What in the Heck has been going on????

Well after the HOS 500 and the Middletown 300k, I came down with the flu (or something) the following Thursday.  I did not get on my bike for 16 days with the exception of one Monday spin class.  What horrible timing.  I lost over 1,000 training miles and a great deal of fitness.

I had a scheduled club ride this past weekend with the Severna Park Peloton.  I'm a distant member, but they treat me as if I were a local (one of their very own).  Great folks and riders with many ride options within their club for all levels. This ride was meant to be a two day event.  Day 1 Stevensville to Ocean City (116 miles); day 2 Ocean City to Stevensville (114 miles).  Chip Adams, the ride developer, had Sunday commitments and wanted to return early.  I agreed to ride back with him that evening.  For me it was a good test to see how I was recovering from my illness.  I'm feeling like I'm operating at about 80% right now.

The event ended up being a 24 hour event for me.  I woke up at 4am on Saturday and laid back down in bed at 4am on Sunday.  Everything else in between was driving, riding and eating. A few of the riders saw that Dogfish Head Alehouse was one of my sponsors and Bryan Nelson (far right in the photo) tried to set up a little ride and beer sampling with one of the owners, but he discovered that it was our local Alehouse (Fairfax) and not the main brewery.  The owner was out of town anyway, but we still had fun wearing our Dogfish jerseys.  This photo compliments of Ben McKeown:

I am still feeling good about my chances of being an official finisher for RAAM.  I still have 43 days until the start, which gives me roughly 30 days to regain my fitness level, clear my lungs, etc. and be able to breathe normally. It's coming down to the wire here and I'm just hoping to be healthy for the start.  I can suffer for 10-12 days to reach my goal.

Next up is the DC Randonneur 300k out of Frederick, Md.  Only 190 miles, so I may try to squeeze in a little extra, but will see how my body is recovering and will adjust accordingly.

Sorry for the lag in posts.  There's still a great deal going on behind the scenes.  I'm just trying to get healthy right now.  Hope to have more updates soon.

Cheers!