1. I am not prepared. And I mean that. I haven't gone on a single Peddler/Trinity/fast ride in a year. Whoa buddy. I am not ready for zone 7. All the cycling chicks have been gearing up for their spring speed. I have been trying to get consistent at actually getting on my bike.
2. I haven't ridden my road bike in over a year. This is a problem. I just realized my tires are rotted, the pedals won't keep my cleats secure, and well....the bike doesn't fit me. Oh yes. I forgot. That is why I stopped riding it in the first place!!! I would give anything to be getting out there on my Slice.
3. Shoot, come to think of it, I haven't ridden on the road except 1 time in the past 2 months! Ahhhh!!!!!!
4. I am still tired/hungover from Mardi Gras.
I signed up for this as a kind of whimsical-spur of a moment thing. I have always thought I would NOT like road racing. I haven't liked the attitude (or perceived attitude) of local road racers. It seems so full of ego, with every moment a competition with another person. It is not the type of energy I like to bring into my life.
But on the web, our little crew of blogger triathletes make road racing sound fun. Just look at Ann-Marie....she makes it seem like a blast. Maybe I just need to give it a try and stop being so judgmental!
I saw this little 26 mile race and thought it looked low-key. Hey! Why not just go do it and see if you enjoy the scene? Come in last...get dropped....suffer...whatever. No expectations. I haven't been training for this. I don't ride road bikes. I can't remember the last time I hit zone 4 or 5 on the bike.
I thought it would be easy to just go and do this. After all, I can ride a bike. But, now that I realized I am uncomfortable on my bike and have had no practice, I am not so sure this was such a cute little idea.
Of course every roadie in Memphis is now doing the race, and I feel a little intimidated. It is not that I can't ride a bike. I have very nice bike splits in my triathlons. I can hang with some big rides. I am in pretty good shape considering my lack of specific work. I put in a lot of bike miles last year.
But, I am still intimidated. I am showing up on my big aluminum bike that does not fit...with rusty parts and really heavy stock wheels and tires. Oh, and I have 3 big rings...granny gears!!! Ha ha!!! Plus, I just haven't done the specific work to road race. I am uncomfortable on my bike. I am just not ready for this. (and yes, my TT bike feels and fits WAYYYYY differently than my road bike. There is a reason I bought it! it is like night and day. Everyone loves their road bike. Not me....there's my sign.)
What if people aren't friendly? What if the atmosphere is just not fun for beginners/out of shape triathletes/riders that want to chillax?
It might end up like my first mountain bike race. I chose it as my first race post surgery, and I had only ridden the bike 2 times. I was pretty much the last person to finish, and I had every grandpa in their basketball shorts passing me and telling me "good job. Hang in there sweetie!" I wonder if Saturday is going to be more of the same.
But, I am going to do it anyways. I wish I would have prepared. I wish I would have even just ridden my road bike 1 time before today. Too late! I am getting my butt out there and trying this stuff out. If I am going to come in last, I am going to make a workout out of it. No matter what happens on the road, I still have a brick run to do afterwards where I can redeem myself. And, if you are racing, don't expect me to help a single bit. My a$$ isn't pulling you around when I can probably hardly pull myself around.
Back to reality...back to training...back to racing. As opposed to this past week/weekend, which was far removed from reality.
Sunday- Bacchus
Heading to Bacchus. Behold the sweater- not appropriate for Mardi Gras. Who covers up? There is actually a fun, see-though meshy costume under there, but the one week of winter in New Orleans visited over Mardi Gras. 
Kind of an inside family joke...drinking out of a Kevin cup. 
Good times with the cops. I remember explaining to one of them that while I was certainly drunk in public, I was not being belligerent so it didn't count. Monday- Orpheus
Dave, John, and Brett...all Spring Hill kiddos. Brett was the King of Oak this year (seriously. That cracked me up to learn that). And, he sports the Cajun Reeboks well. 
Getting hooked up with a great crawfish boil. 
Yum!!!!!! Just a normal occurrence in the Big Easy.
Finishing it off at the Creole Creamery. I got King Cake Dough and Dave got Black and Gold Crunch. You just can't find places like this in Memphis. So much for ironman training. :)Part 2 of the Mardi Gras pictures and adventures to come next post. Until then, wish me luck and say a couple of serenity prayers for me:))))))
3 comments:
Oh bike racing is a whole different animal! I try to mix it up sometimes and do bike races and while they can be fun, they can also be quite humbling as the fitness required to do those is pretty much the opposite of what we train for. ;) Have fun with it though. Sit back and watch and learn and be ready to JUMP out of your saddle and sprint on any little incline. That's what they do- they wait for hills and then they ATTACK! ;)
Have fun Damie! I want to know how it goes since I'm contemplating doing a bike race one of these days... Hugs!
You will be fine, but seriously, my first road race went like this..."la dee dah we arent going to fast. La dee dah. WHAT....where did everyone go?" ha. Like MS said they will attack and you will get dropped, most likely unless you are totally up front, so dont get caught off the back looking around.
It's fun. You will figure out how to work with people and also get a great wko but its alot more thinking than you do in TRI :)
Love the MG posts, I asked Kari why shewasnt there and she said she couldnt keep up with all that:)
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