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Tough day. Blasted tired.

Left work immediately at 5 to get up to Evanston for the Turin bike shop ride. First group ride - that wasn't a race - since the second week in July. In a word fast. We left a bit after 6pm, heading up Ridge from Davis Street, and by Wilmette, we were really booking. I felt pretty strong at first, letting off a couple flyers to get up to the front and grabbing a strong wheel from a Get A Grip guy. The pace was really getting quick by time we were going through the thick of the Sheridan 'burbs, however, and it was a good thing I had to pull off at 6:30 just north of Highland Park, cause I was going to get dropped.

Yep, we made it from Evanston to Highland Park in about 20 minutes. We were cruising at no less than 25 and above 30 for large stretches - top speed, for me at least, of 35. And I didn't sprint once. I started at the front and held it for a while but I started getting passed on the turns, and was not keeping my pace very smooth on the hills by shifting properly. A rider in a Peet's Coffee kit let me know about it too.


Still, however, I'm feeling good. I got out, rode with a group, and got it in when I could've easily and understandably just kicked it before rehearsal. I took a few minutes to get going again south after I pulled and headed home. I was able to get few tempo intervals in but, it's pretty amazing how the lack of other riders can affect your motivation.

Tonight I sleep hard and rest tomorrow - the most important part. I'm just trying to stay competitive for the rest of this season, but I can't wait until this winter when I can lay down a real base for me to put all this intensity over next year. I can't to see what I'm capable of accomplishing with a real plan. All of which I am just beginning to understand. Right now everyone else is just so strong. I feel like I am barely hanging on fitness-wise, and while a lot of it definitely is the lack of base training, a big part as well, is rest. Or the lack of it, and the jumping into this racing thing headfirst with no base for the intensity of the middle of the season in really making things hurt. And drag.

But I don't regret doing it this way. I was told to just race. Don't think too much about it. And now, I can see, and feel, the demands that this sport places on me. I can see why a plan, that allows for growth, rest, and setbacks, is so important. And a plan is in the works, one that will accommodate my crazy schedule. With a proper base, the volume can go way down, and I will have to make up for it with intensity. But this will allow for my musical exploits to flourish as well, and not have so much conflict with my scheduling and, let's face it (as bike racing and music cultures are almost mutually exclusive) dual lives.

Rehearsal was great tonight. Our new drummer is a very strong musician, and we should have a top notch show at the Orphanage in Bridgeport this weekend. More info on that later. Sorry for this awful blog, but I wanted to get some thoughts down. I gotta get to sleep.