Beer, Bikes, and Snow

I realized I hadn’t updated my blog in a very long time. Lots going on - mostly bike related, specifically NICA. We are in our second season of NICA , and Princeton Progressions grew in size. At the start of the season, we hit the athlete limit for a composite team, and were asked to split into two teams. Mike took the role of Head Coach for the new Central NJ Trail Terminators Composite . With Ben traveling for National NICA and BICP , Fred and I stepped up as Head Coaches for Princeton Progressions. We all know here in New Jersey (and much of the east coast), winter was rough. Our weekend rides were either cancelled due to snow, rain, or both. We did get creative with some of the practices, going to the climbing gym and getting our workouts in at spin class. But Mother Nature didn’t let up come spring. Our first race in early April was postponed due to weather and trail conditions. The rescheduled date almost didn’t happen due to rain and frigid temperatures. R...

A year ago I attended the New Jersey Interscholastic Cycling League’s (NJICL) inaugural meeting.  New Jersey was now the 19th league to enter the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).  Representatives from NICA and the NJICL presented the program, providing background, insight, and a description of what would be happening. When I first was presented with the idea of coaching, I was hesitant.  How would my involvement as a public school teacher play out? How would this impact my own personal training? How much time would I be willing to give up? Leading up to the NJ Leader’s Summit in September, I was still unsure of how much time I could (and willing) to devote to helping with the NICA coaching.  However, after attending and presenting at the NJ Leader’s Summit as well watching a fall PA NICA race, I made the decision to fully commit to getting more kids on bikes . Our season officially started in December 2016, but due to my CX traini...