Sitting In

Ah, July: summer is in full swing, my legs are beginning to feel like maybe they don't totally suck, the weather is almost always conducive to riding (making for fewer excuses, unfortunately...), and I get to watch the Tour.  And in about four weeks it's band camp and such again, and I get back to work.  But enough about those things.  Today's topic is about sitting in.

Perhaps you've heard of sitting in.  There are many kinds of sitting in, actually.  The most famous is a form of protest.  I remember recently hearing about college students "occupying" their campuses to protest high tuition costs.  Now that I have a kid in college, perhaps I should go find a place to sit in East Lansing... 

There's another definition of sitting in, one that is more familiar to my career.  That's the one in which a musician gets to sit in with a group that happens to be playing, but it's not his/her regular group.  Like when Miles Davis was unable to fulfill an obligation for a gig in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1960.  So John Coltrane sat in!  Friend Jordan VanHemert sent this when I asked him about the idea (he is definitely my go-to person for all things jazz) -

 It was a date in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1960 (March 28 to be precise). Miles Davis was supposed to perform with (and lead) the group, but he was unable to do so. Therefore, the band was the Miles Davis Quintet minus Miles Davis. This was just as Trane was about to form his own quartet--he only agreed to stay on through the end of this tour as a favor to Miles. The video is from Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic Presents Jazz Winners of 1960.  It just so happens that two of the other jazz winners, Oscar Peterson and Stan Getz, would join the band for the last tune of this historic set: Hackensack by Thelonious Monk. Wynton Kelly is actually playing the intro, and you can see Peterson tap him on the shoulder and take over at the piano. This is the only recorded instance of Coltrane and Getz playing together.


So now we come to the definition of sitting in that is pertinent to this post, and the one that I take part in the most: that spot in the midst of a line of bicyclists in which there is no wind, very little resistance, and plenty of energy savings!

In a line of riders, the guys at the front "pull."  In other words, they are catching all the wind for the group and using way more effort than the rest.  In most cases the line will rotate and these folks will drop back and allow the next people in line to pull for a while.  In theory, everyone gets a chance at the front and there is at least somewhat equal distribution of work.  

Pulling is not fun, really.  You do get to set the pace,  but there is the added pressure to not let the group slow down, so you don't want to take it easy.  Plus you're in charge of calling out the obstacles, direction changes, and things like that.

So "sitting in" refers to the guys who don't ever pull.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be seen as a guy being lazy, too.

We have some folks in our regular group of riders that seem to have an affinity for, and are very good at, pulling.  So sometimes I just sit in.  Occasionally it leads to feelings of guilt and shame, but, as was the case last Friday (when I was quite certain when we set out that I would not make it through the ride well), it allowed me to zip along at the 20+ mph mark for most of the ride.  I cannot do that on my own.

So now seems like a good time to refer you to one of my earlier posts - the one in which I told you how important friends are to our various journeys.  Friend Ross shot me a compliment after the ride, as a matter of fact - "best riding I've seen you do this year, Keith."  That was pretty cool.  And he was right - I had a great ride.  But it also wouldn't have been possible without those guys pulling for me.

It's good to have folks like that around sometimes.  Sunday's ride was a zippy one with just one other person, and we took turns pulling; sometimes we even rode side-by-side just hanging out, which is different than sitting in :)  

So look at what's up in your life.  Is someone pulling for you?  Do you take your turn at the front?  We all need some support at some point in our journey; maybe today it's your turn to let someone else pull for a while.