VT50 has been my #1 priority since 2014. A beautiful, challenging course for a great cause.
I hesitate in writing this because I need to take responsibility for my choices. I chose how I handled the final month before my goal of the season.
Thus is how it went:
actually more like this
Everything started as expected. Shot out the back descending from the mountain, clawing back spots on the climbs, forced dismount on the conga line climb, then things finally open up.
The climbs are always hard, but today they are really hard. Well they are their usual hard, I'm just really slow. The dorkometer says I'm not working that hard.
What?!
This is a race guy.
I rejoin Alpaca and ask how he's feeling as I'm not great and he's usually up the road. I tell him I think this is becoming a ride for me and not a race. Next upward pitch, he smiles and pedals away.
It's getting harder and harder to maintain my off pace pace.
Then I blow through a corner in the dark and have to walk a hill I usually ride.
Just watching the HR go lower and lower.
Maybe I should stop watching?
On the descent to Skunk Hollow, I accepted I don't have another 4 hours in me. I rode off course and to Peter's car. I had planned on just letting him know, I was out and riding back to the condo, but he insisted he give me a ride as he had time to kill before meeting Alpaca and Monte at Greenall's. In retrospect I'm glad he did.
Got back to the condo, showered and booked. Got home before most of my friend's finished. Collapsed deflated.
Back to back race weekends followed by 27 hours of moving boxes is not how you prepare for a 50 mile mtb race. At least that's my guess. Went for a Covid19 test yesterday just to make sure I wasn't a special breakthrough case (I'm not).
Right now I'm not much feeling like putting all or even any eggs in this basket next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment