The Glentress Seven was one of my favourite races last year. Seven hours of riding round an excellent course, in frankly appalling weather produced the ideal combination of fun, suffering and socialising. The choice of singlespeed wasn’t optimal, but added to the challenge. The onset of mild hypothermia towards the end made things a little spicy as well.
Anyway… the race is back for 2012, and I’ve dropped in my entry already. Reckon I’ll ride geared this year, and see what happens.
They are going to be a little bit cheeky this year…
Well…
I nearly did all the riding I wanted to do over Christmas/New Year. I had lots of fun, and met up with some good friends and went into the New Year feeling fit and relaxed.
First race for 2012 was due to be Todcross on 2 January. Filthy, muddy, cold cyclocross for an hour. Brilliant. I’d been looking forward to it since the start of the ‘cross season, and was looking forward to meeting up with old and new friends.
***An aside***
I’ve recently started seeing a lovely girl and things are going well. Most importantly, while she doesn’t particularly “get” my love of cycling, or exercise in general, she understands how important it is to me.
***Back to the story***
Unfortunately, lovely girl woke up doubled in pain on the morning of the race. I did my best to look after her, while sorting lycra and spares for later. The pain wasn’t getting any better, and it seemed likely an emergency doctors visit was on the cards. Hmm. Decision time, and an easy one to make in the end (despite much protestation from the patient “I’m fine. OWWWWWW, urrrrrrgh”). This was more than a normal stomach ache. A few hours later, an acute kidney infection was diagnosed, antibiotics prescribed and any nagging doubts about making the right decision were put to bed.
So, that was that. I didn’t do Todcross. I’m a bit gutted, but there are always other races. I’m still in relatively good shape, and it isn’t long until Hit the North.
projectenduranceracer 