It's Labor Day weekend 2015, and I'm prepping to embark on my 12th season of racing cyclocross. I'm racing age 50 for cyclocross this fall (because the cyclocross season crosses over into next year, your racing age is what you will be December 31st of next year). Cross Nationals is in Ashville NC this year, so even last year I decided that I was going. It would be my first cyclocross nationals and I would be a first year in the 50-54 group.
But this will be a different season. For the first time in 9 years, I'll be racing alone. No more Soigneur Dad, no more Team Thompson and Sons. Jake is off racing and studying and doing college freshman stuff at Furman University. We're super proud of his development and hope that this will be the next step up for him as a bike racer and as a man.
Liam is about to start high school Tuesday. He has forsworn bike racing (that's his brother's thing). He's into computer games and technology. He's taller than Loren but I've still got him by an inch. He'll rule the world (no, seriously, it's a stated goal).
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| At Donner Pass in June |
Loren tolerates me, still, kinda. She's always creating with her spinning and knitting and has been doing some indoor rowing and long walks. Here's some of her recent work -- spinning her own yarn from fiber
So next weekend I'll put my bike(s) in the car to go to Luray (scene of the 2011 great Thompson family showdown reported here -- yes, the last time I beat Jake on a bike was in 2011) for my first cyclocross race of the year, and it will just be me. I've been training, which is good. But age is nasty and I need to lay off the ice cream sandwiches and beer. I'll miss having Jake and Liam around. It'll be a bit weird, I admit. A little less complete.
I'll always be Soigneur Dad -- Sven Nys' dad still drives his bus. No one will ever take care of you like Dad. But for most races now I'll be solo masters racer, with empty spots on the bike rack.
