CTS !

Again, no posts for a long time. Things have been astonishingly busy since the last post and of course the first thing to go is the blog. Since July I have done a few 100 mile mtb races, an xc race on the tandem with Cara and a few other endurance events....but the BIG news is that I am now coaching with Carmichael Training Systems. This is a big move for me and I am very excited about it. I am just finishing up my fist week at the office and so far things have been going great......

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hometown racin'

Sorry , no posts for a while...but that doesn't mean I have not been up to anything! After Fitchburg I had a nice run of events right close to home. It was great not to have to travel for a few weeks. First up was the Hot Doggett 100 ride which for my $$ is about the best century course in the southeast.

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After that was the French Broad Classic omnium weekend. I was able to pull off a personal best TT on friday evening. With 24:32 for the 20KM rolling course I was really pleased. I have been trying to beat my previous PB time for almost 9 years! The conditions were great and I was motivated....it came together for the fastest time of the night. The next morning was a new road race...only 40 miles but tons of climbing. It was a blast, but I didn't climb particularly well and my place reflected that. The sunday crit was a tough one as well. I was hoping to get $Rich$ into the winning move...but he crashed and dislocated his shoulder....but still got back in and finished...

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Next up was the Off Road Assault on Mt Mitchell (ORAMM). This is my home town course on the trails I train on all the time....and I was hoping for a great result. I rode well for the first couple hours, then we hit the 60 minute curtis creek road climb and I suffered. I felt a little better on the following climbs ...but I lost too much time. I pushed it a little too hard on the final climb and suffered some calf and adductor cramps for it....but I finished ok. I was 5th in the open men category and 8th overall....not bad, but I can't say I was pleased with my performance.

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Next up was the Wilderness 101....but that is another post.

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washed up

Yup...that is me. At least as far as national elite level road cycling is concerned. Of course I already knew this and have for about a year, but the Fitchburg Stage race last weekend served as confirmation...but let's back up a bit:

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After our tandem road race at nats we had a couple days to preview the TT course. It was really quite a difficult course with lots of up and down and exposed to the wind the whole time. The pic above is the file from my individual TT. I put in a solid ride...at least I thought I did with an average of 336 watts (340 NP)...which is ok considering the huge speed fluctuations. This was only good enough for 9th in my age group! Oh well...I guess I can't complain as I really have not been focusing on TTs at all this year and have only been on my TT bike a few times ...which is different than the last 10 years.

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After my TT I had about 2 hours to recover for our tandem TT. The wind picked up throughout the day but we still managed a really great ride on the big bike...for 31:01..... 16 seconds faster than my individual ride.....to win the mixed elite tandem TT title.

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After that the fun began: I had to pack and hit the road to drive up to Fitchburg Mass. I had about 21 hours to drive 16+ hours and be at my TT start. I drove about 8 hours, slept for about 4 and drove the rest of the way thursday morning. I pulled into the parking lot about 45 minutes before my start time. I got the bike out , kitted up, warmed up for about 5 minutes (literally)...and headed to the start ramp. I breathed a sigh of relief that I had made it, but sitting on the start ramp in the cold rain, looking down the road I realized that I had no idea what I was in for on this course. Usually I am over prepared for TTs...I know the course and have ridden it...but this course: no idea. It actually turned out ok and I was surprised I was able to put in a decent ride considering my travels. I think I ended up 50-something out of 170+ riders....but things went steadily down hill from there.

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Stage 2 is the circuit race. 75 miles, 25 laps around a 3 mile course with a nasty hill. I started hard and got harder, but I was ok....until my speed sensor on my fork slipped into my spokes about 8 laps in. With the fear of breaking a spoke, I stopped to fix it....and that was essentially the end of my race. I rode hard after and was lapped at just about the half way point. Unfortunately it had just started pouring rain as the field caught me at the base of the climb. Attacks were going and I was out the back again before I even had a chance to blink. Oh well...I kept hammering on and finished well inside the time cut...albeit a bit dejected.

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The road race was even worse. I was dropped early ...it seems you need to be able to do 500 watts for several minutes to stay on in these races anymore...which I cannot do. So again I was OTB...but this time I ended up in a big group of 30 or more riders. We rode a nice fast pace and it was actually a pretty good day. I set the pace up the steep part of the climbs for our group most laps and after a while we realized that the time cut was not going to be an issue. We were lapped by the field with just about 8 miles to go which worked out perfectly.

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I hung in the crit until about 17 laps top go (out of 55)....and I was happy with that as I knew I would get a pro rated time and make the final GC. I was certain I would be lantern rouge, but I missed that by just one place and a few minutes :)

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Post race Scottie Weiss and I hit the road and drove all the way back to his place in VA. I slept for 4 or 5 hours then drove the rest of the way home. I am still pretty tired from the travel.

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So I had an inauspicious final NRC pro stage race....and it will most likely be the last big pro level national race I do....time to realize that I just can't compete with those guys anymore. That is ok though...I have had a good run over the last nearly 20 years of racing and there are plenty of other races to do!

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tandem road race smack down

Unfortunately we were on the receiving end of said smack down.
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Well...... the Shogrun's finally pulled the stars and stripes away from us with a a strong chase down and a well timed jump at just 200 meters to go on the uphill finish.
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The race actually ended up being very tactical and even slow for much of the time. With 3 bikes in with a shot at the win, there was a lot of attacking and covering, riding slow and attacking again. The Eppens seemed to be strongest on the short climbs, but were not keen to keep the pace high...and in fact worked to keep things together and slow. We put in many attacks only to be covered every time. We were frustrated at every attempt, but we knew if we let it come to a 3 or 4 bike sprint we were only getting 2nd or 3rd.....so we kept trying.
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Finally at the top of the steepest hill with just over a lap to go we tried again and got a small gap. It was ON and we put in 100% to try to stay clear. We held our slim advantage through most of the lap, but on the steep hill again the Shogruns were closing. Coming into the final climb they had just made contact and for us the only thing to do was to try and go fast enough that they couldn't come around.....apparently we couldn't. At 200 meters they came around with a strong move and we had nothing left to respond. They posted a well earned victory just a few seconds ahead of us.
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Our consolation prize was that they bought us a nice dinner :)
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Well played Betsy and Gunnar!
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cycling extravagaaaaaaanza

sunday, sunday, sunday. not to be missed: the throw down of the year......dreams will be crushed and feelings will be hurt. The tandem national championship road race in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Seriously though this is going to be a great race. We have won it the last 2 years, but Betsy and Gunnar Shogrun have plans to end that streak. Also coming into play will be the mtb tandem superstar team of the midwest the Eppens. Should be an exciting race to watch .....

catchin up

Soooooo....the weekend after the mohican 100 I headed over to a great little race in TN called the Disc Burner. This was a 12 or 6 hour race in a really nice park. After my last couple weeks' adventures there was no way I was going to do a solo 12 hour effort, so I opted for the solo 6. I felt great. I rode well and won finishing quite a bit ahead of 2nd place. Here are my lap times:
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1- 45:05 (includes Lemans start and I didn't get to pre-ride the course)
2-42:01
3-42:40
4-42:44
5-43:18
6-44:51
7-47:01 ( I held back a bit on this one on purpose so I could do the last lap faster)
8-46:44
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I was pleased with the effort. I can highly recommend this race for anyone interesed next year...I hope to do the 12 hour next time.
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The day after this Cara and I did the fletcher flyer full century on the tandem. We rode HARD...lots of attacking and stayed with the lead group until we had to stop for fluids with just 18 miles to go....I was pretty much smoked at that point anyway.
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The following weekend I took off...no racing, no traveling , just 2 solid 5 hour training days...sweet.
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That brings us to this past weekend. The Cowbell Marathon at fischer farms in Davidson NC. 50+ miles...6 laps of an 8. something mile course and a 5 or 6 mile run-in from town at the start. In a word: HOT. I think the temperature was near 100 degrees and the humidity was right there around the same number. I made the lead group on the run-in to the course....then was pretty much on my own. I passed a couple riders on lap 2 or 3, but after that there was no one close ahead or behind. I was fine with the heat until the last lap and a half. Knowing I was not moving up or back I rode pretty easy the last lap to avoid cramping or worse. I ended up 6th.
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I felt ok when I finished, but about 15 -20 minutes later heat exhaustion hit me HARD. I felt horrible and sick. It took me forever to get packed up (sorry Ddub!). I lost my voice and my hearing ?! Very strange but as I started to feel bad all of a sudden I lost about 50% of my hearing...like I had water in my ears...weird. I wasn't too bad off, but I had never had that happen before. I was cured on the drive home by blasting cool air conditioning in my face the whole way.
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At this point my legs are fine, but I still think I am recovering from the heat thing...at least the temps here in the moutains are nice 80s.
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Next up: tandem nats and Fitchburg!!!
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24 solo #1

The Burn 24. 2 weeks ago: my first SOLO 24 hour race. After having done many team 24s (all the way back to 1994), a couple of solo 12s and some duo endurance races it was time to give the full show a shot. What a learning experience!

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I went out a little hard, but stayed strong though about 12 hours ...then fell apart a bit. It rained overnight and things got tough. I started taking short breaks after every lap as I began to have trouble eating on the bike...so the breaks allowed me to continue to take calories in. I knew if I didn't do this I would completely fall apart. At around 4 am I thought I was done. I hurt in every imaginable way and thought we were going to pack up right then and go home. I took a 20 minute "nap" in the car...which resulted in about a 40 minute break all told. I woke up, and got back on the bike. It took just a few minutes , then things opened up and I started to feel really good....REALLY good.

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I had fallen from 3rd when I started my break , down into 5th.....and was about 11 minutes behind 3rd at 6 am. I started flying...getting better and better every lap. By about 9 or 10 am I had moved into 2nd....which I held through to the end. 24.5 hours, 28 laps and about 200 miles of single track riding later I was done. I felt better at the finish than I did at midnight.....

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In the morning when I was moving so fast after having such a rough night I knew that my primary questions that would come from doing this race were answered...#1 is will I focus on this discipline in the future?: yes.... I think it suits me well.

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Big congrats goes out to Erik Nielsen on his win. He led the entire race and while he had a rough time early in the morning....he pulled through nicely to win (it was also his first solo 24).

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A big thanks also goes out to my support crew of my old friend Mark Wolff from colorado who worked the bikes and of course Cara who held me together....

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This past weekend with less than a week of recovery I headed up to the Mohican 100 ...100 mile MTB race in Ohio which was stop # 2 of the NUE series. All the big boys were there to play. We started and I moved like a snail for the first 30 miles....and I mean SLOW. I watched the lead group ride away ..then the middle of the pack riders ride away....then I finally got things going. As the day went on I again got stronger and stronger and finished fast, feeling great. Unfortunately I lost a ton of time early and my time was just 8:12....WAY off the pace of the top 10. I think my official place was 25th. So the lesson for the week was: don't race the week after a 24 hour solo! Or at least if you do: don't expect to get a good result :)

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Things are just starting to get fun......

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new post!

ok...it has been a VERY long time since I have posted to the blog. Things have been busy and there have been lots of great events we have done that are worth of reporting on ( including 2 x 6 hour races, the tour of the battenkill and a 12 hour duo race I did with Cara)....but they will have to wait.

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Last weekend we headed over to TN for the big Dirt Sweat and Gears 12 hour race. I hope to get a real report up soon...but as you can tell I did pretty well (3rd). Now this was not really a bike race...it was more of a mud running/ walking race. Take a look at these videos to see what I mean:

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http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234968-2009-dirt-sweat-gears/177599-andy-applegate-3rd-pro-solo-mid-race-interview-lap-4

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http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234968-2009-dirt-sweat-gears/177746-andy-applegate-pro-solo-3rd-post-race-interview

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http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234968-2009-dirt-sweat-gears/177733-pro-mens-solo-podium

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Hopefully I can get to a real report soon...but the videos tell most of the story.

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Right now I am covered in poison ivy and have some strange kind of illness that is sucking all the energy out of me and wreaking havoc on my digestive system....must have been something in all the mud I ate on saturday. I have not been on the bike in more than 3 days and with my first 24 hour solo race just a week away I am getting a bit worried. Hopefully I can get rid of what ever this is soon...I am going to try a bit of an MTB ride in a few minutes before heading over to work registration for our "ring of fire" race series event tonight.

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break a commandment and .....

Train moderately and train consistently are two of Joe Friel's "training commandments". As Joe has been a mentor of mine...both as an athlete through his books and methodology and as a coach as part of his Ultrafit Associates group for 7 years you would think that I would know better than to break one of these rules. Well I did...and now I am sick.

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Cara had been sick for almost a week and I was holding it off well. After last weekend I was a bit disappointed in myself that I faded after about 5 hours of racing (even considering my mishaps). This week the weather has been nice and I had two days with no appointments scheduled, so I decided to get a couple of killer rides in. On tuesday I did the ride above. Out to Hot Springs from Black Mountain going over Doggett Mountain on the way out. 121 miles in just under 7 hours of ride time. I was very conservative with my pace and actually felt really good. I limited my power to just 70-80% of FTP on the longer climbs and this worked well to keep me comfortable...until about 10 miles to go. At mile 110 with home just about 30 minutes away I fell apart and struggled in. No worries...I still didn't feel too bad, but I think I pushed the limit a bit too far for what I was ready for right now.

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I started to feel like I was getting sick, but denied it and set off for a 4 hour off road ride on wednesday. I rode up through montreat, down rattlesnake, did kitsuma, then on the road through old fort, up curtis creek to jarrett creek, over star gap , down lower heart break and up mill creek to get home. Stephen Janes has some good photos of the fire damage from last week around lower heartbreak here: http://ashevillejanes.blogspot.com/2009/03/burn.html

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As soon as I got on the long climb up jarrett creek I lost all my energy and knew I had gotten in too deep. I crawled along knowing I was digging myself deeper into illness, but there were no shortcuts home from there. I got home and I was sick. I think it is just a nasty head cold, but the bottom line is I have not been able to ride for a couple of days...and probably won't be able to do any real training for a few more days...and if I do race on sunday, I will really just be riding without being able to push it much.

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So there is a lesson here...and I have learned it before...I guess I just have to make the mistake and re-learn it every few years. If you push the envelope too much and go far above what would be considered "moderate" in training, you get sick...or worse yet, injured. This causes you to break the other commandment of training consistently...if you are sick or injured and can't train, consistency goes out the window...and you lose fitness. SO I am not saying that athletes should not train really HARD when appropriate....or even for very long durations when trying to prepare for endurance events (like I am this season), but care needs to be taken to ride within certain limits in order to stay healthy and injury free. Playing around on that fine line is ok....but take a big leap over the line on a particular day and there will usually be less than beneficial consequences.

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Instead of doing an extreme ride on tuesday , I should have scaled it back a little and done 3 more moderate endurance days in a row. This more than likely would have left me healthy...able to train and race the rest of the week and would still have caused a significant training adaptation.....

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dirty spokes 6 hrs...ouch

Yesterday was the first endurance race of the season for me...the dirty spokes 6 hour at Heratige Park near Athens, GA. I was hoping for a good ride, but realized after pre-riding friday evening that the course was not particularly suited to my riding strengths...i.e. very twisty and rooty with hardly any sections to really open up and ride hard, short punchy climbs (but nothing extended) and lots of narrow, tight wooded sections. At any rate, I think my fitness is coming along and I still had hopes of a good finish.

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Forecast was for rain and temps in the 40's. We had light rain on and off through the day, but for the most part, while it was cold, humid and cloudy, the course did not get too wet (other than lots of slick roots).

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I got off to a pretty good start and the front group was close together for the first half of lap one. 4 miles into this initial lap I was in about 5th position when I got "clotheslined" by a low hanging vine on a downhill. Ever wonder what would happen if you were cruising on a downhill and ran into a cable hanging right at neck height? I found out. It was a scary moment to be sure...feeling the vine rip into my neck bringing me to a stop...worse still was that this vine had THORNS on it of which I felt every one. Ouch.

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As a few riders stopped behind me I felt bad about holding them up and asked if there was any foreign objects sticking out of my neck....then I was off ...although a bit shaken up and definitely not in the groove. At the end of the lap I stopped to be sure I was not bleeding too badly ( I wasn't) and the promoter and announcer (thanks guys) swabbed off my neck with some alcohol. I was glad I didn't have to pull out of the race and took off on the next lap. I got back into the groove...and as soon as I felt I was really back into it I skipped off a rock and a couple of trees played ping pong with the back of my rib cage. Damn. I had the wind knocked out of me and again it took me a bit to get going again....but I did. I finally got rolling again on lap 3 and 4 and passed a few riders.

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At the start of lap 5 Cara yelled at me that I was just 1 min behind 3rd place and I turned it on. I caught Erik about 3/4 of the way into the lap. We rode together until the start of lap 6....which was cool..... Shortly into lap 6 (which would be my final lap) I realized that I spent a bit too much energy chasing Erik and had to let him ride away. I cruised through lap 6 feeling pretty worked over the second half....and glad that I wouldn't have to go out for a 7th round.

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Just a couple miles before the finish I caught Cara (who was racing in duo class with Dwight Wyatt). I was surprised when she caught back up to me and we crossed the line together at the finish.

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So I ended up 4th. Big congrats to Nathan Wyatt on the win, Shey Linder 2nd and Erik 3rd. I turns out that Erik was able to get within a minute of Shey on the last lap...so I was not too far off the mark today even with some bad luck. Cara and Dwight were 2nd in the duo class.

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My neck looked pretty bad, but is starting to heal up already just 24 hours later. I also have a nasty cut on my left shoulder from the vine...where it burned a nice hole through my jersey. That blood spot on my chest in the pic above, while it looks like a gunshot wound, is really just where the blood from my neck pooled. My back right lat is pretty torn up too...but didn't keep me from getting a good night's sleep. I am already amped up for the next endurance race...I just need to do a better job of avoiding obstacles :)

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kenda pro team camp

The big Kenda pro road team camp has come and gone. This year we gathered in Greenville SC for a 5 day marathon of fitting, analyzing, meeting, learning and getting a couple of decent rides in. When I say "marathon" I mean it. 4 of my days there were going for almost 15 hours straight. Trying to get all the riders fit on the new rigs was a time consuming project....but we got the work done and I am sure it will pay off. The team this year is outstanding. This program started as a small grass roots venture 5 seasons ago and has grown into what is a real uci pro team with some amazing new talent along with some seasoned vets as well.
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Watch for the team at some of the big races this year. With seasoned pros like Jake Rytlewski, Scottie Weiss, Russel Stevenson along with some great neo pro talent the team is more well rounded than in years past where crits have been the focus. Good stuff. While I am still not planning to do many of the big road races this season, coming home from camp I was really motivated and looking forward to lining up with the guys whenever possible.
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For now though it is off to a 6 hour mountain bike race tomorrow (in 50 degrees and rain :( ). Last week was the final of the snake creek gap series and I posted my best time yet again: 2:58....
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February is camp month

February has become a month of training camps....and why not? With the race season starting in earnest right at the beginning of March, Feb is the perfect time to get in some specific training and learning.
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First up was the CCN / Cannondale MTB team mini-camp last weekend. Nothing super organized and we simply gathered here at the house in Black Mountain, but it was a great couple days of off road riding. The team is basically 3 fast young guys (Alex, Travis and Daniel) along with a token old guy (me). On saturday we did a Pisgah semi-epic 4.5 hr ride including horse cove, squirrel gap and some of the Black Mountain trail. Sunday was a long big climbing ride on most of the ORAMM course for just about 6 hours. The guys are riding really well and you can expect to see some really great results from them this season.
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Next up is the VeloSports MTB camp this weekend. This will be a another 2 day camp in Asheville that is primarily a skills building weekend. It looks like the weather saturday will be cooperative, but we may be a little cold sunday....that is ok, we will still have fun.
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Next week, wed through sun is the big Kenda Pro Road Team camp. While it will be great to see all the guys and the atmosphere should be electric with it being the first year the team has pro status, for me it is a lot of work. There will be bike fits, bike fits and more bike fits to do .....which entails a lot of crawling around on the floor measuring things. Last year I pulled muscle in my back at camp and hope not to repeat that. This year I am not an official team rider (or am I?) , but more in the role of a staff member......not sure if that will make things easier or harder for me :)
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After that the race season is REALLY here. Snake Creek Gap #3 is March 7th, then I will do the Dirty Spokes 6 hour race in GA the following weekend.
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southern cross etc

I have done some decent training and a couple of cool events since my last post. Two weeks ago Cara and I did the Southern Cross race on the MTB tandem. I still can't decide whether this was fun or not...ok I am just kidding, of course it was fun...well maybe with a few exceptions. There was a (no joke) 1 hour and 20 minute long climb (for us) right in the middle of the course. With our nearly 50 lb bike and squishy wet roads this was a bit trying. We rode pretty well on the first 45-50 minutes of the climb, but the last bit was, well, hard. We were fine after that until we started getting really bad chain suck every time we went to the middle or mall chainring over the last 10 miles or so.....frustrating. A great event though and we will certainly be back next year....not sure if it will be on the tandem though :)

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Cara put up a better race report here: http://caraapplegate.blogspot.com/2009/02/southern-cross.html

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Last weekend I did the Icycle MTB cross country race out at Fontana Village. The course was fast and fun and the field was surprisingly big. We began with a leMans style run start then went straight into the first climb. I had an ok start and was riding in about 6th when I flatted on the first downhill :( . I totally botched the repair and lost about 10 full minutes. Losing 10 minutes in a race that the leaders finish in an hour fifteen does not bode well for results...but I did ride pretty well, had fun and got a killer good workout in which is exactly what the goal for the day was. I even went out and rode an extra lap near race pace before I packed up to head home.

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Off to Snake Creek Gap #2 tomorrow....weather looks to be good and while my form is nowhere near good right now, I am still hoping to go for my best time on the course. If this happens I know it will be to dramatically improved technical riding skills since last year.

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29er Love

I have been riding my cannondale 29er for over a month now and while I knew it was a perfect fit for me on the very first ride, I can now say for sure that I am in love with this bike. Since Cara has inherited my old hardtail, when I gave back my team bike last fall I decided to get the 29er as my own bike for training and what I thought would be a "different" bike to use for some of the endurance races I am planning on doing in 09. It didn't take but a few rides to determine that I wanted to race the 29er exclusively for the coming season. Why?...and why would I rather race this bike than the scalpel I raced last season??? Good questions.

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The scalpel is an amazing state of the art race bike, no doubt...but there are several things about the 29er that just fit my rider profile even better. What is my rider profile? Well first off I am NOT a "punchy" rider.....basically I seem to have a switch that is either "on" or "off"...steady if you will. The 29er seems to carry this sort of momentum that just feels right for me. I was afraid that the big wheels would be slow on climbs...but I was wrong. In fact I feel like I can climb as fast , or faster on the big wheels...again, I think this has to do with my steady riding style. Next is that I am a bit slow in the handling department. I am not the kind of rider who comfortably flicks the bike around direction changes on a twisty course....I have a tendency to do more "carving" around turns....and again the big wheels give me that flow. Confidence: In general I am not the most confident in my technical abilities...or maybe I would more accurately characterize this as too much of a survival instinct. When I dive into a rocky/ rooty technical section, or go over a drop-off I usually have a sense of tentativeness....and this is where the big wheels seem to help me most. The 29 inch wheels give me a sense of confidence in the rough stuff and taking on bigger drops. The wheels roll over rocks and roots substantially easier....with less tendency to "catch". On technical uphills I seem to be able to get up and over obstacles with greater ease....and I can say for sure that I have been able to clear more tough, steep uphill sections than I could on any of the 26 inch bikes I have ridden.

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Is a 29er the best choice for everyone or every trail/ course? Certainly not. Punchy riders will find the acceleration slower with the big wheels and the handling "sluggish" while trying to make quick directional changes on tight twisty trails....but for me it is perfect...and I am very happy to say that I will be racing the c-dale 29er all year! Now I am basically using the stock 29er 1 model. I did have to change the stem to a longer and steeper down angle ...and get a longer seatpost....and of course change the saddle....but that is it.

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The pic above is from the first of the snake creek gap TTs a couple weeks ago. It was foggy, rainy and wet.....yet I felt fully confident on the new bike...even on the rocks.

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Baby It's Cold Outside

Ok, so it seems it is cold pretty much everywhere in the sates this week..excepting maybe so cal and the greater southwest... but the rest of us are stuck with conditions not exactly conducive to riding outside...so here are a few reasons you might just want to get on with your workouts inside on a stationary trainer.....rather than skippping them:

1. because you KNOW your competition is doing it

2. because you need the endorphins and you will feel miserable if you don't get your daily dose.

3. because to accomplish your race goals for next year, you need to build your fitness...and these workouts build your fitness!

4. because in many cases you can actually get a BETTER workout on the trainer since it is easier to precisely control intensity vs. the same workout on the open road

5. because in one of your past lives you MUST have done something to deserve this type of punishment :)

6. because your coach told you to

7. because if you don't you will be grumpy and your family and/ or co-workers will suffer the brunt of your grumpiness

8. because it will help you improve your mental toughness and focus

9. because you love to ride your bike....no matter when or where, inside or out

10. because RIGHT NOW your competition is doing a tough 2x20 min threshold workout on the trainer thinking of how they are going to crush you next season....and you know the only way to combat them? GET ON THAT TRAINER AND GET YOUR WORKOUTS DONE!

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PRO !

Yes that is right. After almost 20 years of racing I am offically a professional bike racer in the eyes of USA Cycling....on a mountain bike. I find this absolutely hilarious. I would have given my right arm to get a pro mtb license 10 years ago, and now at the young racing age of 43, I am a neo-pro. How did this happen???
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A little history:
I started racing mountain bikes in 1992. I was not very good. In fact at my first race as a "beginner" I finished square in the middle of the pack ....something like 52nd out of about 100 riders. Stellar right?...but I was instantly in love with racing. Exactly one year later at the very same race I was an "expert" racer in the pro/expert category. I finished 3rd. OK, so that was not bad. After another year on the east coast racing expert I moved out to Boulder, CO thinking I was going to be the next Tomac...or Tinker...or maybe Shogren :). I trained hard ...maybe too hard...had some great early season results, followed by a serious bout with overtraining (whoops so much for that season). I got my act together and moved back east in 96. I had a great season that year and was ready to upgrade...but that was the year the "semi-pro" category was introduced. This was the heyday of MTB racing and the pro races were overcrowded....another category was needed to bridge the gap between expert and pro racers. At the time this worked, but unfortunately that gave me an extra step. I raced as a semi-pro, mostly in New England for a couple of seasons when the races were huge, the competition unbelievable and the prize money outstanding. I was a solid top 10 new england series guy, but at the national level (which is where the upgrade results were needed) I was nothing but mediocre.
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In 1999 I got my first road team contract (NOT pro) and switched over to racing on the pavement full time....which I did for the better part of 10 years as an elite amateur.
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Now I am back to racing mostly in the dirt and the powers that be decided to scrap the semi-pro category entirely....giving us the choice of getting a pro license or dropping back down to expert. You might think it would make more sense for an old codger like me to drop back to expert....and you would probably be right. The trouble is that at 40+ years old, as an expert, the cross country races are usually short....too short. That and I like chasing around the fast young guys...and making fun of them on the rare occasion that I might beat a couple of them. Also, since my primary race objectives are endurance races (where there is really just an "open" race with no categories), the ability listed on my license is pretty much irrelevant.
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Now, many people have asked me : weren't you a road pro?? No, never was and never will be. While the road team I have been associated with has taken out a uci pro license for 2009, I am most decidedly NOT on the pro roster....no way I am good enough for that :) let alone being at least 15 years too old.
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So there you have it...the reason I may very well be the world's oldest neo-pro.
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a2