Back in the Game...

So it seems I've managed to get myself involved in the cycling team game once again. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but I guess we tend to fall back into old habits easily.

Back in the late 90's and through about 2005, I  ran the Cane Creek Elite Team. This amounted to, securing sponsorship, recruiting riders, baby sitting said riders and generally making our tiny little budget look 10 times bigger than it ever was.

I look back on that time proudly. We accomplished many great things and won a lot of races. Some of the riders have gone on to bigger and better things. But most of all, we had more fun than any bunch of guys should be allowed to have.

Fast forward to 2011, and after a season as a guest rider/mentor/guy who knows something for a new little team called Asheville Grass Roots/Industry Nine, finds me back in the hot seat as part time director, sponsorship coordinator and all around old guy who knows something.

Luckily I'm not doing this all alone this time. Chris Larsen, Drew Hager and Matt Dinsmore are all taking on roles. It is nice to have these guys to bounce ideas off of and who are truly looking out for the benefit of the team and not their own personal interest. They created Asheville Grassroots, and I am happy they have asked me to join the ride.

I didn't think I would be back here again. In fact I had pretty much told myself that I would never do this again. It is funny how the pain of something seems to always dissipate over time.  It is just like when we turn ourselves inside out, cramping wheezing and stumbling across the finish line and promise, never again, only to find ourselves analyzing the data and doing more painful intervals so that we can once again experience the joy of winning. With this team I'm finding the prospect of a winning scenario to hard to ignore.

I'm personally sponsoring the team through my business, HD Coaching, and have the privilege of coaching some truly up and coming talents.   We are going to be announcing the rest of our sponsors in the coming weeks. Some of them you know, some of them you don't. We hope the faith they have put in us will be a 10 fold return on their investment.

If you don't already follow the team on Facebook go here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001680326288