A gratifying thing about our social circles in off-road cycling has been learning from our own experiences, and learning from the experiences of professional cyclists. You’ll definitely read a lot of motivational stories from us about our own endeavors in off-road racing and advocating everyone to give it their best – and you’ve read us putting ourselves out there and giving you a glimpse of both our success and sometimes failures in hitting our racing goals.

There’s a great deal of dedication to any activity that you want to do well at. We simply don’t believe in participating in off-road cycling without the notion of improving your cycling skills in every way that you can. People can say they’re just in it to have fun – but we profess that you can have even more fun when your more fit, and definitely more skilled. The Bonebell Crew is made up of seasoned race veterans who have been racing for well over a decade. We are not all seasoned pros though some of our crew like Dave Norton, Greg Heck, Brian Parker, and Julia Daher have given the best of the best a run for their money and placed well on good old homegrown effort in the local racing scene.

We love to race and we love our bikes even more. Racing to us is nothing more than our ability to see how far we can push ourselves to our limits and witness the outcome, not matter what it is. It is there for public viewing amongst the small crowds of friends and fans. We say small, because even at our largest races that we’ll attend, we number in the low thousands compared to the running sport which can command tens of thousands of participants. We would love to see the sport grow into these numbers, and it starts with a little nugget of motivation to get folks to ride their bikes. Not necessarily race – but ride their bikes in epic fashion. Racing isn’t for everyone, and is usually unnecessary if all you want to do is get better at riding your bike. In 2012, we want to help you do that and get motivated to meet the greater challenge of riding and exploring more with the benefit of getting stronger and faster by reaching new limits, with or without, racing goals. There is a trail system that everyone wishes they could rip through faster. There is a farm road that inspires you to pedal into bliss. There is an epic ride that demands your greatest fitness to enjoy. Will you rise to meet those challenges?

Starting in January 2012 – we will provide you with a distinct riding plan to get you motivated to ride more, get healthier, change your perspective in long distance riding, and all at a homegrown and low cost effort. If you are new to exploring off-road cycling, this will be key to you gaining an understanding of how to approach the summer months at some great trail systems. If you are a seasoned rider, it can provide a fresh perspective to base training and skills focus to get you in gear for a summer of racing. This plan will be available for everyone who reads this site – free of charge and cataloged for easy reference. The plan will include phases of riding from beginning of the year through the end of the year with focus on riding points, skills building, and even nutrition options. It will be intended to motivate you to consider a different riding approach while meeting your riding goals in the summer whether they be an epic gravel grinding effort, a weekend trip at a trail system to blow your buddies away, or to enter the cyclocross season in top form. The options provided in the plan will also include some group rides with The Bonebell crew at various locations throughout the midwest to explore the off-road journey. If you follow the plan – every group ride will have its reward as you find yourself more confident and fit and we’d love to see your success along your journey.

There is no mystique about getting faster and stronger on a bike – it’s about putting the time in and enjoying the time you do put on your bike.

Be stronger, be fit, be epic in 2012. We hope you rise to the challenge and join the program.