The bike racing season is officially over. I'm taking some time off the bike to get back into the gym, do some running, compete in a few duathlons and watch football. Giants are killing it! Jets still have some work to do, but they are getting there. Who knows, I might make a cameo on the basketball court. In spite of what I write about on this blog, basketball is still "my" first sport and I do have a rich and storied history around these parts. Just think David, but no slingshot - more like a jumpshot. In any event, the cycling season went well for the most part. The team, CRCA/FGX Racing, was very successful and I would like to think I played a small part in our overall success. I have high expectations for myself and the team next year.

I managed a few individual results in the local crits and Prospect Park but by and large I was consistently 11th and 12th, with many top 15 finishes in Prospect and Central Park. That tells me two things. First, I need to focus on positioning in races, and second, I need to get right to it and sprint my ass off during the off season. I do have a plan.

When I look back, I didn't race nearly as much as I wanted and the first half of the season was a blur. Lots of family obligations and little time for training. Not complaining, I'm happy and thankful for my family and I'm happy that I still had an opportunity to get out there and be in the sun (and the rain).

A few parting thoughts. First, I'm going to move this blog to another platform as soon as I get the time. As easy as it is to post on Blogger, there isn't much flexibility in terms of adding photos and other content. I think moving it will actually get me to increase the frequency of my posts.

Second, while it was more or less a pain in the butt to coordinate, ending the season at Bear and then the Tour of Catskills was highly enjoyable. My fitness has increased exponentially in the weeks leading up to Bear. Roger of Finkraft Coaching really turned the screws on me and I finally found the time and space to really focus on training. Bear went great, but again positioning and mistiming the sprint cost me a top 10 (17th). The Tour of Catskills really comes down to a couple of really serious climbs. On day one, the climb comes early and on day two, it comes at the very end. While my fitness was there, I couldn't quite stick with the 135 pounders on big climb on the first day. On the second day, I stayed close, but still couldn't quite get the job done.

That said, I would still consider the weekend a success. I improved and I think the experience will help me win some races next season. I plan on focusing more on out of town crits and circuit races and, dare I say it, triathlons. I did one biathlon just before Bear and finished 5th in my age group, without using a TT bike. With my running coming along nicely, I have the potential to do pretty darn well in some of the short distance events.

So that segues into the "third" thing, no pun intended; I'm going to get back to triathlon next season. In general, bike racing can be an adrenaline rush, but it can also be a miserable obsessive grind. It'll be nice to do an event where I can just go out and compete hard against myself and hopefully some other like minded folks without having to deal with the bike racing BS. It'll also give me a chance to take advantage of my "ground attack." Not looking to "go long" again anytime soon, but I will have an Olympic or half IM distance event on the docket.

Stay tuned.