Gear, It Lasts Forever Right?

So I'm reading the list of gear that I need to bring with me for the Leadville camp in June, (here's the list):

Things to Bring
Items to pack for any of our camps:
Mountain Bike Clean, tuned and ready to ride (bring the bike you plan to race)
Gearing Your bike should be equipped with a triple in the front, and a 12-32 or 12-
34 cassette. Unless you’re a singlespeeder (gear ratio of 1.8:1 or less)
Helmet
Jerseys at least 4 (2 short and or 2 long sleeve)
Shorts at least 4 pair
Leg or knee warmers 2 pair
Wind Vest
Wind Jacket
Baselayer 2 lightweight
Rain Jacket
Arm Warmers 2 pair
Socks (regular cycling and wool cycling 3 pair of each)
Cycling gloves Long finger
Cycling Shoes/pedals (carry these with you if traveling by plane)
Eyewear/sunglasses
Camelbak or other hydration system
Chamois cream
Small tote or backpack for anything you wish to keep in support vehicles.
Sunscreen Very important as most of the camp will take place above 9000 feet
Toiletries for clean up between rides.
Items to add for any Colorado camp.
Light jacket
Medium weight jacket
Long finger cold weather gloves
Beanie/helmet liner
Shoe covers/booties
Bottles/mix/food

The better part of this list I do have, but a few things caught my attention:

4 jersey's, well that's actually a problem because I sold off all my team clothes when I left Peoria, Il. So I'll need some jerseys.

Then I got to thinking about what I had for cycling shorts, going to need 4 of those also, turns out I only have 3 pair and 2 of them have holes in them... so I'll need more shorts,

What else? yep I got a helmet -it's new but wait it was a team issue back in Peoria, wrong color, tiny vents and... darn it "I hate that thing" so I need a new helmet.

Next: Wind Vest, yep, no wait nope, sold that because it was a LeMond, sold all LeMond stuff when that idiot accused Lance of doping... guess I'll need one of those too..

OK no more looking at the list today, next thing I know I'm going to need a new bike... Oh great... I'm not even going to deal with that reality today...

I've got it! I Need a Training Plan.

OK, I know what to do, I'll have CTS write me up a 6 month schedule and then I'll follow it and be on track to do the right training for the race. yeah, that's it. simple enough...

I thought this would be a good plan as I trained with CTS in 2005 and while I had a pretty expensive package back then, I really wasn't committed to spending that kind of money today, so I asked CTS if they would just make me a generalized 6 month schedule to follow. I was will to pay a consulting fee and I thought it sounded like a good idea.

Sometimes I am really just not that bright: I'm really not sure how I even got past the salesman to the Coach with this idea. Within 5 minutes of talking to the Coach I realized he wasn't going to write me a 6 month plan. He did however turn out to be a really good salesman, not because he was a salesman, but because he was telling me how it was and sometimes I recognize good advice when it's presented to me...
Even if he made me a 6 month plan (which he wouldn't do no how no way) I was setting myself up for certain failure. What I needed was a real coach, and a real coaching program, not a generic outline of a plan. Fortuneately I didn't have to pay the consulting fee, for him to sell me on signing up for a coaching program.

So now I'm an official CTS athlete again!

Leadville 100 Mile Mountain Bike Race

In early January 2009, I once again thought it would be a great idea to sign up for the Leadville 100 MTB Race. In all honesty I wasn't even really that excited to get in when I filled out the application, and since it really was a longshot to get into the race anyway, I thought why not if I get in: that will be great I coule really use some motivation to get back in shape, and if I didn't get in: then no big deal, (I was really already on track to get back into shape from the MMA training I had started a few months earlier). So I mailed the application.

Well by the time early February rolled around, I had changed my mind completely and had high hopes and desperately wanted to do this race, this race would revolutionize me, I would train, I would eat right, it would be the final stamp of motivation that I needed!

So as most people know who sign up for the Leadville 100: I didn't get in. Rejected for the second time now, but... hey look at that: Carmichael Training Systems is offering free entry into the race if you enroll in their Leadville Camp. (When I say free, I really mean "free" as the camp isn't exactly free). Knowing the 40 spots CTS had would fill up fast, I called them within 10 minutes of reading the letter and signed up! Wow I can't beleive it. I am doing the Leadville 100 this year!

Holy Crap! I'm doing the Leadville 100 this year! ...and its only 6 months away! I'm still 30 lbs overweight (from what I used to race at) and I'm in terrible cycling shape, how am I going to get ready...?