Most of us have been there. For whatever reason we need to take time off the bike. I have had an overuse injury combined with getting used to being a new dad, so the riding has been on the back burner.
Last night I did my first real training ride in two months. My training loop is a 50k loop of mostly flat roads that I do Wednesday evenings. It seems every club is out Wednesday nights as it is mid-week between weekend races and longer rides.
As I slid out into the cold, windy Taichung night, I could feel my sustained speed was slower than I had hoped. The large muscled in my legs were hungry for oxygen that I couldn't provide. I pushed and eased back, pushed and eased back. It was rough. It was hard. It hurt like hell. It was demoralizing.... It was absolutely marvelous to be back out there.
The endurance is the first thing that fall off when you stop training. Hopefully, if I keep throwing myself out there, everything will come back on line by April.
Sometimes it seems like you'll never get back, but it happens... it just taked longer and longer to get here.
