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Team TIAA-CREF - 2005
Team Journal Entry - March 12, 2005, by Jay Ku
Kicking off with collegiates
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Well, my first race weekend of the season has come and gone, and all in all, I guess I'm pleased with where my form is at this time of the year - especially since my training this winter has probably been less than optimal with injuries and harsh weather. I opened up the 2005 season at Rutgers University with a short crit and circuit race, certainly a much more laid back setting than some of my other teammates who've already competed in NRC races like Valley of the Sun and McLane Pacific.
But I honestly feel that being able to do collegiate races for most of the spring is a great way to start off the season. In fact, I feel extremely fortunate that I get to have the best of both worlds in a sense. During the summer and early fall, I'm immersed in the whole seriousness and competitive gravity of NRC races and competing against guys that you read about all the time on cyclingnews.com. Yet during the springtime, I get to race in a laid-back atmosphere that is hard to find in elite cycling.
Within my Harvard team, we have an amazing mixture of cyclists who can now officially be called 'racers' because they competed in their first crit and circuit races ever this past weekend. And they all impressed me. Traveling to these collegiate race weekends always reminds me of how much I love to surround myself with people who share my passion. I am so proud of being part of the Harvard team - part of collegiate cycling in general - not only because my teammates did so well, but also because amidst their busy undergraduate and graduate student lives, they find the time to train and ride in the freezing New England cold simply because they have fallen in love with this sport and because they enjoy the camaraderie of being part of the Harvard team.
I have to be honest in saying that sometimes I lose sight of the raw passion and enthusiasm that I saw this weekend from my teammates. But aside from my happiness with my form, I have to say the best thing about this weekend was my re-discovery of sorts of why I love bike racing. I saw it in the happiness of Men's D racer Clifford Chen whose only goal was to finish his race. And it was in the amazing spirit of our Women's B racers who struggled in Saturday's crit race only to come back strong in the circuit race the next day. Most of all, it was the time spent with my Harvard teammates in the van or at dinner or in those moments of endorphin-induced euphoria that comes over you after racing - when you want to talk about all the little details as if it were a World Cup race and they all mattered. But the best part: the fact that everyone is willing to listen and is willing to share in the simple joy and exhilaration of racing a bike.
Be safe,
Jay Ku
