{"id":17957,"date":"2012-02-08T09:35:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T17:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drjimtaylor.com\/2.0\/?p=3616"},"modified":"2012-02-08T09:35:44","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T17:35:44","slug":"cycling-introduction-to-prime-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/cycling-introduction-to-prime-cycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling: Introduction to Prime Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: I have recently been asked to write for PezCyclingNews.com<\/a>, the 3rd most visited competitive cycling Web site, on the psychological aspects of cycling. This article is the first in my series. I have created a new category, Cycling, on my blog for these articles.<\/p>\n

When you compete in a cycling race, you are, in fact, competing in three races. The obvious competition is the one that occurs against the other cyclists in the field. Your goal, presumably, is to beat as many of them as possible.<\/p>\n

Before you can win that race, you must win the race against the course: the climbs, descents, road conditions, and weather all exist to beat you. Your more immediate challenge is to conquer the demands of the course. If you can\u2019t win this race, you won\u2019t be able to win the race against the other cyclists.<\/p>\n

But before you can win the race against the course, you must win the race that goes on inside your head against yourself. Here\u2019s a simple reality: If you don\u2019t win the mental race, you can\u2019t win the races against the course or against the other cyclists.<\/p>\n

How Important is the Mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contrary to what you may think, at whatever level in which you\u2019re racing, the technical and physical aspects of cycling don\u2019t usually determine the winner. Riders who compete at the same level are very similar technically and physically. For example, does Cadel Evans have greater stamina than Frank Schleck? Is Mark Cavendish stronger than Thor Hushovd? In both cases, the answer is no. So, on any given day, what separates who dons, for example, the Tour de France\u2019s yellow or green jerseys and who stands a step or two down on the podium? The answer lies in who wins the mental race (strong team support and a bit of luck help too, of course).<\/p>\n

Whenever I talk to cyclists, I ask them what aspect of our sport seems to have the greatest impact on how they ride. Almost unanimously they say the mental part. I then ask how much time they devote to their mental preparation and their answer is almost always little or no time.<\/p>\n

Despite its obvious importance, the mental side of cycling is most often neglected, at least until a problem arises. The mistake cyclists (and coaches) make is that they don\u2019t treat the mental side of cycling the same way they treat its physical and technical sides. You don\u2019t wait to get injured before you do physical conditioning, do you? You don\u2019t develop a technical flaw before you work on your technique, do you? Of course not. You do physical and technical training to prevent problems from arising. You should approach the mental side in the same way.<\/p>\n

Peak Performance is Not the Goal<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most popular phrases in sport psychology is “peak performance.” Athletes in all sports typically think of peak performance as performing their best, as being at the top of their game. That sounds good, doesn\u2019t it? Who wouldn\u2019t want to achieve peak performance? \u00a0And when I came out of graduate school, peak performance was what I wanted athletes to achieve.<\/p>\n

But as I became more experienced as a consultant and a writer, I began to appreciate the power of words and how important it is that the words I use are highly descriptive of what I want to communicate. I decided that peak performance was not descriptive. I saw several problems with peak performance:<\/p>\n