Let's get this party started.

I've wanted to race cyclocross at the professional level for the last eight years. I've trained literally thousands of hours, competed in hundreds of races (only counting 'cross), but I've never done well outside the local scene, in fact, I've never done particularly well at the local level.

This year will be different. This last year has been a lifechanging one. I've been through some major life upheavals and have come to the conclusion that: A, I have the potential to do well locally and possibly have decent showings nationally, and B, if I want to stand any kind of a chance at achieving any sort of pro level sponsorship I need to go out and whoop ass this season.

So, a little about cyclocross. It's a Winter sport. The season in NorCal starts in early September and runs through February. The bigger races are generally on Sundays and the second teir local stuff is on Saturdays, or will fill in for the bigger local series on a Sunday when no one else is running a race. I plan on racing roughly 40 races during the season. Six of those races will be UCI events, which are ranked internationally and will draw much tougher fields of competition: actual pro 'crossers. These races are located around the country and have larger prize lists than local races ($500 for the win vs $60, yeah, big difference). But more importantly these are the only races where a racer can score UCI points, which determines your starting possition at a UCI race, National Championships, or World Championships. I also plan on attending Nationals, which are in Bend, OR this December.

At this point in the season, I'm already racing and training plenty. Last week I put in 17.5 hours of training, including a criterium (short distance road race). I'm working on getting my Cat 2 (semi-pro) upgrade on the road. In eight races I've managed to pull down 20 of the 25 points that I need for that, but haven't had a win. I have never won a road race. I've won on the track (velodrome), the mountain, and even cross, but not on the road. I'd like to get one win under my belt before I upgrade.

This week my training goal was to be 19 hours including track racing tonight and another crit this Saturday, but Monday I did something to hurt my knee and have been riding slowly and very little so far. My knee feels great today, but I will not be racing tonight. It's more important to heal up for this weekend and be ready to get back to normal training. In the next week or two I'll be adding on some weight lifting to start preparing for cross.