Okay, Where Were We?

It dawned on me last night after a dinner of Cheetos and beer in front of Monday Night Football, that perhaps it will be harder than I anticipated to get back into serious training. It's not rocket science of course. Eating right, sleeping enough, and riding a bunch--they're all pretty simple concepts. The hard part is implementing them into the routines of daily life ...every day. No matter what. Being the best bike racer you can be pretty much demands it. You can bet your competition doesn't eat chips for dinner, or stay up late to watch "Top Gun" for the 19th time, or skip a ride because his chain is dirty.

"You need to be doing it better and cleaner than the other guy. Now what is it with you?"

So here we go again. I want to race in 2010 and 2011. I remember what it feels like to be fit, and it feels a whole lot better than I feel now. I'm in a deep hole and it's time to start climbing out. As a benchmark, last week I rode a maximum effort up my favorite climb (Old San Marcos Rd.) and logged a 19:15. By next spring, I need to knock 4+ minutes off of that time.

My team has gone through some changes. The MTB and road sides are now more separated, and each is somewhat smaller. The focus on the road side will be a revamped cat 1/2 team, featuring some ex-pros, assorted speedsters from yesteryear, rising stars, plus all the same stalwarts from 2008 and 2009. If they're firing on all cylinders, they'll be competitive with any amateur team in California. Our masters team won't suck either. Follow all the action at the Platinum Performance Cycling Team website.