I shouldn't really be blogging this, I should be photocopying it and posting it up and down all the closes in my block of tenement flats as an apology. Because for the past few months here in G20, Glasgow I have been spending a considerable amount of time gurning and pulling faces from my spot on the turbo in the kitchen from where I look out onto the back green and into several dozen flats. It must look hideous, hour after hour of my sweaty self plunging through all kinds of mind games and facial expressions just to keep the legs spinning, just to stop from ballooning into overweight middle-age, just to have a good crack at the new seasons racing. I occasionally catch sight of them, pulling the curtains or putting the kettle on only to see that that moustachioed, sweatbanded nutter is there again, spinning away on his bike goin' naewhere. They must wonder about me (and so do I sometimes). Very often I'm watching a film on the laptop so that might perplex them. What's he watching as he sweats the night away? Its not...it can't be...it might be... well let me tell you. Last night it was Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2002, monday night was Sissako's 'Bamako', Fellini's 'Camarcord' occupied my eyes if not my mind on sunday evening and most of the holidays turbo sessions were spent checking Werner Herzog's amazing movies. I find that it is just about possible to watch a film with subtitles whilst churning away in Zone 2. Anything more strenuous than that and I'm gone, I can't concentrate and I just need to stare at the clock, but a long steady ride and a good foreign language movie is a good mix for me. Frankly anything that gets me on the turbo is great - I've tried so many tricks and deceptions to get myself spinning indoors as i don't find it difficult to find reasons not to do the drills. On the road the motivation to ride is there, always there, whereas even when the weathers just too bad or the days light is over I'm often a hard guy to convince onto the turbo - even when it is that or zilch. So aye, a good film works as does music at the correct BPM. Peer pressure can be good, that can definitely work! There is nothing like imagining you riders on other teams training when I am swithering to get me in the static saddle. Food rewards are a motivation too - thinking of the tasty snack, the literal carrot at the end of the effort, that can do the trick.
But the main reason why I've been able to rack up an acceptable amount of time on the turbo this winter is my great squad and my fine team-mates and our mindset of being collectively a great team and individually exactly the riders we can be and want to be in 2011. That works best of all.
Tom
