Sounds kinda like the starting point for a discussion on global warming - are the seemingly stronger winds a sign that the climate is changing or is it that the winds were the same as any other year but because they so often appeared on race day, did they seem stronger? Or perhaps it is that my strength and fitness has been just that much worse and THAT made the winds seem stronger. Whatever. One thing is for sure - it has seemed a lot windier on race day than it has been since I started racing in WI. And being of a "certain age", it has taken me perhaps a little longer to wrap my head around racing with the high winds. Now sure, I have raced in the winds before. And if it was just me, I would be hiding my tired self from the wind at every point on the course. But when Greg goes off the front on the first or second lap, my head says "gotta get to the from to help" and that means getting out from behind that wide body I was so happy to sit behind and push to the front. Last year I could do that but this year (at least so far), I SUCK. And if you are wondering where have those blogs been, it's been a little hard to come up with a topic other than "sucked today". Recall that I tried a different strategy this year to get myself ready for the season - work on strength in the winter and then bring fitness along in the spring I hopes of being stronger in June and July. This has worked in the past when I was younger (or is this another case of "the older I get, the better I was"?) but not this year. Next winter, I will go back to things that made spring more fun! Trying to be effective in a field where riders may be 29 years younger has been a real challenge. And HOW I get fit in the spring has changed. Earlier this season, I was doing intervals of some sort on Tuesday, recovering on Wednesday. Thursday was an endurance day with Friday being devoted to a short loosen-up ride. Briefly said, this was not working. I was not race ready. And admittedly, I was not doing myself any favors by working on the garden as much as I was. THAT was made very clear when I tried to rototill the yard AFTER a race and I could just barely do it. Small wonder I felt like crap when I raced after a rototilling workout. Who knew?!? Don't get old is the moral to that story. Anyway all these factors contributed to a depressing spring. At the second GDVC race in Madison early in the season, it was a windy day (and I define "windy" as wind over 25 mph) and Greg went off the front very early - and stayed away, but that is his story - and I said "time to get to work" and started working my way up. In retrospect, I should have waited till the pack was NOT chasing but while beauty may be skin deep, stupidity goes right to the bone. Got up towards the front after a few laps and was thinking "I had better sit in a lap" when someone on LAPT decided to try to join the break and the pack said "me too". My legs said "lets drift to the back". Could not accelerate. And perhaps I should have "just" gotten out of the saddle and did what I needed to do but I was quickly 6 feet off the back of the pack and in THE WIND. I tried vainly to get back and chased for a lap, hoping for a slackening of the pace. Spent another lap drawing analogies between myself and various body parts and then road straight to the car and drove home, not even bothering to take off my cycling shoes. Yep, left the pit wheels. That was not THE low point but it was certainly A low point. Blah!
Things are looking up, though. I have been putting off yard work before races and I have rearranged my workouts with good results. I have found that doing my endurance workout Wednesday after the Tuesday night crits and then resting Thursday has had me feeling reasonably good on Saturday. I seem to be getting my fitness together. And I have been really making it a point to race smarter, especially in the wind, to choose my spots. Simple things like shifting to the leeward side of a rider as we go around a corner and following wheels a little more closely can sure make a difference. Anyway, spring, such as it was (cold, windy and not terribly pleasant) is over and summer has reared its heat. More on that soon.
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