On The Schardar: It isn't easy being green... in Greene County

This past Saturday, April 21, was the Greene County Road Race, just outside of Waynesburg, PA. It was the kind of day that any hardened, battle tested, steely-eyed warrior road cyclist relished, a rainy, mid-April day chilled to a shiver inducing 50 degrees. The course was one of the most beautiful courses for this kind of race on this kind of day too, flat to gently rolling, narrow roads with an occasional small/mid-sized hill thrown in. This is the kind of course and the kind of day I... well, I like to think I thrive in.

As our group rolled out at 12:35 for our 36 mile excursion into cycling nirvana, the pace was friendly for the first four and a half miles. Around that point, there was a sharp, hairpin kind of turn, and right out of that turn, the screws were turned and the race was on full.

Feeling good and "settled in" at 25-29MPH, I was in the front end of the group where all the action was... attack, counter-attack, chase, catch, attack again... good to be racing! About eight to nine miles into the race the first hill came to further challenge us. At the front half of the group we charged up the hill. I blinked. In that blink I went from the front of the group to off the back of the group and losing ground. I clawed and scratched in anger and desperation to stay in contact but the gap was widening with each additional eye blink.

Gone. Gone was the group, my motivation, my impetus. Second road race in a row where I couldn't stay with the group. The next twenty-something miles were spent riding by myself, alone with my thoughts in my crazy head. I pedaled along, still enjoying the light rain and the beautiful surroundings of the course, but coming to an understanding, albeit discouragement induced, that my racing days are over.

This conclusion came from the realization that I'm just not able to get the training needed to stay with the group let alone be able to be competitive at the finish line. Trying to juggle the rest of current life and still get quantity and quality training miles in simply isn't working. I'm ready to retire. It's been a good twenty years.

That evening, a friend, Jay Downs, commented to me that I need to focus solely on criteriums. Haha... yeah, okay. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Criteriums, a race usually around a closed city block, are fast, flat, and are an hour or less in race time. Hmmm... that's what I gotta do. That is the answer. Well, that and time trials which are also under an hour. I can devote just one hour a day of super high intensity training, and I don't even need to leave my house, and can still balance out the rest of life's blessings and opportunities.

Like a crazed scientist, I started working on a "Meth Lab" (Meth, as in Methods Of Suffering), and will for now on be doing my riding and training there, indoors, with an occasional road workout to work on sprints. This should allow me to be pack worthy and hopefully even competitive again, and be able to better my juggling act. We'll see how this will work out and what further adjustments I have to make. I'll miss road races but you gotta choose your battles, and I do enjoy criteriums and time trials, so it's all good. While I was "given in" to the idea of race retirement, I wasn't ready for it. I still have more in me that needs this outlet.