Staying the Course: My Track
Cycling Adventure
Recently, I had one of
those really big days in life. I became the national champion in the 2K
Pursuit and won the silver in the 500m Time Trial at Masters Track Nationals in
Carson, CA. It was a pretty exciting time for me, no doubt, but what I want to
share with you is how it came to be. It was a curiosity that led to an
opportunity, then a commitment, a steep learning curve, a whole lot of
discomfort and mistakes, consistent questioning and doubt, but ultimately to
preparedness and triumph.
A year ago, I didn’t
race bikes. I'd never ridden a track bike. I didn’t know what a velodrome was
or know the first thing about track racing. While I have been on-again,
off-again “active” all my life, I hadn’t truly competed in a sport in 30 years.
One day I signed up for a bike racing team!!! It felt random, and it was,
but I took the leap. I started riding, getting stronger and meeting a bunch of
great people. A friend sent me info on an upcoming class to learn to ride at
the velodrome, which is a banked circular track. How hard could it be, I
thought and signed up. When I arrived at the class, I learned that track bikes
have no brakes! Yikes! Also, I learned that track bikes have a fixed
gear, so there can be no coasting. If the wheels go around, the pedals go
around. It wasn’t going to be “just like riding a bike” after all. It was going
to be much more intimidating, but also exciting. Over time, I learned the
basics but was told that my form and efficiency could use some improvement. So
I found myself in a Wattbike class in an effort to learn more about cycling
technique and increase my power on the bike.
The class was run by a
coach who trained very high-caliber international Pro, Elite and Olympic level
athletes (not middle-aged moms like me). I was way out of place but knew
that I stood to learn a lot. The workouts were hard and I gave them everything
I could, often breathing so loudly that others would comment and laugh about
it. It was a huge shock when one day the coach expressed an interest in training
me...the newbie...to go to Nationals in just a few months time. Gulp! Now I was
sure he, too, had lost his mind. After all, I still knew nothing about racing
and I was that middle-aged mom. It made no sense, but it was a huge honor
and opportunity, so I put my fears and overwhelming sense of inadequacy aside
and committed.
In addition to the
crazy-hard workouts, I had to learn everything about track cycling from the
ground up. I had to learn to work on my bike, change out the fixed gears, do standing
starts, ride a 333m track and a more slippery, steeper 250m track, race tactics
for my different events, training protocols, etc. The list went on and
on. I never knew what I was doing. I often had to swallow my humiliation and
ask an unsuspecting stranger to help me with one thing or another that I
couldn’t do with my bike. This was the scene over and over. All through the
summer, I raced and lost. I made mistake after stupid mistake. I felt
like an imposter...like I had no business being a part of this sport, training
with these athletes or taking my coach’s time. But I kept showing up because I
had committed and I wanted to see it through. So I focused. I made every effort
count. Somewhere along the way, I received an invaluable piece of advice: to
trust the process. I took this to heart. Little by little I learned what I
needed to know, I got stronger and faster and the pieces came together.
It was an amazing experience that taught me to pursue curiosity, embrace
opportunity and get comfortable being
uncomfortable.
I am hoping that by sharing my
story I will embolden others to dare greatly in their own lives.
Mrs. Wood
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