The Off-Season

Off-season.  The time of year where a particular activity, usually a sport, is not engaged in.  Apparently, this is the time of year where off-season begins. 

The off-season is a new concept for me.  Is there ever a time of year that you don’t want to ride your bike?  The weather seems perfect now, and the roads are calling my name.  The charity rides are just getting rolling, and I don’t require much, just a good cause, food and support!  Why can’t the off-season occur when it is dreary and rainy, not warm and balmy?  I know in January it will be difficult to get on my bike, but in late September, the weather is too perfect to not be on your bike.  However, the off-season is beginning, and I must relish in the fact that I do not have to be on my bike.  Have to?  I thought I “got to” be on my bike. 

Sport aside, I tried approaching this with a business savvy mind.  If cycling is my business, this is the time of year that the business is a particular sphere is slack.  Does this give me an excuse to slack?  Possibly.  For the next month or so, I can go on an adventure.  Possibly add some cross-training and play a little.  Then, it will be back to work.  I don’t feel like I need the break now, but I know that come June next year, after 6 steady months of racing, I will be craving a break.  I won’t be able to take that break, so I will need to recall that time in October where I was allowed to relax and recharge.  I need to remember this time of freedom without structure in order to keep my focus through the long stretches of the season.

Did I say I was lacking structure?  Possibly, yet Charlie seems to have prescribed a couple of 1 min and 5 min tests today to see where I am before the end.  Sounds fun, eh?

Maybe I will start the off-season next week.  This weekend I have Levi’s Gran Fondo and I meeting with Steve Hed.  Yes, off-season can begin next week… I will just procrastinate for now.

Waking Up in Vegas

A week spent in Vegas is tough on anyone, except this week wasn’t your typical trip to Las Vegas.  Interbike 2009.  The industry’s bike show.  This was my first trip to Interbike, and I had heard about its chaos, but nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming show, and my intense schedule.

Ritchey Logic brought me to Vegas to help them out with their booth at the show.  I had structured hours to sit at their booth and assist their clients, as well as organize their meetings.  What free time that I did have, I was pulled in every other direction.  I was at the Look USA Cycles booth demonstrating the new Look Keo Pedal adjustment. I was meeting with Steve Hed at HED wheels.  I was with LJ and Brooke representing our sponsors.  I was signing autographs with Floyd Landis. I was racing a night crit at Mandalay Bay.  It was crazy.  When do you eat? Late. When do you get off your feet? Never. When do you ride your bike? You don’t.

The week flew by and before I knew it, I was back in Marin, trying to remember the blur of neon lights, bicycle components, and carbon fabrication.

My highlights were:

• Seeing all the guys at Look, and having Fred adjust my cleats using their new system.  Our French/English barrier was cleared up, as he used simple language with me.  “No” “Stop” Done. 
• Asking Ming at Look if I could just take a couple of bikes home with me, like the beautiful pursuit bike, and he said that he didn’t have it in my size…right…

Cleat Adjustment at Look

• Paying $7.50 for a weak latte. Coffee is horrible in Vegas, so if I was going to pay $3.75 for weak drip coffee, I was going going to try to get a “real” cup of coffee.  I loved my Peets coffee yesterday. Strong and good. 
• No time to eat lunch, so lunch could be trail mix, Almond Joy, beef jerky, and Wheat Thins.  My pre-race meal was a package of Nutter Butters and Oreos.
• The SRM VII.  Finally, we no longer have to velcro, tape, chewing gum, anything you can find or construct to attach the powermeter to the TT bike!  It is smaller, more battery life, and comes in fun colors.  Can we say, time for an upgrade? Yeah, right…but it was good to see Uli since the last time I saw him was in Lucca!
• Meeting with Steve Hed.  Yeah, the genius behind the best wheels in the world.  He is the aerodynamic guru, and I can’t wait to work with him regarding my time trial.  What a great, humble guy, willing to help.  He did say I wasn’t dainty by any means, and that we should use what I have. Power. ha.  Well put, Steve.  I told him that I might only eat lettuce between now and when I meet with him next.  RIght.
• Having a poster saying that there was going to be an autograph session with me. With me? Ha, no one wants my autograph, BUT if Floyd Landis will be there, they will line up for the entire length of the showroom.

Nice Poster.

• Signing with Floyd Landis, and having him give me a $100 casino chip for my valuable autograph.  I know he was joking, but you better believe I took that casino chip.  He was a ton of fun, and kept Brooke and I in stitches the entire hour, we were laughing so hard.  He may not be riding much now, but he is sure having fun…

Autographs Please.

• Racing at night in Vegas was fun.  It was a small field, not the best course, but there was some good racing, and why not, we are in Vegas.

Mandalay Bay turned Criterium

• Trying to escape Vegas and getting stuck on the airplane, the Marin Airporter and everything else with a bunch of mechanics, shops, and dealers STILL re-hashing Vegas.  We left, guys!  Ah!
• Playing Foosball with the ClifBar Team, Brooke and I, Christian Vandevelde, Zabriskie, and many others in the tournament, and all loosing… and hearing Dave Towle, say, “The one thing we can say about this, is that professional cyclists make horrible fooseball players..” The little players were painted with our team kits, and were so cute.  Garmin. TIBCO. BMC.  It was fun.

Team TIBCO Foosball Player

• Walking around, being a part of Team TIBCO and visiting my sponsors.  I love them, and it was great to support them because of all the support they give the team!
• Everyone in my cycling world, all congregated in one place.  It was craziness in a nutshell.

Upon my return, I must say that I am glad I woke up in Marin this morning.  There were no neon lights, no chaos, and I could sleep and rest.  I am so glad I got to go to Interbike, but I am also so relieved it only comes but once a year.  I have a year to recover until I give it another go.

Thanks to all the support and great products!

Autumn Equinox

Autumn Equinox.  The transition from summer to winter.  Welcome, Autumn. 

This morning, Marin welcomed the arrival of Autumn with one of the most spectacular mornings.  The air was clear, and was lacking the crisp autumn feeling.  It was absolutely balmy.  A true blue bird morning. 

Welcome, Autumn.
With the changes in seasons, it is with great satisfaction that I begin wrapping up the 2009 racing season as well.  What a great year.  A year full of challenges, successes, failures, but most importantly, growth.  I have no choice but to continue to build on this year as I anxiously await the next season.  I am not the most patient person, and a part of me wants 2010 to happen now.  I want to attack it head on, yet I know the month of upcoming rest and refocus will help energize me and increase my determination and resilience for next year.  I need to remain glued to the target, each day is a new day of development and one closer step to my goal. 
Autumn is such a beautiful time of year.  It is a time of transitions as we segue into the next season.  Not only is my very best friend named after this time of the year, but I have always had a special place for this time of year.  I love the summer, and I love all the good things that go with it, but you can’t live in the summer forever.  You have to start winding down, reflecting, and getting ready for winter.  This is the time of the year we can recognize how thankful we are for our friends, our family, and our faith.  The weather is predictable, we can go for long rides if we want, yet we don’t have to.  We can truly slow down and appreciate the changes not only in the weather, but the changes in the world as well.  We don’t have to let life fly by, we can sit down for just a moment and appreciate where we are…
However, the days are getting shorter and there is less light for the late afternoon bike rides.  Please be careful out there, and be smart.  The light is getting lower, and cyclist are more difficult for cars to see.
On a very personal note, one of my good friends, Monique Petrov, was recently involved in a terrible collision with a vehicle on Lucas Valley Road while she was returning from a training ride.   MoP was planning to head to Kona to compete at the Ironman World Championships in a couple of weeks, and now has had to undergo over 18 hours of surgery and is miraculously healing, although still in intensive care.  She is a dedicated athlete, and she is strong.  She will recover, but she needs all our thoughts and prayers.  She is truly an inspiration and such an amazing woman.  She has already surpassed the doctor’s expectations.  With our continued support and her stamina, she will maintain this promising path of recovery.  If you would like to check in on her, there has been a blog created for her.  Send her some love!
I am happy Autumn is here, and I am also content that the cold weather also hasn’t started creeping in.  That’s why I like this season, it allows us to be transitioned into the next season without shocking our systems into winter right away.  Be thankful for the little things out there, and slow down just for a minute to appreciate the warm sun, cool air, and this transitional time of year. 

Be thankful.  Welcome, Autumn.

On to summer in Las Vegas now!  Interbike here I come.

The Great Escape

Another day in the office.  Yet, my office is the roads of West Marin. 

I often think of bike riding as an escape.  When I can get on my bike, the weight of the day is released and the adventure doors are swung wide open.  The options are endless, the great outdoors awaits, and it is my time to either reflect, or converse with a friend.  Contrary to popular belief, I can be quiet for times and just enjoy the day, but I don’t mind the company on the road either.  However, when it is your job to be on your bike, through the good days and bad days, can it still be viewed as an escape? 

When working, and you can manage to squeeze a few hours in on the bike, you are lucky.  You view those couple of hours as a “treat”.  It is your time to play, gain fitness, improve your mood, and just enjoy the day.  Bike riding can be an escape and a treat. 

When discussing with a friend yesterday during the ZTeam’s Mini GranFondo, that this was “all in a days work” for me, I got to thinking.  Really?  Is this my office?  Do I view this as a job?  Absolutely.  Cycling has evolved into something I take seriously.  I am focused.  I am driven.  I am determined.  Just because I am all these things, doesn’t mean that I don’t love my job.  My job is the bike, and that is the greatest treat of all.  No, you don’t love your job every day, but more often then not, I love my job. 

Summer is still lingering here in Marin, and there is no better time to get out on your bike.  Tis the season of Grand Tour of Charity Rides and predictable weather.  Go for it.  Treat yourself, and allow a little time to escape into the great outdoors this week!  Do it for me, considering I will be under the neon lights of Vegas and missing my escape as another part of the job take precedence.  Work beckons this week, and it won’t be on the bike.  Come next, I will be looking for an escape again…

Saturday, I will be doing the Chileno Valley Classic, benefiting the NorCal MTB League… Check it out!

Countdown to InterBike

The Countdown to Interbike has begun.

I am so excited to be going to Interbike for my first time.  I am not going as a spectator, but going as an employee.  An employee for Ritchey Logic.  It’s all part of the job.  I love their gear, and am excited to help them out for the week.  They will be keeping me busy there, and any free time that I do have will be spent with LJ and Brooke as we visit some of our other sponsors.  Look. HED. Sram.  Love it.  It will be exhausting, but a great way to conclude the 2009 Season.

If you are going to be at Interbike, say hi!

Brooke and I will be racing on Thursday at 7:20pm @Mandalay Bay.  It is the USA Crit Series FINALS.  It will be my last race of the year, and I am ready to make the most of it.  Regardless, we will put on a good show.  I can’t wait to race with again!  My legs are feeling the itch to race… Bring it on.

With one of my favorites, Bob Cullinan