2009 > 2010

(That is a Phishy segue (when Phish plays songs that jam continuously into other sign it shows the segue as a > on the set list) sign into 2010, not and indicator that 2009 was better than 2010 is going to be.)

I'm wrapping up my longest time off the bike in quite some time. Aside from a little fun at CX Mas I haven't touched my bike since the State Championship race. Currently, I don't even own a bike! I have a sweet Tarmac Pro on the way and opted to buy a Power Tap SL Pro + to guide me while building my wattage castle in 2010. I also have a new mountain bike of some sort on the way which I'm pretty excited about as well, thanks to John Quinn at Specialized.

I had a pretty good run of mountain bike races but two really stand out for me. The MWFTS State Championship race and the Castlewood Challenge race. My only win of 2010 was at Rhett's Run, a course I have never lost on, and stands out because there was some fierce competition. I can't remember thinking too many races were easy, but that one just felt like a fast training ride where everything was clicking. The race at Castlewood was indicative of how much I have matured as a bike racer. I had a great start and was really optimistic about the race when I flatted on the first lap. With Elwell, Shottler and Ploch leading the charge I knew there was no was to win, probably not even podium but got my shit together and started to chase. I chased down everyone but Shottler and Ploch, earned my payout and stood on the podium. My only regret for my mountain bike season was that I never achieved my full potential. Too content with being fit enough to use decent results and a string of spread out races as an excuse not to really reach any fitness peak.

I took a little too much of a breather in August, just one of the two major mistakes I make going into CX season and then started to prep for the Burnin' 6 hr race, my other big mistake. Burnin was a disaster as I was coming down with the flu and I started my CX season coming off two weeks of sickness. I threw all caution to the wind and focused my sights on States. I had some great races along the way and had some races with problems that left me fighting for top five spots. I pushed myself hard through the weeks and suffered on the weekends. At States I was a little more tired than I would have liked to have been but had a great race and was far more competitive at the front of the race then I had been at my previous two State P.1.2 races. I wound up on the podium below Josh and Shot, which is where I should be and put some pretty serious time into Dr Mark and Jay. If I can race clean and avoid the mechanicals that plagued me this year, I might be able to score that elusive W in CX next year.

My bike should be here by the end of the week and the parties over. I don't like feeling tired everyday anyways, and the vino is getting expensive. I plan on dialing it up for the State race in June, some mountain bike races before the big wedding day in August and some serious CX prep this year. No Burnin, if I start to mention it in August, remind me that I hate myself for doing it. Case and I have tickets to the David Gray show in March and two Trey shows in February, but outside of that, it's business time bitches!