Goooooooo Bayside!!!

For two years now my dilemma has been the debate between participating in the National Crit Championships at Downers Grove or in one of the most elite and prestigious Kickball Tournaments the thumb has to offer: The Port Hope Kickball Tournament. In the interest of conserving myself for this upcoming weekend and as an effort to rectify a sub-par Oak Park Kickball season (4th overall), I decided to make the venture up to Port Hope this past weekend to make my family, my Lord, and myself proud.

Needless to say, the trip was well worth it. Our team, The Bayside Tigers, secured the overall win in dominant fashion without losing one game.

The taste of victory is so sweet!!!

Special occasions deserve special celebratory attire!


Hopefully this success spills over into this weekend as well.

The Dybo Memoirs: Olympic Quest

In commemoration of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, kick back and enjoy a walk with Rayster on his youthful quest to be on the USA Olympic Team.



Man, I tell you what, I remember when the Olympics were only for amateurs. There were no freaking pros allowed and I went to the Olympic Trials with the honest thought in the back of my head that I could go to the Olympics. I chased this dream for 7 years; sleeping in vans, eating Raymond noodles, hoping from city to city and barely living off the fat of my wins.

A lot of people at the time ask me what it was like to visit this city or that city. They’d say things like, “Wow you raced in San Diego, what was that like?…or how cool is Scottsdale?”. To be honest with you, it was all the same to me. I didn’t have time to enjoy the landscape or unique cultural aspects of each city I traveled to. My common response to this question was, “I got out of my car, raced the bumpiest roads San Diego had to offer, stayed in the cheapest motel they had, got in my car the next morning and went to the next town to race the bumpiest roads it had to offer”. Full-time bike racing is a labor of love, and I was a man on a freaking mission…who cared? I was freaking flying! I wanted so badly to be a big contract professional racer and go to the Olympics.

I can remember my 30th birthday…I tell you what, it really hit me hard. I can remember being depressed for several days straight after it. I didn’t get out of bed or do anything. I had been trying so hard to achieve my dreams and it just didn’t happen. Soon after, Mallissa (my eventual wife) called me when I was in my funk. I gave her the sob story of my life and complained and moaned to her. Her response to me still resonates in my mind today. After listening to my self-loathing for too long she finally responded, “You know what Ray?...Tough…Get over it”.

Everything changed at that moment. I got back on my bike, started racing and training again and never looked back.

Ray has been racing for longer than I’ve been alive. His career boasts many successes but it never quite went to the level he dreamed of. However, I don’t think I’ve ever met another racer whose passion still burns so intensely after all these years. Ray’s dedication, perseverance, and willingness to impart his knowledge onto his teammates has rightfully earned him the title of “The Godfather of Michigan Cycling”.

You’re only as good as your support crew.

In a 24hr race, you’re support crew can either help you win the race or lose the race. A few months ago I approached the below characters to request that they help support me in this 24hr endeavor. They were all chosen for their diverse strengths. As of 12:17 yesterday when the K-man texted me with the sweet words, “I’m in”, my final support crew was sealed.

Come meet the Gang:


Alan Smith-
Strengths: Mechanic skills, cooking, kicking anyone’s ass that may say something negative about his teammates, cracking manly jokes and military experience.





Scott the K-Man Kroske-
Strengths: Engineer extraordinaire, photography, encouraging words, infectious laugh, yielding women away to create a distraction free environment by his outspoken inappropriateness, numbers, driving, dick and fart jokes and previous 24hr race experience.






Angela-
Strengths: Putting up with my neurotic obsessive nature, optimistic outlook, and a face that is nice on the eyes and motivation to see each lap.






I’m quite confident in this group of fine individuals and sincerely gracious for the sacrifice they are making to help me out. I couldn’t ask for better teammates.

The "Bear" Essentials

I'm spending these last 10 days taking into account all of my race preparation details (i.e. lighting, nutrition plan, bike setup, clothing, etc.). However, I just came across this...which is something I hadn't accounted for!

Albion Hills Course Preview

Here is a glimpse of what my view will be for 24 hours:

I have no fitness to gain, but much to lose.

“Where have you been lately” is a question I have heard from several people lately.

Unfortunately, on the brink of my 24hr endeavor it seems I have stumbled upon a bit of adversity. I had it all planed out, the rides, the races, sleep schedules, diet, everything was accounted for leading up to the event. However, about three weeks ago I came down with an upper respiratory infection and being the mileage/training junkie I am, did not rest properly which has lead to it lingering. Last week, I thought I would be ok to race the state crit. Less than twenty minutes into the race I began to go asthmatic and cough hysterically. While sitting in 10th position relatively comfortably, I found myself pulling out of the race in a matter of a lap.

This shortcoming sent my mental well—being and race confidence out the window. My nerves became a wreck and I found myself perseverating on negative thoughts and emotions. (I apologize to all those close to me who have had to put up with me the last few weeks) Wednesday I had a chest x-ray, which revealed that my lungs were still filled with infection. My doctor, who is also a MTB racer and understands my event coming up, gave me some antibiotics and an inhaler. “We’re going to treat this aggressively”, were his words. Heeding his advice, I chose to not race Thursday night or this past weekend at BTR. It was not an easy decision but after talking with Dybo I realized that I have no fitness to gain prior to the 23rd but have much to lose if I don’t allow for sufficient rest and recovery.

On thing I neglected to prepare for was the patience that is required the last few weeks before an event like this. If you’re like me, we all get addicted to riding/training/racing hard. When you are deprived that weekly dose of competition, speed, and the endorphins associated with that, you begin to feel like a heroin addict quitting cold turkey.

For the time being I am riding slowly and focusing on mostly honing my trail skills, resting, and eating well.

I have never planned for anything this epic this far in advance. I made the mistake of putting the race on a very high pedestal and establishing too many self-expectations. When a wrench was thrown in my plans it sent my nerves spinning.

Luckily, within the past 24hrs or so I have come to terms a bit more with the task at hand. Sure this is the most epic race I have ever done, sure I would like to do the best I possibly can at it, and I know I am taking a deep dive into the unknown. However, if I think back to six months ago, these are all the aspects that appealed to me most.

I am viewing this endeavor as a culmination of all the effort, energy, success/failure, pain and suffering, highest elation, lowest agony, time in the saddle, and miles I have put in over the years. It is like a funnel view where everything has lead to this. However, it is still just a race, and that’s what I do, I race a bike.

In the words of Ad Rock at the beginning of the song ALIVE:
I've never been more ready in my entire life…
To do this right now…
Never…
It's all been leading up to this moment…
All right now, right here…
My whole life…
Right here.

Planting Seeds

Cost of riding the MTB trails at Stony Creek: $0
Using Angela’s pink bike instead of a rental: $0
Watching the Wednesday night races at the Velodrome: $0
Cortisone cream after getting stung by a bee in the trails: $3.99

Watching my 9 year old nephew’s face as he rode his first single track, watched his first track race, and was exposed the world sport of cycling: priceless

Recently the eldest of my 4 nephews has been asking me a lot of questions about my bike, racing, training, etc. Over the 4th of July this year I told him that before the summer was over I would take him out.

Yesterday we headed out to Stony for a lap in the MTB trails and to watch the races at the track afterward. I couldn’t help but feel immense vicarious satisfaction as I watched him ride the trails for the first time. For me, it is a mundane act done so many times in the same place that it almost feels more like a hamster wheel. However, it’s amazing to watch the reaction of someone when you are exposing them to an entirely new world that they didn’t know existed prior to this experience.

In a day when many kids would rather manipulate buttons to make digitally created characters ride bikes, snowboard, play basketball, etc., it was refreshing to see true enthusiasm in something more simple and organic. Evan didn’t even seem to mind that he had to ride a “girls” pink bike…he was just thankful for the opportunity.

For me cycling has become my form of recreation, my exercise, my mental therapy, my passion, my catalyst for competition, a way to elevate myself both mentally and physically, it has given me perspective on life and has allowed me to see true value in experience. On top of that, it has become a spiritual experience for me as well. However, I don’t think this is for everyone; it has simply fit well into my personality. If Evan chooses to continue an interest in cycling than that is great, if he doesn’t that is fine too. I simply felt it was a good opportunity for me to plant a seed; perhaps it will grow, perhaps not. Everyone can trace back to people in their lives who have planted seeds, I have many. For those who you can accredit this to, their worth is invaluable.