Long post ahead. Hopefully it’ll make you laugh at me and teach you the same lesson I’ve had to relearn. Here goes.
It’s about PERSEVERANCE. The Universe decided to test me again today and I was rewarded for pushing through.
It’s really a combination of bad luck and bad planning on my part. Probably mostly my fault.
4PM. I set up my Kickr, computer, TV / monitor, music, water, towel and get changed.
All same routine. Hop on the Kickr and start pedalling. within 5 seconds, Kickr comes to a halt with MAX resistance. “wtf?” I get going again. 5 more seconds… repeat. Disconnect everything, reconnect, try again. Same. Try bunch of other stuff to no avail.
4PM is important. It gives me exactly 1.5hrs for TR session before my downstairs neighbor’s home from work. I don’t wanna disturb her. I decide to text her for heads up, I might be on the bike when she arrives so please let me know if it bothers you. She says she’s already home. Sorry
It’s been a long way and she has a headache. She’s never home that early. Welp… I guess I wasn’t gonna be able to ride anyway.
“Fuck it!” I think. It’s just one of those days. I’ll have to skip. But I feel like that was too easy of a cop out. Decision doesn’t sit well with me. I do have a portable wheel on trainer and the apt complex has a gym after all.
Grab all the gear and head down. Takes 2 trips in freezing weather (gym not in the same building). But finally time to setup. Oh great. Forgot my allen wrench for thru-axle. Note to self: swap for my no-tool thru-axles until Spring.
No matter. Run to apt. Grab allen wrench. Come back. Bike is now on the trainer. But ipad won’t connect to my power meter. Try 4-5 times. Nope. Am I that guy? That guy who seems never prepared, always flustered. Leaves everything to last minute and blames bad luck. No god damn it. It’s just an off day. Thankfully 4iiii has an easy battery cover I can remove. Cause the typical OFF and ON works. ipad connects.
Hop on the bike. Time to finally ride. Pedal. Pedal. Pedal. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. RIGHT. I’m not on my direct drive… Tire pressure matters. Girlfriend walking the dog. I have no keys on me. No matter! Apt also has bike service stations. I run to one in the cold with my wheel in my hand. I get funny looks cause I’m in spandex running around with a wheel. I don’t care. I look at the pump. Pump stares back at me with a broken valve core stuck inside it. W… T… F… Someone must have tried to yank it off with the pump lock on. Maybe they had a worse day than me?
Eat the pride. Text GF and ask for the pump. “LOL” she texts back. “Gonna finish walking Jackson (our dog) and be right there with the pump.” I AM lucky in some ways at least.
She shows up laughing after 15 mins. “Don’t even ask” I say.
FINALLY. I can FINALLY ride. It’s now 5:10p. 70 mins after my intended ride time. Same connection issues with the PM but this time I know what to do. Just a 2 min setback instead of 10.
Starting 1.5 hrs of suffering. Not nearly as painful as the bs I had to deal with though.
1 hour in. 2 more intervals left. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. WHAT?!?! WHO GETS A FLAT ON THE TRAINER?!
I guess thankfully it was during the recovery so my interval isn’t ruined.
Hop off, pump it back up. Nope. Doesn’t hold air. Thankfully I have my front wheel with me. Quickest tire change I’ve ever done. 2-3 mins. Sweat dripping all over the floors. The girl on the treadmill must think I’m nuts. Tire’s back on. Here we go for one last time…
1.5 hrs done. Targets hit. I got through it. One of the best post workout feelings I have. All the mishaps make the post workout sweeter.
Cycling is a mental game as it’s physical. While the mental game is not about dealing with the BS I had to, tonight I feel like I have a stronger will. Next time I feel like I’m not in the mood to ride, I’ll remember tonight.
Sorry if this wasn’t 100% on topic. I had to get it off my chest. There are days it’s just not worth pushing. We all have those. But I decided tonight wasn’t one. I persevered. Glad I did.