Hi, this is Alex Mountjoy, and this is my Quick Call for Wednesday, November 2nd.
I was riding my bike to work this morning, and as I went over a big bump that I could not avoid I noticed that I stopped pedaling. I thought about it afterward. Why?
Whether it is one bump in the road, or the road is all bumpy, you can pedal just the same. Your mind can handle it. It’s just….you think you can’t.
This was certainly true in my case this morning, where presented with a sudden obstacle, my instinctive reaction was shut down my effort – my pedaling — which was of course my source of power and the only reason I was getting anywhere in the first place.
There are good reasons as a cyclist that you should continue pedaling over bumps. It keeps your chain jumping off, for one thing. And keeps you going for another. It’s not that your mind can’t handle going over the bump and pedaling at the same time. The instinctive thing is to stop, but that doesn’t mean that’s what you need to do.
When you come to bumps in your road. Or even when your road seems to be all bumpy. Ask yourself, Do I really need to stop pedaling?
Thanks for listening.