Just a Little While Longer

06.1.2015 | 7:09 am

A Note About 2015 FatCyclist Gear Delivery: A few of you have sent me email, tweets, Facebook messages and Pinterests (OK, actually nothing from Pinterest) asking when you’ll be getting your 2015 FatCyclist gear. The answer is: it’s on its way from Italy now, and will arrive in the DNA warehouse at the end of this week. Then, it all ships out to you early next week, arriving in most US locations by the end of next week. I’ll show photos and whatnot as it all arrives. 

A Note About the Rockwell Relay Pre-Race Chat: A few days ago, I had a conversation with the founder of the Rockwell Relay, along with a couple of experienced racers and one guy who’ll be racing the Rockwell Relay for his first time (as part of a two-person team, no less). It was a fun conversation with a lot of useful information for anyone who plans on doing this race. Click here for a recording of the chat. 

Just a Little While Longer

Recent studies conducted by highly-educated, intelligent-looking people (all wearing protective goggles and lab coats) have demonstrated that, more often than not, it is better for you to wait just a little while longer before correcting the cycling-related problem you are currently experiencing. The reasons are as surprising and manifold as they are relevant and commonsensical.

(Note: The data from this study is incontrovertible, so I am not going to take the time to present it, convey, or otherwise show it. Or summarize it. Or even mention it. It’s good data. Really good data. It’s the data-est.)

I am pleased to now share this information with you.

Rock In Shoe

You know that little rock you’ve got in your shoe? You know, the one that got kicked up by your front wheel, flew a perfect arc onto the one little gap between your foot and shoe — a gap so small that you wouldn’t have even known it’s there except obviously there is a gap, because that little rock has just executed an almost impossible feat of aerial acrobatics and is now in your shoe. 

Yeah, that rock. With every pedal stroke, you can feel it. Stuck right there between the shoe and your big toe. From the feel of it, it’s a pretty darned big rock. Bigger than you’d have thought could work into your shoe at all. 

But it’s there. Oh, it’s there all right. But it’s on the move now. It’s decided to park itself under your arch for a while. It’s a sharp little sucker, too. 

Maybe you should stop, take your shoe off, and dump that rock out.

Or better yet, maybe you should wait to remove it, for just a little while longer. 

After all, sometimes the rock moves to a place where you can hardly even notice it. Maybe it will find that place soon — in the triangle-shaped gap between your third and fourth toe and the front of the shoe — and it will stay there for the end of the ride.

Hm. Doesn’t seem to want to be moving right now, though, does it? It seems to have settled in right under the ball of your foot. Right where you put force down every pedal stroke. You’re really getting to know the shape, size, and density of that little rock now, aren’t you?

Still, though, you should probably wait just a little while longer. You’re riding with a group, after all. They aren’t going to want to wait while you stop, unclip, and perform the various ratcheting, velcro-ing, windup cabling, and plain ol’ shoelace-untying rituals necessary to get the shoe off.

And then you know you’re going to discover, when you finally dump that rock out, that it’s not all that big. Like, smaller than a BB. People are going to roll their eyes when they see what a tiny little thing it is you’ve made such a fuss over.

So just wait a little while longer. If it’s still bothering you in ten minutes, you’ll take it out then. 

Eating 

You’re racing. You’re riding hard. You’ve been burning calories  as if  it’ were actual fuel that makes your body perform. And it’s been about half an hour since you’ve had anything to eat.

Probably you should eat something, so you don’t bonk.

But, you know, maybe not just yet. Food just isn’t all that appealing right now. Which is a strange irony, and that irony is not lost on you: when you’re eating just for fun or out of habit, eating’s no problem at all. But when eating is a necessary component of staying strong and fast on your bike, well, hey: suddenly your stomach thinks now’s a perfect time to start a diet.

So, sure, you’ll eat. In just a few minutes.

But now a few minutes has gone by and — weirdly — you haven’t gotten hungrier. No, now you’re starting to feel a little bit gross, and the thought of food makes you feel even grosser. 

So you should probably wait just a little while longer.

And now, well, sure you’d eat if you weren’t on this technical downhill section of trail or road. Honest, you would. In fact, you’ll get to eating that gel as soon as you get to the bottom of it. 

Unless something comes up. Which, from the way you’re feeling, it very well could.

Sunscreen

Your neck is hot, and you’re pretty sure you know why. It’s sunny outside. Warmish. You’ve been out for three hours. 

Probably, it would be a good idea to reapply your sunscreen. 

But maybe wait just a little while longer. Hey, the ride’s almost over, really, and the day’s cooling down at this point. Or it will start cooling down, in just a few hours.

Didn’t someone tell you once that you can’t get sunburned after 4pm? You’re just a couple hours from 4pm at this point, so the sun probably isn’t as strong now, right?

And besides, it’s not like putting on sunscreen now as opposed to fifteen minutes from now. So put it off. Wait just a little while longer til you put on that sunscreen.

Really, what could go wrong?