Tip of the Month:
My 70 Year Old Student
I didn’t expect her to be such a challenge, but that’s
exactly what she is. One of my clients, (we’ll call her Mary Jane) is 70 years old,
has lived round the globe, raised five children, knows stuff the CIA will not talk
about, but never learned how to ride a bike - until now. And oh, brother, she is
on fire!
We had a “bike handling skills” clinic last Saturday to go over emergency stopping
and riding in a pace line. At first, Mary Jane was nervous about standing on the
pedals, getting out of the seat, and pushing her body back over the rear tire as
she quickly applied the brakes. But, when the bike came to an abrupt halt; as you’d
like it to in an emergency situation, she smiled as if she had done it a hundred
times before.
“No big deal! What else ya got?” she said cheerfully.
We worked on pace line drills next. Even though you’ll experience approximately
30% savings in energy output when you are traveling in the slipstream behind someone
else on a bike, traveling that close can be a bit scary. I watched Mary Jane fall
in to position behind the first rider. She was reluctant to get close enough to
feel the swoosh of the slipstream that pulls you in, making it effortless to pedal.
“Get closer, Mary Jane! Come one, get on her wheel!” I cried out. Then, finally,
it happened. Click. She was on. And swoosh, away she went! All I could see was a
big smile from ear to ear. We tackled a couple hills and I could see Mary Jane begin
to struggle. I stayed back with her and talked her through her shifting, making
it much easier to climb. “Oh, I only use these gears. I was saving these other gears for when I climb steep hills.” Oh. I see. I assured her she could use them now.
Why wait for the Italian Alps?
Later, we cycled back to Karen’s Bakery Café for breakfast. Mary Jane was smack
talking about how much more she was going to ride today because “ I have 77 miles
on the odometer and I want to tell my daughter I hit 100!”
Later I received an email from Mary Jane. She went out and rode 11 more miles that
day and now has a sore toe. “Guess I was pedaling wrong because the foam insert
in my shoe got pushed up and rubbed against my big toe.”
I’m all, WHAT? The insert in your shoe made your toe hurt, not your pedaling, you
bratty little 70 year old show off!
Moral of the story? Never underestimate your
students!
See you on the trail,
Janaé' Noble
|