That's right, folks. The big show up in Vermont that marks the end of the road season for most of us is finally upon us. It is officially two full days into September, a scary thought in itself, and all those long hours in the saddle and nights spent neglecting friends and any semblance of normalcy are about to pay off - or so we all hope.
Personally, I could not be more excited or feel more well prepared. For the first time in weeks, I am feeling no fatigue at all - rest days will do that for you - and I can sense some excellent form coming on. That's what my WKO+ software is telling me, anyway, and that thing is like a freakin' crystal ball, isn't it? But in all seriousness, I am confident as can be that I can make something out of this race and convert on all the work I have done this year. It has been a long summer, starting when I got home from my freshman year at Tufts at the beginning of May, occupied almost exclusively by riding and racing my bike, with this one last weekend of racing my biggest goal. I should probably be a little nervous and freaked out then, shouldn't I?
Probably, but to be perfectly honest, I am not. All I am feeling is pure, unadulterated anticipation. I drove up to school on Tuesday a day earlier than planned, taking advantage of a rest day to move into my new room (which is absolutely awesome, by the way, and will make an excellent arena for Beirut) and have now had a full day here to settle in and take of my last-minute preparation under as little stress as possible. With a nice spin this morning and most of the day spent lounging happily in my new pad and admiring my shiny, new coffee maker that can actually be set to brew automatically when I wake up (tears of joy), all that remains is to head up to Vermont tomorrow and get ready to race and eat copious amounts of food. Does it get any better? I doubt it.
The nerves might kick in a little tomorrow night or Friday morning before my time trial, but for the time being the satisfaction of being settled in at school is serving well to help me forget any of that pressure to ride well. On Monday, before leaving, the prospect of hauling a truck filled with everything I own up to Boston and then schleping it all up two flights of stairs and arranging it in my new home, on top of then getting up to Vermont and settling in there to race all seemed a little daunting. But now that all I have left to do is race my bike, I feel that I really don't have anything to worry about. After all, that's what I do - race my bike. I'm a bike racer, not a move-stuff-to-Boston'er. With that major task out of the way, I know that I will be able to simply enjoy the race that much more, which usually means I will do that much better. After that, I may dabble in cross, which I am sure I am going to love, but more importantly it will finally be one of my favorite times of the year: Beer season!
Because I'm white, and I sure as hell can't dance.
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