Feelings. Friends.
It’s taken a bit of time for me to get back into the swing of regular riding, but damn does it feel good. My last post I talked about going slow — taking the fear out of not being the cyclist I was a year to two ago. I’m not exactly going slow anymore, which has it’s pros and cons.
For starters, I’m improving with each trip up my go-to climb in Griffith Park — something that’s nice to see especially when I’m not feeling particularly “fast”.
On the flip side, I’m already biting off a little more than I can chew it seems. That last ride on the 30th I decided to make my way up to the Hollywood Sign. The run-up to the Hollywood Sign through the hills get’s pretty brutal. The grade averages around 9% and kicks up to 16% in some sections — feeling a bit over confident with only a handful of rides under my belt, probably wasn’t totally ready to do this. I had to pull off and catch my breath more than a few times and by the time I reached the gate at the beginning of the final ascent up to the sign, I thought I was going to throw in the towel. Solid effort, but the form just wasn’t there yet. Until…
yeah all the sad velo boys are verified on slack…kind of a big deal.
(That’s the Sadderpillar emoji. Y’all will get to know him better later on)
I finished choking down that Clif bar, got back in the saddle, and 11:18 later…
#lasucksforcycling
Not only did I make it up that final stretch but somehow I managed to dig deep and set a new PR.
So, what am I getting at with all of this? It’s crazy just how much of a difference a small bit of encouragement can be to pull you out of slump — either on the bike or just in general. Some of my favorite moments when I’m riding are when complete strangers cheer me on as I’m slogging my way up a climb or through an interval. Earlier in the same ride a bunch of car bros taking pictures of their whips in Elysian Park shouted out “You got this homie!” and “Let’s gooooooo!” as I pushed up a little 10% kicker and I couldn’t help but laugh and forget how much shit sucked at the moment. That positive energy is enough to help you push through and sometimes it comes from places you least expect.
I think the same can be said off the bike — especially for people like myself that struggle with depression, anxiety, imposter syndrome, and a bunch of other super fun shit. There are days my phone lights up and it’s a call or message from an old friend or a note from someone I only know via the internet (Evan and I still haven’t met IRL only on Twitter but here we are doing sad boi shit) and it makes my day, my week, my month, or even my year (okay I hate that I just made a “Friends” reference but it’s my blog post and I’ll do what I want — honestly, I never really even watched that show).
With all that being said, I think my point is it’s easy to underestimate the power of a few positive words to someone — it can be a serious difference maker. So take a little break, call a friend from college, text your mom, or the next time you see a dumbass like me slogging their way up a mountain let them know they’ve got this — it might just make all the difference in the world.
