Finding a little magic...

Dear Readers,

My name is Fatamarc Vanderbacon. I spent the lion's share of the weekend hanging out with my awesome family, drinking beers and picking crabs. Really was an amazing time. I could wrap up the blog and be pretty stoked here...

But I digress...

Okay, from a bike racing standpoint, this has been a weird year. My focus has squarely been on school and riding when I can. I haven't raced much. I am embarrassed to say I've run more 5k's than bike races this year.  At no point during the year have I felt like I had any real form, or was in a real good rhythm.  That said, as your team's mid pack masters racer, I had a plan.

 I had 8 weeks off of school the summer. My plan was simple, continue to do my efforts, get in some good miles, and take advantage of my chance to recover appropriately. Meaning, sleep- not get up at the crack of dawn every day to study. Goal was to try to eat a bit better. The plan came together pretty well. I had my highest volume of riding in the month of July in 7 years. I even had a pretty good race in July, which never happens.  I went to Oregon and rode my bike at not high altitude, but 7000ft or so.

I came home expecting to be flying. Frankly, expecting to ride how I want to ride.

But it did not happen.

Reality has been since we got home, I have not felt good on the bike one day. Not one day. I feel like I'm pedaling squares, my HR is too high, and I'm struggling when I shouldn't be. Some dude even asked if I was racing the Cat 3 race!? In short, I have been horrible.

School starts again next week. I'll admit I'm excited for school, but am very frustrated with how I'm riding.  I was ready to throw in towel. Just put the bikes away, and start riding again once I graduated.

Adding to this, I usually am pretty excited for cross, but this year, I'll admit it, the thought of it has caused me to fill with dread. I'm not ready for it. I haven't been stoked for it...

But then, I pulled out my cross bike. My brother, Skinny-Craig Vanderbacon was in town. We rolled out the cross bikes and took a trail ride over at White Clay. The bike felt like magic. I haven't been on this bike since last December, but it felt like the most comfortable bike I ever rode. As we were ripping through single track, I didn't even notice the bike was there... As we climbed, my legs felt- right. I stood and accelerated, and the bike felt amazing. Craig sat comfortably on my wheel, and we moved through the trails, and just rolled...  I'll say that there were moments when were probably going faster than was safe, but it was SO MUCH FUN.

The bike, was magic. Clearly not the best tool for ripping single track, but on this day. This ride. It was perfect.

May be it was the crabs. maybe it was the beer. Maybe it was riding with my brother. Maybe, just maybe it was a little magic left in my cross bike. This day it didn't matter. I felt good. Bike was amazing.

I have a feeling that cross is gonna be ugly for me this year, but after this weekend, I'm pretty excited, regardless...

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc