What happens next?

With the offseason over, I am getting back into training and am entering the unknown for 2016.

I had a great offseason hanging out with friends and family, while eating a lot of junk food and drinking some alcoholic refreshments. I got to a point in my off season that I just felt fat and disgusting, and was dying to get back on the bike to feel normal again. I started off with a good week of mountain biking, and surprisingly I didn’t kill myself. Then I had the opportunity to travel with my old college team, Colorado Mesa University, to collegiate mountain bike nationals in West Virginia. I had a great weekend being around collegiate racing, and it brought back a lot of good memories. Collegiate racing was when I started to really take racing seriously, and it helped develop me into where I am today. I was blown away by the professionalism of the team and the support they have now as a collegiate cycling team. They have two full time coaches, a massive box trailer that is set up like a world tour team, and many supporters. It has come a long way since my time at the college. We had six dudes piling into a Honda civic with six bikes driving to Denver every weekend to race our bikes. I am not going to lie, I am jealous of how good the kids have it now at CMU, and was even thinking I should go back to school.

After nationals, I had the opportunity to travel back to Grand Junction to attend the head coach Patric’s wedding. While I was in town I got to visit the school and they now have one of the best training studios I have seen. I am still blown away it is right on campus. It is a full on service course with a dozen computrainers and flat screen tvs. I could have really taken advantage of that room when I was going to school on those cold days. I am happy to see the team is growing so much. I take some pride in the feeling that I had a little bit to do with the position they are in today.

So as many of you know Champion System Stan’s No Tubes team is not returning next year. I have had a wonderful 3 years racing for this team and am sad to see it go. I am now looking for a new team for the 2016 season and am talking to a couple teams to see if we can work something out. Racing full time has been my life for the previous 5 years, and I was very fortunate to call that my job. But now with the cycling scene in the US shrinking, next year it is going to be difficult to make that my only focus. I am not giving up yet, because this is my dream and my passion, and I will fight until the end!

Super windy and cold out now, so I am going to try this Zwift out. If you want to ride together let me know.

Thanks for reading,

Ginger 1