THE NORD BOYS ARE RACING FOR RAPHA NEXT YEAR
I don’t think it is any secret that Rapha has been one of, if not my favorite brand since I bought my first jersey 3 years ago. Since then I have suffered in, grown in, won in and lost in their clothes. For me it’s always been about more than a stripe on the left arm, Rapha embodies everything I love about cycling. The ability to push your body to a place that allows you to become part of something bigger than you as an individual.
So saying that it is with a lot of excitement that I get to tell you all that Dylan and I will be racing for the Rapha NYC team this year. It is an honor to represent something you love and you can believe we will both be working to bring home some wins.
Sometimes when I am bored I make fake Rapha ads, also, go get on your bike this weekend people.
Rolling past the George Washington bridge at 20MPH
I get asked all the time “Why do you do it?” and I have to admit it’s a fair question.
Riding your bike for 20+ hours a week (and I am trying to be honest here) can be really horrible sometimes. In the moments of self pity (or is it weakness?), when you rub you sore legs in the thick predawn morning, the days you leave the office late and don’t get off the bike until midnight, shivering and starving, the lunches replaced with protien, the shakes traded for salads.
The truth of it is that the process of getting better is a harrowing and dark one but it is in those times of physical and mental darkness that you have to remind yourself just how sweet the reality of being better is.
So why do I do it? Because I wouldn’t know who I was if I didn’t.
Learned to ride the rollers tonight, sure beats the trainer.
cyclingon:
Here’s James running the gauntlet down 5th Ave this morning after our laps in Central Park. Trucks, busses, cabs, cars all whizzing by while changing lanes. You can’t think of the actual danger of the situation or you might not make it through. But as you’re squeezing by cabs & busses, it’s never that far removed from thought.
Last night’s whiskey sloshing in my stomach, the days problems buzzing in my head, cold December air numbing my feet, my bike seat under my ass and I couldn’t be happier.
Step 1: Eat Thanksgiving dinner.
Step 2: Never get off your bike.
Dylan and I brought the children with us to Cleveland because you can’t call gorging “carbo loading” if you don’t plan on riding.
Strange that I should find myself here after all these years. Climbing four filthy stairs into the artificial August of a heated yellow school bus. It was always a thrill for me, to step out of the biting Boston cold into the warm arms of the school bus, aisles stained with salt and seats tattered by abecedarian vandals.
Just as quickly the spray off Erik’s tire snaps me back to reality, dirty water dripping down my face, and I remember I am cold. I am riding up 1st Ave in the pouring rain, it’s 6:15AM, 45 degrees and I am cold. An hour and a half later we are still riding, now my shoes are small buckets, the booties working against me and holding in little lakes of Central Park water. It is important to be able to distract yourself in cycling. We all have different methods, and right now I am in the drop and studying the contours of my arms, now visible through my soaked jacket and again floating back to my childhood schoolbus. I study and think about how the things in your life that you love cease to be a choice.
It was no more a choice for me to wake up and ride than it is a choice for me to wear a suit everyday, tell my family I love them or take pictures. It is going to happen because it is the person I have become and I don’t know what else to do. So I ask you followers, what in your life is not a choice, and what does that say about you?
I was a bit too buzzed to go ride tonight outside, so the trainer it is. (snapped by my roommate dave follow him here)
Last race of a long season tomorrow, let’s hope it’s more of this and less of this.
GPOYW: Holding onto my summer skinny
You can always ride yourself out of the bad times. Keep you cadence high, your mind sharp and your arms tucked in; better form and better life are just a few tough days away.
You don’t have to race cross to get dirty.
cyclingon:
James is a busy man. Multitasking is key.
Shoots don’t just happen on their own. Find time where you can.
