“It’s time for base.”
Suddenly, everything is slower.
You’re back in zone 2.
You’re pedalling like a sleepy golden retriever.
You’re spending three hours averaging speeds your grandma could beat on foot.
But you do it — because you have to.
Because the FTP must rise. The engine must build. The spreadsheet must be fed.
Here’s how to trick your brain into loving it. Or at least tolerating it without faking a puncture.
Romanticise it like it’s a training montage
Zone 2 doesn’t feel heroic. It feels… quiet.
But if you squint hard enough, you can imagine you’re in a film. A slow-burning biopic about an athlete rebuilding after a scandal they didn’t cause but definitely made worse.
You’re not just spinning gently — you’re crafting your comeback.
Cue the music. Eat the rice cake dramatically.
Make it about the snacks
Base rides are not about watts.
They’re about snack logistics.
You can’t go hard, but you can go long — which means more stops, more cafés, more pockets full of experimental energy bars that may or may not taste like garden mulch.
Turn it into a game:
- One snack every 45 minutes
- Bonus snack if you’re emotionally struggling
- Emergency snack if you see someone faster than you and feel something
Snacks make everything better. Even zone 2.
Take smug photos and post them like you’re thriving
You may be crawling up climbs in the world’s lowest gear, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look like you’re vibing.
Post a mid-ride photo with a cryptic caption like:
- “Back to basics.”
- “Long slow love.”
- “Mood > metrics.”
- “Patience is power.”
No one needs to know you spent 80% of the ride talking to a cow and trying to pee behind a hedge.
Focus on your heart rate and pretend it’s a puzzle
This is the moment to embrace your inner nerd.
Your legs are bored. Your brain is screaming. But your heart rate graph is chef’s kiss.
You are the master of staying under 145 bpm.
You’re the king of aerobic restraint.
You are Sherlock Holmes with a Garmin.
Every time you keep it in zone 2 on a climb, you feel like a tactical genius.
Until a toddler on a scooter passes you. Then you remember humility.
Turn it into a podcast binge or an audiobook degree
Base rides are the perfect time to ignore your speed and educate your mind.
You can:
- Learn a language
- Catch up on every cycling podcast you lied about listening to
- Re-listen to Harry Potter for the 17th time
- Dive into a six-part true crime series and question all your friendships
Just make sure you don’t zone out so hard you end up in Belgium.
Make peace with being overtaken
It will happen. Roadies. E-bikers. People wearing baggy shorts and Crocs. You’ll want to chase. You’ll want to explain. You’ll feel that rage boil up in your chest.
But you’ll breathe. Stay calm. Stay low. Whisper to yourself: “They’re peaking too early.”
And move on. Slowly. Gloriously. In zone 2.
Remind yourself it’s working (even if it doesn’t feel like it)
You won’t see the gains yet.
You won’t feel like a rocket.
You’ll feel like a background character in your own ride.
But somewhere deep inside, your mitochondria are multiplying.
Your engine is building.
Your future summer self is cheering you on.
Trust the process. Ignore the speed.
Eat the pastry. Ride the hours. Watch the graph.
And know that one day — maybe in March, maybe in June — you’ll sprint past someone in Crocs and think:
“This one’s for the base rides.”
