Not Riding and Not Happy About It

Last night I spent some time down in the basement cleaning the Cervelo. Although the northshore ride scheduled for today was to include some off-road sections, the weather was sure to be cool and clear, and besides, I figured the bike-cleaning ritual might net me a little luck in the toothache department. I really wanted to ride. Alas, it was not to be. I awoke to a severely painful tooth that had now progressed to the point where anything touching it produced a sharp shock. Bad sign. On the plus side, if there is one, I can now definitively identify the specific tooth that is causing the problem.

I knew immediately that a four hour ride was out of the question, even with a large dose of a banned substances, so I found some 2nd generation cepahalosporin in the 'fridge and started on it since we're probably into the active infection stage at this point. Meanwhile, the Tylenol #3 is not quite doing the job pain-wise.

As all bike racers know, this is the time of year when riders begin to feel a sense of urgency about training, and even after all these racing seasons I am no exception. While it's one thing to miss a long training ride in December, it is quite another when it happens in February. To add to my frustration, this would have been the first really solid week of training I'd had in quite a while. I swear, it seems like there is some sort of cosmic conspiracy going on to keep me from getting in shape this year. Next weekend we're scheduled to drive up to Iowa for a gymnastics meet. That will mean at least two full weekend days spent sitting down watching the scenery go by.

So I'm sitting here looking out the window at a beautiful sunny day in New Orleans as the empty Carrollton Parade floats make their way down the road to the start of the parade. I just finished setting up the track bike, which I also didn't get to ride this weekend, on the trainer, and I figure I can probably tolerate an hour or so on the damned thing at some point this afternoon. At this point, I'm actually looking forward to a root canal!