Race Prep

Twas the night before the race and...

OK, so that really did not sound very good and I will abandon the thought immediately.  However, it really is the night before the race.  Tomorrow is the Olympic View Road Race, and I am getting excited.  It is a mixture of excitement for the race and a possible good finish, and the nerves of the race and a possible complete and utter embarrassment!  What a great and lousy feeling...

The most beautiful and sexy bike ever...oh it makes me faster than all get out

One of my biggest fears, before a race, is that I will do something so dumb that I would just pretend it never happened, and never share with a single soul.  Some examples but not limited too...

1 - Forget my bike...How the heck can one race without a bike
2 - Forget my helmet.  Not permitted to race without one of these..safety reasons I guess.
3 - Forget my shoes.  I have never done this, but saw someone who did at the first race this season.
4 - Forget my numbers.

As a result of these fears, I will start organizing everything tonight.  Then I will pack everything in the car.  An hour after placing everything in the car, I will go and double check that I did indeed place everything in the car.  When I wake up in the middle of the night fearful that I did not place everything in the car, I will go check again.  In the morning when I wake...you guessed it, I will check again, and again, and then again.

I am not sure if these fears are normal, a mild form of paranoia, or some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder.  I choose to not find out, because ignorance is bliss!

My neurotic checklist...I almost added go potty and car so I would not forget those!

I also set up the repair stand the other night to clean and lube my bike.  As everyone knows, it is the bike, and gear, that makes the racer fast and not the other way around...Duhhhhh!  Think about it, and it makes perfect logical sense.  All the professional cyclists have top end bikes with the best components...Surely that must be the reason they are faster and stronger than I.

Currently I have my team kit, gloves, arm and knee warmers, helmet, socks, shoes, shoe covers, race numbers, HR strap, and glasses all laid out on the floor.  Obviously the bike is in the garage, so are the turbo and the boards to keep everything from getting muddy during warm up.  I could keep listing things, but I am sure you get the point.

Pretty cool looking if I say so.

As you can tell, I do not want to forget a single item, and my neurosis ensures that does not happen.  I am feeling strong, prepared, and have the excited nervous feeling.  Tomorrow should be fun, and assuming all goes well I will have a boring short race report....OK, doubt short will happen as I am rather long winded, but you can always count on boring...lol