Feb 03, 2026
Race Season 2026 Goals We all know the Ultra Distance Race Season for cycling is starting soon. I have participated 3 years in it while not much longer on cycling at all. With some acceptable success. Unfortunate 2023 I and no official result because I did not finish RAAM Solo. However, in 2024 I was able to finish it 3rd and 2025 2nd across all age groups. Not too bad for a cyclist 60+ years. I am turning 62 this year and admitting that getting older year by year does not make it easier. What’s my main goal for 2026 season? The main answer is very easy … I want to finish 2026 with zero accidents. And hopefully as little as possible injuries. I have some health issues that I can work around but not avoid since mid 2025 and that’s ok. The second important goal is to show to as many cyclists as possible that age and some health issues do not mean we must stop cycling and/or competing. May not be as many races as I try but the key is to find some level of enjoyment in ultra-distance racing. Ranking (also for me) is secondary. It’s about what we can accomplish and crossing a finish line is amazing. We may have health issues but pacing ourselves a bit differently helps a lot and even with limited budget as many of us including myself have we can do more than many expect. Most races have convenient stores as well as gas stations on the route and it’s manageable to refill our drinking supply and food. I tested it in 2025 with cool success. So, what’s my target in overall ranking. Since I finished two years in top 3 many may expect something similar … If it shows during the year that I can do it, I will fight for it, but I am realistic and will target a respectable top 5 result or close enough to it. There are Facebook posts and some other internet posts when I am reading those I feel like I am more like a beginner cyclist. I fully understand some coaches and some racers need to make a good show and impress the world. I will try to stay away from that. Yes, I will post race reports and details for next month racing. Plan is to be on as many races as possible well knowing it’s counterproductive due to lack of recovery time. Different to top racers I will again (done it in 2023, 2024 and 2025) try to participate in every race category (12 hours, 24 hours, 750-1500 km (466-932 miles) as well as 1500+ km / 3000+ km (932+ miles/1864+ miles). The hardest maybe the 12-hour race but I think I have one to do. My idea is to do one 12-hour race, one or two 24-hour races, a few 500+ mile races and a race over 2000 miles . In addition to the races and direct competition I am working on a few not so important but cool record attempts. That nevertheless will be extremely limited since I prefer competing in real races. In addition, I am working on a new toy that’s not official until I have it here. It’s going to be very cool and hopefully I can make official posts. Everyone out there a very cool and mostly safe season 2026.
Jan 07, 2026
WUCA Year Rounder Standing 2025 -> I was thinking if I should or should not post the WUCA Year Rounder Competition results for 2025. Mainly because to me the true winner is someone else. Unfortunate he pulled off even he had easy 12k miles more than I and that is indeed really impressive. However I am proud of doing again over 13k miles on rides/races over 90 miles (average one 187 miles per ride due to a few extreme sessions) and whats more interesting in those rides over 90 mile distance I accomplished over 335k feet of elevation gain. (my 2025 overall elevation gain has been well over 500k feet). I will keep pushing for long rides again this year and use them partial for fun specifically in racing and partial to do some cool endurance training rides. Big congratulations also to everyone participating in this. Specifically Kari Obermeyer and Dan Driscoll .... outstanding effort in your 2025 rides and hope everyone keeps pushing in 2026 as well. Big kudos on my end to Infinity Bike Seats ... I use their seats on all my bikes and now also on my stationary trainer. Those make it a bit more easy to be that long on the bicycle.
Jan 07, 2026
Who motivated and still motivates me after 3 years ultra-distance racing I had a cool history of ultra-distance riding and racing. Many have possibly interesting ways to start. In my case it was a bit unplanned. I was riding a bit more centuries (one or two a month) locally in/near Cape Coral Florida. And our Sunday ride leader Chuck Cantieny mentioned if I ever tried Sebring race. So, I looked it up and … I signed up for Sebring 24 hours. Funny as it was, I did have some chats which included Dave Brillhart who was talking about non-drafting would allow for RAAM Solo qualification. I had zero idea about RAAM and even less ideas about drafting or non-drafting at that time (end of 2021). So I changed my signup to non-drafting Sebring 24 hours. I Qualified with about 440 miles and finished 3rd across all age groups so RAAM Solo qualified meant I had to sign up 🙂 . OK … my issue was I got hit by a car while I was riding in bile lane and that car must have drifted into it putting me down hard with major brain bleeding and 3 days unconscious. It took me to recover and rebuild strength. Still participated in RAAM Solo 2023 and started ultra-distance racing 2023. Therefore, who are my idols in bicycle racing? I must admit in the local Caloosa Riders Club there are a few besides chuck Cantieny. We have some very impressive racers like Bruce Lander who has done very well in Triathlon Racing or Jay Trojan who is an impressive racer in Cyclocross racing with amazing results and both are cool in the Gran Fondo race series. Not to forget cyclists such as Chris Scott who helped me crewing in the RAAM Solo 2023 and gave me great advice and admittedly quite a few of the local cyclists. I most do listen to advice and I test it for myself. If it works for me OK and if not I may adjust a bit and test options. It helped me a lot in the short time of cycling to be a descent cyclist for ultra-distance. Admitting in ultra-distance race itself some racers are my true idols. Starting with Christoph Strasser. I watched lots of his videos to learn a lot and actually had some calls directly with him before my first RAAM Solo 2023. What an incredible person and great talking to get advice. He still does some good successful racing and I keep an eye on his progress. Also Marko Baloh ultra-cyclist to me is an amazing ultra-distance racer … I did not have much time chatting with him, but I keep following his races a lot. He amazes me to keep proper motivation up and stick with riding and racing. And one of the latest idols I do have is 2024-year WUCA World Cup winner Marek Rupińskiski. Unfortunate he did not complete as all categories for 2025 but the races he has been cool. Had a few great talks with him and he was extremely kind to see me during the Race Around Poland in 2025. Looking forward to seeing Marek again in Sebring 2026. Besides the cyclists … one impressive idol to me is a crew team of Tim Skipper. I am always amazed watching their stuff and how they help the cyclists in RAAM and other races. Besides all the once named I do respect and get encouraged by racers who fight to the end to cross the finish line in time. I am impressed about the fighting will those riders have and I personally try to learn from them.
Jan 05, 2026
My Ultra-Cycling year 2025 is over. A bit unexpected but looks like I finished second for men across all age groups. I guess that's not too shabby considering I have not used crew support and heck I was 61 years old. Congratulations to Matthew and Anniina for first place men and women. Interesting to me was only that after my Sebring race in February 2025 I knew that I will play no role. My goal for 2025 was very simple ... race as many races as possible (about 1 race a month ... some more as training races) and make sure to see the finish line. Ranking was secondary and focus was to race against myself because I knew I would not be able to play a role. Plus my first complete year going with zero support crew was a challenge and for me I treated 2025 as learning season. Based on 2024 and 2025 ultra-distance race seasons I have a few racers who are definitely my idols ... Mainly Marek Rupiński who won in 2024 and keeps amazing me ... There are quite a few racers who only do a few races a year are amazing to me. In addition I have to say I have an amazing respect for the Polish Racer Piotr Mos UltraCyclist who finished third in 2025. Piotr you have done an impressive racing year. My full respect for that. I know on the WUCA posts or other posts its only the winners who get mentioned ... It's part of the game but I am impressed about everyone fighting for good results in the WUCA WorldCup every year. Was even surprised that Larry Oslund somehow pulled out at the end even I have to say Larry is amazing and a very strong ultra-cyclist. For the races in 2025 and even for coming up races I have to admit that the winners are amazing yes but I am even more impressed about all the racers who stay in a race knowing they may not play a role fighting for a victory. It's that mindset that does impress me and I see every single one of them as a true hero in ultra-distance racing. My goal in 2025 was to fight for being in the top 5 of Worldcup ranking. For 2026 it's the max I expect again. I will turn 62 and my health is causing some issues that require being managed which is doable but could slow me don a bit. I learned a lot in 2025 and hope to be able to use all of it for 2026. And anyone sending me special requests or interested in training sessions I am more than happy again to help out with information. Since I do not earn any money I am more than happy to share as much information as possible like I did in the last 2 years.
Dec 29, 2025
My 2025 Injuries End of a year is bit of remembering and honestly a bit sentimental 🙂 So I let a few interesting things of the year go through my mind and I try learning from it and plan how to do better in the future. Some may wonder what about my injuries during 2025 race year. Admittedly I sometimes ride and race with injuries. It’s very rare that I get the injuries from a ride or race. Most injuries I had in 2025 and end of 2024 have not been caused by cycling. They are related to health issues I have since early 2022. I have those under control with help of good doctors who do OK my cycling. My strategy is to ignore my injuries as much as possible and just keep going. It’s not always smart but something I learned during my military service. It’s not that I do not feel pain at all. Like everyone else I do feel pain even I may have a bit higher pain tolerance level than usual. I just had to learn how to manage cutting pain out of my mind to survive. I still feel the pain and try to be responsible enough to avoid making the injury even worse. That BTW is the danger a person like I has. I can keep going like I did in Florida500 in 2025 after a bad crash. Issue is that I must judge how far I can go with the injury and when to stop. That by itself can easy cause more severe damage. For those who think that’s cool … I disagree. Therefore, please do not ignore pain or injuries. Health is something we may not get back easily if we keep ignoring injuries. If some top racers praise how cool it is to not feel pain … Its not cool at all. Make sure you can race in the healthiest possible condition. We as true amateurs do not get a single cent for our race finish or race result while we better stay in good health for our daily job’s and for supporting our families. I understand some racers who get sponsorship pay try to show off cool. But even for them it will backfire sometime when they get older. Having that put down and explained … Why do I keep going with injuries? I normally do not push behind a level that causes any increase of my injuries. It’s a judgement I learned over the years even before I start cycling. And I learned when it’s a must stop. I re-adjust my activities in a way to put the least pressure on the spot injured as possible. It seems to work very well and as it was visible in RAP this year it sometimes means I must stop and pull out. In no way would I risk my future for any amateur race result since I do not gain money, nor do I have sponsorship that pays me any money for it anyway. I know this is a bit unusual … I am just a very honest person and rather share experience if good or bad. So please everyone out there try to be responsible to your own health and try to put health and fun over any cool result. Let’s keep in mind … we do not get paid and we may want to be able to do some leisure cycling and have fun even when getting older.
