Been a while

So the season ended, I started some swimming and other off season activities, and I'm planning on starting to train seriously within the next two weeks. I am also excited to say that in early March of 2010 I will be heading over to Belgium with Owen to race the Spring and Summer there. I think this is the best choice for me for the next season given my lack of opportunities here, and also considering the racing there is very hard. More updates on this to come. This is possible because hopefully I will be graduating from grad school this December.

With no bike sponsor yet for next year, I may need to buy a few things, so if anyone has any aero race wheels they want to unload let me know. I'm looking for something as close to a Mavic Carbon SL as possible (aluminum rim, sturdy). Also, I need a shimano rear derailler, 42 cm over sized traditional handlebar, and a decent crank set. I pay in cold, hard cash (or check or paypal or whatever) although it's going to be a bit tight next year money-wise.

Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for any help!

Last race of the year

As the season nears its end....



Some riders are doing the Vuelta.


Those who are not doing the Vuelta may be doing Tour of Missouri.


The riders not doing Tour of Missouri probably end up doing Univest.


The ones who do not do Univest may decide to travel down South to do the Carolina Cup.


Finally, the riders who choose to not do Carolina Cup end up at Turkey Day!


So yea, that's my last race of the season, tomorrow.

USPRO aftermath

I had a fun time racing in Greenville. I got in an early break for a while in the opening circuits, made it over the first climb intact (they weren't going to hard anyway), led out Tim into the second time up the climb, and then broke a spoke.

From this, several things became obvious to me. I haven't been climbing at all and I've also got a list of things to change for this winter/ next season training:

1) Hill jam a little on endurance rides. Allow myself to ride more naturally rather than just crawling up the hills and killing it on the downhills.

2) Watch the CTL a little more closely and not let it get as high.

3) Do some rides that are 6 hours long.

4) Do more short super high intensity intervals to prepare more for accelerations in crits.

5) Weights? Leg tensions up steep hills?

6) Do intervals on climbs not flats.

7) Train (more) specifically to race.

Boring stuff, but what's even more boring is that school has started and I'm really really really glad this is my last semester.

Next up is Univest most likely.

Stolen Bike

So the races in NC were okay, but the "highlight" of the weekend was my Kane getting stolen out of Jared's car. Fortunately, I've got a replacement already from the team, but if you see a Kane for sale on craig's list or ebay, chances are it's mine (or the team's).

Next weekend is the USPRO road race. One more month left of racing...

U23 National Criterium

Last day in Bend was the crit. Alder and I had agreed to cover early moves because a break away seemed imminent. While I lined up in front, Alder unfortunately was delayed and was forced to start in pretty much last place. No good if your goal is to cover early moves. The race started and I covered the first real attack of the day. Ben King and Caleb Fairly went for it. Since that meant both Livestrong and Garmin were represented, I decided to follow. We briefly got a gap, but were soon pulled back. Upon being caught, the race winning move went. I had good legs and thought about going with it, but I figured there would be a lot of attacks until the winning break stuck and I didn't want to blow myself up too early, so I just waited. The waiting turned into spending the rest of the 60k race at the front, but out of the wind just watching and waiting. At times I thought about putting the hammer down to try and get across, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it across without dragging most of the field with me. I just covered attack after attack and kept my good position near the front. Finally, with one to go it was obvious the break was going to stay away so I geared up for a field sprint. I followed the right wheels near the end and came across the line in 7th place overall. Not too bad considering I don't really have that great of a sprint. Really though, I was just happy to net some sort of result out of the trip. Alder finished strong in 15th.

The rest of the trip back was great. We stopped by Crater Lake and walked around San Fran before finally flying out last night. My next post will most likely be a bunch of pictures from the trip, but here's one of the crit:

U23 National Road Race

I'm super tired so I'll just cut to the chase. I made one mistake but otherwise rode as absolutely hard as I could. My mistake was early in the race. People were thinking since it was so hot (102 degrees farenheight) that the early break would come back and then the real race would start. Not correct. I should have gone with my original plan which was to get into the early break, but I didn't. The group of 1o or so rolled away when the race was easy and there was no good reason not to be in it. After two laps we were over the first climb on the flats before the second and I sensed a hesitation in the field. People stopped pedaling hard and so I did exactly what I did last year at nationals. I just pulled over to the side and started pedaling. I looked back and Tejay VanGarderen (Rabobank) followed me with two Garmin riders in tow. I got into the draft and we hit the second steeper climb. Realizing this was my chance to do something right here, I gave it everything I had and hung on. After cresting the climb, I was completely maxed out and overheated. Unfortunately, a longish roller followed a short descent and I just couldn't keep going. I just cracked in a big way. I felt like falling off my bike and puking. I realy think I came close to a heat stroke. While VanGarderen would get dropped and pull out, the Garmin guys made it across. Quite honestly I was not strong enough and/or just couldn't handle the heat well enough to hang on. The rest of the race I spent in a chase group. Just finishing was an all out effort. I was truly overheated and cracked. My lungs are still completely burnt. So I ended up 38th place, same as last year I think.