Attacking, bridging gaps, counterattacking, how hard to go and when, who to chase, who to let go... split second decisions and a lot of information has to be filtered in the art of reading a race. Once the reading is done, there are choices to be made. One choice involves risk but both involve pain and only one choice gives an opportunity to cross the line first.
Choice #1: Pain with no Risk – There is no way around it…bike racing involves pain. However, if you have trained correctly, this is not a surprise to your system and pain has become your friend not your foe. Well, at least that’s what you have come to believe some of the time and for the remaining hours, you continue to battle your negative thoughts with that statement. (Believe it. ALL competitors engage in this war, the elite athlete, however, has been very intentional about becoming mentally tenacious and focused.)
OK… the race is done and it made you hurt but you have that unsettling doubt that you could've given more. This is the pain that REALLY hurts...the pain of regret. If there is the slightest bit of doubt that you could've dug deeper, then believe it, you have more to give. You just don't think you can. But you say, “mid pack is where I ride, no matter what I do, that’s my spot. If an attack goes, someone else can bust a gut, I need to make sure I get to the finish.” Hmmm…sounds like an “also-ran” type of mentality.
The LA Marathon slogan one year was, "Determination always beats fatigue in the end." Believe it and commit to it. Next time don't think about it, just know that you have to bury yourself to bridge the gap. If you blow up, then so be it. Scary...you bet, however, if you keep going "there", it won't be so scary. You'll be surprised at what is buried deep within. You’ll find out that in the end, although you felt that death was imminent, it wasn’t your time yet. It only takes one time to break a barrier. After that, the door is wide open to greater performances.
Choice #2: Pain with Risk - It's the unknown that strikes some level of fear in all of us. We are just not comfortable with jumping off the edge of the "known" into what we have never done before. Ever wonder if any of cycling’s greats were gripped with the fear of their body detonating when they made a superhuman-attack on the steepest part of the climb? I know for sure their legs and lungs were screaming to ease up but I also know that the mind overpowered any notion of the status quo.
William James said, “Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources.” Decide to change your view about what you can do. Dig deep, know yourself, know your competition and believe that there is an untapped potential that is just waiting for you to discover.