So, backtracking to 2021, I was all fired up and rarin' to go race my li'l heart out. In retrospect that looks more like that last hard effort before we cross the finish line. Yeah, for now, at least, I'm finished with racing!
OK, maybe not 100% finished, but I have been selling off my fancy track cycling equipment to more deserving individuals, and bought a fancy mountain-bike with the proceeds. And I'm having a ton of fun! How did this come about?
Well, it started with the disappointing results I had last year, and more specifically the fact that I was no longer able to equal my previous PRs, much less improve on them as my racing results would require if I wanted to podium at the Masters Track World Championships. I don't find mid-pack placements in the race results to be motivating, especially given the equipment, coaching, and travel expenses associated with training and racing at a high level, not to mention the sacrifices in free time and enjoyment of other areas of life.
Add to that disappointment the fact that neither of my teammates intended to race this year. Instead they are enjoying those other aforementioned areas of life. And that's what I did too, at least until June. Then the racing bug hit me again while i was tooling around town on my fixie.
I quickly contacted my coach, Adey Dent, and he assured me that the three-and-a-half months until Worlds would be enough to get up to speed, given that I had kept weight training and riding ever since last year's racing season was over. After a few delays we got a training program started for me and I jumped into it whole-hearted.
Our 2022 NCNCA District (State) Track Championships were scheduled for August 13th and 14th, so that would give me almost a month-and-a-half of training to prepare, and be a great way to test my progress. I'd hoped to assess my fitness before registering for Worlds, but Worlds registration's deadline was August 4th, so I went ahead and signed up for the 500 m ITT and match sprints, but cautiously paid an extra $45 to get the race cancellation insurance.
But nature likes to play games with us, eh?
On August 8th I registered for Districts. On August 9th I had a slightly scratchy throat. On August 10th I tested positive for COVID-19. Sigh. So I reluctantly cancelled my plans to race that weekend. That also meant I would no longer have a good sense of my racing fitness, and on top of that I'd miss out on at least a week of gym workouts, and hard efforts on the bike... if I was lucky. That left me skeptical about how well I'd be prepared for Worlds, naturally.
Finally, I think it was the 19th, I tested negative for COVID-19 and could resume my gym workouts, and cautiously start to work harder on the bike. Such fun.
So a few weeks went by and then I started to feel stomach pains one Saturday in the early hours of the morning. I went to urgent care and was diagnosed with a flare-up of diverticulitis. I had this before, most seriously in 2017, but they quickly put me on super powerful antibiotics to prevent it getting bad enough to require surgery. The antibiotics were Levofloxacin and Metronidazole...click on those links to read the huge risks of side effects, particularly the "tendon ruptures" info. Yeah, scary stuff.
This happened on September 3rd. Yeah, just three weeks before Worlds started.
I gave up on any thoughts of racing this year. Slow times, shortened training season, no racing tests, illness, missed workouts, and now another massive blow. I guess my caution when I registered for Worlds paid off: The company that handled the racing cancellation insurance, Refundable.me, refunded me the registration fees I'd paid in full. Wow. I did have to submit a lot of info to do that, but it was legit, and they honored their promise.
OK, so fast-forward to now. After much internal debate, I realized that I love to train and race when a few things are in place: 1) I am at least improving 2) I am having fun 3) I have a shot at finishing on the podium, or some similar accomplishment. None of those were in place this year... except 2) in part, because I do enjoy the training rides and gym workouts. But having a strict schedule for the training requires a lot of sacrifices, and without the other two things it is less fun.
So, a bunch of track equipment poorer, but cash richer, I bought the first mountain-bike I have owned since I sold my '98 Specialized Stumpjumper, in 2008! Everything about my new MTB is so new to me: first bike (of any type) I've ever owned with disc brakes; first dropper seat post; first carbon MTB frame; first 1x drivetrain; first SRAM gruppo; first 29'er; first tubeless tires; and my first Ibis! Yup, I got me a sweet 2020 Ibis DV9 carbon hardtail!
 |
| My Ibis DV9 |
I'm rediscovering the joys of unfettered freedom, riding with friends up and down the awesome trails we have in the Santa Cruz area, rekindling old friendships, making new friends. And discovering new trails that didn't even exist back in 2008.
So, about that racing... no guarantees, but we do have some local MTB races that I'd consider entering, just for fun. But I won't train for them, I won't, I won't!
See you next year...
Comments