I like to ride in big gears. I recall doing this as far back as my first multi-geared bike as a kid. It's like weightlifting: you see the bar, a stack of metal discs nearby and one way or another, you & your friends end up puttin' them on all and seeing what comes of it. It's always been this way for me with bikes... I get on, I roll, and by the end of the block I've geared it down to its highest gear in no time at all.
And I usually just keep it there, unless I'm halfway up a hill steep enough that I'm beginning to roll backwards down it. Maybe it's a Boy/Guy thing... perhaps it's just an offshoot of always having to "try". Of course it could be as easy as the Time-Space continuum of 'Be careful or you'll shoot your eye out': whereby you have to keep pushing until the Universal RubberBand of "It's Your Turn" snaps back around on your arse and that's that. Dunno.
But I do know this... It, does snap back, eventually. And did for me.
I've noticed a lot more folks out-n-about riding lately, and of those folks many [lately] are in full-on kolorz: i.e. Team Kit [some local, most 'Net-Bought from & of their favorite team/teams/riders[?]... but in either/any case they are out and wearing those logos], and many of them are racy. They wanna go fast all the time. They are speedy quick, quickly speedy.
So far -with this climate of Fasteryness [my word, Google will net you nada]- I've been willingly coerced into two/2/to/too races. One netted me a flatted rear [but I was holding my own up until that flat even though I didn't have full USPS team kolorz on me... but I would seriously bet I was within mere feet of having my backside handed to me -had it not been for that pancaked rear flat- as we were about to embark on some serious inclined inclinations of the hilly sort]...
...and the other netted me a hyper-extended left knee. A few days back, while exiting the downtown PDX area and heading toward home, a Roadie with serious eyes for Man-Man came up from behind me. What followed was the usual, non-spoken, nudge/floor it/back-off/floor it, on again/off again game of 'wanna go??". And we went.
Between runners, walkers, joggers, baby strollers, commuters, bird poop, areas that smell of freshly sprayed cow manure [parts of the Eastside Esplanade reek to high hell of... well, one can't really candy coat it, Shite], the homeless & more... we went. And we kept going.
Never a word spoken. Only frowns, occasional grunts, always lots of serious intent written on two mugs, we went.
Pull ahead, gap opens, close it up, gap closes. Draft, pull, draft, pull... I think, looking back, we knew it would end at the tracks one stop past Spokane on the Corridor. But we never discussed it.
So it kept going, and I know he was as tired as me. And for what gain? To what effect? It was sublimely ridiculous and served zero purpose. But I think we were heeding our Testosterone, our inner-Caveman, our need to gage & monitor the current state of our "Me-ness".
What a moronic sight we must have made: me in a jacket, helmet w/mirror & lights, tights & knickers... him in a very expensive Giro helmet, racing shades, "Hammer Nutrition" jersey & shorts w/"Discovery Channel" tights underneath it all... about the only thing that united us: riding two-wheeled bikes and clipless shoes [but he got me there too, Sidi road shoes].
A 14 mile sprint, and I might be wrong on this, cannot be overly fun for even those with the advantage of Youth & Ultra-Fitness on their side. It can't be. It certainly wasn't for me... but then again, 'Sprint' is a relative term to those doing the sprinting and those watching the sprinting. My 'partner' in all this certainly wasn't wearing anything near enjoyment on his face either.
But we kept on.
So far, I'm only -really- dipping my big toe into Stupidity. The 10-Meter, full-on, belly-flop, comes about... right... Now.
Just past the drop on the Corridor, where you can go under the tracks into Oak's Bottom, my left knee, more specifically the outside & inside [not the front or rear of the knee] goes "Pop" and then "Ping". The 10% of my brain that isn't bathing in testosterone, endorphins and hair-covered hands, says "Whoa... bad. Stop. Now". The other 90% announces, "It was a stick, a piece of gravel, something on the asphalt... keep going sissy". So I went. I listened to the part that -also- responds with things like "No, I know that's a gas station right there, but I'm positive that if I get on that highway and drive east 20 miles we'll find the hotel. I know what I'm doing here, honey".
10%: 'This knee has a history, Einstein. It gave out before anything else gave out as you got big, then bigger, then biggest... every time you've had a knee issue, it's been this knee. You always have babied this knee, what are you doing here, Chief?'
90%: 'It was a stick or something'
10%: 'Amy's gonna be pissed. Not angry because it hurts and you hurt it... no, pissed because you're going to drive her batshit with nonstop worries about it, nonstop questions about it, nonstop "do you think? this/do you think? thats"... check up and ride home like a person that actually has learned something [anything?] in 45 years on this planet'
90%: 'You ain't Lance brother... but neither is this guy. You and Me, we can take him. Go fatboy, go'
10%: 'Why do I even bother with you?'
90%: 'Shut up man... go Mr. Tubby GO.'
10%: 'Hello Ice, Hello E.R., Hello Meds, Hello Amy'
90%: 'Steel against Carbon-The Grudge Match. Just keep going, it was a twig or something... I'm tellin' you man, just keep going'
10%: 'I guess no more rides for a while'
90%: 'There's only The Now'
And we arrived...
well, actually, I arrived. And then he arrived.
I waited for him on the tracks. About 8 seconds later he pulled up beside me. We both smiled. Long pulls on water bottles, a few 'Wows', a couple 'We were goings'... he said, "Great job! Man, I thought for sure I had you near the end" I said something like "I think I killed my knee, so unless you're injured or worse, you came out of this better than me". We shook hands.
I rode home wincing... at appx. 7mph.
Lesson ~finally~ Learned=
Pedal Lite/Spin Fast/Resistance Minimally.
[...and I never told Amy how it happened by the way, but she'll know soon enough]
Keep Ridin'... Always
Wow... my non-pro advice would be to stay the heck off that puppy and really give it time to heal. As big a PITA/massive sucky pile o' shite as it is, the alternatives are much, much worse.
You know, my knee cranky-ness would be a lot cooler if I had cool stories like yours to back them up... I'm just hoping to nurse along my rather malformed knees (I clearly picked the wrong parents in this department) until I get older and replacement surgery gets really, really good.
Posted by: MegC | March 16, 2009 at 10:06 PM
I'm going to say one thing that echoes what you wrote and probably what most other people will write, and one thing that contradicts what you wrote and that at least some other people will disagree with.
The first thing is that if you are going to do all-out efforts, pedaling spinning fast is both faster and healthier than the grunt-it-out approach, but it takes some time to train your legs to do it.
The second thing is that a gut-busting, lungs-bursting, cross-eyed, leg-burning, harder-than-you could-have-imagined-possible, totally-meaningless race to some arbitrary sign or hilltop can be one of the most alive and joyful things that can happen on a bicycle. Sure, it can also be stupid if you go around doing it all the time with a chip on your shoulder or let it make you bitter and angry, but with a friend or acquaintance who you can shake hands or laugh about it with afterward, or just look at each other and smile as you gasp like gaffed salmon. Damn, that's just great stuff.
Posted by: Mark Vande Kamp | March 16, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Hell, I think it rocks. Of course, I had my knee surgery last year!
Posted by: bryantp | March 17, 2009 at 12:01 AM
sometimes stupid just feels right and there little to do about it when in the moment. rest up and work that spin later.
Posted by: fxdwhl | March 17, 2009 at 05:25 AM
P.S. Happy St Pats- have a good beer to celebrate both the day and the inevitable hazards of testosterone poisoning!
P.P.S. For the same reasons, I think Amy gets 2 beers today....
Posted by: MegC | March 17, 2009 at 07:12 AM
To quote any number of television-lawyers, "he opened the door, your honor..." And, well, you did. So before anyone else speaks up, let me be the first to walk through it and perhaps pave a gentler way...
I have never personally known a female cyclist to behave as you did. I have known LOTS of male cyclists who have succumbed in this same manner -- to their inner wild child, their inner circus strongman, their inner Mario Cippolini or whatever else. Since you said the "T" word, I'll agree -- there is probably nothing quite like a big fat dose of Vitamin Testo to make a guy wanna roll out the big guns, stack on the weights, and in general go screaming off the side of a mountain in search of Superman's Cape. Guys ARE wired differently and this is one of the reasons why.
That's not to say that women aren't capable of great feats of derring-do -- we are, of course; but none of them that I know personally would be tempted to kill themselves and risk serious injury like that to prove a point.
While your post is some of the most interesting writing on the subject I've seen, I also worry that you've done some damage to your knee. Bad knees really, REALLY suck to have; and perhaps you'll listen to Mister Ten Percent next time. Rest up and take good care of yourself.
Posted by: beth h | March 17, 2009 at 08:24 AM
Been there. And will be again, I'm sure. Hopefully the knee will be fine. When it is, I'd interested in your perspective 6 months from now. Not with Amy looking over your shoulder and common sense whispering in your ear, but when you and I are sitting over a beer and I ask "So, was it worth it?"
I really think you need to seriously think about you and Chloe both racing cross next fall - so. much. fun.
And Mark's right: spin faster next time.
Posted by: MtMann | March 17, 2009 at 09:23 AM
Like the saying "in time the body will heal but glory is forever"
good job man!
Posted by: Greg (Long Island, NY) | March 17, 2009 at 10:07 AM
14 miles?
Posted by: Michael R | March 18, 2009 at 06:40 AM
Michael, those musta been dog miles. The fish is always bigger when the story is re-told.
Posted by: RonC | March 18, 2009 at 09:48 AM
This is a big test. If you can stay on the diet AND stay calm and reasonable, while staying off the bike and/or taking it easy on your knee long enough for it to heal, you win. (If you figure out how to keep the frustration at bay, blog your solution.)
Posted by: JB | March 18, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Michael-
You got me, 13.47 miles. I was heading toward the river from the Forest Park NW district when we picked one another up... by the Corridor tracks I had it at 13.47. Sorry for rounding it up.
RonC-
More like 'Doggin' It' miles.
JB-
No diet here, never been one, never will be [I know of no word I despise more].
That said, already back on the bike: low gear/easier rides. Amy Green-Lighted this. Beyond that, lots of walking.
-Me
Posted by: Me | March 18, 2009 at 11:51 AM
My apologies Scott. Clearly you weren't doggin' it, and hopefully you won't be in Amy's dog house too long. Time to stick my nose out the window, and enjoy the wind in my face while the nice weather lasts.
Posted by: RonC | March 18, 2009 at 03:51 PM
Scott -- have you tried Glucosamine? It's a supplement for joint health. I've been taking it for a few years now and it definitely makes a diff. Available at most health food stores.
Posted by: beth h | March 19, 2009 at 07:52 AM
I must admit I'm curious about just where you started this race. 14 miles is a good long way in Portland (a ridiculously long way, actually -- every time I go on a ramble I'm struck by just how *close* everything is compared to other cities I've lived in) -- did you start up by the St. Johns bridge and come down highway 30 before crossing over to the EastsideSpringwaterTrail and your rendezvous with knee pain?
Posted by: David Parsons | March 19, 2009 at 03:10 PM
Mark Vande Kamp -- This guy said it really well.
Spin spin spin, and race with a good heart and have fun when you want to. Don't, when you don't want to.
Things are warming up a tad here in Nova Scotia, so I'm back out on the bike after a winter of snowboardin' and man oh man, do I feel slow! My only option is to spin, specially when the wind picks up :)
If you ever wanna cross the continent, give me a shout :)
Posted by: Jeff MacDonald | March 20, 2009 at 04:39 AM
I wouldn't have even known you were injured when we rode, but of course we were talking more than "riding". BTW the fallout of my Brompton crash was mainly back related: my P.T said I had a rib out of place and my left shoulder was bad, but the left knee and hand were fine! I have to agree that sometimes you have to listen to the dumber parts of your head, because in a weird way, it's fun. I've been known to do it too on occasion, much to the chagrin of those who love me.
Posted by: Ian Hopper | March 27, 2009 at 08:25 AM