One Year: One Post

After a long hiatus from blogging, I have decided to come back. The end of 2010 and all of 2011 was more than a roller coaster ride for me. Shortly after becoming the state road race champion, I had the worst news of my life. My father passed away in his sleep. Not only was this terrible news, but finding out while training in the middle of nowhere was possibly even worse. I remember vividly riding back to my car in tears and fighting a cold December rain. Nothing seemed real at this point.

As the days and weeks progressed, my priorities in life shifted. I had to now fill in my father's shoes at our family insurance agency and become a business owner. This meant putting cycling on hold. It also allowed me to become closer with my girlfriend, Emily Hirschman, building a bond that couldn't be broken. On another positive note, it really pushed my family to become more health conscious and make some better decisions in terms of eating right and making exercise part of their daily routine.

Despite taking a back seat, my cycling turned some early results and I was able to have a great showing at Valley of the Sun and then win the Savannah Pro-Am Omnium in early March. Finding a new balance in work and training seemed to be difficult, but it wasn't impossible. I continued the season racing hard with many top 10 finishes and was able to finish 5th in the State Road Race Championships.

At the end of the year, I decided that the local team who I was a sponsor for, was not a great fit and it would be better to part ways and go from there. This release really allowed me to get back to my roots and make riding fun again.

Personally I continued to grow my relationship with Emily and proposed in November. To be unique, I sent her on treasure hunt through all her favorite spots in Orlando. It was refreshing to work with all of the managers for these establishments and the hard work they put in to make this a great day for both of us. We also adopted two golden doodle puppies, who are becoming our children! Dexter and Google can be a handful but they definitely make things a lot more interesting after work!

Moving to 2012, I was able to slow my training down to not have such an early season peak. Despite the efforts, I was able to win the first FPS race of the year, coming off the break with 5 laps to go. After a few strong weekends of consistent racing, I was leading the Points Series until some stellar riding from Kenda's Phil Gaimon.

As the season progresses I will be riding for the Firefighter's Elite UCI team and returning to the UCI 2.2 Vuelta Independencia Nacional in the Dominican Republic this weekend. Expect some photos, good stories and podiums from our strong team of riders! Until Then!