It was only at the end of last week that I was ecstatic about the bigger events on my own personal calendar being so imminent. Preparing so many varied elements of your life, lifestyle and fitness for a large proportion of the year is somewhat taxing. Gratefully, the end is in sight – and it’s just the start!
Focus and clarity at the 2009 Kielder 100. Photo: Joolz Dymond
There is clarity in hard racing. Being on your limit trying to stay where you need to as a Marathon starts to splinter provides immense focus. It may just be that your focus is on the rear hub, seat post, or backside in front of you, not letting that gap increase as some powerhouse turns the screws up front. Perhaps your focus is on your line on a fast descent, making sure you don’t throw away those seconds that were hard earnt on the previous climb. Such focus pushes the daily or weekly stress aside, and allows clear thinking of what you enjoy, what you have been doing right – and where to from here.
Such focus under hard effort can occlude senses. I don’t remember any sound for the first 2km of the 2009 XCM Champs in Graz. Similarly, the Elite start of the 2010 Dolomiti Superbike seemed to be done under silence save for the occasional hum of a knobby tyre being forced to corner on tarmac at close to 50km/h out of town. Stage 7 of the 2011 Crocodile Trophy was also eerily quiet as Urs Huber rode high tempo with Jeroen Boelen (the new race leader) firmly on his wheel on the rolling dirt to Laura. Until the first gate – there was a lot of noise after that.
So the days are ticking away to the Kona Odyssey – the first big event for the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team. And although it is easy to question the form, wonder about the weather, and try to predict who the protagonists will be – there is at least one certainty. The hard racing that will ensue as soon as the bunch hits the first climb will clear the head (if not flood the legs) and flick that massive internal switch for the upcoming season.
Game on.