With 2014 coming to an end, I look back at what I accomplished. I race some races that I haven’t before. I raced some categories that I haven’t before. And I had some results that I could only imagine before. 2014 was a very successful season for me. Here is a brief statistical rundown of my season…2014 totals: 26 mtb/cx/road races, 13 top 5 finishes, 9 podiums and 5 wins! And the wins…were something special too. I won the 50k singlespeed races at both the Wilmington-Whiteface and Cedar City UT Fire Road Cycling Leadville Quilifying Searies races, and I won my category race at the USA Cycling Cross Country National Championships. Although the Nationals race was not for a National Championship, it’s still possible my proudest I’ve ever been about a race.

Another accomplishments that that I didn’t really expect were a road race win at the Vermont Senior Games. It was a day of racing that qualified me for the 2015 National Senior Games in Minneapolis/St Paul, in road race and time trial. No, I don’t plan on participating, but it’s still a pretty big deal to me that I did qualify.

2014 included a few more ultra-endurance mountain bike races than I have done in the past, and more singlespeed racing too. As I get older, I enjoy the longer races more than a cross country race, and singlespeed is just plain fun. However, I did race the full New York State MTB Series, finishing 7th overall Cat 2 50+. Those races, for me, were more for the love of mountain bike than anything else. I finished up the mountain bike season with a 40k singlespeed win at the Vermont Cycling Challenge.

In 2015, I will continue to race for Hammer Nutrition, with Duro Tire, Rudy Project, ProGold and AXO also returning with support. I am still putting together a race schedule, but I do have some pretty big plans for 2015. The biggest race that I am planning is the May 2, 2015 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships in Appling, GA. I will be racing other events before that, but everything that I do through the winter and spring will be for that event.

Highlights of my planned 2015 schedule: Red Rocks Canyon MTB Festival 50k – Las Vegas (tentative), NV, USA Cycling Marathon National Championships – Appling, GA, Wilmington-Whiteface 50K – Lake Placid, NY, Tahoe Trail 50k – Truckee, CA, Hardcore 24 – Napels, NY.  There will, of course, be other mountain bike races and the NYCROSS Cyclocross Series in the fall. Overall, I’ll be racing fewer races, but more ultra-endurance races.

So, here’s to a successful 2014 season and looking ahead at another successful season in 2015!