Racing: Mind and body #2

What a difference a month can make. My fitness has continued to get better; the new bike is running like a champ and the mental game is much stronger.I went into last weekends Intermountan Cup race with a few more miles in the legs and crisp new ride. Both seemed to be working together quite well early in the week as I pedaled around the neighborhood earlier in the week. Not a lot of specific training went on last week, just some minor adjusting and tweaking of the new bike. I’m extremely pleased with how the Superfly Elite rides. It’s much more snappy and quick to respond than the base model Superfly I had been riding. For a while there, I wasn’t too excited about 29er’s and considered spending the season on my Top Fuel single speed. But after a few quick efforts and some excellent street riding on the DATC campus, I knew that the Elite would work out to be a much better ride than I anticipated.I pre-rode the ICUP Cholla course Friday afternoon and was quite pleased with the setting. Not a lot of climbing, but a classic desert trail with a bit of everything else. Everything was feeling pretty good. The bike was sharp; I felt quick in the corners and was really excited to give it a good test.Race day came and I kept a positive attitude despite the threats of high winds. This is bike racing. You have to take what comes and do your best with it. It’s probably harder for those watching the race to deal with than for us racing anyway. Here’s where I give a big shout-out to SDAY and Layla for their support and sticking around just to hand me some bottles.On the line the pro men’s field was a bit smaller than usual, but still full of some fast contenders. I had made up in my mind that I was going to go hard today. Much harder than I did a month ago during the first ICUP race and when I wanted to ease up or let time build between other racers and myself… I was going to go harder.The decision worked. I stuck to my plan because I told myself I could. There were a few times when the gap grew, but I brought it back by going harder. I knew I could. As I finished the race, I don’t think I could have done any better on that particular day but know that I can and will get better in the next few weeks and months. I feel positive about how things worked out and I’m excited for the next opportunity to test out the waters with an even bigger field of athletes. Utah has a strong bunch of cyclists. If you can win or do well in you category here, you’re quite possibly a top contender just about anywhere.