weight

I don't really know where I'm going to go with this, but it has to do with weight.  I ride a lot with extra weight. Either trailer pulling, or riding 130 miles with a 35lb. bag.  It makes me think hateful thoughts when people say things like, "if I were 15 lbs lighter, I'd be a cat 2," or, "I'd be just as fast as you if I lost 30lbs, we'd have the same power/weight ratio  then." 

My argument is, if you weight 200 lbs, and I weighed 170 lbs. and you were 15% slower than me, I'd still crush you with a 40lb. bag on my back.

People put a lot of emphasis on power/weight ratio, or their own weight.  I've heard of guys weighing themselves the day before a race, saying, "oh shit, I'm 3lbs. over my ideal weight," I'm gonna suck today on the climbs," etc.   I hate this.



Its ok to have tears in your eyes half way through an interval, or feel blood rush through your brain like you are wearing a football helmet that is built for the head of a 7th grader, or legs seize up like you just got shot straight into the stomach by a sniper in the woods.  That's what fast people do to get stronger.


We all have mental limiters.  These are what slows you down.  Not weight, not low power, not icecream.


Being able to push through hard pain, each time is what makes you stronger.  If you lost 15 lbs today, you would still have the same pain threshold, your body would still have the same barrier.  You wouldn't be faster.  You'd still get dropped.


I see it in runners a lot, and guys who played college athletics, basically, all those guys walking around calling you pussy in high school.  People who like pain, they get their ass kicked on a bike at first, but a few months of daily asskickings and eventually they get there, they get their a lot faster than someone measuring their food and watching the power/weight ratio.

I've met plenty of cat 4s, guys who've raced for a few years, they are sticks with sub 10% body fat, still doing the same thing, with the same limiter.  Get on your bike and hurt yourself, get as uncomfortable as  you possibly can.