ACA Members please read and do whats right for you:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/acawatchdog

CRASHES happen.

Crashes happen, its part of racing, and going hard. If you ride smart and are aware of whats going on around you, they are often avoidable. However poor judgement will put you into a situation with possibility of negative outcome. This was the case last night when I found my self sitting mid pack in a local training ride. I had decided to go out and get an hour in on the bike, by sitting in, on this ride which takes place on a 2.5 mile circuit. This ride has been fairly safe all year with only a couple minor incidents, usually solo crashes due to operator error. Last night was different. Over the last couple of weeks more and more people have been showing up for the ride, bringing out some people who need to work on their bike handling skills, and overall fitness. Sometimes when people are riding at there limit and their judgement is out the window which may have been case last night. It was extremely windy, and riding in the wind means working harder. As the peloton turned into the cross wind last night, the guys not in the eschelon began to get thrown into the gutter, someone panicked and which caused the group to swerve to the right, into the wind. I was on the right side of the group attempting to bring forth a second eschelon when the group swerve occurred. Someone went down to the left of us and the guy directly in front of me completely locked up his brakes. I rode directly into him and down I went. Luckily I came out of it with very very minor road rash on my elbow, and a nice baseball sized hip pointer, but no rash there. Amazing! My bike ended up with a bent derailleur hanger, and two out of true wheels. My helmet has a nice ding in the top. Its ironic that just the previous lap I had thought to my self, that I shouldn't be so far back in the pack. I never ride back there for just that reason. Initially, after the crash I was pretty pissed, but I kept my cool, just rode off, and headed back home.

Now that I have cooled down and the soreness has set in, I can reflect on what happened. I made one critical error. I was in the wrong place. I never ride in the rear with the gear because I know that's where the majority of these types of events occur. I was lazy, and my poor judgement put me in a precarious position. I cannot blame anyone else but myself for my crash.
The guys that went down causing the swerve, and resultant pile up were just out there trying to get better at doing what they love to do, and that's race bikes. This stuff happens no worries.
Skin and bones heal, bikes can be fixed, and most importantly no one died. So, it was a good day. See you out there Thursday.

Thought for today:

May the road always lead where you need to be.

American Cycling Association in Turmoil?

Last night Jon Tarkington resigned from the Executive Committee of the ACA.
Today this website surfaced: http://acawatchdog.com/, on Teton Fourm
http://www.tetoncycling.com/forum/display_message.asp?mid=27198
It makes for some very interesting reading. I am new to racing in Colorado, but
it seems like there is something wrong here, I dont know what it is but thats just what my gut tells me. I dont know much about the history of the ACA the BRAC and the USCF, but being a paying member of both the ACA and USCF I know I would like some answers.

~Balance~

This is a term I don't know well.

Noun
Singular balance
Plural countable and uncountable; balances
balance (countable and uncountable; plural balances)
1A pair of scales.
2(uncountable) Equilibrium in movement.
3(uncountable) Support for both viewpoints, 4substances etc or neither; neutrality.
A list accounting for the debits on one side, and for the credits on the other.

Typically I am either totally on or totally off. Cycling is addictive, its like a drug. If you allow it to get a hold of you, it can run your life, own you, cause you to focus all of your attention to it.

So here is a test that is often used to help diagnose alcoholism:

The CAGE Test One of the oldest and most popular screening tools for alcohol abuse is the CAGE test, which is a short, four-question test that diagnoses alcohol problems over a lifetime.

C - Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking?
A- Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
G - Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
E - Eye opener: Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

Because denial usually accompanies alcohol abuse problems, the CAGE test, like most alcohol screening tests, asks questions about problems associated with drinking rather than the amount of alcohol consumed. Two "yes" answers to the CAGE test indicates problems with alcohol.

Now if we replace Drinking with Cycling where do I stand.

C - Have you ever felt you should cut down on your cycling? - YES

A- Have people annoyed you by criticizing your cycling? - YES

G - Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your cycling? - YES

E - Eye opener: Have you ever had a recovery ride first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of soreness? - YES

I could have answered no to all of these, but then I wouldn't be honest with you or myself when I said there isn't a problem.

So now what? Identify what is truly important? Get back to doing this for fun? Its time for a reality check.

Some my say, oh your burnt out, or you've cracked. We'll I'm not sure that's the case. I have a good live, and cycling is definitely a part of it, but how big of a part of it does it have to be? Is it starting to run my life? Am I making poor decisions in other areas of life when I focus all of my energy towards cycling? These are some of the questions I have been asking myself these past couple of days.

Conciousness, and Awareness are two key aspects of being.

Happy 4th of July!

One of my single friends, and he's looking for a date, any takers?