Reflecting

Wow, I was just looking at this picture (above) - my inside foot is so close to the ground. Scary.

So, I could write a long race report on this weekends road race and crit, but it'll read like so many of my race reports that it seems scarcely worth it. That's not to say it wasn't a good race, but I'd rather touch on some more notable stuff.

This was my first race that I coordinated/promoted (whatever). Definitely a lot of work (sheesh, I still have to do results) but very rewarding when people had fun and made it back safely. It was great having some new (and old!) riders on our team racing well, and it was nice seeing friends from around the WCCC come up to race in Reno. In particular it was amazing to have community members, as well as our UNR team members and alumni, coming out to volunteer their time and make the whole thing possible. I didn't have any spectacular results, despite taking the preceeding week pretty easy. But . . . I'm okay with that. Let me see if I can explain this whole new bicycle racing philosophy I've been working on for the last month or so. I think I'm going to have to start at the beginning.

My first year racing was filled with some amazing results and amazing progress (I was the WCCC XC Conference Champion!). I think the first year racing the progress just kind of happens on it's own - the learning curve is so steep. Just by getting out on my bike I got faster. The next 3 years brought some mixed results. I never really found my groove, switching between road, MTB, taking up cyclocross, and never really putting in any kind of focused training. I figured, hell, the first year I was just riding, it should work for me again! But it really didn't. I should say, I kept improving, but very, very slowly, and that was discouraging. Somewhere in there I got my pro XC upgrade (probably a mistake, as now I'm never too enthusiastic about racing my MTB against the "big girls", many of whom are actually quite small). I've seen girls who I used to LAP get so much faster than me! They're cat 2's (or 1's) racing for some big team. What gives? Well, obviously they've been working hard, and they've earned these things. My goal, especially last year, was to get my cat 2 road license - unsuccessful, but that shouldn't have come as any surprise, 'cause I wasn't doing my homework.

So this year I got a plan. I got a coach (who I love! Lisa Hunt, director of VAC, coach for Whole Athlete), I set some goals, and I've stuck to it. I've missed work outs only if I'm sick, or seriously fatigued. I've gotten out on my bike in the dark, when it's 19 degrees outside, to do hill intervals up Geiger Grade, I've spent way too many hours on the trainer, and on more than one occasion gone to work or school with total disregard for my odor and appearance following a hard training ride. Haha, probably look/smell the same as I usually do. And now, has it paid off? Absolutely. My first race of the season I won (5 points out of 25 towards my upgrade! but that's beside the point). During our team training camp I was able to (almost) hang with the Suenami climber extraordinare. My results for the last several weeks haven't really reflected the work I've been putting in, but they will in time. And you know what? Even if they don't, I'm happy. I love getting out and training hard. I love hard races, even if I come in last. I won't be disappointed with my result as long as I know I've done everything I can to be strong. I can hardly control everyone else, so I'll have to settle with controlling myself. So truly, I suppose, it is about the journey. I know if I keep doing this I will get where I want to go, but that's not what it's about. I'm happy doing this because nothing else I've found under the sun makes me feel as good as riding my bike. Which may mean that I just need to find other hobbies, but whatever. Then I wouldn't have enough time to ride.