Been thinking a lot about my races this past weekend. I’m feeling pretty good about them. Yes, I can always do better, and I will. But these two races really taught me a lot about bike racing and myself as a bike racer. Both race courses did an excellent job of highlighting some of my cyclo-cross weaknesses. I did not let this stress me out or intimidate me.

Rather I adapted as the races went on. I had a few not-so-good-moments during both races. But I recognized this. Gave myself a kick in the head. And got on with the racing. I forced myself to improve through-out the races. I was able to get faster, more smooth, and smarter. This resulted in me passing people. In racing faster.

I essentially coached myself during the races. “Eyes up”. “Pedal”. “Stay off the front brake”. “Good job”. “Sand – okay dismount now and run”. “Look ahead and attack the base of the climb”.

Literally this is what I did during the races. And it worked. I listened. I improved. Especially on Sunday, I started picking off riders. As this happened, my confidence began to sky rocket and I rode faster and faster. Nice.

A breakthrough weekend of racing I think. Also a testament to the mantra “focus on performance and the outcomes will happen”. Two days of racing with two good days of racing and learning. I’m a pretty fortunate athlete right now – to be able to reap such rewards from my bike.

I’ve got an even bigger week ahead with the UCI cyclo-cross training camp in Koksijde. Will be some good hard days of riding in the sand and testing myself. Can’t hardly wait. The training camp is bookended with with the Koksijde World Cup on Saturday and the Super Prestige race in Geiten, Holland on Sunday. Sweet.