Taking It Easy...Sort Of.

Well, sorry for the lack of posts lately but just been really busy with housework, landscaping, etc. on my sabbatical. After my last race at Whitnall Park on Wednesday, the 12th, I just kind of took it easy to recover from the 3 days of racing. Obviously feeling disappointed with my results I just decided to stay off the bike for 2 days and didn't ride on Thursday or Friday. Saturday I rode for about an hour at a pretty easy pace to Whitnall Park and back, about 16 miles, so yeah, I averaged 16 mph, it was that easy. Sunday I did a more difficult ride and went to Muskego and back via Tans Rd. which was fun since there is a nice 1 mile long climb that gets steep near the top and really burns the legs. I did this route in anticipation of the race that I was supposed to do on Monday, the Holy Hill Road Race, in order to get the legs primed and ready to go. Ultimately Monday morning when I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready to race I decided my head wasn't in it and I figured it was better to stay home. I didn't ride at all and did about 10 straight hours of work around the house and worked on my landscaping which I have to say was probably harder than the race as after about 3 hours of digging holes I lost about 1-2 lbs. of fluid in the 96 degree heat. Later in the day I checked the results of the race and saw the announcement that a rider had been killed during my race as a result of a collision with a truck. My heart sunk and I was just stunned by the news. I didn't recognize the name but when someone.... anyone.... even those that you do not know, lose their life so young, it's really disheartening and very hard to imagine what their family is going through. My prayers go out to the family of Aaron Bieberitz and I hope they know that the cycling community is very close and we all carry a heavy heart today. I've been struck twice by cars while riding and was able to get up and ride or walk home. I know what it is to be "lucky", as either of those days could've been the end of my life, I wish the tragedy that happened yesterday could've been....would've been Aaron's "lucky" day.....God bless Aaron and his family.