By the Numbers: 2010 Season in Review

Lots of numbers this year

1) Lots of firsts this year:

First mountain bike podium as a Cat 2 - Jewell Park Mountain Bike Time Trial 3rd place, missed 2nd by 1 second and 1st by 4 seconds.

First trip to Fruita. It lives up to the hype. The MSC mountain bike race is nothing short of epic if nothing less for the scenery.

First trip to Dakota 5-0. Again amazing.

First time racing cyclocross.

First timer at a USGP. Maybe I was in over my head but damn that was fun and quite the learning experience.

First night race. Oakley Night Cap Cross in Des Moines.

2) My best supporters: Becky who supports me, and Bontrager our faithful Labrador who also joins us at races.

3) DNF's. Argh nobody wants a DNF but they happen. This year I had 1 in each discipline: 1) flat at the Cornhusker State Games (whilst sitting in 3rd) on the final lap, 2)got crashed out of the Dave Babcook Memorial RR, 3) bad day at USGP day 2 of FoCo.

4) Podium finishes. 2 - 3rd places in cross country, back to back 3rd places in the cat 4 category at the Bellevue cyclocross weekend (hello upgrade).

I entered only 4 road races this year. I had planned for more, but conflicts arose. Next year I'll be hitting the earlier season races much harder.

Also - I busted up my bikes on 4 separate occasions - I broke 3 drive trains this year on my Cannondale Taurine and busted up my road bike in the crash at the Dave Babcook RR.

5) My goal was to break 5 hours at Dakota 5-0. I was on task to accomplish it until after aid 2 I started having asthma problems. I slowed a lot and ended up 5hr 20. Still respectable for my first go around.

6) States. Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota. I'm only counting the states the races officially started in. This doesn't count the fact that one race crossed state lines into Wyoming. Next year I really want to add New Mexico to the list.

8) Busted Spokes. Both from crashing, sticks jamming derailleurs, and training.

9) Top 10's this year. Yes that's a function of the volume or races but its also a good sign of improvement where before if I got top-10 it was a major achievement. Now if I'm not on the podium in Cat 2 I'm not happy with my day. 

- Coincidentally I also did 9 Cross races.

10) Mountain bike races.

18) Days of travel for racing

22) My number at Dakota 5-0. Can you tell I enjoyed myself there? Even struggling to breathe this race was amazing.

23) Race starts, wow by far my busiest year.

So that's it. I did alot, pushed myself harder than I have before, had to deal with dissapointments, and in the end learned a lot about myself.  I'm working on plans for 2011, I've started base, but nothing is set in stone yet. There will be more of the same with some big tweaks though. Stay tuned.

Hope you all enjoyed your 2010 as much as I did mine.

J