Thinking About 2011

Now that the Colorado State Cyclocross Championship races are over, that pretty much ends my 2010 racing year. I know there are a few more races the ACA is pushing in January but I’m not sure I’ll make it. It’s hard to hold that high end fitness through the holidays. It will likely be a day of the race decision and if it’s wet and below freezing, I’m out, I really don’t have the clothing for that. I wouldn’t mind racing at the two remaining Colorado Cyclocross Cup races for points for next year. But that will depend on the outcome of the ACA annual meeting this Sunday. This season, the previous year’s points (2009) were good for the races in September and early October. But now the ACA is looking to have every race worth some points. If the points from the January races won’t carry over to next year then they’re not worth anything to me, since I upgraded mid season and I’m not worried about any kind of overall placing. So I might as well spend my time on other priorities. I have some jobs I need to get done around the house and it’s a good time to get them done.

I’ve been thinking about the types of rides and races I want to do next year as well as changes in my training strategy. One of the areas I think I’ll spend a little more time is racing the mountain bike. I’ve done some of the Winter Park series the past couple of years. I even did the entire series two years ago and a couple of races this past year. It’s never been a priority and I’ve never done that well. This year I’d like to improve my performance. I’ll still plan to do some road races but I’d like to see if I can improve my mountain biking. It goes without saying that the ultimate goal for 2011 will be cyclocross, I would very much like to see if I can grab some of those points to get a better starting position, then we’ll see if I can at least see the front of the Cat 3 race.

As for my 2011 training changes, I think I’ll get a little help. I’m not going to have any more time to train compared to last year but I want to make sure I maximize that time. There were too many times this past year that I spent wondering and worrying about if I was doing the right training. In the end I managed to have a killer cyclocross season but I think the earlier season could have been better. So for this next year I’m going to try having a coach help me out. I currently have everything lined up and I’ll let you know how things go. So far there’s not much going on but we have time.

Thanks for reading.