2008 Road Racing Season Recap

The 2008 racing season was my first full racing season since I began riding in September 2005. It’s been a long, hard and painful journey to get where I am at today and I have to say I enjoyed every minute of it. Yes, every minute of it, from the long, ever-so-boring indoor rides during winter to the leg searing climbs of my favorite Holy Hill route. I’ve accumulated nearly 5,500 miles through-out the year dating back to January when I began seriously training for the road racing season.

The WiSport racing series (a citizens racing series in Wisconsin) road races were my main competitions throughout the summer although I competed in one WCA road race near Baraboo in the beginning of May. Since that first race in May I was hooked with racing adrenaline even though I flatted 5 miles from the finish in that first race. I continued to train and race hard into the summer where I competed in 7 road races in which I placed anywhere from 4^th to 32^nd.

My best race of the year in which I placed 4^th was at the Penokee Range Cycling Classic in Mellen, WI. I drove about 3.5 hours the night before to get there and slept in the back of my SUV. It was a tight squeeze in the back with all of the cycling gear making it a difficult night to sleep. When morning came I felt extremely refreshed and ready to race. The race was approximately 46 miles and mainly flat, besides the two monster hills within the first 2 miles of the start. The pace was intense throughout the duration of the race but I managed to have enough energy for the sprint at the end. I thought I was going to be boxed in at the end but a sliver of daylight appeared between two riders and I hit the thrusters. To my joy and excitement it was my first top five placing in my short amateur racing career. Next year I plan on making top 5 finishes a regular occurrence.

With the racing season wrapped up, I look at my first year of racing as a stepping stone, the first rung in the ladder that you have to get up on and keep moving forward. I was able to use my “decent” climbing skills to reel in second place in the Polka Dot jersey standings, only 7 point out of first place. In 2009, I will be working hard to be the King of the Mountains (or Wisconsin hills) in the WiSport series.

The end of one racing season only means the beginning of another. I’ve been off the bike for about a month and have found that drive and ambition again to ride, ride, ride. November is the beginning of my 2009 training I look forward to collecting interest on others oxygen debt in the 09 racing series! Ride long, ride strong, ride on…