Arizona Sun

This is a look over "24 Town." The makeshift gypsy village that results from the thousands of racers and spectators that descend upon this tract of desert land for the 24 hours of Old Pueblo. I had thought that 24 hour racing was dying. And in fairness it still kind of is. But, not this race. Although I was in town for Spring Training camp I managed to make some time to get out and spectate. I had some extra incentive to see some good friends from Kansas who were down racing as well. They did pretty darn good and had to overcome some crashes and injuries.

Also managed to sneak out for a ride up Mt. Lemmon. One heck of a climb and beautiful views. Only climbed to mile 12 of 27 before turning back and avoiding descending in nightfall.

Just Training

Not much to report here. Just a lot of training. A lot of watching friends back home racing. Certainly giving me the itch to go race. In fact, it might just be enough to spur a small group of Coloradoans to make a drive down to Texas for Mellow Johnny's. We'll see!

Yep, I'm back

Ok, I won't start in with the why I've been absent for a few months. It just got easy being an observer and following along with what everyone else has been doing. So, let me give you a quick update of the past few months in case you didn't already know.

1. Moved to Colorado and now work at Carmichael Training Systems
2. Broke my collar bone, yep again.
3. Went to Costa Rica, it was amazing.
4. Ride my bike in the Rockies daily.
5. Life is Good.

Now that you are up to speed, let me dive right into a hot topic. I recently heard that the UFD is implementing some changes with regards to race categories for 2012. Age groups are being condensed to simply 39 under and 40+. I originally put the following on Aaron Elwell's blog, but I thought I would share it here as well.

"Gonna share my two cents on this, because it is something I am passionate about. Everyone needs to buck up and put on their big boy pants! This is racing. This isn't "everyone gets a medal just for showing up." An expert is an expert regardless of age (and so on). I supposedly "benefited" from the previous format because I was guaranteed a podium at any race I attended. That's because I was often the only Cat 1 20-29 there! Nobody wants to race or "win" like that. And as a race promoter it is a losing battle when you have to payout or give medals/prizes to essentially every rider that shows up! Anyways, I could go on and on and rant forever on this. The bottom line is the point of racing is just that. To come out, have a good time, push yourself to the max and beyond, and enjoy the heck out of riding your bike. Whether you were 1st or 30th. Then crack open a cold beverage and enjoy the company of your racing community. Congrats to the UFD for implementing this change."

Hey, I've been beat by many a 'seasoned' veteran. These guys are smoking fast. Competition will only make us all that much better. I cannot stress how much easier this will make it for race promoters. Anyways, that's how I feel about it, everyone is entitled to their opinions on the matter! What do you think?