Zoned Out

Maybe it's the weather, or perhaps the increasing pollen count, but the last couple of days I've been feeling really zoned out. I feel like I could sit in a chair and stare at a blank wall for a few hours and just be perfectly content with that. It's as though my brain is stuck in neutral. Take this morning, for example. The Thursday riders were mostly a few minutes late getting together, and then for the first five miles Bob and I rode side-by-side at the front going maybe 18 mph and nobody seemed interested in coming around us. Eventually they did, of course, but it's not normal for it to take that long on a Thursday with a group of ten or twelve. Maybe I'm not the only one who is zoned out. Anyway, I spent most of the morning just following wheels and letting them dictate my pace.

So the pace finally picked up to something above the embarrassment threshold and I just never could really get into it. Little gaps would open in front of me and I would let them go for a little while before slowly pulling them back, but there was no committment, no snap. Then, on the return trip, things got kind of strange. I was alone for a long time with a couple of riders ahead of me and the rest of the group behind, even though I was barely doing 20 mph. Finally, everyone came back together and the pace moved up to 23 or so, and then as we were getting close to the finish, Donald flatted. Well, we'd been going so slowly that everyone knew we were already running late, so most of the guys kept going. A few of us stopped to help, and then a mile later the tire was flat again. Donald finally found the offending piece of rock in the tire on the second try. I rolled home at an uncharacteristically slow speed wishing I could go back to sleep.

So I guess I'll show up for Rouge-Roubaix. It won't be the first time I've started that race unprepared, and besides, it's looking like the weather is going to be pretty nice with a morning low of around 50F and a high of -- get this -- 77. A 10% chance of rain and 7 mph southerly wind should make it fairly pleasant way at the back of the pack where I'll probably spend most of the day. Maybe I'll roll up my shorts and work on my tan.....