As I sit at the coffee shop on Masters' Sunday, I can't help but look ahead to next weekend, as I race in Indianapolis on Saturday and Ann Arbor on Sunday. I've always struggled to live in the moment and take one day at a time, but I suppose anticipation is the spice of life.
I rode outside for the second time this year on the road, and it wasn't particularly cold out. A little nippy, but my mindset is always, "cold is just a state of mind." I've trained pretty hard on the turbo this winter. I started with Bkool but Zwift seems to be the preferred software for training inside. Based on my limited experience with indoor cycling training software, my opinion might not be the best to focus on.
I had a very strict plan before the new year and into January, and stuck to that religiously. I had one bad ride on a long day, and that kind of fell off. I took a couple weeks off and now I'm riding mostly workouts and long rides on the 'Tour of Watopia'. I finished stage 2 at 9pm in 45th out of a little over 450 places, I fought very hard for that top 10%, and that fight breeds confidence for these early season races coming up. This winter is the best preparation I've had for the season ahead, I feel it could have been better however. Isn't is strange how something can always be better? Perhaps that isn't a great mindset to have.
I have 4 or 5 races planned for April, which I have never done before and I am a little apprehensive, as I've never done well in early season races. I rode Melting Mann a couple weekends ago on a tandem with my old boss at Pedal, Tim, and we got second place in the tandem category, a result I'm very proud of! This is the first result I've ever had in a spring race, usually I'm popped off the group almost immediately.
I've had some good rides inside this winter, and today's ride outside wasn't too bad. I didn't feel particularly strong but I also didn't feel bad. I went and did a lap around BTR and that felt nice and fast, I'm very much looking forward to these races coming up!
I'm a firm believer that confidence plays a huge role in cycling, it's all in my head, I have the fitness to stay competitive in a race, my fitness will only improve with time, and the entire season shouldn't be based on these two races.
With my enthusiasm for this weekend, I can't help but feel a massive boulder of anxiety hanging over my head. This is the first year ever that I'm really looking to make a scene in the road races, in races that aren't very local at all. This is the first year I'll be traveling for a race, and I feel like a bad result in either race this weekend will ruin my confidence for the rest of the season; in which my season only last until about the end of June as soccer will start and that will take up my time.
My goal this year is to move up to category 4, as right now I'm category 5 (the category everyone is thrown into when you first start racing). I feel like that will by my first step in becoming the cyclist I want to be. I think having goals is a very productive thing in reaching where I want to be, and the hopes for this season are sky high!
I suppose for now, I'll just keep my anxiousness balled up for a week. Hell of a performance and comeback from Man United this weekend, first time all year the team has shown some fight and heart, too little too late unfortunately; the hopes for next year are sky high as well!
I'm also hopeful my writing will improve when doing this! I know things are all over the place and there really is no organization in this piece. I was at the coffee shop with someone and mentioned how my thoughts in this blog are all over the place and she said, 'you talk like that too, Charlie'. I wonder if that will ever change? It's not a bad or good thing, it's just a thing.
Cheers! CE
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