It’s been tough juggling opening the new facility and riding my bike. So, I haven’t really had much time to ride. That being said, I’ve decided to just get out there and get it done. Sporting the HSP kit and rolling my custom SEVEN AXIOM RACE bike, I’ve returned to the local racing scene. Why not? Since I’ve started back, I’ve done one road race, 1 time trial, and 4 criteriums. Each an every race has been a suffer-fest and I’ve had to rely on 24 years worth of muscle memory and my racing smarts that developed over those 2 decades to get me to the finish. I haven’t pulled out any wins, BUT I am stirring things up in the fields and trying to encourage the less experience to giddy up and RACE! 4-5 hours a week has gotten me by thus far but as the locals continue to race more and more, their fitness continues to improve and that is making the races I do more and more uncomfortable for me. And that’s fine, as I coach a lot of the guys who are putting the hurt on me and I suppose I should be happy that they are responding to the training.

This Sunday is a 90 miler that may take me days to recover from but I am hoping this event will motivate me to get in a few more hours of riding in during the week- which should be possible now that the doors to HSP 2.0 are open and the business is functioning well. The Tour of Georgia is going on now, one of my favorite races. And per usual this time of the year I go through the “if I were still racing full time I’d…..” scenario. The reality is that I’d be suffering, just like I did in Tours of Georgia’s passed. It’s been 2 years now since I stopped committing myself completely to riding and I am to the point now where I really want to get out and ride again, which is why the local racing is good for me. I have no thoughts on trying to peak for a Masters Nationals or any events like that, I just need to be able to get my hyper-competitive side off a few times a month and things will be fine. I’ve gained a bit of weight and a lot of perspective and I don’t have anything to complain about.

This is my first blog in years. I didn’t think much about when I sat down. If I had, I would have put it off. There is a lot to write about these days as my life is a lot different than it was when I started my racing blog, www.ToddHerriott.com, in 2002. For one, I’m older. REALLY older. Almost 39 in fact. How does that happen?

Hats off to all of you guys and gals getting out there on the weekends after a long week at work and pushing those pedals.

Best,
TH