While I’ve been anxiously awaiting my trip west for Pierre’s Hole and the Breck Epic, I realized at about 4pm on Friday that I’m leaving Monday morning. Suddenly, it’s time to taper training and start packing. I also came to the realization that the Element is f***ing filthy on the inside, so I’m gonna hit it with some upholstery cleaner and armor-all at some point this weekend.

The weather in Memphis is brutally hot, humid, and polluted this year. I’m not one to complain about the heat, but physically, I can’t deny the fact that I’ve felt the sucking of all energy from my lungs and legs during the hotter rides. So, I’ve spent a good bit of time either grinding out miserably hot endurance miles on the road or doing intervals on the trainer. All the while, I’m watching reports from facebook friends of pristine singletrack, mountains, and blue skies absent of any of the grey haze that settles in on our worst days.

Amanda Carey has been doing intervals here:

Vicky Barclay? She’s somewhere where there’s mountains. And a pool.

Cheryl Sorenson is a New Englander, so her rock gardens don’t turn into a summer jungle like the ones I frequent in Arkansas.

I once heard a story that in some far off European country, the professional cyclists would, in the winter time, ride a trainer for hours a day, with nothing to listen to other than their breathing and nothing to look at except for a bare brick wall in front of them. The idea is that not only did they have strong legs, but also a hard mind.

The last few weeks, for me, have been an exercise in the same spirit.

So all of you can have your mountains, blue skies, and swimming pools. I’ve been training Memphis-style, and I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything.