One month. Thirty-one glorious days. Till this. I will be going deep, deep, deep into the pain cave. I will be hiding in the hurt locker behind an old pair of gym socks, a jock strap that smells like floor stripper, and a moldy bologna & cheese sandwich. I will be checking my suitcase of courage at the ticket counter, and living out of my fanny pack of shame for about 12 hours. Hopefully less, but probably not.
If you recall, this all started back on Jan 2, with the New Years 50/50. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Well we parlayed that into a century just about every month up through the early summer. Think Ferry-Roubaix, Skyline Double Fondo, Urban 100, and so on. Then it got hot - DAMN HOT! We kicked in the Wed Night Summer Series, and that just showed me I can't breathe this putrid soup they call air around here.
So this is it. The culmination of 8 months of riding, not training, just riding. Ain't no sense in training now. Might as well just get comfy and get some rest.
This race hurts - not just physically, but mentally as well. I've heard it's tougher than Leadville. A few pre-rides have reminded me that the pucker factor is high in quite a few spots. Cheers to everyone who's gonna hang it out there, put it all on the line, and be Champ for a day! There are no losers, only quitters. Hope I ain't one.
