Clearing the mind, soul and body - Recon-style

Yesterday I planned on pre-riding the course for the upcoming Highland Forest Classic only to be foiled by a flat tire on the car. This deflated, so to speak, my motivation for riding even though it was a beautiful day. Chris generously came into the city and hauled me around to fix the tire. But everything happens for a reason, right? 

In this case, I needed the ride today to defrag my brain. Lots of stuff's been going on and I needed the solo bike time. Funny thing is that just when I begin to lose my faith in things, people, generally speaking, surprise me. For instance, even though I was feeling particularly anti-social today, just about everyone I saw in the parking lot stopped by the car to ask me a question or just said hello and enjoy your ride. One was a fellow MINI owner who informed me he could get his road bike with the rear wheel on in the back of the Clubman.

Once on the trail, I cranked Big Whiskey and rode hard. It felt really good even though the trails were a mess and I spent a good deal of time guessing where the race route went. Eventually I figured out to follow the red surveyors tape and things went smoother. I bombed through sections that typically on a first ride I would have taken much slower. It was kind of a nothing to lose ride, which usually result in fast times and cleaning sections that I typically would walk. The race should be interesting as there are some seriously muddy sections that will likely not be any drier next Sunday. I rode two laps, just like the race will be, and finished the 13.5 miles in just over an hour and a half.

Once back at the car, the civility continued as someone in charge of the race stopped me to ask what I thought of the course. I didn't tell him I thought some of the sections were going to be erosion nightmares but I did say that overall it was a good course with a decent mix of flow and technical trail. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the bike and taking an inventory of things I need to do to get ready, including buying new cleats for my shoes. I was unclipping in sections where I really didn't want to be doing so.

I am looking forward to my first race of the 2009 season. I am feeling confident and pretty fit (relatively speaking), especially since this morning's ride was with no breakfast and a slight hangover. Maybe it was the liquid carbs that kept me going strong today.