Becoming a bike dude

I have a friend who is a triathlete. But he’s different from other triathletes I know, because I knew him when he was completely non-athletic. He was a geek who did not play sports or participate in any active activity. Hell, I was a more active geek than this guy, and all I did was karate.

Then he moved to another city, without a car, and started riding a bike. Then he started running. He’d always liked swimming, and now he decided to try swimming farther. He pushed himself. He ran a marathon. Then he did a triathlon. He now identifies (tentatively) as a (terrible) athlete. His goal is to complete marathons and triathlons, not win them, but he’s still happy to push himself.

I’ve never understood this mindset before, but now I’m starting to understand it. I’m beginning to enjoy pushing myself more, like I did with getting up the hill to where I live. I don’t know if it’s because of the testosterone – not directly, but maybe I just feel more at home in my body because there’s now more testosterone in it? Or maybe it’s a placebo effect that I should feel more at home in my body because there’s now more testosterone in it? Maybe it’s because of getting into cycling, and there are more measurable goals in cycling, so you don’t have to focus on your body when you’re doing it?

I mean, I don’t think: I’ll push myself to go faster, or more miles. I think: I’d really like to bike to THIS location now, even though it’s farther than I’ve gone before. Or I think: I want to get up this damn hill! Just one more street . . . just one more block . . .

That seems like a more motivating push to me than, Just one more set of reps, or something like that. It was the same thing with karate: if I was working hard, there was a reason for it. I was trying to perfect something. I had goals that were not directly related to being faster or stronger.

I’ve always had a somewhat competitive nature, but I’ve also long felt that competitive sports were a stupid waste of time and energy. At least with biking, I can use that competitive streak for good and not stupidity.