Another Hines Park Time Trial...
Yesterday morning, I did indeed go out to the didactic and life-affirming Hines Drive and had the pleasure of riding my bike back and forth in the annual Hines Park Time Trial. Bicycle racing, and this race in particular, has seen me through good times and bad, and this year is probably one of the most interesting times.
Unlike other forms of bike racing, time trials hold very little in the way of team tactics and strategy. It's the individual versus the clock. You don't race against other people, you race against your own past self. You try to defeat the person you used to be, last year, the year before. Even though during the time I am on the course, my body is pushed to its limit with my heart, lungs, and physical stress completely maxed out, I find that my mental and emotional states become completely calm. I experience a peace and clarity of mind I rarely encounter elsewhere. There is the road and there is the wind, and nothing else. Nothing else matters because in that place, nothing else truly exists.
The August 20km race, for me, has become an annual rite of self-healing, at least since the 2008 race. None of the pressure and stress of racing apply, and nothing that goes wrong is truly wrong. It has become my personal half-hour spiritual retreat. This year, I set a new personal record. I'm faster now than I have ever been before. I don't think I've physically trained any harder, nor am I any younger, and I'm certainly not in better health. I think I'm just a little bit better at living, and letting myself be me.
I have no numbers or pretty maps to share. Some old Jedi master told me to turn off the computer. The posted results said I got second place in my category but I didn't stick around for the awards. I already have far more than I could have hoped for.
photo by Scott Kroske
Unlike other forms of bike racing, time trials hold very little in the way of team tactics and strategy. It's the individual versus the clock. You don't race against other people, you race against your own past self. You try to defeat the person you used to be, last year, the year before. Even though during the time I am on the course, my body is pushed to its limit with my heart, lungs, and physical stress completely maxed out, I find that my mental and emotional states become completely calm. I experience a peace and clarity of mind I rarely encounter elsewhere. There is the road and there is the wind, and nothing else. Nothing else matters because in that place, nothing else truly exists.
The August 20km race, for me, has become an annual rite of self-healing, at least since the 2008 race. None of the pressure and stress of racing apply, and nothing that goes wrong is truly wrong. It has become my personal half-hour spiritual retreat. This year, I set a new personal record. I'm faster now than I have ever been before. I don't think I've physically trained any harder, nor am I any younger, and I'm certainly not in better health. I think I'm just a little bit better at living, and letting myself be me.
I have no numbers or pretty maps to share. Some old Jedi master told me to turn off the computer. The posted results said I got second place in my category but I didn't stick around for the awards. I already have far more than I could have hoped for.
photo by Scott Kroske