The Big Move

So I’m excited to say I’m moving out to Pullman, WA. As I said earlier today a lot of people knew this was coming, but I’m happy to make it official. A few things are still up in the air, but plans are to be leaving the last week in January. Pullman is a pretty small town on the border between Idaho and Washington about an hour south of Spokane. It’s mostly a town built around Washington State University, but it’s also got some pretty good riding both locally and in the area. But that’s not why I’m moving.

I’m moving first and foremost, to be with my girlfriend. But that’s not the only reason. I was faced with the end of college this year and where I was going in life. I saw two paths to follow; professional cyclist or professional engineer. I really love engineering and I know that it will be there when I stop racing, but I’m young and talented enough, and driven enough that I wanted to take a stab at racing my bike for living. Moving away presented an opportunity to jump in, take the leap, and race my bike.

There is a part of me that is terrified to be moving. I have made a pretty good life for myself in Madison; I have a ton of good friends and have a good job. Madison is a pretty awesome place to be, but I feel that as a cyclist, I’ve grown about as much as I can here. One of the pillars of my personal philosophy is to never stop growing by always challenging yourself and by always pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. I’ve grown comfortable in Madison and it’s time to break out and scare myself a little. So yes I am a little nervous, but I am by far more excited in what the future will hold.

I think I will look back on Fall 2014 as a transitional season. My cyclocross season was pretty good, but I by no means grew any faster or progressed as a racer. Racing in Chicago was so much fun, but on the national circuit my results were at best on par with past results and at worst far less than I have done in the past. I think part of this was due to my focus on growing my coaching business. I am by no means done growing it, but it has nearly reached the point where I can make a living doing it. My hope is to continue to grow the business and my own skill and begin coaching full time. But in the meantime I will be wrenching at local bike shops part to full time to scrape by. If you know anybody who is looking for a coach, please send them my way. It is not just the best way to get faster, it will help support me and get me closer to racing full time.

Moscow Mountain - 80 Miles of single track about 20 miles
from home.

As for teams, I need to start by thanking everyone from Team Wisconsin for everything. I remember 4 years ago when I first met Dave Eckel at State champs. I was in the Cat 3. Getting my but kicked by some juniors, but he saw something in me and asked if I wanted to join. Before that I always wanted to be on a team but never really dreamed beyond just having a jersey to race under. Over the next few years on the squad, I began to realize that there was more beyond the local races, and that I had a shot at doing something special. As I began to realize this, the team worked to provide me with amazing support and this further fueled my drive to do something great. But I’ll be leaving the team to start my own program out in Pullman. Details are still not firmed up, but my plans for 2015 are mostly a private program but moving into 2016 I hope to grow it as well into a small race team focused on XCO and national mountain bike series. More info to come as it begins to take final shape. But I can only hope to put together something as well run as Team Wisconsin. Thank you to the whole team and all their sponsors including Trek, Emery’s, Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, as well as a few individuals such as Dave Eckel, Jason Kayzar, Dennis Klumb, Ted Burns, and Brian Matter, just to name a few.

And what does 2015 hold for me? My hope is to focus most of my energy on the national circuit as well as attend world cups again. The majority of the Pro series in the US is based out of the south west so it puts a lot of them within better range. I also look forward to exploring the local series in the area and really pushing myself to the next level. Part of this includes becoming more professional as a cyclist. Having to work a full time job means I have limited amount of time. But as much as I love working for Saris, the next level can only be reached with more dedication of time. The other side of being more professional means working just as hard off the bike as on the bike. More focused recovery and more focus on sponsor relation and more focus on the business side.

I am nervous and excited at the same time. As humans, we get comfortable and change can be scary. But at the same time the only way to grow and improve is to make the right changes at the right time. There is no doubt that I’m taking a lot of risks moving but no one ever achieved anything work doing with taking some big risks along the way. But I know that I’ve learned how to be the best person I can be with the help of one of the best cycling communities in the world. The Madison community, the Wisconsin community, and the Midwest community are all one in the same and it’s one of the best environments to start out in.

Keep an eye peeled here for periodic updates on how things go as well as more of the same from training tips, race reports, product reviews, and of course incoherent ramblings riddled with spelling mistakes and grammar errors.

Thanks for reading