Off The Back

In cycling "off the back" means you have been left behind or "dropped".  It happens to everyone at one point or another.  The older you get the more of a chance you have of it happening to you.  It can be good for you, it will make you work harder (sometimes).

A Different Kind of Dropped

Lately people I really enjoy riding with have stopped or drastically reduced their riding.  Mostly due to health issues; and not the kind that you just take an aspirin for.  Some due to the dreaded burnout.  I realize that as I get older this will become more commonplace.  Active people will tend to get hurt every now and then.  But recently it seems to be lumped together.  I feel bad for them but it makes me thankful I'm still out here.  I never take this life for granted.

I feel like there is a sweet spot when it comes to any active hobby.  That place where you are working but you still wake up the next day wanting to do it again.  Everybody has their own level.  I'm not talking about injuries here.  As long as you have the desire to come back, and can come back, if you haven't crossed that "over doing it" line, you'll be okay.

I speak from experience here.  THE CRASH certainly changed my life.  I ride by that spot on the multi use at Overstreet and think "how can that little clay hill have done so much damage".  My hip and knee still hurt.  Of course they may not hurt so bad if I didn't work them so hard at the gym two nights a week.  The pain has become the new normal.  I get paranoid if my leg doesn't hurt.  Psycho, I know.

Peaks of Training

Training Peaks, I love it.  It tells me what type of training I'm supposed to do every day.  I don't have to decide how I feel, I just look at my phone.  The best part is when I've done the prescribed workout it will light up green!  Yellow if I've done too much, and red if I did too little.  Then there's the graphs and data to geek out over!  I downloaded the OMTP to it and even though I've followed this plan for years it seems brand new on TP.

Oh No

It's taken me a few days to write this and I didn't mean for it to be prophetic.  Last night my training partner had a crash on his MTB.  An ambulance was called and he'll be out for a few months (at least).  It was a spot we've ridden hundreds of times, he wasnt' doing anything risky, just clipped a tree with his bars and took a header.  Unfortunately he landed on a large collection of roots.

This of course scares the piss out of me.  I know he'll be back, he's a tough old dude, but just how many rehabs do we have in us?  This cycling thing seems to be more dangerous than moto.  Is it just because we're getting older?  I don't want to take up golf (even though I do enjoy it) yet.  And I'd hate to give this sport up, but it sure has me thinking.

So now he has to deal with the pain and inconvenience of a major injury.  Having to have others do for you.  The scary look into a future where you can't do whatever you want, go wherever you want.  Having to rely on others for simple things.  Then there's the loooong trip back to fitness with all the physical and mental pain that will entail.

In the end it's just another one of life's hard lessons.  We like to think we have control over what happens but that's just a mirage to help us get through the days.  We really just need to be prepared to accept and play with the cards we're dealt.  As they say it's not about what happens it's how you react to it.

Some Direction

I don't know why I feel the need to have a plan in place to train.  I resubscribed to Training Peaks then uploaded LW's 40+ Base XC Plan.  Now I'm feeling settled.  Finally someone (or something) is telling me what to do.  Is this weird?  The process of following a plan is enjoyable to me.  It gives me some direction which results in less stress. 

So I did the LT test last week.  HR number was down 7 BPM which was disconcerting.  But I reset my zones and zone 4 still feels hard so I guess it's okay.  I really hate that test.

I got a head cold the second week.  Fun stuff.  First one I've had since February.

Racing

The Kid and I raced the FSC XC race at San Felasco two weekends ago.  We both managed to win our respective classes.  He crashed and came from behind to nip the leader right before the finish.  I had to work hard to keep Ron behind me.  He was able to stay on my wheel until half way through the second lap.  I don't know why it hurt so bad, the times were slow for both Ron and me.

Practice

Of anything to do with riding, my skills need the most work.  Fortunately the OMTP has some type of skills work prescribed every week.  Is it my favorite?  No.

Anyhoo, last weekend the crew tried to teach me something.  I was not a good student.  Sections that every one else could clean I would automatically just unclip in.  Strange.  Dr. Sworks calls it mental self preservation.   Whatever.  I was the same way with double jumps in moto.  It just takes me a while to get my confidence level up.  But I'm working on it.

Random Stuff

The weather is amazing right now.  Best fall in years!

Why do so many assholes go to my Ufit gym?  Didn't their mom teach them to put their toys away when they were done playing with them.  And my gosh, if there wasn't a mirror close by we couldn't even work out.

Is there any way to stop the white hair that grows out of my nose?  This is something they don't tell you about getting older.

A quote from Rons' wife after the race; "you guys act like you're sixteen out there."  She's right, as soon as that whistle blows I'm 16 again, it's one of the reasons I keep coming back.  

 

A Little Off

The Lovely Wife loves the coast, me, not so much.  But she does spend all those hot days somewhere in the southeast waiting for me to finish racing my bicycle so I guess I owe her.  As they  say, happy wife happy life.

So I have a friend who owns a condo (see above) in San Destin on the bay side.  It's a short walk to all the restaurants and shops in Baytown plus there's a shuttle to take you down to the beach.  I like not having to drive once I get there so it suits me.  No bikes involved on this trip but we'll take some next time since the shuttle was not as prompt as they said it would be.

The views from the eating establishments were great, most of the food was excellent.  All of it was pricey but you kind of expect that at this type of resort.

I am amazed by how much money there is out there in the world.  Like one of my contractors tells me: "Hell, everybody ain't broke".  Lines of million dollar boats, high end cars, not to mention what a place here costs if you buy it.  

While it was mostly deserted (the way I like it) I understand it's full of people during the summer.  Just thinking about that much of humanity converging on those 20 story condos on the beach is enough to give me the willies.

The bay side is beautiful, I'd like to go again when its not 50 degrees with a 25 mph wind.  The beach ,while covered in condos, is hard to ignore.  I imagine I could stand it a couple of times a year, but not during the summer.

Anyhoo, it was fun.  I drank and ate too much.  It took us most of the day Saturday to figure out where everything was and how to get around.  Next time we'll bring more stuff to eat and limit the restaurant time.  

It's good to have a change of scenery once in a while, it kind of hits a reset button, even though I resist it.