I didn't write a season report in 2002 because it was relatively boring and I didn't have as much fun racing as usual. But I thought I'd recall some of the good parts to fill in the gap that's missing in my journal.

I raced for CCB in '02 and the best part was two club training rides in January with Tyler Hamilton. On one of them the two of us just sat at the front towing two lines of riders and chatting for about an hour. That guy is so modest and has so much class. Since that time he has become a true cycling legend.

In February I went to Florida to train with Tim Unkert and Sean Condon but got an awful stomach bug and came home. But the winter was warm here that year and I did plenty of junk miles. The best one was a 7 hour ride in the hills and wind at more than 18mph averaging 210 watts. In March I was 2nd at a Gill training race. On the way to the Adelphia GP I came upon a swan sitting on the yellow line in a 50mph zone. It appeared to be in distress so I turned around and parked in the dirt. I figured I could a.) get it out of the road and out of danger, or b.) if it was close to dead I'd bring it home to find out what swan tastes like. After I pulled over some other guy did the same thing but parked right at the swan's location. The next car that came along had to sideswipe the swan to avoid the idiot's car. Instead of lecturing the guy I opted to run up to the swan and give it some motivation by kicking it in the ass. Damn those things are huge! The swan proceeded to take off like a military cargo jet. It must have taken 100 meters of "running" to get airborne. Then it almost hit the phone lines. I watched it fly off before continuing to Adelphia where I probably got my own ass figuratively kicked. I can't recall.

In May I was hauling ass at Bear Mtn and just as I was finishing a solo bridge to the select leading group on the last lap I crashed on a wet white stripe at the U turn at the bottom of the descent. My friend Nat Faulkner won that day. I followed that performance by jamming my chain at the Housatonic Valley classic (now tour of CT) during a crutial early climb. After stopping to fix it I almost bridged to the high powered peleton before blowing up. I had a bit of success in June with a 2nd to Jon Hamblen at the Housatonic Hills RR and a 2nd to Peter Hult in a Wachusett HCTT. But like usual I withered in the traditional heat wave at Fitchburg as well as the Elite Nationals in Nashville. I recall being in a laundromat in the slums of Nashville where I stayed. I noticed that my watch was off and asked the woman working there what time zone we were in. She replied sternly, "I don't know, you expect me to know that? They don't teach us that kind of stuff in schools around here". And there was a middle aged guy with a gold tooth that hung around the motel called "Old School". He would always ask me for money and had some elaborate explanations for needing a "loan". His requests dropped from $50 when I first met him to about $3 by the time I left. I was so disgusted with my performance in Nashville that I drove home solo in 16 hours (1100 miles) with only three 20 minute stops. It was hot and I had no AC causing me to sweat excessively. That's why I didn't need to stop often. I traveled to Altoona with Shawn McCormack and had a good time. Except for Wednesday's stage, which was the worst day I ever had on a bike. It was a mountainous 101 mile stage in 95 degrees with humidity. I overheated and went off the back with 30 miles to go. During this time I felt so bad that I told myself that once I got to the finish line I would never ride a bike again. Between 10k and 5k to go my average speed was 12mph on choppy terrain at full effort. The medical team gave me all the ice I wanted at the finish. I put a bag on my head, neck, feet, in my shorts, and down my shirt with no insulating layers. Straight ice on my skin but I barely felt a thing. After 20 minutes of "cooling" I was fine.

After Altoona I was toast so I went to watch Mt Snow with long time friend Jon McQuillian. I watched Roland Green blaze the XC course, riders duke it out in the 4 cross, and witnessed the "yard sale" portion of the pro downhill. UnREAL! I was so pumped from watching that stuff. And then there was the naked crit…sweeet. The following weekend I was 4th at the Saco RR. Labor day weekend I did the tour of VT where Tim and I stayed with Brian Jones. We had our usual good times. I remember Tim and I convinced Brian that the grocery store was too far away to walk to. Brian disagreed but drove us the two blocks anyway. I probably finished just out of the money on GC. I finished off the season with two relays. The first was the Josh Billings where my team won even though I managed to get dropped by Sean Nealy, Billy Innis, and some other guy. The second was a duathlon with high school friend Katie Brace. We won the mixed team competition and had a great day. I remember the start of the bike leg was like pinball as I flew past riders who had just finished running and were not fresh like me.