Happy New Year...in June??!!

Unlike January 1st, I actually gauge my year beginning in June. This is for several reasons. First, last year at this time I got married so I got to celebrate my first anniversary a few days ago. It's great to see how much things have changed and also stayed the same in the last year in terms of being a married man not to mention how lucky I am to be in such an awesome relationship. Kristen and I celebrated in the most romantic way by going to see a Zombie flick in 3d. Nothing says love like seeing a bunch of zombies coming at you on the big screen.

The other reason I like to start my year in June is that school is out for summer which means "the summer of Brian" is just beginning. I love summer. Days are longer, the ocean heats up, things on the grill taste better and I feel like I get to live in a bit more of a comfortable schedule. Also the Tour de France starts. The one sporting event I love to pay close attention to and have for years. Every year for the past five or so I like to ceremoniously kick things off with a classic head shave. One less thing to think about and it always makes me feel light on my feet. One day I may not even have to worry about it and sport the look year round.

In terms of my own cycling things have been ratcheting up nicely and I'm adapting to some of the changes that have taken place. After being inspired by the Tour of California last month and watching the big boys climb Mount Diablo effortlessly, I've decided to step up my game with a few changes. First USA Cycling approved my request to upgrade so I am officially in the Cat 3 men and doing the 35+ categories. An epic step up from what I was doing. A month ago I was racing thinking I was fast and just recently I'm trying to sit on Ivan Dominguez's (The Cuban Missile) wheel and suffering. In order to help facilitate the extra rigors of racing a higher category and training more, I've enlisted the help of a coach. He's been having me put in the miles with more specificity and doing multiple races on weekends plus group rides during the week. On paper, it's a bit intimidating but so far my body is able to handle all of those changes.

I also started using a bike computer. Something that sounds standard to most people but ever since I got back into the sport, everything I've been doing is on perceived exertion. All my workouts, and efforts have been measured in my head. I didn't even use a paper and pencil to record anything. Now I just started using Strava and my Garmin and heart rate monitor (still no power meter yet). I can tell elevation change, time ridden, speed, heart rate, calories burned etc. It's a truckload of information that I'm trying to interpret but it seems simple enough and is still like that pen and paper, a tool.

After only my third race as a cat 3 I bagged my first result at Ladera Ranch Grand Prix. With some help from my teammate Troy, I got a 5th in the field sprint after we were unsuccessful trying to catch a guy solo off the front who had a 30 second gap on us. Unorthodox for a crit. It felt good looking at my efforts against guys who have been in this category much longer than me. I have credit towards another upgrade and even got some prize money out of it which I gladly split with my teammate. Unfortunately racing with a team in these categories is the exception and not the rule and most times I am racing, it is spent alone and I have to be a bit of a privateer to move around in the peloton and search for opportunities. 

Throughout the weeks, in order to keep things a little sharper I've started doing the group rides. As many north county folk can attest, they are more race rides than anything. So far I've done the Tuesday Morning, Tuesday Evening and Wednesday Worlds rides. They are fast and relentless. They offer a great workout. Often times we finish with a lot less people than we started. It's a bit of a confidence booster knowing that I can finish the ride with some of the leaders and even pass people I didn't think I was in the same league with. I've always trained with people a lot worse than I race so to keep up with some of the big guns on a training ride helps me dig a little deeper when I need to. I never used to do group rides and insisted on training solo but I need to get those negative thoughts out of my head, know that I race differently than how I train and just pedal harder. To many of the locals that show up, Ive never seen them at a race so their group ride is their race. It's no walk in the park. People sometimes play possum and not appear is if they are hurting especially when egos and machismo are in the mix but there is nothing more satisfying seeing someone faster than me, in a category higher than me, panting and sweating.

One benefit to all this riding and racing is that I get to eat more. On one particular ride I did over five hours in the saddle and when I got home I don't remember the quantity that I ate but I do remember my jaw hurting after I polished off two more waffles. My appetite has increased but I don't want to go overboard. I can say that riding more does seem to make food taste better.

So it's almost the end of June, the Tour is starting soon and it's prediction time. I'd say the guy to beat is Chris Froome of Sky. Even though he's got of a bit unorthodox style on the bike, hes got solid legs and solid team. I'll go with Sagan for the green jersey and for best American and a legit pick for the wildcard overall, I'll go with Tejay Van Garderen. He's a shoe in for the white Jersey as well and for the mountain polka dot jersey my pick is Movistars Colombian sensation Nairo Quintana. It's a climbers route this year and I'll look for Contador to animate things in the mountains and Voeckler to animate things every where else and ham things up for the cameras. The only thing I'm really rooting for is a clean tour in every sense of the word. We'll see!

So it's new years time, summer is here, I get to read for pleasure and things are looking good on and off the bike. I'm finding my fast legs in the races and on the group rides and the coaching is hopefully helping. I'm fortunate to be spending my vacation this summer right here at home! People spend lots of money every year from all over the world to come to the California coast so I'm fortunate and lucky. I've got two big road races left that I'm targeting. We'll see what happens. Until then, happy new year, happy summer Vive le Tour and be safe out there.

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