The season's dog days

This is an odd time of the cycling season for me. Now that all the main goals for the season are past, it's a little harder to maintain focus and a sense of purpose in my riding. My form is great. The weather is still fantastic. I feel stronger and faster than ever, but a little scattered on rides and even in races. I did a weeknight training race at Pacific Raceways this past Tuesday and although I was very strong, I ended up squandering that strength by doing too much work several times throughout the race. Without the attention to a race strategy that I might of had earlier in the season, I found myself drifting frequently to the front, pushing the pace or chasing inconsequential breaks. Late in the race my lack of focus resulted in poor positioning which left too much ground to make up on the final climb. A further symptom of this time of year for me was that I was not terribly disappointed with my lackluster effort. Earlier in the season, I would have been quite annoyed with myself.

To combat these late season blahs, I generally try to change things up a little. Overall, my training volume might remain the same, but I'll do some longer or more challenging rides during the week and fewer total rides. I might also look for some "fun ride" events to participate in for a change of pace. Last year, I took part in Ride 542, the Mount Baker hillclimb, for the first time. It's a great event for me to look forward to this time of year. It takes place in early September and has participants with all levels of abilities and types of motivations. For many, it is a race and they take it very seriously. For others, it is just a ride and the goal is merely to get to the top. As my motivation lies somewhere in between this time of year, this is the event for me. It is well run event and takes place on a highway closed to other traffic. For more information visit: http://www.norkarecreation.com/hcindex.html. If you like to ride in the mountains, check it out.