Aftermath

1hr50 mins of fun. I bet it will take 2 weeks to get my bike running again. Need all new cables, pads, fork rebuild, headset repack. There will be dirt between my toes from the mud in the shoes for months.

Left the car at work and rode home. Legs are hurting pretty good, nice knee twinge in the left knee from the middle ring grinds. Iced it and took some ibuprofen when I got home. Strength training was in December, and it is times like yesterday where its true effects come into play.

Riding home I felt like I was bonking, and it was a slow journey. Sometimes after a hard effort I can go hard again but for not as a long, ala stage race training. Not today. Which is good I guess cause it means that I left everything but some pocket change on the course. I read somewhere that Allison Dunlap does tempo intervals on the day after races. But then again Jason Sager and Todd Wells ride lap after lap before and the day of races.

Thanks to all for the congratulations. I hope this win doesn't come across as bragging, it's just that in the context of my life it's a big deal.

Mountain bike racing has brought more low points to my life than something that is such a joy should ever do. And it's been no one's fault but my own. My friend calls it ego investment. At work I was always the mountain biker. Everything revolved around it. It was what I did. Of course I loved to ride, but I was never a natural competitor like some people are. And races for the most part became reality checks where the reality wasn't as pretty as the version in my head. If I was THE mountain biker why did races suck so much. Pretty much brought back all the memories of growning up getting picked last for flag football teams....You know that guy.. Every play, just go long.

But my return to racing last after a long hiatus has brought new perspective and new focus, realistic goals, and an efficient training program, that while it may not be as fun as rockin' the single track is getting me fit and fast(relatively) on very limited time. And it is a lot of fun to be in a class where you can actually be competitive.

Cycling is cool like that where you have an age group and an ability bracket. Sandbaggers aside it makes for more fun racing. In 5ks or other running races with only age brackets it sucks. Cause there is always a bunch of people who were college all stars or almost Olympic qualifiers and more often than not it is more about your time than your placing.