New Coach: Dan Smith

When I started racing this year, I wasn't really taking it that seriously, since I wanted to ease into and just have a lot of fun. But then things started getting serious as I quickly upgraded to Cat 2 and I have now joined a new team with the goal of progressing further. Going to Nationals was a gentle reminder that although I'm not a terrible bike racer, I have a long way to go to really be good. And I have a lot of training to do, and that's something that I've been unable to organize on my own, having neither the knowledge, the time, or the motivation to put together my own comprehensive training plan. Therefore, it's finally time for me to get a coach to help me figure out how to be a better bike racer. I do have the time, the inclination, and the motivation to carry out more training, so I'm now getting ready to train more seriously with my new coach's help. I decided that I want Dan Smith to be my coach for a couple of reasons. First, it's awfully convenient for my coach and my director sportif to be the same person because then my coach already knows what races my team is focusing on. Second, I've gotten to know Dan well enough in the past month to realize that I'll definitely get along with him and that I like his way of approaching things in general. And thirdly, Dan seems to know what he's talking about, being both an experienced racer himself and an experienced coach. He's lucky enough to have his own full-time coaching business called SportVelo, so I know that cycling and his athletes are his main priority. Anyway, I met with Dan today and we talked about the plan for the rest of the season (what races I should do, etc) and I think it's the start of a very promising partnership. I'm off to development camp this coming week, so he's off the hook for this weeks workouts, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he thinks up for me to do (and then doing it).