A new team

Mike and I have finally come up with a new team name. I want to get a logo and some kit ideas down before I let the cat out of the bag but it is a good name I think. I have spent a few days working on a name, it is unreal how hard it is to come up with a name. Also it is very annoying how every person you ask for advice gives you joke names. It's uncanny really. I think funny names are great for teams that only exist for short periods of time. Like you are doing an event and want a tongue and cheek name that gives everyone a laugh. But a team that hopefully is going to last for some time, you want people to take you seriously. There are no professional teams that have funny names or cute names. They are all supposed to invoke fear, respect, or the power and or wisdom of whatever the team is named after. We are giving ourselves a name and then having our biggest sponsor, being Mesa Cycles included in the name. Doing this will allow for any changes that may happen in the future to be minimized. For example if Mesa decides we don't do a good enough just promoting their brand and don't want to be a naming sponsor any more we will still have our main name. This is something that the pro teams have been doing for a while, basically having a holding company that takes in all the money and then pays it all out to the riders. We wont be bringing huge sums of money but Mesa will be making things very nice for us and allows us to help out the guys on our team with what is a very expensive sport.

I started riding again on Friday and I can still feel some pretty sore muscles at certain points. I don't remember a time that my muscle soreness lasted this long. I remember in gymnastics getting pretty sore at times but I think that lasted because I would go in and do the same workout again and get re-sored I guess you could say. Most likely I'm still so sore because I made myself hold a position that I was not used to for such a long time and rarely gave myself any relief. I just tried to power through. Mentally I think that ride will pay off in the future but I am paying for it.

Im going to try to make the Knucklehead ride tomorrow morning. This is a very interesting ride. It is about 70 miles long starting in the Moorelands of St Louis and heading out west to the Babbler area. The ride is mostly populated by cyclist who don't generally race anymore. The few times I have done it I have only seen a few regular racers, myself and Chris Connolly being two of them. The rest of these guys and gals are for real though. They will kick your ass and then go faster and laugh at you. This is their race and they take it seriously. I have been dropped on the first climb before on this ride. The last couple times I have done fine and hung at the front, but tomorrow might be another bad day. I don't have any miles and I think I might be a few pounds heavier. I am too scared to weigh myself, but I have been eating whatever I want and drinking too. Not a good idea to keep fit. I just felt like I needed a little time not caring for a while about what I weighed or how much I trained. The strangest thing about riding right now is that I have no structure. I remember last year feeling the same way about going back to just getting base miles. For a while Mike (my coach) just has me riding and enjoying the view. Soon enough I will be back on a schedule and I will be getting ready for an all new season. 5 months will go quick.