power camp pull

it is warm enough outside, right now, that I could be riding my bike. the sun is out, and snow is melting like it was in a warm skillet. there is so much water seeping from the snow that every minute another square inch of pavement reveals itself.
this is life in utah.
and I am incredibly grateful for this snow-sun-snow phenomenon we so often experience. I've heard there are parts of the country that get a snow-freeze-snow-gray-freeze ritual, which might possibly send me over the edge. freezing rain, ice storms, day after day of bitter, gray weather: this could do me in.
as would florida. or arizona. and possibly even california, where I might tire of the perfection.
nope, I think I'll stay right here where I'm rarely bored by predictable weather. I'll shovel as needed, water when necessary, and be extremely grateful for all the days in between where I don't have to do either. when I can get on my bike instead.
I had a moment of power camp nostalgia this morning, a little tug on my heart. power camp classes on MWF are from 5:15-6:15 am, and the regular spin class is from 6:15-7:15. us non-power-campers are "allowed" to come in at 6 if we want to get started early. the power campers are just winding up their class, all the lights on and usually a bit of banter floating around the room.
during my kids' vacation from school these past two weeks, I've been able to attend many more spin classes than usual, and this morning I decided I would prefer spin to a (boring, though I never admit that) weight room session. thus I entered the room at 6, and found an open bike and slipped myself in.
mimi (my favorite) was the instructor, and she was guiding the campers through the last portion of their workout, talking about the next day's workout (promising to be a tough one) and what she knew of the next few classes for them. [power camp is a highly structured program, with each class having specific workouts of cadence + heart rate zones + time, all based on research that proves this structure to be such that a cyclist will improve one's on-bike performance.]
this is when I felt the little tug.
I like to work hard, I like to be challenged, and I like to know I'm on a path of improvement.
(gosh, reflecting on that, you would think I would be a really good dieter, wouldn't you? but for some reason, it doesn't seem to work in that area.)
sigh.
I felt a little left out.
and as power camp class dwindled down my camper friends looked around and noticed me, saying hi and making comments like, "have you been here the whole time?" "I'm having deja vue," "there you are, just like before, same spot" . . .
sigh again.
it's a club of which I am currently not a member.

do I regret my decision not to do power camp this year? maybe just a little.
except every weekday morning at 4:45 when I am blissfully still asleep, when I would have otherwise been rising and tackling the morning. at 5:15 (which is still terribly early) when my alarm goes off, I don't regret my decision at all.

at 6:15 mimi turned the lights off---yes, regular spin class is in the dark, so I have to sit close enough to the instructor's little green-shaded banker's light so that I can see my heart monitor---and I once again entered the regular-people's world. all the fanatics and over-achievers finished packing up in the dark, and my friends left the room, moving on to face their own days, possibly watching the snow melt and having their own fantasies about climbing on their bike and riding away, up a canyon, like me.