The road back and my first 1/2/3 race

First of all, I haven't posted since Millersburg. I was riding and training well all the way through December and was hanging nicely in the 300W FTP range without having done a single VO2 interval when I decided to expand my business. There are some things that simply take priority in life and my family's future is first. Period. Guess what that meant? Yep, riding pretty much died to zero for a few months and got replaced by countless consecutive days that lasted until 2AM. Intervals and long rides quickly got replaced with managing the books, taxes, employees, clients, proposals, payroll, blah b'blah b'blah.

Fast forward three months and I had things largely under control. I started riding little by little again hoping that saying about "it" coming back fast when you have miles in your legs is true. Sure enough, it is. All the tempo riding I did in late fall/early winter paid off. Started with a couple long rides before starting in with the group rides. I had zero idea how well I'd be able to hang so I set my expectations low. Started with the Herndon 3 ride with plans to sit in. No issue and had a good time. Realized how much I missed it. Did the Reston 2 ride the following Tuesday. Felt a bit harder but still fine. The Herndon 2 ride, Wakefield B ride, Herndon 1 ride, then Wakefield A ride. Each time, things felt a bit snappier.

Problem. Weight. I've always had an issue with my diet. I love food. I love to cook. I love Belgian Ales. I mean true love. That said, I've never had an issue losing it when I get focused. I think I have the Paleo Diet down pat and know how to shed the pounds. I lost 15lbs last fall on the plan while riding steadily. I know what to do. During my little business hiatus, I gained 15 back. But this time, I don't seem to be losing it and I'm freaking out. I haven't quite gone whole-hog hardcore on Paleo but I'm riding regularly and managing my intake. Not losing anything. WTF? I guess it's age getting the better of me. Probably time to get more extreme if I want to have any shot at all of doing well at Millersburg.

So, being back in the saddle, I thought I'd give racing a shot again. I wanted to start moderately so I chose the 35+ 3/4 at Ft. Ritchie. Goal: finish. I looked at the pre-reged riders and noticed there were a few good'ns (Gutzeit, Rist, Underwood, Bickling to name a few) so I knew the pace wouldn't be pedestrian. And I love that course too so I thought it'd be a good test, but not over the top. If I do OK there, I'll try another, then another. Etc. There were four other teammates in the race but I warned them up front that, based on my mid-winter break, I wasn't there to participate in tactics so they shouldn't count on me. They were fine with that. To keep that long story short, I did just fine. Ended up lucky 13th. I felt encouraged that I could actually take as much time off as I did and still race that same season.

So, I kept up with the training for the most part, mostly in the form of group rides. I'm working with Jim Weinstein again who will no doubt smooth out my rough edges. I decided that, if working the RSR didn't get to hectic, I'd give the 1/2/3 there a go. Since I train there all the time - and is my "home course", I decided it'd be a safe environment to give that a try. It would be my next test. 30 miles at 1/2/3 pace.

Fast forward to race day. At the course at 0600, working in the sun, had to bail for a few hours to attend my own son's birthday party (who turned 8 the day before), returned to hear about a very nasty crash with injuries, and I'm now one nervous pup. Tired. Drained. Skeptical. HTFU says coach. Fine. Grab a decent warmup and take to the line. Felt much better when Pete Warner, Pete Custer, Andrew Shelby, Nicholas Taylor, and some others all pulled up around me. It's still racin' with my peeps...just a bit faster. Goal: finish....again.

Then the officials scroll the lap card to read 48. Ugh. Dat be a lot of laps. Whistle. Decent clip-in. Round and round we went (most literally). There really isn't much to report about the race itself. At some point Pete Custer said "you dizzy yet?" It did seem like we were in a constant right bank. The main excitement in the race, given that I had no desire nor intention of being near the front, was the two crashes. I missed each of them by centimeters. The second one was with 1 1/2 laps to go and gave me a helluva time catching back on. But I found a wheel and we did what we could for the last kilo. Not even sure where I rolled through but was happy to simply have finished. My Garmin told me we averaged 28.3mph for 30.5 miles. By far the fastest race I've ever done, but it certainly wasn't the hardest so I was pleased.

Here's a picture to commemorate the occasion thanks to Nicholas Taylor's wife.

Next up is Clarendon and Crystal City. Clarendon will be crazy fast as always. Hoping to actually do well at Crystal.

Ciao!!