Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas!!!! Yay! And, it's a white one too! Which I guess is OK if it gets really warm really quickly. This snow hanging around isn't so great.

I got to go for a ride this morning as it started snowing with my bro, which was pretty awesome since it had just barely started snowing and it was like riding in a lite version of a winter wonderland! The drive back wasn't so awesome since, 100 yards from my house, I slid out of a turn and into a bridge. I was pretty sure I'd messed something up pretty good, but when I got home, there was no damage to the body. Nice, but the steering/tire alignment is all messed up now. Oh well.

Hope you all had a good Christmas. It's been one to remember. Whiteness like this doesn't come often on the baby Jesus's birthday!

2011

Alright people...I know what you're thinking, "two blogs in two days? What is going on here?"

Right. Well, one of my goals for 2011 is to write about my life. Not so much for your benefit (although I appreciate the few of you who check in from time to time), but to keep myself on track.

I do have some new goals and new experiences for this next year. Other than hoping I can get a real job shortly after the year starts, I also will be moving out of my house the first week of January. Both of these things are signs that I'm growing up, and shouldn't be taken lightly.

I also have goals. Which I am going to post here so that I can't hide them if they don't go well.

First, I am going to win the SERC overall. I don't expect this goal to be terribly hard, since really all it takes to complete it is to show up to all or most of the races. It does, however, lead me to my next two goals...

I want to win some races. It's been a while since I've done this, and being consistently fast over the course of the year is probably the best way to pull it off.

I want to move up to pro after the season is finished. Again, I've been an expert/cat 1 for a very long time, and I know that I'm capable of racing at a higher level. Will I ever be a top pro? Not a chance. But I can be faster than I am.

To reach these goals, I have a couple of things that I know I need to do...

1. train consistently, recover properly, and do the work that I get assigned.

2. lose some weight. At the moment, I am about 10-15lb over weight, and this needs to change, and quickly.

3. improve my mental game. I've kinda tended to be a mental basket case when it comes to racing, which has led to a lot of DNFs, bad races, and self-defeat. No more. My mental improvements and increased ability to focus are going to be some of the biggest things to take me where I want to go.

Anyway, just letting you know.

Also, it snowed today. That kinda sucks. because I have a new bike on the way and won't be able to ride it.

Goodbye College

Hi guys and girls. I'm just letting everyone know that I'm done with school. Like done for good with Brevard College. I've been there since fall of '07, and have done 7 semesters, 6 race seasons, 6 national championship appearances, 2 national championship victories, and probably (just a guess) 60 or 70 race starts. Awesome. Its been a good time BC...thanks for the experience, and for the degree. Hopefully the people next season will be able to keep up the awesome, and maybe spread a bit of success to the road side of things.

For real though, the college racing experience was easily one of the best times I've had in life so far. Thanks Thad for getting me to come and for all the support! Good friends, lots of free racing, and an awesome purpose to my training and effort. I loved the feeling that my race results actually mattered, and having other people depending on me doing my job. I definitely didn't see as much improvement as I would have liked, and was nowhere near as fast as a lot of other really talented people that I raced with, but I had a blast.

So then, what now? I was briefly tempted to stop racing, and just ride my bike for the fun of it, since I know how much I'm gonna miss having the team thing going on. At the same time, I know how competitive I am, and how much I need a competitive outlet. Racing fits that nicely. At this point, I know I'm gonna race, and am working on figuring out what my goals for 2011 and beyond will be. I don't want to pull a T Cowie, but I may be looking at something big and new, just not ready to spill the beans yet.

Also, since I don't have school to worry about any more, I'm gonna try to blog. Yep.