Resumption of Web-Based Hostilities

Because offseason means never having to say I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for an eighteen month layoff from blogging.  You didn't notice anyway, I'm sure.  But I'm restarting it; here goes.

Since the funnest cycling season is upon us, it's definitely time to give a little rundown of the past couple racing seasons and kick off some recreational writing that may or may not will definitely include humblebragging my meager but happy-making road results, celebrating the continued growth of cyclocross and collegiate racing in Mississippi, and occasional musings about the wider world of cycling that prolly will seem less profound as soon as I say them.  All in the service of avoiding writing actual academic paragraphs, of course.

I'll start with some of my cycling highlights of the last year and a half; the 2013 Springtime of No Results turned into a summer of good cat 3 LAMBRA results: 

2nd overall in the Tour of Louisiana, in a late breakaway with Andrew Hammond:

Indian Cycling Gettin Paid!

A second in the cat 3s at Rocky Mount, the LAMBRA championships:

I will probably never outsprint Sam, and I certainly won't ever match his tank game.

And a third in the LAMBRA 1/2/3 Time Trial, with a time in the low 54s:

Lots of strength and experience in this frame...then there's me.

And I raced a sort-of cross season, with some great races in Memphis, Birmingham, and down in Natchez:

Outdoors Inc.'s long-running CX race on mud island, complete with scenic backdrop and future teammates.

Natchez, 35+ win.  Sloppy and very fun day.  Slipping and heckling.

 If I had to sum up that year...on the road, I finally felt like I was good to move up out of cat 3 (with consecutive 6th, 3rd, and 2nd in the championships, a TT podium, and an open podium in a stage race, I didn't feel like I was being impatient).  In cross, I started over at the bottom, and while I had plenty of roadie power, the smallest dab of mud may easily send me into the weeds, and I got to enjoy working on my weaknesses a little and trying to prove to myself I was ready to move up.  Most importantly, the DSGP crew was tons of fun and totally resuscitated my offseason enjoyment of cycling, which never really goes away, but does ebb from time to time.

And finally, I'm just going to leave this here, without further commentary:

Matt Gandy, ladies and gentlemen.