Back then, I used to line up to take my midwinter whipping from the likes of Masters honches Puffer and 'Druber, and up-and-coming young studs like Reid Mumford and Bryce Mead -- the Midwest version of the Twin Towers -- both of whom went on to careers in the domestic peloton. I did OK in these early-season contests; hours spent staring at Tour videos in our living room in Evanston prepared me well for the "course" we faced in the basement of the Winfield rec center. Think high-school gym meets testosterone-fueled group ride, and you begin to get a picture of what it was like at the Mid America Time Trial Series Indoor TTs. And to think: I dragged Kim out there on her birthday one year.
I've mellowed over the years, taking my winter training a bit less seriously in an effort to extend the season mentally and stay off the trainer. I'm proud of my last full winter in Chicago, when I managed to go the full season with only 3 hours of indoor riding. The nasty black ice and lack of bike lanes here in the mountains have changed that a bit -- in the past 14 months I've done my share of basement training -- but I still do whatever I can to mix it up and stay off the stationary bike.
Yesterday was a unique experience, in that I rode the rollers for the first time. It went OK -- I managed to crash only once -- but it was an easy ride, without much in the way of a "workout." I would argue that even so, I still worked harder than I would have on the road -- the amount of concentration required was a bit draining. Still and all, it was a fun diversion -- though I'll do today's workout on the trainer, thank you.
And tomorrow, I'll line up for an outdoor race in February. Another year, I may have taken this a bit more seriously, going after the belt buckle promised the three-time finisher. And maybe next year I will.
Instead, the extent of my prep for this has been to rinse off Big Red -- her first cleansing since SWANK way back in November -- and to freshen up the Stan's in my tires. The mixed-wheel Siren Song sounds like the perfect weapon of choice here, at least for the first 17 miles, and despite some icy rain and wintery-like precip in the past 24 hours, I'll likely run my standard Karma-Karma setup. I've packed the big rubber just in case though.
This isn't to say my heart's not in it. Quite the opposite -- I've laid out a pretty awesome-looking season, and I'm psyched to get out there after it. But given the way this year has kicked off, and my attendant lack of fitness, I have to treat this more like a Parkside than, say, a Hillsboro. I'm hoping that translates to bigger training hours when it's actually pleasant to ride, and a freshness in the legs that will manifest itself on the power-hungry courses of June and July ... and September and October. Tomorrow is going to be fun -- yes, there's a river crossing just a few miles into the 34-mile course that will have my feet numb before I even know how I'm rolling -- and I'm looking forward to my first foray on Georgia's Pinhoti Trail system and through the gap made infamous by Gen. Sherman himself. Maybe racing a bicycle in February isn't so bad after all?
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