Everything Rides On Hope Now

I am here in sunny and mild Fort Collins, Colorado waiting for a Cumberland University Cycling team ride later this morning. The Collegiate Road National Championship begins this Friday with the road race, followed by the criterium on Saturday and team time trial on Sunday. There are a lot of nervous kids walking around the host hotel anxious to tackle the demanding road course, which is compounded by being at high altitude.

Fort Collins is about one hour north of Denver, which is better known as The Mile High City. There are a lot of physiological affects that altitude can have on an endurance athlete such as a cyclist. When you aren't able to come out three weeks in advance your only choice is to show up just before the event and minimize the associated risks. Eat more carbs, drink more fluid, get plenty of rest, stay off your feet and keep your pre-ride efforts to an easy to moderate pace (no threshold efforts). Something as 'simple' as less oxygen to breathe can have dramatic effects on performance. Honestly, for an event of this stature I wish USA Cycling would stick to sea level venues. Especially for collegiate racers who are not doing this for a living.

Let's remember, these kids are racing for a stars & stripes jersey! When I look into the eyes of my Cumberland kids I see exciting energy, determination and anxiousness with the wondering look of "what's on the other side." When you're around kids every single day it often reminds you they have not yet experienced a lot of what life has to offer, so you must remind yourself to keep stoking those fires of big dreams along with the idea that anything is possible! I learned quickly they are like a stable full of horses ready to roam at an all-out pace. The key is to know when to gently pull up on the reigns while not squashing any hopes. I still must get better at this, especially after coming from a ball sport background. I assure you the mentality of young cyclists is nothing like that of ball sport athletes, at least from a coaching perspective. All that to say, young kids racing for a championship jersey should not be impacted by high altitude.

Race updates on Twitter
As cell phone service permits I will give live Cumberland Cycling race updates throughout the weekend at the NashvilleCyclist.com Twitter account at http://twitter.com/nashvillcyclist. The weekend schedule is as follows, all mountain standard time:
Friday, May 7 at 2:30p - road race, 70 miles
Saturday, May 8 at 9:15a - criterium 75 minutes
Sunday, May 9 at 8:00a - team time trial, 17.5 miles

Cumberland Cycling on Channel 2
The CU Cycling team was fortunate to have the sports crew at Channel 2 Sports to visit the campus in Lebanon to interview the kids and learn about the program. The kids had a blast answering questions and posing for the camera! A short spot ran for a couple of days earlier in the week. The cool part is you can expect a longer segment about the team this Friday, May 8th. They will have updates at 6:20 PM and then a longer portion during their sports only show that starts at 10:15 PM.

I want to give my friend Joe Dubin of Channel 2 a big thank you for the coverage, as well as to Dawn Davenport for coming out to film and ask questions. Anytime we can share our story and experiences as cyclists we must embrace it and be thankful!

Training with Rick Crawford
I always enjoy reading Crawford's articles on VeloNews, and this one is no exception. Whether it involves cycling or life in general we must surround ourselves with good people. I believe this is crucial to our growth, and sadly the opposite is true if you're surrounded with people consistently making bad decisions. Instead, we must surround ourselves with highly talented people who enjoy helping others succeed. In other words, people better than us and ones who will lift us up. Sure, in most cases those helping others are benefiting occupationally, but deep within is a motivation to help another be successful. It is through this symbiotic relationship that we lift one another up to unimaginable achievements. Your success is my success, and vice versa. I realize I fail at this goal more than I should, but it is what I strive for at all times.

Yesterday, it was my pleasure to meet Rick Crawford for the first time here in Fort Collins. I have seen him countless times at collegiate nationals without introducing myself, but this time I could not let it pass by. Actually it was he introducing himself to me at a conference we both participated. He and I have been following one another on Twitter for quite some time, great sense of humor he has. Follow Rick at http://twitter.com/rickcrawfish.

Crawford is the former coach and director of the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team, and is one of the owners of Colorado Premier Training. At Fort Lewis he guided them to more national championships than you can imagine, and has a testimonial list of clients that is the who's who of US cycling. I hope to have many more conversations with Rick in the future!