I rode my bicycle across Iowa twice in RAGBRAI (the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). I once rode the same bicycle from New Orleans to Chicago while camping in state/national parks over three weeks. I have bursitis in my left shoulder, frequent lower back pain with a touch of sciatica thrown in for good measure, and I quit running a few years ago when my knees began inflaming, swelling and feeling painful after a run. They say the last resort for the aging athlete is golf. Not my game…..yet! I believe the only way to keep doing is to keep doing (at least as much as I can).
So, in this spirit, after a few year hiatis from cycling I began cycling again this summer. No century (100 miles) rides (yet), just a sensible 25 mile ride three or four times a week. Problem is there’s a hill in my area that I could not conquer and I truly hate having to dismount and walk my bicycle up any hill (just like the cowboy heros of my youth who bridled at walking when a steed was nearby). Well having finally reached the point where I knew that my failure to stay in the saddle on this hill was no longer physical, but psychological, I decided to try some basic sport psychology tactics, as follow:
1) Visualization/imagery. Before and during the ascent I mentally picture myself out of breath, but exuberant at having crested the hill. I imagine the air I breath as being full of energy which allows my body to keep recovering and maintaining during the ascent.
2) Positive Self talk. I keep telling myself as I approach the hill that I can and will RIDE to the top (I talk aloud to myself).
Guess what? Using these techniques I road to the top of this hill twice during my ride yesterday. Not a great athletic achievement. Just a lovely little milestone for this 54 year old baby-boomer during the summer of 2009.
