catching the bug...again

Ok, I'm not getting a bacterial virus or anything like that, I am catching the cycling bug again. In other words, I am getting motivated to train again. The last part of my recovery, I was getting pretty demoralized and discouraged about riding. I had just had my crash, and I would just stare at my bike and dread riding. I didn't even hook it up to the trainer, I would just dread riding. It's not the fact that I was scared of wrecking again, to be honest I don't know why I was dreading it. Perhaps it was because I couldn't rest on my hand, or grip a bar. Or maybe it was because I couldn't shift. Who knows, all I know is I didn't want to ride. Well starting today, I want to ride again. Today was my FIRST time riding outside since my crash. It was my fourth time in five weeks that I had ridden. I just rode for a hour, but just the sensation I was getting was making me feel like I was a beginner. It was a good feeling. I was like a little kid, not knowing how to clip in my pedals, and not holding my line straight. I wasn't holding my wattage, and my heart rate would spike very frequently. To most racers this is aggravating, but for me, this is a good feeling. After "training" for the past four years, it felt great to let loose. Not only am I feeling like a beginner, but I have the fitness of one as well. I was extremely slow, and my wattage was pretty horrible. But you know what, I don't care about that. The wattage will get back to where it was sooner or later. The past five weeks were the first time in a year and a half I have had a real break. Last off season break, I was forced to do a couple of rides in the middle of it. My mid season break this year was interrupted by my spin classes. So the past couple of weeks were the first weeks I had not ridden in more than a year, I needed that. Now I am in the mood to start rebuilding my base. Not only am I prepared physically to do long slow miles, but I am mentally prepared as well. I have turned my music choice around and I am listening to more calmer bands. Bands like Iron and Wine and Nickel Creek. For me, I have learned that long endurance rides require a different attitude, and the music change helps with the attitude change. Like I said, I am trying to update my blog a little more frequently so I will try to update on Tuesday. That is when I will be a volunteer mechanic at the Blackberry Farms cycling camp. George Hincapie will be there, and the will be the first person I will have talked to that was at the race that I crashed in. It will be good to hear if he can recall anything from the race and tell me about the wreck. Til then, thanks for reading,
Jon