Don't be shy about helping yourselves to punch and cookies. |
Last Sunday was awesome. It was so awesome that it got even more awesome as the week progressed. When I recapped my performance at the Gravel Metric, I mentioned that I had finished in the top half of the 360-rider field. As it turns out, I was probably in the top 20 percent. A few days after the event, several people published photo albums online and by finding myself in those chronologically-ordered pictures I was able to see just how few people were ahead of me.
It was a great feeling to be part of something as big as the Gravel Metric. So many times in my life I have been convinced that there was a better party somewhere else, but last Sunday I felt like I was at the center of the cycling world … except for the Giro d’Italia, maybe. This weekend I once again felt like I was missing the party. The WCA had a road race yesterday and a crit today. It was a WORS weekend at CamRock. None of it was in my plans. This weekend I was a party of one.
Saturday was OK. I did a reasonably fast 45-mile road ride to reach 1,500 miles, year-to-date. My route combined elements of the Covered Bridge Ride, the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and Cheesehead Roubaix. But today kind of sucked. I went to New Fane not because I wanted to go, but because I had not ridden the mountain bike since May 20 and I needed to practice. Unmotivated and just a little fatigued from a long week of training, I completed two slow laps and called it a day.
I will take a scheduled rest tomorrow, then I will return to New Fane on Tuesday with fresher legs and, hopefully, a better attitude. The WEMS race at Suamico on June 7 will be my first mountain bike race since last September and I want to perform well, so another practice session on singletrack is in order. Middle-distance road rides are on the schedule for Wednesday and Thursday. Friday will be another rest day or an opportunity for a short Eisenbahn State Trail ride.
As June begins I am 5 pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of May. My resting heart rate is very low—just 44 beats per minute—and my blood pressure is a healthy 101/54. I’m happy with those numbers and with most of my recent road rides. Now I need to convert improving fitness into better performance on the mountain bike.
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