Heads Up:
Before I get to the details, I’ll give you a heads up. As a citizen of Planet Earth you have the fundamental right to vote. So exercise your right – find the poll down below & vote.
The Details:
Well, on the day of the San Ysidro Dirty Century (Sat, March 26th) I woke up without my “A” game. More importantly – I woke up without my grove on. The day started out rough – at 3:45 am a situation occurred (and reoccured) due to a reactive mix of El Pinto Roasted Green Chili, Dales Pale Ale Hot Sauce and egg burritos. (The dinner of champions, Friday night.) It was all downhill from there. Yep. All downhill. (Or was it all uphill? What a weird Saying.)
Before I get to the details, I’ll give you a heads up. As a citizen of Planet Earth you have the fundamental right to vote. So exercise your right – find the poll down below & vote.
The Details:
Well, on the day of the San Ysidro Dirty Century (Sat, March 26th) I woke up without my “A” game. More importantly – I woke up without my grove on. The day started out rough – at 3:45 am a situation occurred (and reoccured) due to a reactive mix of El Pinto Roasted Green Chili, Dales Pale Ale Hot Sauce and egg burritos. (The dinner of champions, Friday night.) It was all downhill from there. Yep. All downhill. (Or was it all uphill? What a weird Saying.)
The end result – my race pace was slow. My legs felt like logs and my motivation was low. Due to the slow pace, and other issues, I decided to head back to Rio Rancho once I arrived at the Natural Gas Pumping Station, around mile 56. Yep, I didn’t Roll on out for the Cabezon Loop. I’m lame. But I did some quick calculations: Last year the conditions were brutal – I finished ~ 7:25pm. (The 2010 SYDC Race Review, if you don’t believe me.) This year – the conditions were perfect, I was on pace to finish after 8pm. No thanks. I’m smarter than that.
Some Hypothetical Excuses – Just for Fun:
So thats that. I’m not going to bore you with reality; we all know that reality is boring. Let’s have some fun with the plausible excuses that I could use in my alternate reality. Yes, I define reality and Back of the Pack Racing operates in this alternate reality.
So thats that. I’m not going to bore you with reality; we all know that reality is boring. Let’s have some fun with the plausible excuses that I could use in my alternate reality. Yes, I define reality and Back of the Pack Racing operates in this alternate reality.
The set of excuses – Which one is best?
- No wind, no challenge, no Interest. Hey, how can I be motivated to complete the entire SYDC if there is no challenge. Well, I could put the hammer down and make it challenging. But I only put the hammer down when there is a Back of the Pack Championship on the line.
- The NCAA Tournament games started around 2:20pm, I think. I had to make it home to the couch and the big screen TV.
- I sprained my wrist Friday night. Yep, I was ‘forcing’ on my new Chunky grips on ‘Sheep #3. I reinjured my wrist. Original injury due to Power Cleans in a Crossfit workout.
- My separated shoulder is not fully healed. Yep, I separated my shoulder doing Power Snatches in a Crossfit workout.
- Complete Boredom brought me down, mentally. I had no riding buddies to converse or ‘race’ against. Why was this?
- The Lt Col: The dude was busy making Pasole
- The Morale Chairman: The dude was planning and preparing for an engagement party. No joke, jokester
- Prob-eee: Prob-eee was busy being Prob-eee. Yeah. We all know what he was doing.
- Rhino: Hell, Rhino lives in Arizona. What do you expect?
- I had to make it back to town: I was surfing the ‘net’ on the long haul out to the NGCS, I arranged a hot date with a foxy mama, via Fitness Singles, of course.
- I had to race home so I could ‘dog sit for The Morale Chairman. Remember – he had an ‘engagement party’ to plan and attend. Yeah, Marshall and Maybell are my best friends in the whole wide world.
So, What’s the Best Excuse, Dude!
The Video of White Mesa
Remember these important points: a) I ride fully rigid single speed, I’m obese, I’m a grinder. So the ride is rough and the video is rough. b) The video is all footage of downhill sections. Refer to a) for an explanation why. c) The video is long because I like Korn AND I wanted The Padre to see how I was abusing his Black Sheep. Yes. I’m a good son. Actually, a very thoughtful son.
White Mesa – some views during the 2011 SYDC
The Boring Data:
82 miles sure isn’t 123 miles. Believe it or Not.
Just a View of the Track
The White Mesa Adventure
Surprise of the Race, Yeah Right:
I was talking to Big John Studd at work the other day. (Recall, we ‘found’ Big John Studd while out on the Cabezon Loop a few weeks ago. The Post, Dude.) Big John said he was just out for the ride. Not really interested in putting the hammer down. Well. The gun went off at 7AM, Big John Studd put the hammer down like there was no tomorrow. Never trust a senior citizen when he says “I’m just out for a ride”.
The Reality of it ALL:
Ok. I’ll be serious. Maybe. Yeah I didn’t feel great during the 2011 SYDC challenge. But that’s not a real excuse, not an acceptable excuse. I probably would have dug deep and finished the entire course if I had someone to hang with during the Cabezon Loop. Like last year.
But I did come away with an interesting theory. All the super freaks (I use that word in the most positive way possible – seriously) seem to tackle the SYDC as a series of short races. Yeah, like 4 races. A complete SYDC circuit goes by the NGCS 3 times, thus break up the SYDC into 4 short races with race mileage of 25 / 32 / 41 / 25 miles. I constructed this theory because all the super freaks are riding with zero gear. They must have minimal tools, carry ONLY enough liquid for short distances AND they definitely refuel at the NGCS.
I had a similar but less efficient approach last year when The Morale Chairman met me at the NGCS. This year? No Morale Chairman. Therefore I was packed for survival. My pack weighed around 20 lbs. I had enough gear to survive the night and survive the course – just for fun. Actually, I wanted to gain experience carrying gear and ‘survival stuff that I may need for the upcoming bike packing adventures. Well. I was prepared for survival but I really think this approach slowed me down and made the adventure much harder than it should have been. (Recall, my statement above. Slow pace led to my decision to bypass the Cabezon Loop.) So, next year I WILL figure out how to ride light, ride fast, and finish. Maybe.
Ok. I’ll be serious. Maybe. Yeah I didn’t feel great during the 2011 SYDC challenge. But that’s not a real excuse, not an acceptable excuse. I probably would have dug deep and finished the entire course if I had someone to hang with during the Cabezon Loop. Like last year.
But I did come away with an interesting theory. All the super freaks (I use that word in the most positive way possible – seriously) seem to tackle the SYDC as a series of short races. Yeah, like 4 races. A complete SYDC circuit goes by the NGCS 3 times, thus break up the SYDC into 4 short races with race mileage of 25 / 32 / 41 / 25 miles. I constructed this theory because all the super freaks are riding with zero gear. They must have minimal tools, carry ONLY enough liquid for short distances AND they definitely refuel at the NGCS.
I had a similar but less efficient approach last year when The Morale Chairman met me at the NGCS. This year? No Morale Chairman. Therefore I was packed for survival. My pack weighed around 20 lbs. I had enough gear to survive the night and survive the course – just for fun. Actually, I wanted to gain experience carrying gear and ‘survival stuff that I may need for the upcoming bike packing adventures. Well. I was prepared for survival but I really think this approach slowed me down and made the adventure much harder than it should have been. (Recall, my statement above. Slow pace led to my decision to bypass the Cabezon Loop.) So, next year I WILL figure out how to ride light, ride fast, and finish. Maybe.
The Summary of the Summary:
Well. I’m doing OK accepting my failure in the 2011 edition of the SYDC. Life goes on. Some days you have it, some days you don’t. Weird thing happened to me on the slow ride back to Rio Rancho. My A$$ was a bit sore during the 1st 5 hours of the ride. Not like chaffage sore, but like broken A$$, bruised tailbone sore. (I’m been dealing with this problem for a month or so – another weightlifting injury?) At about mile 60 the pain became unbearable. I was thinking I should just walk it in. But 22 miles would be a bit of a walk. Anyway. I’m thinking I’d still be out on Cabezon if I decided to go for the gusto.
See, if you think hard enough you can JUSTIFY quitting. Ok. There is no Justification. Quitters Quit.
Man, I better fix this problem or learn to ignore it. I’d hate to add another excuse to the list in my Alternate Reality.
The Picture, Dog Sitting:
Uh. You want to change your vote above. Dog Sitting. Of Course
It’s funny how Maybell and Marshall love to Hang with The Judd
It’s funny how Maybell and Marshall just love to terrorize The B.P.R. Morale Chairman
BACK OF THE PACK RACING 