I never know what I’m going to get this time of year. Depending on the race and travel schedule, how the races have been going, and when my old friend Fatty Fatigue decides to show up, August can be a blast or a bit of an extended boot camp.
Just like every day in life is different, every season is different. For example, last August I was feeling quite spry and chipper. Training was going well, I was sleeping great and the travel schedule just didn’t feel particularly demanding. Even the hard stuff felt easy – I loved doing intervals, prepping for the races and polishing of tough training days.
This August is pretty different. I wouldn’t say it’s at the complete opposite end of the spectrum – I’ve definitely had years where I didn’t even want to look at my bike let alone get out on a training ride. For those years, just riding 5 blocks to the coffee shop sounded daunting. I hate it when it get’s that bad…I do, after all want to continue to like riding my bike and enjoying my job! Right now, I still love my bike but I do think I am a bit tired.
We just got back from Europe a few days ago where my two World Cups weren’t quite what I was hoping for. I’ll tell you, when it’s hard, it’s hard and these races just felt REAL hard. There’s no denying that bike racing is super challenging and there are more tough days than easy days. If you’ve made it to the top of the sport it’s because you’re pretty resilient and learn from these tough races and bounce back. I certainly learned a few things in these past couple of weeks but I’m not going to lie to you, for some reason that last trip sort of took it out of me.
Now, it’s August 2010 and in contrast to August 2009, I’m feeling like the best way to finish of the year is to have some fun and listen to my body which thinks super long training rides and intervals sounds like no good. There are only two races left the last week of August and the first week of September – World Cup finals in Windham, NY and World Championships in Mont Ste Anne in Quebec, respectively. The domestic races are all wrapped up but I’ve got a couple of cool things to focus on in the next three weeks.
The first thing is a brief trip to Vancouver to visit lululemon and to attend their ambassador summit. lululemon has long been one of my favorite clothing companies – they make some of the most outstanding yoga/running/technical apparel, PLUS their clothes are super sexy and stylish so why wouldn’t I want to wear it? So, this year I actively pursued a relationship with them and we clicked right away. The super bonus is that they happen to be one of the coolest companies I’ve ever worked with. They have a huge involvement with the community and are are very supportive of their “ambassadors” – athletes who range from yoga instructors to elite athletes. The company works with these ambassadors and their personal advocacy missions. Also, they love and listen to feedback which goes back into that awesome clothing equation.
The ambassador summit is a demonstration of their involvement and extreme coolness as a company. This 2 day summit is all about meeting new people, goal-setting, and being, well, awesome. I absolutely CANNOT wait…plus, for the first time in FOREVER I don’t have to pack my chamois! I leave tomorrow – it’s going to be a lovely short break from the bike!
After this, I plan to support Jeremy at the Leadville 100. This is Jeremy’s first time racing this event and I’m pretty excited to ride my moto around to the feed stations. The race is going to be the most stacked it’s ever been – Lance, Todd Wells, Levi Leipheimer, Dave Wiens to name a few. I’m also excited to watch the other 1600 racers push their limits and achieve amazing personal goals. I’ll also be tweeting regularly from the race so if you want to know the grimy details of how much the boys at the front are putting the hurt on each other.
I for one will NOT be doing Leadville – I just start to get real cranky after about 5 hours on the bike which leads me back to the third thing I have to look forward to in these next few weeks….riding my single speed. This August is all about keeping things fun until the restful off-season begins and for me, that means setting out on exploratory missions in Winter Park on a machine that is so simple that I can just turn my brain off. Pedal, stand, breathe, pedal, stand, breathe. With this approach, I just might like riding my bike enough to get to the coffee shop in September and even New Zealand in October….
Thanks for reading