Time and perspective

Today, or last night i finally am awakening to the accomplishment of the weekend. The pain, the mistakes, the bottle cages. All that, small things. I raced my fucking ass off and i did the best if could and i improved, i learned, i grew - even just a tiny bit - as a racer of bicycles... Thanks for the words of encouragement.

My team is now suggesting i ride with a camelback next year. I think i just need some of those plastic cages i ominously made fun of on Mark's bike the morning of the race.

It is frustrating to crack due to lack of water and not lack of fitness, yes more fitness could have made me crack further into the race but ya know... I ain't making that mistake again.

I took the day off the bike again. The drizzle and the 20-40 mph wind out of the north and the unknown conditions on the bike path were enough to have me hitching a ride in with my wife this morning. coupled with the our visitors (In-laws are hanging out with the oldest during spring break) and my poor sleep last night - tapping the depleted internal energy reserves just wasn't appealing...

its like my body is saying "REST I NEED REST" as in i've worked hard to hold some of the fitness from Cross for BKR. I'll be back on the bike no question, probably tomorrow. The Nor'East'r certainly didn't add to the motivation to get on the bike.

Once the winds settle down i'll be back out there.

Annotated link dump:
Calf problems and cycling? One "trick" i hadn't come across before

Cholesterol... Sans Auto with a cool bit of data

Molly with some love for Belgium Knee Warmers

Pez with some race tactics

KL with some bike cleaning tips - pink bar tape? maybe i'll get me some (j/k i'm a black tape man all the way... with one or two rolls of matching blue thrown in for measure).

Oh and i finally watched the Woman's World's last night. How freaking cool. I can see why Daphne was in tears. tough. Good clear shots of Peanut at the start. And then up the first stairs i think... It was the sporza broadcast so while not in english it was mostly a run of names... Very different camera angles compared to the eurosport(UK) coverage of the mens race. To the point my "support" from michigan thought they were racing on a completely different course.

it was so cool watching them race...

how many days till cross season starts?
G

PS
Flipping through JB's photos reminded me of what i was thinking about before falling asleep... no not a pack of old fat guys racing around a flat crit (when the old skinny ones were suffering at BKR)... disk wheels... specifically how to do a homemade one... And i thought about shaping foam as the "disk" section... mostly as if secured well enough it wouldn't add measureable weight to the wheel...

That and got thinking about aero and wind shadows with the rear wheel relative to the helmet and front wheel...

strange things happen in cyclists heads as they fall asleep...