I enjoyed Thanksgiving break with family this past week. Aside from lots of good food and conversation, two important things took place. My brother and I took to the bush (the deep woods, for you non-hunters) after our second Thanksgiving dinner at Dad’s Saturday for some feral pig hunting. I’ve been practicing with the bow Colleen bought me for my birthday and felt confident enough to head into the woods to lethally shoot an animal. This would be my first opportunity to test my abilities. My brother Jarred is good friends with a fellow that manages some land in east Texas that currently has a bit of a hog problem, so he let us in for free, which is nice usually considering most land owners charge $75 or more a day. The hike to the tree stand was muddy and otherwise uneventful. By the time I was settled in it was dark, and I was beginning to worry about my ability to shoot something in such low light. I had equipped the bow with some red LED headlamps to give me enough light to see the peep and sight on the bow, but I did’t have a night vision spotlight to shine an animal with. However, it was nearly a full moon out so I just decided to wait and see whether I had a good shot when a pig came along. About a half hour into the stakeout, something came up from behind. It was a doe. I much rather would have shot that doe than a stinky pig, but she was behind me and I didn’t have a hunting license (you don’t need one for feral pig if they are on private property and they are destroying property), not to mention that it was past legal shooting hours for a deer, so I just watched as she walked on by. It was cool knowing that my presence was undetected, and it been a legal shot, I might very well have taken it.
After that, it was a boring but nice 3 hour wait til a large herd of grunting pigs came along, again, from my rear. I could turn just enough to see the varmits, but not get a shot. I went ahead and turned on my sight lights and got and arrow nocked. Then, all of sudden, those elusive things must have sensed trouble and high tailed it back into thick, muddy cover. About the same time, I saw my brother’s light heading back down the trail from his stand. He hadn’t seen a single thing and was ready to hit the road, so that was the end of our trip. Despite not bagging a pig, it was a good experience and I will definitely be back for me to fulfill my destiny as a Caveman.
Second, there was some cross racing going on in Dallas Saturday and Sunday. Colleen went off early in the morning to finish her first ever cyclocross race and had a blast. My turn came at noon. Having decimated the 3/4 field on a SS last season, I vowed to never race that category again, and true to my word, I entered the Pro/1/2/3 category. The blistering pace from the start was expected, but when it didn’t let up after 15 minutes, and I fell to last place with little chance of catching the next guys up, I was hit with a pretty big slap in the face.
Burnout. It’s what happens to an athlete when they push their bodies too hard for too long. As I dropped further and further back, and pushing the only gear I had hurt more and more, I completely had the sense that all the racing I’ve done this year, the 24 hour race, and everything since then, has finally caught up to me. There’s not much you can do at that point except pull out, and take a much needed break.
The decision not to race Sunday was a no brainer as I helped Colleen pack her gear and we headed off to Dallas to participate in her race. I didn’t even bother packing my bike. It’s interesting being on the other side of the fence. Usually, she is the one tagging along with me for support and to spectate. Those duties were all mine that day! No registration, no suiting up, no warming up, no spilling my guts on the course for an hour. Just chillin on the other side of the tape and cheerin’ on my baby. There were no regrets, just joy of a different kind, especially since Colleen looked much smoother than the day before and had a great race.
Work on the website is slow, but steady. I’m reading an awesome new book that will factor in heavily to the new website content. I’m thinking sometime late next week it’ll be up and running, so keep checking back.
Thanksgiving is over, but let us not forget the true spirit of the holiday, and always count our blessings, not our problems. I’d like to leave you with the wise words of the Haudenosaunee “Thanksgiving” Prayer.
I was surprised to not see your bike in the truck since I figured once you got out there you’d race. I had the most super greatest bestestestest support out there and really started to learn my way. Your support and hints kept me smiling the whole time.