Been a long time since I've been so pensive about riding. Really busy these days, preoccupied with finding ways to make sure we get to race again next year at these big, inspiring races; trying to find someone to believe in our cause and that cycling is a viable place to market products....and that we're the ones to do it! See? Obsessed.
Having that said, I came across this quote today and recalled with perfect clarity the conversation I'd had with my coach almost two weeks ago; about staying motivated over the winter (when there's signficantly less daylight and fewer races):
Some people train so they can race; I race so I can train, so the all-important workout doesn't get shoved to the back burner so easily. Nothing inspires like knowing you're going to get your butt kicked in the next race if you don't train. The fact that I get my butt kicked anyway is completely beside the point.
-Jef Mallett, a former bike racer and current triathlete and cartoonist. His strip, "Frazz," appears in 150 newspapers across America.
Anyway, I actually stopped pedalling downhill on my commute home from work today. It felt good to coast.
