March Madness?

Yea! We made it to March and spring is just around the corner. I just finished out a good week of training. I cannot say enough about the mild Winter of 2012 and it's effect on my training. For once I feel pretty good coming into March instead of feeling bloated, fat & pale. March also signals the early registration for several Michigan events.

Yesterday, March 1st was the annual Iceman Cometh registration. Just like the race itself, the registration is typically filled with drama, chaos and crashes. The crashes are the websites & servers of the outfits that have been selected to host the registration. This year was no different. I was at work while my wife Lynelle navigated through the USA Cycling website registration. Her persistence payed off and I was in somewhere at the 45 minute mark. I was reflecting on this experience and realized that in the big scheme of things, registering for a race isn't the end of the frigging world. Thankfully, there are plenty of races to choose from and if it doesn't work out there are always options to fill the void. Ride it bandit or find a transfer if necessary.

I received this email from USA Cycling:

Dear Iceman Cometh rider,

Our goal at USA Cycling is to always provide first class service and a great customer experience for our members in everything we do. Frankly, and unfortunately, we fell well short of that goal yesterday during the Bell’s Beer Iceman Cometh Challenge online registration process when, despite our extraordinary efforts to plan for the number of online registrants, the tremendous enthusiasm and interest in the Iceman Cometh race overwhelmed our registration system.

We highly regard our responsibility to the cycling community and to the thousands of you who seek to race this epic race; and we sincerely apologize for any frustration, confusion and inconvenience you experienced today. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your registration, please do not hesitate to contact us at membership@usacycling.org.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Steve Johnson
President & CEO
USA Cycling

I felt it necessary to pull out this popular clip while the dust settles.



Next up on the docket is Lumberjack 100 registration slated for Saturday, March 3 at 1200 EST. The rider limit has been expanded from 350 riders to 425. This will go fast but usually this event scares away the n00bs and typically doesn't result in server crashes, tears or bad feelings.

Barry-Roubaix (March 24) and the Ouachita Challenge (April 1)are looming large on my racing horizon. Still, I'm looking forward to warmer days and it's always great to have marquis events on the calendar to keep things fresh and exciting.