Focus

I watched Paris Roubaix last Sunday and was so impressed, as always, by the riders' determination and focus. Especially riders like Boonen and Chavenal, who despite multiple crashes remounted and tried and tried and tried. I know professional riders are human and have issues like a lot of us-financial worries, mental issues (as in Pantani), drug and alcohol problems, relationship concerns-just life stuff. They must be able to put those all aside in a race to be able to pound out 160 miles at high speeds over dusty and slippery and plain ol nasty cobbles. The last 7 months for me have been particularly challenging-finances especially. It is hard for me to get through a day without being bombarded by "downer" thoughts. My training rides and rides to work are often times to go over these concerns. But I can't afford to lose focus in a race. Otherwise I would be off the back in no time. Last night was my 2nd race of the year at Pacific. It was about a 2.5 mile course down the escape route and then up some rollers. A challenging but fun course. When I am trained and in shape. This year my training has not gone as expected though I have ridden almost every day. We raced for 43 minutes with 2 primes. There were about 30 riders in the 4/5s. I was able to ride with the group for the first 3 laps til the first prime at the top of the rollers. Then I got dropped with some others. All I thought about was bridging, catching a wheel. I put it all out there and was able to bridge. The rest of the race was fun as I focused only on the ride-holding my line, picking a good safe line down the escape, then hammering up the rollers. I was so lost in the race that I did not think once about my life issues. Until after the race. But that is okay.