Muscle Memory

For the last six months I've been riding my 'commuter' bike (a somewhat hacked together used bike with straight, horizontal handlebars and an upright geometry) to and from work. I got on my road bike today (a more aggressive beast with a high seat-post, low drop handlebars, and somewhere around half the weight of my commuter bike) for the first time since last summer. It was a very interesting experience: First off, I nearly fell off as soon as my feet were in the pedals. Then I could hardly keep my front wheel pointed straight. Near the end of my ride, I tried peddling with my hands off the handlebars (something I can do with ease on my commuter bike) and the bike wobbled back and forth like I was on a slalom course.

I've gone long stretches without riding my road bike before, but never while riding another bike in the interim. Balance was sometimes an issue those other times, but not like it was today. Today was an excellent example of the body's ability to remember. All the time I spent practicing and riding on my road bike last summer has been undone by six months of riding twice a day, to and from work for 20 minutes each way. It won't take long to get more comfortable on my road bike; a few weeks of consistent riding will solve that issue. I wonder though if riding both bikes regularly means that I'll never be completely comfortable on either bike.

Yet even when I do get back to my form from last summer, when I was at the peak (or more accurately, a local maximum) of my riding abilities, I'm still a long shot away from the control exhibited by professional road bike racers. There is a whole other level of balance and muscle memory that I don't think I'll ever be party to. It may sound crass, but I've seen professional riders stand in their peddles and urinate from on top of their bikes, all the while travelling downhill at speeds likely approaching 40 or 50 km/h. That kind of stunt takes an awful lot of trust in one's abilities and in the dependability of one's bike. Not something that you're going to catch me trying.