happybday29475

This. Thank you.

But.

[story time]
My experience racing bikes for the last few years (before this year) has been that every race has been an ass-whooping. Before, every race was so hard for me (including the once or twice that I podiumed) that after the race I would have to spend hours napping on the couch.

This year is different - the races aren't hard. I did train super hard over the fall and winter, like never before, and maybe this is my reward; but still, the difference is surprisingly profound. This year, I can easily hang with the pack, and even go for a ride after or do a second race.

In my field/category, I like my chances in a field sprint, and I think that if I don't win then I must have screwed up my positioning, and this part of my frustration about Sunday's race, because I completely screwed the pooch. (I do think that I screw up my positioning more often than not, so this apparently is my current limiter.)

Also, I'm a bit frustrated by my failure - so far! - to find alternative ways to success. Specifically, I can create a gap at will, but I can never get somebody to join me, and I have been unable to stay away on my own, so I'm left with competing in a field sprint, which is fine, but just defaults to my familiar strength instead of my learning something new.

(I note the irony of a confident sprinter being frustrated by his inability to make the finish anything but a field sprint).

Anyway, back to robabeatle's point: it's been a dream season, far better than I ever expected given my prior seasons, and getting a podium in a field sprint a) while being injured and bruised from a recent fall, and in a race which I almost skipped, and b) in a race during which I spent all kinds of energy trying to keep it from becoming a field sprint, is an example of just how good this season has been for me.