Two Weeks of…
Posted by mattcrane | Filed under Uncategorized
My legs are starting to regain their form after California, but not as quickly as I would like! With such a hard tour coming so early in the year, I have been feathering the edge I gained from 8 days of heavy pressure to avoid finding myself cracked in a month’s time. To achieve this, my first week back at home involved nothing but easy spins, a few days off, and LOTS of food. However, simple tasks like navigating the grocery store without bumping into people have been slow in coming back to my stage race addled nervous system.
(Homemade pasta night and my sandwich making skills)
After a respectable snow storm hit Athens last week, my girlfriend (yes, the devoutly single Crane has been captured and bound, but happily so) and I fled to Florida for a few days of warm weather and spanish moss before driving to a local stage race for the weekend. A few days of easy km’s in the sun with arm warmers rolled down for a bit of tanning, some prime dirt roads, and good local cuisine all helped move things back on track nicely. However, on Thursday’s ride my body wouldn’t or couldn’t-or maybe I’m just soft-put out the energy necessary to make the pedals move. I told girlie to ride on without me (yes, I voluntarily dropped myself on an easy ride) so that I could noodle home with the pedals slack and the pace my own.
The next day I felt better on the bike, but decided all the same to call off racing for the weekend, especially as my motivation and desire to race were as deflated as my ego. However, later in the day I really felt like myself again, and was full of piss and vinegar to get the legs going again and race regardless of having an inexplicably crappy ride, as my legs had been good the day before. With a continuous finger on my pulse and an open ear to the inner workings, I was able to pick up safe cues to pin on a race number, as my energy levels felt high, the pulse was literally strong, and my head was ready to go. So onwards to Regions Bank race weekend in scenic and sprawling Albany, GA!
I must have made an accurate assesement, because I was able to win the prologue on my road bike by a good margin, thus setting me up with win #1 of the year, and giving me a good boost of morale. A few other factors hindering me in the race contributed to this feeling of well being, but I won’t list them for fear of gloating. Anyway, the rest of the weekend went well, and with super teammate Phil Gaimon helping to control the race, I was able to make nothing but offensive moves in attempts to win, while he took care of all the defense action. Thanks Phil! I didn’t win the G.C, but we did a good job holding our own after being relentlessly worked over by everyone else taking a stab at the pros. So some good training, and the legs are opened up again, although I’m still pretty tired, so a bit of caution this week is in order.
I’m back in Athens now, and enjoying the beginning of spring. Been reading lots of Calvin and Hobbes, buying a barbeque today, and then having a coffee ride. When I come up with things to report, you’ll hear about it here!
Be Well or Better-
Crane
4 Responses to “Two Weeks of…”
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huffyusa Says:
March 10th, 2009 at 6:15 pmyou don’t have a girl friend. Murphy doesn’t count because I already choose him!
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phil Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 7:26 amword
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thek2 Says:
March 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pmwhat’s her sign?
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Hellen CLARK Says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 amI like your blog and wanted to say keep up the good work. Do you plan on posting more soon?
