The Scene Begins

Noooooooo. That is what I was thinking as I started my climb up Deer Creek canyon today. It was supposed to be my final hard training ride before starting to rest and taper down to State Championship race next weekend in Salida. After feeling totally invincible for the whole month, my legs totally SUCKED today. No power left – zip, zero, zilch, nada. I crawled up the road before turning around. I was afraid this day would come sooner or later. Question is, just a one-off, or something more persistent?? Time will tell.

I also have a huge knot, about the size of a golfball, in my right calf. I’ve worked on it for hours, but it shows no signs of letting up. Man, talk about a bummer. My confidence was at an all time high, and I was eagerly anticipating a great result in the race. No more.

I don’t know if I overdid it, or what. I did a hard effort up High Grade a couple of days ago, and started to get a cramp in my leg after the ride – right where the knot is now. I didn’t think a thing about it at the time, I’ve had similar things happen before – but without lasting after-effects. Yesterday, while riding at Cherry Creek, I took a pull with 3 others following me and held 28-29mph for a two mile stretch. I was going good and was even able to win the sprint from a guy that had been sitting in the draft.

I don’t know what to do now. Should I ride? Rest? I’ll probably do a combination of both, along with plenty of massage work on the knot. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down to Salida…

One piece of good news is that I’ve been sticking to my diet plan pretty darn good. I was up to 162 after my June binge, and am back to 157 and dropping. That 5 pounds has made a big difference.

It’s been almost unbelievable how good I’ve been feeling this month. I can do no wrong on the bike. Since feeling good at the race several days ago, the legs have just been getting better and better. I’ve had several teammates comment on the improvement in my climbing speed – I’m just telling them that it feels as though my legs have finally caught up with all of the training I’ve been doing for the past several months. For most of the year, I’ve been a case of more lung than legs. Now the legs are catching up, watch out!!

I even broke my record on High Grade tonight. 53:46 is my new best time. That’s a good 10 minutes faster than my very best ride (out of multiple attempts) last year. Nice!