Drove down last Friday. Left town early enough to check in to The Crash Pad and then drive to Dalton and sign in and get my bib #, t-shirt and growler. Slept well, ate oatmeal with an egg and drove to venue. Decided to remove layers at the van in parking lot. Good decision. Goal was to he faster than March 13. Well I was out there longer. not a great effort on paper. Asthma early on slowed me down, so I slowed down. Took a while but got that under control. Was very happy to see low levels in the creeks so my feet stayed dry. Got to the SAG and they remembered me! Gotta love volunteers. These guys rock. Once I left the sag I seemed to be ok. But once I arrived at The Wall and climbed to the top cramps arrived fast and furious. I just kept pulling off so people could get past. The rock gardens would be fun I think if I rode this in reverse. Maybe one day. I was thrilled to see the cell towers. Finally burned more than 1,500 calories and earned my beers later Ssturday night. Had a lovely dinner with Karen. Received an amazing compliment before bed. Drove home in the rain all the way and arrived just on time for mix of snow and sleet and ice.
The plan is to follow the training plan. Hope to have a better result in March. If I don't then so be it. Working hard to relax and enjoy. Let go of the bitterness of disappointment. If nothing else Saturday was a beautiful day in the woods with 400 like-minded mountain bikers. I am fortunate and damned lucky and very grateful.
peace
2 comments:
Well at least you know asthma slows the greatest cyclists too! If you could speak to Katie, I imagine she's dealing with bitter disappointment and would tell you to keep training :-)
Thanks SaltyNot. The asthma has been and will always be there. It's just something to deal with.
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