[Under ideal conditions, this statement is a tautology.] OK. I’m not sure where this is going. Anyhow, I don’t race, but I read what racers have to say in the forum because I learn - so, bless TR (apologies to George Carlin). I don’t ride in the rain or frozen precip anymore because I don’t have to - so on those days, bless TR. Before TR, I rode tens of thousands of miles outdoors over the decades, but never got faster - but since then, bless TR. I find myself psychologically incapable of doing outdoor training workouts because I like to look at stuff while riding (My son calls this my “superpowers of distraction” - big time ADHD) - so following training plans in the pain cave, bless TR. One year, work got so f-ing busy (not by choice) that 80 percent of my annual miles were on my trainer - so, bless TR. My brother has had a coach for the last 5 years, he has a higher FTP and is faster than me. I’m OK with that because I never had the $150/month in the first place - so, bless TR. I’ve even done and still do 3-hour indoorTR TB workouts because I found that the gains from these workouts translated outdoors - so, bless TR. Here’s where it gets weird - I’ve grown to like the occasional 2-3 hour workouts (currently woven into SSMV)! Grateful Dead and Jazz concert footage, books on DVD, futbol, tivo’d reruns of key stages of the Tour and la Vuelta - what’s not to like?! Year over year, I’m getting faster and stronger, and even though the increments are smaller than I would like, there’s no wailing and gnashing of teeth here.
Now to specifics: I’ve also noticed the coarsening of language over these last debates. A couple of memes. First one: two camps bloviating with sharpened knives about how many angels dance on the head of the pin. I’m okay with this theological debate until the volume escalates and I have push the mute button. But, you can’t fault them - these riders can’t help it. Think about it. Psychologically the most intense vitriol is often spilled between two sides whose passions and beliefs are most closely aligned so they fight over the the 5% they disagree with. Religion (evangelicals who denounce talking in tongues as satanic vs. penecostals who embrace it - me? they’re all a bunch of racists voting for Trump - see White Too Long by Robert Jones), politics (the GOP vs the GQP), or cycling science WAY deep in the weeds – it doesn’t matter; these are psychological proclivities observable in humans. So these rider probably live in the 6th circle of Dante’s Inferno. They may realize that there’s life outside of these walls. On the other hand, while not paring away oncoming vicious verbal thrusts, they seem like a happy bunch.
Second meme: For me, this next group resides in the 9th circle of the Inferno. They are the worst. Here I’m referring those bloggers who blast Chad, et al. for trying to personally screw them out of their last dime of consumer surplus. They smell rats everywhere! These riders gleefully explain to us unwitting morons the skullduggery Chad, et al. use to cynically extract profit. Oh, my! Seriously, don’t you feel the joy these folks bring to the weekly podcast?!! I sure as hell do! It inspires me! So, just out of curiosity I’d like to see a Venn diagram that maps the overlap between these bloggers and those engaged in exposing the Deep State. I bet the intersection isn’t the null set.
The only regret I have is that TR didn’t exist 20 years ago. I suppose I would be a significantly faster rider than I am now. On the other hand, back then I was a serious gym rat with a deadly 15’-18’ jumper when left unguarded. Then my knees gave out.
Shit! I missed dinner! What the heck! I didn’t mean to kill all this time, but Edie Harris’s Instant Death CD was playing in the background.