It’s Time to Give Some Thought to Time

By Kevin Kolodziejski 

You truly need to be an Einstein to follow the theory of relativity in its entirety.  But there’s an element to it that any cyclist can comprehend. Even the ones who find Shut Up, Legs!, the autobiography written by former cycling pro and breakaway artist extraordinaire Jens Voigt, to be a tough read.

It’s that time does not exist independently. That it’s not absolute. That it’s always relative to your frame of reference.

So if your frame of reference is, as Voigt’s sometimes was during his 18-year career, the outskirts of a small European town 5 kilometers away from a finish line that’s positioned in the heart of it — after you just spent more than three hours riding alone, all-out, and in a world of hurt — the six minutes or so it takes you to reach that line seem to take far longer than 360 seconds. Even if your legs obey and do as Voigt’s did 59 times in his pro career: shut up long enough for you to cross it ahead of a rapidly advancing peloton and raise your arms in the celebratory V.

But that splendid scenario, sad to say, will probably never be your point of reference. This next one is far more likely.

A More Likely Example of Cycling Time Slowing

You’re 5 km away from a grocery store parking lot in a small town in North America, at the far end of which is your car and the finish of your group’s three-hour ride. The ride’s been a lively one for the most part, and when it has not, that part’s been an all-out assault of two lengthy climbs. As a result, you’re now hanging on for dear life, just hoping to reach your car while keeping your bike upright. And whether it takes six, 16, or 26 minutes for you to do so, this is for sure: it’s going to feel a whole lot longer.

The hope behind this hypothetical is not that you give up group rides, but that you now want to better understand those frustrating and far too often times when even though your legs are making the bike move forward, your mind’s making time stand still. Or pretty damn close to it.

The Recent Study on Cycling Time ‘Slowing’

Not so long ago, a similar desire led to research and the study that was published in the April 2024 issue of Brain and Behavior. Researchers at Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury, England recruited 33 “recreationally active adults” and had them do three 4-km simulated cycling time trials on stationary bicycles using Velotron 3D software to create “a visual, virtual environment.” During the TTs, which were performed in no particular order, one effort was truly a solo one. The only avatar pictured on the Velotron screen was the participant’s.

In another, the screen showed another avatar, but it only served as a “passive opponent,” meaning it rode alongside and really wasn’t much of an opponent at all. Throughout a third, the other avatar was out to win, and the participant was instructed to defeat it.

During all three rides, the participants were asked to estimate 30 seconds of time at the 500-, 1500-, and 2500-meter marks. When those estimates were compared to pre- and post-ride 30-second-time estimates, all the estimates made the during the rides ran “slow,” meaning it felt as if time took longer during the TTs. This held true regardless of when the guess was made or the virtual environment.

While this study’s interesting, the results are as expected. As expected as you replying, “Of course” if asked, “Does this slowing of time while on the bike, especially when going hard, hold true for you?”

Before You Say, “Of Course”

But before you utter that, let me interject this. There are times, although they are in the minority, when the opposite occurs. When you’re racing or riding and time seems to speed up. And if those times for you are like those times for me, every single time you feel just as joyous as the journeyman pro who’s been in a two-man breakaway on the queen stage of a major stage race and your companion, the GC leader, says, “Go ahead,” and gives you the win.

While that gesture surely is a gift, I’d argue that during all your rides the gift should be your goal.  But how in the world do you reach it? By, appropriately enough, repeatedly making that just-mentioned movement in just the right way. Which could mean doing away with the Garmin or whatever albeit temporarily.

Reaching For the Gift, That’s the Goal

Whether you’re going all-out in a race or just going out for a pleasant ride, time has a far better chance to fly if you forget about it and the things you assess in relation to it — heart rate, speed, wattage — and simply focus on the feelings being produced by the ride. While you may feel that giving clichéd advice like this to conclude the article is a copout, that’s only so if you opt out of what I’m about to ask you to do. Grab paper and pen.  Don’t think, just write, and scribble down as quickly as you can a list of your greatest rides.

Now take time to recall each ride in detail. Pinpoint what it was about that ride that got it included in your list. I bet that at some point in each there was a large passage of time when you lost track of time because you were so focused on keeping track of the sensations in your body.

And at that time, my friend, time really does fly.

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Kevin Kolodziejski began his writing career in earnest in 1989. Since then he’s written a weekly health and fitness column and his articles have appeared in magazines such as “MuscleMag,” “Ironman,” “Vegetarian Times,” and “Bicycle Guide.” He has Bachelor and Masters degrees in English from DeSales and Kutztown Universities.

A competitive cyclist for more than 30 years, Kevin won two Pennsylvania State Time Trial championships in his 30’s, the aptly named Pain Mountain Time Trial 4 out of 5 times in his 40s, two more state TT’s in his 50’s, and the season-long Pennsylvania 40+ BAR championship at 43.