I departed from the training plan this weekend to go on two “Fun” Rides rather than what was on the schedule. Saturday was a Windy Solo 52 Mile effort and Sunday was another 50+ day with the Rotton Riders, Village Cycle Shoppe and Bob’s Bike Shop. It was fun sharing our WINDY coastal rides with the group from Orlando.

After 14 months on the bike I finally realized that I need to make sure that I have fun event when training for any challenge. I was still able to accomplish a 10+ hour week in the saddle and enjoy doing it!

My first Horrible Hundred is officially in the books. Rolling hills are definitely a new type of challenge for me, especially living on the coast where our hills are 20 mph headwinds or causeways.

Had a good time riding and hanging out with Paul Ricci from Cycling Across America; Taylor and Kelly from Primal Wear. If you have a shop, event or club these are definitely 2 organizations you want to be affiliated with.

On November 2nd, 2014, over 100 riders ascended on the Brevard Alzheimer’s Foundation in Melbourne on a chilly, windy November morning for the highly successful inaugural Cycle4Alz event. This was my first experience planning and directing an event. We had great sponsors and volunteers helping along the way; a special shout out goes to Bob’s Bicycle Shop for their on course support (and the beer trailer…I mean bike trailer).

Check out Facebook for lots of pictures of the event. Click Here

Training for the Vuelta PR 2015 is going well and I personally will be using the century charity rides as a tune up for PR. There are several great ones to chose from and my company is putting on one as well.

Upcoming Rides:
ICWC 2014 – Inter-coastal Waterway Century – October 26, 2014
Cycle4Alz – November 2, 2014
Horrible Hundred – November 15-16, 2014

On August 30, 2014, I will officially be a cyclist for one year and as I close in on my first year I was thinking about what a total transformation it has been to move from the football player/coach mentality and training. I have been re-learning my whole approach to training, nutrition and mental preparedness as I get more involved in cycling.

By the end of my first year I will have ridden about 7,000 miles, spent over 368 hours in the saddle, completed multiple Century Rides, completed the Cross Florida Ride (165 Miles), Finished 4 Races in my first season of Racing (had a couple of DNF’s which we are working on), Lost 40 lbs, and gained a ton of new friends and fellow riders.

I have a lot of people to thank for steering me toward cycling and continue mentoring to me while I progress as a rider. Mileah Briley is the one originally go me into the whole cycling idea because of her intense spinning classes at the gym…little did I know that I would be so addicted to it. Thanks to Kyle Markel and the entire KBS Cycling Team for allowing me to be a part of such a awesome group of riders and people. The Crew at Bob’s Bike Shop (Jesse, Ben, Rod, Geoff, Nick, Nicole and everyone else) for keeping my machines running, getting me into racing and continuing to support all my cycling needs.

Thanks to Raymond Read and my coach, Dave Severn, for pushing me to focus on bike handling skills, training routines and being an all around rider. I am hoping that Dave will finally be able to teach me some patience. Finally thanks to Dr Rick (Chiropractor) for keeping my aligned and tending to my injuries and Amber Kabboord (Massage Therapist) for her continual work on my various ailments and flexibility.

A very special thanks to Rich Rudolph (Oakley) for always keeping on point with shades, clothing and gear I need for any of my sports adventures! As I prepare for the next race season and the Vuelta Puerto Rico (in January), I will no doubt continue to lean on everyone that has helped me get to this point.

I wanted to send out thanks to Dr. Rick (Berthiaume Chiropractic) and Amber Kabboord, LMT (Massage) for working on my numbing issues this week. I am definitely seeing an improvement and can’t wait to continue to knock this out. Both numbing and flexibility were far greater today after having work done Friday and Saturday.I have always been convinced that when choosing to have athletic driven issues addressed, you need doctors and therapist that are athletes themselves. Both Dr. Rick and Amber solidify that belief 100%.

                           

I went to Louisiana to attend a funeral for the person that has probably inspired me the most in life, my grandmother; however, I was able to get some riding in. There was plenty of hills and a lot of open country roads with very little traffic.

As part of my off-season training I made it a point to have the fit adjusted on my Training Bike so that I am consistent with my Racing Bike. The team at Bob’s Bicycle Shop are always there to make sure my machines are running (and fitting) well. Special Thanks to Rod and Ben for getting personally involved in my fitting and to the entire crew for putting up with all my needy request.

                        

State RR was held on June 1, 2014. I had a horrible weekend starting off by leaving my Garmin 810 behind on my trip down to Stuart. My ability to focus on the Race at head was completely distroyed by my pre-occupation with locating my Garmin. The good news is my neighbor had it when I returned home from Stuart so the ending is not bad.

So I finished the TC Classic (Saturday, May 17th) with my highest placing of the year (a whopping 23rd), but I did build on the progress made in St. Augustine. I tried my hand at the Circuit Race on Sunday, but my body wasn’t ready for back to back days of racing…YET. Thanks to my teammate, Harrison Gold, for making me hang in there and get this race completed! The wind was BRUTAL on the backside of this 8 mile loop.