What did you do on December 1st?

What did you do December 1st? Those were the words said by teammate, Ken Zorovich, in regards to racing last spring.

When I first hit the racing scene last spring, I was amazed by how seriously people took the sport of cycling. I sprinted myself to a 4th place result at my first race and nearly threw up after the finish line. There was a little bit of talent mixed with luck in that first result, but getting to 1st place is a different story. The truth is, if you want to win, you must train.

While racing takes place during the months of April to October, the real work takes place from December to April. Hours of indoor training sessions after work, mixed with frigid cold weekend mornings is how I now spend the winter. The best motivational tools I’ve used to far is, music, youtube cycling videos, Xbox, and live video training with teammates. Of course, there’s always the winter lager beer as a reward.

Winter mornings are cold. How the cold effects you is purely up to your genetic makeup. Some people have warm feet and hands, while others, like me, deal with freezing toes. I wear layers upon layers of clothing. When it’s 20 or below, I start with 2 pairs of wool socks, followed by full leg fleece bibs. Then it’s 2 base layers for the upper body, a cycling jersey and a jacket. For the head, it’s a balaclava, then fleece lines hat. Winter gloves are necessary too. I always leave with a pair of hand & toe warmers, just in case!

So, to answer the original question; I rode and have been riding. It was roughly 18 degrees (before windchill) and sunny. The year prior, I spent most of my time in the gym lifting weights and gaining weight. This season, I will be focusing on dropping weight and building strength for the 2010 racing season.

Between now and April 10th, which is the Tour of the Battenkill, I have tons of work and a training camp in Vegas to attend.

Happy New Year and see you out on the road.