The Locker Room

It was like the good old days. We sat around on benches with draped towels and in varying stages of dress for re-entry to the civilian world. The locker room. As you might expect it has its own culture. There is a de-brief transitional element to this space. One day you could leave the locker room as hero, the next, as smelly goat. There was a day when the ritual included cheap American lager. We played the game, then shared a few cold ones in the dissection, analysis and recapitulation of it. Nuance, detail and strategies analyzed and shared. Team chemistry changed through tales of the war. Powerful social bonds forged by post-battle camaraderie. Sometimes beer healed wounds better than aspirin. 

Yesterday after a particularly heuristic 90 minute spin session, designed to promote a deeper level of attention and awareness, we sat and talked. About the bike. About riding. About training, and about the many routine drills we practice in order to promote neuromuscular and cardio-vascular adaptation. What we call in the locker room of the cycling world, power. 

Because power is where it is at. So we talked about how to get it. How to increase it, how to refine it, and how to perfect it. Several topics were isolated, many stories shared and a few antidotes offered as testimony. 

All of them good. And all of them leading to the same conclusion:

IN ORDER TO INCREASE PEDALING POWER ONE MUST PROGRESSIVELY INCREASE RESISTANCE. 

One must dedicate oneself to the structure required to bring about physical adaptation. One must commit to three times a week sport-specific training, and one must master the techniques, include the required tangential skills; properly fueling, resting and recovering adequately, and developing a keen ability to measure objectively and manage appropriately. 

Over time (maybe years) you will adapt and become stronger. That time is what we call the process. It is crucial that you learn to, as we say, 'enjoy the ride'. It is a 'one day at a time' thing. You cannot have it all at once, you must earn it. One pedal rotation at a time. There are a thousand little victories along that path. Each session is its own reward. One second, one watt, one deep diaphragmatic breath or one endurance extending motivational thought is proof. That you are heading in the right direction. We have your back. This is a team. We are community. We support. I will help you up that hill until you can help somebody else. 

In locker room terms. YOU GOTTA SHOW UP. YOU GOTTA WANT IT. AND YOU GOTTA GIVE.  Master, achieve and succeed. You must demonstrate that you are here, ready, and in this moment prove your understanding of the meaning and value in this. You must relax into the awareness of your increasing power and let it inspire your soul. That, in turn, will inspire others. 

Then you can have a beer and try to put all that into words. 

Good luck.