Its not about the Bike

“Twelve Weeks.  32 days of racing. 4 Pro1 stage races.  3 NRC Stage Races. 1 NRC Crit.

For a veteran pro this amount of racing would seem like a normal start to the year. To me however, this early season schedule is more then I have ever experienced, and close to more racing then I did last year in total. I have learned and been through more in these last twelve weeks then I have in the last year since I got my 1 upgrade and started racing at this level. One year ago I placed fourth overall in the exact race I am attending at this very moment: Joe Martin Stage Race. After the 2^nd stage I sent in my upgrade and then received confirmation in a few hours, crazy to think how far I have come since then and how far I hope to go from here.

Yesterday was the first day of the NRC Joe Martin Stage Race. It starts with a short uphill TT, a tt that I would normally expect to do well in, however it was not my day. I went off the start ramp with a mindset of not caring if I went hard or not, I instantly new this was going to be bad. If there is on thing I have learned this year its to race at a pro level you must always have an eagerness and a drive to put everything on the line and to push yourself beyond all limits. For some reason or another yesterday was not a day where I had it. Who knows if its because my mind and body needs a rest…or maybe it was just the day…but ether way my mind has always been my obstacle.”

This was an entrée into my journal several weeks ago during the final leg of my mid season racing block. Since then I went from Joe Martin to Gila where I got some decent results but was a little disappointed to not come away with a victory. The race was beautiful and one of the best ive ever done. But on completion of that race I wanted nothing more then to just not ride my bike for a week, and that’s exactly what I did. Didn’t touch it, barely even looked at it except to pass it every time I came in and out of the house. There is something in cycling that every cyclist avoids like the plaque, being burnt out.

            Cycling is such a time commitment and mental strain that an athlete can only take high load and intensity for so long before it tips over the scale. In my own case I believe that I am able to take a little less then most. Every athlete is different; every athlete has gifts and weaknesses to push themselves towards their goals, or away from them. One of my weaknesses is needing a lot of mental rest from racing. I thrive on relaxing, taking it easy and enjoying life, but in contrast I also freak if I do this for too long. I have learned to deal with this situation by making a point to stop and look around, get off the bike and ask myself what else there is to see.  One thing that always comforts me about going all out towards this bike-racing thing is that there is always far more to life then bike racing.

            Take my advice, live in the best way possible for you. But always stop to ask yourself if you are too focused on one thing to really live. This will help take the stress off that one big thing and maybe you will be able to enjoy it that much more.

Rouge Roubaix. Saying Hello and Goodbye

Rouge Roubaix. Saying Hello and Goodbye

Its been what felt like ages since the last time I was able to see the south, see the swamps, my family, my friends, and my old dogs. The Rouge Roubaix is always something I had heard of, but it had always been to early and conflicted with school for me to attend, this year I made it a point to change that.

Rouge Roubaix: a 109 mile race in the early part of the year that had multiple gravel sections that you never know what condition they will be in, from what I heard this year was one of the worst.

I arrived in Louisiana a few days before the race to spend time with my dad and Sarah, it was of course very great to see them and brought back great memories. I then drove out to the race and stayed the night with a good friend of mine, Stephen Mire and a few racing buddies of his. We awoke the next morning, had our respected oatmeal and coffee and headed on out to the race start.

This race was not only special to me because of its prestige, but because it was the first time I had been home since a friend of mine was struck and killed by an SUV. He got struck on a ride that had been on thousands of times before. Justin Addison was a strong, young, eager, and incredibly kind person who I got to know during my summers in Covington, LA. His passing was a big blow during a key time of my training, it forced me to stop and ask myself if all of this is worth it.

 It took me a while, but I finally came to the conclusion that he was doing what he loved to do, as I do. He was riding just for the fun of it one late afternoon, doing a little sprint just to feel the rush as I often do; these are the moments we live for. So as long as I hold on to the love for riding my bike, then every race, every moment I put everything on the line for is worth it. At the exact moment I came to this conclusion I remembered something Justin had told me while we were riding together, he said that someday he would beat me in a race, and I believed him. He always aspired to race and I new that was something I could still give him, with working with his mother, a good friend of both Justin’s and myself, Kyle Boudreaux, I was able to receive a trinket that belonged to Justin which I will carry at all races I do all over the country and possibly the world. You will be with me Justin and get to see the world and still ride your bike as fast as ever. And it all started with a long gravel race in his backyard of Louisiana.

 Some big boys made the drive out to do the Rouge this year, three boys from the Hincapie Pro Squad came out including Ty Magner, who I had already done some gravel training rides with in years past and new he would be riding well. Mike O. came out who has won the race on several occasions, and then some pro cross racers decided to give it a go as well. A change in the course brought the gravel section a little sooner then years past so it was just trying to get good position from the start. When we made the right hand turn into the gravel and felt our wheels sink, it instantly became clear what the day would look like. Pushing furiously on the pedals we tore up the first gravel section, rider after rider pulled off due to flats, but then finally I could see the end of the first gravel section! But as fait would have it I looked down and felt that my rear tire had gone flat, a brand new tire, never ridden, couldn’t hold up to the rouge.

The race for me would be a long one, jumping from chase group to chase group, but I would never again see the lead group. The other gravel sections proved even more testing, three times I had to get off and walk my bike for I could not find traction in the inches of sand or gravel on the steep punchy climbs that I didn’t even know existed in Louisiana. I race my bike for a living, as do several riders who had to get off and walk that day…everyone needs a race a two to bring them down a level. This was an early season race that tested me up and beyond what I expected, while I only pulled in in 16^th place, I was satisfied and helped myself to a good ol Louisiana beer that I had been craving for so long. To all those that have never done the rouge, do it for you have never done anything like it. But for myself I will try and remind myself every year to never do it again…try is the key word.

I will always miss the south and think fondly of my time spent there. I very much hope to be back soon. But for now, Justin and I will race my bike in all the places we can muster.

Catching up on life. aka racing.

Catching up on Life

Three times in my life I have held a journal in my hands and said “I will write in this every day” and every time I have failed within a week. When I started this blog I promised myself “I will write an entry every”, at least I made it a little longer then a week this time!

Over the last four weeks a lot has happened, which means in my life a lot of racing has happened.

Short recap. Weekend of February 9^th and 10^th , two local races. The team used these races to practice lead-outs and to practice controlling the race so that we are more easily able to do this, if need be, on a national level. Even if your team is the strongest team in the area, practice, practice, practice…and even then you still may mess up.

Weekend of February 15^th through 17^th, Valley of the Sun Stage Race. Flat 15 mile time trials are not my forte, however something that I will be working on for the future, for it is something that is unavoidable for a well rounded stage racer. I pulled a midpack time but was still in reach if I were able to get in a move the following day. The following day however served to be by far the biggest disappointment but non the less the biggest lesion learned. Every rider in the pro peloton knows that being in the top ten wheels is a must throughout the entire race, however its actually doing this when 150 other people also want that same thing that is very difficult indeed. As the peloton made a right turn I found myself on the left side of the pack, sitting about 50 to 60 guys back completely unsheltered from the wind. After putting out about 500 watts for a couple of min I found myself shattered from the back of the peloton with a group of others who had also pulled my rookie move.  When a strong team puts a train on the front in a cross wind section, if you are not sitting sheltered from the wind you are in effect having to do the same amount of work as that entire team rotating on the front, which as you can imagine can only be done for so long. Due to my mistake I found myself in a chase group for 80 miles doing far more work then I would have been doing while still being in the pack. All this work just to start the next day and still be 20 odd min down. Very frustrating; this will not happen again. The crit the next day was a fun course in downtown Phoenix, was uneventful and fairly easy, but I couldn’t get away with a move and it came down to a sprint.

Weekend of February 21^st through 25^th, Grand Fondo Brevard in Florida. A teammate of mine Jos, had won this last year and the Fondo wanted to fly him and a few of his teammates out to attend the event again this year. This was a very rewarding experience for it allowed us to escape the desert for a short while and relax in the pool and the beach. We spent the days before the fondo supporting the cause that the grand fondo supports. It’s a group of kids that have not been given opportunities that most of us have, and helps them to push forward and succeed in life. I found this to be a great organization that is full of good people and good kids; the organization is called KLD. Please look it up and help if you can! All in all the fondo was a great experience full of great people and was actually a really great workout by the end of the day! Would like to come back next year if they will have me.

Weekend of February 28^th through March 3^rd, Merco Cycling Classic. From one side of the country to the other in one week we were now in the town of Merced, CA. I new this would be a interesting weekend when I woke up the day before the first stage feeling sick. Racing sick is just part of the sport, however it is something that every cyclist cowers from more then anything else.  Ive heard so many practices done by cyclists to get rid of sickness that each will swear by, rubbing ointment on your feet, drinking a gallon of coconut water, tea, breathing exercises, sleeping 12 hours, chugging water, and so on. I think it just comes down to if a rider has to do 120 miles of racing while feeling like they should be curled up in bed…well they are willing to try just about anything. First stage was a great great course with a sweet climb, even though I was sick my legs felt decent and I was always able to do each laps climb with ease. Phil Giamon pulled a very impressive move to bridge to the break, which I was too cautious to go with even though I was right behind him when he went. Next time I will be saying screw it and seeing if I can hold his wheel is he leaves the next peloton in the dust. The next day was the TT which is where my sickness really hit me, fire in the throat made for a fun 26 min on the bike. The next two stages brought more disappointment but a much needed solid training block.

These past few weeks I didn’t pull any results to speak of. But every rider, even the best in the world must constantly learn and make mistakes. This is how one learns how to get to the top of the mountain first. Break yourself and build yourself up, its those who build themselves up that find themselves on top in the end.

 One of jos cats. Always find something to make you smile everyday!

 Beautiful backyard in Florida. Was spoiled.

 The Group at the end of the fondo. Good Guys, good teammates.

   Valley of the Sun Stage Race

Boulevard Road Race 2013

 Ventured into California this past weekend to race for the first time in my cycling career; I made it a good one.

It was a six hour drive from our condo in Mesa to the small “resort” in Boulevard, CA. It wasn’t a resort at all..in fact it was the worst night of sleep I have ever had before a race to date. Note to all; never assume that the hotel will have extra blankets. Willy and I slept on the air mattress and endured one of the coldest nights ever. After getting a womping couple hours of sleep we woke up at 6 in the morning and made some oatmeal, which has quickly become a staple in my teams diet. Cheap, quick, and good for you…just wish I liked it more..big bowl of snot. Anyways, after breakfast we realized that we didn’t race till 12:40, we still had 6 hours.

I would say there are two things that really kill me before a race.

First, warming up. Its one thing to be getting a good warm up in before a time trail, it’s a whole different thing to be spinning aimlessly around a parking lot or side road before a crit, or better yet a 90+ mile road race just asking to get a flat.

Second, waiting for a race. Pro1 races are most often started late in the day and even sometimes as late as 10pm; this kills me! You basically spend the entire day waiting for this one moment, its all you think about, all you prep for, your entire day now. Think kitting up early will help? Umm no. just means you spend more time in your spandex. Think taking your time peeing will help? No. you will still need to pee right before the start. Nothing worse then already being kitted up 2 hours before a race; this is exactly what Team Gateway did ha.

Boulevard has gained popularity within the SoCal region and attracted a good amount of talent this year, including 16 of the U23 National team fresh from team camp. The course is rolling with a solid down hill section and an up hill section as well. For the first few laps many groups attempted to break free of the field; this also included several splits that were scarily close to breaking off. Going into the beginning of the 3^rd lap one man had gotten off from the field, Michael Olheiser had put a few min on a field that had decided that one man was no threat.

Being on the front I found that the field was letting me roll off, I went into tempo mode and put some time on the climb. Not much later a US National team and Livestrong Rider, Lawson Craddock bridged to me and we formed a two man break to get to the lone rider ahead. After a solid lap of burying ourselves, rotating at an all out pace we made it to the feed zone and thus the final lap of the race.

Not having gotten a successful feed to that point I new that I needed two bottles. Grabbed one.

Alright one to go.

I motioned that I needed another bottle to our second feeder. This mistake that happened next I will take most of the credit for, I rushed a feeder who had little experience in the feed zone. As I grabbed the bottle he did the one thing that you can never do as a feeder, hold on to the bottle. I was pulled right, I then overcorrected left and went down. By this point I had been off the front of the race for over 20 miles going all out and had just gone down, I wasn’t really hurt, but ether way lets just say it took everything I had not to be disrespectful or yell out in frustration. I tried calmly to collect myself and bridge back up to Lawson, this took a little effort on my part and can only regret that I wasted a little energy there, but once I rejoined my breakaway partner we once again started rotating to find the man who had just been given a little break by my misfortune.

A few miles later we did catch Mike and then started to rotate the three of us. After a while and getting splits from the moto it was clear that we were all gased and new that the chase would soon catch us, so we sat up a little and waited. When the chase group did catch us, it was like a gunshot went off and attacks flew and all I could do was hold on to what I could after such a long time working in the break. I found myself in the back group of the chase consisting of three riders, Ty Magner, Kenneth Hanson, and a Hispanic rider that I did not recognize. We had 3 k to go and were on the final climb, I knew I had nothing left for the sprint and was so ready for the race to be done that I wasn’t about to play end of the race games, so I tempo’d the remaining bits of the climb and waved the boys behind me around with 300 meters to go. I rolled through the finish, very much dehydrated, utterly and totally exhausted, but happy. Its moments and races like these were you know you are doing what you love, pushing your body beyond where it naturally can go, I love it, and I will continue to do push my body to that point till I cant anymore.

A few final notes. During the break we had two things yelled at us that struck me.

The first was while rotating with Lawson we had a man yell at him saying “you are doping!” What? You felt the need to say this because he is on a team that was associated with a man who recently came out as a doper? You are a fool. This is disrespectful to a racer that has worked hard in the sport just like the rest of us. Doping happens in our sport and hopefully someday that will change, but making accusations about something you know nothing about wont help this change. Bike racing should be a sport that people feel safe within, and you screaming at us while we are pouring our heart and soul into a race doesn’t help. The chance of that man reading this is very unlikely, but who knows.

The second thing that happened was a man on the course from the masters field asking us if we were pros. While at the time it seemed like a very silly thing of him to ask, now looking back on it, it makes me proud to be racing against such a high level of athlete and to have the opportunity to do so. Thank you for all of those who do this sport an amazing favor and support those they can. Thank you.

Lets All Ride Harley’s Together

Team Camp 2013. Phoenix, AZ

Team camps are one of a kind. You go into camp a new year just full of high expectations and absolutely ready to take on the world! As a good friend of mine quoted not long ago in his blog “Team camps are so much fun. Ride all day, new team kits, raucous dinners, meet new teammates” He is right. Its like taking grown men and making them act like its Christmas morning.

I had the honor of picking up all the guys from the airport and bringing them over to the house. First I picked up Willy to complete the four man squad living in the condo, always good to see him and his spunky self it of course had been too long.

Next I picked up Griffen, a new addition to our squad this year that I soon found out was a strong one. I instantly found out that he was a good-natured guy who likes to joke around with the rest of us. Then finally I picked up my best friend Sam, and then our lovely British teammate Joss. Was great to see both of these gents as always.

This was Thursday midday and we still had time to ride. I dropped them off so they could quickly build their bikes up and then rode over to meet them. We had a good first team ride/spin to prep us for testing the following day.

1/18

·      Testing: Originally we all thought this was going to be Vo2 test…but we soon found out that we would instead be doing a 20 min power test. There is quite a difference between the two, in my own opinion the 20 min power test hurts waaaaayyyy more. The testing went well. All of us put some power down, it was also very helpful having Kevin Livingston performing the test and pushing us through it, advice from a former tour rider is always welcome. Thank you so much OTR Training Center for forming a relationship with us and opening your doors to your brand new facility!

·      Team Dinner- Dinners allow team to really get to know each other and have some amazing food in the meantime

1/19

·      Long Team Ride- Five hours. We rode the “end of the pavement rout” a good solid ride with plenty of climbs to test the legs on. I pushed hard on every climb trying to get a solid day of riding in and see what my teammates could do. Griffin was eager to climb with me and a few others tested their legs as well. After flipping it we had already gone hard up 4 solid climbs and our legs were feeling it. Little did we know the challenge that was about to be thrown at us. Kevin who had probably just been laughing to himself presented a 50 dollar winnings for the first person to get to the top of the last climb of the day. I was not sure if I had one more climb in my legs..especially to race for it. However the pull of money always makes you dig more then you normally would. First to attack was Danny who wanted to catch us all early, Griffen went with him, soon followed by me and Matt Shriver (our Trek Guy who I found out was a good guy and a darn good rider too).  As we twiddled our way up the climb it soon became me and Matt as the final two. We took our turns hitting each other over and over trying to see who would break first. In the end I crested the top first (even though we both weren’t really sure where the top was) but with no lack of a fight to get ride of Matt. Thank you Matt for pushing my legs and making me feel some serious pain.

·      Team Dinner/Team Meeting- Team meetings are crucial to covering where everyone’s goals lies within races for the season and what conflicts will arise. While these can be a little boring…our director Jim did a great job at keeping us all entertained.

1/20

·      Early Morning Final Spin- The guys were flying out at midday so we wanted to get one final spin as a team to wrap up the camp. Wish the guys could have stayed longer but it was fun while it lasted

·      Crit- Then finally to end a hard block of training at camp we used a local crit as one final snap for training. Danny, Willy, Chris, and I suited up and did quite well controlling the race with a small team. We made sure to be present with every move and did very well to have good flow as a team. Eventually I made the break with three other riders and it stuck till the end. I didn’t have the pop at the end to get the win but instead took the last step on the podium. Was a very fun race and was worth while for sure to get a glimpse at what local AZ racing is.

Training Camp comes to a close. But that only means that the year is opening up. Beyond excited and ready to rage with the boys!

 Morning team ride.

 View from "End of The Pavement"

 Chris (Team Owner) Taking his turn for testsing. Kevin and Jim standing over him cheering him on.

New Swag during camp. Thanks to our lovely sponsors. These are the new Oakleys!

Home Sweet Home

Mesa, Arizona for the next three months is where I will call home.  From a two week impression, it seems to be a very large suburb of Phoenix with a large population of elderly people who do not seem to have had a presence of cyclists in their generation. Beautiful riding consisting of small highways that lead out to non travelled roads in the mountains surrounding the city. After one week I found that Phoenix itself has very friendly people that are willing to welcome you to their city. With that in mind, I have also found that pride for their city is also important here. New to Phoenix? They can tell..and they will remind you of that. We will see if they can still tell by the team says adios!

For those of you who asked for pictures of the new place here it is. I caught these guys in the morning with the camera so the beds are not made, but I am proud of these guys for working to keep the place clean and livable.

Roommate #1. Willy Zellmer. A driven individual that I spent a good amount of good times with last year. Im sure I will be telling a good amount of stories about him in the future.

The master bedroom. aka Willy and I's room. (there is also a master bath)

Roommate #2. Mac Cassin. I cool new addition to the team from CU Boulder. Someone who knows quite a lot about sports nutrition and will be a strong addition to the squad for 2013

Roommate #3. Cameron Rex. aka the youngster. a quirky dude but none the less a strong solo rider who adds plenty to the house.

The balcony. o and there is a heated pool right around the corner there. tho its been in the 70's lately. 

Thank you so much to Team Gateway Harley-Davidson/Trek and all of our sponsors for making this possible for me. Living the dream.

The Diesel Count Up ($)

The Diesel Count Up ($)

Warranty.

Through working in the bike industry for years as a rider, rep, and mechanic, I’ve had to deal with my far share of warranty issues.  The definition is as follows..

“A written guarantee, issued to the purchaser of an article by its manufacturer, promising to repair or replace it if necessary”

If a buyer invests in a company they expect the product to be worth the investment and for that company to back up their word through dark and thin. I have dealt with both good and bad companies recently, Ill give you examples of both.

Example 1: Good.

Kinetic Trainer Systems. I purchased this fluid trainer 5 years ago through the shop I was working at and have no joke put likely 10,000 miles on it throughout the winter seasons of Indiana. The day before Christmas this year I apparently wore through the fluid and it froze on me. I filed a claim and received this brand new unit without question before new years eve. This is a company that I will forever stick with and will now swear by, I fully recommend Kurt Kinetic to any rider that needs a good warm up machine and or something to spend some hours on when it is just too much outside.

Example 2: Bad.

From the moment I brought the team van in they had promised me that the van would be under warranty. They later told me to come over and take a look at what they had found (after I called them, since I hadn’t heard from them in two days). I made the walk over to be brought into the shop and handed a water bottle of what looked like milk. This they told me that is what they had drained from our diesel fluid system, this was not only a very sever problem for it damaged the system (since it smelled of paint thinner) but it also allowed them to void the warranty. Luckily I still had the gallon container of fluid that I had put into the diesel system about 1000 miles back, and the mechanic was able to affirm that it was the right stuff and that we had done nothing wrong…and yet it was still our problem so GM didn’t have to pay for it.

After 4 days at hotel, being promised warranty, a rental car, as well as a likely hood of having our food paid for….and then have all of those promised flipped…Chevy/GM. Not okay. Fix this.

We nonetheless needed to make it to our destination and had the van fixed (we will be following up through the higher ups at GM about this fiasco). So one week after I left Indianapolis I arrived at our absolutely beautiful apartment in Phoenix, AZ.

In every industry there is a set standard for the company to take care of their customers. This trip has made me so happy that all of my great and caring sponsors abide by this standard. They know that is everything in this world to go through life with guidelines, moralities, and standards to take care of their people. Word is everything.

BTW. This is the sweeet van.