2014.....WOW

I love racing in the rain!

     Yes, wow! What a turbulent year for me personally, job wise, and on the bike. In January I separated from my wife and moved in with my mother. This was a difficult decision because of my daughter being caught in the middle. Everything has settled down for the most part now and the divorce should be final within a month. I am definitely in a better place mentally now than when we were together. Sometimes good people are not good together. I've also met someone whom I adore, and I see a great future with, someday. First I need to get back out of my moms!

     2014 also saw me make a job change that I thought would never happen! I landed a job with an international company, and I love working for them. It's the same thing I used to do, the pay is less to start with, but the benefits are amazing and within 3 years I'll be making more than I was at my previous job. I look forward to going to work, instead of having to drag myself in and be miserable everyday. I can also look forward to retiring, finally!

      Racing in 2014 saw some of my strongest racing! I raced strong but made mistakes in just about every race that kept me off the podium. I did race in 2 training crits that I organized at a local mall in one of them I lead out my team mate for the when and took 3rd. In my first official race of the year I missed the winning move and was sitting in third going into the final turn when the guy in front went down causing me to stop to keep from plowing over him, which yielded me a 10th place finish. I did however walk away with the bronze medal for the Cat 4 state championship! In my second race I ended up in a 2 man breakaway, this was not planned at all! I had accelerated from the middle of the pack with the intention of keeping the pack together and it ended up being a breakaway for several laps! Crazy! This guy is not meant for breakaways, lol, I am way to large for that!

     This season also saw me return to Road Racing, not just crits. Well, it was one RR. I was going to see how I would perform, I finished with the pack and it was by far the hardest effort I put in all year! I should do more Road Races just for the workout!

     I believe my best race of the year was the Tour of Washington County Kick-off crit in Hagerstown, MD. It was a hot and humid June afternoon and as I started my warm-up on the trainer, the skies went from partly cloudy to pitch black! I quickly put the trainer away and decided to warm up on the course. As soon as we got out there, it started raining and the officials delayed the start of the race. This gave me the opportunity to ride the course in the rain and test the best lines and at what speed I could take them at. We started about 15 minutes late, so they cut our race time down as well. We took off and it wasn't but a couple laps in and guys were all over the road because their tires were losing traction, but not me. That's when I decided to put the hammer down to try and separate me from the non bike handlers, well it worked. Me and seven other guys put at least a half a lap on the chase group! As we headed into 2 to go, I found myself on the front coming up to turn #3, just before the turn the group surged around me and as we went through the turn I stood out of the saddle in an effort to maintain contact and that's when I went down! I ended up placing 12th overall, not where I wanted to be, but I still won $50!

     Due to more turmoil in my Personal life, I had to stop racing in June and I am just now getting back into training and riding. Let's hope 2015 sees more changes and challenges, but hopefully all of them in a positive direction!