Time for another update

I'm struggling keeping the blog up to date... I don't really have much time at the moment and probably won't till after I finish up school next summer. I'm in the midst of an internship at Carmichael training systems (www.trainright.com). This week I got back from a week and a half long training camp for the Leadville 100. I was pretty busy working the camp all day every day, but still got in some good riding at altitude and in some pretty cool scenery. I got to hang out with some pretty accomplished individuals in the business world at these camps. I always enjoy getting some insight into other peoples stories and their successes and failures. After spending that much time up there and seeing much of the Leadville 100 course, I kind of got the itch to race Leadville. I'm tempted to squeeze in this year and suffer through it, but I've got a few logistical issues to work out first... like finding a mountain bike... We'll see what happens...

Sunny King crit report

Sunny King was a smash and grab trip in an attempt to get a little NRC racing in the legs. This was my first go at an NRC race this year. I figured I knew what to expect since I've done enough comparable races in the past. Turned out I was a little too complacent... I intended on using some basic aluminum wheels so I wouldn't be worried about crashing and destroying a several thousand dollar wheelset. Turned out one of my teammates talked me into using his carbon deep dish wheels. I threw those bad boys on and while they looked cool, they squeeled like a stuck pig anytime I touched the brakes since I wasn't running carbon brake pads. I figured I would be fine, the race would be fast and I wouldn't have to brake much... The race was blistering fast, but I should've known that you gotta have good braking to maintain position in these races...

I know I've done races with that guy in the race whose brakes squeel so loud, it can be heard on the other side of the course and nobody ever wants to be behind that guy. There is always jockying for position in these races, but that guy probably always gets it the worst. Well... I was that guy... So, despite my 2nd row start, I was quickly getting elbowed and pushed backwards till I took my place of shame at the back of the pack. I stayed there till it looked like things were gonna hit the fan, then I would move up just enough to get in front of the splits happening on the back till I was once again in my "spot of shame"... So... this is kind of how my race was defined... Did get to bridge up ater getting caught behind a crash and it wasn't too tough to do so... But, the 40 guys who did not go down in the crash getting a free lap and getting let in at the front took another blow to the pride... Making my "spot of shame" all the more painful. With 50 laps behind me and 10 to go, I made a push up towards the front and focused on holding my position squeeling brakes and all. I was doing all kinds of cuddling at 30 mph through 90 degree corners. Still didn't get away with it, I kept inching backwards just at a slower pace than before. That was about it for me on a mental level... I like racing my bike, when I can't do that and I get stuck just riding in circles, I stop having fun... I was hurting from that final push, wasn't having fun, and since I was the only guy from my squad I had no one to work for to keep me pushing... So, I pulled out popped open a beer and watched the finish...

Hopefully I got the stupidity out of the way early and can put it all together for collegiate nationals in May and the NRC calender to follow... Big thanks to Wichita Falls Bike Club, Rouse Bicycles, and Hotter n Hell for getting us to these races. Another thanks to Francis' Soap for keeping my skin smooth and smelling fresh and clean!

This past week was my first collegiate track nationals (and real set of track racing for that matter).  We left  early Tuesday morning to make the 12hr drive to St. Louis where we would stay the night.  The next day we finished up the 4 more hours of driving to Indianapolis.  We checked in and threw together some quick lunch before heading to the track for some practice runs.  I was also anxious to try out my newly rigged up track bike that used my road TT frame. My events were mainly focused on my time trialing ability.  My confidence in my current TT ability was in the dumps as I hadn't ridden the TT bike in several months and had done a TT the weekend before we left only to have it be the worst TT I had all year.  My first event was the 4 kilometer pursuit on Friday morning.  Teammate Danny "team sprinter" Robertson, was the first from MSU to go and posted the fastest time until a CSU rider beat him by about 6 seconds.  I was up shortly after to do my first 4k pursuit in competition and second one ever.  Somewhere around the halfway point I was leading but I dropped off a little at the end to put me in 2nd behind the CSU rider by about half a second.  By the time the pursuits were over, enough fast times had been posted to bump me down to 7th. In the coed team sprint, the team consisted of Claire, Natalie, Danny, Matt, Josh, and myself.  The point was for each rider to go as hard as they could for one lap before pulling off and letting the next rider repeat till the last rider would come in for the finish. Josh was the last rider, being he is the fastest sprinter out of all of us.  I would be the last guy to pull Josh into his final lap.  The girls took the first pulls and once they pulled off, Danny hit the front and hit it hard with Matt and myself to follow. I pulled as hard as I could and pulled off for Josh to launch his final sprint.  When he crossed the line, we had posted the fastest time thus far.  Marian ended up beating us by 3 seconds, knocking us down to 2nd.  Still wasn't bad considering Marian is across the street from the track and practices regularly while we live 2.5hrs away from a track and had one practice session.  What was most impressive was the girls rode to a 2nd place in the team pursuit against Marian with the little practice and very minimal aero equipment as well.   The mens pursuit didn't go as well.  We thought we for sure had 2nd at least, but I think our confidence turned out to be our demise... I had the slowest start out of the pursuit team mainly comprised of guys that go fast for short distances.  So, I got to start at the front... It was a tough start for me as I'm used to going fast once I get up to speed, not from a stop, and in the same gear I need to go fast once up to speed.  Once I pulled off, Danny hit the front and did all he knows how to do... Go as hard as he can.  This made my swing up track too high since they came by much faster than I anticipated.  By the time I dropped back down to try to tag on the back, I had a bike and half lengths gap between me and Josh who was sitting last in the paceline.  I managed to get on as Danny slowed down a bit from his initial surge and just as he was getting ready to pull off.  I had about a lap to try to regain some composure before my next pull, which didn't turn out to be near enough.  After my pull, I made sure I didn't go as high on the track when I pulled off.  I was able to make contact with Josh's draft but lost it as Danny's surge persisted again...  I started to inch back on as Danny did his token slow down from the initial surge, but couldn't get back in the draft before Danny pulled off and Matt took his pull to pick the pace back up.  The guys slowed down considerably as that fast start caught up with them, landing us a 6th or 7th place in the mens team pursuit.  I wasn't completely sure what happened until after the pursuits were done and found that our first kilometer was over 5 seconds faster than anyone else... Hopefully next year we can learn a little self control & discipline coupled with a bit more practice so we can ride a smart, efficient, and fast team pursuit...  The other events went well though with Jen winning the match sprints and individual womans omnium, giving her 2 stars and stripes jerseys to take home. The team ended up finishing 2nd in the team omnium.  All in all a good weekend and it certainly got me excited about track racing...