I just love my new word ‘faff’, but if I start to overuse it, UK readers, let me know and I’ll tone it down. The word expresses an important part of the world in an innocuous way, unlike the expression we use in Canada for the same thing (it involves doing something very bad to a dog).
Anyway, it’s definitely the Faffing Season right now for me, at least in terms of my riding. I’m on the bike, but without much intent, and I think that’s just fine, but when I spend too much time like this I start wondering ‘what’s next?’. So, I’ve been looking around at my options, and the first one on the block is this little doozy.
I’ve done the Amstel Gold Race and most of the important bits of Paris-Roubaix, so the Tour of Flanders is a legitimate target and definitely on that bucket list I’ve been faffing too much to make. The thing is, I don’t even want to do a sportive in the south of France on April 2, so why would I want to drive to Belgium to do one? Apart from my faffing, I’m also softening, I think.
Another possibility is Haute Route Alps one more time, since Coach Rob has signed himself up. I’m waiting for the motivation to hit me for this one, but it’s still on the list.
Something slightly similar to HR, but infinitely crazier, is the Cents Cols Challenge. These masochistic events entail 10 days of riding with 10 cols climbed each day. They are massively long days on the road and my friends have told me that you basically just ride from breakfast till dinner, if you make it by then.
An oldie but a goody – mainly because I’ve yet to do it successfully – is the qualifying race for the UCI Masters World Championships. The qualifying event in France next year will be in Albi, which is fine, but assuming the unexpected happens and I qualify, the Championships are in Perth, Australia. Perth is a nice city, but it’s half way around the world and, unless my memory is worse than I think, pretty flat. Not my kind of course, I’m sure.
I know something will strike me as a good idea one day soon; it always does. In the meantime I’ll continue my faffing ways and enjoy the off-season.
Anybody out there have any good ideas?
