Peaceful Transfer Of Power

Earlier today the Wisconsin Cycling Association held its annual meeting, so my time as its president has come to an end. I was honored to serve for the last year, but I am happy to hand the reins to someone else. I was not elected in 2024; I was, apparently, the only person willing to volunteer when other leaders within our cycling community realized there was nobody in charge. During the last year I had a mandate to restore order to the WCA, and I did that. But from my earliest days in the job I made clear that I would not serve more than one term. I hope it was obvious that everything I did in service of the WCA was for its sake only; I took nothing for myself, my team, or my friends.

The accomplishments of the 2024 WCA Board of Directors were many:

• Filled the vacant Board of Directors positions.
• Ensured all Board members received SafeSport certification as required by USA Cycling.
• Re-established a website and a social media presence (Facebook).
• Published the WCA bylaws and financials for review by the public as required by USA Cycling.
• Organized WCA criteriums into a Wisconsin Cup series and incentivized participation with a $1,000 team award.
• Hired a contractor to provide finish line camera services for the 2024 road season, helping to ensure the accuracy of the race results and freeing individual event promoters from the burden of contracting for these services individually.
• Partnered with the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) and with Midwest Youth Cycling League to award state championships in cross-country Olympic mountain bike racing. Prior to 2024, USA Cycling recognized WORS as the state championship organization for this discipline. Beginning in 2024, this responsibility rests with the WCA.
• Established road racing and mountain bike racing committees intended to function similarly to the already established cyclocross committee.
• Supported Hampshire Cycle Club’s application to hold USA Cycling Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships in 2025.
• Hired a contractor to provide registration services at all WCA events in 2025, ensuring consistency of the process and freeing individual event promoters from the burden of providing these services individually.
• Exercised careful stewardship of WCA funds, spending money where necessary and saving it where possible. We entered 2025 with a bank account balance that was larger than the one we inherited a year ago.
• Revised the bylaws (1) to provide for a fifth Board member, thereby eliminating the possibility of deadlocks on issues that require a vote, (2) to extend the terms of Board members from one year to two years and to stagger the elections of Board members in a way that ensures continuity from year to year as a safeguard against wholesale changes, (3) to replace outdated references to the United States Cycling Federation, now recognizing USA Cycling as the national governing body, and (4) to remove gender-specific language.

It truly was a productive year that put the WCA back on the right course. I’m glad I did it, I’m glad I’m done, and I wish nothing but the best for the new people who have stepped into leadership roles for 2025 and beyond.

The 2025 ToAD Schedule

 

2024: A Statistical Review

This was never going to be a huge year for me statistically, and breaking my leg at the start of November didn’t help. With the last two months of 2024 wiped out by injury, I finished the season with only 3,678 miles of cycling. That ranks 18th out of 21 seasons and is my lowest total since 2006. I did 141 rides this year, so my per-ride total was 26.09 miles. That’s almost 10% below my career average of 28.79. Here’s my 2024 mileage breakdown, month-by-month:

No personal records there! My only PR in 2024 came from walking: 554 miles, smashing the old mark of 463 miles that I set in 2021. For 2025, I will shoot for another 500 miles of walking for fitness. On the bike, I will look for another 3,161 miles, half of what I still need to reach 100,000 lifetime miles. If that seems like a low target, then consider that I still haven’t gotten back on the bike since my surgery. I don’t know how my body is going to respond. It could be months before I find out. I might be a strictly fair-weather cyclist from now on: no more cold, no more wet. There’s a really good chance I won’t ride outdoors before April or after October. And, at least right now, I have no plans to dust off the turbo trainer.

The 2025 WEMS Schedule

A Few Steps Closer To Normal

These will serve me until I can get back into lace-up shoes again!

Sunday was a significant day in my recovery from a broken leg: I reoccupied the lower level of my home. I had been restricting myself to the upper level, living as much as possible without going up and down stairs. My dining room served as a temporary home office. My living room turned into something of a track where I did a little walking to rebuild strength and mobility. Going up and down the stairs was rare. I allowed myself the occasional trip to the mailbox or to the basement for laundry.

Stairs aren’t a challenge anymore. My home office isn’t just open for business again; it’s open for business with a big new monitor that I’m sure will make my job easier. And I’ve dusted off the home gym. On Sunday, I did a 30-minute treadmill walk. My speed was deliberately much slower than normal, and that’s OK. For a while, my treadmill walks will be little more than a replacement for all the pacing I did in the living room! But Sunday’s walk felt more like rehab. It was a very intentional act with very clear objectives. There wasn’t anything athletic about it. I’m not there yet. (I’m just two weeks removed from using a walker.) But I think mindset matters. The darkest days are behind me and I’m rebuilding instead of only compensating. Treadmill walks are quantifiable. I can do a certain number of a certain duration, speed, and incline. I can set target dates for higher efforts as I get stronger. We’ll see how this goes. There’s no reason to rush the process.

The 2025 WORS Schedule

The Wisconsin Off-Road Series announced its 2025 schedule today. Alpine Valley is out, but new races in Cable and in Rockford will expand the series to 10 weekends.

My Season-Ending Injury

55 minutes is Google's guess. My actual time was somewhat longer!

On Monday afternoon I crashed while riding solo through Quaas Creek Park. It was a wet day and I foolishly tried to ride during a break in the rain. I hit a patch of wet leaves and lost the front of the bike. I was on the ground in an instant. I knew I was hurt and that I shouldn't try to get back on the bike, but I did not yet realize just how bad things were. I walked home, 2.5 miles, on a broken leg.

Reaching my home almost convinced me that things should be OK. However, during the next couple of hours my pain level shot up and I became almost completely immobile. Paramedics pulled me out of my house and took me to the hospital, where X-rays confirmed that I had fractured my right femur at the femoral head. That's where the big leg bone connects to the pelvis.

On Tuesday, I had a total hip replacement. That is major surgery and I will need many weeks to feel close to normal again. My 2024 cycling season is obviously over. The only good news is that I have been home since Wednesday evening, and I should be able to work from here. As a consultant/contractor, I don't get disability pay. I missed three days of work this week and that's hundreds of dollars of lost income. I want to resume my duties as soon as possible, especially knowing some huge medical bills are coming.