May to June Infections

Last December Race Across Oregon plans were hatched.  The crew was rounded up and the wheels were set in motion for another greater race.  Mid-may hot in the middle of stage racing season, I raced the first 3 stages of the mount hood stage race.  As a whole the race seemed successful, a fitness builder, all in preparation for RAO, but on returning to Corvallis I was almost immediately hit with a respiratory infection.   Out for two weeks, it was slim, mucus, hacking.  On the third week I started to feel better, began to slowly bring things back online.  The legs felt atrophied, power was down but not out.  Then a week later, the infection was back, and this time lasted until early mid-june.  Back again on the bike, I started to ramp back up.   For the first few weeks I was winded climbing over the freeway and the local training-ride-race had me hacking up residual lung scum at every sprint point.

The first major fitness test came at the watermelon double, a fast, easy, and fun double century located right here in the Willamette Valley.  I took off strong, and the first, 60 miles were easy as pie.  But then it got harder, and harder.  I finished with a respectable time but was physically exhausted to a much greater extent then one could be and still be a finishing contender at RAO.  Seeing the writing on the wall, and after consulting the crew, I withdrew from the 2008 RAO.  After, three years of racing RAO, once solo, and twice on two person teams, the one thing I know for sure is to that going into RAO, there needs to be no reservations, no doubt, no question, and this year given the unfortunate mid-season illness I wasn't sure I could make it up Bakeoven much less past the reservation dogs under my own power..