NOT prepared, NOT ready

  12 Hours of Dauset, 2012 edition. I will be racing on pure guts this year. At this point last year I had 1880 miles on the mountain bike, and 396 of that at Dauset. This year I have 289.9 miles on the mountain bike, and 28.4 at Dauset. OHHH! THIS RACE IS GOING TO HURT. But I must race, this is my favorite of the year. Iv'e done this race 4 times (12 hr. solo), last year being my best.

Photo by Mark D

Ray and I put in some miles at Dauset recently. We rode a steady pace, and my back and upper body felt better. (I rode 28 miles out there the week before and that hurt bad!). All of the road racing I did this year really made me soft. So I must pay my penance (a punishment in token of penitence for sin). Road racing is very fun, and fast, but endurance mountain biking is fun, satisfying, and really test ones toughness. 

 I have one more week to "cram for the test". I think I have the fitness, just not sure about the toughness! And I won't have a crew this year, so it will be a true solo race. I think I will be fine here. I just have to make sure all of my nutrition and gear is ready to go for quick pit stops. Like I will use bottles this year instead of a pack. Now I need to come up with 13 or more bottles. 

 What ever happens it will be fun and tough...Later

Corsa per la maglia rosa

                           La corsa piu' dura posta piu' bello del mondo

Saturday 5 May 2012

Big questions

 Racing....so when does it began to be fun? Or no longer fun. When does it become an addiction? 

 Take a 6 year old boy racing in a 6-8 year old cross country race. Coming in last place and not even realizing it. Then saying, "daddy, can we still ride some more". Thomas and me, (with Gavin in tow) rode the kids race coarse for an additional hour and a half. With a small break in between to watch some of the "big boys race". We did many, many repeats of the single track section. Over and over, picking better lines each time. "Daddy, I was 5 seconds faster that time, I bet I can do it faster" Is that addiction or is that having fun. 

 Addiction is when something consumes your life, by that I mean dictates your life style. Or is that just your idea of having fun? Is it fun when you win every thing you do. Is it no longer fun when you stop winning? What if you've never won and you still race. Is that having fun or an addiction? Is it still fun or addiction when you secretly wish your friends have a bad race (one that your also participating in). Or is that just something all together different. What about cheering for everyone? No matter who they are. Is that having fun, is that just enjoying life?...I think so. 

 We should all take a lesson from the children around us. Enjoy the moment. Take in the day fully, let the fresh air expand our lungs and celebrate life. 

 So lets set a good example, and show that you can have fun with a healthy addiction. Be good to each other, appreciate and respect strengths and weaknesses. Kids learn bad behavior and pour sportsmanship from their parents. Its not a natural trait of children. There is a difference between being competitive, and being selfish and...well just not nice. 

 Remember, KARMA is always watching....later

Monkey on a stick

 Haven't been posting much lately. Been riding a lot, a minuscule amount of running (10 mi. a week).  Ball practice has started,  and basically life slapping me in the face   ( you know whenever you get on a natural high, and then it brings you back to earth).  

On top of Lavender Mt. (Some wealthy guys drive way)

My daughter is studying the galaxy in science class, so I've been getting some pretty cool questions lately. Man, kids are so much smarter know a days.  We've found some cool videos on the"web". 

So lately I've felt like a monkey on a stick. 

....Later

2:03:03

 The 2012 edition of the Albany race weekend. Two hours, three minutes, three seconds. Felt more like twenty hours. 5th place for the TT, missed the podium by a second. Short 2.3 mile course, twisty, and three inches of water in the turns. Very tight race. 9th place for the crit, Heavy rain all day...made the break, but one guy went down right in front of me. Sending me off coarse, past a white Lexus, and shooting the gap between a light-post, and a big oak tree. Bunny-hopping the curb, then back on coarse. When I recovered, the break was already around turn four. FRENCH TOAST! I yelled...Six laps to go stuck in the middle. I held on for 9th. 20 seconds in front of the group. Good for second place overall.

 Sundays road race, new day with no rain, but wind gusts up to 30mph was reported. The starting road was very narrow, and with 66 Cat-5 racers it was a nervous first few miles. Buck and one other guy took off for about a six mile break. It worked out good because the chase caused some fifteen riders getting dropped. Soon as we all settled down, another attack, and three guys got away. I thought about joining the break, than I thought about staying with the first place guy. Who I had marked earlier on. I remember thinking "I can still bridge that gap"....but cooler heads prevailed, or was I just chicken. All this thought processing took place in about a half a second. Must be the amino acids....The race was 34 miles long and at 24 the pace started to get really ramped up. I kept myself close to the front for the whole race to ensure I wouldn't get stuck behind everyone. I did more work than I should have (and Buck reminded me of that) but Team Doulos and Team Big Ring worked well together to keep John Eddlemon and me out of the wind. John got 3rd overall. We ended up dropping the competition, we swallowed up two of the break, but Nathan Robinson stayed away for a solo victory, two minute gap. Impressive! I finished with my first podium on a road bike. 1st place for the overall.
 Side note: Buck is my man! A few times I got hung out in that horrible wind, and Buck immediately had me covered. He turned himself inside-out to protect me, covered all attacks, and brought them back. Buck, "you da man". And with all sincerity....SEMPER FI
....Later