Have you ever not cared?
 

I had a short RR last night and rode 30 miles of hill before the race began. Once it started, The usual chaos began in the first mile. Attack after attack after attack. I played for about 7 miles, then I just didn't care what happened. By this time there were only about 8 of us left. One attack went and I waved the guys behind me through.

Then I caught them on the next hill.

They attacked on the flats.

I caught them on the next hill.

Same stuff happened until the "big" hill (7% for 1 mile), I caught and passed them without ever changing my pace... The next attack was half a mile before the turn around and the 11 mile long "downhill" back to the start finish, so I was dropped due to the lack of uphills.

I stopped on the way down to lend a hand to a friend that had flatted, then latched on to the "B" group for a ride back down the canyon. I stayed at the back and pulled off to the side for the sprint.

So, have any of you just shrugged your shoulders during a race and said "I don't care"?

that's not very eddy merckx of you...or vino.

but yeah, sometimes i just sit in and consider it exercise. i figure it's more effective than training by myself.

Absolutely -- especially training races. Sometimes my goal has nothing to do with the race.

Yeah, a couple training races where I just wanted to sit in, and another time when I bonked. I REALLY didn't care then, even though I wanted to--it was a strange feeling.

To add on to the not caring part, I have had a saddle sore the size of a nickel for 4 WEEKS now. I tried lancing it, but the area is too sensitive.

Yep...this past Sunday. First hill, my legs had nothing, and I quickly decided it was going to be a very long and painful training ride/race.

just about every race where I realize I am not going to win that day

See a doc, preferrably a surgeon. You don't want to mess with persistent infections down there.

:( :( :(

If it's as bad/persistent as you describe the best way to get rid of it will probably be to make an incision, drain it, and leave the wound open and packed to let it heal from the inside out. It's not a big deal with a little local anesthetic, etc...

I had one removed. It was great fun. And there was an extra super special happy bonus of ten days off the bike. YM, of course, will V.

I'll give it to the end of this week. If it's still prominent on Monday, I'll make an appointment.

Not since buying the Power Tap...

To add on to what others have said, I don't look at races as training - since I can produce more training stress beating myself to a pulp solo. I'm racing for results and experience - not the physical benefit.

You simply didn't drink enough before hand Cypress.
Come on....of course Dr. Pete wants you to go running off to a doctor's office....how the heck do you think he affords those fancy Zipps he's bragging about?!

That's right....scaring people into having to go to the doctor for every little sniffle.

I wouldn't consider necrosis near my danglefruit a "sniffle".

hee hee....you said danglefruit!

Right on Snuffle.

And Cypress, take a break. I "retired" from racing this year and just hit the front of group rides to stay in shape. Racing the same people at the same races for the upteenth time is not enough motivation. I need a small break of a year or two, hopefully to freshen things up for me.

A change of scenery could help you as well. If I was single, maybe I'd head back to Belgium or move to SanDiego to re-invent myself, but since I'm staying put in Orlando, I'll just take a break.

The medical term is "wedding tackle." ;)

There could be a change of scenery in the near future. I was thinking the same thing last night.

Thankfully, I'm not going for swordfish...

This thread is better without pics.

Beans and Franks.

One training Crit. I had been dropped and reattached so I didn't feel right sprinting for the win. Took a solo flier as we hit the bell lap and pulled off.

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

You post pics of this, Cypress, and you're a dead man. :)

When I was a youngster, I took racing pretty seriously. I started riding again last year after a long time off, and started doing a few races this year. I found myself not caring that much at the last criterium a few weeks ago. I didn't have a problem moving around the pack, but found myself in the middle and just didn't feel like moving to the front. I finally moved up for the sprint, but too little too late and finished 25the in the race.

There was another race immediately after, and I felt the same way. It was a bit slower, so when I half-heartedly moved up with a lap to go, I found myself in contention, and finshed 4th, and first in the state, so I actually became State champ in the race !! The odd thing was, that I still didn't really care - perhaps because I'm mentally used to racing at a higher category (old days) even though my legs are not at that level now.