in retrospect... it's the travel that hurts.

(image: Amy) So, Ben set out as a normal, 9-5 holding guy to line up with the pros this year and try to hold his own. I was going to follow him and help. This we did.

He had his own challenges with being a racer holding this schedule, but trying to keep up his bikes and still have a job, friends, and clean fingernails from time to time put me in an odd place too. The tough part was the travel.

Personal stuff fell by the wayside. I haven't seen most of my friends in weeks and last night we finally sorted through the laundry situation. I miss the usual knitting and nesting of fall.

My job situation isn't great after all this either. I had the time off but I don't think anyone ever expected me to use it. There have been enough late nights on Sunday that I've been fairly useless on Monday, and I'm sure folks caught that. I've missed important meetings and been less-than-accessible, and no doubt I'll pay for that.

The biggest thing that paid, though, was bike maintenance. While the pros have people to clean, lube, tune, etc their bikes after races, Ben and I were instead racing to pack the bikes or get them car top so that we could make it to work on time. They went from the muck of the Portland USGP straight to the train station and sat in a box for three days. They just didn't get the love they needed, and the cost of replacing the poorly maintained bits will no doubt add up.

But, I think it can be done. I mean, really, we did it. I can see that there's a ceiling of reasonable achievement a not-pro can attain, but we haven't found it yet. I think if we do less of the travel to the big races and more sticking around the midwest, we might be able to tune this machine up and do some damage... vamos a ver.