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.