I'd say it's early in the planning stages for the coming season, but I'd be lying. The reality is that bike(s) are already getting torn down and put back together; sponsorship packages are already sent out; sponsors are already rolling in; parts are being bought; and wallets are cringing in fear.
Okay, my wallet is past cringing. It's now curled up in the corner, crying and having seizures. And it has only started.
Taking a few of the lessons from last year, a few things have been in the works. For starters, the race team, which we had started under the honey badger name, is becoming official and we are working on a professional presence. We're still amateurs at this point, but we want to at least look like professional amateurs who are on their way to try some bigger things.
The other stuff is a bit more personal. One lesson I learned the hard way this last year was in regards to bike set up. Finances were tight after medical bills started rolling in, and I thought I'd be better off waiting to set up the bike until I was close to my old pace. BIG mistake. I knew I wasn't confident in the bike, but I thought a lot of that was me. Well, a lot of it was the bike. I knew this as soon as we resprung it, but I still delayed on going to a suspension tuner who knew me and my riding style. That was another big mistake. I don't ride like a lot of the guys, their set ups simply won't work for me. Too bad it took me most of the year to realize that.
SO, this winter the bike is getting set up for what I want to do with it, not where I'm currently at. No, I'm not adding a bunch of horsepower I'm not using, but I am setting the bike up in terms of suspension, tuning, geometry, etc so that it is performing like it can. Whether I like it or not, my willingness to push things is very dependent on my confidence in the machine doing what it should. Getting a set up for one pace, then coming close to that, then changing everything again so I can make the next leap - nope, done playing that game.
I'm refining my sponsorships and how I will be representing these amazing companies and people this next year. There are plans for increased social media outputs as well - I've been pretty good about posts and race reports, but could definitely expand more into the video realm - I've got enough background in it that making the time for that would be a nice bonus to the things I'm already doing.
And far from last, there's working on myself. I was able to start figuring out my weak areas on the bigger bike, so I'm spending a fair bit of time on mindfulness training to teach my brain to see the track faster, especially in the horsepower sections. Train myself to only have x amount of time to get through the motions I'm used to having y amount of time for.
Rehabilition of my leg and re-finding my fitness is a daily thing again. For much of the summer, walking was a challenge. Now, things have progressed where I can return to the gym (depending on the day) and I can work on losing the extra pounds I packed on. Those are daily choices and things I'm working on constantly, but will play a big part in my ability to perform this coming season.
A huge shout out to everyone, and especially my amazing sponsors, who hung with me through a tough year. I can't make promises about 2018, but what I will promise is that I will work my tail off, pretty much every single day, to make this coming year the best I can. My sponsors have been not only great supporters, but good friends, and I want to see them succeed as well, and I will be working to expand my offerings in promoting them as well.
Here's to a winter of hard work and continued determination - Happy Holidays everyone!
Okay, my wallet is past cringing. It's now curled up in the corner, crying and having seizures. And it has only started.
Taking a few of the lessons from last year, a few things have been in the works. For starters, the race team, which we had started under the honey badger name, is becoming official and we are working on a professional presence. We're still amateurs at this point, but we want to at least look like professional amateurs who are on their way to try some bigger things.
The other stuff is a bit more personal. One lesson I learned the hard way this last year was in regards to bike set up. Finances were tight after medical bills started rolling in, and I thought I'd be better off waiting to set up the bike until I was close to my old pace. BIG mistake. I knew I wasn't confident in the bike, but I thought a lot of that was me. Well, a lot of it was the bike. I knew this as soon as we resprung it, but I still delayed on going to a suspension tuner who knew me and my riding style. That was another big mistake. I don't ride like a lot of the guys, their set ups simply won't work for me. Too bad it took me most of the year to realize that.
SO, this winter the bike is getting set up for what I want to do with it, not where I'm currently at. No, I'm not adding a bunch of horsepower I'm not using, but I am setting the bike up in terms of suspension, tuning, geometry, etc so that it is performing like it can. Whether I like it or not, my willingness to push things is very dependent on my confidence in the machine doing what it should. Getting a set up for one pace, then coming close to that, then changing everything again so I can make the next leap - nope, done playing that game.
I'm refining my sponsorships and how I will be representing these amazing companies and people this next year. There are plans for increased social media outputs as well - I've been pretty good about posts and race reports, but could definitely expand more into the video realm - I've got enough background in it that making the time for that would be a nice bonus to the things I'm already doing.
And far from last, there's working on myself. I was able to start figuring out my weak areas on the bigger bike, so I'm spending a fair bit of time on mindfulness training to teach my brain to see the track faster, especially in the horsepower sections. Train myself to only have x amount of time to get through the motions I'm used to having y amount of time for.
Rehabilition of my leg and re-finding my fitness is a daily thing again. For much of the summer, walking was a challenge. Now, things have progressed where I can return to the gym (depending on the day) and I can work on losing the extra pounds I packed on. Those are daily choices and things I'm working on constantly, but will play a big part in my ability to perform this coming season.
A huge shout out to everyone, and especially my amazing sponsors, who hung with me through a tough year. I can't make promises about 2018, but what I will promise is that I will work my tail off, pretty much every single day, to make this coming year the best I can. My sponsors have been not only great supporters, but good friends, and I want to see them succeed as well, and I will be working to expand my offerings in promoting them as well.
Here's to a winter of hard work and continued determination - Happy Holidays everyone!
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