A Season of Thursdays

Starting mid-summer I began racing at the Pacific Raceways International series when an Albuquerque friend came to town and drug me out there. I've never been a huge fan of that race but its primarily because its such a trek getting out there. I won that first race and as usual, once you get a few series points you can't help but start thinking of glory, and although making the weekly drive way the hell out there for a 1-hr race was the last thing I wanted, I got hooked.

A few weeks lapsed before I got back out there but I promptly won the next two races and the dream came alive. Actually, its a measly training race and so I find "glory" a hard attribute to give to it, but it was really more of an excuse to drag my ass out for the needed late season training as the baby was drawing more and more near.

I hit full-form in late June and felt unstoppable. I was commonly taking 32-34 mph pulls across the top of the raceway and was riding away from the peleton and dudes were just hanging on. During the first 4-5 races I nearly swept the top spot each time and on at least 2-3 occasions I rode away from the field and did the majority of the race solo and off-the-front. Then I started cramping. I used to never cramp but later in the season it starting happening more and more, little by little, no matter how much stretching I did, how much I warmed up, or how many bananas I ate. Was I chronically dehydrated? A couple times a Cat 1 stud or Pro turned up giving me a run for my money, and though no one ever rode away from me in one of these races I was duped for many of the primes and I only managed to garner a few points. I was nearly skunked on one occasion but eeked out a meager 1-point, and it was only then that I thought I might not be able to catch the series leaders who'd been doing this series since the beginning of the season.

As cyclists we often have to cultivate a unique sense of a race by mulling it over. And over. We have to delve into the intricacies of the race and our inner terrain in a very personal and in-depth way, by exploring our sensations during each "move" or attack, how we responded or were unable to respond, and if we were able to overcome or if we succumbed to a better racer. Its an important part of the race, just as the pre-trip preparations and anticipation are an important aspect of a vacation, and so I want to set down some of those musings from memorable races of this season while these scabs are still fresh and susceptible to infection.