I realize it's futile to think that anyone is reading this blog, but it makes me feel somewhat secure that it is somewhat anonymous.  I'm putting it out there, but only those who really want to, will find it and read it.  Maybe with less people reading, my words will be less of a lightning rod for criticism. 

"Lightning Rod" - That has been the theme in the last part of road season and as we move into cross.  No good deed goes unpunished and there has been the realization that no matter how hard to you try to help and please, you will always fail to some extent and that there will always be people who disagree, disapprove or otherwise hate what you are doing.  I think John, Mike and I are coming to realize this and are learning to cope.  But it really was hard the first few times that it hit us. 

The hardest part is when it hits the kids.  We are a large group and when you say "kids" and "cycling" in this area, chances are it is a Red Zone kid.  But kids are kids and when someone sees something they don't think a kid should be doing, they high tail it straight to me, John or someone that knows us and they complain.  Again, we want our kids to be good role models in public, but they are, after all, only kids.

Anyway...enough about BEING a lightning rod - let's talk about lightning striking twice for young Ian McShane.  I AM partial.  He is my son.  And he fulfilled his summer training goal by winning the 10-12 National Time Trial Championship in Bend, Oregon.  We trained specifically for this goal together.  He had a great week of racing, finishing 1st in TT, 5th in the road race and 7th in the criterium.  We were a long way from home and it was interesting to see how he could hold his focus through the whole trip.  I attribute a lot of it to not only the bike that Mike pulled together for him, but to Drew Dillman who was travelling with us.  Having Drew there kept Ian "in the game" because Drew is SERIOUS about his racing.  In fact, at the end of the trip, we delivered him to the people that would be getting him on the plane to Belgium for the 15-16 training camp there.

I was so proud of all the boys that competed at Natz.  I do learn something every time I go to Junior Nationals.  This year I learned that the 15-16 age category is not a kid category.  There were SERIOUS competitors who looked like full-grown men out there.  It was no playing around.  They rode adult length races and raced like adults.  To think of some of my youngest boys in this category in a couple of years is amazing to me.  But that is the joy of watching them grow.  To see Brian, Dan and Drew compete in this category made me see how much they have grown as young men.  It made me feel that, yes, they are going to be alright.

Once we returned from Nationals, I had to disappear for a while.  It was a long and well travelled road season and I was feeling the residuals.  Plus August is our time to regroup and hold parent meetings for kids that want to get involved with Red Zone and into cyclocross.  We are fortunate to have added some really good kids and families to our group this year, but there is the huge learning curve there that cannot be described.  September we go full bore into cyclocross while my family also focuses on Cross Country and Field Hockey.  It is a crazy time that leaves me aching for November 1st when I can get back to just cycling.

But the cyclocross season has started here and the kids are out racing, having fun together and doing well.  We're gearing up for the 3 day UCI Cincy event this weekend and then the Louisville stop of the USGP after that...then the march into December where 14 kids have already committed to making the trip to Bend, Oregon (again) for Cyclocross Nationals.  I've had to deal with seeing and hearing about our 2 graduates moving on to other teams.  That has been hard because they both mean so much to me and this program, but as John Haley has described it, it's like watching a teacher see students moving on - you want to hang onto them, but know they've got to move up and on.  It is bittersweet for sure.

Here's to cross and to the next blog.  For those 1 or 2 that read this, good on ya!

L