Are You Living It?

Every year I have a weekend of racing cyclocross where I rethink my whole cyclocross agenda.  Sometimes I have a hard time getting motivated when it is 40 degrees out and pouring rain.  I am in Toronto right now for some UCI C1 races and the weather has been a bit off.  It was gorgeous all day until about 2:45.  Our race started at 3:00. Thanks mother nature.  It was cold, and the UCI officials were measuring our cross bikes? What for? They do that for time trials, but cross races? Anyone have some insight here.  I think ALL cross bikes are going to be over the weight limit, if not, the bike would snap like a twig.  It was a bit strange.

The racing on the cross bike has been going pretty good. I am still on the training program of less is more.  I tend to burn out a bit when I race every weekend, so during the week I keep it very light and just race on the weekends.  Yesterday was the first mud race of the season and it reminds me how much fun it is to race in the mud.  I like slopping around in the mud allot.  I am not always that good at it, but it forces me to take some extra lines, run different sections that I would normally ride.  The mud changes everything about how you race the bike.  I ended up 5th yesterday.

The weekend before was a bit of a shocker in Boulder.  I had 3 flats on the first day at the reservoir. Two were from Goat heads and the third was just my head.  I totally head flatted after having a poor start and no legs. The second day was a much better course, no goat heads and a start that suited me.  My goal was to have a fast start and settle in to see how the day would go.  The start was too good! I snagged the whole shot and then blew up shortly after.  I had no idea I was going that hard until I looked back in a turn and there was a huge gap, rookie mistake. Half lap later you could see the mushroom cloud as I blew up in the sand pitts.

Bike racing continues to frustrate me.  I am still without a contract for 2009.  Things are not looking good at this point.  The UCI deadline has passed for many teams to add riders. There is still a chance of getting on a team, but things are looking bleak.  There are a few leads and Iron’s in the fire, so I haven’t accepted my shift manager position at the Waffle House yet.  I am pursuing all options at this point and actually really interested in going back to my roots as a Mountain Bike Racer.   I am not ready to be done racing bikes yet and feel like the past two seasons have been my best.  Who know’s?  It is discouraging, but I try to keep trudging on with the Cross Bike over my shoulder right now.

I am also contemplating a change of environment.  Right now I am seriously considering a move to Salt Lake City.  It is much more marketable for teams to fly me in and out of a larger airport.  Salt Lake is close to family and friends, there is good skiing, training, and big mountains which is a must for me.  There has to be some mountians where I live.  Big changes are in the works for my right now and I am not scared, but excited.  I think things will cometogether so that I can continue to race bikes either on the road or the dirt, maybe even both!