This Season

This season has been a really weird, and pretty disappointing/unfulfilling one. I've raced probably less than I ever have in the last 3-4 years. I haven't actually counted, but I really feel like it. I didn't do Joe Martin, the Herman road race, and not really much of the local stuff. I think Babler was the first thing I've done in this area since the Grove. When I lined up for the National road race I'd done two road races all year. Both of which don't really count (1 being Froze Toes, and the other being 2 laps of Hillsboro).

I also feel like I've never really been in that great of shape this year. I think I missed a lot of training in the spring with school and stress, and I feel like that zapped a bit of what I had from the fall/winter. I hardly rode long at all either, maybe a couple rides over 80 miles. One thing I've really noticed fitness wise this year, is that I have nothing up the hills. I've never been a great climber, despite my build, but I've always been able to attack and at least hang on on hills, if not move up. This year that just isn't there. I think it's from missing the longer rides out into Jeff Co. Living in the city isn't bad for riding at all, but I do think I climb a lot less. At my parents house the climb up the driveway is equivalent to the finish climb at the last day of the Grove, where I was hurting every lap this year. I bet that last year I would have felt a bit different.

The one area I have felt good in this year is the flat fast crits, at least once I did a few and kind of got in shape. Our second day at Dairyland, and also a USA Crit race, was probably my best race all year. 90 minutes with an average over 28, and being the only one from my team to finish. But still, I didn't have a result from it. The national crit was the same way, long and fast and I felt good about finishing. Feeling good about finishing isn't exactly a great thing though. That should be a given. Still, those are the races that I've liked doing the most. I'm pretty bummed I'm not at superweek right now. I'd definitely be going good by the end of it, and it's also my favorite race series of the year. I still don't understand why I'm not there.


I've also learned this year that I'm just bad at training. I'm bad at following a plan, and I'm bad at pushing myself in workouts. I've long felt like the more racing I do the better shape I get in, even if it's tuesday nights. I guess this is really the only year that I've not raced as much, and I can feel the difference.

This fall I'm going to be studying abroad in Vienna, Austria. Right now, I'm not planning on bringing a bike at all. I feel like it'll be sitting there, making me feel bad about not riding it when I walk out the door everyday. I don't want to feel obligated to train while I'm there. I think it will be a really good break. I talked with Austin at Nationals, and I know he's having a similarly disappointing season. He pointed out that having the fall off will really make me see how much I do or don't like racing/riding my bike, which is a good point. I'm also considering buying a bike there, or even just shipping over my singlespeed Orca, but I think that's something I'll decide when I'm over there. Maybe I'll start running or something when I'm there, I know my parents always liked running through the city in the morning.

I'm already thinking about next year. The races I have done this year have been so disappointing, both from a racing and just environment standpoint. I really haven't had fun racing my bike, or really at many races this year at all. I have a few things in mind to change that for next year but I'm not sure about anything yet. All I know is that if I have another year like this, aka not having fun, next year, I probably would stop racing my bike.