Gelato machine

One of the scariest things as a cyclist(at least for me) is internal fatigue. Being a racing cyclist, the body tends to do odd things. Its amazing just how the body and mind differ.

When you think about it, the conscious mind doesn't really control a lot of the body. Yeah, you can raise your hand, and move your leg, but simple things like blinking, or breathing or recovering, they are all controlled by something...else.

As a cyclist I am always conscious of recovery. Knowing and feeling the difference between a good recovery after a training ride, and a bad recovery after a training ride makes the difference in your whole preparation for an event. Being aware of this tells you when to ride harder the next day.....or when to put the feet up and take some extra time off.

The scary thing is when you feel like your recovering well from a workout(muscles repairing, building) but internally your body is starting to shut down. This is the first step to over training.

Its here that you reach the realization that riding a lot makes you SLOW. Your body is not a machine that can work day in and out all the time. After a while of this, it starts to just do its own thing to try to conserve its internal energy.

The concerning thing is that you feel normal. All your training hours amount to going even slower, and slower, and slower. The only thing you can do is to do nothing, but wait.

Maybe this listening skill that some cyclists develop, is why they are so fickle about everything.

The key is to stay on the edge of the maximum training your body can withstand, and falling over the edge. Its something that takes a lot of patience and riding/recovery to know where you stand, and the body often throws you curve balls when you think you should be ripping the legs off people. World Champions too can fall into the pit.

I may have dipped a little too far into the reserves the past few rides...so gingerly, I've been trying to get the juice back through steady light rides with high cadence.

Patience is something always learned the hard way.