It seems like just a couple weeks ago that the last race of the road season took place - the Centurion. Since then, I have been doing the bike commute thing, getting in some good base miles, rebuilding my endurance and enjoying getting out in the cool AM. And not feeling like I have to have a certain heart rate or power output. Kinda relaxing! But it has been very clear that the summer is rapidly fading and fall is here. When I first started the morning bike commutes right after the Centurion, I put on the rear blinkies for safety but in truth, I was easily visible. No headlights - I could easily see the road even if the sun had not quite peaked over the horizon. On the ride this AM, however, the sun did not come up till I was ¾ of the way to work and I needed the front headlights to make sure I did not run into a pothole, to say nothing of being visible to cars (and I counted this AM - I got passed by 15 cars in the first 30 miles of the commute - the last 4 - 7 miles are when I get on the busy roads so I never bother with counting cars then). And pretty soon, I am going to need the lights on the way home also. Last weekend, I closed up the pool, harvested apples and should have picked the grapes! Even surer signs that summer is over.
And I decided it was high time I took some vacation time! With work being busy and racing most every weekend, I did not feel like I wanted or needed to take some time off. Normally, Jan (my beloved) and I go backpacking in the late summer/early fall. This year, however, she had burned thru all her vacation time in connection with canoe racing (doing the Ausable Canoe Marathon amongst other things) and so I was casting about for things to do. I wanted to have fun but not TOO much fun (for marital harmony). I thought about bike tours (the busman's holiday), Outward Bound courses, all sorts of things but decided to do a solo backpack thru the Wind River range in Wyoming. THEN I found out about the cross clinic and preseason race the MadCross taking place on the day I was planning on returning so had to rearrange things just a little. It was a solid day and a half of driving. I left after work on Wednesday and after a good dinner in Lander, drove up to the trailhead to spend the night. The trailhead was at about 10,000 ft and wanted to get acclimated as fast as possible. It was a beautiful night and I could hear the elk calling in the distance. The next day the fun began. I like to hike and ended up hiking 6 - 7 hours a day. And in the spirit of poor planning, I "planned" on 6 meals, not the number of calories I might need. So ended up doing the same distance on 5 days and not 6 and just barely had enough food. I had hoped to catch some trout but hopes do not feed the hungry! It was a great trip - good weather 4 or the 5 days and since I was not chatting while walking, I saw a lot more animals than usual. Got back in town Friday afternoon, fried from the road and glad I did not have to drive anymore when I got a call from Eric - "I got your new cross bike!" Honey, wanna drive up to Madison? I'll take you out to dinner. Eric had to put rocks in the bike box to keep it from floating away. And I was SERIOUSLY tempted to put it together that night and race it the next day but I have made THAT mistake before. Still I could not resist building up the bike. How light! How pretty! I have ridden just a little but it is a HUGE step up for me! Pics attached (I have the road wheels on so I can shake the fit out during my commute).
So it was the old Vitus cross bike that went to the cross clinic and race. Trek-mate Greg F was one of the instructors and it was excellent - course, I need all the help can get! Got some good tips and a chance to work the kinks out. And so it was time to race. I was hoping to do OK - the course was not as technical as it usually is but still had its fair share of pain spots including the sand pit. David B shot right to the front. I did not have the gas or the confidence so settled into my usual place towards the back - and then started to pass people. This does not happen with me! I race in the 55+(cats 1/2/3) and I am the only slow guy who insists on continuing to race. There were people behind me for once! I was doing my best to stick on people when BOOM! My front wheel washed out. Now normally, when I go down, there is no concern - no one is behind me! This time however, I had to scramble to get outta the way. DAMN! I was thinking the course felt a little bumpier, not thinking that the temperature had gone up a bit since I pre-road the course. Shoulda let a smidge of air out of my tires! Or maybe I hit a slick spot that others missed. I did not think I hit it too hot! So got up, twisted the brake levers back to where they should have been and got going. The folks who I was trying to stay with were way up the trail but I quickly caught a group of men and women who shot by while I was down. Followed them for a while getting my act back together. A few rode away. A few, I rode away from. And remembered just how mush-like my legs could feel after a week of backpacking - was that just a couple days ago? I was pleased that my remounts were better - I was passing people thru the sand pit by getting moving faster than they. On the run-up over the barriers, I still felt like an old man, though. Will those ever get easier? Will I ever get younger? Finished towards the back but with quite a few behind me and just a minor red spot on my hip where I slid. And so it begins. And cannot wait to get on the new Cronus CX for some serious riding!
No comments:
Post a Comment