This past weekend I made a short drive down to Palo Duro Canyon to participate in the first race of the TMBRA Marathon series. I had big aspirations to train hard and do more racing following the Vapor Trail 125, but I have allowed my new business to consume more time and energy than I originally thought I was. I’m not upset about this, because I love what I’m doing these days, but now that the dust has settled, so to speak, I’ve got some serious catching up to do. My return to racing actually began two weekends ago when I jumped in a local cyclocross race and got absolutely destroyed. I had that coming, so no surprise. I knew going down to Amarillo would be a pretty good ass kicking too, and it didn’t disappoint!

The weather was awesome, mostly. Sunny skies, temps in 60-70’s, and windy. Very windy. Even though I was mentally prepared to do battle with the  50 mph gusts forecast for the day, my body was not. My body was just not really prepared for a race like this period. Getting back to this level of racing doesn’t happen overnight. Nonetheless, I rode my guts out, overcome tremendous physical pain, and finished in an ok time. Finishing in the money would have been nice, but this was not my goal. I knew it was a longshot anyways with the amount of talent that the large payout attracts. I tell you what, when you set your goal to beat the living crap out of yourself and use a ride like this to kickstart your training again, not only can you enjoy the experience a little more since results aren’t relevant, but you sure as hell can surpass that goal!

The race consisted of three 17 mile laps. At the starting sprint, I got into a nice position before heading into the singletrack and boy were the lungs burning! This lap was blazing fast. A few racers passed me, but I also passed a few more. I was hurting, but feeling good about how things were progressing. Then came lap 2, the lap from hell. The field was spread out by this point and I had no one to trade turns fighting that ridiculous wind. I was exceeding my redline and felt leg cramps coming on, so I had to back way off and let quite a few people pass. No worries though, I know I am a 2nd half fighter. I just needed to reach that nirvana point when enough adrenaline kicks in to overcome the pain. I was cruising along and on one of the descents my front wheel slid out in a loose turn and I went down hard, in a cactus no less. All of those little barbs sure did hurt, but not nearly as bad as the leg cramps that resulted from the impact. No big deal though. Pick those barbs out of your palms with your teeth, do a little stretching, get back on the trail.

I rolled into the pit limping. I stopped to eat some food, hydrate, and massage/stretch the legs. Some lady saw me hurting and brought me some pickle juice, which I downed in a second. That stuff is awesome, and probably saved me. After quite a few people blew by to start lap 3, I mounted my trusty steed refreshed and the real fun began. I like being a wolf chasing down rabbits, and chase down some rabbits I did. I pushed through tremendous pain and demoralizing winds to pick off about 12 riders all the while not getting passed by anyone else. Although nowhere near the ranks or prowess of my former TMBRA days, that third lap was a great moral victory and this trip to the canyon was exactly what I needed to get my butt back on track.

I am looking forward to a few more cross races this year, hopefully a few more of these Texas marathon races, and some hardcore training over the winter. My long term goal is to be in good shape for 24 Hours In the Old Pueblo Feb 15, and to be in exceptional shape come June 15 for 24 Hour Nationals. It will be tough to balance my racing desires with my workload, but it can-and it will-be done.

I really enjoyed being back in Texas and seeing some familiar faces. I want to thank the old captain, James Webb, for letting me pit at his tent and still being one of most generous, laid back persons I know. Thanks to Team Kordestani and all the volunteers for putting on this awesome event.  The next adventure awaits!