A few weeks ago as the sun got lower in the sky somewhere behind the dark clouds, I coached a cycling session on Templeton Road at Iona Beach Park in Richmond. Known to cyclists simply as Iona, the road leading to the spit is a flat, five-kilometre stretch uninterrupted by stop signs or lights.
It is a favourite destination among cyclists because it’s an ideal road for coaching, training and riding.
But besides the Kits Energy riders who came out with me, there were no other riders. The weather was cold, the evening already dark and the rain relentless. The wind howled and for many of you, it was the start of an Easter weekend. The long weekend I could foresee, but given this city’s highly unpredictable weather, I never cancel a training session unless there is thunder and lightening.
Out of the 50 riders in the group, 15 made their way to Iona by either bike or car. Luckily for them, the workout was short: 15- to 20-minute warm up followed by an 11 km time-trial and then a cool down before a quick dash back to the car or an even wetter ride home.
I was dressed in head-to-toe rainproof gear complete with a toque and gloves. All of the riders were completely soaked in less than five minutes on their bikes. Â
We were wet but far from miserable. The energy from that small group of cyclists was incredible! There is something special — hardcore, perhaps — about enduring a hardship that nobody else is willing to put themselves through, never mind sign up for. Those 15 riders had the mental strength and discipline to push themselves out the door on a night when nobody else wanted be on the road — in a car. They left the workout with something precious, all because of the small price of being cold and uncomfortable.
Pushing yourself to train when conditions aren’t ideal not only teaches you how to compete in different types of weather but it also improves you mental strength, stamina and self-belief. A little win such as training in the rain, as minor as it is, makes a big difference to the way you approach other situations.
In life, it is so easy to give up when the task is hard or uncomfortable. Those 15 riders can always look back on that Thursday night in April and know that if they were strong enough to train in a rain storm, they can take on any conditions, weather and otherwise.
Kristina Bangma is a coach, personal trainer and writer with a love of riding and racing.
