2019 was a tough year for me as a competitor. I was finally committed enough again to be “training”, but couldn’t stay consistent enough to be fully prepared. That’s hard to take when you see glimpses of what could be, and you’re just one percent off. That’s really all it takes to just miss the top step. I got a lot of second and third places, which is fine if I felt that was all I was capable of, but it’s not.
Before getting to the new challenges part, I was thinking back on my last 10 years like most people probably did with the new year. You see, I’ve only been racing bicycles and riding them for fitness for 13yrs. Which sounds like a long time when I say it, but it’s nothing compared to most of my competitors on the national level who are ex-pros and junior phenoms. I started in mid twenties, knowing absolutely nothing about cycling, following a recommendation from my buddy Steve Swope.
My first big motivator was a fast guy named Ray Hall. I knew nothing about him other than the fact he was was better than me. Naturally I decided I needed to be that fast. It took a long time to figure out how to race at that level, but I finally got there, thanks to guidance from Ray himself at times. We’re good buddies now too, by the way and even neighbors, and we still duke it out on the MTB!
Jumping forward to my next big motivator. Also a good friend now and employer, Jake Lasley. Once I tried Cyclocross for the first time I was hooked. Again, I knew nothing about this discipline and it took a while to figure it out. Even just the basic equipment side of it. Skipping over a lot of the timeline, I saw Jakes level and wanted to reach that. At times it honestly didn’t seem realistic to me. I remember finally beating him at a race in OKC, I remember it vividly and it felt like my biggest win ever!! Still ranks up there pretty high to be honest. Little did I know I was still not quite there though. Becoming teammates and learning from him, and our other teammate Paul Bonds, I pieced it all together and finally made it to that level. Which was satisfying for me and a nice place to settle…. until I saw the next challenge. 
Another Jake! Due to race day scheduling conflicts I decided to do the Single Speed race at FayetteCross. Jake Wells was there and he is the multi-time Single Speed National champ. We went to war both days with some of the most fun racing I’ve done in a while. He got the better of me both days and it was all good. He’s such a nice guy you almost don’t mind getting beat by him. We squared off again at Cincy CX. More running this time and he was much better than me there. I felt I was riding better, but he was running better and I feel that lost me the race. This one frustrated me for that reason. Fast forward to Pan-Ams in Canada. I rode with Jake through lap 2 into the stair run ups. Once we got to the top, the race was over. He was just too good running. Frustrating again. Not because he was good, but because I had ignored that part of CX prep hoping to just get by without it.
So the new challenge? Raising my game to match this level. I’ve already began running quite a bit in hopes of building a solid base before we get to CX season. I’ve been getting a lot of shit about running so much, but it’s ok with me. It’s just what has to be done. My main point being there’s always another attainable level and always someone just a little better. I hear and see a lot of people urging others to “cat up” when they’re dominating a certain category. In some cases, yes they shouldn’t be there, but in many others people just want to push away the best so they get their podium picture. Maybe instead let them motivate you and raise your level. Learn from your competitors and let them learn from you. It’s ok to ask your competitors questions as well. I’ve asked all three of the guys mentioned in this questions at one time or another and they willingly helped. Good quality competitors want good quality competition. We all want to win, but what fun is that if you don’t feel you’re beating the best?
Chris drummond 