
All this from what amounts to, essentially, walking! And every bit of it absolutely applicable to rocking the Iron Horse, probably. It reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s, improves balance and coordination, builds tolerance for instruments in the accordion family, and reveals any long-repressed appreciation for fine leather shoes. Plus, tango has many other benefits as outlined in articles on the internet. That’s why the old saying goes, “It just takes one to tango.” But the beautiful thing about tango is, you can enter your own flow state, where nothing else exists in the world, and you are finally at peace within yourself. You wouldn’t think so, right? I mean, any YouTube search of “tango videos” shows that most dancers, like bicyclists, also do not receive the 3 feet of legally required clearance. And on the other hand, one still gets the benefits of solitude. On the one hand, there’s music, so one’s not left to one’s own thoughts, which one finds really disconcerting after several hours of subsisting on sports water at high elevation. One sails onward without close companionship for hours at a time, relying on the meditative rhythm of pedaling and the soothing natural sounds of frogs and birds and trucks giving one nowhere near the 3 feet of legally required clearance.ĭancing tango is the perfect way to both defy and complement that road-cycling experience. It’s less sweaty than running, it requires less snow than cross-country skiing, and it breaks fewer ribs, on average, than mixed martial arts.īesides, road cycling is always such a solitary activity, especially once the first rolling hill separates the men with creative training regimens from the ones who have only been riding bicycles every day. I have simply been dancing the Argentine tango instead.įor all the other forms of cross-training already out there, all the myriad options for training without riding a bicycle, I imagine you’re thinking, “I wish I had thought of that first!” Because I gotta tell you, tango is where it’s at. There’s no nightmare to have, because it turns out that NOT bike riding in preparation for the Iron Horse is the most comfortable way to do it!īut just because I haven’t actually ridden my bike since last year’s Iron Horse doesn’t mean I haven’t trained.


But, if I had to venture a guess, I would suppose it’s because I haven’t technically ridden my bike at all this season. No idea why the nightmare has avoided me this year. This spring is the first time in six years I haven’t had that nightmare, that I haven’t woken up grasping for my protein bars and electrolytes like I was just visited by the Ghost of Race Day Future. I’m standing astraddle my steed at the starting line at dawn, when I realize, I have not trained for this ride, not one single solitary bit, and I am now as boned as a walrus penis.Įvery year, that is, except this year. I have this recurring nightmare every year in the months leading up to the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.
