Well, as Clay wrote about last week it is suddenly mid-November, the time of year that feels very much in limbo. Somewhere between fall and the harshness of winter, with some of the squad fighting off fatigue as the final stretch of CX season approaches, others starting to think about 2019 road season, and some others still trying to recover from the 2018 road season. For my part, cyclocross goals for this season have been squashed under the weight of real world obligations and an uncooperative back that has me stuck in PT at least once per week. Thanks to the latter in the past two weeks I think I have managed a grand total of 90 minutes on the bike during the work week, which is not helpful in the slightest to my Project85 goals.

Thankfully with some serious massage work I have managed to sneak onto a bike each of the past two weekends. Between our big adventure ride and marathon escorting on Sunday the first weekend of the month provided a spectacular few hours of riding. Unfortunately my back was less cooperative this past weekend and I had to severely limit my mileage. But with the squad rolling nearly a dozen deep on Saturday morning and the fall foliage on River Road in full bloom the real world stress quickly faded away even if my tender back was a reminder of my physical limitations at the moment. We had a crew headed to Bear and points North that I couldn’t join, but a spin to the market and back wound up being just what the doctor ordered, mentally and physically.

While the fall color may not stick around much longer here’s hoping that we will have a few more weekends of reasonable weather before we settle in for another dreary winter riding bikes in New York City. But hey, at least there are only 115 days to go until the Grant’s Tomb Criterium?