Rockstaritis

2007 a good year by all measures. My results were strong for a new Cat 4. Heck, I opened the season with a win at Wells Ave in March, followed by a strong 4th up in Marblehead. Starts don't get much better than that. I met some uber cool people on the cross circuit while becoming a better cross racer.

My season did come apart for a few weeks though. Why? I caught a nasty case of rockstaritis.

Rockstaritis is a killer bug to catch. What are the symptoms you ask? Well, if you get a gap on the first climb of a race, less than 1 mile into a 50+ miler, and think "I can hold this to the line," you've got rockstaritis. Sometimes you can make it to the line, but you probably won't. The best result you can hope for is dragging your sorry ass to the line after the peloton catches you. More commonly, guys explode leaving guts all over the road.

Curing rockstaritis starts with acknowledging you have it. If acknowledgement fails, teammates may beat you senseless and force you to acknowledge. Once this is done, simply realize that the race can't be won in the first mile, but it can be lost.

Colds

I take all this time to rest and recover before starting my base miles. You know what happens next?

That's right, I get sick. A big, mean, nasty cold. Oh well...a few more days of pizza and my new favorite beer, Ommegang.