Bryan Brosious: Back to Bozeman: The Long Ride

When I lived in the mountains of Bozeman Montana I can remember spending all day on my bike and coming home totally incapacitated. In the two years I lived in Bozeman I spent an insane amount of my time just pedalin' away on my bike. The landscape, the mountains, the open vastness are never overstated. When you are in places like this, it is like you are riding your bike in the one of the most beautiful pictures you have ever seen. It is an incredible feeling.

*Bridger Mountains in Bozeman, Montana

Back when I lived in Bozeman I was just getting my start in triathlon and didn't really know how to train, as a result I just trained the way I felt like training. The majority of that training was long, over-distance training. To this day, I have no doubt that those huge base miles on my bike in the mountains made me the cyclists I am (however accomplished or lack of that may be). I would ride for hours and get so tired that I couldn't pedal anymore. Some of these rides would be a hundred miles, as much as it totally anihalated me, I loved it. I still love that type of training.

*I never leave home for a ride without a sweet kit :)

One of my favorite workouts is what I call my "Bozeman Training." This type of training is so....surreal and satisfying. The pace is fairly moderate so you get to take in the views and the surroundings, but it is also grueling because the hours get long and the body gets tired. I love it. Even though I don't ride my bike at the

"hard" red-line race pace for these workouts, the mental and physical toll that 75+ miles on bike takes on you cannot be understated. Personally, I love that fine line of "this is making me so tough" and "I can't go another mile." I live for those moments of internal struggle and the opportunity to see what I'm made of.

*It's always liquid diet for the long training sessions

*The Murder Machine stacked up with about 4 hours of fuel.

On my most recent ride I felt great, again, I love long rides on the bike. I had the bonus of the heat which I knew was building my heat tolerance and toughness. I regularly call upon the toughness I built in Bozeman to get me through the tough portions of workouts and races. There is nothing that brings the mental toughness of knowing you can ride a 100 miles on your bike. Regardless of speed, that is a feat.

Sometimes on these rides I may do some odd things, for one I talk to myself...a lot. Four, five, even six hours on a bike is a long, lonely time. I like to talk to anyone I can, sometimes I have to talk to myself. I can work out the things on my mind, relive memories, but sometimes I just ride for hours in silence. I like that too.

One thing that really bugs me about cyclists is their egos, not saying I don't have one, but I find it so ridiculous that cyclists will not take the time to say "Hi" or wave when you pass. It's also ridiculous when they speed up so that they can catch you or prevent you from catching them. I don't get it... When I come up on someone I talk to them, ride a couple minutes with them if they want, and usually get a smile out of them with a well placed one-liner or joke. I like to say hello and tell people they have a cool bike etc. It makes them feel good at no expense to me. If someone passes me I don't speed up and try to repass them, I usually shout, with a smirk, something like "What the heck do you think you're doing, there's a speed limit on this road!" Sometimes the stuff I say doesn't make complete sense because I get really fatigued and can't quite think straight :) It usually makes people laugh...then I go full throttle to pass them, only kidding. I got a lot of smiles and laughs on my last ride, so I thought that to be a victory in itself. I like making people laugh.

*It was so hot after the run that I soaked down my Hammer run kit in the hose.

Above when I said, "there is nothing that brings the mental toughness of knowing you can ride a 100 miles on your bike," I lied. Going for a run after doing that ride makes you tougher. The run is actually my favorite part of the workout because it is a really tough fight internally. My mind is telling me that my body is so tired and it's just crazy to go keep running. I fight to keep running, I love those moments of wanting so badly to stop and being so tired that I just about do, but I don't stop, I keep running. That is quite possibly the most testing and satisfying moment of any training. It takes me back to Bozeman because that is what I did for nearly two years. I can't tell you enough how much I like having that feeling of being right on the edge of total shut down but not quitting. That toughness is so applicable to life in general.

*Lasers! Zzzaaaaapppp!

This session happened to be in the heat, sometimes it's rain, and sometimes it's snow. People get really uncomfortable when I tell them I train in the heat, purposefully at the hottest parts of the day. It's actually smart, people get heat stroke and heat exhaustion when they try and race in the heat after not training and acclimating to it. Your heat tolerance is like a muscle that needs to be conditioned slowly. By training in the heat you can control your exposure and effort. In a race it's all or nothing. So many people get into trouble in hot weather because they don't train for heat. Former UFC Champ, Tito Ortiz, use to say, "Train for the worst and the best will always happen." That's always stuck with me during those moments of wanting to quit. I love preparing for the worst, they are my favorite workouts. Riding a long ride and then running on the scorching hot road under the sun is a solid step towards training for the worst.

*"Train for the worst and the best will always happen."

*After the workout it's Hammer Recovery items and food. This is a turkey and salsa whip. Yes, I eat weird things.

*I still watch Nascar after my longest days.

So that's a little insight into my world, favorite workout, and what motivates me. I love this lifestyle and love to "go back to Bozeman" to ride my big miles, run on totally fatigued legs, find my inner strength, and more importantly, see what I am made of. Finding your inner strength is a very special thing, not many people ever have an opportunity to see what they have inside them deep down.

As additional factoids, Tejay Van Garderen of Team BMC, who is leading the Best Young Rider category at the Tour De France, spent time living in Bozeman. When I lived in Bozeman I saw Tejay racing the same roads that I was riding. That's a cool thing.

*Tejay Van Garderen at the 2012 TDF

Also in the tour this year is Levi Leipheimer, he is from the next town over, Butte Montana. The fact that two of the top Tour de France riders are from Montana adds legitimacy to the power of these places.