Perspective

I needed some of that yesterday. Up until Tuesday afternoon the plan had been to go race at the Barking Spider down in Boise yesterday. Pack up the car Thursday morning, then hit the road with the phillie later that day. Enjoy the scenic drive along Highway 12 and 95 down to Boise, spend the night at a college friends place, race on Saturday (hopefully do well), then drive on home through the Sawtooths on Sunday. Instead I answered the call of duty from gubment, and got a gig with the Census folk. No racing, less riding, more working, probably the ultimate buzzkill for someone in my shoes.

Instead of racing yesterday, once work was done, I headed up in the Rattlesnake on a solo trip with the bike and some water. I rode, plain and simple, no need to bore you with details like trail names, or times, I rode, rode some more, kept riding, and then I rode home. Highlights of the afternoon had nothing to do with how I felt while riding, or how fast I felt, but rather ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE OUT RIDING MOUNTAIN BIKES!!! It was great to see such a large group of people out there, doing something that I think is one of the best activities on the face of the earth. So yeah, I would have loved to race yesterday, but just getting out and riding on a sunny day was good enough for me.

To make it all better, a little wing spot here in town was having customer appreciation day. Free chow and 4 dollar domestic pitchers make me a happy boy under any circumstances. When I get to go right from a post ride shower to this event, makes me even happier. Who cares if I ate a whole bunch of shitty food, and sucked down a bunch of cheap hooch, completely negating any sort of gains I may have obtained from my ride, I'm not racing. Finally big ups to the Big Swiss Train today at Roubaix, thanks for two phenomenal classic rides, you have reminded us all why the Classics are the best, and everything else is just filler.