Saturday ride...

It's waaaaay too early to be awake!!! I have my LEETLE FRIEN caffeine to cure that.

Today is the Saturday ride from the rec center at Longview. It's a good ride, i'll get about 55 miles today. I'll ride to the start, with a pit stop at JP coffee for a double shot of espresso, then it's a huge mass of riders of all abilities that head south to a Caseys in Raymore for a break to refuel and off load extra water...

Now for the fun part...The 17 mile trip back is a hammerfest, which I have been watching my performance on the way back to gauge my fitness for racing. This part lasts anywhere from 38:00 minutes, which is the fastest time back to date, to about 45:00 minutes. This is the length of a cat. 4 crit, which i'm going to line up in on Friday the 26th weather permitting...

It's a good ride, with a little bit of everthing...Time to get ready to roll.

Bonk

Today I did something I haven't done in...well...I don't remember the last time I bonked. If you have never done this, let me assure you are missing nothing!!!

I rode 29 miles today, and 25 of it was the most miserable i've been on a bike in a long time!!! I take off and head south into a medium head wind, get about 5 miles in and just flat run out of gas...I think to my self, i'm not riding hard i'll keep going. That was a mistake...I can usually poke along at 17 mph with no problem, today I was doing good to roll at 16 mph...it was suckin big time!!!

I get to my turn around point, stop and grab a granola bar and a Pepsi so my return ride with the wind won't be so bad, eat and drink and off I go.

So I'm headed with the wind now, still not enjoying the ride at all, and come to a detour on my route that I didn't know was there...That added 6 miles to my personal hell...yea! It's a good thing I brought a little money or I would've been screwed!!!

One more thing...being chased by dogs when you don't have the energy to sprint by them SUCKS!!! Stupid dogs...That happened 3 times...Yes today was a long day in the saddle...

Tomorrow will be better...

Gambling and beer...

The Stanley Cup finals are in the book...Which means there are no sports worth watching until football rolls around, and that means nothing to make bets on for beers!!!

The only good thing coming up is the Tour de France, and I guess I could bet on that but it would take forever...don't get me wrong, I love me some TdF...but trying to talk trash while watching a stage would be like watching the grass grow and yelling at it for taking so long...It just doesn't work!!

For now I will wait patiently for football, in the mean time I will soak up as much of the Tour de France as I can!!!

Motivation

Last week, I had a great week of riding...12 hours in the saddle. This week my motivation is about -4 on a scale of 1 to 10. I haven't thrown a leg over my bike at all this week...It's not a bad thing, I probably needed to take some days off anyway!!

I'm going to do a crit or two at the end of this month, the first in a few years. The time off now will probably end up being a good thing by the time those races roll around.

Ah yes crit racing...If you have never been to a crit, you should go to at least one and check it out!! It is flat out after the gun goes off and just plain NUTS!!! To ride well in a crit you have to be fearless, afterall riding shoulder to shoulder with 60+ riders through 90 degree turns at 25mph+ or faster is totally intense or insane...more like both, mostly due to the fact that the line you want to be on going through the turns is usually taken by 4 or 5 other riders.

After writing this I think my motivation came back, and I have the itch to go crit racing...again...WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

PAIN!!!

There are some things about riding and racing that will never change!!

1. There will always be someone faster than you!!

2. Pain...If you go on fast group rides or race, the one thing you can always count on coming along with you is...PAIN.

Some days the pain is easy to push aside, and other days you just suffer...

If you like to ride a lot, race, or both, you like to suffer, and PAIN is your LEETL FRIEN!!!!

I love PAIN!!!

Karma revisited...

I have already thrown my thoughts out there on the subject of karmic retribution...Now I have an example...

Yesterday on my 60 mile jaunt I was buzzed by a JACKASS that was a lot to impatient to wait 10 seconds...Up until this point my ride had been uneventful and enjoyable. Dillhole goes by and disappears up the road. I shrugg it off keep pedaling towards home.

A few miles later, i'm climbing a hill on the 4 hill road and spy Mr. Law has somebody nailed to the radar gun...As I get closer I realize it's the JACKASS that buzzed me, since i'm riding uphill, i'm not going very fast and as I pass, I eyeball this knucklehead until he looks at me and when he does...I laugh...and throw the victory fist pump for good...insult to injury!!!

Karmic retribution people...I LOVE IT!!!!

Monday...

Monday was such a beat down!!! I am at a loss for words...I hate Mondays!!!!!!!!!!!