"To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself." Sun Tzu

I didn't win the Burnham Racing Spring Super Crit on 31st. The race didn't even start on the 31st, that's just when it ended. The race started months before, early in the morning in a small little room on a trainer watching other races and after work isolated in a gym doing a workout that would look strange to others. The final lead out didn't start on the final lap, it started weeks prior on Highway 101 in California as we ran into town. And "I' is not the correct word, it should be "We" or "The team." Those are the times when I knew the team would win Burnham Racing's Crit and we did.

"You're a good kid, it'll come to you." Kyle Wiberg

I didn't win Elk Grove. And the "I" is the right word. I provided the opportunity for others to win, it was tactical error, a wrong spot, a sprint to soon. After the race Kyle said that to me, and as I played the race through my mind, I came back to that line, "it'll come to you".

And so I worked to meet it.

"To fully learn, one must have a teacher, a colleague, and a pupil. So that you can replicate, practice and then teach. That is how you master something." Adam Herndon (I forgot who said this, so I did. I'm pretty sure that's how quotes work.)

The Cat 3 squad that lined up at Blawkhawk farms was not just 8 strong, motivated teammates. There were the Cat 1's and 2's that we had been learning from and the Juniors and teammates that we had been learning from us. Tom can beat me in a sprint, but after each sprint against him I know that I can beat anyone else. 2nd to Tom is 1st in my races. I can beat Daryus in a sprint with him going full out. But I relearn cycling each time we ride by teaching it to him. I have a team of not only racers but of scholars and students.

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." Aristotle

In the winter months, I refocused my training. Each workout was won. Each sprint was a win, each effort stayed away. Winning became a habit. I had no bad workouts. There was something good about each one if not many things. If something went wrong it was not a stumble or setback but a way to improve. Because of this I entered Blackhawk farms knowing we would win. I've had harder, longer, faster workouts. I knew that the team around me was confident and strong. Being able to race with that knowledge made for the calmest race I had ever entered. The nervousness that had been there previous years was gone. That's when the race was won. And it wasn't just the seven guys lined up next to me, each of who could have been first over the line, it was won by a team 200 strong.

Hillsboro Cat 3.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |"At one kilometer of the line you get into a cocoon.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |The automatic pilot takes over all movements.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |The brain is turned off and you react on instinct.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |Sometimes you do everything like you should,

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |you shoot the bullet at the right moment.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |There is nothing I can do anymore at that moment.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |Just hit the pedals till the line.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |When you pull the trigger,

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |the only question is if it will hit the target or not

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE | And as a rider you know it immediately.

YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE YELLOW LINE |I immediately felt it: 'All, wrong. Badly timed'.

But the bullet was shot and my chance was over." Tom Boonen (rearranged)

That sums hillsboro up.

Sorry for the mustache and vest.