Behind the Stare

 In the fall of 2007, I was awarded a one-year sabbatical from my position as a high school English teacher in Helena, Montana, to write a book about a passion in my life—the sport of cyclocross—and to fulfill a personal tenet I hold about my profession: teachers of writing should walk the talk and engage in the practice of writing themselves. Needless to say—now some five years later—I have a newfound respect for the demands I put on my students. Writing is hard work. Equally hard has been capturing the story, in which I’ve not only been a fan, but also a competitor, a U.S. team coach, a manager, a technical director, a promoter, an official, and—now—a member of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Cyclocross Commission, a multi-national panel that oversees the development of the sport.