Based on conversations with riders from all over the nation and a couple from other parts of the world, Tuesday Nights hold a universal appeal for race-level intervals and good old fashioned competition. Tuesday's spot in the week allows for recovery from the previous weekend and is far enough from the next weekend to afford high intensity workouts with time to recover. Combine this with dozens of Testosterone charged riders, some with Red, White & Blue National Champion stripes on their jersey sleeves and you can see where fuel to the fire comes from.
Here in Louisville, we have a great community that invariably has new riders coming to this ride as they progress in ability and they really learn what suffering is all about. I was a runner before I was a cyclist basically from age 5 to 34 and the knees made the decision for me. Based on my Dr's suggestion, I began riding to do "something". Starting with a mountain bike around the neighborhood, I then moved to a road bike that was about 2 sizes too big, but it was cheap. Now 9yrs later, I compete with the best in the region from Louisville, to Indianapolis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Nashville and more. Oh, and my bike is a Trek Madone, made from carbon fiber with just about the lightest of everything, literally half the weight of the bike I started with.
The TNW never gets easier, in fact it gets harder because once you're strong enough to "hang on", you begin to participate or get called out for not working. I voluntarily send my heartrate to a max of 194bpm and have everything hurt like never before, well at least since the last race. We in cycling joke about how stupid and optimistic we are, it's either stupid or dedicated - you choose, because we forget how bad the last race hurt and then line up again seemingly oblivious that we are doing it AGAIN!
However, I must say that my racing has improved so much more because having other racers to compete with means I push myself harder than I ever could on my own. Peer pressure does have some advantages! The only downside is that the traffic lights and constant regrouping of riders means that those who never stick their nose in the wind or really contribute to the workload can survive a pace or effort that they would never be able to sustain in a race where there is no hiding from the wind. Again, early on, I was naive enough to think I deserved to be there, just because I was there. I have to smile at that. A lot of thanks goes to the greats in our area, like Curtis Tolson, Robert Bobrow and many others who usually advised me politely, but also barked a few orders or reprimands. I make sure I pay my dues by offering advice and support to guys who are coming into their own and need to be told to test their wings by getting out of or to the front of the pack. Growth is painful, or you're not really growing! Unfortunately this is true of life as well I suppose.
While bike racing is an extreme passion of mine, I don't want to fail to mention that my family always come first! My wife Debbi and daughters Taylor 15 and Meghan 10 are why breathe. Both of my girls are talented and have so much more potential than I ever had. Taylor is an awesome photographer with an eye that constantly amazes me! She is very good at softball but is taking a year off because being a Freshman in HS is tough enough. Meghan is an athlete, playing basketball, track, cross-country and softball... on 3 teams! Here she is with the team trophy.
A really nice pic of Taylor, here - BEAUTIFUL!
Thanks for reading and may God richly bless you and yours!
Darrin
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