Blood, sweat, sunburns, and a declaration

It's the waining hours of the fourth of July and I am laying in bed in pain. Today I was bested by the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge Colorado. The Firecracker has always been one of those races that I anticipated racing but never had the chance to try in the corporate world. Coming off the Crested Butte Fat Tire 40, I was somewhat tender to say the least. My body was coming back together and chance are that I could have pulled it off but a series of problems arose today which changed things for the worst. They are as follows.

1. I ripped my Van Dessel shorts. When I say ripped, I mean half my ass was hanging out. This resulted in a chamois that did not fit correctly and a very unique sunburn later that day. If I could have just managed to sit on my seat comfortably, things would have turned out differently.

2. My bike did not feel comfortable. My hands went numb and my right foot went numb as well.

3. The concept of distance. Doing a second loop was a killer. I need to break that mental barrier and quickly considering the Breck 100 is like 2 weeks away. The irony was that this event was only 50 miles.

4. My lower back flat out hurts. I am not sure if it was from sleeping funny the night before or simply not fitting the bike correctly but it is in significant pain.

So for that reason, I lay in bed tonight listening to Mexicans shoot off their fireworks and hide when the cops roll by here in Westminster. I failed but I learned a lot today about myself and the high altitude trails of Breckenridge. We will do battle again.