I used to be my own biggest fan

I realize that my dedication to this bike racing bag may seem ridiculous to most, especially since I’m not making a living at it. Those not in the know will probably never know or understand why I, or those in the know, do it. Sometimes I don’t even know or understand. It’s just what I do. The first time I took the starting line for any kind of event was in 1985 and not a year has gone by that I haven’t taken the starting line a number of times on either a motorcycle or bicycle.

The last time I paid attention to how many races I started in a year was back in the mid 90s, and that was because in District 37 motorcycle races, they determine your ranking by your best 20 races (that's a sh*t ton of tires, BTW). But last night at a Team Redlands meeting Scott Manning asked how many races I did this year and I couldn’t answer.

This morning I started counting and I came up with 37. Unless I missed any, that’s about a day short of two grand tours. Only a couple of those 37 include “sitting in” and that doesn’t take into account the Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday rides that are sometimes as hard as, or even harder than an actual race. Based on how I’ve felt in the last month or so, I guess it’s safe to say that I have less than 37 matches to burn in my match book.

There were road races...

short track and super-d races...

cyclocross races...


cross country races...


single-speed races...


and a lot time in the garage.

And even though winning a Single-speed National, finishing on the podium at a Super-D National, and racing against Olympians, World Champions and a 7-time TdF winner were all highlights, none of them compared to the races where Ryder was on the sideline yelling at the top of his little lungs, "Go Daddy!" Those were some of the races where I posted horrible results, but his cheers still made me feel like a winner.