Reflections on the past season

Today I went for my first ride since last Sunday, I had been staying off the bike on purpose for a while now that the racing season is over. A week is not really a long time but when you have been riding almost every day since March it seems like an eternity. Tomorrow the off-season training officially begins; days of weights, Compex and other assorted workouts. Bike time will be limited to fun rides until the on-bike portion of the training begins next year.

I have been planning next season already, well actually I started earlier this year as the 2007 race dates have become published. I want to do more of the 100 mile races as this format seemed to be the most fun. It's a long enough race to make it special but you usually don't do multiple laps like you do in a 12 hour event. Or at least the laps are longer. I'm not sure if I'll do a solo 24 hour again but I would like to try it on a team, I haven't done that before.

The local XC races are getting a little stale although they did put in a new venue this year and have an old one back for next. I just can't seem to get as excited about racing for an hour and a half to two hours when you could be racing somewhere else for 10-12 hours. If the race costs are too expensive though I guess I'll be hitting up the local scene again.

This past year was fairly successful in terms of results, I managed to win my class title in the MMBA Championship Point Series, 3rd in the Fun Promotions Endurance Series, and finished second in both of the National Ultra Endurance MTB races I entered. I even managed to win first overall at the 24 hours of Drummond Island, including having more laps than the teams. I accomplished most of the goals I had set at the beginning of the season. Next year's plans are still up in the air but hopefully I can build on what I learned this year.

One thing that will change it that the coach I have been using the past few years has said that he will no longer be performing that role. It is time for him to concentrate on other things for a while. I'm going to miss his advice, his training plans and guidance were a big reason for may success over the past few years. I found that I pushed harder in training when someone else was looking at my results. I may sing on with another coach or I may just use my own plan, based on what has worked in the past.