Superman Traction and a Late Night in the Lab

They don't call him CaptainChaz for nothing. He's the self-declared Captain of our Mountain Biking team, much like Mark is the self-declared captain of our Cyclocross squadron, and I am the self-declared captain of our Rubik's Cube brigade.

Unlike me, with my vow to take the secrets of the Cube to the grave, Charlie makes a habit of teaching his teammates the way of the Fat Tire. Earlier this summer, he took Andy and me around Chimney Rock park to give us roadies a fighting chance at racing. Along with some dropping some knowledge about cornering and descending that seems to have stuck, Charlie taught us how to climb.

Climbing seems like it should be straightforward... just point yourself uphill and pedal. If necessary, pedal really hard. To climb well, spend more time pedaling really hard than your competitors do.

That works well enough on road, and it does translate to the dirt reasonably well, but there is another wrinkle when riding the trails... momentum. Roadies know inertia only in the sense that it's better to exit a corner at 25mph than at 20, so don't brake, and if you do brake you have to shout "SLOWING" and blame someone else (please don't actually do this or I will punch you). Mountain bikers, on the other hand, are familiar with momentum as that peculiar possession that, once lost, can create a huge gap to the next rider. Lose momentum in a corner and you'll lose a handful of seconds. Lose momentum on a climb and you may suffer the indignity of walking.

So here's the trick, as taught to me by that beacon of knobby-tired wisdom, CaptainChaz: Superman Traction. Killing yourself on a steep hill is way more frustrating when roots and rocks and small woodland creatures make your rear tire slip. By gaining momentum on the easier parts of the climb, the flatter sections or the patches with the most grip, you can make the overall endeavor that much less taxing.

Sure, when the going gets tough, the tough get going... but that doesn't mean you can't get ahead of the game by pushing yourself when the going is easy!

Over the past few weeks, I've been applying this philosophy in the lab, of all places.I started with some wires, some sensors, and an idea. Within two days I'd learned a new programming language and had a working demo. Momentum. I kept chugging along over the rest of that week, making progress without really making any breakthroughs, or needing to.

So last Wednesday was the usual Rutgers 'cross practice, and I did the usual dig-too-deep thing, resulting in the usual crankiness. After a quick, large dinner, I jumped in the shower with the intention of calling it a night.

Then I hit some Superman Traction. Ideas that had been floating aimlessly somehow congealed into a plan. Snippets of code had structured themselves over the course of a shower. My project suddenly seemed easy.

Is it crazy to walk to the lab at night, armed only with a head full of blueprints and a vanilla milkshake? Is it crazy to stay until 4am, with no looming deadline or external impetus?

It is not crazy. It is Superman Traction. I'm going to need to accomplish a gajillion tasks between now and graduation (what hubris I have, to dare even write the g-word)... why not get as many of them done as possible while things are going smoothly?

Now the real trick is going to be keeping this momentum. One never knows when they'll come across a hurdle (or a sandpit).