Really? It's over?
Truth be told, I could use a break. I doubt that's news to any of the regulars. The fevered pitch at which we start the season -- or even the preseason -- tends to make it hard to sustain the excitement til the end. But what are we supposed to do, contain our enthusiasm in March? Ignore the Tour of California? Next year is actually going to be even worse, with Lance's comeback beginning in January and our first large-scale Podium Cafe meatspace gathering at the ToC. We'll be in midseason form here before the first Het Volk startlist is posted.
I wouldn't have it any other way. To me, the pro cycling season, just like the amateur scene, will always be a bit front-loaded. The spring classics are cycling nirvana; the Giro is the feast; and the Tour is the Super Bowl. No matter how great the races are in late summer and fall, the spring and the Tour are too hard a set of acts to follow. Add in vacations and the inevitable quickening of life in September (back to school and work), and following the sport just gets a tad less intense.
Make no mistake, this is merely a discussion of rhythms. I've been at this for five years now, and with a chance to catch my breath I'll be chomping at the bit for 2009. Having kids (for me) means picking one or maybe two ways to have fun outside of work and family, and this (plus riding) is what I've chosen. Bloggers, even some prominent ones, sometimes get burnt out after a while. To me, that's a completely foreign concept.
Of course, this is a community site, and my own story is that of just one voice (albeit a loud one). The editors, Veloki's brilliant designs, the Benna-love Caucus, and all the people who post and comment here, each person has a hand in creating what this blog has become. I don't believe in singling people out because every contribution matters. So to everyone reading this... thanks!
Finally, this isn't ciao or even see you later -- we may not have live (road) race threads or VDS updates for a couple months, but we'll be breaking down the season, following innumerable storylines that lead into the next one, and calling on all Cyclocross fans to follow the mud-splatterers on both the US and European scene.
It never stops...