If you have been following along here, you probably have picked up on the fact that I bounce back and forth between ready to go and panicked that the first race is getting closer and closer.
Today I am definitely a bit freaked that the first race is just over 2 weeks away!
Officially, the first race is now just 17 days away. Man, it seems that it was just yesterday that it was still over 50 days away. Yow! Ok, so today I am a little bit freaked out about there just being 17 days till I have to dive into that first turn – hopefully near the front. Today I spent a bunch of time on our open issues list and to do list for heading south.
– Will I be ok diving into the first turn, with a horde of riders on my tail also trying to get into the first turn?
– Will my gas and goggle strategy work?
– How blistered will my hands be after the first race, and will they repair themselves in time for the 2nd race, just 5 days later?
– Will my knee be good enough to go hard for a full 3 hours? Will it recover well enough in just 5 days to be able to go hard for 3 hours again?
– Just how hard will 3 hours be? Will I have fitness for that?
– What if it is 80 degrees, with me used to just 10 degrees?
– What if it is muddy? I am teaching myself to embrace mud.
– How will the transition day after the race actually work? Will it be enough time to prep the bikes and trailer for the next race? What if the bikes need a bunch of work, how will that be?
– Just how fast will David Knight be when he passes me?
This week I was in Taiwan all week. It was a fast week. I flew to Taiwan on Monday, which means that I arrived there on Tuesday. Worked all day Wed, Thur, Fri and then flew home on Saturday.
I managed to get in a decent amount of training while I was there. I stay in a hotel that has a great exercise room. It even has a lap pool, but I did not bring my swim suit. I only had enough time for an hour a day, but it paid out each day.
Taiwan is a strange place. The traffic is horrendous. The pollution can be horrible. There are more scooters than there are people. Asian culture is so different than western culture. But, the people are great. Super friendly and willing to embrace strangers.
Scott had to get a damper mounted on my bike this week, and to get both of our bikes to our main sponsor Vesrah, for them to take the bikes to the Indy show to use in their booth. Apparently the bikes are bringing a lot of excitement to their booth in Indianapolis.
We will have a big push later this week to pick up our bikes and our last supplies. To get the van ready. To pick up our bikes from Vesrah. To prep and pack the camper. To to load spare part, repair parts and all of our gear in the van.
Joe
303 Off-road 