I haven’t done anything more than ride gently all week simply because I still haven’t recovered properly from last Sunday’s brutalising. Either I’m still exhausted or my body has given in.
I’m trying to figure out which race I should enter on Sunday – the novice one or the HC/All Cats one. The former would involve getting up earlier but might allow me to finish the race and ride in a race I might be able to handle. The latter will probably involve vomiting in a bin before the hour is up.
Or it might involve me clinging onto the wheels of over-eager teenagers with decent lungs and legs, and not full-time employment to restrict their training and rest. This time I plan on beng a lot more aggressive and not playing “after you” with everyone into the corners. No doubt it’ll absolutely shell it down on Sunday as I ride over again.
Rain has been the highlight of my week really. I rode home on Wednesday night with the rain bouncing off the road, my Montane Velolight jacket on my back and the KLF on the iPod, cackling as I whizzed through London getting drenched. Mostly at the feet but not that it bothered me as it wasn’t cold enough to chill.
Part of me loves riding in the rain. It’s the part that knows I’m not going to have to go more than 30 minutes to get home and plonk myself in the bath or shower and warm up again. I like the sensation of it bouncing off me and forming rivulets as it runs off. I love that moment when I am so saturated that I can see the droplets forming on the peak of my cap and dropping onto the stem and top tube.
My legs are still leaden and stiff tonight and that niggling pain in my hip won’t go away. I wonder if I’ve got that degenerative hip thing like Floyd? I’ve tried doing my stretches but I think this one is down to lack of rest – Saturday may well be a full “no bike” day.