Rain Out....

I don't really care what the calendar says, to me it is April. Rain a few days every week, cold temperatures, wind, overcast.... these are classic Spring days. They are also the reason I love summer, and want to move to the desert. By the time May rolls around this kind of weather should be out of here, right? Haven't we had enough of this weather since October?
The Masters of MX Series race at Blue Diamond Park in Delaware was cancelled due to weather Saturday. Its funny how much something like that thorws off my schedule. I was all packed and ready to roll Saturday AM and I checked my mail to be safe... cancelled. I can definitely understand because running a race is a lot of work, and you want people to show up so you can get paid for your work. With heavy rain Friday night, and a bad forecast it is bound to keep people at home. I personally would have raced regardless. MX is new to me so I have that enthusiasm you get with something new.... it is a new challenge. I wouldn't like getting my KTM wrecked with mud and water, but it is only a bike right? Its funny what racing a mountain bike for 15 years does to your sanity, isn't it? The last race I did in the mud I kept saying to myself... its only 20 minutes; what are these guys complaining about? Sure its 38 degrees, but I am not wearing a skinsuit! Its not 4 hours in knee deep mud pushing your bike like previous NORBA Nationals I have done; Seven Springs, Snowshoe, Helen, Mt. Snow, Hunter Mountain, Red Wing, I have dome them all. How about 1995's 24 hours of Canaan?... I know I am dating myself with some fo those names, but I was there for them all. But I digress...
When I get a break from my routine I don't know how to handle it. I spend most of my time working, training, and racing. This means packing bags for morning workouts, commutes, evening workouts, races, etc... I have developed an amazing ability to pack work clothes, and not need an iron. Once I had a convention here in Baltimore and I rode to work 90 minutes in the rain with 2 suits in my messenger pack, stayed downtown overnight; then commuted home the next night. Nobody could believe I didn't drive down in my iron box and pay $23 a day to park. People don't understand what its like to be a working athlete using every free moment to train so you can compete at a high level. The funny thing is once you break that cycle, I don't know what to do. Saturday I basically decompressed.... I ordered some clothing for my new training service cycling team, caught up on some other stuff for starting a website, and slept! I slept until 10:30.... it was like someone had given me sleeping pills! I have been getting up at 5:30am to swim and train since March, but this is the first break I have really had. The funny thing is that I didn't do much of anything! For someone that is always looking for more time I sure sit around and do nothing pretty easily! At least it cleared up for a good afternoon ride. Hopefully this coming Sunday's MX race at Tomahawk will happen. Who knows, maybe it will actually be sunny and in the 70's? It is May already! I will let you know...