Adrift

a·drift
adjective

(of a person) without purpose or guidance; lost and confused

This was not the week I wanted or needed. I rode on Thursday and I rode today, a total of 3 hours. That’s not good enough, but it was the best I could do. The weather was awful: snow, hail and sub-freezing wind chill on Saturday? Come on. Throw in some rain and high winds earlier this week and I was thoroughly demotivated. Wednesday was decent enough, but I got home from work to find a broken torsion spring on my garage door. I lost the whole morning getting it fixed. Those were hours that I usually spend asleep, and when I finally went to bed at 2 p.m. my day was over. We’re halfway through May and already I have had 7 days off the bike, as many as I had in the entire month of May 2015.

I’m just not getting it done right now. I am 3 pounds lighter than I was on this date a year ago and obviously that’s good, but my mileage and my hours in the saddle are way down and I still have just 1 mountain biking session to my credit. Mountain bike racing was never going to be a big part of my 2016 plans, and getting off to such a slow start makes me even less interested in it. The only races that I feel completely committed to are the WEMS events at Suamico (July 16) and New Fane (September 17). The Reforestation Ramble (August 21) might drop off my calendar because of the change WORS is making to the format, opting for multiple short laps instead of 2 long ones. This year’s race will have more singletrack and less ski trail, negating the advantage I have enjoyed there.

Right now I just want to find some kind of rhythm in my training. Despite having almost 1,300 miles in my legs this year I don’t feel like the base is really solid yet. I know I have the endurance to complete The Gravel Metric on May 29, but I don’t know whether I will have the fitness to complete it in style. Maybe style shouldn’t matter in what is, after all, just a training event and not a proper race, but I have ridden that event well in the past and I want to give a good account of myself.

The week ahead appears to offer warmer temperatures, less wind and dry conditions on the roads and trails. I need that forecast to prove true.