This is your ass being handed to you...

...when you don't do much training on a really consistent basis and then expect to go ride with some folks all diligently training for an IM. (PS - it doesn't matter what you think of their training, their aerobic engines are a bit more primed than yours...)

Went down to LOU with KS and NB to meet up with some folks from Traverse City, MI (GREAT GROUP) for a ride on the course. Feeling like I might have a slight advantage over a couple in our group - I DID ride the course last year, after all..so what if I got my ass handed to me then, too - we managed to finally find a place to park and get ready to head out. The goal was about 60 - 65 miles. We figured leaving from where River Rd. turns onto 42 would be a good spot, parked at a cute coffee house and away we went. (We'll just glaze over the speeding ticket I got on the way down and the appx. hour we spent trying to navigate to a place to park - KS sucks at directions)

First few miles were ok - feeling a bit of fatigue or lack of conditioning in my legs as we started uphill. Pacing was a big wonky - we'd slack going downhill and then power uphill with a faster pace. (This quickly frustrates the heavier riders that absolutely need to gather as much momentum as possible on the downhill portions to survive the uphills in mediocre fashion) This continued all day, for the record.

It just took the life out of me - completely demoralized me by the end of the day. We finally made the turn back towards the barn and I just gave up. I'm not doing the damn race, I'm not training for anything aggressive, I'm not 100% setup on Luc yet, let them motor uphill and I'll see them later. I had the damn keys so they couldn't go far. (Did I mention I was driving??)

Anyway, the ride totally took the life out of me. No fun. I'm missing power on the bike, not sure what needs to change for that but something sure as hell does fairly quickly. Not even feeling like I've got any fight in the dog anymore. It's not fun to me. Seriously contemplating hanging it all up.

Yeah, it was a bad day. Maybe it'll get better with a little distance (and rest and medication) but if I can't find the fun again, I'm not going to continue to push this rock uphill.