Year End

20" of snow in Wisco right now

It's been quite a while since the last update, been quiet a while since the last race too. There hasn't been too much really going on in the excitement department to talk about really. The last races in Bend were 3 weeks ago and it almost feels like last season. I'm still not excited about this huge gap in time between the end of racing and nationals. If there were some good races it would be one thing, but really all I've seen are a few random local races around the country in warm climates and that leaves the rest of us out with not much to do.

2012 most painful ride = frozen
 

I will say that after 3+ weeks of not racing I am feeling anxious to go and that is a good thing. We got a ton of snow here about two weeks ago, and the temps have been in the mid 20s ever since with a few more days of 3-4" accumulations so it was more or less mandatory trainer time. The one day I tried to go out it started snowing and after 20 minutes the roads got wet and an hour later I rolled up the driveway completely soaked and frozen. Undressed, redressed and back on the trainer for the remainder of the workout. Usually I ride the trainer 1-2 months in February/March as I am getting into shape so it's a bit painful, but riding it in December after 8 months of riding is a different feeling. I am good at riding the trainer and I do it enough each season to have a good routine. I got right back in this rythm when it snowed and now 3 weeks later I am feeling some good effects of my scripted workouts which basically include some for of warm up, interval, tempo, and cooldown. It makes 2hrs go by pretty fast and the last 4 days I have done 9hrs on the trainer without much problem. I seem to get some good sensations after a bunch of weeks on the trainer too so hopefully my fitness got a boost and maybe in Chicago this weekend I can blow things out a bit and get a little speed just in time for nationals. I guess without racing it's hard to know but at least I am not shattered like I was last year right now and I feeling better with each ride and not worse.

 

Did anyone catch this picture of Nys holding the prize check from a race earlier this winter? 12,500 euros is a ton of cash - there is a reason he is still racing at 36 if he is making this much bank each weekend. That is just prize $$$ too, on top of endoresments, startmoney and a paycheck - that is some serious money making for bike racing.