Back to It.

Well...back to racing, beginning this Sunday we tackle the fabled and feisty Koppenburg course out in Superior, CO. Think an hour to an hour and a half of your worst nightmare...fast, fast descending, a massive, broiling peloton, dirt and gravel roads, and the Koppenburg climb...gnarled, rutted dirt and body strewn chaos. Really, it's just like that.

Anyway, I'm stressing about racing on Sunday...sure I'll do okay, even if that means last place, though I doubt I'll end up carrying the lantern rouge. We of Team Strong Heart and we, as cyclists, are a passionate group. Yes, we have the fire that drives us to spend much, much time on our bikes, at the gym, on the roads, away from home, across the country, etc. But there's so much more.

My orthodoxy is my training. My practice and my celebration is the race shared, won and lost with comrades. Our battles are fought in office parks, on city streets, on Route 66, across Kansas and 13 other states, on the trails, in the morning when our closest are still sleeping, done before most people even get to their second cup of crappy drip coffee. I've crossed many finish lines in life, actual and metaphorical. Racing has brought me there and maybe it has (or will) bring you.

Cycling and racing for the past decade has drawn amazing perspective in my life. I've seen some wonderful and terrible things racing my bike and riding with friends. We've even lost a few of our closest friends to the sport, gone away doing just what they wanted. I pray I'm that lucky. I was reminded just yesterday that even a bike brand can be painfully and wonderfully associated with those who've come...and gone. Thinking of you and your Bianchi Greg.

We are tied to this sport, irrevocably so in my case, because many of us know that the true finish line is always just ahead, sometimes out of reach and sometimes right in the palm of our hands. I get out there and beat myself up every single day for the kids at Camp Odayin, for my own health, for my loved ones (new and old) and for all of you who care enough to read this silly blog. I've fought and won, but lost more times than won. And that's made all the difference in my itty-bitty world.

See you at the start line and always, keep the rubber side down.

Tim

Moab, 2009

A couple of my old teammates from Horizon Organic, John Shippey and Brandon Eifrid, invited me out to Moab last week for some hard training, desert style.

When I was riding through Utah last year during my solo RAAM bid, I remember telling my crew chief that there was "no way in hell" that he would ever find me on my bike again in Utah.

Well...how soon we forget our promises.

I'm a river guy, not a desert guy. I prefer the lush, almost squishy roads of northern California to the barren wasteland that is the American West desert. Think banana slugs, Stanford University and the Haight Ashbury district of San Fran. That's where it's at, at least for training camp.

Moab is a different place of sorts, the Mecca of mountain biking. The riding out there, on the road at least, is very dry, very hilly and pretty challenging. We set out to ride each day we were out there and it was a definite drag to get on the bike after 6 hours of prep and driving out from Denver.

Day one held an easy spin, but I knew immediately that the week would be a challenge, having just started to get better from a cold that was driven home by an earlier trip out to Vegas. Day two we hit the Lasal Mountain loop, which is a major pain in the ass. After the gradual 3-5% grade of the first ten miles, we a hit a section of road called "the big suck" or something like that. I had some other choice words for a 4000 foot climb that lasted around 5 miles or so. I'm sure my stats are a bit off, but let's just say that the climb was short, steep and I was cross-eyed much of the way. Up top the temps dropped quickly and we were faced with a cold, slushy and red mud filled descent into the canyon. Yikes. John hit a 2 mile stretch of snow and ice at full speed and nearly lost his life, if not his collarbone. I picked my way through that descent and we eventually made it home.

Other highlights included an "easy day" that featured a wicked headwind and a view of Arches National Park, steak the size of Texas a couple of nights, good beer, the Dave Chapelle Show on the tube and monster breakfasts of omelettes, more steak and some sweet oatmeal and grits. Did an awesome Canyonlands ride, Brandon got some mountain biking in with Alison Dunlap, Katie Compton, etc., and we all survived through the last day of TT'ing up and down Wall Street and Potash Road.

I've been back for a few days now and am absolutely psyched for the race season and RAAM to begin. John and I were driving back into Boulder after dropping Brandon off in bumble, I mean, Highlands Ranch, and we both agreed that no matter where we race or train, coming back to Boulder and Denver is always great, is our home no matter what team we race for and is a definitive privilege for us as cyclists.

Keep in touch, do great things and keep the rubber side down.

Tim

Welcome Back

Ahoy!

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog, which is really too bad. Much to talk about here...first of all, thanks to everyone for welcoming me back into the racing fray of Team Strong Heart.

Here I was thinking that I'd get to "sit back" and enjoy RAAM from the comfort of the chase vehicle, barking out orders to the crew, creating conflict where none previously existed, throwing my massive authority around our great country. Now, as it happens, I am going to have to do the same thing while also racing my bike with three other of the baddest and fastest brothers on two wheels (and yes Andy, that number includes you).

At any rate...I'm very happy to be back on the biking side of things.

Support Team Strong Heart. I can't say that enough, SUPPORT TEAM STRONG HEART. Camp Odayin is an amazing place. I know it. I've been there. The world that Odayin's staff and contributors (like yourself) have created for those deserving kids is wonderful and really brings home the idea that with enough support and encouragment, everyone can reach beyond their circumstances and become great. Chokes me up thinking about it.

I grew up with very severe asthma...the kind that kills. I was the kid in gym class who couldn't finish the run in gym class, couldn't be outside when the temps were high and I was definitely living in a bubble/humidity tent in the hospital when my young friends were out being young. I never had an adaptive camp experience like the kids at Camp Odayin get to have. My camp experiences pretty much sucked, except for the day when I was the fake drummer lip syncing "Hungry Like a Wolf" at the camp talent show. That day was great...the rest...not so great.

Look at the mission statement for Team Strong Heart. We are dedicated and passionate...bar none. We are building a legacy of hard work, determination and results...raising money for Camp Odayin while showcasing amazing talent on and off the bike. The Team Strong Heart that comes to you today for a donation or other sorts of assistance is made of world class people doing world class things for those who can't help themselves. Join us...

Stay tuned for a review of my recent visit to Moab, Utah for a cycling training camp and other random stuff from wild and wooley Boulder, Colorado.

Keep the rubber side down.

Tim