Well as Im slowly recovery from the flu or whatever I had it was time to get back on the bike. Our first collegiate race is next weekend at NC State so its time to suck it up and ride.
Monday it was in the low 40’s when we set out for Erwin on our usual bike route. I felt pretty good after being off the bike for a week and we ended up pushing on past Erwin where we usually stop another six miles or so to a civil war battlefield. The roads we got on outside of the town of Erwin were real nice and thinly traveled. It was a fun ride mixing in some scenery and historical site visiting. In the end we traveled about 31 miles.
We got out again today with the temps about the same as Monday and decided to start in Erwin and go further down the road where we had turned around Monday. My only complaint about this section is the fact that it is all huge open fields on both sides of the road for miles and miles and accordingly it seems there is nothing to block the wind. So as much as I like the route it gets old real quick trying to ride with the wind howling and making it seem like your climbing an HC on a flat road. We had another good ride attacking one another and really pushing the pace. In the end we went right at 25 miles again today.
With interval sessions mixed in on the trainer on the days we don’t have group rides I feel as ready as I can be for the first race next week. No doubt there are guys in D cat training way more than we are but that’s fine. I’m not under any illusion that I have a chance to win any race. Right now we are putting in a couple solid rides a week and having fun at it. The last thing I want is to feel like cycling is my job and not something I do for fun. If its fun for you to put in 250 miles a week then by all means go for it, but until I start seeing checks from sponsors rolling in this is it. I don’t want to get burnt out which I think I could do fairly easily with this road biking deal. In the end this is training for mountain bike season so what happens on race weekend is what it is.
So was that enough pre-excuse or should I go on…
Aside from riding and making excuses as to why I will be bringing up the rear next week, I got the shaft on another race. Registration opened for Blood Sweat and Gears February 1st and was sold out on February 1st. Now I had pretty much decided if I did do this race I would go for the 50 as opposed to the 100 and there are spots still available for that but these races selling out are killing me. I mean its no ones fault but it seems like if you don’t have about 500 bucks for entry fees at the first of the year and aren’t waiting by your computer to register when it opens you cant get a spot at any of the races around this area. I mean being a finance major the real solution is obvious to me: raise the price. However that’s not a solution Im a fan of. I am already a very broke college kid who is about to be an even broker law student (yeah I got accepted) so I can barely afford this sport anyway. I guess someone over at Pisgah Area SORBA took economics because the cost to race one of those races are so high Ill have to be an attorney before I can afford to race one. The folks down here at BMCC put on the best races Iv been to and they are very affordable. However just the fact that they are trying to make it affordable for racers to do more than one event a year is why I have every race they are hosting on my schedule. I’m really not sure where I’m going with this more than just to say it’s a tough situation. I mean for most adults with a full time job throwing out 50 or 100 bucks to register for a race as soon as it opens is no big deal so Im probably the only one stuck in these shoes. Id rather see the races stay affordable though so people can race a full schedule rather than have to save up to do one event in the end. Guess I just need to get on the ball from now on.
Anyway next week is the open to our season so im sure there will be more to say about that then….
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