Getting Ready for 2014

All right folks, I'm going to start ramping up the blog posts in the next few weeks.  I got quite a bit to talk about.  Probably the biggest news is that I'll be on a new team for 2014.  Also, I'm currently writing this from Palm Springs on a racing camp.  And I'm still trying to figure out my racing schedule for the coming year as I coordinate with my new team.

However, I can tell you more details about this one bit of news.  Last year I promised my sister that if I didn't win either the OBRA Crit or OBRA TT that I would definitely do the Courage Classic with her in 2014.  Well, last year's crit season didn't go very well for me, so I have to make good on my promise.  So, I have signed up for it this year.

So now is your chance to be one of the first donaters to this worthy cause.   Your name will get to be displayed on the super fancy scroll bar on the right of this blog which receives millions tens of views per minute week.  Click here to donate!

2015 race schedule

It's January and earlier today I was out riding in pouring, near-freezing, foggy rain at 8pm on Cornell on a Tuesday evening.  That is just not my idea of fun.  I'm lazy damnit and I just don't think I want to continue forever with these bike racing training antics, but I signed up for another year, so I better say before it's too late that I won't be taking 2015 racing seriously at all. 

Listed below are the pros of bike racing:

• Normal people think I'm some sort of superhero, which is kinda cool because I like being respected.
• Back when I started 4 years ago it was my excuse for not drinking so heavily so frequently (actually I didn't drink anything for over a year)
• I get to challenge myself and fight to persevere
• Winning does feel good

But the cons of racing are many!!

• Costs lots and lots of money
• Takes up hours of time every day
• It sucks when you or your team don't win for a long period of time
• Training during the winter in the Pacific Northwest is mostly unfun
• I have competing desires such as
• Trying to keep up a good relationship with my girlfriend
• Trying to have any other friends at all
• Working on computer programming ideas I have
• My real-life job which I make vastly more money every week than I do during the entire bike racing season
• Side jobs that also make more money than bike racing
• Community service projects

The big thing is that I currently train 7 days a week and have very little time for anything else.  I'm not going to completely stop riding a bike, I'll likely still commute every once in a while and definitely get out on the weekends and even hit up some PIRs here and there and even some other races that I typically enjoy.  I just feel like the amount I gain from devoting a huge part of my life to racing isn't enough to justify that expenditure.

So, with that, I present to you my 2015 racing schedule:

February:

Worst Day of the Year Ride or maybe the FHR

March-May:

Nothing, except maybe a PIR on a sunny day if I feel like it.

June or July or whenever this thing is:

Krivoklatsko Peklo which is a bicycle race in my dad's hometime in the Czech Republic.  At some point in my life I need to do this race.

August:

Eugene Celebration because I just really like this race.

September:

Mt. Ashland Hill Climb because I like to visit my grandparents in Ashland.