am taking a break. 2 weeks. today was day 2, went for a run. not so good at taking breaks. morning temp at freezing, sunny, found a new 4-5m loop, nice mix of fireroad, technical singletrack and pavement. didn't make it to cx nats this past wknd, life got in the way. i love riding, big races, but cross wasn't happening, not with so much on the line these days. seneca. the move. jenn working. it's been the hardest cpl wks of my life. getting it all in is impossible. cut your losses, prioritize, work hard, sleep. too much beer mixed-in to calm the nerves, more sleep and elimination of caffenine would help... finding the perfect balance of caffeine and beer is a magical thing. time for sleep.
decided to pass on sunday's verge cx series finale in warwick, ri to spend some quality time with the family. en route to northern new hampshire, jenn dropped me and the planet cross off in tilton. the tilton to campton ride is one of my favorites, usually done in the late winter before i have the legs to make the jaunt from concord or farther out. the tilton to campton ride is the perfect mix of climbing and descents, flats, headwinds, tailwinds, rushing rivers, mtn views, and cracked pavement for a leisurly sunday afternoon ride. didn't have to dress too warmly, but even with two pairs of socks, the feet were frozen-through when i arrived at my sister-in-law's 2 1/2 hrs after starting-out, one of the first "cold-feet" rides of the long base period ahead... and halfway through this cool sunny day ride, pushing the pedals down, i did something i rarely do. i stopped.
after climbing out of the town of Franklin en route to Bristol you pass a series waterfalls as the Merrimack rushes and surges to the Franklin Dam. at an especially beatiful spot, a pedestrian bridge spans the waterway and the planet cross turned onto the bridge almost of its own accord. i stood on the icey planks with toes half numb munching a granola bar and thinking of the season that has passed and of the one to come. meeting and surpassing so many goals in '06 makes it hard to say goodbye to the season, and the hard, but so very fun work that went into it. where do we go from here? i almost said aloud while staring down into the cold, rushing waters... what are the goals? why am i still putting-in rides for '06 when i should be resting my aching knees for '07? the magic cocktail of gloucosamine and ibuprofen can only work for so long without rest.
and i came to realization. it's time to say goodbye to '06, to stop whining about a starting position for some cx race, a season that's just a way to ride-out the fitness and have some fun before getting some rest... not just rest for my body, but for the mind. it's tough to always be thinking about racing and what you have to do to be ready, probably why i ditched eating well just the other day. just need a break. while i'll give it my all this friday in providence, i'll be glad it's ovah, time to rest (rest = moving all our household goods to vermont before new years), before it's time to get started all over again... but this yr base will be w/more fun mixed in, more xc skiing, tele'ing... can't wait to "rest".
just checked bikereg.com (use "date entered") and see that i was the 55th person to sign-up for master's 30-34 at nationals out of 107 registered entrants. unless i can beg a call-up (which is about as likely as seeing a giant squid attack a submarmine), this will be a fun race, a battle to get into the top 20. thom was the 58th person to register, so looks like we'll be lining-up side-by-side (though his chance of getting a call-up with a pair of wins and a slew of top 10's would seem a lot more likely). cyclocross categories according to USA Cycling would have me as a cat 2 (which means i'm sandbaggin' these B races), but they didn't update that part of my license with the semi-pro upgrade, plus i've only finished 3 of these things. what to do this wknd, what to do... told myself i'd go to elite after a B win, but thom delayed that move with his huge effort last sunday...
Over dinner on friday night w/Dr Mike and Jenn we started talking about the wknd's cx race in Thom's hometown of Wrentham, MA. I told them it didn't really matter who showed-up to contend for the B race, there was only one guy to look-out for, mr thom-e-p.
Lined-up in the 2nd row next to a bright pink singlespeed. mostly sunny skies, 40-45 degrees, brisk wind, perfect day for a cross race. the course was solid, not too technical, but a cpl tricky sections that later took down a few elite riders pushing the pace. the lack of climbing would normally bother me, but with the brisk wind and suck-at-yer wheel muddy sections, the course did me right.
was about 8-10 folks from the front off the start and quickly made my way forward. in cx racing i'm not into waiting around, it was time to go and go i did. by the end of the 1st lap had opened a 10sec gap on the 2nd place rider wearing putney colors, but was feeling it. he caught me halfway through the 3rd lap and it was all i could do to hold his wheel for a spell, then slowly lost him before he unfortunately flatted. by then, somewhere into the 4th, maybe 5th lap, thom-e-p had caught me, his bright pink singlespeed in hindsight all race, slowly grinding-up to my position. it was inevitable, him catching me on this day. the noises eminating from his chest were reminiscent of a tubercolosis ward - this guy was putting it all on the line and so was i, but simply didn't have enough to hold him off.
with one lap to go, thom led-out at full anaerobic pace, a light cramp under my rib cage reminding me to not eat so much gu before the start, but nothing that truly effected my riding. the legs were done. cooked. after every turn thom would get on top of the gear, push-through and get-up to speed amazingly quickly, it was all i could do to breath down his neck, had to keep the pressure on this guy, riding in front is a lot of responsibility with one lap to go, but thom's no amatuer, he wanted it and stayed focused throughout. i tried to make a cpl moves on him to no avail - and as we leaped the giant log (see video of bruno below) i thought i still had a chance off the final acceleration to take the pink ss, but thom got on top of that gear and outsprinted me to the line, both of us collapsing. it was effin' epic. my first ever sprint to the line for a possible win, in any cycling event - and it's against a good friend. crazy! huge congrats to thom for taking it to the line in front of the hometown crowd. memorable stuff.
