...And Looking Forward to the 2015 Season (April Edition)

Needless to say, while I've got the opportunity, I'm going all-in on 2015. I've hired a well renowned coach that I've been working with since the start of the year and although I don't feel fast yet (and it'd be a mistake if I did), I feel much more well rounded at this point than I ever have.  In addition, I've got an incredible new track bike heading my way shortly that should add some 'free' watts to my efforts during the year. If I'm giving it one all-out shot, I want to make sure I'm doing it right.

My primary goals for 2015 surround competing as well as possible at National Track Calendar events throughout the summer and the National Track Championships in August. But I don't want to get too ahead of myself, so I'll take it one month at a time here. The month of April will consist of local and regional road racing in an effort to get faster for the track season. In addition, I'm heading out to Boulder for a team training camp for a week next week to ride with some really fast guys which should be a great experience, especially since I've never ridden in Boulder. I've ridden several times out in the middle mountains of Colorado and anticipate the climbs to be similar in design, but riding them at the intensity with which this group will hit them will make this a completely new experience - plus I'm not a great ascender for whatever reason, so there's that...

So my April looks like:

• April 4: Lincoln Park Criterium (Chicago, IL)
• April 4-11: WIDC Team Training Camp (Boulder, CO)
• April 12: Boulder-Roubaix (Boulder, CO)
• April 23-26: Joe Martin Stage Race (Fayettesville, AR)

Hopefully our team can find some success at our home race at Lincoln Park this weekend. We'll have a ton of guys in the field and a few pretty strong guys that could get a result. At the end of the training camp in Boulder, we'll race Boulder-Roubaix as a team, so that should be fun seeing my average heart rate for that race above my non-altitude max. And at the end of the month I'll be using the Joe Martin Stage race as a really good training block while working for my teammates that have a shot of doing well while trying my best not to get time cut.

Had a nice active recovery (AR) ride yesterday on a divvy bike along the lakefront path in 60 degree weather - the best kind of training, even picked up Katie from work and divvy'd home together. 

So yeah, hooray for good weather ahead, the rest week I'm currently on, and the exciting month of training and racing ahead.

 

Recapping the 2014 Season

So I haven't really recapped last season yet. It was certainly the busiest season I've had with a full spring road schedule, a full calendar of local track racing, and the entire ChiCrossCup Calendar resulting in 89 races over 47 race days. Just to recap and have closure on last year - my major track highlights included:

• Illinois State Individual Pursuit Champion (P/1/2)
• Illinois State Madison Champion (P/1/2)
• Illinois State Team Pursuit Champion (P/1/2/3)
• 1st - Tomasz Pac 100 Lap Memorial Points Race (P/1/2/3)
• 2nd - Illinois State Points Championships (P/1/2/3)
• 3rd - Northbrook Rider of the Year (P/1/2)
• 3rd - Illinois State Kilo Championships (P/1/2/3)
• 4th - Illinois State Scratch Championships (Roger DeLanghe Trophy Race) (P/1/2/3)
• 4th - Illinois State Keirin Championships (P/1/2/3)

In addition, I had a decent year on the cross bike resulting in six Top 5 finishes, including 3rd''s in both the ChiCrossCup Standings and State Champoinships in the 3's earning my upgrade to a 2 at season's end. I also had a sandbaggers 2nd in the 36 mile Barry-Roubaix open category early on in the year (the same race that I just mechanical'd out of last weekend). On the road, I had a handful of Top 15's on the early season crit calendar, but mostly was happy with how active and good I felt throughout each race.

I counted 14 wins and 29 podium finishes during 2014 over a variety of disciplines without having burned out mentally or physically at all - which is as much a win as anything else. So yeah, close the books on 2014! Time to look completely forward as we build on that this year!

CRUNCH

My annual trip to Barry-Roubaix ended in another mechanical DNF (also happened 2 years ago). Riding near the front over the first climb the chain over shifted into the wheel causing the derailleur hanger to bend in towards the wheel (no bike damage). Not a big deal - just mostly annoying to have to come home and log some hours on the trainer tonight to make up for the lost time. Much much bigger fish to fry this year. The focus shifts to an upcoming rest week and then the Lincoln Park Criterium on Saturday which I assume should bring out a field of 30 or so with good representation from my team, so hopefully we can find some success there.

Anyways, this is what it looks like...

To an Unwritten Future

I’m going to write a lot this year and I promise you, this is as deep as I’ll get.

Six months ago, after a little over a week where I was pegged to my office desk longer than I was home, filled with what I’d like to believe was a more than usual amount of ‘asap’ projects, impossible-to-satisfy requests, and an unusually high amount of the same corporate stress that many of us experience in our daily grind – the seed became planted to do something else. Over the last decade, I’ve been racing my bike. On the road. On the track. In the dirt. Wherever. I’ve come to be not half-bad at it and in recent years I’ve really refound my love for the sport. Last year, I experienced my largest performance-jump ever giving way to hope that I could have success at a slightly larger stage, especially given that I’m entering the prime years of my cycling lifespan. Which leads me to...

…today...which is the last day at my job.

I’d never thought about the difficulty of simply deciding to quit. There’s a laundry list of reasons why I shouldn’t, many of which likely may have already come to your mind – I’m aware – and I’m absolutely not 100% certain this is the right thing I should be doing, but I am. Whether its struggling to decide if I’m being fair to my wife (who’s more than encouraged me to do this), coming to feel okay with the certain derailment of my career path, or the obvious loss of income that we’ll feel (not that it was a lot). These things made it difficult to have a clarity of vision right up until the final day of this decision.

Right around the time the seed had been planted in my head about doing this, I learned that an acquaintance I had briefly known passed away in a car accident near the holidays. This shouldn’t have impacted me much given that we’d only had a dozen or so brief conversations in passing just under a decade ago, but it somehow, combined with the state I was in, timed up to awaken me to my existence a bit – likely akin to some level of mid-life crisis I’m sure. It brought to the surface those questions that seem to most strongly occur in times of tragedy or extreme emotion and helped reinforce that the true downside of doing something like this, really isn’t all that bad. I’d like to think that kind of thinking is more pure than insane.

Anyways, I’m going to rewrite my life path right here just a bit. My life as written progresses on a smooth corporate path towards a seemingly forever away retirement age at which point I'll sit in my rocking chair and rock as I do now, satisfied that my work was done, that’d I’d paid my dues and provided for my family. I’ll tell my grandkids that I used to race my bike just like them and I was halfway decent. I’ll tell them I maybe even could have accomplished something worthwhile had I not been prudent and stayed the proper course of a working career. But alas, today I pivot to answer that question. I move towards a future slightly unwritten, towards an answer I don’t quite have. In my mind - certain failure of accomplishing anything sustainable awaits, but with a tremendous amount of hard work, I’ll have complete success in creating an adventure that sees to it that I gave my absolute all in seeing how far I could take a life passion. For that I see little downside.

A lot of things here are working in my favor as well that it’d be unfair not to mention. Financially my wife and I have put ourselves in a fine position to be able to pull this off relatively unscathed for which I am extremely grateful. And from a responsibility standpoint, I have very few true things relative to many others in my position that would hold me back - making now a very good time to try something like this. I’m very aware of these things and realize this opportunity has been easier to take on for me than it would be for many others in my shoes. I am nothing but grateful for the position I’m in. In addition to going all-in on the cycling front, I’ve failed to mention that I’ll be pursuing many other things over the coming months non-cycling related, but given that this is my cycling specific news/thought outlet spot, I’m going to contain my scope to only things bike-related. But in any event, I’m looking forward to attacking the coming months as hard as I can. My focus is completely forward on what I need to do to be where I want to be. Looking forward to the adventure that awaits.

Until then, I’ll leave on a lighter note. A turkey attacking our team ride. Enjoy.

2014 Season Thus Far...

Just a quick update on the 2014 season for the notebook...

Road
I'm calling the road season a success in my book. After having not done an honest crit since my accident at Elk Grove almost four years ago, I was able to hop back in comfortably and finish in the 10-15 range a handful of times (Great Dane 10th, Galena TT 10th, Lincoln Park 13th, Elgin 13th, Monsters 17th). I had a better than expected time and I think I'll stick to the same plan next year: Do the local crits, help teammates achieve their goals, try to do what you can to place well, and build form for track season. I'm closing up the road season after Galena to focus on Track and try to save what energy I'll have for Cross season.

Track
The track season started off really slowly, but has certainly taken off in the last few weeks. I seem to be consistently figuring out how to place 4th or 5th which isn't bad given the level of talent out there. My primary goal for the year was to win a State Championship and on a positive note, Nikos and I were able to take the W in the first Madison of the year hopefully setting up what could be a really nice run at the Madison State title in September. Also, I was able to trade pulls with former US Pro Crit Champion Rahsaan Bahati for a dozen laps or so in the 10 Mile Record race, which was pretty darn cool. I'm enjoying the season so far and just need to continue to figure out how to turn those 4th's and 5th's into W's, but that of course, is what everyone's trying to figure out. Some big races are coming up in the next few weeks including the 100 Lap Points race which I was able to place 5th in last year. Currently sitting in 4th in the P/1/2 ROY standings, definitely looking forward to challenge the rest of the season brings.

Cross
I love track and I really enjoy road, but its June and all I can think about is Cross. That's not good. I suppose I'll catagorize my March Barry-Roubaix AG win in this catagory. I have to figure out for if I want to go after a big result in the 62 mile next year...or...just enjoy doing a tune-up race and drinking a beer afterwards without feeling devastated...hmm...

Oh and Katie has been on fire so far. She won the Elgin 4's, is leading the ROY standings in the 4's at track, has completed a bunch of other races, and is having fun doing it and meeting everyone along the way. She had a little spill at Galena, but is recovering really well and she's hoping to get back out there soon!

A Nice Winter Run

Ran by the Bobby Cann site this morning, decided to stop and read the poem. It was beautiful.

...

As I woke up this morning, I could feel the sun beating down through the window and the welcoming sound of birds chirping which was a strange but nice gift in February. I could have been convinced that it was a Saturday morning in May but as I checked the weather I was reminded that it was currently 4 degrees with a -3 windchill.

Since it was a little later in the morning, I decided that since I didn't have enough time to spin, but wanted a good workout, I'd run into work, something I usually don't do. Generally, I'm used to people thinking I'm crazy for commuting by bike at all, let alone in the winter, so having people judge you and thinking you're crazy for running in these conditions just sort of rubs off anyways.

It felt great to get out there and run. I played my usual mind trick, convincing my mind into thinking it was just a chilly spring morning and eventually my body convinces itself as well as its warms up from the exercise. Usually in the winter I'm riding by too quickly and too focused to take much in, but it was nice to slowly run by all the rows of buildings that bring the city to life in summer. There were long patches of iced over snow where footprints had been frozen into place. The detail of which the sunlight sparked off them as if they were glass and the carefree nature of running through them in frozen temperatures on your way to a fairly lifeless job...it's at times these fleeting moments that make you feel like your alive.

The high comfort of routine and living a blended-in life suffocates so many people's life experience. To simply wake up, work, watch a sitcom, and go to sleep - rinse, lather, repeat - has to be a major regret in so many people's lives if they are truly aware of their existence. And there's no way I'm not guilty of this as well at times as the challenge of waking up to seize the day, but with a focus on a sustainable future, is at times a tough line to walk. But it's something to always work towards. Adventure is a life requirement.

As I ran by the Bobby Cann site that I often ride by, I finally got the chance to stop and take it in. He was struck on a route that I and thousands of other cyclists have taken home hundreds of times and I think as a Chicago commuter, there's something that we all share, some sort of bond that connects us all. We all see the ghost bikes around town and understand the risks probably moreso than a driver understands the risk they face each time they jump in a car or a pedestrian as they walk through the city. I didn't know Bobby, but I certainly remember the news breaking hitting home. I remember having a track race a day or two after it happened and dedicating the win I had that night to him to myself once I crossed the finish line. There's not a time that goes by that I don't cross that site on a bike and think about it.

I read the poem about him posted at the site, clearly from someone that loved him dearly. It was beautiful.

Anyone who's gone through a Chicago winter can understand how long it is, how down you can get, and how easy it is to let optimism give way to pessimism and lock yourself into a depressing routine. This was the perfect reminder. Cliche or not, life is short. To not take advantage of everything it has to offer is a crime on the greatest gift of all. I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes from the Greek poet Pindar, "Life is but a shadow's dream". Not just 'To be' but to experience...to have adventure, to truly take advantage of the infinitely impossible stroke of luck that brought us into existence, is what it means to live.

This was my reminder.

I can't wait for the upcoming season, I can't wait for the spring, I can't wait to live in the best place on Earth in the summer.

But until then, I'm going to have an adventure.

I'm glad I ran in this morning, thanks Bobby.

Midpoint of the 2013 CX Season

I had no expectations this year for cross. Last year I was pulled from half the races I did and finished very near the back in the rare times the officials didn't spare mercy on me. But it was a fun style of racing and a great way to make the winter feel a whole lot shorter.

...And like the track, I quickly blew my low expectations out of the water...

At Jackson Park, the first Chi Cross Cup race of the season I passed half of the field in route to a 30th place finish.  And from there my staging position skyrocketed making it easier to be in a position to actually compete for placings. The next few races of the series I could tell I had a lot more power than most and my technical skills were adequate enough for anything that wasn't really difficult, however I kept putting myself in poor places - whether that be dropping chains, crashing, etc that would shed me from the front group quickly. A bigger takeaway that I've come across is that you want to be up front, you can't make a mistake. You can make excuses all you want, but that's not going to get you a win. Risk mitigate and improve in the areas you can control.

After finishing just outside of the top 10 in a few of the bigger CCC races and knowing that I still hadn't come close to putting together a full race - I knew that if I could manage to hold the front group I could probably compete not just for a good finish, but maybe for the win.

The 7th race of my fall season was in Evanston at the Rhythm and Blues Cyclocross Revue. It was a short course with a lot of laps and few obstacles which suited me really well since I'm still figuring out this sport. I was staged in the second row behind a teammate in a good sized field. The race started and my teammate was having some issues with his ride, I figured it was going to be another bad start and another race of chasing, but pretty quickly I was able to jump around every gap that opened up and by the end of the first lap I had connected with the front group for the first time this season. It appeared there were four or five of us in that lead group with another two to five not terribly far behind. Early on I tried to attack out of the group (track days coming out of me) just to see how strong everyone was and everyone instantly hung onto my wheel. It was a clear indicator that this race was going to stick together until the end.  The only hitch was that there were two riders from Rhythm racing in the group, which usually means you're going to have to fend off some attacks. With about four or five to go, there were one or two soft attacks from them, but I was able to cover them quickly and any attempt to go for the win would clearly be on the last lap.

The course was pretty windy that day and I think one of the Rhythm guys was going to try to lead his man out for the win. I had a few outs as I felt like as long as I had good positioning I was going to be able to out-sprint my peers, but also if I attacked, even if I didn't get a gap, I'd still exit the last technical section first and have a good head-start on a sprint. So I was ready and feeling decently good. I noticed in a few of the earlier laps that once we hit the backstretch the pacing seemed to slow up considerably (as it should - the leader was doing a lot of work). As the last lap came, I was fourth wheel entering that backstretch and as soon as I felt the speed begin to slow, I jumped as hard as I could. I figured the leader wasn't going to be able to cover as he was gassed, and the speed at which I moved around the other guys was going to require a pretty good effort as I think they were a bit caught off-guard by the move. By the third turn of this oval shaped course, I looked back and knew I had it as the gap appeared to be about 10 bike lengths. The only thing I had to focus on was keeping the pressure on in the straights and keeping the bike upright through the turns. And it happened.

I won a cross race.

Sort of a surreal moment moving through the finish line posting up. The wins I have on the track never really call for a post-up and I rarely won anything on the road in years past, so this was more or less a bit of a new experience. Thinking back ten months ago I couldn't finish a race, now I've won one against many of the same guys. My goals have changed: as long as I'm in a Category 3 race, I want to approach it to win it...and of course have fun, as I'm confident that's whats gotten me here. I will need a lot of work in the offseason to improve my technical skills, but I know what I need to improve on and will.

Katie's been having a great season too - placed 5th out of more than 20 girls at the Evanston race and consistently has been placing in the top half of her field. It's been a blast to watch and we're having fun with it.

Anyways - the state and regional championships will be here very soon; here's to a good & fun finish to the rest of the season!