Racing to Different Beat in 2013

            This year I have changed my philosophy on racing a little bit, this year its quality over quantity but more importantly to have fun.  I have only been truly racing for a couple years now, my first race ever was in the fall of 2008, and it was a little 12 mile mountain bike race (Terror of Teaberry for anyone who knows it), and then did a few road races in college but nothing I took seriously or really trained for.  Then in 2010 and newly found friend, Zach Adams, started to bring me to some cross races and getting me to ride a little more trying to convince me to start racing my bike more.  In 2011 I went into the year with the plan of doing 3-4 races total but instead ended up following Zach Adams around to a few races and was introduced to the MASS (Mid Atlantic Super Series) and I ended up do many more races than planned…even a few cross races on a borrowed bike.  Then by last year, 2012, I was really hooked and was all about racing as much as I could handle, upgraded equipment, bought several bikes, and ended up doing over 20 races total for the year including mountain biking, cross, and a couple other miscellaneous race formats.  Last year though was a roller-coaster of racing for me though with a few successful races, several DNF’s due to crashes or mechanicals, and other life events that added to the stress.  

             Going into this year I decided that I needed to do this whole racing thing correctly and more intelligently.  Through the winter I put in decent amount of base miles, really trying to get a good base of fitness before the riding year really began.  Then I decided that my goal for the year was to become a better rider and racer overall, but I wanted to have fun doing it.  I promised myself that I wasn’t going to race just for the sake or racing but that I wanted to race at races that I wanted to do and would have the most fun doing.  Year to date I haven’t done as many races as I did last year at this point but I have put in way more time on the bike training and trying to improve overall.  Training has been stressful as it requires discipline to get out on the prescribed rides and then trying to balance everything else in life such as working around the house and starting a new job and the list goes on.  I have been doing my best to stick to the plan…and it seems to be paying off.  A couple of my most recent races, including Michaux Maximus 20 miler, and the Mother’s Day Mauler I ended up getting 3^rd and 2^nd places respectively. 

            This year I have been feeling stronger, faster, more confident, a little more competitive, and enjoying the sport more.  I really am begin to truly LOVE THIS SPORT!!  But as my love for the sport begins to grow I am also learning many lessons in racing, riding, and in life.  I have a lot of different things going on this year and I believe it making me a better person overall, it’s just been challenging trying to find that nice work – life – fun – relaxation – time balance.  I truly believe this year is going to be a good year.