We are working on a lot of projects/articles so thing have been quiet around here lately. Finally got the wife set-up to be able to ride her loaner. Finally got the Hero Cam mounted on the bike. Finally decided to sell a couple of my older bikes off (so if you are looking, give me a shout) so I can afford to get a new set of wheels for the Tarmac.
During all this we have been going back and forth over what to do with the rest of the race season. With money still tight and with me still recovering from multiple crashes and illness (what the heck!?) I had decided to hang my hat on the fact that I had reached my goal for this year (going from Cat 5 to Cat 4) and back off from racing the rest of the year. I guess my wife noticed something was amiss because out of the blue last weekend she told me she wanted me racing again. (I think she likes seeing me all fired up and competitive.) But I feel a lot more pressure in choosing my races now that I am a Cat 4. When you are a Cat 5 any race that you finish gets you closer to your goal. Now that I am a Cat 4 I need to start placing and earning points. Now I am even more aware that I have very few teammates racing in my category who are actively racing so I often find myself going solo at races and find it hard to compete with the big, cohesive teams.
Yet when my wife encouraged me to start signing up for races again, I was more than willing to do so. Simply put, I miss racing, Win or lose, I miss the challenge, the competition, the pursuit of striving to be better; stronger; more strategic in my cycling. So here I am, up late at night cleaning my bike and packing for a trip to the coast; leaving the wife and kids behind to get back on the race track and give it everything I've got. Once again I'll be on my own but I will take it as my personal challenge to get in there and mix it up and make myself known as a competitor. Life is too short to sit by and wait for the perfect circumstances, the perfect timing, the perfect team. You get out there and you suck it up and haul ass. Even if you don't make the podium at least you were in the race.
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