Here we go

I don't have a whole lot to say about the effort this year. I'm excited to go but we'll see where my head's at once I get riding. It's been a rough summer. 3 weeks ago I felt like I was on another level. In the last 2 weeks I pulled something in my neck again, I had a sore throat that has now turned into a wonderful sinus infection, and to top things off, I had a lovely little saddle sore. I took 4 days off the bike totally and was drugged up and slept most of the day while we had out of town guests here (I'm a wonderful host). I used heat and ice on my neck when I wasn't sleeping and it's a bit looser now but still has a tight spot. My cold is on the way out but I still have that tingly head thing going on. And...I can now say that an irritated saddle sore doesn't hurt nearly as much as getting a shot directly in the middle of one does.

I'm still riding off road so my bike won't get the final cleaning/tune until early Sunday morning. I have the capacity to carry 8 bottles of water this year (in ounces...not literally 8 bottles). With 6 full bottle ounces and enough food to last me for 24 hours, I am at 40 pounds. That's at least 8 pounds lighter than in 2009 and I thought that was pretty well sorted.

I'm a little surprised at the number of starters on the list. There are some big names that are missing so they may still show up. The first 6 miles of singletrack are really overgrown and tight so that might be interesting. I have a solid game plan for this year and I'm confident that I can stick to it mentally and ride my own race. My heart rate was sky high on today's ride but that's likely from the illness/recent stress and the excitement of the looming start. If my legs and head are good then I hope to play a few big hands this year. We'll all know soon enough.

Thanks for checking in. Thanks for the support. Talk to ya later.