“Endorphin Addiction”

On Tuesday night's ride, after the last hill when everything slowed down and we could talk, two of the guys on the MC team started discussing a guy who rode with them a couple of years ago, but stopped riding when he married another cyclist. His wife gave up cycling when she started having children, so he gave it up too so that she wouldn't resent him.

Both of these guys said that if their wives or girlfriends ever gave them that ultimatum, they'd leave. On their bikes. (Actually one said that he'd "tell her to pack her stuff.") I have no idea if they really meant it, or if they were just being macho. I'll just say for the record, though, that I can't think of anything in this life that I wouldn't give up for Corinne if I had to. (Note that I didn't say I'd like it, especially the ultimatum.) Yes, that's sappy and a lot of people act like it's wrong to feel that way. Too bad.

Anyway, conversation quickly turned to the "cyclist's high", which is not just a funny name, it's real. It's caused by the rush of endorphins from a strenuous aerobic workout, and it's a real high: you feel euphoric, and everything's good with the world.

Their point was that they're addicted to this high. When the season is over, and they've started winding down with shorter, less frequent rides, they get irritable. Both of their wives/gf's have threatened to leave them during this time. One of them said that whenever he's in a bad mood his gf now tells him to go for a ride.

I want to go on record as admitting that I also have this addiction. I'd say I suffer from it, but I don't. It's the withdrawl that I suffer from. For the last few weeks I haven't ridden on the weekends, and by Monday afternoon I'm a veritable Grizzly bear.

I've said many times that I can "hear my bike calling me", but really it's my body calling out for those lovely exercise-induced endorphins.