Yankee.....bad.

So....I was hoping for a good result at the Yankee Springs TT on Sunday. I did a training ride on Wednesday and I was only about 3 minutes slower than last years race time. That gave me a pretty good boost of confidence that was much needed. I was confident at the start. Ready. Set. Go. Uh-oh. About 2 miles in I started to wonder why I was feeling terrible. Those two miles went by pretty good.....too good....because I must have started to fast. Maybe the temps in the low 40's didn't help. The next 9 miles were not good...not good at all. I just kept my wheels turning as fast as I could...which was really slow. When my rivals caught me.....I got really pissed.....but there was nothing I could do but watch them ride away. I finished......11th place. Not a DFL....but close. I was 8 minutes slower than my race time last year....and over 5 minutes slower than my training ride on Wednesday. Maybe it was the cold....maybe it was lack of training....maybe it was a long list of excuses. All I know is that I have lots of work to do before Fort Custer....because that will NOT happen again. I should be a top 5 contender every week......not struggling to avoid being last. I just need to train better...and remember to have fun. That is when I did better....smiling and having fun. This was only one race....not the season.

Awesome, fail, acceptance

I headed to Fort Custer this evening. It was to be the first ride on singletrack for the year. A group of us started down the red loop and the pace was immediately fast....but I was trying to hang on. Probably not a great idea considering my handling skills were rusty...but at any rate I didn't crash. I hung tough until the switchback climb and then felt like I was dying by Granny's Garden.....yes....2 miles into the ride. Brian waited for me...and we headed into Granny's Garden. It was then that I started to hear a rubbing noise. I stopped.....spun the wheel and a spoke broke right off. Damn. So, I looked closer and realized that I had two broken spokes. I was very disappointed because I was ready to ride. The first two miles were sweet. Then I came to the realization that my ride was over. The short ride back to the car was actually pretty good. I got my heart rate back to a reasonable level and then just pedalled. It was a nice short ride. My acceptance came on the way home. I just need to get the wheel fixed.....and go again. No biggie right?