22 January, 2007

3 months


So last night I looked at this years race calendar for the first time. I have exactly 3 months to get myself into, hopefully, the best shape of my life. A totally achievable goal that I will attain, and if it doesn't happen by Lincoln plating then there is another month to monumental to progress my fitness a lot more. However, the race I care the most about, for obvious reasons, is the Papillion Twilight Crit. I am really looking forward to that race. I had originally planned to have a pretty aggressive race calendar this summer, but I'm not sure that will happen. I will do my best in whatever races I do enter. My two main goals for this year are to win one race and to cat up. I know that I can attain both of these goals, and I am putting in the work to get there. I've done pretty well on the trainer lately, and have definitely done a good job at keeping my diet under control. That suffer-o-rama video is definitely my new favorite workout. I might have pushed myself a little too hard last night, i called Ralph right after, but its all for the betterment of myself. I put up the pic of Millar because I do really respect him as a cyclist and honest human, and I look forward to seeing him win some races this year. Below I found a letter to the editor of velonews and thought it had merit and it made for a good quick read.

Editor:
As it would appear that nominations are already being accepted for male and female cyclist of the year for 2007, I would like to take a page from Time magazine and make my own nomination: You. Yes, You.
You deserve to be the male or female cyclist of the year (your choice). You are riding your trainer in the winter and getting in those before- or after-work rides during the season so You can best the other riders in Your club to that city-limits sign. You aren't inserting the name of sponsors into every conversation because You aren't sponsored, and You are actually buying your gear with money left over at the end of the month because you actually have a regular job (going to school counts as a job too).
Does anyone care if You are doing performance-enhancing drugs? No! You're not even being tested, because You're not making money from this sport (and since You're not in it for the money, why would You dope?). So there's no chance that You will be tested positive and further sully our sport's already seedy reputation.
In fact, You are enhancing our sport by participating in it, by supporting the bicycle industry (from manufacturers to Your local bike shop), and by showing the non-riding population out there what a real cyclist is like. You give to this sport, and the sport is the better for having You in it.
You, not the professional cyclist, are who makes this sport great.
So that's my nomination, corny as it may be.
John Hodge Grand Junction, Colorado

No comments: