Should I quit racing?
Hi guys, long time no talk (much).
Should I quit racing? Maybe take a year? I already paid team, kit, helmet, and USAC, but I haven't been riding. CTL is likely at 20ish.
I burned out pretty hard 2 years ago, and even worse last year. Just got tired of getting slower every year and spending like 90 weekend days on a single pursuit and not improving. In October, I crashed and hit my face, broke my orbit in 2 places and got a concussion. I got lucky that (1) I still have a working brain, (2) I still have vision in both eyes, (3) my face isn't deformed but for a 2" scar over my eyebrow, and (4) Kaiser picked up the $50k bill. No, I'm not afraid to ride now. The crash was just me being an idiot on wet roads in the fog.
The next 3 months I had to protect my face like my vision depended on it, so I took the opportunity to hit the gym. One of my theories is that I had my best power numbers my first year racing because I was coming off a few years of strength focus. 99.9% of all bike efforts I've done in the past several years, my muscles get tired first. My lungs usually have a crapton left in the tank, unless it's an all out, very well rested, 1 to 3 minute effort. My theory is that slogging uphill doing threshold intervals were not sufficient to retain, much less improve, muscular strength. In addition, to prevent burnout, I decided to skip road races this year (my favorite) and stick to crits. More strength focus, less penalty for being muscular, fewer 8-16 hour weekends on the bike/racing. More well rounded physique, more time to hang out with humans, more time to hike and enjoy nature instead of speeding and suffering through it.
Well, it has now been 5 months and the gym is addicting.
1) It doesn't take much getting ready - 30 minutes out of bed I am in the warm, comfortable gym, warming up deadlift. With cycling, 30 minutes out of bed I'm trying to put on 39 items of clothing, pump up tires, cuss at my derailleur, and psyche myself up to freeze my balls off in the pitch black rain.
2) I get to put on muscle.
3) I get to hang out with my wife at the gym. She won't ride.
4) My wife gets fit.
5) I can spend my weekends with people I know, like my wife and friends. Seeing a familiar face at a race while redlining and trying to make the split doesn't count.
6) Time leftover for other stuff, like drumming, hiking, and even riding for fun.
7) Last but not least, GAINZ. 5 months in and I'm stronger than I've ever been. Deadlifted 405 lbs 5 days ago, squatted 275 lbs yesterday, and benched 245 lbs today. That's more impressive than "I've been racing my bike for 5 years and still have a hard time breaking 300 watts FTP".
The downside: forum.bodybuilding.com is a joke compared to this place. Who gave those messed up little teenage twerps a computer? And don't even get me started about the misc. But I've never ventured to trollheim, so I could be wrong.
Anyway, I realize I gotta get to training on the bike now or miss the year. I could be race ready in 2 or 3 months. That's the reason I started going to the gym. I really believe it will improve my power numbers. But... I'm loving pushing big (for most people) weights, and thinking getting into powerlifting could be fun. I could train hard and still go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week, but that seems like half-assing both. It might be a cool experiment though. Torn. What should I do? I've already got a Red Kite Omnium 2/3 kit, and won a 2/3 race in '17. So maybe that's as good as it gets.