Wow it has been a very busy fall for me and my family. Between family needs, training, working and team business I started to forget about taking care of my business. Yep I have a modest business that is focused on visual communication. I have reshaped this business, GSR Solutions, several times over the years but at its heart it remains the same. A free lance moniker used to support my cycling addiction.

As I said before, its modest and I decided this year its too modest to support my cycling addiction alone.

For those of us who race competitively for very long come to grips with the cost of our hobby. Do not be fooled, if you race and race for a team you are in a business. You are a one man PR and Marketing Army. That is if you have sponsors. If you have not been doing this for your sponsors they wont be sponsors for long.

My team MainStreetVelo.com is sponsored by a very diverse group of local businesses in Central Kentucky. I along with other members of MSV will communicate our team’s progress to them over the next season. We will also make our sponsor’s aware of marketing opportunities when they arise. I hope to come up with other creative approaches to help improve our sponsor’s brands.

While the team is sponsored I and my daughter are as well. I started another business in an effort to teach my young daughter a few things about running a business and how to earn money to help support her cycling efforts.

While writing about and planning for the 2010 season I decided to send my meager cycling resume to several new National Sports Brands seeking sponsorship. I was pleasantly surprised that I was offered real sponsorships as an individual!

In my next articles I will introduce to you my new sponsors and the process I used to promote myself and some of the things I will do to promote my new sponsors.

So you have been riding for a while now and you have contested a few sprints in your favorite group ride. Maybe you even raced in a citizen/ Cat 5 race and enjoyed it.

Now you are asking yourself am I ready to be competitive? If you are asking yourself this type of question then you are at the very least ready to do some research.

Oh yeah, one more thing! Prime time for recruiting has passed. Do not wait till next spring to join a team it will be almost impossible to find one. Teams are starting to order uniforms now so get busy and read the rest of the post.

I was recently asked by a local athlete where do I start? This person knows that I race and manages a team but not everyone knows where to begin. In the USA there are several governing bodies in competitive cycling. Some of these organizations are regional, national or event specific. Based on the type of racing you want to do you must select a governing group. Since this blog covers road racing I will be imforming you the reader where to find helpful information as it pertains to USA Cycling.

If you are not sure if there is a local team that supports new racers then check the USA Cycling Directory here: http://www.usacycling.org/clubs/

If you aren’t having much luck fimding a team or even a club contact your region’s represenative. They can be found here: http://www.usacycling.org/states/new/

While cycling is growing as a sport in the USA you may find that the nearest team to you is to far from your home. Do not despair you have still have options.

• You can join a nationally marketed team.
• You can bite the bullet and travel to meet up with a long distance team.
• You could move. I know people who have done this.
• You can start your own team!

You wont be disappointed in joining a team I promise. When I took a look around I could not find a team that I could travel to the practices on a regular basis. I was pretty dismayed as I had been racing as a citizen by myself and it became obvious that there was safety in numbers. A friend of mine was getting ready to start a new bike shop in the community we live in and so we decided a club and team were in order. There are a few things you have to do to start your own team and you USA Cycling local contact can you fill you in on it. Starting the team has been one the more challenging volunteer efforts of mine but it has also been one of the most rewarding things I have done. If you do not feel that you are a very organized individual then I would highly suggest not starting your own team.

Good luck with your search and I hope the 2010 race season is everything you think it will be!

One of the reasons I created this blog was to share my trials, tribulations and experiences as a cyclist. I have not been capturing what’s going on with my training. So here we go simple and to the point. Follow at your own risk.

Week 1 – Base 1

Tue AM, Speed Play Intervals, 30 min – On Rollers

Warm up 5 min

Spin up an easy gear in the small ring and in the middle of the cassette for a count of 10 seconds. This is an all out controlled spin. No bouncing in the saddle.

Recover at for the balance of the first minute and add 2 more minutes and repeat spin.

Stretch at completion for 5 minutes focusing on legs and lower back.