Thursday, August 30, 2007

Shadows Fall

Well, no getting around it. The 24 looms and the nerves will inevitably rise. My day at work today was long (12 hours) and boring which did not help. So I am going to try to ease my mind by putting up a few thoughts on the race. First and foremost I am racing this year for FUN! There will be far more people that I know this year than the previous three, thanks for your friendship people! I feel like this will help me feel less like I am suffering through something alone and if I can stay awake past 10 hours I will have support in the knowledge that someone out there is in my corner. A reminder that I will be 42 in October should also serve to ease the anxiety of trying something big. You're only as young, or old, as you think you are, right? The tale will be told from my butt first, as that's what hurts the most round about 3:00am. The hands also have something to say as a little bit of my old friend Arthur is known to hit the hands from time to time. Last year my fingers were "ghost shift/braking" for 5 hours after I stopped racing at about 11:20. Twitching in the thumb and index finger. Another big battle for me, and this one is a bitch, is the guilt I always get for feeling like I'm out there having all this "fun" and ditching my responsibilities as a dad and partner in my marriage. Not that the boys or Kelli care. They'll have their annual movie party and stay up as late as they can at home. Dad who? I guess I can let it go and get over it. But I will not quit racing or trying, and certainly there is a point when I will say, "Hey, this is what you chose to do, get after it you puss!" Once that threshold is stepped over I will be O.K. I just hope it comes at about 1:30 p.m., not 1:30 a.m.! On the technical side of it, I will have my poor man's 29er under me and hope that it ho;ds me through the race. If that fails I will have the KHS in the pits, as well as my GT. Note to self, FLAT KIT IS READY! Last year my lap per hour pace was going great until consecutive flats in the dark blew my head apart and i slept for 6 hours! Not looking for gear problems this year so I am not going to talk about it. Rigged up a redneck tech item today. It is a syringe that I will put chain lube in. Put 10" of tubing onto it and zip tie the syringe to my frame and the end of the tubing to the front der. On the fly lubing of the chain! I could have used this in the last two years as my chain began to dry out and shift performance tapered to crappy at best. No mud this year though, so I may not need it as badly. Kyle Sedore was kind enough to stop in at Redeker's tonight and says that the back section between the bridges may have to be cut out this year as the bigger of the two bridges is about 300 yards down stream and may not be in place at race time. You must respect the work it takes to prepare for this event from the other side of the bars. These guys put in crazy efforts and time to make this happen and deserve all of the respect they can hear from us, so let it out and give these guys a good word when they're around! Expect dry and fast otherwise. I believe that I can do a lap per hour on a shortened course, so I am looking for high teens to twenty for my goal. Something to shoot for. As long as I eat enough I will be fine. If you knew how I eat though you might be amazed at that statement. I eat non-stop and without a plan most days. I am a nervous eater for sure. So I am loaded with convenient food and will not try to go crazy on "power food" or gels and the like. Two years ago I tried noodles, and granola bars, and oatmeal. Great for a Sunday at home, but not so great when you don't feel your hands anymore and can't stop long enough to make a snack. Not worried about that end of it this year, so not to dwell on it here. I can always call Kelli and beg for a Taco Bravo or a Snack Wrap! "Godfather's, do you deliver to Seven Oaks? Sweet!" See you there! Later!

4 comments:

Paul said...

I look forward to running into you! We will have a great times.

I hear ya on the father/husband deal.

Unknown said...

See you soon brutha:)

Peace

B I D W E L L said...

Great Post!! Good luck at Boone!

Mike Johnson said...

Best of Luck!!