Changing Seasons

WARNING: This may be the most masturbatory post in the history of this blog.

Inspired by Alex's season recap, and my modest desire to be a real athlete, let's take a look at this past ski season and the upcoming mountain bike season.

Ski Season:
CSU Sprints: 6th/40ish
Jackson 30k: 13th/100ish
Flying Moose 20k: 15th/80ish
Stowe Derby: 46th/300ish
Rangeley 50k: 39/80ish
Inferno: 3rd/30
Sugarloaf 50k: 21st/70ish
Gunstock F1: 3rd/20ish

Tuesday night sprints: 6th, 8th, 6th, 10th, 2nd, 4th, 2nd.

This year's ski season was vastly different than last year's -- this year I trained less, rested more, and raced less. The result was skiing way better than last year, and skiing way worse than if I trained year round, or even just fall-round.

But you know what? Fall is cross season. I've already done my time trying to be a fast cross-country skier, and I'm not. I have no intentions of scrapping cyclocross just to be a slightly less mediocre skier, so I'm pretty happy with conjuring up a respectable ski season with very limited time invested. I had fun, and if you read the right cycling blogs, I also did some "great cardio workouts" and "built aerobic base."

It's a good thing I did that, because I sure didn't ride a trainer/rollers very much. You know why? BECAUSE IT SUCKS. The cycling season runs from April to December, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I can catch up to all the hardcore types by the time it really counts (September).

What am I going to do before I race bikes in September? Why, race bikes, of course! The mountain bike season is a scant 8 days away, which means I'm only 9 days away from my first over-reactive 60-mile L3 training ride. I don't intend to take mountain biking super-seriously this year, but since it involves pedaling we can probably pull up some goals:

1) Top 3 at a Root 66 Race (last year: best finish, 5th). Last year I got my ass kicked all over the 19-29 Expert series. The magnitude of the beatdown didn't really come through in the race reports (usually), but I was a bottom-half racer with a few exceptions. I was basically in just-happy-to-be-here mode since I never expected to be an "Expert" when I started Mtb Racing back in High School, but I have a feeling that this year I would like to actually race, and possibly not break my bike. Thus, goal: make a top 3. There's a lot of randomness in attendance, and some of the guys are wicked fast, but I could do if I get lucky/get a lot faster.

2) Ride a 400km or longer brevet. Just to say I did it. Also for +1 roadie cred -- I have to do something if I don't shave my legs.

3) Break 4:00 on Eastern Ave. I'm not real big on measuring fitness because it seems kind of not-fun, but having a ridiculous goal on Eastern Ave (starting as low as possible and hitting the water tower intersection under 4:00) seems like it might make that stupid hill slightly less agonizing. Last year I don't think I ever got lower than 4:18, so this is a huge stretch. On the other hand, guys like thomp or ryank who have actual power at their disposal can probably blow that time away -- and since having some power for cross season is the primary goal of this whole "biking" thing... I'd like to break 4 minutes.

4) Get reasonably involved with my (alleged) new team. If you think this one's a gimme, then you obviously don't hang out with me in real life that much. Linnea will know what I'm talking about.

5) Don't get hurt, and have a kickass time. That's all there is to it. Or, if I do get hurt, hope it involves a) a good story and b) something that heals quickly.

See, I told you it was masturbatory. The great thing is that it's also a setup for an August "Mtb Season Recap/Cyclocross goals" post that will be JUST AS NARCISSISTIC AS THIS ONE. I can't wait!