The Vertical Learning Curve

As an adventurer in the path of life I decided in the spring of 2003 at 41 years of age that my weight of 287 pounds was far too much. So I embarked on another journey, a journey to reclaim my health. I started walking and lost 50 pounds, so I included some jogging and lost more. I relocated back to my home town in Arkansas after hurricane Katrina convinced me to. There I started over and started to gain weight ever so slightly, but gain. A new job and new friends in the town I grew up in enlightened me to new activities, running and cycling. I trained hard and ran my first 5K in the Little Rock Marathon in 2006 and with a very lightly used MTB, I began working off those pounds again.
I became increasingly interested in cycling because I could use mine to commute to work and it also helped with my endurance. I changed the MTB into a commuter with panniers, slick road tires and off I rode three times a week 23 miles round trip. After the 2007 Little Rock marathon 5K and a little more commuting I wanted more road time and decided to save up for a road bike. Then an opportunity came along that helped me down this path of a healthy lifestyle. I took a position within the company in Pisa Italy doing the same thing as I was in Little Rock. The Italians are crazy for cycling, as we all know! Once I got in country and settled, I went to a small local bike shop and picked out a used bike on consignment sale from a mechanical engineer. I picked it because it looked like an Italian road bike and because it looked like a good bike, but I had no idea how good. I researched the manufacturer Daccordi and found they are headquartered just 40 miles away. The bike turned out to be one of 12 factory replicas of their 2004 Professional racing team’s bikes. It is an X534 carbon fiber frame and lots of high end extras. I added an FSA carbon fiber crankset, and found a couple of serious cyclists to ride with.
My new cycling friends were actually US Army soldiers stationed close by, which helped with the communications. I started riding with them every chance I got, including the Monte Sera ascent of 3440 ft here in Pisa. I was feeling so good about all of this in April of 2008 I entered the Asics challenges for 100 miles running and 300 miles cycling in one month. I tried very hard to keep the pace and make a good showing, but the weather and my application dwindled. I regrouped and made a last two week charge of it and was doing well when on Friday April 25th my Army cycling friend calls to invite me on a group 45 mile ride on Sunday. I accepted, but asked if he could up it to 60 miles for me to finish my challenge on MapMy Ride.com. He quickly agreed and we set the time and location for the start.
Sunday morning 8:00 am in Treggiaia, Italy we met, but the third rider, large group, cancelled, so it was just me and sarge. He tells me of the route and if I want more miles we will add them on at the end and we’re off. We ride for about an hour winding through the beautiful countryside of Tuscany Italy while ascending 1700ft. Although it was tough going up, I really appreciated gravity on the way down and this way down was four miles long with minimal switch backs. We finished the climbing at a local café shop and had a cappuccino while watching the real group rides going by. Had I known what was about to take place I would have had another cappuccino and taken two gel packs right then and there!
We set off on the return trip and decide that we would have to add about 20 miles for me to complete my challenge. The route back takes more well used roads so we are riding single file, swapping the lead. We ride along and happen to pass a couple of older Italian cyclist’s just cruising along. About a minute goes by when I hear a gear change behind me and I wasn’t leading at that moment. I understood what it meant and dropped down to my drops and took the lead, we’re off! Sarge quickly gets the jist of what’s happening and follows me close, so do the Italians. I increased our speed by 2 mph then let sarge take over since he knew what he was doing and I was still learning the ropes. Well, sarge increases speed another 2 mph and I fall in line in the back of the pack. All of the sudden sarge peels off and falls in behind me. About 30 seconds and the first Italian does the same thing, then another 30 seconds and the other Italian peels off. I was sort of surprised that these guys, including sarge didn’t have any more power than that. Now I was pulling and decided “I’ll show these boys how to do this” I took off with everything I had. We were up a total of 5-6 mph and cruising good. I could hear some discomfort from behind me and I was pleased. However, I was becoming increasingly fatigued and was wondering where sarge was. He should have been right behind me, so I peel off and the three of them went by me like a freight train out of control. I tried my very best to catch up, but to no avail. I could see sarge turning around and signaling for me to catch up, but I was spent completely. Finally one of the Italians tapped sarge on the shoulder and told him he had lost his guy. Sarge peels off and waited for me to catch up. Upon meeting I explain my fatigue and how much I tried to out run them. I really felt like I let him down, darn rookies! Sarge then explained that everyone but me were doing things correctly. I was supposed to pull until I STARTED to feel fatigue. Then peel off and rest in the draft until it was my turn to pull again and the test was of endurance NOT sprinting capability. ARRGH! Darn Rookies! Needless to say we didn’t add the extra 20 miles, because I couldn’t make it, but I did add insult to injury.
Later that evening I decided to test the vertical learning curve again. I went out to finish the last eleven miles I needed to finish my challenge. I made it to my turn point at the 6 mile point when I heard the disappointing sound of a flat rear tire. No problem I thought, I have my emergency kit under my seat I used just two weeks ago and remembered to replace the inner tube for the next occasion. I replaced the inner tube and grabbed the air cartridge that so conveniently still has the valve on it… No air… The cartridge is only good for one tire! What an epiphany! It was a tie between my feet in those carbon sole cycling shoes and my pride as other riders rode past as I walked my bike home that hurt the most, but I really will be glad when this learning curve levels off some!

By Dan Shmidt now 46 with real racing equipment and the hope that the ability with happen soon.