A Sunday Rest Day?

Team co-captain Jeff Melcher snapped this photo of me helping my teammates at Greenbush.

On my training calendar, Sundays are not supposed to be rest days.  That’s especially true when they’re bright and sunny, but today was different.  Cheesehead Roubaix is just a week away and I felt like I had to paint the road markings today.  I might have been able to do it on a weekday after work, but today I had no other obligations and no threat of rain.  Painting took longer than expected.  When I got home, all I wanted was food.  After that, all I wanted was to mow my lawn.  So, I got good stuff done today; it wasn’t a day of lying around and watching TV.  And my mind was always on cycling, even if I never touched my bikes.

Yesterday morning I went to Greenbush for a Team Pedal Moraine trail work day.  We finished installing a bike wash at the Campground Road trailhead and we fixed a couple of deteriorating trail sections.  Then we hopped on the mountain bikes to make sure the trails were ready for the WEMS race on May 12.  It was my first time on the trails since last year's WEMS race, and memories of that poor performance were still fresh.  But on Saturday I rode reasonably well.  Some combination of the new bike and the practices at New Fane gave me the confidence to ride better at Greenbush.  I still don’t think it’s my kind of race course, as it is 100 percent singletrack.

So, the week ahead … Monday will not be a rest day.  I plan to hit the road on Monday and then return to New Fane for mountain biking on Tuesday.  Wednesday is reserved for softball practice, my only chance to knock off the rust before next week’s season opener.  Thursday should be a group road ride.  On Friday I might do a solo effort on the Eisenbahn.  Saturday could be another mountain biking day; I’m leaving my options open, but I won’t do too much because next Sunday is Cheesehead Roubaix and I want to ride well in my own event!  I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m also looking forward to being on the other side of it and able to focus on the mountain bike racing calendar.