From Zero to Hero

Every season I swear I'm going to stop going into races ill-prepared, but every season life gets in the way and I find myself cramming in order to make it to the finish line. My already small season recently got smaller due to another hurdle on the personal front. We're going through a difficult emotional time that forced me to cancel my trip to DC this past weekend and miss the Parkway Classic 10 Miler.

But the weekend at home allowed me to get out for my first real ride of the season and the first of a series of rides I'm calling the "hope I survive Gran Fondo NY" rides. In four weeks I'm allegedly competing in GFNY, a 104-mile course with 8,500 feet of climbing. Just your average day on a bike. I've ridden countless 100+ mile rides, but the issue is I haven't ridden one since September 11 at IMWI. Since then I don't think I've cracked 30 miles and I certainly haven't climbed any hills. So after essentially not riding for 10 days, I headed out for 50 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing. I started out feeling fantastic, but that faded around mile 30 and I was dragging from miles 40-50. The good news is I was able to do it. The not so good news is that I was so slow it may take all day to cover twice the distance.

My training will continue to be spotty and take a backseat to the bigger life issues I have to tackle, but since this season is an offseason in general, I will just take it day by day and try to enjoy every moment I can fit in.