So here we go, the truth comes out. How did I do in 2012? I posted in February last year a few key goals. I didn’t have a great year in 2012 for sure. It was marred by some additionaly challenges that I didn’t predict. I crashed hard 3 times. I still kept racing after each crash, however it never helps to go down, in fact the last crash broke my arm and ended my season.
- Find a team that is fast – I cheated on this one because I think http://sonicboomracing.com/is going to be smoking this year
- I did cheat and it was cool. I like have a group of teammates that challenge you. The only difficulty in 2012 was having enough teammates at races. We started out with a team of 8 and lost 2 to life changes, 1 to a broken wrist, and then the remaining five ended up a bit divided on goals. I raced with one or no teammates too often for my taste. However, the guys were all fast and had some great results on a national level.
- Win a big race – I am completely confident that I can do this, just need the right amount of luck and fitness
- Nope. I didn’t win ANY races. Came close a few times and had a few chances. I’d say the best chance I had was at Wheels of Thunder when in the sprint riders crashed in front of me and I had to slow down, ending up 10th. I had decent fitness, but I don’t think my fitness was quite at the top level.
- Travel to a few races – I am fast coming on the close of my racing career in the P12s and I want to see a few out of state races this year. Plus it is always easier outside of Boulder, right?
- I travelled to Valley of the Sun, but didn’t do too much after that. It was a rewarding experience and actually peaked my interest to travel more if I can find the time.
- Keep the weight down – Although I had good results last year at slightly heavier weight, I think I can be a bit faster 7-10 lbs. lighter
- Nope. I was 4 lbs lowever than 2011, however it wasn’t enought to really change my racing world. As posted recently, I am back at the battle with weight.
- Support my team in winning a stage race or big one day race – I hope to start next week with Valley of the Sun
- Yup. Jim Peterson won this race and I was able to play a part in that success. Good times.
- Upgrade in Cyclocross – I am currently racing as a 3 and know that I can do well enough to upgrade. I just really need to find a way to stay healthy in the fall this year.
- Nope. Broke my arm a month before the season was starting. Decided not to push it and by the time I could race it would have been very difficult to keep up mid season. At this point, I have been out of cross racing for 3 seasons. This will be a difficult journey to get back into shape and get the feel of this type of racing again. It will be like starting over.
- Promote the team sponsors – I am spending significantly more time working on promoting the team this year. I will have some posts on each sponsor throughout the year: http://sonicboomracing.com/sponsors
- OK, not great. I definitely was able to promote sponsors in a number of ways, however I didn’t do a special post on each one as I intended. This goal just slipped through the cracks.
So there is the honest review. Again, not a horrible year and not a great year. I essentially met about 1/2 my goals. The ones I didn’t meet were certainly affected by circumstances out of my control, however I simply didn’t work on a couple the way I should have. I think one of the mistakes I had throughout the season was a check in on the goals. It would have been helpful to keep them more on the forefront. The weight and the sponsor promotion were essentially forgotten as I got into the season.
2013 is a new year. I have started forming up the new goals and will try to post something in the coming months.