Better You Than Me

nine minutes thirty-seven seconds later ...

Yesterday was a Halloween of more tricks than treats. I went through the day dressed as a guy who couldn’t be bothered with the rainy, muddy, and chilly cyclocross race at Washington Park in Milwaukee. By late morning my Facebook newsfeed was filling up with pictures and videos of friends who seemed to revel in the filth, but I didn’t feel like I had missed out. By mid-afternoon my decision to stay home turned into a very good thing for my son, who called for my assistance when he got his first glimpse of the dark side of car ownership. I drove to his location, took a quick spin around a parking lot to understand his concerns, then followed him to the nearest service center. Tomorrow we will know whether he has a $100 problem or a $500 problem.

Yes, Saturday was ugly, but hopefully it was just one bad day in an otherwise nice sequence for this time of year. Friday was nice enough. Today was even better, and I got back in the saddle for a 27-mile road ride. I am now just 232 miles away from my first 6,000-mile season. Getting to 6,000 isn’t guaranteed; I rode just 316 miles in the final two months of 2014. But I will push myself a little bit in the week to come. The next four days will be dry and 60-70 degrees, probably our last stretch of such weather until next April or May.

There’s more at stake than a new mileage plateau. I want to hit the four cyclocross races that remain on the WCA schedule, starting with Estabrook Park in Milwaukee next Saturday. To be fit for that race, for the following weekend in Dane County, and for the state championships on November 21, I need to get my training volume back up. In the week that ended today, I rode just 74 miles in 4.5 hours. That’s my worst week since March 23-29.