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

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.

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·      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

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·      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.

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·      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!