and more foolish, we have metabolisms that can keep us slim no matter what we do. Add to that endurance sports like cycling and the calories just never seem to appear on our hips. Eating loads of junk food and burning it all off with a long ride the next day is a luxury of being young.
Bodies change and habits have to change correspondingly if we want to maintain some semblance of our younger, skinnier selves. How we fuel the machine that spins those pedals is equally important as how often we ride.
COVID house arrest gave us all the opportunity to change our diets, albeit not in a healthier direction for many. Poor nutrition choices beget poor athletic performance, and for us older athletes, we get added body weight too.
The takeaway message is that as many physiological benefits cycling gives participants, we don’t get to eat crappy food as we get older.
Not all change is fun.
Life Lessons About People
Trust
In Life as in riding, we all must trust. Trust people, trust our abilities, and trust our equipment. Trust helps keep our fear in check so that we may adventure out into the world instead of hiding from the things that we don’t have control over. Not being in control is our true normal. Being comfortable in that place is important for us to be happy.
Risk Tolerance
Cycling by definition comes with considerable risk that we assume every time we roll out the driveway towards another adventure. Injury is likely at some point, no matter your skill or experience. Getting hurt while riding is a “when” question, not “if”.
Even with that pessimistic outlook on the activity, we still ride! We have a very high tolerance for risk that not everyone in the population possesses. The degree to which this is true has been a surprise to me during the pandemic.
Watching national leaders revert to adolescent tactics of avoidance and peer pressure (we call it politics nowadays) has been disappointing. As a physician, I understand the biology of a novel virus as it progresses through the world population. As a cyclist, I take up the challenge to keep myself as healthy as possible for the day that I encounter the COVID virus (if I haven’t already).
There are things humans can do to mitigate the effects but the virus is still going to exact a toll as it progresses. We are not in charge of everything in Life, no matter how hard we try and pretend it is so.
Nature Rules!
Cycling is a humbling sport. It teaches us that physics and physiology rule the day and acceptance of what Life offers is our true vocation. The key is to focus energies on the things we can change, take care of one another, maintain a positive outlook, and most of all – keep on pedaling!
A good ride in the winter is something you quietly put adjacent to your heart; an unspoken victory filed away for times of weakness and need, to be pulled out when you require a reminder of what you are capable of.”
― Tom Babin
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