Revelation Day - Part II

I shared in Part I how I experienced the love of true friendship, the fellowship of new friends, and was visited by an angel named Barry at the PoOh Ride in Bellefountain.  Barry rode with me for the last 7 miles and if it weren’t for him, I’m not certain I would have made it in without being SAGGED. Here are some of the lessons I learned from Barry during those pivotal  7 miles:

1.       When riding hills, clip in. There is a cleat on the bottom of a bicycle shoe and the pedal has a receiver for the cleat which allows you to attach your foot to the pedal like your ski boot to the ski. Being “clipped in” increases the efficiency of your pedal stroke significantly because you can put power into the pedal as you pull your leg up and not just as you push down. The only trick is, you MUST twist your foot and release the cleat BEFORE you stop or you will fall over in a nasty spill attached to your bike.

 

I was not clipped in when attempting the hills because I was afraid I couldn’t climb the hill and would be unable to unclip before I stopped to get off the bike and walk the rest of the way up. My fear of failing to climb the hill caused me to take actions which pretty much insured that I would NOT be able to climb the hill. There’s a life lesson worth learning.

2.       Practice first, purchase second. The number of teeth on the biggest gear on the rear cassette of gears on the bike make a difference in how hard it is to pedal up a hill. This gear is known in the cycling world as the “Granny” gear, probably because your Grandma could walk past you when you are using this gear, it’s that slow, but it’s crucial to climbing steep hills.

Twenty eight teeth on the Granny gear is good but thirty teeth is better. My bike has 28 teeth so I asked Barry if he thought I should upgrade to a 30 tooth gear. Barry said that he thought I would see more benefit from time spent practicing on hills than money spent on a new gear. I was ready to make myself feel better by throwing money at the problem, Barry suggested I  practice and make myself feel better by getting better.

3.       Drop your heels when climbing. When your foot is flat on the pedal, you are able to push down only from about the 2 o’clock position to 6 o’clock. If you drop your heels down when climbing up the hill, it allows you to put force through the pedal from the 12 o’clock position through 6 o’clock. A small shift in how we attact a difficult challenge can make a huge difference in our ability to succeed.

4.       Don’t coast downhill, soft pedal and prepare. After you have put in all that effort and made the climb to the top of the hill, the natural instinct is to take a free ride and coast down the backside of the hill. Barry shared with me that it is critical to “soft pedal” down the hill. This means that you continue to slowly pedal as you come down the hill. The pedaling motion allows your circulatory system to clear the lactic acid that has accumulated in the muscles from the climb and therefore puts your body in the best state to climb the next hill. Use the easy times to prepare for the hard times.

5.       Don’t put up with what you can easily change. As I have shared in previous entries, my rain pants (I call them my swooshy pants) are water resistant, not water proof. Big difference! By the time Barry came on the scene, my swooshy pants were completely soaked through so I was not only battling the hills, I was contending with hypothermia as well. Barry said, “Why don’t you take those pants to the dry cleaner and get them water proofed?” Good question. This was not my first time wearing the swooshy pants in the rain so it wasn’t a big surprise that they were soaked.  I knew they had a problem but I just didn’t take the time to solve the problem.

6.       Take the time to be with people. Barry was an experienced cyclist who was well prepared for the weather, the terrain, and the distance. He could have easily blown by me and I would not have blamed him a bit for doing so. Instead, he slowed his pace to match mine and talked me through those rough 7 miles. He did the perfect mix of teaching and then asking me questions about myself to keep me engaged in the conversation. At that point, it was crucial that I stay in the conversation and not in my head because in my head, I was ready to quit.

7.       You don’t have to show that you are the best to be great. When riding in a wind, cyclists will ride in a line with their wheels very close together called a paceline. The rider at the front breaks the force of the wind for the riders that follow. It is cycling etiquette for riders to take turns at the lead, “pulling” the line behind them. The strongest cyclists typically spend the most time pulling. Barry pulled me for most of those last 7 miles. As we made our final turn and could see the finish, it just so happened that I was at the front of the line, briefly pulling Barry. To those waiting at the finish, it would look like I was bringing Barry into the park instead of the other way around. If he had shot around me in a burst of speed, I would have completely understood, but he didn’t. He not only gave me the pride of finishing the event, he allowed me a little dignity as well by humbling himself.

I am taking to heart the lessons learned from Barry. I took my swooshy pants to the dry cleaner yesterday and I plan on spending this afternoon riding up and down the biggest hill in Tiffin to practice my technique. I am also working on seeing people where they are and matching my pace to help them.

 

Do angels just fly on wings or do they sometimes ride a bicycle? Hmmm …I wonder?