Rest, satisfaction, alarm clocks and fun

Rest weeks are kind of tough for me. I know that my body needs and responds to time away and off the bike, but part of me still wants to be riding. I would even go so far to say it needs to be riding. The need stems from my my own restless mind getting satisfaction and peace from having the body worked over.

I get a little stir crazy sitting around . . . . well maybe not sitting around; I've been keeping busy with all sorts of things around the house: being a new dad takes up a lot of time, getting the yard work done, completing a flagstone path, working in the garden, washing screens to go back into the windows, washing windows, wrenching on bikes, cleaning up in the house, doing laundry, etc. So I'm busy, but while I'm busy my mind is thinking about the bike. Usually it's thinking about missing riding on the nice days, day dreaming about the trails, thinking about how I am getting slower cause I'm not riding (yes, yes . . . I can hear all the self proclaimed coaches out there saying, "You get faster while you rest." . . . . . but I'm just talking here), thinking that I'm getting fatter, and telling myself that I really should be out riding, and so on . . . .

It's not somewhere you'd want to visit by yourself, my mind that is . . . bring a flashlight and a club.

So, to keep myself busy I've been prep'ing for the O-Cup that's taking place at Albion Hills this weekend. Been getting the bike ready, packing up my stuff, reading the threads on it over on MTBR.com, and even watched a video pre-view of the course. The video was good to watch as I am not going to have an opportunity to pre-ride the course, putting me at a slight disadvantage to southern Ontario riders who live on it's doorstep. (I will also be using this as an excuse as to why I didn't win). Apparently there are some new trails and changes. I'm looking forward to riding it - Albion is fast, flowy and a lot of fun.

I also packed enough alarm clocks to wake me up this time.

I haven't ridden at Albion in almost two years (did I say that the other day?!). And I haven't raced an O-Cup since 2004.

When I first got into racing it was for all the wrong reasons. I don't feel much like going into them (cause it's late and I'm lazy and it might be good blog fodder for later in the week cause I'm out of ideas cause I'm not riding), but needless to say, I really didn't enjoy the experience. So why go back? Different frame of mind. Racing over the past couple of years has all been about fun. If I'm not having fun, I'm not doing it. Now fun can also be a self-depreciating, self-hurting act which I seem to get some sort of satisfaction out of. Fun is different for everyone.

Speaking of hurt, I am going to get my ass handed to me. I was checking over the list of single speed riders who did the last O-Cup at Mansfield two weekends ago and there are some speed freaks. Thank gwad I placed third back at Uxbridge, cause I don't stand a snowballs chance in hell of coming even close to a podium for an O-Cup.

But then again, it's not about winning . . . .