Rumors of my death are highly exaggerated

Things have been s-l-o-w around here.  What can I say?

I did ride twice over the weekend... three times actually.  I got out for a solo ride in Uwharrie that kicked my ass, and then that evening, I rode to a party about seven miles from my house.  Woke up the next morning, ran, went out for another ride of much less distance at a relaxed pace with friends I haven't ridden with in years.

And then I was ded.

The humidity has been something else.  I thought I legitimately lost a decent amount of weight last week (after a halfhearted attempt to make it happen), but after a Monday of proper hydration, most of that weight was back.  I'd just gone a little too deep into my reserves... and I felt like proper ass.

It doesn't help that the Breck Epic is going on right now.  Not only is it one of my favorite places on earth to be, it's always been a sweet relief from Charlotte's punishing summers.  I really start feeling like I need it, you know?  I still very much appreciate that I live somewhere that I can ride 365 days a year, but some of those days?  Soul crushing.

So mebbe I didn't head into this week with a head full of steam.  I don't like writing off a weekend as "bad," but I felt like the riding was a bit of a chore at times.  A chore that I was doing a miserable job at in terms of how I'd like to be performing in August.

Aaaaaaaaaccck.

Don't know if I'll make the time to post again this week.  All extraneous efforts should be focused on getting ready for two days of the Pisgah Enduro™ coming up real quick like.  I'm finding it semi-ironic that as I try to narrow down my options for putting myself into a real hurt locker one more time before 2018 is over, it might be coming down to the Pisgah Monster Cross in September.  Seems strange to get my stupid rigid single speed ready for two days of downhill-oriented racing, and then I'll be swapping the same exact bike into a garvel grinder a month later.  The wrong bike for the wrong events at all the wrong times.

Let's face it.  Neither event is my strong suit, nor something I'd ever bother focusing on... but that's what I'm doing?

WTF?

To very loosely quote NIИ, "I hurt myself today (or some time in September), to see if I still feel."  It's been too long since I've been in that dark place of climbing up a mountain for a painful duration of time headed towards some "goal" simply because someone put a start/finish line banner up in the woods.

Also Pisgah Monster Cross because I can finish the course (notice I didn't say "race"), start in on Eric "PMBAR Honcho" Wever's supply of Oskar Blues, crawl into the back of the Fit of Rage sometime after dark, and drive home the next day with plenty of time to mow the lawn or fulfill whatever domestic duty awaits me.

That suits me just fine.