USA Sick and Cross

I arrived here in the good old USofA, only to spend my first Sat in bed asleep for over 24 hours sick. Fever, tired, joint and muscle pain etc etc. On Sunday morning when I awoke I felt a tiny bit better. I had pre-entered a Cyclocross race down in Winchester, VA, as seeing as entry fees are so high over here, and seeing as I had paid for this one out of my own pocket, I was pretty keen not to throw that money down the drain. So I decided to at least go to the race and see how I felt once there before deciding whether or not I would actually take the start. Of course once there I did start. I planned to take it really easy, but once in the race, I ended up pushing much harder than I should have done. At the end of the day the race was really good fun. I enjoyed racing CX again, having not touched a CX bike for some 4 or 5 years, and having not ridden off road at all for maybe 3 or 4 years. The courses in the US are usually a lot more fun, and this was the case in Winchester at the “Apple Harvest Cross”. I ended-up doing ok and coming in 6^th place at the end of the day. In all fairness most of the better riders were up in New Jersey or somewhere for a UCI race I think, but still… it was good fun! After coughing my way around the CX course for an hour, I spend the rest of week trying to get my lungs back. Racing was actually not a good idea as I seem to have damaged my lungs somewhat.

And so it was another very uneventful week on the bike with another WHOPPING 40km week. I’ve done about 40k a week for the last month now due to sickness, and I’m really REALLY getting sick of it!