4/8/12

Is this thing still on?

I'm not even sure if anyone reads this anymore, but here goes...

I haven't posted in exactly one year. Time flies, I guess. My racing season was cut short last year on account of a bad case of Lyme disease. It was terrible and ruined my summer. I stopped riding for nearly three months starting in July. Then it took me about another three months just to get back into shape. I've been riding and feeling well over the past month or so, enough that I felt I could race again. So, I went at it in the Schenectady Easter Mountain Bike Race this afternoon.

Weather was nice, a little chilly. Lots of riders, about 30 or so total. I decided to ride Sport, on account of the above and not really knowing how well or terrible I would do. I've also been fighting off a cold, so I was prepared for the worst.

Race started out kind of mellow and I got after it. Then all of a sudden it was a mad rush and I was pushing way too hard. I backed off and let some riders by and settled in to do my thing. Got in two laps, roughly five miles each. Came in with a time slightly under one hour for the 10 miles, with a 9.5 mile an hour average pace. Amazingly I took first out of a dozen riders, with an easter basket full of candy and gear. I guess I'm back, thankfully. No pics yet.

4 comments:

JP said...

F-ing A. Nice work. Back with a vengeance. Setting the bar high early in the season. Snow gone up there yet?

Ben Schwab said...

Thanks brother. Felt good. That trip to Asheville helped, thanks again. Snow melted in mid-March. Been clear for a few weeks. Trails have been dry as a bone, surprisingly.

Chris said...

Lyme Disease? WTF?

Ben Schwab said...

Sorry man, I thought I told you. I guess the occasion never presented itself. I'll spare the details here, but it was terrible.