That will do it...

So the official end to road racing has finally come and gone with the completion of the Appalachian Time Trial in Rowelsburg, WV.  Its been a long summer and I have to admit that I am really happy the racing is over and now its time to enjoy Cross season. When everything finally gets posted to Road Results website, Im going to have almost 75 races under my belt for the year. I figure I will do another 16-20 cross races and will be REAL close to completing 100 races this season. Not bad for someone who less than 3 years ago had never raced a bicycle before in their life.

Looking back at my results, its easy to see that I peaked very early in the season. Probably with the second training race way back on March 25th. On that day, Mike Vanderberg, Jonathan Suite, and I missed the start of the 4/5  race and tried, unsuccessfully, to catch the field, although we cut the gap from 3 minutes to 45 seconds when all was said and done. Later that day, I managed a win over Gunnar Shogren and Gary Rodosta in the Masters 40+ race. I can't tell you how much respect I have for both Gunnar and Gary, and beating them, even if only in a training race, was such an honor. (put it this way, I hold them in such high regards, that I half accused them of letting me win because in my mind, it just shouldn't have happened)

The rest of the season was so-so. I managed a couple of wins during the ACA Tuesday Night Criterium Series , and actually won the overall series (thanks to nemesis, Rick Plowman, for forgetting how to get to the oval after about 4 weeks of racing). Its a nice cherry on my sundae, but I was really hoping to pull out the team championship title which Dynamic Physical Therapy Cycling Team powered by Pathfinder eventually lost to Pro Bikes on the last race of the year. Congrats to Aaron Stein and Kris Powell for a great season at the oval and I look forward to seeing you all in the B's next season. I also want to thank Shawn Geiger and JR Petsko who both helped me clinch the individual title and helped try to make a run at the team title. Maybe next year for that goal....

Aside from winning the ACA C's series, I finished well in most of the Appalachian Bicycle Racing Association's series that I participated in.

2012 Cat 4/5 Road Race Series                        5th
2012 Masters 40+ Crit Series                           4th (tied for 3rd but finished 4th on tiebreaker)
2012 Cat 3/4 Crit Series                                    25th (man this felt like a stacked field)
2012 Masters 40+ Oval Series                          6th
2012 Cat 4/5 Oval Series                                  5th
2012 Clydesdales MTB Series                          2nd

4/5 Oval Series
Congrats to Jeff Beyer (1st), Birk McGilvery (2nd), Todd Hauber (3rd), and Duncan Oliver (4th)

4/5 road Series
David Cornett (1st), Caleb Smith (2nd), David Short (not pictured 3rd), Steve Antonishen (not pictured 4th) and Mike Janeiro (6th and still made it onto the podium for the photo purposes)