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.