How Retards Race

So I mentioned it yesterday but I think I'm going to give it a shot at 5 laps Sunday. It' really all mental masturbation at this point because I have no clue what the course will be like, especially since it looks like rain. So resigning myself to 4 laps is a bit premature. I'll just try to keep a solid start pace without going too red line and go from there. I think the marathon probably starts with many of the XC guys so there will be some people exploding off the line. If I try to keep that pace it will be "destruction, terror, and mayhem" city. Start a solid tempo-plus and see what my first lap time clocks at. I think 48 would be the toughest to gauge what to do. Oh and I found out that 2 of the pros that might be at the race, won't be there. So that means there will be 2 fewer people between #1 and DFL.

I've been eating like a hog this week no matter how much I ride in the morning. I haven't put on pounds so I'm not worried. I guess this is just my body saying it needs food. That's cool, I like food. Trying to eat on the cleaner side with plenty of fruits. Obviously I don't want to go (my love for you is ticking clock) berzerker these next 2 days. Pure and clean baby. Or something.

OK the rear wheel is back together but the rear derailleur is not looking good. Very high resistance when shifting up the cogs. Then it's not smooth when I drop it back down. Something has to be bent. I took the cable off and tried to move the derailleur to the largest cog and it can't extend that far anymore. So something has gone south recently.

I have 3 options right now. One is to try and fix this. Two is to just buy a new hanger and take the XT derailleur that my buddy Albert has laying around. Three is to beg Gary to turn my bike around in an hour Saturday. Oh folks this is not the way to ease you way into a race. No not at all. Option 2 leads currently.

With rain on the forecast there will likely be no Lewis Morris warm up. It's looking like either a quick road spin or a trainer session. I have no problem with that except for the fact that the mountain bike is going to go right from the stand to the race track. That's an awful plan for those of you scoring at home. Awful awful awful. This blog post title reflects that approach.

I got my Heed shipment so not everything is looking shady right now. Just the bike and the weather. I still haven't decided what to put in my bottle. Leaning towards 2 bottles as I write this. I may consider putting a cage on the underside of the down tube which makes the swap a 1 minute deal instead of having to take my camelbak off. If I do that though I probably want an emergency bottle in the bag because it it breaks off I'm tanked with too few calories. I don't think the course is so rough and tumble that it will get knocked off. But I haven't run it in the field so I don't know how much it needs to be secured.

In the middle of the night I split the bed and went upstairs. The Doodle blew up at about 1:00 after she peed through her clothes. I lasted until about 2:20 then said screw it, I need sleep. Next 2 nights flying solo upstairs for sure. I need the rest. I feel fine today but it's sort of a high wire act. One awful night of sleep tonight could screw it all up. Sunday I need to get up at like 4:30 and be out the door at 5:30 so I can get there by 7:30. That gives me a 30 minute cushion in case I need to stop for coffee, beer, narcotics, or a new bike. Race begins at 9:00 and I'd like to register at 8:00.

So a lot of this is just me thinking out loud and leaving a record for the next race. I hope it sheds some light on WTF is going on in my head on race week. I doubt I'll post tomorrow because I'll be desperate to find a plan B. OTOH, I really should make sure I post my pre-game thoughts as well as what I eat for breakfast. Do I have a fallback right now? Not really. I remain confident that something will come along and save the Simpson children. I mean hell, isn't this a storybook setting where everything always turns out happily ever after?

Norm wins! Norm wins! Norm wins!