Monday, March 19, 2012

It's the off season... but I'm always off.

Well, for Cyclocross it's considered the off-season. I thought I was doing pretty good, too. Got Mark Farmer whipping me... er, coaching me. Getting to ride a bit more consistantly. Got a plan this year. Thought I was doing OK and then, one of my nemesis went back to road racing this year. Gasp. But I'm still putting the work in. For a while, that was.

Then we've had some health issues in the family. Something pretty drastic, really. Drastic enough to make you say "The rest of this crap can wait."

It doesn't mean I've stopped riding. I just don't get to ride as often as originally planned. Not a big deal. Family is a much much bigger deal.

So instead of a hard 2 hour ride, I may go for a 2 1/2 hour ride on the bike path through the metroparks with my bride. For example, last Saturday evening when we went by a couple ponds the peepers - frogs - were so loud it was astounding. We get around a bend in the path and she counts a baker's dozen of whitetail in the meadow.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Marietta, OH for a week. The temperatures in Ohio have gotten to what we normally see in June, not the beginning of March. It was interesting to ride around and find pockets of temperature differences. A breeze may blow in and it felt like the temp would drop 10 degrees F. Or I'd make it to the top of a long steep climb and you could feel the temp get warmer and drier where the sun had been beating down on the pavement all day.

So I don't get to ride as often as some of my competitors nor is every ride a full-on training ride. But on and off the bike, I'm going for more memorable moments. I hope you do as as well.

Thanks for reading.