This post today is a bit all over the place, but I figured a rant was probably a good place to start.
So what has got me irate today. Nothing really. It was yesterday, and boy oh boy yesterday was I annoyed. What had me so annoyed I hear you ask. Well, believe it or not, it was a cyclist.
Last night I was driving home after my ride. It was probably around 6:00pm or so and I was on a pretty major road in heavyish traffic. I noticed the left lane start to back up and was wondering why until I saw that it was a cyclist that the cars were having trouble getting past. Now as annoying as it is this guy was doing what I consider to the right thing, he was exerting his presence in the lane, using up enough space that cars were having to change lane to go around him. I know it really annoys drivers, but doing this removes the temptation for the driver to try and squeeze past the cyclist without changing lane. This isn't what annoyed me, to be honest it did a little bit, but not for the obvious reason, but more about that later. What really got me annoyed was that a bit after passing him the traffic stopped at a red light at a pretty major intersection. Instead of stopping, this guy on the bike wove through the traffic and then took off through the red light. After the lights he proceeded to block the same traffic that had just spent time getting around him. Now I know it is really tempting to run red lights on a bike, often the road is clear, you know it is safe etc, but in the end you are a vehicle on the road, you have to obey the road rules.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't really care for your safety (well I do a bit, but that isn't the point), but I care about my safety a lot lot more. This sort of behaviour really annoys drivers and we live in a society where the drivers are already annoyed enough when it comes to cyclists. We don't need to be giving them excuses. The problem is that to the average driver there is no difference between you and me. It may be you they saw roll through the red light, but next time they are looking for a cyclist to spit on, or swerve at, or just do something life threateningly stupid around, it might be me. And I would prefer if it wasn't. So next time you are thinking of breaking the law while riding on the road, don't. Just don't.
The other bit that annoyed me a little was that whilst I agree with how he was using the road, he just shouldn't have been there in the first place. There are very few spots in Perth where there isn't an alternative to riding on a really busy road. Most of the alternatives are much more pleasant, the roads are nicer and there are less cars. I know this guy didn't need to be riding on this major road because an hour before I had been riding between where he started and where he finished, but on a quiet back road alternative, and it was lovely. In fact it is one of my favourite small stretches of road in Perth. He could have been riding there instead, he wouldn't have been dodging cars, getting stressed, and best of all, on the quiet back road there are no red lights to run.
Okay rant over.
In completely unrelated news, I started printing out information about the Mandurah 70.3 today, starting to get my head around the course etc. While I was on the race website I watched some video clips (well not actually video but you know what I mean) of last year's race. And you know what, I was excited. So what I hear you say, what's the big deal. Well I will tell you why it is a big deal. Usually when I do this sort of thing, start thinking about a race etc, I don't get excited, I get nervous, sometimes really nervous. But this time I couldn't help but smile, this race looks like it is going to be fun. Perhaps it was just the thumping bass that accompanied the footage, but whatever the reason I am looking forward to this race. That is a new thing for me.
So what about training today, any of that sort of thing go on, well yes it did. In fact it has come and gone so now I am done for the day. Today I 'just' had a swim. I have the afternoon off (hooray) so that now the swim is done, I am done. I say 'just' because no swim with Swim Smooth is ever 'just'. Today wasn't too bad, once again it was tough, but it went okay. Swimming is gradually feeling better again. I struggled on the last piece we did today, but that is sort of the point of that piece. In fact I struggled less than I expected. So all up I am happy with how it went.
Sometimes I think with training you can start feeling a bit negative, not because you are suddenly going slower, but because your perception has shifted. Sometimes you start expecting more of yourself and so what was previously an acceptable performance becomes disappointing. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing, in fact I think it is part of improving. However, I think it can become a problem if you start to read too much into and let it start demotivating you. I think that is what I have been going through with swimming recently, I think I went through something similar with cycling before Bintan. Sometimes after a swim I have to catch myself when I am starting to think it was rubbish, and instead remind myself that 6 months ago I would have considered that particular swim set impossible. I find that those little reminders can be a pretty important part of staying motivated.
On the bike in the morning. If everything goes according to plan it will be the longest ride I have ever done. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan.
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