Ted's ability to waste time...

The Ronde van Palouse ended up being a shell game for me.

I most certainly do not mean a “shell game” in the respect that I was trying to trick my fellow racers into thinking that I was not feeling well…that I was feigning weakness…

…nope I got shelled.  Quickly.  Abruptly.  But that is not the type of shelled I’m speaking of.  Yesterday I realized that I am a shell of who I used to be on the bike.  What a difference a year makes.  One year ago I was killed at the Ronde van Palouse but a lot of that was due to an untimely flat.  Once I finished the race I drove 5+ hours spent the night in Tumwater, WA and raced over 90 miles the next day and felt really good doing it.  Yesterday I was spat out the back of the peloton before the race really started and after 8 miles of a group ride today I pulled the plug and rode home.  Like I said what a difference a year makes.

I can’t stress enough that the Ronde van Palouse is a brutally hard race.  I thought I was ready for it, but I was not.  In retrospect my poor performance is probably due to racing the Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic last weekend and a hard ride this past week.  Realistically it’s hard to come back after what happened to me a year ago.  I’m not going to belabor that point too much.  The amount I train is not like it was a year ago.  I ride less.  I train less.  I hate the idea of training in traffic.  It freaks me out to ride in traffic.  Oh well…I need to get over it and I’m hoping the passing of April 15^th helps me with that. However, I’m not an idiot.  I know the date means nothing and the reality is that there will be no magical “closure” that happens because a year has passed.  But a Man can hope…

A brief report on the “race” and I use that term lightly.  Racing occurs when you are with others and competing against them.  I probably rode 65 of the 71 miles by myself…in the wind…in the hills…in the gravel…by myself…I might as well have been doing a brutal training ride.  Yet, I finished which is a lot more than I can say for others who did the race.  If your idea of racing is sitting in a peloton all day and “hiding” form the wind or your competitors then the RVP is not for you.  The RVP is a hard race.  It’s not only physically tough…but mentally tough as well.  I quit it many times yesterday.  In fact, I quit bike racing as a whole many times yesterday…but I still finished the race.  The wind was brutal.  The course, although no big climbs, has no flat spots either.  You are always going up and into the headwind or a crosswind but always some type of damn wind.

I’m a big science dork.  I like to analyze everything. People who really know me would say I overanalyze everything.  I downloaded my data from the race and was shocked  at what  I saw.  This was the hardest ride I had done in three years.  No wonder I hurt so badly.  The amount of work I did?  Over 3200 kJ.  Think about that for a second.  When was the last time you went out on a Saturday afternoon and decided to burn 3200 calories?  What. A. Fucking. Idiot. I. Am. 

Normal people do yard work or go shopping on their Saturday.  Me…I did the Ronde van Palouse.  And even after my misery that I endured yesterday, the time I spent in the 10^th circle of hell known as Rattlers Run road, and the self doubt I possessed…I know I’ll be back again.  And I suggest that you come race it too.