Week's End and What I Want

Last day of work in the books. HELL YEAH M-F'ER!!! I won't have to sling any shit until next Wednesday. Woot! Woot! I can't imagine not having a job. BUT I can easily imagine not having the job I have.

Post work I hit up the grocery store for some last minute race nutrition and then it was home to haul all the camp/pit shit up out of the Stankment®. Now my living room looks like some sort of yard sale. Oh well, I've seen worse.

I have to say I'm feeling good about this weekend's Solo and what I want from it. I used to care about who was coming to a race and I would try to think if I could get on the box or not. I really don't care anymore. I know what I want to feel good about my efforts. I want 12 laps. I've done 11 laps twice, 4 laps (DNF), and 9 laps. I don't care if the winner does 20 laps. As long as I get my 12 I'll be pretty stoked. I want to be consistent, not puke, and get some cool night riding in. I don't care if my effort wasn't good enough to place. I care if my effort was good enough for ME. There are a lot of talented racers out there. I know I can't beat too many of them, but I DO know I CAN hang with a few. I'm just anxious to race and get in as many miles as I can on my favorite 24 Hour courses.

It's been a long time since I raced. I needed that. I needed to see how much I wanted it. What I've come to realize is that I love the races, but I don't have the talent or the physiology to do too many a year. Next year I will either focus on a small number of Solos (3?) or a few Hundies. No more trying to mix in 6, 12, and 24 Solos with Hundies. I can't see myself even scheduling more than 4 races for the year. The rest of the season will be focused on training, XC for shitz & giggles, and long rides for the sake of long rides. It feels good to finally see what I want. I don't want to try to be Chris Eatough anymore. I just want to put in as many miles as I can and write about it here on this digital fish wrap. Sorry for the "on the couch" rant. But I was just "feeling" it.

Tomorrow I'll head up the Seven Springs to secure my pit spot. Then I'm breaking the tradition of staying at my Dad's house the night before and opting to come home to cook a good dinner (you know I'm doing up some Ballz) and get a good night's sleep in my own bed. Then Sat. A.M. we'll head up to mountain and get it on.

There will be lots of my peeps up on the mountain this weekend. I wish you all the best of luck- Ian, Don, Aaron, Brad, Travis, the Pro Bikes guys, Dirty Harry's etc., etc., I hope to see you out on the course having a good time. Just give a holler when you need to pass! ;)

Time to get some sleep and let the Mexican I made for dinner tonight turn my stomach into a boiling cauldron of acid.

Later.