Bad News/Good News
Anyone who's talked to me in the last few weeks has undoubtedly heard me bragging about getting to go the Tour of Britain next month. I was really looking forward to it. So one can imagine my surprise when I saw a press release printed on the BBC website Monday listing the 16 teams invited to this year's race, and Health Net was not one of them. It seems that the Health Net team management was equally surprised, as an invitation had been all but completely assured as far back as June. Whatever politics were at play completely elude me, but it's certainly frustrating. And with six of us set to race in Britain, the team for the new race in Missouri was already finalized and is unlikely to be changed at this point. So the bottom line is that I now have only 3 races remaining this season: the USPRO crit championships in Downers Grove, the Portland Criterium, and the USPRO road championships in Greenville, NC. All good races, but it'll lead to a much earlier end to the season than I would have liked.
So that's the bad news. When I really think about it, it does seem strange to complain about a longer off-season. It's sort of like a kid complaining about being forced to spend an extra 3 weeks on summer break. That wouldn't happen, so why should I be whining? Still, I'm a bike racer because I like to race bikes, and not getting to do so makes me unhappy. But so it goes.
Anyway, on to the good: another year of bike racing! Big changes are in store. After three years of racing for Health Net, I'll be moving on to a new team for next season. It's been a great experience getting to ride for such a strong, well organized team, and alongside so many great riders, for the last three years. I've learned so much as a bike racer and a person. Change, though, will be invigorating. I'm looking forward to the challenge of reestablishing my role in a team and hopefully doing some races that I haven't had the chance to experience. I don't want to scoop the new team on their roster announcement, so for now it'll go unnamed. Everyone will know soon enough. They have some big ambitions for next year and beyond, and it sounds like it's going to be a fun group of people to race with. I'm really looking forward to it.
Not too get too far ahead of myself, though. There are two national championships still to be contested this year, not to mention some serious hometown bragging rights up for grabs at the Portland Twilight Criterium. Come out and do some screaming on Friday, Aug 24th.
So that's the bad news. When I really think about it, it does seem strange to complain about a longer off-season. It's sort of like a kid complaining about being forced to spend an extra 3 weeks on summer break. That wouldn't happen, so why should I be whining? Still, I'm a bike racer because I like to race bikes, and not getting to do so makes me unhappy. But so it goes.
Anyway, on to the good: another year of bike racing! Big changes are in store. After three years of racing for Health Net, I'll be moving on to a new team for next season. It's been a great experience getting to ride for such a strong, well organized team, and alongside so many great riders, for the last three years. I've learned so much as a bike racer and a person. Change, though, will be invigorating. I'm looking forward to the challenge of reestablishing my role in a team and hopefully doing some races that I haven't had the chance to experience. I don't want to scoop the new team on their roster announcement, so for now it'll go unnamed. Everyone will know soon enough. They have some big ambitions for next year and beyond, and it sounds like it's going to be a fun group of people to race with. I'm really looking forward to it.
Not too get too far ahead of myself, though. There are two national championships still to be contested this year, not to mention some serious hometown bragging rights up for grabs at the Portland Twilight Criterium. Come out and do some screaming on Friday, Aug 24th.
12 Comments:
It's not Rock, is it?
Slipstream.
This post has been removed by the author.
I deleted that last one because I wrote
"He hope you aren't leaving PDX!!"
I'm such a dork. I meant to say:
WE HOPE YOU AREN'T LEAVING PDX!!!!!
I'm staying put.
Though hopefully I will leave more often to attend races. Monthly PIR series results do little to bolster the race resume.
Phew! Heheheh. Well... unless you're a lowly Cat 3 like me. ;)
yeah unlike weekly tabour wins.....ae dougie..hahaha
I'm guessing you're following Nathan!
Doug is going to Race MTB's because he has seen how much cooler we MTBers are and how excellent we are at using acronyms
BIWBIDATHIBAUA
(Barry is wrong but I do acknowledge that he is better at using acronyms)
Greenville is in South Carolina...
Right you are. That's why I'm just a bike racer and not a cartographer.
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