With the Season Finale behind me, I’m starting to think about what I want to accomplish next season. I was thinking about riding to Wichita to visit my parents, ideally accompanied by my brother currently living in Portland, OR. I still think that would be a very fun thing to do, but if it doesn’t happen, it won’t be the end of the world. The MS150 happens every year, and I really had a good time, illness, flats, rain and thrown chains notwithstanding. It’s a definite next year. Anything else is gravy.

Dawn, the team captain said I should consider some crit races in and around the KC area. I hadn’t considered it before, thinking I preferred long distance riding (Bike Across Kansas, maybe eventually the Bike Across America – that sort of thing), but how will I know what I prefer unless I get a taste of what else is out there. The more I think about it, the more I really like the idea of pitting myself against other local talent. Am I, as Dawn says, a strong rider? With some additional training, knowledge and discipline, do I really stand a chance? How will it compare to the slower endurance challenges of 70, 80 or Century rides?

The only thing that concerns me about it is the politics. I’ve heard the racing community is *much* less friendly than the endurance community. Thus far, I’ve been really impressed by the cyclists I’ve come across. Sure, there are some distant, more aloof people out there, as well as others who just don’t seem to know or care about the rules of the road, but overall, they’re a good bunch of people. How will the racing crowd stand up to that? There’s going to be an element of competition that simply doesn’t exist in the long distance rides I’ve been on so far. Of course, a couple local club rides, a slew of training rides, a couple Centuries and a big charity ride pretty much completes my dossier at this point, so what do I really know?

Nothing. So I think I’ll race a bit to learn something.