Feb 25 2008
Serendipity
February has been a bit of an odd month. Rachel and I got the crud that was (and still is) going around. It laid Rach out for a strong 2 weeks. I was about 8 days, start to finish, before I felt normal. I’m typically good for one cold/illness a year and that should be it. Oddly enough, I was looking through my workout log from last winter and got sick just about the exact same time last year. Weird. I’m considering preemptively taking Sudafed in late January next year. Not that useless shit we sell in Oregon but the real stuff you need to go over the state line to Van-cooter for.
During this month, I had plenty of time to relax and lay around the house. Part of my recovery process was hitting the sauna at 24Hr fitness. I have a stack of Bicycling and Mountain Bike magazines at my desk that I take over to read in the sauna. A few days of sweating profusely and reading about bikes, racing, and gear did an excellent job of starting to motivate me for this season.
Late last week I found myself perusing around on my online Crack website (eBay). I missed a low bid on some Sram X.9 trigger shifters which subconsciously tripped some OCD reaction. I can’t stop thinking about getting ready for the race season. I was wondering when that would happen.
So what’s the plan?
1. Over last weekend, I broke down the Guerciotti, cleaned the bearings (nasty), and got it ready for spring, wet weather riding. The mud from the Hillsboro race got everywhere.
2. Get the Cannondale drivetrain upgraded. X.9 trigger shifters & rear derailleur (not sure if it’ll be ‘07 or ‘08), new chain and cassette. I’d like to think that I can get this for under $225. The rear disc brake is on my wish list as I need a disc hub to go with it. I just don’t have the cash for that yet. Maybe, just maybe later this spring.
3. Finalize a race & training schedule. I have the MTB race schedule put in my Outlook calendar. I need to go over the locations & times with Rach to pick out 4-5 of the 8 races in the Oregon XC Series. There’s a couple that are automatically out like the one on Mothers Day. Odd as it sounds, I happen to enjoy being married more than racing. Spring Fling in Ashland, fun as it is, is a ridiculously long drive (5+ hours). The others will depend on travel and other stuff we have going on.
4. Start riding. This weekend. That’s right. I gotta get my shit together for Hornings Hustle in 6 weeks.