Off Season ParanoiaWill Form Return?

Most roadies agree that roadies are supposed to have an off season. They do not seem to agree on any details, though.

When the offseason is, how long it is, and what one does during the off season are up for argument.

Per his coach, the Wheelsucker is taking it easy on the bike, doing yoga classes, lifting weights and riding Powercranks easy. Powercranks are so hard to ride with, that his Powercrank rides are typically 45 minutes and the longest are 90 minutes. And those are mostly zone 1 and zone 2.

If the Wheelsucker does do a group ride on a regular bike, he is going easy and sitting in.

This is supposed to allow an aging Wheelsucker to recover and come back stronger and better next spring.

But on the last group ride the Wheelsucker tired, stopped taking pulls and sat in to conserve, and still was gapped and dropped on some rollers shortly before the ride ended. Riders older than the Wheelsucker, and other riders he had dropped on training rides this past summer, easily rode away from him.

The Wheelsucker is becoming paranoid. Will his form come around? Will his fitness return? Will he be able to hold Ace’s wheel longer than the other pretenders? What if it doesn’t come back all the way? What if it turns out the Wheelsucker is a year older, and he only gets some of his form back?

Apparently this feeling is normal, the Wheelsucker tells himself, but he still worries.