End of Season Blues

You know how it is, one month you are riding high, feeling good, then you look down and see that the season is done. That sorta happened to me last week. There are races left, but I also took on the task of starting back to school this semester, and I am feeling the effects of English coming on quick. Paper after paper. Not that I have a problem writing or talking, and if all the assignments were bike related, check please on the 100!!. We all know though that is not how it goes, and the papers are sometimes on topics that lead me to believe that the proffesor is trying to stir the proverbial pot. I keep telling myself, "Just get thru it." but I tell you, I would rather do hill repeats at threshold.
So here I am on the last week in September, reflecting a bit, sulking a bit, and looking at the bike wondering if I want to ride or not. Reflecting is a good way to see where you were and find out where you want to be. One thing I found out about myself is that I was putting way too much pressure on myself in the past. This season, I stepped back from the team and raced for myself. This allowed me to look at the schedule, look at the budget and find out which races suited me, my style of racing and my budget. There were times when I may have scheduled a race, but financially something came up, and we could not go. What this taught me was that sometimes you just have to know when to say no, and go on about training and riding. I learned patience this year as well, being by myself made me think a lot about everything I did in races. It paid off early with a win in the Spring series, followed by another win in Columbia, sc. My biggest month was last month, and I had some of the best results I have posted to date since upgraded a couple of years back to race Pro 1-2.
Now looking into next season, I am back with the team, but the understanding that now I can better race with the guys knowing my strengths and also my weaknesses. Also knowing that I can only do what I can do, and no more.
Next season I hope that the Friday Night Fights will be back bigger and better, well at least better and more numerous, getting bigger is not always better in the american bicycle scene, and as long as we keep things affordable and fun, I think the future of the series is good.
Until next season....

HUMP