I have not wrote a post in a while so I decided its time to start writing again! This time I will be talking about the mental determination it takes to get through a 5 month winter on trainer.
Like the many people who are reading this, you too have to face the long and cold winters of the Midwest and you fight every day to hop on the trainer and ride every day. I have never known anyone that enjoys doing this and if you do I would love to hear why. I know that every day I pull my trainer out knowing that for the next hour or two I will be going through a multitude of mental games of telling myself to quit to then telling myself you can do one more set; it will be worth it when you start racing. All of this is happening on top of you dripping sweat due to the fact that your probably in a basement with a box fan in front of you trying to not die from dehydration.
I do not know any other sport that forces you to due such a cruel thing every year but I guess that is one of the negative things of being a cyclist in the Midwest. Even though it does suck when you are on the trainer, many of us know that if you put in the effort and time in the winter it will all be worth it in the summer. I also think that it allows cyclist from the Midwest to have a little edge on how far they can mentally push themselves in a race. People who live in the sunshine of California rarely have to hit the trainer or force themselves to do a 4 hour ride in 20 degree weather while it is snowing out. They simply get to go out everyday where it is 60 degrees and sunny and have nothing to worry about. They never really have to mentally push themselves except to just finish a workout.
Where here in the Midwest you have to mentally tell yourself to go on the trainer and torture yourself for the next hour or so. I know that whenever I am on the trainer I go through at least 10 mental fights each day telling myself that I can complete this workout and can then get off the trainer, and I am sure many others would agree. No one looks forward to coming home and cranking out 10 intervals on the trainer unless they are nuts.
But back to the point, I think that due to the fact that for those 5 long agonizing months of sitting in the basement on the trainer make all of us not only a physically stronger each year but make us mentally stronger as well. I believe that being mentally stronger plays such a large role in racing and if you do not have a good attitude at the start line than you probably will not end up doing well. You have to mentally prepare yourself and think that you can hold that persons wheel otherwise you are never going to do it and you will continue to finish in the back of the pack.
So with that I believe that if you are given the opportunity to live in the Midwest and be a cyclist you will become a mentally strong rider if you are to put in the hours on the trainer over the winter. Yes, it may suck but if you are not getting on your bike every day then you are missing out on valuable training that your competitors are getting in. So the next time you are debating or not whether to get on the trainer and do the grueling workout just think about how much stronger of rider you will become not only physically but mentally as well; so when it does come down to the last lap at your favorite race you can tell yourself you do have more left in the tank then everyone else and out sprint them to the line.
