The Bagpipe Effect

We again rode to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon yesterday, adding on a few extra miles.  Again, we were constrained by Mark's schedule this week as he is on call for hospice.  But, it was a good ride.  I learned a couple of things.

First, I had a realization about what I call the "Bagpipe Effect" as I was making my way up the first of two steep hills on this route.  I realized that I had been linking the effort in my legs to my breathing, connecting them, making them dependent on each other.  This understanding has been dawning on me for the past few rides, particularly the one up South Mountain on Monday, but it crystallized yesterday.

I came to understand that, psychologically if not physically, I need to create a separation between my breathing and what my legs are doing.  Just because my legs are being exerted as I climb a hill, that doesn't necessary mean my breathing has to go off the charts.  I figured that if I could mentally separate the two, I could slow down and improve my breathing, which would calm me down and allow my legs to better function.

I call this the "Bagpipe Effect" because a piper's playing is not directly connected to his or her blowing into the bag.  As long as he keeps blowing air into the bag, he can make his music.  This is unlike, for example, woodwind instruments such as the clarinet that I played when I was young.  With that instrument, breath and breathing are crucial and are directly connected to the notes being played.

The idea is that, like the piper, if I can just keep my lungs operating efficiently, my legs can do their own thing.  I will be interested to put this realization mindfully into practice on the next few rides.  It helped yesterday.

I also realized yesterday that I need to continue to focus on both pulling up and pushing down with my pedals.  I have a tendency to forget to pull up, relying instead on what I learned as a child to do:  if I needed to go faster or climb a hill on my bike, I had to push down harder on the pedals.  

I put this into effect yesterday, and it made a big difference, particularly on the inclines.  And I felt it in my calve and hamstring muscles.  I had wondered about that ... I hadn't really felt much in my calve muscles since I began cycling.  Yet, cyclists are famous for having calves that look like this:

Now, I think I understand.  Pull those pedals.