The Train Depot

A train sounds its horn.  It's desperately close and appropriately loud.  I'm at a cafe named "The Depot" alongside a multi-purpose trail within leaping distance and somehow failed to put two-and-two together that the train would soon be passing right in front of me in it's majestic march through downtown Fayetteville, AR.

A little girl is at the railing separating us from the passing conductor counting each car one-by-one.  She made it to sixty-five before it disappeared around a bend and a peaceful silence followed while the patrons of "The Depot" around me seemed to all just take a second to enjoy the moment.

It's just temperate enough outside that I can't decide whether to keep my sweatshirt on or show off a t-shirt I bought at a coffee shop in Redlands, CA a few weeks ago.  It has a man riding a utility bicycle carrying large bags labeled COFFEE.  I also want to give my tattoo an opportunity to be asked for an interpretation.  The waitress has already asked if I was here for a mustache convention.  I have her attention, and now I'm hoping a few more talking points will get her to smile and flirt with me.  Those silly things make being away for long periods of time bearable when you are feeling lonely.  Not that I am.  But she reminds me of home.

Another horn sounds.  Just a solo engine this time with the number 35 on it.  Maybe sixty-five cars was too much for the last train and it needed a little more power.  I grew up loving trains.  The history of trains, the power of trains, the logistics and opportunity provided by trains.  The fact that trains are all over the world.  You can take trains from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa.  Paul Theroux made this journey overland and wrote about it in "Dark Star Safari" and planted seeds of adventure for myself and the millions that have read it since.  It's actually a story that sparked an idea shortly after purchasing my first road bike at 22 years old.  Having visited Uganda and Kenya I felt totally qualified to plan a bike ride from Cairo to Cape Town.

I worked at a coffee shop back then because working a full-time job a block away wasn't enough.  Actually it was more than enough, but the coffee addiction I had formed visiting Murky Coffee three times a day to break up the monotony of my IT job, wasn't financially sustainable without picking up some hours.  Murky Coffee became a place where I'd dream and share dreams with like-minded dreamers.

Anywhere I travel I search for coffee shops because I feel like I can relax there.  Coffee shops for my generation are a "Third Space".  Basically a social place other than your home or workplace.  For me it's become my preference of the three.  Even when I'm at home I can't help but spend countless hours at the coffee shop downtown.  I can probably count on my hands the number of times I've made coffee for myself at home.  That sounds gratuitous but it's about much more than the coffee.

My waitress reminds me of an old friend from DC.  She has the same smile that seems to almost always stay put as a smirk with her cheeks strained tight enough that you couldn't confuse it as straight-faced. It has a flare of sarcasm with a hint of preparedness.  It's an almost frustrating expression because I feel like she's putting on a show to display how content she is, always.  But I can tell by our little conversations of why I'm in town and her clever retorts and small talk that she has the same sense of adventure my friend had just before she went and travelled the world.  Her smirk is a placeholder for the dreams she has outside of this cafe that she surely smiles about in secrecy.  Like she has an idea that she thinks no one else has figured out and she's nervous to tell anymore.  

Even right now despite knowing the proximity to my hotel and the exact location I'm at in downtown Fayetteville, I feel like I could be anywhere.  Anywhere in the world.  I can imagine being along the Silk Road in China sipping tea wondering about the connection of so many cultures made along that trade route that were exposed because of the train.  Or drinking from a dalla along the Nile River wondering what rare earth materials that train has carried and whose wars the railway was purposed for and when.  And how I never knew about the kind of atrocities that have plagued Africa as a result of Imperialism and Westernization.  I could be there.  Maybe one day I will be.  Timing is everything though, and realistically I'm just in a college town in Northwest Arkansas trying to unwind before a 4-day bike race.

That's the funny part of dreaming.  Or rather the confusing convoluted idea of what a dream is based on the beholder.  I was a new-to-cycling kid, six years ago, who had just purchased a South Africa Flag cycling jersey to motivate myself to save up and train to ride my bike across Africa.  With my background I was hoping it would be a way to spread awareness and make the world a little smaller for everyone I have known.  So that maybe they could understand why I am the way I am.  And maybe they would dream as big as I couldn't help but dream.

Of course I was hoping I would find myself too.  A reoccurring nightmare that is often used to dream more.  Fear of not knowing what's out there can really keep you from dreaming big.  And to believe that one adventure would be the end of your searching would certainly ruin the beauty of the search, which now I truly believe is never-ending and far more exciting than scary.

That idea of traveling across Africa was a dream.  And it's totally fine if it never happens.  Dreams are a vehicle for making sure I am never content with who I am or how the world is.  And I will always seek adventure first and comfort last.  I could never have dreamed that I'd be racing my bike all over the US rubbing elbows with some of the best cyclists in the world at times.  It was never a dream but is definitely a pathway to dreams I'm still imagining along the way.  Becoming the cyclist I am is something I have worked really hard at hoping it would one day take me all over the world.  Or at least to my next coffee shop.

Another train sounds a horn.  A cyclist is fixing a flat on the side of the multi-purpose trail.  I think that's a sign that it's about time I paid my tab and got back to laying around.  My waitress is beautiful and I hope her dreams come true, for the world's sake.  She even flirted with me, I think.

I ate a crepe stuffed with capers and tilapia with coffee and a chocolate chip cookie.  I get to finish my work-day remotely tonight as the lead engineer of a major data-center transformation project.  I get to race a bike this weekend in one of the premier stage races in the country.  I get to make a lot of choices. I could be anywhere in the world, but I am very happy with where I am today.  Some might even say I'm living the dream.

Two Weeks Down.

Ut oh... You caught Dan and I training.

Tim and Dan's Excellent Adventure:
Two Weeks Down.

Morale is high for Dan Wolf and I at camp Tucson in our last 24 hours here before we head to San Diego, CA tomorrow.  We've had a blast making sure when we weren't riding or racing to see what Tucson is all about with David and Hannah this past week.  We've hit dance clubs, dive bars, and even saw Macaulay Culkin and his odd band, Pizza Underground.  We've ridden Mount Lemmon, Gates Pass, raced mountain bikes in the desert of Estrella, and I found the stubborness to race a 30mph criterium with a broken thumb the same day.  Dan and I both found ourselves on the podium for the mountain bike race in the Cross Country and Marathon race respectively after overcoming the worst ever circumstances for race preparation and race recovery.  We are stronger for that.
Dan crashed on his road bike in a recovery ride blinded by the sunset, so we are both a little beat-up heading on to California.

With promise of a bike-ride to Mexico tomorrow with Daniel Botticelli.  A rad dude I celebrated my 21st birthday with drinking beers on a curb in San Diego seven years ago outside the Invisible Children/Invisible Children Alumni Association roadie house.  And time on Venice Beach with David Lewis for an all-out recovery day.  I couldn't be more excited to get to San Dimas this weekend and continue pushing forward on our trip.

I am a little bummed that I will not be able to race this weekend coming up at Bonelli Park due to my recent injury, but I'll make the most of that weekend doing recon for the time trial of the San Dimas Stage Race and getting in some big hours training.  If I haven't been clear, that race is my main objective for this trip.  I've been jerked around left and right from teams with the uncertainty about guest riding for Redlands Bicycle Classic the weekend following that race and I'm back to square 1.  If I get a result at SDSR, I'll get a ride.  If I don't, I won't.  And that's fine because if I can't get a result at SDSR I don't want to waste anyone's time at Redlands.

All that said, I can't risk racing the mountain bike race this weekend and making things worst.  Dan is still going to take the line Saturday and Sunday so make sure you catch the live feed that we'll make sure to post later.  We're only a quarter way through this adventure, but having been through the highs and low of success, failure, disaster, and overcoming the odds, we have been able to handle the close proximity life-style required to travel because we've kept the focus on having fun and being awesome. That continues and will continue to be what it's about.  We don't have to do this, we get to. #lifestyleracers


#rugglife

Cowboy Country

The desert is as beautiful as it is intimidating.

Yesterday I did my own version of the dirty double with the Hedgehog Hustle Marathon MTB race in the morning and the Old Pueblo Grand Prix in the evening.

I can't type much because I think my thumb is broken, which I'm going to check out after this update:

The marathon race was in the middle of the desert, hot and slippery as hell. Marathon format is 3.5 hours + finish the lap you're on. This was a 9.4 mile loop that averaged 42-44 minutes each loop... So the fastest guys ended up doing 5 loops, 47 miles in about 3:45. 

I crashed on the first lap's mountain descent after a small jump sent me straight into a boulder laying me and my bike out on a bed of rocks ripping up my knee, elbow, shin, and jamming my thumb hard. Pretty bummed I haven't got my Full Suspension carbon MTB yet, but really fortunate I've been able to put my metal hardtail to the test, and it has passed always looking better off than myself at the finish line. 

I would have known about this danger had I seen it while pre-riding the course during twilight the day before. But, I got lost in the desert after I sliced my rear tire on a rock and had to hike 6 miles in the dark going off course to try and make it back to camp before I got bit by a rattlesnake or ate by a bobcat or mountain lion. 

Rule number 1: Don't ever leave the trail. 
Rule number 2: Don't ride alone in the dark. Especially without lights. If it can get dark, it probably will.
Rule number 3: always pack enough gear to fix a disaster if you ignore rule Number 2. 

---

I didn't give up but lost considerable time to that crash but really struggled to shift for the remainder because my thumb likely has a fracture with it being twice as big as the other opposable this morning. I put in a hot lap on the final lap sitting in 4th place when everyone else was starting to fade (which I only saw after the race on the lap splits) and managed to get in striking distance of 3rd place at the top of the fire road climb only a mile from the finish. I recorded my fastest descent back into the valley fueled mostly by the desert delirium of riding in 4th place alone for 3 hours almost crashing multiple times to stay within a few meters of 3rd and entering the final sprint shute way too fast.

The final sprint comes in gated with 50 meters straightaway into a hard 100 degree washy turn into a 50 meter sprint. I almost crashed in this segment using the full degree of the turn hitting the legs of the fencing every lap prior. I had higher pressure tires than normal to try and avoid flatting in the desert and this put me at a disadvantage. But as we hit the apex of the turn to set up the sprint the 3rd place rider washed out in front of me as I coasted on his inside in for 3rd place in a very exciting close margin finish for a podium spot in my first Marathon MTB race!

Stubborn

Only 1st gets to put up both hands!

---

Now the short story, hopefully... 

After waiting 2 hours in the desert for the awards ceremony Dan and I hightailed it from Phoenix to Tucson for the Old Pueblo Grand Prix. This was a 75 minute Pro/1 criterium race on the road bike. I'm a stubborn dude wanting to prove I could handle the tall task of the dirty double arriving to the race 20 minutes until staging bandaged up and nursing my thumb. 

I got in a solid hour of "motor-pacing" and sprint backs in the race as I could not corner well enough to consider moving up in the field risking myself and others with limited handling of my bike and yo-yo'd myself from the field until I pulled the plug with 15 minutes remaining. It was a hard workout, but I'm glad I got to take some parade laps and have people cheer for "Mustache(-io)" when they didn't know my real name. 

The mustache can be a burden when people root for you just for the distinguishing characteristic of a hairy upper lip, in an otherwise undistinguishable flash of color and spandex, when you know you can't give them a show. I promise to not take the line without the ability to take a flyer or finish ever again! 

It was still worth it to me as I got a lot of love from fellow racers and others that knew what I had went through that day. Hell, I woke up in a Wal-Mart parking lot earlier that morning with only McDonald's as a breakfast option, Chick-fil-a as a post MTB race food option, and a ton of other things working against me from the night before (Waffle House) and the day of. But it was a pretty amazing day and although I might be sidelined for a week or two from racing with a splint, I'll still get to train and keep working towards my big goals in California at the end of the month.

Wheel bag privacy for cowboy camping at Wal-Mart.

It's been a wild ride so far and I'm really happy with where I'm at right now.

Enjoy the ride and ride safe,
Rugg

So, about blogging...

Just follow me on Facebook.  It's so much easier to tag and flow there!

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The Goal Is To Be Awesome

The Rugg Diaries

#lifestyleracers

Day 1: Harrisonburg, VA -> Nashville, TN

The first leg of the journey across the country for Dan and I had us targeted for Nashville, TN.  I woke up at 7:00AM to pack for two months of life on the road.  If the idea of the trip hadn't have been so spontaneous and immediate, the stress of not being ready would've kept me at home until Spring. Thank God for being stubborn and a bit, okay quite a bit, crazy because I live for this.  I am a lifestyle racer and Dan has joined the club. 

The week leading up to our departure I had been hosting repurposed, neo/returning, mad scientist, pro road racer Cameron Cogburn of Team Smartstop / Mountain Khakis.  I got the inside look of what being a dialed in, focused pro looked like on and off the bike as he worked with his coach for the week to tune up for some early season form.  He got to see how crazy my schedule was trying to balance my job, training, racing, and my social life looked like.  Let's just say Cameron got in twice the training and sleep but I'm going to have twice as much fun racing this year because the pressure is off.  I don't have to race my bike.  I get to race my bike.  That's the idea behind being a lifestyle racer.  

Dan and I hit the road just before 11:00AM after a few packing hiccups and a breakfast for champions style self-made send-off.  This was good because until we arrived in Nashville nine hours later we only had crackers and coffee.  We didn't get the ride in we had hoped for along the way, but we shared the travel load offering time to work remotely in my mobile office, and offer up shared DJ duties.  We also stumbled upon a boutique coffee shop offering Intelligentsia Coffee in Knoxville, TN breaking up the trip nicely.

It's hard to share life on the road experience because the simplest of things can make your day.  Singing along to classic rock radio stations had me nostalgic of time in the car with my dad while growing up.  The first day of the trip gave us plenty of opportunity to share what we were hoping out of this trip.  Simply put by Dan, "I just want to be awesome".  It's not as surfer bum-like as it sounds.  Both of us just want to go on an adventure with good intentions and leave the expectations by the wayside.  As Arthur Ashe put it, "The success is in the journey".  I just want to go on an adventure that ends up never ending.  That would be awesome. 

We finished the day with take-out Jamaican food, an epsiode of 24, some more remote work for me, and a much needed beer from our hosts in Nashville.  Half-way to Texas we took to our air mattress and couch and called it a fine day.  

Day 2: Nashville, TN -> Dallas, TX

This is the day I fell in love with mountain biking.  We woke up to breakfast and a care package of deer jerky, cookies, fruit and homemade bread from our hosts Troy and Amy before starting the second half of the trek to Texas.  More sing-a-longs, pictures, and dreaming about doing what we are already doing was the theme for the day.  We had to ride today no matter what though, or we were going to be worthless for the Mellow Johnny's classic in Austin, TX this weekend.

I took the exit for Hot Springs, AR because of a sign indicating a National Park, meaning we'd find good roads to ride.  Destiny and a google search of the area directed us to a mountain bike paradise that would elevate my appreciation for off-road riding to a whole new level.

I felt like a kid riding over logs and obstacles through singletrack paths in the woods at Cedarglades Park in Hot Springs, AR today.  I went over my first teeter totter which is a lot like a see-saw that you ride over.  Dan coached me on some technical skills and we managed to get in and out of the park in under two hours despite wishing we had a whole day to play around.

We are getting close to Dallas now.  We're tired, hungry, and it's getting late.  Luckily a fellow racer that understands what it's like traveling to bike races is putting us up tonight.  We are going to get to Dallas in about a half hour and crash immediately.  Tomorrow Dan and I go to Austin, TX to pick-up our number plates for our first ProXCT (Cross Country) Mountain Bike race.  

Planning for this trip has been more of a leap of faith that everything will just work out, and so far everything is falling into place perfectly.  Let's do this!

#rugglife

Pictures on Instagram: @timothyrugg @danzigwolf

Follow Tim and Dan's Excellent Adventure: #lifestyleracers

Tim and Dan's Excellent Adventure - VIDEO VERSION

Tim and Dan's Excellent Adventure

Dan kind of looks like Keanu.

I moved to Harrisonburg, VA last August hoping to prepare myself to land a pro contract for road racing this year.  Dan Wolf moved here just this month with the motivation to make it pro as a mountain biker.  We come from two backgrounds of racing and we both decided that this little town in the Shenandoah Valley was the best place for us to train and where we would call home.  In ten days we're leaving for a month and a half.  We're headed West and doing what we both know we need to do if we're ever going to call our profession, "Bike Racer".

The idea was brought up spontaneously out of nowhere one night when discussing our goals for this year.  We laughed about it for about a minute and then decided it was the only option we had.  We had planned out a trip that would take us all the way out to San Dimas, CA, hence the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure reference, for what will be known henceforth as Tim and Dan's Excellent Adventure.  We'll pack up my car and hit the road February 27th with our first race three days later. 

The schedule so far looks like this:

• March 1st/2nd - Austin, TX for the Mellow Johnny's Classic ProXCT #1. 
• March 3rd-13th - Tucson, AZ for some solid training and we'll find a race!
• March 15th/16th - San Dimas, CA for the Bonelli Park ProXCT #2.
• March 22nd/23rd - Fontana, CA for the Fontana City National ProXCT #3.
• March 28th-30th - San Dimas, CA for the San Dimas Stage Race.
• April 3rd-6th - Redlands, CA for the Redlands Bicycle Classic NRC.

We have an ambitious schedule of mountain bike and road racing.  With our respective experience in each discipline we'll be able to help each other succeed in both.  At least I hope so.  I've never been in a mountain bike race, but hopefully with the experience riding Massanutten Mountain with Jeremiah Bishop (2nd overall in ProXCT standing for 2013), and the Monster Cross race this weekend close to home, I'll adapt quickly.

Yesterday we blasted the idea out on social media and within 24 hours we had enough support to cover about half the cost of the trip!  This is mostly through connections made through the community here in Harrisonburg, which is a bit humbling.  The bike shops and local businesses, Pro Tested Gear, Rocktown Bicycles, and SBC (Shenandoah Bicycle Company) have been so welcoming and supportive since I've come here.  The community of friends I've made here have been encouraging and it'll be bitter sweet not seeing them for the time we're on the road.  If you want to donate Dan and I a virtual tank of gas, bag of rice, trail mix via PayPal, we'd be incredibly thankful.  Shoot it over to my account - timothyrugg@gmail.com.  You can also use that email to stay in touch while I'm on the road if you aren't already deeply connected in the social swarm of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or this blog... which I promise to keep regularly updated like my trip to Oregon and back last year.

Tomorrow we're putting together a short video with Tom Inskeep (This guys on IMDb) and Scott Wooten of Adventure Seen.  This trip is going to be awesome and we hope you'll share in Tim and Dan's Excellent Adventure!

A final connection to make the connection of Keanu Reaves and Cycling.  This was one of his first acting gigs.  We all have to start somewhere.  Enjoy.

Signing off for 2013. #CXmyHeart

I know I'm not the most verbose blogger but even I need a break.  I have all these plans and ideas and they mostly just sound like garble, or a Chris Horner interview gone...well, garble.  I'm going to take a couple months UnderTheRugg if you will, and come back in 2014 with something a little more entertaining, or at least distracting.

In the meantime, I've joined forces with World Bicycle Relief to spread awareness of their cause and to use my voice in cycling to raise support.

The announcement is HERE and you can donate HERE

Getting sexy at Pro Tested Gear

#CXmyHeart @TimothyRugg
For the rest of the year I intend to donate any prize money made at races to my fundraising page and I want to challenge as many people as possible to match that contribution.  Unfortunately the first race I did after announcing this initiative resulted in a broken CX bike and concern as to whether I will make much, if any!  I will, but regardless of the initiative, I have a birthday coming up November 24th and Christmas is right around the corner.  Give the gift of a bike to someone in need.  Just $134 is enough for one bike.  Follow me on twitter when I make announcements of my contributions.  I really hope you will be a part of this with me.

So yeah, Happy Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years!

Ride safe and stay Rugged.

Monday Ramblings

I've been laying low since my last open letter to Red Bull.  The post accomplished my main goals of exposing a void, getting people talking, and getting things moving for next year.  I don't have the answer to revitalizing the sport, but it's nice to know others are thinking about it and some even proposing ideas.  I did not get a response from Red Bull.

Jordan Cheyne contributed to PezCyclingNews A Roadmap to Repair Professional Cycling which lays out an ambitious and intensive 4-point plan to heal cycling’s image, make the sport economically viable and establish effective long term governance.  I've raced with Jordan a few times and appreciate his contribution to cycling.  He is also one of those riders that for no real good reason, minus the lack of options, isn't a pro.  But I like racing with him because he goes all out and doesn't hold back.  And despite his lack of opportunity, he is all-in with the sport and will continue to go after it in a positive way.


I think the majority of cyclists racing in USAcycling appreciate the structure of Category racing because it provides that video-game mentality of getting to the next level.  Novice, Category 5 to Elite, Category 1 with a points structure based on results through the categories keeps riders in the system for years until they are indoctrinated into loving cycling because it becomes such a long process that they have no choice but to love.  Or hate... there are definitely those riders who realize how much the system has taken over cycling for them and have abandoned ship. But all-in-all I like the system because it keeps riders itching for that next level, with the promise that if they make it to Cat 1, they can race at the professional level.  Unfortunately that's where I think the fault is.  I don't want to elaborate right now, but the Pro-Am racing scene in the US is a joke.  If professional racing is ever going to be successful, there needs to be enough professional teams to fill a field.


There were 42 starters for the Professional Criterium Championships this past season.  Every other professional field has anywhere from 100-150 starters, with 50-100 of those riders usually being Category 1 racers.  How much longer will amateurs prop of a broken professional development program for non to hardly non-existent salaried rider teams?


I'm looking forward to reading the book from Phil Gaimon regarding his experience racing on division 3 Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: A Hand-Me-Down Guide to American Bike Racing.  Now I'm a little worried that this book will inspire kids to put up with the norm of domestic pro cycling since Phil has made it to the "Big Leauges".  Phil is going to race on Garmin next year and make lots of money and be considered a success in bike racing.  I don't want to distract from his accomplishments at all, anyone who can put up with a system for 10 years and overcome and succeed is a hero in my book.  I just hope that this book exposes some major problems in the system and it elicits some change.  


Again, I don't have the answers.  I just want people to think about it and to understand that currently, cycling is not a viable career choice!  Alright that's about the fifth time since I started writing that I almost blew up in rant.  I am calm and collected.  I just get nervous when juniors come up to me at bike races and treat me as if I have made it and I can see pro dreams in there eyes and can hear ambition in there shaky voices.  I hope they have more opportunities and viable ones.


And then again, again..., I don't really relate well to the junior cyclist.  I was never good enough to make the team for organized sports when I was younger and didn't start riding and racing bikes until I was already twenty-three.  Hard to be super-frustrated about a system you are still so ripe to and with little real influence being a 27...racing age 28 year old recovering corporate world Information Technology specialist.  Then again, that might be more influential than I had previously thought.


Oh well, without further ado.  I'm returning to work.  maybe I needed to spite and spout to feel better about going back to my day job.  It's a good thing really, I need health and dental insurance and a paycheck gives me the opportunity to sponsor myself!  Woohoo!  RuggRacing is coming to a city near you in 2014.  Sort of a joke, but not really.  I'm still working a few angles and plan on racing individually where I can and guest riding on teams when that's required.  



I'm going Rugg, er... Rogue  

Nick Waite is a badass, but I look cooler.

Two Weeks Notice

It's Friday night and most people I know have left work and probably moved on to somewhere fun like a bar or getting ready for a long night on the town.  I've got too much on my mind.  I mean, I guess I am at a bar at least. I'm at The Artful Dodger self-described as a coffeehouse and cocktail lounge.  I'm drinking both a coffee and a cocktail, so it seems appropriately defined.  I have spent a lot of time in here lately sending my race resume out to teams and talking to other cyclists about what I and they are doing next year.  I don't think I've talked to a single cyclist that is thrilled with what next year has in store for them.

The scene around me is getting a little overwhelming.  At least 50 JMU students have walked in and I think they are preparing to do some acapella performance.  Yep, I just heard a dude blow into a tuner. The barely-can-hear-yourself-think atmosphere just focused all its attention main-stage and my previously annoyed demeanor just opened up.  I love this, so much culture in this college/mountain/farm city in rural VA!  The artful dodger is known for its support of the arts.  There are paintings all over the wall displaying local artists visions and performances almost daily.

I've spent my afternoon and evening finalizing a proposal that I just submitted to Red Bull.  It just so happens that my cocktail, Blue Ridge Haze, is made with Red Bull ice cubes.  More importantly, I have a vision, the riders, and the motivation to help create the next professional team in the US if there's a sponsor out there that shares in my vision.

Below is the open letter I submitted to Red Bull.  This is what transparency looks like.  I hope Red Bull or someone reading, anyone, steps up.  If not, and I fall on my face for trying, I'll get back up and figure something out for next year.  I'm not scared and I'll be criticized for simplifying something very complicated, but I have to try because someone has to.

Do me one favor, despite the attention this gathers... Blast this.  Facebook share, Twitter Retweet, Email, Text, etc.  Let's at the VERY least get people talking.  One last thing, the deadline for Pro-Continental team submission is in about two weeks.  This is your two weeks notice.

RED BULL

I have an idea, and I need Red Bull to give it wings.  

Background:

Road cycling in the U.S. is in a really tough place.  It is expected that there will only be six registered Continental Pro cycling teams for the 2014 season.  Depending on whether a race has a 6 or 8 rider limit per team, that leaves approximately 36-48 pro riders in most US pro races that have open fields to amateur teams to fill the remaining 100-150 spots.  Promoters must do this to satisfy budget and eligibility requirements.  One would hope that this would create an opportunity for amateurs to expose themselves to professional teams, but it degrades the quality of racing and continues to weaken a system designed to develop riders to the next level in professional cycling.  

Furthermore, it’s created a system where pro teams can offer riders zero salary for a spot on their team due to the number of racers available in the pool of elite level cyclists and the shortage of professional teams available.  This is not sustainable and the system needs to be corrected to offer athletes an opportunity to continue to develop in the sport while being able to provide for themselves due to the dramatic commitment required to race at the professional level.

In the lowest places we have the opportunity to achieve the greatest success.  Each day I hear stories from cyclists that are arguably some of the best in the country, considering to throw in the towel because they are offered no salary to race at the professional level.  I want to start a project that changes the norm that is slowly damaging the sport of road cycling in the U.S. and eliminating a demographic of riders that need support to succeed.  A demographic of riders that deserve support.  I want these riders on my team.  I want to create a team that is considered the underdog that gets this sport back on track.  If you can’t join them, beat them.

Project:

I want to propose that Red Bull become the title sponsor of the next UCI registered Road Continental cycling team in the United States.  The team would consist of 4-8 riders through consideration of sponsor ambassadorship and athleticism and supported primarily by its title sponsor.  

Goals:

• To be “THE” badass team that generates national and international media attention for its sponsor(s) due to its existence*.
• To provide team riders an opportunity to develop to the highest levels in cycling achievable to them, while providing them with the support they deserve and need to get there with the least amount of resistance.
• To win and podium multiple national caliber races throughout the US and...
• To explore international racing and elevate sponsor(s) exposure if requested and supported by the sponsor(s).
• To work with USA Cycling and professional teams to redefine the system in place to develop cyclists and to support the sport of cycling and its athletes in a sustainable way.  

* The team will use every social media outlet available to them to generate positive attention to itself and its sponsor(s).  The creation of this team will be exploited as pro-cycling and not  anti-establishment.  The existence of this team alone will come off as “punk-rock” and will develop a “David vs. Goliath” story that will resonate throughout the world of cycling.  This will be big, no matter how small it is. I have riders in mind already with amazing stories, and I want to tell them.

Management and Organization:

The management of the team will be in its first year of existence an all-volunteer operation.  The roles of General Manager, Sports Director, and Operation/Finance Manager will be fulfilled upon successful registration of the team.

The General Manager will be the primary contact for sponsor(s) and final operational decisions.  As the proposal author, Timothy Rugg, I volunteer to assume this role for the first year of the team’s existence.

Each rider on the team and its sponsor(s) will create an Advisory Committee designed to review operational opportunities and provide recommendations for race schedule, budget allocation, social media outreach, and other awareness strategies.

Implementation:

Provided sponsor(s) can provide firm commitment, the General Manager will proceed to establish the team within the framework provided by USA cycling.

All application materials, bank documents, race calendars, roster selections, budgets, and correspondence will be transparent and publicly posted on Google Docs or however the Advisory Committee recommends.

The deadline for applications for UCI Road Continental teams to submit for the 2014 season is October 31st, 2013.  If the deadline is impossible for sponsor(s), it is possible to register an “Elite National Team” at any time.  The differences and requirements for both classifications can be discussed upon further consideration between the team and sponsor(s).

Budget:

In 2014, the budget request is as follows.

• $40,000 to $80,000 Salary for 4 to 8 cyclists. (~$10,000 per rider)
• ~$10,000 Registration and Application fees for USA Cycling and UCI for pro license.

OR

• $650 Registration fee for Elite National Team. (amateur team with professional race opportunities)
• $40,000 to $80,000 Race Registration, Transportation, and Race Lodging for 4 to 8 cyclists competing in 50 calendar race days throughout the 2014 season.  (To include National Racing Calendar, National Criterium Calendar, and regional events.)
• $10,000 to $20,000 Other race and media equipment not met by sponsor(s).

Total - $100,000 to $190,000 for 4 to 8 riders registered as a UCI Continental team.  This budget is subject to change depending on further examination by the Advisory Committee, yet is smaller than any UCI Road Continental budget for USA Cycling.  There are elite national teams with upwards of $250,000 budgets and UCI Road Continental teams with budgets ranging from $400,000 to over a million dollars.  I can do more with half and Red Bull’s support.

Benefit:

This proposal is designed to both inspire and directly support cyclists at the national level through a competitive, prestigious, and exciting team program.

American or Americant

Six years ago I had my first Americano.  I had never had anything besides coffee at this point and I didn't even know what an Americano was.  It's espresso with hot water.  Nothing fancy really.  In fact all my experience with coffee to that point was mostly milk and sugar with a splash of coffee used specifically to stay awake and not for taste.

I've ordered thousands of dollars worth of coffee and even worked for a short period of time as a barista at a gourmet coffee shop where I made "Latte Art". Since then coffee has become more than a utility for me and my expanse appreciation and knowledge of the process, taste, and international business for coffee is as serious as my love for cycling. And let's be honest, anyone who rides a bike without coffee is at a disadvantage.  Sorry tea-lovers or caffeine-haters.

This really isn't about coffee. But that Americano and the story behind it is all I can think about today. I ordered that drink specifically because it had America in the title. I'm not pointing that out to incorporate some sort of patriotism. I had been living in East Africa for six months and I was homesick and I was confused. I had gone to Uganda for one reason, bounced around several organizations trying to help in some way or another, and ended up in Kenya for some other reason and left with very little fulfillment in myself and the work I had done. I'm being very broad, but I can imagine anyone who has set off on a mission to "Save The World!" spends a lot of time feeling like they fell short. I knew what America was and I figured an Americano just had to be good. It needed to be good.

I had that Americano at a coffee stand searching for an internet hotspot in Nairobi's Westgate Mall to write home or search for jobs back home.  Something insignificant enough that I can't remember. This past Saturday that mall was terrorized resulting in at least 72 deaths and 200 injuries. This past Saturday I was racing cyclocross in Baltimore, MD. I'm reminded that I have unfinished business. I'm reminded of why I went to East Africa and not what I did. The why is more powerful and will hopefully get me back on track. 

I want to tell about an amazing story about my two-day adventure ride with JB, Dave, and Joe D from Harrisonburg, VA to a ski resort in West Virginia last week. I want to complain about the how I haven't been able to get an insurance company to underwrite my pre-existing conditions and give me insurance. And about how all the recent politics revolving around Obamacare impacts me. I'm hesitant to tell anyone recent considerations that deviate from dreams that I've outlined before in fear of letting anyone down. Yet, each time I try to write anything about any of that, I just delete it. Just one of those days you feel guilty talking about yourself. It's a weird feeling having stories to tell but not being able to tell them for whatever reason. Timing is everything and life is not fair. Make the most out of every ride and every adventure.

It is always worth it.

CX: Tim Rugg p/b Friends

I rarely come up with a title before I finish writing but this was just too cheesy to resist and something that's been heavy on my mind.

I believe I can fly.

It's hard for me to just stick to the coaches plan of using cyclocross just for training and fun.  Don't get me wrong it's fun no matter how seriously you take it, but winning is the most fun!  I didn't look for sponsorship soon enough for cyclocross because I just didn't know how committed I could be with my focus still being on the road.  Plus I have PTSD from my bike failure and collarbone explosion from last year.

When I knew that I was definitely going to race I had a week to learn how to ride a cross bike again and a week to get a bike and some support.  Immediately my friends at Pro Tested Gear offered help getting me in the races and a sick looking kit to wear during the races.  I was telling my friend Simon while hanging out at The Bike Rack in DC that I was just not having any luck, and he handed me his Pake C'mute to race until and if I find anything better.

Now there's no denying that the Pake is a tank, as heavy and indestructible, but with my ENVE fork and wheels, it's getting me to and through some training and racing.  I was sitting 3rd before rolling a tubular tire Saturday at Jamestown and landed 5th on the podium in a stacked field in South Germantown Sunday.  My favorite moment from Sunday's race was when Joe Jefferson made a comment over the sound system that it looked like I was riding a bike a newspaper delivery boy would use.  Joe is about as good as it gets when he emcee's.

With the Charm City UCI 2-day weekend in Baltimore, MD coming up this weekend - I knew the Pake needed to spend more time as the spare bike.  Within minutes of reaching out again, I had multiple friends offering to let me ride there whip for the weekend.  Let me emphasize that these are friends that know how much I crash and are still there to support me.  My buddy Michael and Marc came through both offering me a place to stay and to be able to use there bike.  Amazing.  I've been feeling really lucky lately to have support for what I'm trying to do and what people believe I can do.

I'm really hoping a race-ready bike will make a difference this weekend as I try to grab some UCI points and some off-road cred' to add to my street cred'.  Speaking of off-road cred', my friends at Diamondback have really made my week rewarding me with a Mason 29er Full Suspension Mountain Bike for landing on the podium in both an NCC and NRC professional race this past season.  I'm going to take my first stab at mountain bike racing at the 26th Annual Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge in Williamsburg, VA.  Thanks Phil, it's been a pleasure racing for Diamondback this year!

Calm Before The Storm

Team H-Burg - Waite, Bishop, and Rugg

There's never a dull moment with my new lifestyle of cycling, trumpeting, and soul-searching.  Rather, there's never a moment where I don't have something I could be doing.  I'm not saying "I'm busy", nor complaining, because I've realized the negative connotation that reflects after reading the Harvard Business Review blog post "Please Stop Complaining About How Busy You Are" by Meredith Fineman.  The humble-brag of being busy can often be interpreted as "I’m busier, more in-demand, more successful."  I'm not busy.  I have just been aware of how much time I have and that there are so many things I can do to fill my time, and me being terrible at being lazy I resort to doing different things almost constantly.  That's what I mean.

Another good read this morning when you are done reading that HBR article... Wait,  let me say one more thing about that before I move on.  The article misses a notion I think is relative to a lot of people I know.  I believe a lot of people say they are busy because they realize what they can't do, what they want to do, because of what they are currently doing.  So really these people should just be saying, "I'm distracted right now."  In the realm of training to be a world-class athlete, it's very easy to get distracted since everything you do, absolutely everything, has to be considered.  In the pursuit of fractional gains and small percentage improvements of fitness and growing more importantly every day, social media presence - everything has to be considered.  I just got overwhelmed with thoughts of the meals I need to eat for the rest of the day, the training I need to complete, the overdue blogpost, the bike maintenance I need to perform before this weekend's cyclocross races, the outreach to pro teams I need to make, the medical bills I need to manage, the trumpet practice schedule I need to write to optimize my training on the horn when I'm not training on the bike.  There's more.  There's always more.  I'm not busy, but it's very easy to get distracted.

CX is BOSS

That other good read I was talking about, right.  Over on Kevin Cross's blog he writes about the uncontrollable desire to ride hard, even when you don't have to.  To clarify, I don't mean he feels like he has to train.  But he rides hard because he wants to feel the effort that takes him to that familiar place. Sure, the setting sunset, deer that line rock creek park, and the summer fleeting breeze are all things that we tell ourselves are what we ride for.  But it's not.  Those things are fine and all but we really only use these experiences to explain to "non-cyclists" why we ride so much to excuse ourselves from being masochists or suffering from addiction.  I ride, and Kevin rides, for the effort.  We ride for that feeling that makes us feel everything.  We ride hard to remember where we've been, where we are, and where we want to be.  The effort makes us feel like we are home and completely in control.  It's actually pretty simple and only something that "cyclists" understand.

I got on my bike for the first time in ten days after feeling the wrath of Campylobacter Jejuni in my GI tract.  Food poisoning.  Doing my own detective work I imagine I contracted this bacteria while training in the rain on one of the farm roads around Harrisonburg.  This kind of food poisoning is usually contracted from animal feces.  So my breakdown has me riding in the rain, kicking up some cow poop run-off from my tires onto my water bottle nipple, and then taking a swig unknowingly while training, ending five weeks of intense training and not having a result to show for the effort.  Today's my last day of a 5-day probiotic pill regimen and although my insides are still in a twist, the realization I won't get another chance to prove myself on the road for 5-6 months is the hardest pill to swallow and is causing me the most discomfort.

But like Kevin, I found comfort in the effort when I rode Wednesday with Jeremiah Bishop and Nick Waite.  Despite not riding in some time, the 10 pound lighter and super rested (muscularly at least) version of me, made for a day of proving to myself and reminding myself where I had was, where I am now, and where I am going.  I'm not good at easing into anything and went for it on the 211 climb from New Market named "Super Lee".  I surprised myself and set the Strava KOM with a vertical ascent measure above 1400 and a climb averaging 6.9% gradient and 5.9km in distance.  Season is already over and that effort to most seems pointless giving that I'm not even supposed to be training yet.  It's the off-season!  But I needed that effort.  I needed to know I was okay and that my mind was strong and could handle it.  Sometimes the efforts that don't matter or lead to a goal, the ones you can't quantify or qualify, are the ones that matter the most.  With all the distractions I have going on I couldn't be more ready to focus on the training and goals that take me from the coffee shop I am sitting in write now, to the top step of the podium at an NRC race next year.

Calm before the storm.

The boy with the wolf tattoo.

Only 24 hours left until the start of the Bucks County Classic.  A race with a rich cycling history and promise that anything is possible.  In 2000 Tornado Tom Boonen himself raced, still as an amateur, placing second in the race I've been training so hard for.  Boonen went on to win the World Road Race Championships in 2005, the green jersey in the Tour De France in 2007 and Paris-Roubaix, 4 times!

Alright I'm not even trying to create some comparison between the path that I think I'm headed and the path Boonen took, primarily because he's a sprinter, and I am not.  I will also never try cocaine.  So there's that.

In fact, I will not even finish second at Bucks County Classic.  At least not this year.  Six days ago I started running a fever and soon after my whole system went haywire.  I eventually had to go to urgent care and was put on antibiotics for some issues with my intestines.  I can't take chances when there's something wrong with my GI tract due to a congenital defect.  I had to send in the bug bomb to clear everything up.

Things started to feel a little bit better yesterday but I had my name pulled from the roster.  It's hard to explain what this race meant for me, or could have meant for me, and how hard this week has been as result.  But I'll save you the sob story.  I'm in good spirits.  I played my trumpet yesterday, twice.  I bought some valve oil from the local instrument repair shop to play some more today.

I dug into my old chest of books and found my Arban's Complete Conversvatory Method for trumpet. This is no ordinary music book.  It is well known in the trumpeter community that the ability to conquer this book would mean you would have all the skills required to master the trumpet.  Now this book used to always overwhelm me and I'd just flip through and do something here and there back when I was in school.  But I swear I immediately started thinking of a periodization training plan to break up articulation, slurring, and ornament training such as appogiattura into a well structured plan to help me get back to the heyday of my trumpet playing ability and hopefully beyond.

Wow, the road season is really over.  Still so much on my mind.  The trumpet seems like a weird deflection, but there's more to the story still to come.  There's a lot more to come.  A new season has begun.  I'm in a new place.  I am getting healthy.  I am recharging looking forward to some fun cyclocross racing and mountain bike riding.  I am hopeful for what next road season will have for me. Most of all, I'm really happy with what the next six months looks like.  I'm happy.

Stay Tuned.  Ride Safe.

Basecamp

Man!  I love that I can exit my new home in Harrisonburg, VA and be starting a 50-minute long climb in the Shenandoah Mountains and the George Washington National Forest in an hour.  And if it's not a crazy big day I can just turn around and come home in time for lunch.

When you are gasping for air up Reddish Knob you will find yourself at a deficit again with the breathtaking views at the bottom with the finish visible on a clear day from the lake seen below.  You will not see a house and sometimes even a car since it's a scenic byway and "Ain't nobody got time for that".

The top of Reddish Knob is the real prize as you reach a road that can fit only one car that winds its way up to a plateau where the road ends and the trees are no higher than your line of site, offering a panoramic view of West Virginia and Virginia and all the mountain ranges and valleys sprawled across as far as the eye can see.  There's even a Naval Information Operations Command visible in the Potomac Highlands that is home of parabolic antennas acting as "the Navy's ear" gathering communications from Navy planes, ships and stations around the world.

I am told that Reddish Knob is the highest point in Virginia.  Anyone participating in the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo will get a chance to see this and many views.  I snap a few pictures here and there but I hate exposing my complete lack of photographic genius that I blame primarily on my lack of photographic device.  Alas - a couple shots from this weeks riding:

At the top of Rt 33.

Potomac Highlands from Reddish Knob.

Riding with Nick Waite and Jeremiah Bishop aka Fred Astaire from this photo.

We go big!

Going to climb those rocks one day!

Last chance to turn around.  It's straight up from here.

There's a story or twenty on every ride, but one worth noting happened on a 5-hour ride I completed yesterday.  I was 2 and a half hours into the ride about to turn left onto the Reddish Knob climb on the Moyers Gap Rd. side.  I was keeping the route simple, go West, go South, go East, go North and I figured I wouldn't get too lost.  On these big rides figuring out watering holes is more crucial than the route planned.  I saw a convenience store at the corner and figured everything was just fine, but I'd later find out it was closed a long time ago due to lack of customers.  A man pulled up in an old Ford truck seconds later and told me the misfortune of bigger stores and gas prices in the cities nearby pushing him out.  I asked him where the next closest place to find refreshments was and he chuckled indicating that I had a bit of a ride ahead of me.  Now, I wasn't in a "spot of bother" and would have been able to get anywhere I needed before bonking or becoming overly dehydrated, but he offered to let me fill up my bottles at his house next door.  I talked to him about how I just moved here and was loving the riding and he told me some good places to ride and just carried on about the peacefulness living in West Virginia.  He kept insisting that I take some gatorade until I couldn't refuse and he sent me on my way insisting just as hard to remember, "Jesus loves you".  

I took off on the climb to continue my ride with 80 ounces of fluids, weighing me down, and started to think to myself that I'm pretty sure if I lived out there long enough I'd find Jesus one way or another. The bike gods were quick to interject and I sliced a tire on a shale rock that had been kicked up on the road in one of the many switchbacks.  I'm not a believer in anything too clear, at least not clear enough to explain in a way that makes since to many, but I definitely feel like someone is looking after me.