A year of change

I've gotten pretty good about blogging in spring and then dropping off the face of the blogosphere for a year. Last season started with some good form for racing, and then I ran through a few major changes. First, things hit a roadblock with the team and racing. It simply wasn't an option for me to go to the first four races of the year, so I pulled the plug on the mountain bike season.

Next, I got an amazing opportunity for a new job, doing social media and PR work in the industry. It also meant shelving racing entirely, but it was a dream job, and I wasn't going to pass it up.

One year later, I've been to Whistler twice, followed a major stage race in California, seen Austin, Philly, San Francisco, and had a beer with a Tour de France podium finisher. I'd say it was worth taking a break from racing.

On the flip side, I experienced athletic burnout big time. Once the athlete mentality was gone, I didn't ride my bike or do any physical activity whatsoever for about 5 months. I lost all my form, put on about 25 lbs, drank a ton of beer, and hated the bike.

When I was young, and had just discovered the joy of cycling, I told my dad I hoped I would always love riding as much as I did. He suggested I hope to always have something to love as much as I love cycling, whether it was riding or some other thing. That sounded reasonable to me, and we agreed to just aim for me to never "dislike" riding. Unfortunately, I did end up hating it, but that was because I was riding for the wrong reasons.

Next post: Finding cycling again.