Known Unknowns?

As we dive headlong towards the winter on the Isle of Man, last week was spent in the sunshine on the Isle of Mallorca. We’ve been a few times, but on this occasion I was determined to get some cycling in. This is where a lot of the pro teams decamp for pre-season training, which is as good a recommendation as you’ll get!

I am lucky enough to own a couple of good bikes at home. They were well out of my justifiable price range when new, but I bought them from a friend who changes his kit with alarming frequency. They are fairly ‘old tech’, but the better of the two weighs very little, has carbon fibre everything and a top of the range drivetrain. I have been more than content to just leave it as it is. It was great when it was built, so why wouldn’t it be now?

Being a serial cheapskate, my hire on Mallorca was a fairly mundane aluminum framed thing, which the company was good enough to set up to my size prior to my arrival. I was even able to pick the gearing. Now, I am no bike anorak, and as I said, have just got on with what I have got. But I knew that Mallorca has hills, and that apparently these days eleven gears is a thing. I also know that I hate climbs! I struggle up them and feel that despite over 4000km ridden this year I am just not improving.

It turns out there was a reason.

I felt pretty happy with the bike from outside the shop. I had no idea where I was going, and just thought I’d see where the road took me. Cap Formentor sounded nice! So I rode. And climbed, and climbed, and climbed.

When I got there (it’s a lighthouse, by the way), the view, coffee and pastry were very nice. It also turned out to be a cul de sac. So I turned round,and repeated the up hill and down valley experience. 844 metres of total ascent. I have never, ever done that before.

And you know what? It was absolutely fine!

I could have found myself in a lot of trouble. I hadn’t researched the route, had only a vague idea about gearing, and I had this hatred, almost phobia of hills. But everything came together. I arrived back at the hotel with a massive sense of achievement.

The big learn for me is that our performance can improve if we look into those known unknowns - the stuff we hear can make a difference, if we only took time to research it and give it a try. If I had done some prior investigation, I’d have found out that the hills are perfectly achievable with the right gearing. I’d have gone out with much more confidence than I did, rather than finding out in a style that might have really been ‘the hard way’ had it all gone wrong. It’s that continual research, and the progression through ‘marginal gains’ that have pushed British Pro cycling to where it is today.

The bike is my 'happy place'. It’s what drags me out of depression when I need it. This week, it got a whole lot happier! Now, where is that cycle parts website?

Derek Flint Cert. Ed, MCIPR.