A while back I posted about my off season strategy and stated that: “I could easily deceive myself into thinking that I did a pretty good job of keeping myself in shape, over the off-season. A deception that will surely burst like a toy balloon on April 21st when I plan to strap on a number plate for the first time this season, and go head to head with my fitter and faster competition in the WVMBA series.”

Well, the balloon has burst. Not to say that I consider myself in bad shape, just that all the guys who’ve been faster than me in the past, are still faster than me. I crossed the finish line in 6th out of 8 Expert Masters at the WVMBA Big Bear Lake race — par for the course. Then at the WVMBA Coopers Rock shindig I finished 5th of 5 finishers (one guy DNF’d) but still proud of the way I rode, despite the fact that Matt Marcus and Scott Root must have been flying, as they both beat me by over 25 minutes. Hats off to those guys (they take off-season training seriously, and it shows).

At least I had a cool Specialized Epic Marathon Carbon dual-suspension test bike to race on. That made my body feel a bit fresher, and saved the wear and tear on the old back.


The racing felt good, in a “blow out the carbon from the pipes” and/or “hacking-up-a-lung” sort of way. Still, I think I’ll take a bit of time off the racing circuit and get in some long solo training rides on the road bike before I throw down again.