Addiction

There are a lot of things to be addicted to in life. I have a couple of itches that need to be scratched on a regular basis!!

One is caffeine...gotta have it!! As of late I have incorporated it into my training rides when it's not hell hot!!! I ride about 25 miles and stop for a double shot of espresso with a little vanilla...MMMM MMMM, love it, hang out til I get the shakes and head out again for another 20 to 30 miles.

My other itch is riding, and racing...again!!! There are more, but those are not what i'm talking about here!!! I love to race, I love getting ready the night before, waking up on race day and going absolutely NUTS with race day nerves. Heading to the race cranking as much MOTIVATIONAL METAL as I can stand. I love being in such frenzy that signing up is almost an impossibility. Heading out to warm up usually burns up a lot of the nerves, but they always come back when I roll up to the starting line...

After my race on Friday I can't wait to race again!!! Winning the race pretty much sealed my fate on that!!! So I sit here and punch in my thoughts and think about my next race, which if everything goes as planned, will be Saturday in Lawrence. It will be a big race, there's like 20,000.00 dollars in prize money for the weekend series...which is HUGE!!!

The last race was a good sized field of 70 riders, this one will be maxed out at 125 I'm sure. I will definitely have my work cut out to place well...that's most of the reason I want to go...the level of the riders will be higher therefore a faster and more painful race!!! Sounds good to me!!!!

I've said it before and i'll say it again...

I LOVE PAIN, AND I LOVE TO RACE!!!

Competition

Over the years I have asked people why they are competing in whatever race or sport it is they are doing. More often than not the answer is "for fun". The next question is...do you have a goal for this, and the answer is usually "to have fun".

I don't have a problem with any of these answers, the problem I have is...I believe that no one pays to line up and race or compete in any event and not want to win or at least do their very best.

To me doing your very best means selling out and leaving everything you have out there on your chosen field of battle...that in itself is where the fun comes in to play...knowing that you did your best regardless of the outcome!!

I understand being active, hanging out and having a good time with friends...even then...the will to win is there!!!

So next time you are asked why you are doing whatever sport it is that you do...It may be for fun, but ultimately deep down inside...you want to put the screws to that person in front of you, or stomp ass on the team that's on the field with you!!!

Everybody wants to win!!!

Victory is mine!!!

Today is a day that I will never forget!!! I won my race today!!!

The march to this race started about 2 months ago. I heard there was going to be a race REALLY close to home, so I decided to train specifically for that race. I guess whatever I did worked because I crossed the line first!!

On to the race...It was about 95 degrees today, no clouds and an east wind at about 10mph, an east wind...WTF!!! So I get to the venue and register, pin the number on, get dressed and go for a short warm up spin and look at the course.

The course was 1.2 miles in length, with 2 pretty technical turns and the rest were pretty much standard. The warm up is done...me and the rest of the Shacksters get to the line first, which is a good thing, because it was a good sized field of at least 50 riders, probably more!!

GO!! We're off, I get a decent start hitting the pedal on the first try and settling in about 5th or 6th. The 1st lap goes by and I go to the front and push the pace a little, I do this for a couple of laps and a teammate rolls by me to give me a break...WOOHOO!!! He and I sit on the front for a couple more laps and another teammate joins us, just as we head into a prime lap. The pace remains the same and the field is strung out into a long line, we make the turn onto the start finish straight and my teammate takes the prime...YEA YEA THAT'S GREAT!!!

At this point we pick it up another notch and we create a gap, the first time check I heard was 6 seconds, and I think to myself there's no way we are getting away!!! The next one I heard was 12 seconds and about this time another rider bridged across to us. I think to myself SWEET longer break off of the front...we shot him out the back about a lap later...good one less person to sprint at the end!!!

At this point i'm mostly incoherent and thinking to myself when is this going to end!!! The next thing I hear is 6 laps to go. Back to talking to myself...FUCK that's a long time...keep pedaling!!!
We keep the hammer down and before I knew it we have a half a lap left. So as I pull through I say to the Shacksters we are pooling the money and splitting it 3 ways...the right thing to do!! In the end we put a minute on the field.

We come off of the last turn and i'm second wheel and it looked to me that my teammate jumped so I grabbed 2 gears and hammered by him like he had the brakes on to a hands up victory!!!

I have targeted races in the past and not had the success I had today for various reasons, but today was my day, and DID IT EVER FEEL GOOD!!!!

I LOVE RIDING MY BIKE!!!

Fine tuning...

So today at work I realize that my getaway sticks are sore from the past few days of riding. This means one thing...trainer ride...I chose to ride the trainer because it's waaaaaay more controlled, which means an "easy" ride fo sho!!!

I rode this device of winter torture for about 23 minutes. It's hydraulic so there is resistance, I put it in a not too easy and not too hard of a gear, and spun it out at 95 rpm. Good bye sore legs!!

24 hours from now I will be racing, my legs are feeling good...The rest is up to me to be in the right place at the right time.

Closer

Man...it's been freakin HOT!!! I don't mind the heat because I work in it. I think it will help on Friday, you know...acclimatization. The poor souls that work in the A/C are gonna be hatin it!!

Went out for an easy ride today to flush out the legs from the Tuesday ride. I wanted to ride 20 miles but ended with 16 due to Mutha Nature. She was rolling in some weather, and I didn't feel like getting caught in a Missouri hurricane....highly overrated!!!

Legs are feeling good, I think i'm going to be on good form for this race...Now all I have to do is an easy spin tomorrow, probably on the trainer, lay around on Friday for a while, clean the bike...everybody knows a clean bike is a fast bike!!! Then head to the race.

Oh man is this gonna be fun!!!

I'm in...

It's official, I registered for the races this weekend!! So i'm at least racing on Friday night, might do Saturday, depends on how I do on Friday...Anyhoo there will be a story to tell so stay tuned...it'll be a good one!!!

Taper

Taper: A gradual decrease in effort or force. I've only done this purposefully once before. I suppose will do it again this week. The race i've been working towards is on Friday, and I want to be as rested and ready as possible!!

The race...It's a 1.2 mile circuit, and the only real problem I see is the long grinder of a hill that will surely blow the field apart...which is a good thing, unless you are a casualty of it...I'm also sure that this hill is where the race will be won or lost!! I don't know how far past the top the finish line will be, i'm betting at least 200 meters more...It's gonna be a PAINFUL finish!!! On the plus side, the wind will more than likely be blowing up this hill...which is a good thing!!!

I don't know if I will go after any primes on the prime laps...Hmmm...I plan on launching an attack, if i'm in a good position to do so, directly after one of the primes are contested. There are usually at least 2 during a race, hopefully a small group will go with me or I with them.

Either way I would rather race for a win in a small group as opposed to trying to go blasting by a bunch of BITCHES that have been sitting in the group the whole race!!!

From what I rode on Wednesday, it should be fast, with a HUGE dose of PAIN thrown in for good measure!!!

Get your game face on because it's time to play!!!