Velotherapy with Zippy

April has been filled with busy weekends and poor weather that have left little time for my own riding. I’ve hit up two races this month: the Copperopolis Road Race the first weekend and the Sea Otter Classic last weekend. Copperopolis was cold and Sea Otter offered me a chance to finally get to see Burke Swindlehurst of TeamGive race. Cheering loudly for him didn’t work, but in fairness, the race looked tough. Maybe if I’d fulfilled my promise of cowbell and pom poms the outcome would have been different, but I doubt it. Sorry T-Bird! I’ll try to bring reinforcements to Nevada City.

Peloton in the feed zone - Sea Otter Classic Circuit Race, April 17, 2010

Upon my return from Sea Otter on Sunday, I ventured out for ride number two with my new shoe and pedal set up (Sidi Carbon 5 Pro and Speedplay Zero purchased for 25% off on Easter Sunday – SCORE!). I crashed and burned immediately. Feeling defeated, cut my ride in half and returned home, wondering if the three months I have to prepare for the LIVESTRONG Challenge is going to be enough.

My first pair of fine Italian footwear

I’ve since realized that my days on the bike are filled with many ups and downs. It just wasn’t a good weekend for me. I was distracted by work, hadn’t taken my meds, and had a three hour drive home the night before. The legs never felt very well. Regardless, at least I tried and that’s half the battle. Who could tell what the next ride would have in store?

In contrast, today was one of those up days. It was a highly stressful work week for me, but from the beginning of the ride, my legs felt amazing. Almost as if I wasn’t putting in any work at all. It's a good thing too, because I was in desperate need of some velotherapy. An hour into the ride, my back started to bother me just a bit, and when I slowed down and pulled right to allow for an oncoming truck to pass an oncoming tractor, I was dropped by a couple on a tandem. That’s when I kicked it into high gear. No, I didn’t catch them because I let them go too far before launching the chase, but it did motivate me to work vigorously. The fact that there were many other cyclists out today was also comforting.

With 41.35 km in my legs from today, I returned home feeling remarkably energized and happy. Gotta love those endorphins! I’m looking forward to an early start tomorrow to catch George Hincapie then returning home for another ride in this amazing California weather.