The 2019 St. George Marathon started how most other St. George Marathons do…Pitch black, freezing, and windy. The excitement of the start with the music, athletes, lights, and helicopters circling above with the wind, freezing temperatures, and darkness create this weird but amazing dichotomy. I had made some calls a week before the race to the fast guys who usually race it and, to my surprise, they weren’t coming. Having won it the last 4 times,...
The Tour of America’s Dairyland (ToAD) is the largest competitive road cycling series in the U.S. It hosts eleven straight days of racing throughout Southeast Wisconsin. The tour was started in 2009 and extends the legacy of multi-day bike racing that first started in Wisconsin in 1969. Handcyclists race four of the eleven days with the third day being the Criterium National Championship. This year, the racing was as competitive as ever. I was feeling good and...
In April, I had an opportunity to spend a week in Tucson, Arizona, with fellow handcyclists who are being coached by the coaching staff at NEXUS Endurance. It was a week of tough training and evalaution with some great athletes in weather that could not have been more perfect. Most days were spent riding in the morning and afternoon followed by an educational session after a group dinner. It is so interesting how much I continue to learn about...
Always travel with a doorstop in your carry on bag. When lugging a handcycle around an airport or hotel, I don’t know how many times I’ve found myself needing to prop a door open so I can get myself and my handcycle through it. A doorstop is a cheap and simple solution to this common problem. Always break your handcycle down and travel with it in a protective case. While, it’s easier to maneuver and travel with a...
The Law Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR) is the largest public awareness vehicle and grass-roots fundraiser for Special Olympics. Known honorably as Guardians of the Flame, law enforcement members and Special Olympics athletes carry the “Flame of Hope” into the Opening Ceremony of local competitions, and into Special Olympics State, Provincial, National, Regional and World Games. Annually, almost 110,000 dedicated and compassionate law enforcement members carry the “Flame of Hope,” symbolizing courage and celebration of diversity uniting communities around the globe. This past year, I was asked...
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to race in the St. George Marathon on Saturday in Utah and the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday in California. After winning the St. George Marathon the last two years, I felt the pressure to come up with a victory again this year. It was dark, cold, rained, and even hailed but I managed to come away with the win again. The competition was tough and we hit speeds in excess of...
As competitive athletes, we are constantly striving to be stronger, faster, and better. We train 5-6 days a week and are often pushing our bodies harder and harder to achieve the results we want. When I first got into handcycling, I thought that the more miles I put on the bike, the faster I would be. I was doing 40-60 miles a day, every day. What I learned, with the help of my coach, was that this was not...
Many people have often asked me when my off-season is? My answer…never! I have two seasons…the racing season and the training season. If you are not working hard in the training season then you will not have the results you want in the racing season. I always get a nervous feeling in my stomach during the training season when I think that someone may be doing more than me or working harder than me. If they are working harder...
As Team PossAbilities paracyclists, we compete in events all over the country. Some of them are one-day events, like marathons, and some are 2-4 day stage races. A stage race is a combination of some or all of the road events: road race, criterium, time trial, hill climb, and team relay. Ever wondered what exactly these things are? I know I did! So here is a brief explanation of the types of racing we do: Road Race - These...
After a tough week of racing at the Time Trial, Road Race, and Team Relay National Championships in Georgia, it was straight to Wisconson to do the Tour of America’s Dairyland for the Criterium National Championships. The week consisted of four crit’s located all over Wisconsin with the National Championship being crit race number three. I had a great week in Wisconsin, partly because the temperatures were cooler and the weather I prefer to race in. My performance was...
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