Hub Racing News

Arley here.  Cyclocross is a brutal discipline.  Perhaps that's why many people call it "psycho-cross".  It is brutal on your body, and even more so on your mind.  You can go from a decisive victory one weekend, to back of the pack the next.  Whelp, I'm currently chillin' at the back of the pack.  I suffered through Mercer Cup last weekend, which lived up to its legacy once again as a complete mud/slop fest.  I suffered countless mechanicals on Day 1 of Mercer, which undoubtedly forced me to expend a greater amount of energy, and wound up with me finishing a hugely disappointing 26th.  Day 2 of Mercer was sheer torture on my legs, and with 2 laps to go, I had to pull the plug, I just could not pedal my bike through one more mud bog.

 

I did my best to recover this past week in preparation for the Whitmore's Landscaping Supercross Cup in Southampton.  But the demands of law school and internships are hitting hard, ramping up the stress level just a tad.  I swore I would not go to Southampton if it was raining, and sure enough, this was the one weekend that it did NOT rain.  Go figure.  So, I figured I'd have a go at it, I like the course, and was disappointingly absent from the race last year due to my broken finger.  In hindsight, it was a REALLY bad idea to race this weekend, knowing that I've been feeling tired, and the legs have been feeling empty.  I started the race on Saturday with a mediocre start, and went straight backwards from that point on, until I finally decided to drop out.  My legs weren't interested in bike racing this weekend, wish they would have sent me the memo before I packed up the car.

 

So now I'm in recovery/damage control mode.  It is imperative that I rest up, get life back in my legs, and get rolling.  I have a few more weeks until nationals, so we are going to work on building me back up for that.  It has been a loooooong racing season for me, I haven't stopped since I started in March.  But, I'm not out just yet, I'm just in a valley, crawling my way back up to the peak.

 

See you in Reston.

ak