Disorderly Conduct

Season after season, I have a pattern of rides. Favorite charity rides are repeated, local century club rides are revisited, and commuting patterns re-establish themselves year after year, yielding a familiar sequence of training that is modified only by intensity or new rides layered atop the annual system.

This year started out for me as one that would rely on the system more than ever, as my plans for a major ride mid-summer were ejected in favor of other priorities. This meant that an overlay of more training and a goal of a new ride both evaporated, leaving only the standard foundation for training and mileage.

However, even this relatively stable system was disrupted by illness, botched plans, and inclement weather. An illness forced me to squander an early spring race, weather and illness forced me to skip a spring century, and botched plans forced the cancellation of a traditional metric century ride in the early summer. These early-season setbacks left me undertrained and seeking to compensate through other riding patterns. However, these rides were hard to replace, as all were group rides, with the higher intensity and group dynamics that lead to better training and riding experiences. Going out on my own on rides wouldn't get me into the same kind of shape, by a long shot.

One event this summer was a big surprise, as I came across it accidentally -- a local time trial. Riding a favorite route in the evening (one that often made me thing, "This would be a great time trial route"), I came across a group of riders, many with aero bars, grouped at a corner and taking off at one-minute intervals. I turned the corner as I normally would, and was in-between riders for a while, but chasing the one ahead. This intensity of training was something I'd missed all year, and even this one evening's work snapped a lot of pieces back into place. The ride was fast, and the next few rides were on a different, higher level, one that I've sustained.

Now, looking across the season, which is largely spent, it seems this year was completely out of order. The traditional metric century was rescheduled for the fall, and went off without a hitch. One major charity ride in late summer occurred as planned, and while my lack of distance training showed in soreness near the end of the ride, overall it was a great event. And a late-fall century should replace the spring century on the mileage charts.

Oddly, even with the disrupted schedule, I find myself in about the same physical condition in the fall as I would have otherwise, with my logs showing equivalent speeds and perceptions of strength and fitness for this year as compared to others. I feel in peak form again, even if it was attained in a disordered system.

Next year, I plan to not only re-establish my basic system, but layer on top of it a major event as a goal to provide the push for greater fitness. But, despite my worries, even without a major event and with a basic foundation that was cracked and broken, persistent riding and training along with some surprises were able to regain what I thought I'd lost. I guess that sometimes, a season creates itself.