Velo Club Moulin

Sunday 24 May 2009

back to square one..

I think I may have been jumping the gun just a wee bit with my previous post. Re reading it makes me smile and realise how hopelessly optimistic and naive I've been.

To cut a short story shorter, my first race back lasted all of 10 minutes. It took me 10 minutes of 'racing' (read sliding backwards through the field) to realise that I was in no condition to race.

Who in their right mind would enter a crit race hoping to be a protagonist and finish well up, against roadies who have been racing since March, with a cold in their chest, coming off 10 days of mountain biking which had run them down again, still with a throat infection and swollen glands..??

That would be me then..

I'm frustrated. Frustrated that I've not been able to shift this pesky virus for the last 6 months, frustrated that I've repeatedly run myself down yet carried on trying to train and frustrated that it's taken me entering this race for me to realise that I need to stop training, rest, go back to the doctors and get this thing sorted properly.

Finally the penny drops that the most effective thing I can do right now to be in any sort of shape for the cyclocross season is to stop training, rest and recuperate properly. That's a hard one to swallow, especially for someone with bicycle disease, but swallowed it finally has been.

Things were put sharply in perspective though on the way home from Dumfries. We passed by two separate motorcycle wrecks being dealt with by the emergency services on the Moffat to Broughton road. I hope the riders involved are ok. What it made me realise is having a bad race, missing some training and not getting to the level I wanted to be at this season with cyclocross, isn't such a big deal in the grand scheme of things..

Sorry for letting the VCM side down!

6 comments:

missMac said...

Most people would've submitted to their ailments and not bothered to race, but alas, you suffer from a two wheeled addiction that most of us are stuck with too. Take the bitter pill and let your body recover. A well body is better in the long run.

Markdubya said...

You have not let anybody down bud. You sound Like you are suffering the same way Johny was last year with his virusy thingy.

Just get yourself better, the bike will laways be in the shed waiting for you and if you do go out for a spin, enjoy it and dont treat it as anything other than a ride and not training.

chrisD said...

chin up young gun, I'm only just seeing the arse end of my chest infection from new year. go to the doctors, I avoided it and set myself back weeks.
your health is paramount, you're no use to anyone sick!
I sound like such an old duffer, see you at Nocturne for some folding bike heckles:-)

martysavalas said...

what's that last bit about, eh? moderator! MODERATOR!

:)

dRjON said...

rest and then come back roaring...

andytrailfettler said...

good advice all round, thank you.

Went to the docs today - had a swob on my throat(gag tastic!) to get tested, more blood tests tomorrow.

rest is going well! just want to sleep lots!

looking forward to watching the nocturne. allez, allez, allez!