"Don't bite off more than you can chew."

Should have thought of that before volunteering to paint our kitchen. I haven't stepped outside for two days now. Fill cracks, sand, fill again, sand, fill cracks, sand, vacuum ceiling, walls and base boards, wash down ceiling, walls and base boards, let dry, tape and put down drop clothes, prime walls, let dry, paint first coat of trim and base boards, let dry, paint second coat of trim and base boards, let dry, cut ceiling and walls with paint, roll first coat, let dry . . . .and so on. Somebody shoot me. This is supposed to be my March Break - shouldn't I be somewhere warm and sunny?

Upside: it's a recovery week, so at least I'm busy and not going crazy doing noth'in; the weather has been crap - lots of rain - whooo hooo - get rid of that salt on the road and melt that snow; once I'm done, I'm free.

Had a moment off from painting on Tuesday to swing by the Moose to drop off my wheels to be re-laced - would have attempted it on my own if I had the time, but too much painting to do. When I'm done, I want to be able to get on the bike and hit the road. Won't be putting the Desalvo on the road until it's nice.
Have decided to add one more mtn bike race on to the schedule: the Uxbridge Icebreaker on Sunday, April 1 - I'll be doing the long course (50km) on the single speed - good training!
Also considering adding one or two road races. Never have done a road race before, but have wanted too. There is one at Mosport and one at Calabogie.

Racing has always intimidated me me. A couple of years ago I did a few Ontario Cup, Quebec Cup and Canada Cup races. Lining up at the start line I always felt like I was going to puke. Was nervous and tense - they weren't much fun. Took me a while to realize that. I put so much pressure on myself - if I didn't do "this well" then I'd look like a failure, what would people think, and everyone would know that I was a terrible rider. With an attitude like that, how could it be fun?

I think riding & racing last year changed for me. It became fun. I'm only competing against myself out there and it should be fun. I'm not a pro athlete challenging for fame or fortune. I've come to the realization that I'm not going to go far as a professional cyclist - too late for that. But I can see some pretty cool places, meet some awesome people, get in shape, ride new trails, and have a blast doing it. It's not racing anymore for me, it's riding real fast . . . . for fun!