This weekend I rode with
Marcos Mazzola Lazzarotto
, a cat 2 racer from the
Integrated Sports Medicine Cycling Team
who recently moved to the area with his wife. I came across him through the
Virginia Tech Cycling Team
listserve as I was looking for a cyclist whose brain I could "pick". I wanted to know how a competitive cyclist approached training and racing and what they think about when they are putting down those miles. (
In human factors research, it's the "think aloud" method of data collection
!) I was ready to have a few new things to mentally chew on and I got those today.
When I first got my bike in June 2009, I thought only about two things:
-
Pedal.
-
Get through stoplights and stop signs without falling over.
By the 2010 race season, I was ready for the next phase of the "evolution of my cycling brain" and with Coach Jim's help, I added a few more things to think about:
-
Shoot for a 90'ish cadence.
-
Get aero as much as possible, especially down hills.
-
Pedal full circles.
Last year I took it up another notch and into my little cycling play book went things ...
