Anyhoo . . .
The start of '09 has kind of turned me on my head. We pretty much had the year planned out and it involved building a new house. And then the "financial crisis" hit. And I could pretty much go on a 3-day, 750 page rant about that garbage, but this is a bike blog, after all.
And so the idea of building and borrowing and letting it all hang out in this environment started to seem like maybe not such a good idea and even though we hadn't made a firm decision I kind of knew in my mind what was coming and if we weren't going to build then what I would really like to do is spend my time on two wheels and if I was gonna do that I had better get started as soon as possible because it takes time to get in shape and did I mention that what I REALLY want to do this year is race because I'm not that young but I think I could still compete if I could have a little time to train and would be halfway smart about it.
Patty and I have spent a lot of time talking about the decision not to build. I think we're there and I think we're both okay with it. And the last thing I want to do is let the year go by . . . waiting. This is an opportunity - a year, or maybe more, that has opened up . . . a window of time that is ours to live deliberately.
And with her blessing, I started to make racing plans. And I started dieting, because "fat guys don't ride bikes fast". And I shelved my green building books and started lugging around a bike book.
I'm working on my training plan and race schedule. That all takes some thought. But for right now, gratefully, there's not a lot to think about - it's base mile time. That just means getting out and riding and laying off the hammering. I can do that. I'm feeling pretty dialed in to winter riding. Saturday was a Cheney-area 40-miler.
This morning was . . . shall we say . . . 'krispy'.
I met Mike at Riverside and Government Way. Having teamates to ride with makes all the difference.
We did a 30-some miler that included Rimrock.
Filthy whoopdee tire tracks were our only friends.
I am ridiculously out of shape and totally excited and suffering like a dog and trying to be patient about my progress and I CANNOT wait for the firt race.
3 comments:
It's a bummer you're not building but you have to do what's best. So what kind of racing are you training for?
I'm gonna be road racing. Road courses, criteriums, time trials, that sort of thing.
That will be fun. I was talking to John about trying a couple of criteriums just for the heck of it. I mentioned removing the fenders and rack from my road bike and using that. He said it would be cooler if I won with 'em on. Of course, I think the only way you'll see me at the podium is if I was making a speech and that's even more unlikely. :-)
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