Here's to the New Year

For cycling, 2014 was my best year ever. While I did crash while training in late February, I learned from the mishap and generally improved in all areas.

2014 Statistics

• total miles ridden: 7,391
• average distance per week: 145 miles
• average time per week: 8.5 hours
• total hours: 445.5 hours
• total elevation in feet: 590,617
• number of rides: 234
• 2014 100-mile (unsupported) days: 3
• One 107-mile day (61.7 mi. point to point road race, with a 42.8 mile ride back to the car afterwards, and 2.9 mile warmup prior to the race)

2014 Summary

In 2014 I raced 22 times. Of those, eleven were road races, one hill-climb TT, and ten criteriums (5 official and 5 pre-season during the Early Bird clinics). Riding unattached, I had one first place finish, three top-three finishes, eight top-five finishes, and nine top-ten finishes.

In January, after a 26-year break from road racing [since USACycling was USCF (United States Cycling Federation), I started over from scratch in category 5. After participating in all five Early Bird Criterium clinics and races, in February of this year, I upgraded to cat 4 with a third place finish (Early Bird road Race) and a top five finish (Cherry Pie Criterium).

The weather was really favorable for cycling this year (unfortunately due to continued drought in the region) so I only had to race in the rain once. My early season results were mostly mid-pack, but later in the season I performed much better. This was partially due to increased fitness, but mainly experience–I learned to stop covering every break, and contained my nervous energy that often had me sittiing on the front of the pack. Counting the Early Bird criteriums, my 2014season consisted of 22 races: ten road races, one circuit race, ten criterums and one hill climb time trial.

By my count, I've earned 21 upgrade points, which makes me eligible to apply for an upgrade to category 3, although I’m not required to do so unless I reach thirty points within twelve months.

Post Season Climbing Series

My friend Rob Easley suggested I join an informal team that he was on, to ride the Low Key Hill Climb Series, a different challenging climb each of nine consecutive weeks, from early October through late November. All levels of riders are welcome, and while times are recorded and data is elaborately parsed and reported on the website, it's all just for fun. It's a great way to stay motivated to stretch out the tough efforts beyond the end of the road racing season. I joined the Sisters and Misters of No Mercy and rode all but two of the climbs. 282 men and 46 women participated in at least one of the climbs. Our team had the largest roster at each ride, which contributed to our winning the overall team competition. I ranked 13th among the men.

Because most of the climbs are less than five miles long, many of us would join up for a longer fun ride afterwards to make the car trips worthwhile.

My general “take” on the year...

In general I'm happy with the year in cycling, if bit melancholy. This year, for various reasons, I missed more weekend rides with my closest cycling friends. This is, for the most part, due to my involvement in racing. Races take place on weekends and that's when our weekend rides took place. Training for races became my focus for the types of riding I did during each week. I worked hard to increase my average speed on rides over all types of terrain. While I've met many new riders through racing, I plan to ride as much as possible with old friends and new.

Health-wise

In general I feel like my health improved in 2014. I continued the body weight loss which began in 2013 while training for the Mt. Tam Hill Climb. At the start of 2013 I weighed 152 lbs. By June 2013 I weighed 135. A loss of three more pounds followed until November. After reduced mileage this early winter, and many holiday meals, I'm back up to 135 lbs., which seems to be optimum. I've lost a bit of muscle mass in my upper body, and while I don't do any other exercise, I feel like my back and core are stronger than in years past. I don't wake up stiff and crooked anymore. I've had just one brief head cold this year. I didn't experience discomfort due to allergies at all this year, where in years past I had weeks of sinus and respiratory reaction to pollen in spring and late summer. I had one significant injury in late February, when I crashed on a training ride. Fortunately I was only banged up, combined with some ligament strains. I only missed two weeks of riding, and missed no races. While six months later I don't have any any lingering physical issues resulting, I am still working to overcome some timidness on fast, technical descents.

Fitness-wise

Without any means to measure real power, I can't compare accurately, but my perception is that I'm faster and stronger on the bike this year. The average speeds show that. I think I can safely attribute this to pack riding. In 2013 I focused mainly on climbing. This year I added sprints, intervals and overall speed on flat to rolling terrain.

Cycling Expenses

I spent quite a bit more money on cycling in 2014 than in recent years. With race registrations averaging a bit over thirty dollars each, that's around $660. Fuel and tolls for the 1600 miles driven to and from races, adds another $300. I won't include the cost of cycling gear because I would've had to spend that anyway. Although I did upgrade three significant components, all of which improved safety: Brake calipers $120, shoes $120 and helmet $180. Exposure to my competitors' lighter carbon fiber bikes made me wish I could replace mine, but their admiration for both my classic bike, and my performance on it, made it easier to stick with what I had. However in October, I discovered cracks in the frame of my steed, and while I was able to outfit a substitute, replacement became unavoidable.

What's ahead for 2015?

I've renewed my USAC license and joined a team: Cushman and Wakefield Racing

The parent club is Lamorinda Cycling Club. The team has a large category 4 masters squad. While the club is based across the bay, there are a good number of teammates here in Marin county to train with and carpool to races. I plan to travel across the bay to train with the rest of the team whenever time permits on weekends.

The support of a team will motivate me, and generous sponsorship should help ease some of the financial load that this sport creates.

In November I celebrated my 54^th birthday. USACycling considers a rider's racing age to be that which they are on December 31^st of a given year. While my racing age for the 2015 season will entitle me to race in master 55+ groups, I plan to continue to race with the m45 group.

Even as an unattached rider, with only my own aspirations to pursue, I did well in 2014. One of my goals for 2015 is to learn how to ride for the team. Besides the value in learning and executing good tactics, if I can help several more teammates boost their upgrade points, perhaps there will be more of us who can race together again after upgrading.

A canned video created by Strava, using my annual stats