"Get off the road and get a job!". This was yelled at me today while I was riding- minding my own business at 11 in the morning. Then it hit me: bike riding and racing is now officially my job*!
*On Jan. 1st
For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter or aren't friends with me on Facebook, I officially signed a professional contract for 2014 with Jamis / Hagens Berman pb Sutter Home.
This is much more than a culmination of years of pedaling: it's a huge opportunity for me and I am thrilled to be part of such an excellent program for the 2014 season. For those unfamiliar with the team, they stepped up to the challenge this year and won stages at the Tour of California and the Tour of Colorado, the only Continental team to do so. I'm feeling pretty grateful to have the chance to learn from some pretty experienced bike racers and have a chance to challenge myself at an all new level and in a completely different role.
I think I might be the first person.. maybe ever... to progress from Junior - Amateur - Elite Amateur - Professional under the same sponsor. I rode as a junior for Rad Racing when they had support from Hagens Berman, I rode as a Cat 3 and Cat 2 on the Hagens Berman club team, graduated to the Hagens Berman Elite team when I got my Cat 1 upgrade, and now have signed with a professional team co-sponsored by Hagens Berman. This doesn't mean much other than that I am very grateful that I have been able to pursue this crazy sport and represent a company that is willing to invest in cycling (when not many others are) for so long.
So what does this mean?
- I'm ready to work harder and play whatever role I'm needed in 2014
- I have a fairly good excuse to try and get out of doing yard work since my contract says that if I hurt myself in non-cycling activities I'm in trouble
- I need to practice my spanish! http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/08/news/tyler-wrens-journal-at-jamis-hagens-berman-its-el-pueblo-unido_299439
- I need to get a new G-Shock.
Also- new team, new teammates and new experiences means that this blog is going to continue and hopefully get bigger and better! I was/am a bit overwhelmed by the amount of support that I've received since I announced the team switch, and it has made me realize just the power of our cycling community. Knowing that people read and are interested in my adventures and misadventures makes me want to pedal harder, write more, and just be generally more exciting and colorful.
I'm sorry there weren't any jokes or pictures in this post. My next post will be full of photos and jokes, I promise. Because I did a cross race, and when I do those it's instant hilarity.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Biking is so great.
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Congrats Ian.
ReplyDeletekenda won a stage at CO
ReplyDeleteyou know if you're driving around at 11am yelling at people then you probably don't have a job either, unless that is a job and then most of Monroe is doing that job pretty good and there are a lot of employees. I don't think it's a job though.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the move! You are an inspiration to the juniors in the northwest. My son Ben Peterson will be racing for Audi in 2014 here in Seattle and looks forward to hear of your progress through the peloton.
ReplyDeleteI can help you nail the headstand down faster than 7th at a cross race
ReplyDeleteYes! My shoulders are wrecked. I'm doing something wrong!
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