Tis’ the season of nationals- a series of one day races that include a TT, a road race and criterium. The winner in each age group is crowned national champion and has the honor of wearing the stars and stripes jersey for an entire year. IF you win a national championship, I think it’s fair to call you a “BALLER”.
At one time or another, certainly if you’ve been racing for a while, you have probably thought about making the trip to nationals to see how you stack up against riders from all parts of the country. At the very least, earning the right to sport a stars and stripes jersey is pretty cool. Though you can buy these jerseys on line, the people in the know, KNOW. Winning a national title does not bring you great wealth and the adoration of millions BUT it does justify months and in most cases YEARS of hard work. Scoring the stars and bars is/would be an accomplishment in any category. But at the end of the day it’s another bike race, or is it?
Like any race that you might get REALLY excited about, the Nationals starts off in much the same way: you travel to the event, you get a number, you line up with a bunch of bike racer types and the gun goes off. From then on, you put all of your fitness and race smarts to the test. The outcome, like any race, depends on LONG list of variables that you can and can’t control. And IF you do the right thing at the right time, the result MIGHT be a new jersey. And this of course assumes that when you do the right thing at the right time, you have the HP to get the job done. You might find yourself alone off of the front in a head wind with 10 miles to race, or in a small group with a few k’s or even a few hundred meters to go. How will you deal with this? It’s hard to say how you will deal with these situations until you are actually in them and if you have been racing for a few years, chances are good you have fond yourself in one of these or MANY other situations like them and I would guess that on more than one occassion you have made the wrong move and come up short. Part of racing is making mistakes. And for whatever reason, we often tend to repeat our mistakes, EVEN THOUGH, we all say things like: “I knew that was the wrong thing to do and I won’t make that mistake again.” It doesn’t make you a liar, it makes you a person who believes something in that moment in time- it might even make you feel better after you blow the finish of an even you deemed “really important”. Is that so wrong?
It’s hard not to get really worked up for an event that you have been preparing for, especially when its an event that you have done before and have been “close”. And “close” can mean many things to many people. 2nd place is really close, and 11th is close but not THAT close. Being 2nd wheel with 3 turns to go in the last lap of big crit is pretty “close” to winning. Losing at the line by the width of a a tire is CRAZY “close”. In my book that’s ALMOST like winning, but it’s not, it’s “close” to winning.
Being motivated is a crucial part of performing well. Being motivated leading up to an event is key, but it can be a slippery slope. If you are so motivated that you can’t stop playing out the different race scenarios in your head, you might actually be setting yourself up for serious disappointment. A lot of things happen during the course of a race, and only one thing is FOR SURE: you can only control what YOU do. If you could control everyone else, instead of making the left into the homestretch you could make everyone go right and then coast to the line with arms held high.
When that gun goes off or that whistle blows you need to be able to quiet those voices in your head and focus on the task at hand. If you are not focused on the “right now” how will you be able to react to the opportunities that come and go so quickly throughout the course of a race? You won’t. And when your race plan, the one you cooked up with your teammates on the way to the race, or in your hotel room or in the line to the port-a- john, goes south due to one of many different reasons you have to adaptable. You wanted a field sprint because that’s where you shine best but 3 guys are up the road at 15 seconds with 4 laps to go. Are you content with being 4th because no one is willing to chase, or are you going to have to fire a big bullet to try and get across? You won’t have the luxury of time to think much about, you will simply have to react and put that 3 minute interval training to the test. Simply put, you will need to be willing to lose the race in order to win the race. That’s such a TRUE statement, and I certainly didn’t come up with it but I’ve hear it, been told it and read it dozens of times in the last 20 years and I find myself passing it on to riders time and time again.
You have to believe you can win and you have to be willing AND able to suffer for that win. And saying things like: “I’ve been going pretty good, I think I can win.” is not enough. You have to REALLY believe it, down deep. And that isn’t to say that you should walk around telling everyone that you are going to win today. There’s a fine line between being quietly confident and just plain arrogant. I“m not sure exactly where that line is but it seems to become very clear when you listen to “that guy/gal” talk about a race. Believing in oneself has always been a part of being successful, in any endevour and as simple as it sounds, I think a lot of athletes say they do but not to the extent that need too. Think about that- do you really believe when you clip in at the start of race that you can pull it off? And if so, are you willing to put yourself through severe discomfort en route to that success? The kind of discomfort where every cell in your body is telling you to STOP IT and quit. When you’re going for it in a bike race you are going to be in the hurt box. And how you handle yourself during your time in the box can define your race. Keeping a clear head and making quick decisions when your lungs are exploding and your muscles feel like they are being ripped off at the tendon is no easy task and that is what can separate the really good bike riders form the great bike riders. Simply going out and riding more miles will not be enough to train that system- that takes years of racing experience and attention to the mental side of training (which is now a much more mainstream training method). Details details.
When Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star, his X-Wings’ on board targeting computer was busted up he had to rely on his experience and his instincts to fire those photon torpedos into that tiny air shaft that led to the core of the evil Death Star. Years of play/ training in his youth and of course years of Jedi training prepared him for THAT moment. When he fired those shots, he was WAY past plan A, he might have been on Plan k. He kept his cool and FOCUSED on what had to be done. And DONE! No more evil empire for a few years. Luke didn’t just show up and do that, he was prepared.
Bike racing can be pretty complex when you start breaking it down and looking at all of the pieces that need to fit into pace before you can start having results based success, but that’s what makes it so interesting. The sport take TIME. If you have a keen interest in becoming a better bike racer, take your time and understand the many steps. And if you have been racing for a long time, take a step back and consider your situation- use your experience and your instincts as they can guide if you let them. Believe it. I won’t go as far as telling you to use the Force, but the Force can be whatever you need it to be.
Best,
TH
