Allanti, Chattooga, and more
Somewhere along the lines, my desire to compete left me.
Now, normally I'm a pretty competitive sort and look forward to hammering some poor slob into the dirt with a show of sheer power, but lately... I've not had it in me. So, rather than compete in the Allanti Omnium two weeks ago in Nashville, TN, I got hold of a cowbell and went to cheer my teammates on.
Let me tell you, being a spectator was fun. I did what I could to help two of my girls with some basic coaching stuff (you know, like getting one into the cool air conditioning after the time trials so she didn't get heat exhaustion and discussing how best to start the time trial to overcome the cramping starting up), but mostly I was there to support my teammates and let them know I appreciated their willingness to compete in 100+ degrees.
I suspect the 100+ degrees is what happened to my urge to compete.
Then this past weekend was the Chattooga Century. I discussed this with several of the girls and we all agreed that for the heat, it would be best to do the metric, not the full 100. So, five of us gathered up and headed out on what we quickly turned into a bit of a training ride. It took very little time to form up into a nice, efficient pace-line, with us controlling the pace. At one point I looked back and it seemed we had at least 20 men hanging in a peleton behind us drafting our wheels and backing off rather than taking a pull. There were a few however that willingly worked with us, joining in the peleton and doing their fair share. Working together we finished in excellent time, dropped all but a few of the hangers on (and the ones that stuck with us were the ones helping work) . It was a great ride, despite the heat.
There is one last possible race I could put on my calendar. I have to decide if I feel the desire to compete, and if so in what capacity. A time trial or a crit, just to try a criterium, I might be into. Aside from that, I am rolling back to long, slow distance and looking simply to get the joy back in my pedal time. I'm doing pretty well at that so far, just not enough to want to push for speed. Yet.
Now, normally I'm a pretty competitive sort and look forward to hammering some poor slob into the dirt with a show of sheer power, but lately... I've not had it in me. So, rather than compete in the Allanti Omnium two weeks ago in Nashville, TN, I got hold of a cowbell and went to cheer my teammates on.
Let me tell you, being a spectator was fun. I did what I could to help two of my girls with some basic coaching stuff (you know, like getting one into the cool air conditioning after the time trials so she didn't get heat exhaustion and discussing how best to start the time trial to overcome the cramping starting up), but mostly I was there to support my teammates and let them know I appreciated their willingness to compete in 100+ degrees.
I suspect the 100+ degrees is what happened to my urge to compete.
Then this past weekend was the Chattooga Century. I discussed this with several of the girls and we all agreed that for the heat, it would be best to do the metric, not the full 100. So, five of us gathered up and headed out on what we quickly turned into a bit of a training ride. It took very little time to form up into a nice, efficient pace-line, with us controlling the pace. At one point I looked back and it seemed we had at least 20 men hanging in a peleton behind us drafting our wheels and backing off rather than taking a pull. There were a few however that willingly worked with us, joining in the peleton and doing their fair share. Working together we finished in excellent time, dropped all but a few of the hangers on (and the ones that stuck with us were the ones helping work) . It was a great ride, despite the heat.
There is one last possible race I could put on my calendar. I have to decide if I feel the desire to compete, and if so in what capacity. A time trial or a crit, just to try a criterium, I might be into. Aside from that, I am rolling back to long, slow distance and looking simply to get the joy back in my pedal time. I'm doing pretty well at that so far, just not enough to want to push for speed. Yet.
posted by WarKitty at
8:20 PM
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