Cycling Blogs - Tim Darwick

I was not planning on racing much this year, not at first. Being in my final semester of undergraduate education, I have more than a few responsibilities bearing down, and my bank account is still angry at me for going to Cyclocross Nationals. My situation did not seem very conducive to committing to competition. Plus, I am far from a phenomenon, so few people would miss me on the local circuits. Racing is (or rather, was) the last thing on my mind. I soon realized how absurd, and boring, this choice was. Just as your elders will never be able… more »

There was a lot of build up to my trip to Oregon this week. Everyone I had talked to had only incredible things to say about Bend. From their outdoor athletics to their beer, everything was highly regarded from those who visited. One individual even went as far as to say Bend was nothing short of "Heaven." With all of this build up, Bend had quite a reputation to uphold, and so far it has lived up to every word. The town of Bend is home to about 81,000 people (according to a sign, but this number may vary), and… more »

Due to my recent victory in CXMag's race report contest, this post has been relocated to their website. Check it out here: http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/forum/topics/best-race-report?id=1198434%3ATopic%3A41345&page=2#comments If you would like to submit your own report for the next round of competition, post it here: http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/forum/topics/best-race-report-round-2 more »

Sometimes change is a good thing.If you were to ask me just a month ago what my plans were for the fall, I would have told you I could be found pursuing collegiate MTN nationals. Ask me now, and it would not take long to realize how little I care about collegiate mountain season. I grew tired of the small fields, the limited competition, and the fact that our conference schedule is a complete joke (only one race this season is under a 10 hour drive from State College, PA). At the end of the day, my heart just was… more »

Instead of griping about my last race, which did not go well, I decided to give my unsolicited opinion on a few products that may or may not have been on your radar (or shopping list).If there is one thing I enjoy almost as much as riding my bike, it is forgoing on groceries so I can buy new shiny parts to test out. Perhaps one day these companies will let me test their products for free (hint hint), but for now I rely on the ever-so-stable credit system to stay on top of the trends in the industry. I… more »

Sometimes I make silly decisions. This weekend, I surpassed silliness and did something that was just downright stoopid. (Note: no more puns from this point on)As of last week, I had planned to skip the Stoopid 50 mtb race held in Rothrock State Forest. This decision was mostly due to my performance at Tour de Tykes, which left me beaten and broken. After some decent hours on the bike early in the week, I started to feel a little stronger. But my final decision was still to skip the race, so Saturday I went out with some coworkers for a… more »

This past weekend marked the end of a extended hiatus from racing due to hip problems. The problems still persist on and off, but are significantly better than before. However, the lack of riding has left me in less than spectacular form, as one would expect. To combat the state of lethargy that marked the recent months, I opted for not one, but two days of racing to shock my system back in to motion. Nothing like a little overcompensation for lost time eh?Friday afternoon I headed out to Trexlertown with some teammates to hang out with old Penn State… more »

This post will seem a lot like someone just sitting around and whining because, well, that is exactly what it is!There are some days that we are reminded of our vulnerability t0 physical debilitation, repetitive disappointment, and just plain dumb luck. The past two weeks have been full of all three components which have left me severely stressed as I close out my semester and commit to the racing season.I will begin with the frustrating, yet less worrisome, bothers of the past two weeks. Now to preface this, I have been fairly lucky throughout the last eight months in that… more »

Colt's last post reminded me that I had some wordsmithing to do to represent some Mid-Atlantic racing. Here is my account of the first race in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series. Swing on over to my blog page (http://fancyshpants.blogspot.com/) for working links and slightly better formatting. Enjoy. This past Sunday marked the commencement of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series with the opening race at Fair Hill in Elkridge, MD. After a solid week of riding, I was feeling good and ready to race. However, feeling good does not always equate to a good day, as I was to find out during my… more »

[Original can be found at http://fancyshpants.blogspot.com/] It's finally here! Mountain bike season started out with a bang (or actually, just a somewhat casual start) with the Rockburn Reloaded USAC race this weekend in Elkridge, MD. After over a year off of serious racing, I was really itching to get back into the competitive scene. I even started to do some of the certain serious racer preparations, as evidenced by this photo:The large explanation point after the title shows dedication, excitement, and an utter disregard for proper grammar (I later added two more for emphasis). So, after a week of being… more »