Now What?
My seven weeks is up and the seven weeks blog has run its course. That puts me back here again with blogging. What's the difference? This is a blog about a guy who rides his bike but has other things happen in his life. The other is just a training blog for the benefit of the readers. I think I get more feedback here and it's more colorful. Plus Terren, Matt, and sometimes Cliffy & Woody read this as well.
How did the season go? Quite well I think. This was my first season racing XC with no real biking background to speak of. I've been biking for 7-8 years but at a casual level, meaning I would be off the bike from October through March and sometimes August as well. I did 5 XC races and 3 enduro races plus one charity event.
The enduros verified what I've come to conclude, that I'm not at that level yet. The first was Granogue where I cramped fantastically. Then there was Rattling Creek where I was doing OK but 3 flats knocked me into a DNF. Then the 24 hour race where the heat cut the day short. In all, I'm just not ready for that stuff which is fine.
The XC races began in early summer with Lewis Morris where I came in 31st. After that was Blue Mountain and a 30th place finish. Things came together after that at Jungle Habitat where I landed 7th. Then at Tymor I came in 16th with a broken chain. Finally I ended the season this Sunday at Ringwood in 6th place.
Considering my background and start to the season, I'd say it was a very successful year of biking. I learned a ton and managed to do well at the end to boot. Now the winter is coming and it's time to keep that mojo rolling. My motivation will obviously be higher coming off a season ending race like I did.
Now I have a lot of bike building and maintenance things going on. Repacking hubs, building wheels, tweaking the new build to make it right, and so on. I need a race-capable fork on the hardtail and I'm building a set of light UST tires this winter. Plus I'm going to address the nickel and dime things to get the bike weight down as much as possible. I'll also want to race 2 bikes next year, the FS Specialized and the HT Trek.
Right now I have to organize my offseason goals and go from there. Losing weight and getting in the 170s is my main priority. I want to stabilize 2-3 months before the first race which is late April. So that means my weight loss needs to be more or less done by early February, in theory.
There are other details like abdominal work, learning to spin better, working on bike skills, and a list of things I can't remember right now but losing weight is the #1 item on the list. That will address the ever-important power:weight ration, or PWR as it's called.
That's my bike life right now. I'm happy the racing season is over because it consumes you. Race days are long and cost a lot of family time. It's hard to go on group rides because you end up going too fast and aren't much fun to ride with. Your week gets structured around racing. It's nice to be free for a while.
Having said that I can't wait for 2008 to start. The ultimate goal is to compete for the overall Sport 30-39 H2H series win next year and to collect a podium or 2 along the way. And the more aggressive cherry on that would be to move up to expert the following year. Is that aggressive? Yes. But given I've gotten myself up to 6th place in the course of 5 XC races this season, I think it's not entirely impossible though maybe unlikely.
Oh yeah and my daughter is sick and not letting us sleep so much at night. But at least she waited for the season to end to start vomiting randomly.
Yeah it's good to be back here Walter. See you clowns at the picnic this Saturday.
How did the season go? Quite well I think. This was my first season racing XC with no real biking background to speak of. I've been biking for 7-8 years but at a casual level, meaning I would be off the bike from October through March and sometimes August as well. I did 5 XC races and 3 enduro races plus one charity event.
The enduros verified what I've come to conclude, that I'm not at that level yet. The first was Granogue where I cramped fantastically. Then there was Rattling Creek where I was doing OK but 3 flats knocked me into a DNF. Then the 24 hour race where the heat cut the day short. In all, I'm just not ready for that stuff which is fine.
The XC races began in early summer with Lewis Morris where I came in 31st. After that was Blue Mountain and a 30th place finish. Things came together after that at Jungle Habitat where I landed 7th. Then at Tymor I came in 16th with a broken chain. Finally I ended the season this Sunday at Ringwood in 6th place.
Considering my background and start to the season, I'd say it was a very successful year of biking. I learned a ton and managed to do well at the end to boot. Now the winter is coming and it's time to keep that mojo rolling. My motivation will obviously be higher coming off a season ending race like I did.
Now I have a lot of bike building and maintenance things going on. Repacking hubs, building wheels, tweaking the new build to make it right, and so on. I need a race-capable fork on the hardtail and I'm building a set of light UST tires this winter. Plus I'm going to address the nickel and dime things to get the bike weight down as much as possible. I'll also want to race 2 bikes next year, the FS Specialized and the HT Trek.
Right now I have to organize my offseason goals and go from there. Losing weight and getting in the 170s is my main priority. I want to stabilize 2-3 months before the first race which is late April. So that means my weight loss needs to be more or less done by early February, in theory.
There are other details like abdominal work, learning to spin better, working on bike skills, and a list of things I can't remember right now but losing weight is the #1 item on the list. That will address the ever-important power:weight ration, or PWR as it's called.
That's my bike life right now. I'm happy the racing season is over because it consumes you. Race days are long and cost a lot of family time. It's hard to go on group rides because you end up going too fast and aren't much fun to ride with. Your week gets structured around racing. It's nice to be free for a while.
Having said that I can't wait for 2008 to start. The ultimate goal is to compete for the overall Sport 30-39 H2H series win next year and to collect a podium or 2 along the way. And the more aggressive cherry on that would be to move up to expert the following year. Is that aggressive? Yes. But given I've gotten myself up to 6th place in the course of 5 XC races this season, I think it's not entirely impossible though maybe unlikely.
Oh yeah and my daughter is sick and not letting us sleep so much at night. But at least she waited for the season to end to start vomiting randomly.
Yeah it's good to be back here Walter. See you clowns at the picnic this Saturday.
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