A Problem I'd Love to Have

What is probably three or four years ago now, I was out on a ride with my friend and mentor Blair Berbert. We were probably about 1hr 56mins in, and I was probably already totally cracked, under fueled, and turning myself inside out to keep Blair from realizing. Blair would always take me out on these big rides, and every ride we did I would be progressively in a little less over my head. On this particular ride I remember we were talking about how awesome it would be to be professional cyclists. I said something stupid along the lines of how hard it must be for Andy Schleck to decide what races he wants to do. Blair said, "that is one of those problems I'd love to have". Over the past few years Blair and I have kept going on big rides together, and lots has changed, I don't totally crack on the rides anymore and we're both going faster. However we still do speculate about how great it'd be to be top pros.

This past weekend I flew to California at 6:30pm Friday night and flew back to Colorado at 12:20pm Sunday. The purpose of the trip was for the first little Cal Giant mini camp, to meet the new guys, get bike fits from Specialized, etc. All week I was bitching to myself about what a pain it was, and how pointless it seemed to fly to California for what was essentially a 24hr trip. Then when I was standing in the Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, being asked what size aero jersey I wanted and whether I wanted an SL4 or a Venge, I couldn't help but smile to myself as I realized this trip was one of those problems I'd always wanted to have.

I've still got a long ways to go towards accomplishing all the personal goals I have, but it feels good to look back and realize how far I've come.

The Band is sweet.

The Legend of Bagger of Vance is also pretty sweet. I had not seen that fine film (alliteration, no big deal) since it came out. Until I watched it again yesterday. Wow! That is a sweet movie. I read some reviews of it, and apparently a lot of people didn't like it. However, I disagree with them. It's a classic underdog story, always awesome (another alliteration, maybe I should be a writer). But seriously, if you haven't seen it you should. It made me realize that golf movies are the best movies. Tin Cup and The Legend of Bagger Vance are examples enough (ok now this is just out of control).

There is a band called The Avett Brothers. The band is super sweet.

There is also a band called The Wood Brothers that is also super sweet.

There is also a band called The Allman Brothers that is super sweet.

I've decided all bands that have the band name The "Last Name" Brothers are super sweet.

blogging is more fun than homework, maybe

It has been a little while since I lasted smashed the keys of my keyboard in pursuit of blogging glory. I'm not sure has been the cause for this dry spell, but I do know that as I stare down a couple hundred pages of reading I should do about 4th century English history, blogging glory has sudden become a noble pursuit again.

Of course after such a brilliant set up, I really have nothing worth while to write about, so I suppose I'll just go with the cliche summary blog. I last updated on July 11th, since then life has been pretty usual, bike racing among other time wasting activities.

I did Cascade which so so, could've been better as usual, also could've been worse...which isn't always as usual, so that is a plus I suppose. After Cascade I was taken in by the Huffman family as Evan and I chased the prestigious Cal Cup all over Northern California for a few weeks. It was a fun chase, unfortunately I had to abandon the race early as school beckoned, meanwhile Evan finished off the job and won the Cal Cup overall, while I slipped to 8th after bailing on the NorCal scene. The tradeoff is that I live on my own and go to school, while Evan doesn't go to school and lives with his parents. If some confused readers think I have come out ahead in this tradeoff, they clearly do not understand the prestige of the Cal Cup racing series!

Since then it's just been books, college, and the occasional stab at maintaining some fitness by getting lit up in Boulder city limit sprints by mountain bikers and triathletes.

But, yes everything has been going pretty well, I'm actually the most fired up about school I have been since I started college. I think taking a semester off this Spring to race was good for both my racing and my school, as I'm really refreshed on school now. It might've honestly been better for my school than my racing, as I can't say my racing necessarily profited that much.

For the meantime I've got some prestigious B category collegiate mountain bike invitation only races in the cue for the next few weeks, followed by a little break. Then of course the inevitable return to an unnecessary seriousness about the mediocrity of my cycling, which will likely result in an embarrassingly large drop in social activity, academic merit, and just general well being. But maybe I'll get lucky and my FTP will increase 10 watts!

Well that is all for now, it is official I guess that my season is over now and I must say it is a bit disappointing. For the first time in a couple years, I don't feel totally burnt this time of year. I can honestly say there was another couple chances to have a stab at it, but it's ok, the Gateway ride starts up in a couple months and surely that will allow enough chances to chase the glory! Ok, I'm really done this time!

tin cup

anyone who hasn't seen tin cup should probably check it out, it's pretty much the best movie ever, kevin costner is a beast...just savor this little gem until you can roll yourself down to the local blockbuster and rent it.

update

so yea its been a while, time for a little update action I suppose. I got back from europe kind of sick and had to take it easy for a bit, but it was super nice to be back in boulder training on the climbs and stuff again. I really missed it while I was in Belgium, the roads there are pretty flat. A few weeks after I was back I did the superior morgul classic, near Boulder. It was a pretty sweet race and I was lucky enough to pull off the solo win. It felt really good to get a solid result after just getting pounded in Europe for two months. Also, it was only the second senior race I have ever won, so it felt good to! I don't know how many people know this but I actually never won a race until I was a cat. 1, so every one I can get feels like a miracle!

After morgul I headed out to Hood River, OR for Mt. Hood stage race with the team. I was hoping to do well, and my form was good, but I think my lack of stage racing this year hurt me a little I just didn't have the big enough days. But overall it was a good race, I had a solid ITT which gave me some confidence and the team did super well with Staz winning the first stage and we put two guys in the final top 10 gc!

Pretty much right after Hood I headed home to VA to train in the heat for U23 Nationals in Georgia where it was definitely going to be super hot. It was a fun time at home and I did some more racing. I did the Tour of Mt. Nebo which was brutal...it was super hot and just a lot of hills. I got 2nd which was solid, but Scott Zwizanski lit me up pretty hard. Then just last weekend I got to do Tour of Washington County which was really awesome because I haven't really gotten to race with any of those guys all year, and Joe does such a great job putting it on. Also, I somehow won the TT there so that was really good for my confidence...and a bit of a surprise. It was a fun race, Kelly and Harley were really smashing it and GPOA was riding really well also, it was a pretty tough race with no teammates but made for a great last hard two days before Nationals I think.

Yesterday was the TT here at U23 Nationals. Nate Brown did a great ride to win it, he's really flying right now. Trek had 3 in the top 4 which was very impressive, but Cal-Giant was really the only team to come close, we had 3 in the top 10 so that was pretty sweet! Eamon did a great ride in his first year u23 to go 3rd, Huffman was 6th and I was 9th.

Well thats pretty much all for now, the crit is today and I think we have a great chance at the win!

2 weeks to go!

the racing trip has been going well, these races are hard. not getting any stellar results but learning a lot i think and getting good at slamming on the brakes and praying i dont crash into some crazy belgian pile up. two more weeks left to go, the last race we are doing over here is supposed to be pretty hilly so im hoping to end with a good result. but yea looking forward to coming back home and whatnot.

Probably not going to go down as my best day on a bike.

Today we did Trofeo Edil a 1.2 in Italy. It wasn't good for me. Right before the race I found out we were not doing the race the next day, which was the one that had more climbing in it and I was really fired up for.

Instead of getting more fired up for today's race since it was my only shot for the weekend, I had a terrible mentality. I just was so angry I didn't even want to race, I don't know why but it was bad. I got in one move early and after that got brought back I just wasn't in it at all. I rode the rest of the race in the bottom ten riders hoping I would get a flat. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it was pathetic. I feel a lot better now that the race is over, but I just on an off day and I didn't want to fight for it.

I feel bad, because I've wanted the opportunity I have now for almost 4 years and I definitely didn't show that today. The people I've always admired are the ones that go out there and suffer and race with pure class, I was not one of those people today. Sorry to get so heavy, but it just feels better to write it down and get some of it out of my head.

Probably not going to go down as my best day on a bike.

no title

I've been trying to make some posts lately, but every time I get on here I can't think of a title so I just say screw it and write nothing.

The racing over here has been good, it's been hard. So far I've done three one day races in Belgium and one day in Italy. The racing in Belgium was hard, really hard. The first race we did was an all flat circuit race, that was 150k. There was no wind so it was not really a hard race sitting it, but it was very fast, we averaged 46km/hr. The next race we did was kind of crazy it was the u23 version of dwaars door vlaanderen and there were 320 guys in our field, it was insane! I felt good but ultimately wasted too much energy not being in the front and ended up not making the front selection. The next race we did was probably my best in Belgium, I was very aggressive and spent a decent amount of time solo off the front, but i ended up crashing out.

All the cliche things that people say about racing in Belgium are pretty much true. If you're not moving up you're moving back. Cobbles are really hard. It's super aggressive. The roads are really narrow, and it makes for difficult racing since they are littered with traffic islands, round abouts, etc.

The race we did in Italy was a lot of fun. It was a hard race, it was a circuit race with a 2.5km climb each lap. 170km was the distance. It was a 1.2 u23 and is one of the bigger and tougher one days in Italy. 200 guys started but it was definitely a day of attrition, only 60 finished and only 2 USA guys. I finished, but that was about all, there was a break of 20 that stayed away and then the pack behind. I felt pretty good, but honestly it was almost everything I had to just keep making the splits to stay in the bunch. I'm hoping I'll get a decent little boost from such a hard race though. Training is going well and now that I've been able to get a little consistency for the first time in months I feel like the form is starting to creep up.

This weekend they are doing 2 more one days back to back in Italy. The courses look hard. Sunday has a tough 5k climb that tops out 10k from the finish. I'm hoping to be feeling good and give it a go, I'd really like to get a top 10 or top 20 before I leave. But otherwise all is good, Italy is beautiful. Belgium is not bad though either, the u23 house definitely does not eat one's soul the way some people might make it out to. After these races I'm in Belgium the rest of the stay.

Sounds like the weather has been crazy back home. Good luck to everyone doing Battenkill this weekend, especially HPC in the juniors and Kelly in the 1/2 race.

i had a pretty good race today...but some days i just wish i was faster...something ive been thinking about lately, some guys are just so fast, it feels like the first time ive realized it even though ive been getting beat since i started racing bikes

Belgians work really hard.

Our mechanic for the race yesterday was a Belgian named Peter. He works for USA Cycling as a mechanic for the National Team over in Belgium. He was at the house early in the morning and then at the race all day with us, including waiting over an hour after the race ended to collect prize money. He had to rush home though because he had work to do at the bike shop, which he owns. Although, he also wanted to get to bed as soon as possible, because he had to get up early to go to work at the steel plant. What a relaxing Sunday.

Belgium

Lots of stuff to catch up on since I last wrote. I was in California for a little team camp. It was pretty good, got some good riding in on the new bike with the new guys. Everyone is super awesome and it was a good time. We did Merco stage race, which was a lot of fun and a good opener to the season. I felt decent not super awesome, but the team did well with John Bennett taking the best young rider jersey. I had a kind of rough day the last day, crashing and breaking my fork. I raced a bit longer on the spare bike but ended up getting in the car. Now I'm in Belgium for a two month long block with the US U23 team. I'm looking forward to it. Right now Belgium is pretty warm and sunny, but windy. Luckily we won't have to deal with it for too long, because in another day we're flying to Lucca, Italy to do a little training camp down there before the racing starts. I'll be having plenty of free time while I'm here so I'll do my best to keep the blog updated, in an effort to convince myself that people read this. Right now I've got a little cold but I think I'm on the upswing, so I'm pretty convinced for this camp in Italy. I've always wanted to go there and I've heard that just about everything in Lucca is awesome.

Ya gotta move up, it's getting hectic.

It's been a bit of a long month and a half, but this time next week I should be back in Boulder and have my broken jaw mostly behind me. Last Wednesday I had surgery to get some plates and screws that were in my jaw removed. Then tomorrow I get the final screws taken out. I am looking forward to being done with it. However, from that point onward things aren't really settling down, really just speeding up.

Unfortunately I'm only going to be in Boulder for about 10 days. I love it in Boulder, I love my apartment, I get motivated to train harder in Boulder seeing all the fast people. But yeah, I'll be in Boulder for 10 days with nothing to do but train. It's not as much time as I would've liked, but hopefully I can finally get one good block and get some fitness going. After that I'm going to California for 9 days for a camp with Cal-Giant. It should be really good, and I'm excited to meet everybody. All the interactions have been so professional so far. I don't want to come off like a jerk, though it could be far too late, but it's really awesome just not having to worry about things. Not having to worry about having a bike to ride, and not having to worry about booking flights. I should mention though that I would not have even been able to train for the past month and a half if it hadn't been for November Bicycles. They gave me a bike to ride and while I'm looking forward to getting my Specialized it has truly been a joy riding the November. There is something special about those grass roots companies that I think sometimes do a lot more for the sport than the big corporate engines. Check them out at www.novemberbicycles.com

After California I've got a lot of travel. I'm flying from California to Denver, then from Denver to DC. Then I'm at home at DC for one day to see a doctor. The next day, March 10, I fly from DC to Brussels, Belgium. I'll be in Belgium from March 11-May 9 racing with the National Team. My feelings about it are interesting I would say. For the past couple of years I wanted it so bad, and imagined how great it would feel once it happened. However, now that I am going in just a month I'm not sure how I feel about it. I wish I hadn't crashed and broken my jaw before going, most of all I am just unsure. I am excited, but at the same time I am nervous. But I have my schedule and it looks like a lot of good races, some hilly races so hopefully I can go fast in those. For anyone interested the schedule of races over there is:

March 20- GP Wilfried Pieters

March 27- Aalst-St. Truiden

April 8-10- Circuit des Ardennes

April 13- Cote Picarde

April 16- ZLM Tour

April 18- Zellik

April 24- Affligem

May 1- Hoboken

May 8- Circuit Wallonie

It should be good, and hopefully I'll return with some form rather than shattered to pieces.

new best song ever

I discovered a new sweet song. It helps me get pumped to slam it. I heard the grapevine that Andrew Talansky listens to it. So I figure that listening to this song is pretty much guaranteed to make me fast.

We are all a bunch of wimps.

I was driving last night down Military Rd. in Arlington, on my way to pick up my mom at the metro. It was dark and really cold out. I was complaining to myself how cold it was even just inside the car, when I saw coming the other way in the dark someone on their bike. Not someone out training just commuting home. When I thought about it I realized I see this stuff all the time, but just at that moment it really stuck with me. Maybe it was because the day before I had been out in the cold for three and half hours and seen a dozen recreational riders, that racers usually rip on, but not a single bike racer out training.

At this moment that I saw the rider coming towards coasting down a hill in the twenty degrees and dark I realized that most of us bike riders really are a bunch of wimps. Any time we do a cold ride we chalk it up as epic and talk for weeks about how funny it is that there were no "freds" out when we were doing our epic two hour ride in a partly overcast 35 degrees, with some super high wattage spin ups. All I can say is that these commuters are way more legit. They ride through rain and shine in the truest sense. Also, I am guessing that when they get home they do not brag to their girlfriend how hard core their commute was and how if they can just get 1 more watt per kilogram they really have a chance at winning tradezone next weekend.

Maybe it is time that us bike racers toughened up.

trainer trainer trainer

That is pretty much all that has been going on with me. It's not the most fun, but it actually has been surprisingly bearable. Most people that know me, in cycling, know I severely struggle with trainer riding. However, somehow the trainer has not been bothering me too much lately. It probably helps that it is 30 degrees and grey outside and the mountains are not calling my name.

It has been a rough couple of weeks. It is difficult going from living full time on my own to back at home with nothing to do and get out of the house. I think the recovery is going well though and I should be back to the normal routine soon enough. On January 21st I am headed out to Watsonville, California for the first little Cal Giant camp. I am looking forward to it, for anything just for a change of scenery. It should be fun though. I'm not sure I'm going to be riding with the team as the jaw will still be wired. I might just keep sticking to the trainer. There is not really any reason I can not ride outside. I guess I am just nervous that if I fall and hurt it I'll be stuck with these wires till mid-March, whereas by just riding the trainer for a few more weeks I can guarantee being back to normal by early February.

The team is having a second camp in February, which I will be back in normal condition for, so I am looking forward to that. Otherwise it has been great to be home with my family, and a pretty good couple of weeks so far. It's good to see Avery getting so fit! Except for that by the time my jaw is healed, he'll probably be shelling me.

It is weird to be at home doing not much, when everyone I know back in Boulder is starting up the spring semester. I was supposed to be in Tucson right now still training, but that changed. For the time being though, it is nice to not worry about school and focus on racing a little. I'm looking forward to getting the jaw behind me and getting back to making watts full time!

2010 in review

Some picture highlights from 2010.

In the spring I started racing collegiate, and it only seemed fitting that all the way out in Colorado, in my first collegiate race, I would get up the road with a friend from years past...and of course get dominated in the sprint by that friend. Like I said, only fitting.

CU at collegiate national championships in Madison, WI.

Making the news at Tour of Gila for stopping for a nature break on the side of the road. I certainly wasn't making headlines for my results, so might as well have had an impact somehow.

Making the winning break with Ben King at U23 nationals and riding like an idiot.

Sitting on logs can be fun when done with the right people.

I moved into my own apartment in Boulder, CO. It is pretty sweet except for that if I don't take out the trash no one does...except for Sam.

I thought my season was going to be over at Univest and that it was time to party! I guess I was wrong.

Camping in Crested Butte, CO.

Racing in Guatemala at the end of October, I've never suffered so much so late in the year.

Back on the bike, one week after getting hit by a truck in Tucson, AZ and breaking my jaw.

All in all 2010 was a pretty good year. It was a tough close of the year for me with getting hit by a truck and whatnot, but I'm doing ok now. Also, I'm thinking to try and improve the grammar on this site for 2011. Meaning I will be using things such as capitalization and maybe even some moderate punctuation, we'll see.