2025 was all lined up. On paper it held promise. Coming off a fairly strong year, was feeling pretty good. Got thru the flu in Feb and started ramping up. Plenty of time for Coast2Coast and that was to be the perfect springboard for another Long Voyage (now called Gravel Worlds 300).

Returned from Unbound (as a volunteer) in early June and knew right away something was off. My heart rate was elevated and was having other problems that I’ll not go into here. Fitness was definitely off. Couldn’t sleep, wasn’t eating right, riding was out of the question.

Might be dumb, but I’m not crazy. Or, maybe the other way around? Yes, some of these events are challenging and atypical. But, I have had good success training for them. It’s not in the head. Either you’re ready, or you’re not. You can’t think your way into the starting corral.

You can think your way out of it. But, that’s not what was going on. Well, what the hell is wrong? Are there cardiac issues? Nothing to mess with. Riding’s fun but it’s not worth risking health problems.

It’s the other way around. Health is paramount. Setup the appointments, went to the specialists and as of today, everything checks out good. I started training again in earnest last week and it’s going good also. Just in time for Gravel Worlds. Will I line up for the 300? Perhaps not. There are other distances. I may have to drop down.

We shall see.