Please Swipe Right!
Wow, it has been a while since I updated this blog-sorry about that! I was waiting until I had some good news about teams to post but it was a rocky four months. Let me say that trying to find and secure a team for a season is very challenging at times. Basically as challenging as being in the online dating world (thank goodness I don’t have to deal with that anymore).
Flashback to September, when my 2017 team of RTO National Women’s Cycling was trying to decide if we should salvage the team without a title sponsor or if we should go our separate ways. We emailed SO many sponsors. I sold myself and our program like it was my job (well, it kind of is now), but nothing substantial came through. One by one, the girls left the team for other programs. You know when a relationship was good while it lasted but it is time to move on because the flame is dying? It was kind of like that.
I spent September through November scouting out potential teams and emailing/calling/texting/doing whatever it took to get my foot in the door. I created a clean and polished race resume with my height, weight, and a couple pictures of me looking fierce in it along with my race results and strengths (think “Sarah likes long walks on the beach, giving killer lead-outs, and going for the breakaway”).
I had some positive online communication with some teams (they swiped right!) and even had a 45 minute phone interview (got upgraded to hearing a voice woot woot they must like me!) with a larger team. I was so nervous and excited to hear if they liked me back. I texted my friends about the call and asked them for advice: how long should I wait to follow-up? Should I email or text or (gasp) call them first?!? If they didn’t get back in touch with me, what were the chances that they were just busy or simply were interested in someone else instead of me? All of these questions went through my head for days, weeks, and eventually over a month until I heard that they were going in a different direction. Sometimes you put your best self forward in a resume and cover letter (or online dating profile and initial chat message) and it just isn’t enough.
I eventually connected with a smaller program that had a solid team of riders but no signed sponsorship yet. We were told that there would likely be substantial sponsorship coming in, which sounded great! After a few weeks though, no sponsorship came in and the riders were told we could either try to make it work and see what came through or we could do what was best for us and choose another direction. We felt so bad about the situation. It was kind of like when you get your hopes up about a good date and the guy politely cancels because his dog died and then you don’t hear from him for a while. You’re down but know that it is life and that it happens and that you have to move on. And then you feel bad when said guy gets back in touch and is finally free but you have decided to start dating someone else. Oh the feels on that one.
That someone else is now my new team, which I will announce in a blog post soon. In short, it is a great program that I am truly excited about. It combines leadership, service, mentorship, and racing and fits my personality and goals so well. I’m so glad to be done with the back and forth with teams and to be signing contracts for the 2018 season.
Thanks for reading, I’m now off to sign my contract for my marriage life (well, almost-just sending out save-the-dates!).
Cheers!
