"The only way around is through"
~ Robert Frost
The quote above can sometimes be equally as dangerous as it is
inspirational. Allow me to explain.
Friday comes around and I am feeling light, had a good pre-ride, dinner
was excellent, bike was in working order and I was ready to rawwwkk. No
issues on the horizon....just yet.
Saturday morning comes, pit area is set up, I along with the rest of the
12 hour crazies zipped up and chamois'd up our super hero costumes and
took to the course. Race started off with a short run up a tubbing hill
and back down into the first section of singletrack. I took it really
easy but kept the others in eye sight and settled in behind Rich and Ty
sliding around on the slick rocks from the dampness left over from
Friday night's rain shower. It was clear myself along with Ty selected
wrong tires for the first two laps but conditions improved dramatically
by lap 3. Speaking of lap 3, that's when things began to go terribly
wrong. I started feeling a tight feeling in my knee and in turn I found
it hard to get up the climbs and that turned into a sharp pain. Then on
lap 4 I was having issues with descending. Lap 5 I started getting the
pain on the flats and really couldn't put any power down on the 6th and
would be final lap of the day. Typically I would normally find a way
through as that is usually the only way as the quote would suggest but,
I couldn't fight my way through this one....not this time....not like I
did at 12 hours of pitchblack where I only had 4 laps to go as I was
only 6 out of 12 hours into the race. I had to waive the white flag and
listen to my body if I wanted any shot of doing well at the wausau24
solo this year.
Sure, yeah, I was disappointed, dejected, and frustrated that I left
running because of this very same issue and has tracked me down again to
unleash a brutal attack on this bike racing hobby of mine. Despite
feeling great and poised to start backing down on lap times I physically
could not do a thing about it.
Next steps....re-do the fit. Sometimes we all have to undergo some
change in our lives everything from Work, life, and even physical
changes will happen it's just a matter of when and how you deal with
them. There is a great quote that gets me past all of this and reads
"The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese"
from the book Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson helped me realize
that the quicker I let go of my current fit, current injury, and other
issues the sooner I will find a new solution and move on and enjoy my
cheese (bike racing) once again.
Wausau Big Ring Classic? Sure I'll be there, but that could change
depending how I am feeling and I approach it from a weatherman's
prospective. I am predicting I'll be fine for the big ring, but there
is a 30% chance of nope. Should certainly be a go for the Southern
Kettles WEMS race though. Sunny skies ahead!
~ Robert Frost
The quote above can sometimes be equally as dangerous as it is
inspirational. Allow me to explain.
Friday comes around and I am feeling light, had a good pre-ride, dinner
was excellent, bike was in working order and I was ready to rawwwkk. No
issues on the horizon....just yet.
Saturday morning comes, pit area is set up, I along with the rest of the
12 hour crazies zipped up and chamois'd up our super hero costumes and
took to the course. Race started off with a short run up a tubbing hill
and back down into the first section of singletrack. I took it really
easy but kept the others in eye sight and settled in behind Rich and Ty
sliding around on the slick rocks from the dampness left over from
Friday night's rain shower. It was clear myself along with Ty selected
wrong tires for the first two laps but conditions improved dramatically
by lap 3. Speaking of lap 3, that's when things began to go terribly
wrong. I started feeling a tight feeling in my knee and in turn I found
it hard to get up the climbs and that turned into a sharp pain. Then on
lap 4 I was having issues with descending. Lap 5 I started getting the
pain on the flats and really couldn't put any power down on the 6th and
would be final lap of the day. Typically I would normally find a way
through as that is usually the only way as the quote would suggest but,
I couldn't fight my way through this one....not this time....not like I
did at 12 hours of pitchblack where I only had 4 laps to go as I was
only 6 out of 12 hours into the race. I had to waive the white flag and
listen to my body if I wanted any shot of doing well at the wausau24
solo this year.
Sure, yeah, I was disappointed, dejected, and frustrated that I left
running because of this very same issue and has tracked me down again to
unleash a brutal attack on this bike racing hobby of mine. Despite
feeling great and poised to start backing down on lap times I physically
could not do a thing about it.
Next steps....re-do the fit. Sometimes we all have to undergo some
change in our lives everything from Work, life, and even physical
changes will happen it's just a matter of when and how you deal with
them. There is a great quote that gets me past all of this and reads
"The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese"
from the book Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson helped me realize
that the quicker I let go of my current fit, current injury, and other
issues the sooner I will find a new solution and move on and enjoy my
cheese (bike racing) once again.
Wausau Big Ring Classic? Sure I'll be there, but that could change
depending how I am feeling and I approach it from a weatherman's
prospective. I am predicting I'll be fine for the big ring, but there
is a 30% chance of nope. Should certainly be a go for the Southern
Kettles WEMS race though. Sunny skies ahead!
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