the big comeback
http://www.strava.com/activities/102222239
my 10th bike ride for 2013, not even adding up 350 miles for the year. this as opposed to a usual 6,000 miles a year and about 120-150 rides a year. i did 2 bike races and DNF'd on them both. no reason, really. just didn't feel it and walked off the course. made up some bullshit "mechanicals" reason to my friends and went home.
funny how my life turned into a big "intervention" when i put away the bike. i still get "glad to see you back riding" emails when i post a ride to strava, even. under different circumstances i would get it but it was never like i was just sitting in my apartment getting fat. i was out running my ass off almost every day and doing a trail race every few weeks anywhere between 15 and 50 miles.
i could give several reasons for leaving the sport, and all of them would be true. (to me, anyway). but a big part was as a road cyclist and one that races on a small team, there were just too many personality clashes that were overshadowing everything else. cycling can be very committed and it gets a little too easy to take it too seriously. as i was and so were a few people around me. just had to bail and get it out of my system for awhile.
ironically, i bought a new bike a couple months ago. a used single speed 29er. seems the itch is still there. while i got totally burned in road biking, i missed my old friend "mountain biking." where it all started. i haven't really raced (or ridden) mountain bikes very much the last several years but i started out as an endurance mountain biker, doing 12 & 24 hour mountain bike races and i had been missing that for awhile. they can be a little time consuming in training, racing and traveling so i just kind of let it fall to the wayside the last few years as other life responsibilities began to take hold. i don't know, maybe now's the time to revisit this. seems like i might have left some unfinished business out on the trail back then. and you guys get to bear witness to the big comeback 2014.
my 10th bike ride for 2013, not even adding up 350 miles for the year. this as opposed to a usual 6,000 miles a year and about 120-150 rides a year. i did 2 bike races and DNF'd on them both. no reason, really. just didn't feel it and walked off the course. made up some bullshit "mechanicals" reason to my friends and went home.
funny how my life turned into a big "intervention" when i put away the bike. i still get "glad to see you back riding" emails when i post a ride to strava, even. under different circumstances i would get it but it was never like i was just sitting in my apartment getting fat. i was out running my ass off almost every day and doing a trail race every few weeks anywhere between 15 and 50 miles.
i could give several reasons for leaving the sport, and all of them would be true. (to me, anyway). but a big part was as a road cyclist and one that races on a small team, there were just too many personality clashes that were overshadowing everything else. cycling can be very committed and it gets a little too easy to take it too seriously. as i was and so were a few people around me. just had to bail and get it out of my system for awhile.
ironically, i bought a new bike a couple months ago. a used single speed 29er. seems the itch is still there. while i got totally burned in road biking, i missed my old friend "mountain biking." where it all started. i haven't really raced (or ridden) mountain bikes very much the last several years but i started out as an endurance mountain biker, doing 12 & 24 hour mountain bike races and i had been missing that for awhile. they can be a little time consuming in training, racing and traveling so i just kind of let it fall to the wayside the last few years as other life responsibilities began to take hold. i don't know, maybe now's the time to revisit this. seems like i might have left some unfinished business out on the trail back then. and you guys get to bear witness to the big comeback 2014.
