I've Come A Long Way

I have to say first of all that although I didn't finish my 24-hour ride the other day I am proud of doing 175 miles in under 10 hours after only being able to ride for 15 minutes at a time when I started training in December. I thought when I started riding again this year that I'd be mediocre at best and would use this year as a base for serious racing next year. So far I think that I'm following that schedule as I've been decent enough in races this year, nothing spectacular yet, but I've also finished every race and have improved all year long. I've decided also to join a team for the rest of this year and next year and will be riding for Team Wisconsin (www.team-wisconsin.com) for the next 2 or 3 races and for 2007. They have a new sponsor coming on for 2007 and have a Masters team that I think can be pretty dominant and I'm looking forward to being a part of the team. I looked at a few different teams and Team Wisconsin seemed to have more of a presence at some of the races, they have an attacking style that I like, they have multiple riders that will be upgrading to the Masters 1/2/3 category within the next year so there wouldn't just be one or two of us toiling away in the races. Team tactics aren't so important and not really necessary in the 4/5 races and even in the Senior 3's races, but since the Masters 1/2/3 races are run together we will be going against some well organized teams, some great riders, and will really need to utilize the gamut of tactics in order to do well and win some races. I feel we can line up with 4-6 really good guys and could be a team that dictates a race. I'm really looking forward to a full 2007 season, should be really fun!
Anyways, as far as riding goes, I didn't ride yesterday although I should have, but I just needed to get some rest as the long ride left my immune system a little compromised and I now have a bit of a cold. My throat hurts, my nose is plugged and I have a constant sinus headache. I pretty much figured this would happen, as the body shuts itself down to repair from the riding it really leaves itself open to sickness. I wanted to ride with the Velocity guys today but feeling the way I do there is no way I'd be able to go fast at all and really don't feel like getting dropped on a training ride today. I need to recover so basically I'll be going out to do about 30 miles at a really easy pace so that I don't tax my body anymore than I need to in order to recover. I'll see how I feel tomorrow but I should be doing about 40-50 miles tomorrow and about the same Thursday. Friday will be a rest day and Saturday if I'm feeling better I will possibly try to hit up the Drop the Doc ride. That's about it for now, time to run errands and do some housework. Until next time.........