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.

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.