Getting up to speed

Near the end of a ride with Brady about a month ago, we started talking about various fitness levels and racing goals and stuff like that. He told of his experience getting his TT bike fitted — the fitter told it would probably be a couple of years before he really got good at cycling.

I remember hearing something similar when I started running again — that it would take a while to build things up. But once I got enough miles in, I'd be off to the races. And I was, really. I started running again in late 2001 and by 2003/04 I was really fast.

The same goes for my switch to cycling. We started in earnest in 2005, rode a lot in 2006 and I started having real success in 2008.

After batting these things back and forth, Brady dropped this on me: "Don't you think that's the same as breaking your back? It takes a while to come back after something like that."

Huh.

At the time — a month ago — I felt like I was on the verge of a breakthrough. I was riding stronger and harder than I had in a couple of years, but I still wasn't there. I was not quite fast enough to be in the lead group on Wednesday nights, but well ahead of the second group.

It finally clicked earlier this month — a little more than two years after I got hurt. The last two Wednesdays have been my best since probably early 2009. I raced pretty well in the Omaha races. Even though my back is sore from swimming, running and two days of driving across Iowa, it's not a big deal.

I'm thinking less about "don't get dropped" and more about "how can I take a dig?" And when a move goes, I've been able to cover it and sometimes counter it. I'm not the fastest guy there — I never was and never will be — but I'm in the game. I'm mixing it up. Finally.

I'm back.