After a few years of racing and seeing so many people burn out of the sport, I knew that at some point I had to take a year off. I didn’t know when, but I knew that it would be good for my sanity and my future enjoyment of the sport.

I never expected that break to be forced upon me by a global pandemic, but that’s what happened. When the world went sideways last year, I knew right away that 2020 was my year off of bikes. It was great to not have the pressure of training and racing with everything else going on last year. It was a good call and it needed to happen, but now it’s 2021 and we’re vaxxed and waxed (not really) and ready to roll (also not really).

The return of racing is on the horizon and I’ve spent the last year doing everything you’re not supposed to do to be fast. Luckily, I was able to spend the winter in Puerto Rico with Emma and my family, where we both started riding consistently again. For the past four months I’ve had little to no idea about where my power numbers really are, and honestly I haven’t cared very much either. The priority was just getting back on the bike.

Now that I’ve done that, it’s time to assess the damage from a long block focused on everything other than cycling watts. So this weekend, TBD coach Jacob Fetty put power tests on our calendars. I was probably the only one looking forward to testing, because I was genuinely curious and had entirely forgotten how much testing sucks. Everyone was excited to be out though; it was a beautiful day and thanks to COVID we haven’t this big of a roll in what feels like forever.

Riding bikes hard with your friends is, always has been, and always will be super fun. We did our tests early in the ride and went to College Hills to keep the spice going, even though there was no need for it. We went for every imaginary sprint line and someone was always pushing the pace. We had our first bonks of the year, and Corey had an intimate conversation with the bushes at our fuel stop on the way back (the pollen was brutal out there, and Corey’s allergies did not respond well). Nevertheless, for all of its ups and downs we were all smiles, all day.

All photos throughout by Daghan Perker

The Full Gallery

All photos throughout by Daghan Perker