off season and base building

i read this great comment below from Nick Martin's blog.

Six hours down, 394 more to go. Base is really the only time of year we get to mingle with the roadies and their clean drivetrains. It's refreshing to actually hear new stories of the season past.... Crazy how similar our lives are but yet so different.

Not that I have the time to put in 400hrs of base b/w Jan and April. That would be 100hrs a month, or 25hrs a week. Guess if you're a Boulder-based pro or just a millionaire with lots of time and little commitments, it might be possible. I put in about 250hrs a year, total, incl racing and everyday riding. But the quote is good. I prepare my base for 5 months for 6 months of racing. Kinda like at work, though the calendar is reversed. We prepare May-Oct for the revenue we make in Nov-Apr.