After the racing debacle on May 5th at the Ridgleline Rampage, it’s time to put the racing numbers away and focus on some summer bikepacking. Yes, it was only one race. It could happen to anyone.
But…
It’s not about giving up racing, it’s about choosing priorities. After a lot of reflection and getting over the frustration of the race, I realized that I simply don’t have enough time to dedicate to training for bike racing.
Would I love to race? Certainly. But there are other things that I love more and they come first. You can’t do everything you want to do. I’m still a competitive person and it will be a struggle to ignore the desire to race. After all, I was the kid that played board games with my stuffed animals and got extremely upset when they beat me. It sucks to get beat at Parcheesi by a stuffed monkey and alligator.
Fun on the bike
Bikepacking allows me to be on the bike and enjoy the ride. More fun and less stress is something that I could use a lot more of these days. Bikepacking also provides the option of taking my kids camping using either the tag-a-long or the Burley trailer. We’ve done a few trips with the Burley, but I’m hoping to try out some tag-a-long bikepacking trips to see if it’s a manageable setup for 2 people’s gear.
With the bikepacking focus, you can expect to see more product reviews, crazy gear ideas, and more on the improved setup for 2012. There are also some new bikepacking shirts in the Pale Spruce Cafe Press store.
The Cafe Press products are something that I’m considering doing more of in future posts. My writing may be suspect, but it’s fun to try and dream up goofy images and text for shirts and stickers.
But what about the marathon?
The marathon in late September is still a go. It’s going to be a personal challenge instead of a race, but it will require some structured training. How do I rationalize the structured training in the same post when I rid myself of racing and the stress of training for events?
Good question. There may not be a good answer for that. One good thing of having a marathon training plan is that it will force me to get out for long runs and enjoy the beautiful Colorado scenery that I don’t always look at as much when cycling. Never thought I would say that running was better than cycling for anything.
Stay tuned for the bikepacking focus and also for updates on the marathon training. Here’s to hoping it can be structured training with a dose of fun in it.
