Preparing For Season's End

Did you miss me?

I have decided to skip both of this weekend’s cyclocross races.  The combination of travel plus expense plus uncertain weather makes me inclined to stay close to home.  But I still want to race at the state championships on November 20 and I will continue to train with that goal in mind.  Yesterday was a scheduled rest day.  Today was chilly and wet, so I did an indoor trainer ride for the first time since April 15.  And while I would prefer to ride outside, using the trainer actually makes me more likely to follow the plan that I hope will sharpen my fitness over the next week and a half.  Riding outside makes it hard to think about 3 minutes of this interval followed by 4 minutes of that interval.  Inside, intervals break up the monotony and make the sessions go faster.

I will hope for opportunities to ride outside this weekend, of course, but I may have to be patient and wait out more chilly, wet weather.  That’s not exactly the way to harden myself against what could be a very cold morning at the state championships, but it won’t do me any good to get sick in the meantime.

I avoided the indoor trainer completely in November 2010.  But having competition goals this late in the year has changed the equation.  With sundown at around 4:30 p.m. and deteriorating weather conditions, riding inside is a necessary evil.  When the state championships are behind me I will be happy to ignore the trainer again, perhaps until January.