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But as I sat down to try to somehow catch up with my season, I immediately started to procrastinate by re-reading the post I wrote in early September about my last WORS race. I found this quote:
"I hope my cross season goes half as well (as my WORS season)."
So far, my cyclocross season has lived up to that mark. It's been about 50% as good as my mtb season.
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The week after the USGP I was in so much pain that I couldn't even get on a bike. My back went from being in hurt to being injured. I pulled a muscle on the lower left side in one of my falls. I seriously considered going to the Doctor. My girlfriend was pushing for it, but I knew that the Doctor would only tell me to give it a few days. So I RICE'd the shit out of my back and hung out in the suburbs with my girlfriend all week. Before we left the city I dropped the Falcon off at the shop. At the beginning of the season I ordered a new AL Crux elite frame as an upgrade for my Tricross. I got word that it had shipped, so I left my bike in anticipation of it arriving sometime that week. I didn't make it back into the city to pick up my rebuilt bike until Saturday. Even though it was only a new frame, everything felt new. The shifting was amazing. Sunday we drove to Hopkin's Park, and I registered to race.
I had a decent enough start, but by the time we hit the first turn, my race started to take a turn. I think it was a six lap race. I don't know because I totally messed up my garmin by stopping instead of hitting the lap counter, so I pretty much was stopped for the entire race, and then started again at the end. Which, by the way, was pretty much how my actual race went.
It is a common story for the season. The first two-three laps were "okay" but the last two-three laps my back started to give out and I could not put out any power. I remember John from Half Acre heckling me: "You know Phil is in front of you" and me thinking, "Yes, yes he is, and there is nothing I can do about it." Him and 36 other Cat 3s. I finished 37th.
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After Dekalb we came back into the city. I practiced twice on Tuesday, once on Thursday, rode my bike to work on Friday, and did nothing on Saturday. Sunday it was time to race again.
Dan Ryan Woods is a long flat course with a ridge that has to be climbed 3 times per lap. The Elevation chart for my race looks like an EKG.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/236388803
The race started rough, with a crash right in front of me. I did not get tangled up in it, but it was more than a little harry to track stand and swerve around, and rebuild momentum. One of my teammates, Joe B, got caught up in it and got bit on the arm by someone's front chainring. I was back out in the pack by the time we finished the brief prologue and started to wind through the trees along the parking lot.
The "technical" feature of the course were a series of three obstacles spaced evenly apart on a straight away. I wrote my thoughts about those mini-barriers here (at chicrosscup.com) so will not repeat myself. Regardless, on my first lap I DID accidentally unclip on the landing between the first and second barriers and did almost endo over the second. Jumping a barrier with one foot clipped in was not fun. I thought for sure I pinch-flatted given how hard my rear wheel slammed into the barrier.
On subsequent laps though I found my rhythm, the front-rear pull-tuck with two pedal strokes between barriers. I didn't make much time, but nor did I lose it. I continued to race solidly mid-pack. Finished three places ahead of the week before, but felt nothing but exhausted at the end of the race. There was no post-race rush of "that was awesome." I felt worn out.
Then everything fell apart. My girlfriend and I left the race as the 4bs were finishing, and headed back to my apartment. She took a nap, while I did the laundry, dishes, and straightened up my apartment, and packed to spend a day or two out with her in the suburbs. I woke her up at about 9PM and I drove us out to LITH. When we arrived at her house, I was exhausted, and had a breakdown. I started to shiver uncontrollably. She put a thermometer in my ear and it read 103.9F.
I spent the next four days with a fever, and stomach flu. I was too sick to watch TV, too sick to eat or drink, too sick to do much of anything but lay on the couch and shiver and sweat. My fever peaked on Tuesday while my girlfriend was out running errands at 106F. That was the highlight of the week, and the next day my fever receeded down into the 103-105 range. Thursday I woke up and felt human again despite the fact that my temperature was at 101F. Friday I was at a normal temperature and could start the process of healing.
We skipped the races in Wacaunda and Carpentersville that weekend, despite their proximity (the latter was 15minutes away) as the rain and cold and mud did not seem conducive to a continued recovery. I stayed off the bike for another four days, and did pedal anywhere until Morleigh dropped me off at the train station on Thursday night so I could head into the office for a meeting on Friday. The two miles I pedaled home, and the 8 miles to and from the office on Friday was the first I had ridden in almost two weeks. During that time off the bike I was seriously contemplating bagging the rest of cross season. Between the back injuries and the flu, it has been a miserable year. But after a pep-talk from Morleigh about not quitting for the wrong reasons, I registered for Sunset Park. More misery awaits.
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