Jul 22 2008
Little stuff
Summer, at least for me, is starting to hit full-stride. Spent the past couple weeks doing an all-out sprint to finish some projects that have been ginormous albatrosses around my neck; chicken coop, new (used) hot tub install, cleaning the landfill I call a garage, and rental house stuff. We have a bunch of weekend fun stuff planned starting last weekend that I wanted to go into with a clear head.
Started running last week. 20 minutes to start and then hit the gym for some maintenance lifting. That took a few days to wear off. It felt strange. I’ve played ultimate for years and then ran marathons, the last being in ‘02. I used to run, well, sprint actually, for a full weekend. Haven’t run for any length of time on purpose since. It was mildly uncomfortable then and it’s slightly more so now. Ah, the joys of being in your 20’s.
One other exciting tidbit is that I joined up with Presto Velo last week. I’m excited as I’d something I’ve been looking to do for about a year or so, although I admit it was a pretty passive search. Last fall I went on a group ride with Ironclad but that went nowhere. This spring I’d throw out a few e-mails, talk to a few people, and then let it go.
Part of me felt that, given my current lifestyle (dad…full time job…other things, hobbies, etc going on) that I’d have a hard time making team rides and perhaps racing enough to justify it. I wonder if that was subconsciously holding me back. I’m obviously not the only person in this situation but trying to fit racing into my life is still a work in progress. I guess it always will be. I find I need to be extremely creative in how and where I squeeze training in to stay competitive.
I guess the breaking point was that as much as I like riding alone, I missed the team aspect of sports. In the back of my mind I wasn’t looking forward to going through another ‘cross season solo. I like teammates that you can help, work with, learn from, motivate, and support in races, and vice versa. I’m really looking forward to that.
I’ve only started racing competitively over the past couple years and I’ve ridden by myself in that time. I’ve been feeling that it was time to expand my community a bit. But having joined this sport in my mid 30’s, I’ve found cycling to be, well, not entirely accessible to new riders. This isn’t anyone’s fault and I don’t think anyone has to do anything about it. Part of it is my personality (slightly introverted) but also that it just is what it is. Granted, Cat 4/5 riders in their mid 30’s who also race ‘cross aren’t exactly an endangered species either. However, I’ve noticed that riders generally tend to stick with and around their team. This isn’t surprising nor should it be. For someone on the outside looking in, I resigned myself to it after a while.
Anyway, I’m real happy about it. New team kits just got ordered from Castelli. Should be in hopefully by September. I’m also very excited to represent a team, particularly this fall in ‘cross, but also next year in mtb and road.
Lastly, training is proceeding on schedule as I’ve been getting solid work in lately, particularly in the 2 hour rides I take on the way into work. It’s hard work but it feels good. I need to give a little love to the bike this week: derailleur tuning, general lubing & tuning, stuff like that. Everything seems on track for my next race (OUCH) in early August.