Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Monday, June 19, 2006

Another race, another broken rib. Actually, I think it's the same one. I was racing so well too. Half a mile from the finish. The rib wasn't the pisser; the bent rear derailleur was. I was able to finish but in messing around with getting the chain to work right I was passed by a guy and I didn't catch the one guy I was about to catch. Of course, the lack of wind in my right lung may have impeded my ability to chase the guy down too. Anyways, I did manage to finish 8th in a really hard race up in Helen, GA that had a ton of climbing. My form is actually pretty good right now if I can get myself to breathe deeply. The pain doesn't seem to be as bad as last time as I actually landed on my right shoulder instead of my right side. In place of the extra rib pain I have soreness in my neck, right shoulder and right quads (I'm watching House Season 1 right now, can you tell???). This is apart from the pain I have in my hamstrings due to the extremely hard effort of the race. My legs haven't hurt like this since last year's state time trial championships. I love that feeling.

Here's a quote to that effect:

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks." Scott Martin

The next race is this weekend on a hard course down in Macon again. I wonder if I'll be ready. I'm going to do a time trial in Union City the day before but I've got to find some time to pre-ride the course. I'm told it's hard and technical and has no rhythm. Just exactly not my kind of course. But I'm sixth in the Georgia Championship Series and I hate the thought of not trying to hang onto that. A lot may come down to the weather. If there's rain I'm definitely staying home. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll pour and I'll have an excuse.

On a related note, the Tour starts soon. I'm starting to get excited. I wasn't going to get excited this year. It's not that Lance retired. To begin with, it's the whole crap drug thing. First the allegations that Lance used EPO that seems like a total witchhunt now and then the whole Spanish Operation Puerto that has taken down two teams so far and threatens to end Spanish cycling as we know it (and maybe soccer too). The other part of the problem too is that there really isn't an American team to root for. Back in the day I could root for the Postal Service team because it was an American Team run by American guys with an American sponsor with mostly Americans riding American bikes. This year the only American tour rider is George Hincapie. The CSC team has more Americans riding the Tour with Julich, Van de Velde and Zabriskie and an American sponsor on a cool North American bike. I want to root for the home team but who is that? Is it Phonak or Gerolsteiner with their American team leaders with a good chance to podium? Is it the American owned team with the international media sponsor? Is it the Danish team with the Italian team leader but lots of Americans riding in support on those really cool bikes?

Anyways. I'm getting excited because the Tour's wide open in a way. Lance is gone so everyone thinks they have a chance and everyone thinks everyone else has a chance too. Ullrich, the almost eternal pretender, has one more shot. He gets beat again and you can put a fork in him. There's some motivation for a guy; last chance to write a legacy. Basso's trying to do the double but can anyone really do it anymore or has the level gone up to too high a level without the type of doping Pantani did? Is Floyd Landis really that good when the race is more than a week long? He seems to have the cruel, heartless, competitive nature of Hinualt and Armstrong but does he have the form? Can Leipheimer step up that last extra notch? And what about Vino? Can the crazy Khazak restrain his attacking nature enough to avoid the bad day he always seems to have the day after he goes on one of his attacks that shatter the rest of the peloton? If Lance isn't there is there anyone who can limit the damage so that the following bad day costs Vino the race? So many great questions. Do you think someone will be willing to take over my life for about three weeks while I geek out over the Tour? I need some cooking and cleaning along with a little yard work. Any volenteers?

Thanks for Reading.

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