My plan for the end of this season was to race cyclocross until November, take a month off and begin my base training sometime in December. So in September I started running and working on my cyclocross skills. High speed dismounts, re-mounts, bunny hops, etc. I was all set to race in a few weeks. Then the morning of the first race came around, I had to wake up at 5am on a Saturday and drive two hours to the start line. However once I was awake, I decided that I really didn't feel like racing - more sleep seemed like a better idea. So I skipped the race that weekend. And from that day on, I started avoided my bike altogether. I was no long motivated to go out and ride. I didn't participate in a single cyclocross race the entire fall and didn't ride more than 500 miles in 6 weeks.
So when I started my 2004 training season this November, I thought I would be violently out of shape. I expected my legs to give out at every hill and die into headwinds. As it turned out, my fitness was just fine. As per my "base" training regiment, I am not doing any intense work, just long easy miles. But when I decide to crank it up to pass a car, make a green-light or just fire myself uphill, it is like I never stopped riding at all.
Last year I rode as hard as could into late November, knowing full well that snow and frigid temperatures would end my season. Ice and zero-degree weather prevented me from riding for more than an hour until mid-March. Now I live in a climate where riding year round is completely possible (as long as you don't mind the rain).
So I am excited for this season, and can't wait to start doing some intense training. I have retained almost all of my conditioning from a summer at high altitude. With about 5 months until the race season begins, I can only imagine how much more fitness I can build.
