Sick prepping to get sick whuh

Well, shit.

I guess if I had to pick a weekend to throw away to dogs of illness, that was an ideal one.  A mostly sleepless night of coughing on the couch had me a Minute Clinic Saturday morning.  I have to admit, being ill has never been more convenient.  Half the reason I would've never seen a doctor in the past with a (more than) nagging cough was the inconvenience and expense of doing it the normal way.  $75 out the door with Prednisone and Azithromycin in my hands.  Rhonchi, rales, posterior oropharyngeal erythema, etc... so I probably wasn't turning any corners on without pharma.  That knowledge still didn't make it any easier as I looked out my window and saw people riding by my house on their way to the Backyard Trails trying to get some dirt time in before mother nature dumped weather turds on our heads Saturday morning.

But...

Saturday night around 3:00AM, I spent close to a straight hour coughing before The Pie RN came out, made me hop in a hot shower, prepped a better sleeping arrangement for me, and over-the-counter-drugged me to the maximum safe limits.

Professional medical attention WAS the better option that day.  I don't doubt it.

So, no riding and plenty of time sitting round the house watching tube gave me the opportunity to do this:

Not so much of a plan, especially being that there's plenty of conflicting dates and a certain chance of (another) pre-June burnout if I do too much.

The short version:

The Whole Enchilada.

A local 40-50 mile race here in Charlotte that I've never done.  Upsides being the short drive, reasonable entry fee up to two days before the event (so I can watch the weather), and a good early "season" wake up call.  Downsides being that with only open or 40+ categories, I can't take advantage of my new 50+ calling or default to single speed... oh, and I don't think I'll be in the greatest shape at all that early in the year.

The Winter Short Track Series.

Five Sundays in a row of an intense 45+ minutes of racing.  A really good kick in the dick (or vaginan, what have you) for getting in shape, and I get to race 50+... but at the same time that the single speeders are on the course, so still sorta like playing with my little friends.  Downsides being that committing to the whole series means passing up on potenital trips to the mountains that might come along AND skipping the party in the woods known as The Icycle.

The Pisgah Stage Race?

People have asked me why I haven't done it before... and my excuse is that I get to ride Pisgah all the time.  I usually (used to) do stage races to ride somewhere new and follow arrows, but it's been six or seven Trans-Sylvania Epics and seven Breck Epics with one BC Bike Race thrown in there over the last so many years, so mebbe my excuse is losing its validity.  There's a 50+ class AND there would be pretty much zero surprises on the courses/routes.  And I'm not getting younger... so mebbe.

PMBAR.

Doing it. No doubts about that. After not giving a fuck about performance and going on a sad hug of a bike ride with Watts in '18, I owe him an effort that's equal to a "try." That I will do.

Pisgah 111k.

This is a wait and see event. A little too close time-wise to the next two options (less than 5-6 days later).

Trans-Sylvania Epic. (new site coming soon)

On a hiatus in '18 and back in '19 with a new promoter. There has not been one TSE that I haven't been to (although I broke my ass bone and DNF'ed one year), so it's hard to say no to this event.  I love the riding up there for sure, but it means I'd have to pass on...

The Giro d'Ville.

No link, no bells, no whistles... mebbe fireworks.  Underground stage racing at its best.  Compared to the TSE, shorter, harder, lacking in some of the creature comforts (tents in the mud?), a little more logistically challenging, but it packs a punch with a big fist.  I had such a great time there... and I do these kinda races expecting no results, so no pressure.  Just joy... and pain.  Sunshine... and rain.  Give it to me, Rob Base.

Pisgah Enduro™.

Not my forte at all, but way too much fun in the woods kinda close to home.  That said, four days after either the TSE or Giro, it can be a bit much for an old man depending on how poorly I treat my body parts.

Wilson's Revenge.

Once again, not my forte (garvel?), but it's a hard fifty miles of what Eric "PMBAR Honcho" Wever calls garvel.  If I did the Pisgah 111 (and PMBAR, natch), it "ONLY" puts me one Monster Cross and Double Dare away from finishing the King of Pisgah Series again.  It's also a month and a half after TSE and/or il Giro, so there's a big gap of NO in there that's gotta get filled with something good.

But it do conflict with this:

Dirt Rag Dirt Fest WV.

I've gone the last two years, and it's so much fun that regardless of whether I'm chasing 50+ glory next year or not, it's gonna be hard to miss this event. I love riding the Big Bear trail network, the "scene" befits me, and it's a sinfully delightful mid-"season" break.

Then there's...

Breck Epic.

I did it the first five years in a row and then started going every other year, so I'm due in '19.  I could "race" 50+, slum the SS class once more, or possibly do the 100+ duo category.  The latter has been discussed but with the seriousness of three clowns doing double dutch while wearing their professional attire.  There's also something very special going down this year that I was asked to be a party to, so I gotta think this is a front burner event.

The Shenandoah Mountain 100.

Eleven starts, ten finishes, a 2nd and a 3rd place in SS, and a 2nd in fixed gear (it was a thing we did back then, kids)... so many good memories.  Enough that the past two years I just went up just to be present to witness it.  I've been telling myself I'd return as a 50+ racer for years now, so do I follow through with all the trash talk or just stand around, drink beer and watch others... again?

I'm looking at and thinking of other options, but when you look at the right hand column of the list at the top of blerhg post, you can see how many PTO days I eat up with each event. I'll want to head up to Ohio to see my grandson next year, and Bill Nye and I had been talking about a Wydaho trip as well.

And here I am hoping to just get through another week of work without cough-barfing on my coworkers and mebbe getting out on my mountain bike again next weekend and also getting back on track (as if I was ever there) in my preparations for 2019.

Wish in one hand, shit in the other, write it all down on a steno pad for posterity.