They say racing is 50% mental. After Saturday I have to say it is more like 75%. I showed up at the Marysville race feeling pretty confident. I had bee riding pretty well and was expecting a good result. Mike K and I left from my house at about 10:30, hoping to get there in time to do a pre-ride lap. We had plenty of time, James joined us and we hit the course. I really liked this course very tight and twisty, and not a lot of climbing. I wasn't feeling great during the pre-ride, but I never do anyway. This was going to be a long race. It was a 7 mile loop and lap times were going to be between 45 and 50 minutes. That meant a 3 - 3.5 hour race.
We lined up at the start and I thought I was ready. Let me back track a second by saying all I had to do was finish and I would move into first in the series. I didn't feel good at the start, but again that is not unusual for me. I tried to settle into my own pace knowing it was going to be a long race. It didn't take long to slip from 4th to 6th. I was struggling. At about the half way mark I started doubting myself. I was thinking there is no way I can ride this course 4 times. I tried to put it out of my head and started riding faster. This didn't last long either. Everytime there was a slight incline it hurt me. I couldn't generate any power or sustain an effort. Basically I was in trouble. I pushed through the first lap in 46 minutes. As I started my 2nd lap I didn't think I could ride up the little climb at the start. As a matter of fact half way up I made up my mind. I pulled out. This was very hard for me, I have always found a way to finish in the past. I was hurting but more than that I was disappointed with myself. I was wondering if I was done for the year or not. I went back to my truck got changed and called Rachael. She told me not to worry about it, it's only one race. Then I called Marc. He told me the same thing except he said to sit down and have a beer. He also told me to take a few days off, don't even look at a bike.
I went back to the venue to watch my team mates finish there races. Even though there weren't very many of them. Jeb Bagger did well he finished 2nd. Mike K wanted to quit as well but toughed it out for 4th. Then there were the real heroes. Matty T, Andrew, and Bill Doh! all did the endurance race. 6 hours of suffering. Matt did great he finished 2nd with 7 laps on a single speed. Andrew and Bill also did 7 laps, with Andrew taking a very impressive 3rd. I have to give big props to Bill Doh though. He came through at 4:25 and went back out for a 7th lap, everybody else sat down until 4:30 so they didn't have to do another one, but Bill's efforts gave him a nice 5th place finish. My hats off to all you guys.
I spent a lot of time thinking about this race. I am over the fact that I DNFed, and I am already looking forward to Fair Hill this Sunday. I know my fitness is still there, so those slef doubting thoughts should be a thing of the past. I will still take it easy this week, because I will need good legs if I am going to hang with Marc on Sunday.
Well that's it for now,
thanks for reading
Buddy
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