Das Year in Review

2007...another one bites the dust.
I'll keep this mostly on biking...I guess it started when I didn't join the Spin Race team (which are a bunch of great guys) when Greg contacted me during the 2006 'Cross Nationals in Providence, RI. I wanted to see what positive things I could help do if I was to be the SnakeBite Racing team President. The jury is still out on that I'm sure.

Gary & I trained together and entered the season in pretty good shape. It was great having him as a friend and training partner. The trip to Tampa and the riding we did was great, Miller Chill beer....hmmmmmmm.

I switched out my Specialized Allez Pro race bike to a Titus Modena; I didn't have the $ to get what I really wanted, but the Titus worked out great as a bike I could train on comfortability and still have great performance for racing on.

RATL will always have great memories of SBR CAT 4s working together as a team to help control the race. John and Gary both won a race, Ray was fantastic, but what stood out was that it was a team effort.

Westlake's late start (May vs April?) was big news and we didn't know for sure if Chris was even going to put it on for sure. The series did happen and it was a fun and very well put on event. Thanks for everything and doing the Zipp demo day!

I live in Brecksville and every year I look forward to racing in the Chip Race and every year weird stuff happens; this year I was sick as a dog and did 2 laps b/f DNF'ing. Someday.

Another disappointment was the Chagrin Falls Grand Prix. I bailed due to the course being wet/slick. It didn't stop Gary from having a great race & avoiding a near wipe out that I got on film. It must have been my front tire that I loaned him. :-)

The Troy Classic Crit Race is in my home town and Gary, Jason & I (Jim N too) went down to see how we could do. What I thought was going to be my worst race of the season was almost my best. However it was Gary's worst and he took a terrible fall that shook me up and by the time the race started back up we only had two laps to go and I messed up a great opportunity to finish where I wanted. Unknown to me, Gary had been hauled away in "the meat wagon"; my mom had ridden with him (she's an RN). So right after the race I hurried to the hospital. Gary was OK....pretty banged up though.

The MS150 ride was something....the trip out was great. Thank gawd we had a ride back home the next day in those terrible conditions.

The Valley City Race we put on was another success. Thanks to Linda for doing a great job running it and for the rain holding off until the final race was done. How cool was it watching Paul Martin wearing his red-white-n-blue National Champs jersey?

Somewhere in there was a trip to the West Coast and a visit at the ADT Velodrome; that was a gas riding in the 'drome!

Shortly after that (it seemed) was a trip to InterBike in Vegas. It was a working trip for the Velodrome and for SBR, but Anna & I did get to see the 'Cross race and the Crit race. That and meeting Tom Ritchey, Bob Roll and some great people that work in the business. Dick Brink has done much to help out Fast Track Cycling & SBR. Thanks!

I'll take the claim for it even if it's not true for setting up Gary & Sadie (Satan). I may have lost a training partner but it's fantastic to see them doing so well together.

Hey, it was almost cyclocross season by now & I felt like I had a chance to end the season on a positive note. Other than some strange sights, the season started out very well and kept looking good for me. Bottom line is that I need to be just a little focused on training and not peaking too soon during the season. My earlier blogs tell the story....congrats to Gary for a great season.

It seems that this year I was more pre-occupied with my responsibilities of being president of SBR than just "riding my bike". I'd like to thank my best buddy Donny for all his help with SBR (there were others too); I had no idea how much "fun" it was and what he had to go through when he was president of Windchill.

Add to that being on/off/on/off/on with the Velodrome (and Anna).....too much on my mind and not enough miles on my legs. The progress on the Velodrome is going great and there be REAL track racing in Cleveland soon.

Thanks to David S, Dr. John, Gary, Jim N, Eric and many members on the SBR team for helping out this year. Thanks to Brett, Brent, Ray, Bill M, Bill B., John B,. Tom F., Dick B., Greg (spin), Sherman....many others that helped make this a great year.

Special thanks for my son (he's not into riding) for putting up with me taking him to watch many of the races. (he does love to swim though)
Thank you Anna.....

So, no regrets for 2007, but what I'd like to see for 2008?
- SBR operating smoother and more people involved/communicating
- SBR U23 program "making a difference"
- Having me in better shape for the start of the season and working out smarter; maybe even getting some kind of coaching?
- peaking 3 times during the road/cross season; 'cross season will be a focus and maybe 'cross NATS or at least doing more of the UCI races.
- keeping my knees healthy....

It was a great year and I'm looking forward to an even better 2008.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thanks for Reading,
Rick