Who put that crab there?

Motivation is a funny thing. It survives all summer on nothing more than a ghost of a chance to place, to win. Then winter rolls around and motivation disappears...poof...gone. I eat. I play Everquest. I forget that I have a bike bolted to a trainer in the basement. And then last Friday happens.

In one instant I went from "I want a cheeseburger" to "I do NOT want a cheeseburger, and can I go ride NOW."

Friday morning I checked the racing calendar. Posted was the USCF Road Race Championships. It just so happens it is on the same course as last year, but it is four months earlier than last year. Last year I got dropped on the hill. And there were three laps, so I got dropped three times (yeah, I caught back on two of the three times). Later that day and the next day/week/month I mulled over my 15th place finish. I vowed to be lighter and more powerful.

I also noticed that the first race of the year was Saturday, the very next day. Good news comes in two's, I guess. You can quibble over a race being good news. It was cold, about 20 degrees with wind chill. It was a race though, and suddenly there it was.

Hello, Mo! Nice to see you again!