Torn Between 2 Lovers, Feeling Like a Fool

Spent last weekend at Cyclo-Cross Nationals in Kansas City, Ks. This is the "Big Kahuna" for the racing season, cyclo-cross wise. I went to spectate, cheer on & assist my friend Dr. Mike. Mike & I have been crossing for years, probably ever since we have known each other from the late 80's. We have also raced cross together at the National level several times, last being in Napa, Ca. in 2002, when it rained 24 inches over 72 hours. I still have mud in places that I don't even know I have yet!

Here's the start of the elite men's race. Dr. Mike's race the day before was 19 degrees, 20 mph winds, overcast & quite frozen for the spectators such as myself. I will be back next year, competing at Nationals for cross-bragging-rights. National podium? Probably not, but cross is a blast, and one of the things I really miss about cycling. Where else can you race for an hour, on & off road, get loaded up with so much mud and grime that you have to take a shower at the self-serve car wash, get hypo-thermia, break some really expensive bike parts and come back the next weekend to do it all over again? NOWHERE! It's like the movie "Fight Club" but on bicycles, you know, Mischief, Mayhem, Soap. Watch the movie, you'll understand.

So, back to reality, and more grueling VQ workouts at Coach Stan's last night. Stan-O had done his scheduled workout earlier in the day, as to not let The Badger & I see the massive amounts of power being distributed by his quads in watts, and place us in the mere mortal category, mentally deflated like a cheap balloon that you get at the county fair.

The Badger & I have 10 VO2's to do, at 1 minute each, with 2 minutes recover between each one, followed by 17 minutes of grinding out 200+ watts at 50 rpm. They are hard, like an iron worker in a midwest winter. The Badger has caught his seasonal second wind, and does not break a sweat. The Turtle on the other hand has to apply physics, strength & muscle to bear through, due to lack of leg length, conditioning and really good looks. Once I dug into my suitcase of courage, I was able to increase my resistance on the computrainer by a fair amount.

My friend "Pain" dropped by to pay me a little visit, and spread some words of encouragement. He did a good job. He then left me with a parting gift, a direct deposit in my "pain" bank account.