The last several weeks now seem like a series of snapshots forever ingrained in my mind. Whether it’s the immense relaxation of reading the paper and drinking coffee while watching the snow fall before everyone wakes up, or remembering how amazing it is to once again have my entire music library at my fingertips (thanks Santa), the snapshots are all going into the vault I like to call fond memories. One of my particular favorites was the flight back from Chicago, watching the last rays of the sun disappear, leaving an amazing array of colors in its wake on one side and the lights of the city fading into darkness on the other. Chicago is an amazing place and I always love spending time there. The flight back is always a contemplative time. I’m refreshed from the time spent off the bike with the family but I’m already starting to miss them. Thoughts of the long year ahead are also racing through my mind. Cliché as it may be, sitting in that coach seat, oblivious to the others around me as I pick some mood music, is the calm before the storm. The year ahead is sure to hold its ups and downs with immense amounts of training, racing, working and just life. Life is never easy but hopefully along the way there will be a couple of those fleeting, special moments that all bike racers dream of. Those moments that will be forever ingrained in our minds. They’re not always wins or results and might not even happen during a race. However, they are the reason we get on a bike time and time again when others have given up long ago.
So to everyone who made last year such a memorable one, thank you. I can’t say it enough and you know who you are. And to everyone who is or will help take this year to another level, it’s going to be long, hard and amazing with many more snapshots to come. So saddle up!!!
