Brett Tack: April 2nd, the next step and a little history.

So after settling back into a normal routine back in boulder, it is time to look toward the next objective. Upon my return, I took a day completely off the bike and 2 days that consisted of an hour long easy spin. It was hard for me to even take that much of a break, but it did me a lot of good.

Training since I've been back:

Monday I got back in the saddle and road some flat roads for about 3 hours. Tuesday and Wednesday and thursday I went into the hills and did a bunch of back to back climbs. Wednesday evening, I did my first CompuTrainer workout in a while and it was brutal! Friday was an easy day with me simply teaching my indoor cycling class, and today was a great day of climbing hitting up the four steepest paved roads in the boulder area.

My goal this week was to ride just as much as I felt like riding and keep the rides 3 hours or less for the most part. I did just that, except for today which was about 4.5 hours, and justifiably so since it was almost 80 degrees out! Should end up with about 22 hours on the bike this week and I still feel quite fresh!

Next race:

With most of the Colorado racing consisting of criteriums this time of year, I have opted to use my time to get in long training rides with a ton of climbing. My goal has always been short 3-5 day stage races which tend to suit me better. I enjoy them more, and it is hard for me to waste a whole weekend day to race for 60 minutes.

My big goal is to somehow get myself town to the Tour of the Gila at the end of this month. That is still up in the air since the cost is substantial.
For now, I going to plan as though I am going to Gila and continue to build my fitness with that in mind. As a tune up for Gila, I am looking to head to Utah next weekend to compete at the Tour of the Depot stage race. Since it is 3 stages in 2 days, It appears I may be able to make it happen without missing any work! The course looks challenging, with a lot of climbing, and a medium distance Time Trial which will be really good for my build up. It is a mixed cat1/2 field so I will have to overcome some fast riders to place well, but I know I have done my homework the best I could up to this point.

From there, I will have roughly 2 weeks to prepare myself. I have a bunch of other goals set for myself over the next two months that I will reveal later when I feel a bit more confident. For now I will be trying to hit up the races that suit me and see what I can do! Putting in the work will pay dividends at some point...and it doesn't hurt to have a little heart to go with it. Motivation is high!

Nonsense: If you don't want to know a whole lot about my history, stop reading here!

When I look at where I was fitness wise a year or even two years ago, it is definitely an eye opener. The years 2008-2009 were probably the worst year I have ever experienced. My last year at CSU was 2007 and was probably one of the best of my life. Coming off a breakout season and multiple victories over the summer, I was ready to take the cycling world by the neck in 2008. After an amazing training camp in Tucson and and productive winter on the Trainer, I ran into a road block. Team opportunities fell apart, job market was terrible and I suddenly found myself in quite a mess. A rather complicated situation with my soon to be team came to the surface and in the end, I was left with nothing. I was so shocked by how it went down, that I basically stopped riding. I didn't touch the bike for months.
That may I actually went up to Alaska, to work and get away from everything in Fort Collins. I spent upwards of 14 hours a day laboring for my mothers business. More than anything I needed a release to get out the anger I was holding from the team situation. When I returned to Fort Collins, I continued to work at a local athletic training facility and tried to ignore the nagging feelings. This was the most challenging time for me mentally and it tested me to a level that I wouldn't realize till over a year later.
A friend of Lindsays family broke me out of my funk and offered me a free ride in the Triple Bypass bike event. Its a fun ride with lots of climbing and is generally rather hard to get an entry to. I accepted and got back on the bike. I trained for a month, and rode the event is just over 7 hours. My goal was to ride it as hard as I could and just crush myself. Following that event, I had some motivation, but it wasn't enough. I put the bike back away and returned to my rather pathetic existence. This is basically where I remained for the next two years.
At the end of that year, Lindsay and I ended up moving to Boulder so she could begin Graduate School. I continued to work in loveland doing athletic training but the commute was to much. I then spent almost 2 years unemployed and searching for something to inspire me. Worst two years of my life by far. At the end of 2009 I really began doing a small amount of personal training and even riding a little. The roads around boulder are amazing, but with my level of fitness it was just embarrasing. I was overweight and extremely out of shape. The simplest rides would take everything out of me, but I continued to ride recreationally every now and then. That winter I ended up with an amazing opportunity to work the the soon to open Colorado Athletic Club Boulder. The opening of the club was definitely a turning point in my life. Good people were running the show and I felt comfortable for the first time in a while. I worked my ass off to be there every moment of the day for the first 3-4 months. My training took a huge hit, but in the end I knew it would be worth it.

After establishing a decent business, I began to train. In July and August of 2010, I put in about 90 hours on the bike each month. I entered my first race in 3 years which was the Boulder Time Trial series, and ended up 4th. I raced the ACA road championships and got my teeth kicked in. I raced the Steamboat Stage Race and once again got destroyed, but one thing came out of these. That thing, was the desire and motivation that I needed and was looking for.

The 2010-2011 winter was my most productive ever! I was at the gym usually over 12 hours each day. I would work in the morning, ride the CompuTrainer for 2-4 hours and then work in the evening. If it was nice out, I would ride from the gym. My fitness was so far behind everyone else in my category that it was going to take a ton of work to even get close to my previous level. Its hard to look 6 months ahead and visualize the goal, but somehow I made it through.

This brings me to where I am now. I have one good race under my belt and am happy with the outcome. I have set very high goals for myself this season and some may seem a bit crazy. I have a lot of big races on my schedule and also the hopes of finding a good team. You are never guarunteed anything in this sport, but a good friend told me, all I have to do is do my homework, and the results will come. So thats what I will continue to do. The peole around me are amazing and that is really all I can ask for.

here are some old racing pics