Sorry for the long silence. I didn’t drink too many lambics and forget I had a blog… I was doing just the opposite! Trying to finish up my semester at school, catch up at work after being gone for 3 weeks, and NOT ride! I’m very proud and excited to say that I am finished with my pre-requisites for PA School. I won’t be applying for awhile – there are still some big dreams to be lived in my mountain biking career before shifting my focus, but it sure feels good to have those 6 courses I’ve completed over the last year and a half done and out of the way. Have I mentioned I’ve been in college for 7.5 years? Yeah, those people are normally called doctors. haha Oh well, it’s been a very informative journey to say the least!
Let’s see, so I didn’t ride after the Brasil stage race…. didn’t even touch my bike for 2 weeks. For some crazy reason, I felt insane and decided that I was going to race State ‘Cross even though I hadn’t raced cross in over a month, and had a gnarly 360 mile big fatigue monster hanging from my neck and digging his claws deep into my legs. I instantly regretted the decision. Mentally, I wasn’t ready to go back to racing after the stage race – it really took it out of me. I almost think it took more out of me mentally than physically, but that remains debatable. Anyway, right from the get-go, I realized I wouldn’t be racing where I normally find myself in the cross races. It was disappointing, but I kind of expected it. The worst of it was just my body refused to do what I told it to do. To an onlooker, it appeared I wasn’t trying even though I was going as fast as I could – SLOW! The spectators were the only thing that kept me from pulling the plug although I did hear multiple times, “Stop smiling! Try harder!” A smile can be deceiving in so many situations. In this situation, I was smiling through the pain and frustration because what else can you do? Inside I was NOT smiling, but maybe if you pretend you’re having fun, you actually will have fun. It’s worked many times before. Not this time. I actually felt sick after the race, but you never know how you’re going to feel until you try.
Here are a few photos:
In this case, riding the sand was not the optimal choice because it would totally zap me of my energy.
Thanks Soul Events for the photos! I will probably do some of the January cross races for training too!
I rode twice in 3 weeks(one of which was the cross race). It was a nice break from the bike and I spent the time rebuilding my running base. I’m really excited to get back to running and yoga over the winter, in addition to training on the bike. It’s all about balance. I started training again this past Monday. I’m two days into my training for 2011. It’s kind of a shock to the system to be riding again.
I’m only riding about 2.5 hours a day. Today, I got to ride in good company!
Melissa Thomas, who I consider the Chuck Norris of cycling came to ride with me today! We ran into AndrewJustKeith (it’s one word) who joined us for the ride and was fully involved in the heckling.
I still LOVE my flat bar on my road bike. Lovey love love it, ok roadies?
Ok, sure, I had goosebumps… but the point is that my skin was showing and it was stinging from the air….and I could show off one of my favorite pairs of socks.
Still looks like fall.
The weather has been unseasonably beautiful! We are talking 55-60F temps and riding in shorts. It’s unheard of!!!! I looked at my blog from last year at this time. Take a peak at one year ago:
Temps in the teens…the kind of rides where your water bottle freezes on you. Not awesome.
I am not taking the mild winter for granted. However, snow is on the way on Thursday with a high of 33F. Alas, all good things must come to and end.
I’ll be heading back to Albuquerque over the weekend for my usual winter training over the holidays. I’ve been riding paved, flat roads here on my road bike (you actually CAN mountain bike, but I need to work on this specifically). I am very much looking forward to the rides back in my hometown, my family, and my friends!!!!
