After last weeks race I was at a total low point. I have since shaken that off and seem to be back on track. I rode Tuesday night by myself at a steady pace and felt better. I rode last night and felt good in the beginning and felt great at the end. The ride group was Todd, Marc and myself. I met up with Todd across from the fair grounds, it was raining lightly at the time and we almost bagged it. We decided to go for it then Marc called and said he would meet us at the Appleton lot. The trails were a little wet but not really muddy. We started off nice and easy, which is very unusual for Todd. Then we hit the first climb and Todd dropped the hammer. I don't think I have ever gone up that hill that fast before, it hurt quite a bit, but I was able to hang on. We found Marc and headed off again, we were planning to ride the majority of the race course. The pace was fast but steady and I felt pretty good. It was a lot of fun, at one point we were joking around while flying down hill, the next thing I know I am hitting the ground VERY hard. I laid there for a few seconds trying to figure out what hurt and what happened. My front wheel just slid out from under me and I went straight down. I didn't think I would be able to finish the ride, but decided to give it a try. We went on and after a while I was feeling a little better, I guess adrenalin is a greta pain killer. I was not riding very well in the tight twisty stuff, but when we hit the open road climbs I was able to stay on Marc's wheel. That made me feel a lot better. To end the ride Todd jumped back in front and just ripped through the last bit of single track before the fair grounds. I stayed right in line and felt really good. I just hope that bad race is way behind me and I can get on with my season.
Well that's all I have for now so thanks for reading.
Buddy
Friday, July 15, 2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Head Games...
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
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
Surfs Up Dude!
Today Rachael and I went shopping and found this cool kitchen rug. It was good day. We haven't had a whole day together in a long time, we had a nice day shopping and a good lunch at Campps sports bar.
Posted by Picasa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)