Another week goes by.

So here was the decision:
A. Wake up at 4:00 am drive 3 hours, find parking, maybe have enough time to warm up, hopefully find the one teammate I had in the race before the start, then race against a field that probably contained like 40 dudes from XXX racing. Then I would get to drive home trying my hardest not to pass out.

B. Go drink Miller High Life and Tullamore Dew at Mike n' Molly's then ride my mountain bike with Nick all day Sunday.

As I am sure you can gather from my phrasing, I chose option B.


Its weird that this is an abnormal situation for me this summer. I was registered to do the Chicago Criterium on Sunday, but as the time approached, the logistics just seemed too complicated. This was also coupled with the fact that I didn't know hardly anyone who was going to be there and that I wasn't really feeling that excited about racing in general.

I think I might be finally suffering from a bit of burn out. Luckily for me, almost all August has to offer are MTB races and fun stuff like the Mesa Cycles St Louis Urban Assault Race. I think August couldn't have come at a better time.

As for not racing over the course of a weekend? I think it was a success. I hit the trails at k-poo Saturday and Sunday. Nick and I were accompanied by a first timer- John Henry. He was predictably slow. I took advantage of this and doubled up on a few tough sections like the new downhill/ climb. There is one obnoxious switchback that continues to have my number...

Sunday Nick and I intended to head back for some fast ~1 hour laps. This did not happen. Both of us were feeling fairly tired. On top of that, the mechanical problems kept piling up. I had 2 flat tires (only had one tube with me) and picked up a stick of about 1 inch diameter in my rear wheel. Not fun.

Nick had some chain dropping issues and a couple nice ending up a long ways from the trail and bike crashes.

Sunday was not a win. I am sure that reaquainting myself with hangovers this weekend didn't help matters.