Hey, it's been a while. This 7th of December marked 1 month since I last posted, after some weeks of resting up and getting the head back in place, replacing fatigue for excitement. Initially I had planned on writing this some weeks ago right after the Vuelta but never found the right mindset, so the fact that I'm writing again is the step I needed to take to make sure the head is in place looking at 2021.
I don't often do it but I'm writing in a more personal level here, 2020 wasn't easy on anyone and I'm no exception. Last couple weeks honestly have been terrible mentally with the worstening of the pandemic (although as I'm writing the future looks a whole lot brighter), the added college workload that fills my head every single day since September and the stressful situation I face at home. The fact that I've been already away from my girlfriend for over 10 months surely doesn't help in any way too. But tough times make us stronger, I try to be as positive as possible and most of the time I can and when I look back at this shit year I still see a lot of positive things from it.
The year did have a great start, inbetween other things I raced a lot and I did write about it like Mira where it was a big written/video project (https://echelons.wixsite.com/website/post/am-i-actually-a-good-rider-racing-mira), after that race in the beggining of January I also raced in February in what was the best form of my life (and that includes racing as a junior back in 2016 around names like João Almeida and Iuri Leitão). Unfortunately with the busy period I had, horrible weather conditions and no racing in sight the bike hasn't been having much time outside, but I try to ride once a week for the sake of my mental health. In college despite dificulties everything went very well last semester and this one is looking similar (although it takes a big toll, obviously), regarding Covid I've tried to be as safe and responsible as possible, it's worked for now as I've relatively kept my health intact but obviously the isolation and deprivation adds to the mental strain that's been a constant this year, also as I've tried to be as safe as I could.
Then Echelons, I took a big step in expanding this year to also have a tipping service, it went very well and I'm very happy to have fulfilled my expectations (and of those who believed in me too). And in terms of writing it was between August and November an incredibly busy period but I managed to write for every race I had planned (that wasn't cancelled) without sacrificing quality in any way. That included interviews interviews back in February with Movistar's Johan Jacobs and Sunweb's Joris Nieuwenhuis (this one I couldn't post though because of the postpone of Strade Bianche), I had an ambitious goal of getting some professional insight in some of my posts, which I did, but the season was severely cut and I feel like I had to settle. However, my biggest ever preview was also a big milestone when I wrote for the worlds with massively detailed writing and an interview with Tom Pidcock (still can't believe how nice he was!) -> (https://echelons.wixsite.com/website/post/world-championships-elite-road-race-preview)
So were my expectations fulfilled? Yes. It was by no means easy, but seeing how the year went I still did everything I set out to, but of course hoping next year isn't as challenging.
In 2021 I don't know how it will be regarding cycling but for sure I won't put as much focus into training like I did last winter. Lot of work in sight for the next 12 months, getting driver's license, finishing this first semester and then tackling my last semester of my Geography Bachelor and if I'm lucky and everything works well it's in mind to move out of Portugal where I would love to work in the Geography and/or cycling field.
So if you're reading this and you like what I've been doing for the last year and a half, from the summer on I'm definetely ready to be hired, I would love and work hard to find a place within the cycling world and I think what I do and my love for studying and writing about cycling is hardly matched by anyone around. Not only do I love writing and the whole race analysis field I can/have:
- Video editing experience
- Create thumbnails, graphics, data
- Experience in written interviews with professional riders
- Love for Geography, Mapping, Geology, Topography
- Years of route creation/designing projects
- Social media managing/debating
- Fluent English/Portuguese
You must be thinking "why is he writing this?", well I'm ambitious and I'm focused in making sure I find a job around cycling. If by any chance you're reading this and you're interested (or know who may be interested) let me know! As Romain Bardet says, "take the risk or loose the chance".
So my goals around 2021 definetely revolve around making sure Echelons is a launchpad for greater projects. I would love to work for something bigger, but in case I fail to do so I will work to make Echelons even bigger and I want to find someone to work with that is interested in women's cycling and has the same writing passion as I have, in order to put out frequent previews for women's racing. As you may know I'm still 20, have a lot to learn but at the same time I feel more than established in the preview writing niche, seeing the man who inspired me Jamie Haughey, then Will Newton land dream jobs within cycling makes me feel that following their steps isn't just a dream but a goal within close reach.
As of now the 2021 season has already started with some riders already on training camps, CX is being quite interesting as always and I've finally caught up with it, so it's time to start focusing on what's to come. This post is to me more of a sign of moving on, make the final transition from one season to the other. Thank you everyone who's read the previews and supported me over this year, I hope to evolve and make more and better content for you in the coming one. I'll be around so definetely keep an eye on my Twitter page but in the meantime, as you'll likely notice before clicking on this post I'm no longer just someone behind a page name but you can more often call me by who I am ;)
Rúben.
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