I’m Going To Die or First Race of 2010

So as I suffer through another round of The Sufferfest I am struck by something. I’m not race ready. I am probably going to be racing my first race of the season in Richmond on the 27th of February. It’s on the Richmond Race Way, a place where there are Nascar races. The juxtaposition between Nascar and cyclists is not irony lost on me. I’ve heard good and bad about the race, but I don’t really care. I mostly just want to get into it. I’ve not really had a chance to get too much training this winter. I’ve done enough to keep the strength, but not enough to slim down much. Who am I kidding? Just me.

So I’m thinking about the race I might do as my wife suffer’s me through The Bachelor and all the what ifs. It’s on a race track. It’s not just a Cat 4 (or Fat 4) but a 3/4 race. I know some 3’s that will hurt and laugh at you for the sake of hurting and laughing at you. I’m 35 this year, so I guess I could roll with the Masters race, however there are some guys in the Masters that aren’t much better on the hurt and laugh front. This race isn’t really a goal for me as much as it’s one of many races that will help get my fat @$$ into shape.

Issue 1

I’m not in the best of shape right now. I’ve maintained the fitness enough to keep the strength, but I could still stand to lose a few or 20. How much training can I do in sub-4 weeks?

Issue 2

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, or live in the DC area, we’ve had a little bit of snow. The area’s inability to actually plow the roads properly prohibits the ability to ride anywhere but the torture chamber of my basement.

So I am sure at this point you’re asking yourself “Why Gregg, what ever will you do?” Good question. At this point I am trying to get myself to be able to suffer through two rounds of The Sufferfest back to back at least once a day and spin for 30-60 minutes in addition to this. I am sure that I am delusional to think I’ll even be able to hang in there, but I hold on to the glory days of my Cat 5 days where I only got dropped once. Ok, maybe twice. The second time was purely mechanical, or so I keep telling myself.

So I did the double Sufferfest yesterday and employed my old friend, the scream breath. The scream breath is a fantastic thing that usually make an appearance at the point of total and complete effort resulting in a physical annihilation. Everyone has it. If you’re doing it right, you’re friends with the scream breath too. My scream breath tends to grab the attention of my wife as she thinks I’m dying or something. All said, I think I’m on the right track.

As I train, my true hope is that my appearance will deter the main field to chase me down and allow me some alone time off the front. One can hope.

DC