Lessons Learned on a Bicycle

 Reposted from the Pedal to Peace blog

I recently completed the cycle to Nagasaki, or more accurately half of it, since we teachers split cycling and driving each day. That's half of 450km in 5 days, which is not too bad at my age. Anyway, I trained seriously for the trip, and wrote this blog post about the experience.


As the senior participant in the trip, I have had to take my training seriously. Apart from the inconvenience caused by keeping everyone waiting for me, there could be more serious repercussions, such as not reaching our destination before nightfall. Of course we will have a support vehicle, but I would prefer it to be used for injuries and emergencies, and not as a way to shave some time off my ride!

So I have been training regularly on big and demanding hills, such as the ones up to City Forest Park, Nabara Dam, and even once on that king among hills, up to Osa ski resort from Hamada. Of course, living near HIS means that every time I go for a ride, I have to climb the big hill home.

In the past, my approach to hill climbing has been all-out effort to get it over with as quickly as possible. This leads to extremely high heart rates, all-over body pain, nausea, and a kind of hatred for the hill. Sometimes it would result in giving up and walking to the top. Then I would have to overcome a certain reluctance to start out on the next ride.

So during my training I have developed a new philosophy and a more sustainable technique, based on these principles:

• positive attitude
• controlled breathing
• mindfulness

I will elaborate on what I mean by these. Firstly, the hill is giving me a good opportunity to improve my fitness and stay healthy. My job mostly involves sitting at a computer when I'm not in class, and apart from the occasional football match, or kick-around in the park, my only proper exercise has been coming from surfing and hiking, both of which I seem to be doing less and less as other priorities impinge on my free time. So going out for a bike ride is very good use of an hour or two of free time to improve my fitness. With that in mind, the hatred of the hill diminishes.

Cycling up the hill is beneficial for my fitness and health. It gives me stamina and strengthens the muscles around my dodgy knees. Keeping this in mind helps me to think positively about the hill. I thank the hill for giving me the opportunity to improve my health!

I have stopped the all-out sprint technique completely. I now aim for a comfortable heart rate, which I can achieve by observing my breathing. An all-out sprint up hill will lead to uncontrolled panting, or more like gasping for breath. If I observe that I am panting, then I slow down a little until I can breathe in a long, controlled way. I take a deep breath, through the nose when things are going really well, but through the mouth is also acceptable. Then I exhale through the mouth with a steady blow, such as you would do when lifting weights. This simple technique greatly reduces the pain and nausea that come from over-exertion. Suddenly the climb even becomes enjoyable!

Which brings me to the last point. Instead of regarding the hill as an obstacle to be overcome, instead of thinking ahead to the top of the hill, instead of wishing it was all over, instead of these things, I bring my thoughts to the present and observe what is happening within and around me. The future doesn't exist right now. There is no top of the hill yet. There may never be a top of the hill! Each push of the pedal is the only thing happening right now. So I focus my mind on the present. I observe the motion of my leg and foot. I notice the contraction of the muscles. I feel the breeze on my face. And I look around me, taking notice of the butterflies, the leaves, the chestnuts fallen on the road-side. There are streams and woods to the side, spectacular scenery behind. Mountains are beautiful places to train. It would be such a waste to ignore the mountain in the quest to project yourself into the future at its summit.

I am still perfecting my techniques. Sometimes I find myself wondering how much longer the climb will last. How many more bends until the road stops rising? And I discover that my breathing is becoming rapid and more desperate. But now I know what to do. Slow down a little, take control of my breathing, and focus on the present. Everything is so much better then.

These are some of the things I have learned on a bicycle. I can honestly say now that I actually enjoy cycling up hills! And the big hill home is no longer a challenge for me, such has my fitness improved.