Falling Down And Getting Back Up

I really am just about done with Facebook and Strava. I have more to say, and less desire for "friends" to see what I write. Unless they really want to see. Or read. If so, they can find it here. The blog has always been a diary, steeped and infused with my efforts on a bicycle. So, once again, I promise myself to try and post on a regular basis. Easier said than done.

Last week Lupine and I did not train much, still worn out from three races the week before. We ran stairs, did a few short intervals, and not much else. Last Saturday I started well by taking the path less traveled. The outside-outside line into first corner allowed me to move from the third row up into fifth place. For one lap. As I started to fade back to my normal 12th place, I tried to up my pace going into a chicane. I went down, lost another four spots, broke a brake lever, lost all my confidence in my over-inflated tires, and quickly went to the back. DFL probably. So I did the thing I hardly ever do. I quit. It has taken a week to get over it. I trained very little this week too, but tomorrow is another day. My plan for tomorrow is to have fun with an old friend. I will not quit this time. Probably.

When I was young...

...the more I raced, the stronger I became. That is just not true anymore. I need to get that through my head. A moderately strong effort at a race on Wednesday led to dead legs last night, until the last two laps. Those last lap heroics led to a complete lack of energy, speed, and focus this morning. I almost quit. Three times. But I rode with all the effort I could muster, which was about half speed.

Like Sharp White Teeth

That's how it felt. The sky looked pretty good as I rolled out. I headed west to the unpaved roads. When I turned north the sky looked foreboding.

I pretended to be a Hardman from cycling's past.  As I pedaled the Pake fixed gear into the sharp snow flakes, for a moment, I almost felt like one. 

What To Do

It has been a long time since I have consistently written blog posts or ridden a bicycle with any intensity. Yesterday was my first ride in Utah in 2015. Lupine and I rode the cross bikes up to Third Damn. It was snowing, the trail was a little muddy, and our toes were cold, but it was wonderful to be out in the mountains on the bicycle.

There is really only one thing to do when you weigh nearly 20 pounds more than you do when you are in race shape: go ride your bicycle. OK, I'm going. It is 37 degrees and lightly snowing outside, but I am going. When I get back I will try to convince myself to write about how it felt.