I've been delinquent in my updates as of late. Real life has taken precedence over the interwebs...Saturday, March 29 was the Spoke Pony Showdown. The weather was perfect, the trails were fast yet tacky. I ran Continental Mountain Kings — 29x2.2 — corners were railed with precision.
The only thing thing absent was my fitness. I had some "gut-rot"— even if that had not been an issue, my legs just weren't there.
I think a lot of it had to do with the hard winter we've had in the Midwest this year. I actually had some base miles racked up last winter. Not the case this year. As a result, I fell from a second place finish in 2007 to somewhere in the middle of the pack this year.
It was still a good time. This was my first real mountain bike race of the year. I had as much fun catching up with friends whom I only see at races. I could have spend another six hours chatting and drinking free beer.
It was great to get to ride and chat with you for a good, long time during the race, Josh. Don't be too hard on yourself about the race either. You might remember it was me you were battling with for the win last year, and I was nowhere near the top of the podium either this year. If we were battling for the V again this year, it'd just be boring. Racing's racing. You can never predict the outcome. That's why you line up every week -- because you have to in order to give yourself a fighting chance at winning at least a couple of them. If you don't play, you won't win. It's as simple as that.
ReplyDeleteYou're lining up now and 'taking your lumps' as it were, so that later in the year, or perhaps even next week, you'll taste success. Just be patient and have faith that the work you're doing now will pay off in the end. You're going to be fine...
It was my first mountain bike race of the year too. Amazing to think it got to be almost April before we started racing this year, 'eh?!
Good race Josh. Way to stick with it and finish strong. I'll see you soon.
Cheers,
MG