Wowzer

I'll be damned if I didn't blink and summer was gone. Here in Maine, we're finally getting lots of nice sunny days after a summer full of drearyness which is nice to finally see but it's messing with my head. Because we never really had a real summer this year my brain is now seriously confused and thinks that we're finally hitting summer so why are those frickin school buses on the road? And why is it cold enough at night that I've worn two nipple sized holes in my favorite polos?

Fall is quickly approaching and I can't say that I'm psyched. Usually, by this time of year I welcome the cooler nights, the insects and trail side weeds dying back and being able to ride on a summer's worth of endurance and fitness but not this year. One, we don't have a heating system in the house yet (set to be installed end of the month) so all these nights dropping below 50 isn't really a treat. Thankfully, our house is well insulated (we received Energy Stars highest possible ranking) so we don't lose much heat over night so that's a bonus. Two, I'm fully into siding the house right now which is kinda important with winter rolling in. And, three, did I mention we still don't have a finish roof on part of the house. With. Winter. Rolling. In!

I'm sure that sometime soon I'll be looking back at this time with fond memories (if I can look back at those 24 hr races, the W101 etc with fond memories) but right now I just want to curl up on the couch and take a 6 month nap. Wake me in the spring.

One interesting little 'spearment will be the upcoming Bradbury 12. Last year I won the single speed class after making a late switch to racing ss at the end of the season. We had started the house construction so I was racing purely on endurance reserves but I was definitely on the downswing of my season. This year, I'm currently on more of an upswing in terms of fitness right now. I'm still not riding tons (6+! hrs a week now) but at least I'm on the up. Plus, since I've spent the whole season on a single speed I'm definitely better prepared and on a much nicer bike (with suspension) to boot. In short, I'm feeling pretty good about next weekend's race but since I don't really know any of my competitors, who knows what will happen...