Day 7.206 At 5,000 feet you can rest

The elevation is 5,240 feet above sea level.

That is formidable - but not impassible.

It represents challenge in the form of power requirement. You have to be able to turn the pedals to maintain forward progress. You have to have adequate muscle plus an efficient and effective cardio-vascular system to support the relentless ratio of work to rest, a ratio that happens every time we move clockwise around the bottom bracket hub.

We can stomp and over-accentuate the down phase, or we can find a smooth and efficient way to employ all 360 degrees. If you are a fan of pro cycling you see this play out, and saw it live this very morning from the French Alps, as riders struggle with the combination of speed, power, balance, cadence and breathing. Some find it standing, some seated. But they have all trained and readied themselves through solid, disciplined and dedicated regimens, that ratio of resistance to cadence, as well as power to weight, that provides the greatest return on spinning/climbibg investment.

Because that is why we race, is it not?

Not so much to determine who is fastest, because that is the outcome, but more to prove who's training was the most effective. DNA, doping and booster motors aside, the training is where champions are born. In the lab. In the gym. At the training center and out on the road.

I was again reminded, rather rudely, on Wednesday, after an entire week of tourism and business how demandingly difficult it is to reclaim what was once the physical fitness status-quo. It changes with age. It gets harder and harder to 'get it back'.

My legs were so fatigued after the two mid-week sessions upon our return that I almost needed assistance getting into bed.

This morning's 90 minutes felt more like 90 hours.

But I continue to glance upwards through all the sweat and tears, looking for a break in the clouds where I can see the mountain top.

It may be 5,000 feet or 15,000, I don't care.

The approach is the same. Do the work, enjoy the ride and take one rotation at a time. Most importantly...

...DO NOT STOP.

You can rest at 5,240.