Let's face it, when you return a stat like the new PB below you have to be interested in why it could have occurred.
That's not just beating previous best, that's blowing a hole in it - with a torpedo. But why?
Let's start with some basics - I was fitter in 2018 than I am now, a sequence of injuries and 3 months of whooping cough has seen to that. So I should have been slower. I don't have a different bike; a different saddle and seat-post yes, but nothing that would account for a 21% improvement. So what else was different?
Riding through Bason Bridge (yes, that is how you spell it) towards the base of Woolavington I was stung by a bee; stung five times as it turns out (thus dispelling the myth that all bees can only sting once). On that; honey bees have barbed stings so they do the famous sting once and then die routine. Bumble bees have un-barbed stings which, from their point of view, is a far better 'design' and it was thus able to deliver multiple jabs. Thanks bee. Now, says the Australian Society for Clinical Immunoly and Allergy, (presumably among others) - when the body is stung that causes stress and we respond to this by producing adrenaline. Figures, but I wouldn't have said I was that stressed by the sting. It hurt; but not like getting attached to the wrong end of hornet (been there, don't, much much pain). Whatever I consciously thought, it seems my body disagreed and desired me well away from there, in this case up Woolavington Hill, before a similar injection of pain could be further inflicted. That adrenaline is associated with fight or flight is well known, I was better equipped for flight. And then adrenaline is also produced as a defence against anaphylaxis (severe allergic reactions). But I don't have severe reactions to bee stings, I've been stung before with only normal amounts of pain. So..?
Well, the only other difference is that, as a result of the whooping cough mentioned above, my doc has me on an asthma inhaler. Now if you follow cycling news you may be aware of asthma inhalers having caused issues where they are alleged to have been used for performance enhancement. But those are the blue ones; salbutamol being the relevant chemical. Mine doesn't have that; I did wonder and am glad to find it doesn't. It does have corticosteroids though, a class of drug that the UCI is planning to (may have by now) ban if taken in pill form as WADA has found that it 'probably does have performance enhancing effects' - good job I only have an inhaler then!
So if the inhaler isn't doing enough to get it banned from UCI competitions then it isn't going to send me up that hill 21% faster. Must be the bees. For the record, I don't intend keeping a small store of bees about me on the bike in future for use just before starred segments or group ride sprints; I'm just not prepared to suffer enough to succeed after all!
That's not just beating previous best, that's blowing a hole in it - with a torpedo. But why?
Let's start with some basics - I was fitter in 2018 than I am now, a sequence of injuries and 3 months of whooping cough has seen to that. So I should have been slower. I don't have a different bike; a different saddle and seat-post yes, but nothing that would account for a 21% improvement. So what else was different?
Riding through Bason Bridge (yes, that is how you spell it) towards the base of Woolavington I was stung by a bee; stung five times as it turns out (thus dispelling the myth that all bees can only sting once). On that; honey bees have barbed stings so they do the famous sting once and then die routine. Bumble bees have un-barbed stings which, from their point of view, is a far better 'design' and it was thus able to deliver multiple jabs. Thanks bee. Now, says the Australian Society for Clinical Immunoly and Allergy, (presumably among others) - when the body is stung that causes stress and we respond to this by producing adrenaline. Figures, but I wouldn't have said I was that stressed by the sting. It hurt; but not like getting attached to the wrong end of hornet (been there, don't, much much pain). Whatever I consciously thought, it seems my body disagreed and desired me well away from there, in this case up Woolavington Hill, before a similar injection of pain could be further inflicted. That adrenaline is associated with fight or flight is well known, I was better equipped for flight. And then adrenaline is also produced as a defence against anaphylaxis (severe allergic reactions). But I don't have severe reactions to bee stings, I've been stung before with only normal amounts of pain. So..?
Well, the only other difference is that, as a result of the whooping cough mentioned above, my doc has me on an asthma inhaler. Now if you follow cycling news you may be aware of asthma inhalers having caused issues where they are alleged to have been used for performance enhancement. But those are the blue ones; salbutamol being the relevant chemical. Mine doesn't have that; I did wonder and am glad to find it doesn't. It does have corticosteroids though, a class of drug that the UCI is planning to (may have by now) ban if taken in pill form as WADA has found that it 'probably does have performance enhancing effects' - good job I only have an inhaler then!
So if the inhaler isn't doing enough to get it banned from UCI competitions then it isn't going to send me up that hill 21% faster. Must be the bees. For the record, I don't intend keeping a small store of bees about me on the bike in future for use just before starred segments or group ride sprints; I'm just not prepared to suffer enough to succeed after all!
