176 and counting...

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

-Mahatma Gandhi

X-Training

As avid cyclists we tend to operate under the delusion or romanticized notion that we are monuments to athleticism; a testament of what true athletes embody. In Lance Armstrong’s first book It’s Not About the Bike, he claims that although he may be regarded as the greatest cyclist of all time, he was horrible in High School sports that involved any type of dexterity, or fast twitch muscle coordination such as basketball, football, etc. Although many of us are capable of riding multiple centuries and putting in 20+ hours of training a week, the reality is our training and fitness is extremely specialized. I’ll pick on my friends for instance, If you gave Robert Herriman a football and asked him to put a snappy little spin move on an average High School Lineman, chances are his scrawny little frame is going to be seeing stars. Likewise, if you Gave Danny Klein a basketball and asked him to shoot a shot in NBA three-point range he most likely won’t even hit the rim. I choose these guys to discuss because they are two riders whom I respect greatly, consider to be at the top of their craft, but probably could not even qualify for the presidential award in elementary fitness. The point is, we are very specialized beings, don’t ask us to move side to side.

There are several ancillary activities to cycling that can indeed improve our performance on the bike, other than just being on the bike. In seasons past I have done virtually no cross training whatsoever. My philosophy always stood that the only thing that could make me faster on the bike was just that, being on the bike. However, this season I have made a concerted effort to engage in a few systematic workout regimens that are low-cost, high-impact, and well researched to be beneficial to cycling.

This past Christmas I asked for a jump rope from Santa to which I was happily bestowed. After some extensive research I put together a cross training, cycling specific plan that should help to increase my speed and core strength on the bike. Under my delusion of my well-rounded fitness level, I initially plugged myself into the highest tier of jump rope training plans. Needless to say, after day one, my calves were reduced to a pile of ruble and I found the intensity level was much of a cyclocross race!

Although I am still not a stellar jump ropest (not sure of the proper title) I do believe my progression has been quite exponential as each day has gotten easier to make it through the workout.

Along with my Monkhood status I have made a commitment with myself to race at a lighter weight than I ever have this season; 6 foot 4 inches and a lean 170. After a month or so of discipline I have weaned myself down to a slim 177. However, I think those last seven pounds will be very difficult to lose. With the combination of Monkhood, disciplined food logging and monitoring, and my trusty jump rope…I may just be able to do it.