The Wildwood 400K this past Saturday was run in near-perfect conditions—sunny skies, mild temps, flat roads, light and mostly favorable winds. All the planets were aligned to give any rider (who managed to avoid an accident or mechanical failure) a terrific adventure with record time in the bank. And such was the case with me. All cylinders were firing in perfect synch; I felt strong, was keeping up a good pace, had no physical issues at all (aside from the normal sore points of contact with the bike—feet, hands and butt).
Perfect conditions have a dark side, too, though. They remove all excuses and show you your true level of preparedness. By contrast, if I were to go out and suffer through a rain-plagued, flat-tired-epidemic of a ride, and do poorly, I would extrapolate (and compensate) in my mind: Well, if conditions had been better—and surely the next time they will be—I would have been fine.
Saturday's ride showed me the best I could expect—from my body and from the Brevet Angels. And I judged that, given how I was feeling and performing on such a perfect day, it just wasn't good enough when one factored in: triple the distance (at PBP), the likelihood of some rain and flats, lack of sleep—PLUS hills, hills, and MORE hills.
So with the stats gained from Saturday's ride, I have decided to put PBP off for another 4 years. Watch this space.
Perfect conditions have a dark side, too, though. They remove all excuses and show you your true level of preparedness. By contrast, if I were to go out and suffer through a rain-plagued, flat-tired-epidemic of a ride, and do poorly, I would extrapolate (and compensate) in my mind: Well, if conditions had been better—and surely the next time they will be—I would have been fine.
Saturday's ride showed me the best I could expect—from my body and from the Brevet Angels. And I judged that, given how I was feeling and performing on such a perfect day, it just wasn't good enough when one factored in: triple the distance (at PBP), the likelihood of some rain and flats, lack of sleep—PLUS hills, hills, and MORE hills.
So with the stats gained from Saturday's ride, I have decided to put PBP off for another 4 years. Watch this space.
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