Christmas Calculations

Eggnog, carols, advent calendars, too much good cooking and family are all reasons why I love Christmas time. I like to think of myself as being a traditionalist when it comes to the Christmas which is why this is my favorite time of the year. My favorite thing about Christmas however, is that it holds the power to bring everyone home to be together even if it's for the shortest of days. Christmas to me means family and that will never change.

With friends, family and acquaintances all coming back home at some point during the last couple of weeks, I have been asked frequently why I like to do ultra endurance races. For the longest time, I didn't have an answer that even I believed. Sure I love to ride my bike, but that couldn't be the sole reason as to why I would want to put in as much work on the bike as I do.

Last Sunday, my family all got together and celebrated "Welch Family Christmas". This is the weekend when both of my siblings and their families come home to avoid the chaos of running around on Christmas Day. After watching my niece and nephews open their gifts with such honest excitement, I had an answer as to why I enjoy racing.

As I mentioned earlier, I define Christmas as simply "family". That is also how I will now define the reasoning behind my racing. You see, I couldn't race without the support of my loving wife and family. They are there to ensure I stay safe in the chasing of my dreams all the while cracking the whip to get the most out of me. They haven't missed a single race since the beginning. For that, I am grateful.

For the longest time, I hadn't realized that I was blessed more so than others. Instead of having just one Christmas a year, I can now use the following formula to calculate the number of Christmas' a year I get to celebrate. (1+X) where X=the number of races I enter in a given year. And that is all the motivation I need to put in the time on the bike this coming year.