After the Eugene Celebration I solemnly swore I wouldn't touch it for an entire month. A whole month you say?!? How can that be, sacrebleu!!! The reality was it took me a week before my friend Dave texted me about going for a ride. After that I was resigned to the couch to find a TV show on Hulu to power through. Another two weeks and I find myself riding again...damnit! I can't commit to quitting, this is a dependency. I rode yesterday and again today...slowly without any computer or sense of training. I even made a playlist titled 'slow the F**k! down,' so that anytime I feel like pushing it, I shift up and change songs. I'm that guy singing alongside the road as you drive by. People look at me funny...what's new...
I've been making the most of my time off, scheming about our new English bikes, watching tv, looking at bikes, drinking hard cider, more scheming, more tv, more food, a little riding. I stumbled upon the TV show 'Merlin,' it was a mid-budget BBC show. Who doesn't like 5 seasons of some good ol' King Arthur, dragons, knights, witches and wizardry? The bonding that's been going on with the cat has been pretty intense as well.
Lauren and I have taken this time to relax, decompress and reflect on the season. We've also been looking at houses in Salem, perhaps that's a bit more important, but I'm going to talk about this past season anyway.
- Jack Frost TT- 4th
- Tuesday PIR- 6th
- Oregon Grand Fondo Team Classification- 1st
- Oregon Grand Fondo Age Group 19-29 - 3rd
- Baker City Cycling Classic GC- 55th
- Tour de Aufderheide - N/A
- OBRA TT - 3rd
- Eugene Celebration Stage 1- 5th
- Eugene Celebration Stage 2- 13th
- Eugene Celebration Stage 3- 4th
- Eugene Celebration Stage 4-19th
- Eugene Celebration GC - 7th
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- Crashes - 0
- Flat tires- 0
- Equipment Malfunctions- 0
- Forgotten race items day of race- 0 (thanks to Lauren)
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- Confidence is on the rise.
- I know my fitness is where it needs to be to upgrade.
- Life is finally settling down and stress is manageable.
- I have a cat.
- I've been steering further away from energy gels and supplements for training and use them exclusively for racing.
- Eating better.
- Discovering more of my strengths and specialities as a rider/racer
- I'm a bike mechanic wizard.
In terms of training for next season, I'm going to get back to basics and take more of a drivers seat on my training program. I'll be selling my power meter and having a go at making my training plan. To get to this point, it's been pivotal to have someone helping me along, planning workouts and dissecting my power data for interpretation. Also until this point, I've had some lofty goals and ambitions about the type of bike racer I wanted to become. This season has given me a new perspective toward racing and I'm quite happy with that.
- I will obtain my Cat 2 upgrade...We'll see about my Cat 1...
- This is my hobby and it's fun, my profession is a master bike mechanic and that's also fun.
- Bike racing, cycling and fitness is a lifestyle for myself and my wife.
- I've finally found an amazing team with English Cycles and I want to continue to invest my time & energy into it.
- I will listen to my body more with regards to training.
- I will make smart choices with regards to racing.
Know this: when I do sign up for a race, it's because I'm there to compete so hopefully you've brought your good legs because I'll make sure Lauren packed mine.
Well folks, that's all you're going to get out of me for now. I'll be hashing out a training plan soon, we've nearly figured out the build spec for our English Bikes and I'll be sure to share that. Before the weather turns sour I'm going to try and take Lauren down to Eugene to experience some real road riding. Plus I've got to try and get some time on the water, in a canoe and that will include some photos as well. Stay tuned!
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Until next time!
Cheers,
-Andrew-