You know the problem with having good fitness, or for that matter, bad fitness? Well, not really bad fitness, but feeling bad or not riding well. The problem is that when I’m riding good, that’s all I want to do. It is easy to train hard. It is easy to do anything. But, when I’m riding bad, nothing comes easy. Everyday life is difficult, so it is hard to accomplish any hard task.

I think it has something to do with your blood. I posted earlier, I think I might have been riding better at the first of March than I am now. That was after nearly two complete months of not riding. I know that I have a lot of miles on my legs and I don’t lose form very quickly. But, that doesn’t explain being able to ride at race pace without any racing. Or training at race pace.

Why I think it has something to do with your blood is that when I’m riding well, I can do almost anything physically great. When I have a great day training, I can plop down on the floor and knock off 100 sit ups without any stress at all. But, when I’m riding badly, I might only get to 30 and then can barely struggle to 50. It isn’t a training thing. It is a muscle supply issue. Your muscles are getting supplied everything they need to function properly.

Right now, I”m just going mediocre. Yesterday I went for a 70 mile ride to Lawrence. It was in the upper 90’s and super muggy. Heat index off the charts. I was pretty good until 10 miles to go. I met up with Bill and had to stop almost immediately. I drank a 32 oz. Coke and a 32 oz. Gatorade. I felt better riding into town. When I got home, I weighed myself and was still 9 lbs. light. That was after drinking over 4 lbs. of liquid within the last 1/2 hour. That seems a little extreme. I’m still 5 lbs. lighter than yesterday. Maybe I was over hydrated? Probably not.

The TradeWind Energy Team is off to St. Louis for the Gateway Cup that starts tonight at Lafayette Park. There are 4 criteriums starting tonight at 9:30pm and ending Monday, with a criterium around Benton Park, which is a new course.

I’ve done these races for a long time. On and off since the mid 90’s. The courses have changed up a bunch. They used to be much more challenging. Way more altitude gain, which I prefer. Now, 3 out of 4 are flat, wide open races. I pretty much like any criterium. Well, I’m not big on parking lot criteriums, lined with cones, or park type criteriums, that don’t really have any corners, just curves. But, I don’t like these courses as much as the older, harder ones. I’d much prefer a hard course with technical handling skills required.

Anyway, I think it is amazing how much it costs to race bicycles now. The entry for these races is $159.25. We’re staying at a pretty inexpensive hotel, but it will still be around $80 each for the three days. Gas and tolls have to be close to $40 bucks each. That isn’t even counting food. And equipment. So, $300 for the weekend plus all the stuff that gets worn out or destroyed. That is the cost for the regional Labor Day Races in St. Louis, on a budget. If I had to pay for this out of my pocket, every weekend, I’d have to get a job.

I’m still not going any better than last weekend. I probably shouldn’t have destroyed myself on Tuesday. I only rode an hour today, so maybe tomorrow I’ll feel better. It isn’t supposed to be hot at all, so that is a plus.

I’ll try to keep up to date on the results, etc. I like the late night racing, but not so much when they throw afternoon racing into the middle of it, which is the case here.