It's Yucky Outside

Last Saturday was a long fast ride, probably my first this year of that intensity....about 75 miles all told and I cratered at around 65 miles. I felt fine from the waist up, no aerobic problems, breathing was fine, but my legs finally gave out and I had to let the group of twelve other riders go. I noodled home, stopping at a convenience store to down a couple of oatmeal/raisin cookies for a little extra energy. Part of the problem was that I didn't eat and drink as much as I should have during the ride and I knew it the whole time. But I had fun out there and enjoyed mixing it up with the racers. In a couple more weeks I just might be ready to get that first road race of the year under my belt.

I don't think I'm going to do Rouge-Roubaix though I could change my mind. I could get stupid like that. That's three weeks off and I'll have to decide if I want to spend the money to get beat like a drum. I'd like to do it one more time but it's not on my things-to-do-before-I-die list...I've already done it three times but not since 2004. I really think I could do it faster than I ever have before if I don't have any flats or mechanicals, like on two of those other rides. I'll let my head skate on that for a while.

I am planning on doing the 20K (12.4 miles) time trial in Monroe this Sunday. The Guru is about as ready as it's going to be and maybe I'll get under 32 minutes which would be a good personal time for this early in the year. My fastest time on this course is a 30:22 and last year I squeezed out a 33-even with virtually no prior rides in my legs. Maybe it'll be better this time...I already have over 900 miles so far this year.

Jonnene's coming, too, and will give her Kuota its first real race test. I think she'll do just fine. I'll try to have some photos when I post about it then.

A racing buddy o' mine, Shannon Koch, won the criterium stage at the Valley of the Sun stage race in Arizona last weekend. She needed a win...it's been about 19 months since her last victory in Tulsa. With that win she finished 7th overall in the three days of racing, her best result in that race in the last five years.

Around the house I'm getting the bike room in shape. It's been repainted and now it's being reorganized...keeping stuff, tossing stuff out. We want to make it a functional room, not just a place to toss our biking, running, camping, whatever stuff in. Maybe someday we'll have a TV in there so we can do wind-trainers while watching a movie or do pilates in an open space. We're also getting our bedroom closets and pantry redone and make the space more useable and practical. More on that later. Free-lancing is still going on...right now I have a helicopter paint scheme to work out and have to finished up a fund-raising program guide for the local Goodwill. Just finished up a couple of magazine ads, too. Check out this one for Cobb Cycling to go in the next issue of Triathlete Magazine: