Belgium Blog # 1

I don’t really know where to begin this. So much has happened so quickly in the past few days and really the past few weeks.

At this moment I sit the villa that my friend Chaun and I have called home located at the sunparks  resort in a little town by the name of Viesalm , Belgium. The events of the day/weekend have really yet to soak in but I am starting to come around an felt that I should write something soon in order to capture the real emotion of the recent events.

Just over 3 weeks ago, I won two events in Fort Collins on roads that I used to call home. These events qualified me to compete in the UCI amateur world Championships in Stavelot, Belgium. Today I sit here in awe, after completing one of my best weekends of racing across the ocean in Belgium.

The last two weeks of my life have been plagued by extreme discomfort in my left leg which has led me to a number of massage therapists and a very talented Muscle Activation Techniques specialist. (Thanks to: Lucy Conklin, Mitra Forati, Sky Vanhorn, Scott Strode and of course my right hand man Chaun Sims for hooking me up with the best body workers around) My training going into this race was not up to my standards but I did what I could keeping the intensity slightly lower and trying to simply maintain my fitness. This also consisted of 3 days riding in the mountains around Breckenridge at 10,000+ feet.  Thanks to a good friend Doug Hofmeister, Lindsay, the dogs and I got a weekend uninterrupted with nothing but quality altitude training.

The day before leaving to Belgium, my leg was almost the worst its ever been. I sat in the Computrainer room at the Colorado Athletic Club about to throw in the towel. A good friend from the club, Dave Costa, came in and gave me a few words to hold on to. I truly left the gym that night feeling a little more confident and inspired. It’s amazing how the belief from people around you can bring you to new levels. (Thank you Dave)

We boarded the plane on Wednesday morning and arrived in Brussels on Thursday morning. Thank god the bikes and wheels arrived on time and with no damage. I grab 150 euro,  a sweet Kia rental car (free upgrade) and we headed down the road to Stavelot. After many twists and turns in our plan, we finally found our hotel (or villa) in a little town about 15k from the race start in a town call Viesalm. Sunparks is a resort type, with lots of villa spread across the side of a hill with a huge central building with a pool, minigolf, bowling, etc.

First order of business was to ride the time trial course. Both Chaun and I were extremely tired and I thank him for putting up with me that first day. We drove back to Stavelot and I previewed the time trial course. The course was flat and fast on a bike back for 8k and then hit the rolling hills. The hills were not hard, but were hard enough to create separation and the wet descents were dangerous. The bike felt terrible with the clip on aerobars and the shifting was jumping all over the place. Basically, the first ride in Belgium left me a little sour.

The next morning I got up and rode for 45 minutes after making a couple small adjustments. I returned to the Villa angry with my equipment as it still insisted on dropping gears and shifting on its own. I had just had the thing tuned up in Boulder before I left. In the end, I was losing sight of how simple it might be, and I ended up making a couple barrel adjustments and it cleaned it right up (thanks Chaun for being level headed in the moment). We also dropped the bars way down, raised the seat and brought it forward and suddenly I felt I might actually be able to make this thing go fast. Shane Niemeyer had min kind enough to let me bring his disc and tri spoke over with me and having those gave me a bit more confidence on the flat start which highly favored a TT bike.

I went off at 1:30 and we all went off in one minute intervals. In the first 8k I passed two riders. In the final 12 take I rode my legs off, only losing time on the downhills which I had not memorized and was a bit timid on. It was also raining the entire time which made the descents very sketchy.  In the end I finished up 4^th place, only 12 seconds behind 3^rd and about 42 seconds off the win. For riding a road bike, and with little knowledge of the course I was more than happy.

My moral was raised and I was ready to take on the road race. After an evening of rest and a night of almost no sleep (damn this time change), I headed out Saturday to preview a good portion of the road course. I rode about 2 hours and did 4 of the 7 climbs. I typically need a lot to open my legs so I rode the climbs hard and set a good tempo on the flatter sections. I felt great and the course was just beautiful. Chaun got a good number of videos and pictures from this training ride which I hope to post when I get back in the U.S.

Sunday morning I was a ball of nerves. Sleep was hard to come as my body just didn’t want to conform to the 8 hour difference. I got up, drank about 4 of these tiny European coffees (which I love by the way), rolled my leg for about 30 minutes, packed and then headed to Stavelot. We went off at 1:30 but lined up at 1 pm. The rain was coming down hard and apparently people were crashing everywhere on the descents in the earlier races. We got delayed 30 minutes so they could get the ambulances back to the start.

I guess I forgot to mention that this area is full of rolling hills that have very short 2-6KM accents and steep curvy descents. In dry conditions they are dangerous and in wet conditions they are treacherous.

When we finally rolled out we were flying about about 40mph down flat roads toward viesalm. As we turned west, we took on a road that reminded me of a rain forest. It was almost completely covered by the canopy of the trees and the road was constantly wet. The pavement here is also chopped up and makes chip seal look good. This to me was the most dangerous part of the whole race. It was a long 5-7 mile section at 35 mph with people jockeying for position. I survived but lost a water bottle on a pothole. I had been smart and brought three bottles just in case the “professional feed zones” were not so professional. My rear bottle holder is worn out and a full bottle fell out so barely into the race, I was down to 1.5 bottles. (mistake #1)

The first climb is long and not very steep which was no problem.  I knew I needed to be at the front coming into the second climb but somehow still lost a ton of positions on the descent of the first. As we hit the base of climb number two, I was way way back. It’s a very steep narrow  farm road and I spent the entire climb in the gutter making aggressive passes. I was able to just grab onto the front group as we hit the descent.  This brought us back onto a familiar rode and towards the 3^rd climb of the day. This is where the move happened.

A small group was off the front and on the flat roads to the spineaux climb, I followed a lone attacker which turned into a great move. We integrated with the front group on the climb to Wanne and never looked back. This group of about 10 riders stayed away through the rest of the race. I felt good but was starting to suffer a bit from my lack of hydration. There was only one other guy from my age group in this select group and he was about half my size and called Belgium home. On the penultimate climb of the race, he attacked with another guy from the 30-35 age group. At this point I was hoping the others would chase since they had more numbers and it was a threat to them as well. This never happened and I was so pissed that I hadn’t followed when they were still close (2^nd mistake) I took up the chase but it was to late. The last climb is a leg buster averaging around 12 percent the whole way. I was pretty blown from chasing my butt off but I got up it with the rest of the group and slotted into second for my age group.

Some very memorable moments included Chaun screaming at me as I led the break up to Wanne (video to come). The crowds on the climbs were incredible, you felt like you were in the tour. Side by side with so many different nationalities all coming together to put time into our competitors. It really was amazing.

I have much more technical info that I will save for a later blog.

If you could have told me 3 years ago that I would be in Belgium today fighting for an amateur world championship, I would have said you were crazy. So many amazing people in my life have made this possible along with a lot of hard work.

In the past I have heard so much about the intensity of Belgium racing. I have been told that most Americans return home hanging their heads after getting their teeth kicked in. Now I know this was only amateur racing, but the intensity and nature of the racing was exhilarating to me. Maybe my perspective will change if I am ever given the opportunity to race here at the professional level but for now, it will remain a positive memory.

Thank you:

 Chaun Sims (my right hand man)

My mom, dad and sister Kaari (undying support)

 Lindsay Anderson (best girl ever, you never stop believing)

 Kathy and Merrill Anderson (words can’t describe how much your support means),

 Sabrina, Milton, Neva Huffaker (As a family you have made my dreams come true),

 Doug Hofmiester: (Amazing friend, always a positive influence)

Dave Costa (you always leave me with the most inspirational words of support and undying belief in me),

 Mitra Forati (what can I say..you are a true friend)

 Scott Strode (Always there in the background doing big things to make me successful, I hope I can one day repay you)

 Shane Niemeyer and Mandy McClane (The best training buddies, always lending your equipment and keeping my head in the game)

Trish Thomas & Will Rogers (Two amazing people that have touched my life in so many ways.)

Pearl Izumi stepped up in the final weeks to help me with gear for this trip and I wore it proudly in the races and on the podium. Thank you!

A special thanks to the members of the Rocket Sprockets cycling team in Houston, Texas. Collectively you all made a huge difference in my ability to make this trip happen.

There are so many more people to thank but I am losing battery here…

More to come soon and I will try to spell check this later I know there are probably a ton of errors.

Tour of the Gila Wrap up

Almost a week as gone by since the Tour of the Gila and I figure it is time to give my rundown of the final couple days, and where I go from here.

I left off my last blog with the time trial on day three. After a ride that brought back a small amount of my confidence, I was ready to do everything I could to take back time on the final two days. Unfortunately, day 4 was the criterium which isn't exactly my specialty. Generally I do best if I can get in the break. If that doesn't work, then I just sit as close to the front as possible and try to survive without crashing. I made two attempts to cross the gap to the break of the day, and both were shut down. One move had potential, but my breakaway companion just didn't have the juice to help, and with the headwinds on the uphill, I couldn't quite make it happen alone. In the end, I narrowly avoided a crash on the final lap, and finished safely in the pack.

At the end of the day, I sat in 11th place overall with about 45 seconds between myself and the top 10! Day 5 is considered the most difficult day. It is called the Gila Monster road race and it really does live up to its name. Roughly 103 miles with about 9000 ft of climbing. This was what I had trained for and I knew if I didn't screw up my nutrition, I could be there in the end, and I was ready to leave it all on the road.
I started off by drinking two full bottles and eating a powerbar before the first feed which is only about 26 miles in. At the feed, I had my right hand man give me two bottles and I took another from neutral feed to ensure I was well stocked. Carrying 3 full bottles up Emory pass may have made me worka little harder but it was worth it. Emory pass is a long climb the takes us to the highest point of the race, it is rated as a category 2 climb and on paper, it looked quite difficult.

Race leader, Fortunato set the pace high right from the start and I just sat in at 3rd wheel. It catered perfectly to my strengths as the pace just stayed high and consistent. No brutal accelerations to make my legs cry, it was just a quick tempo which is where I do best. I felt amazing and before I knew it, I was seeing 2 miles to the summit. I looked back and there was only about 10 riders left. I knew from this point that I was going to have a good ride. We hit the summit and immediately rocketed back down toward the valley. As usual, the lack of cooperation between riders in the front group, led to a large group of riders catching back on. We began the long ride up and over the continental divide with at group of probably 25 riders. The pace was slow and nobody seemed to want to work. One time we got a good rotation going, and then one riders sits in and all of a sudden everyone is lined up behind the guy on the front and noone will pull through. It got to the point where I just decided to save myself for the final climb.

As we got within 10 miles of the final climb up to wild horse mesa, fellow colorado riders Russell harding, and Adam Weissman spoke to me and we attempted a 3 pronged attack on racer leader Fortunato. Each of us took a turn attacking and forcing him to chase. While ultimately none of the moves were successful, we did make the race leader work and it may have contributed to his demise on the climb to come.

As we hit the final climb, I made sure to stay within the first 5 riders. The pace was of course high from the bottom and within half a mile, there were only about 8 riders left in the front group. An attack came from Stephen O' Mara which I watched and then tried to bridge up to a few second later, it was more of a test attack to see who would follow and who would pop. There was little response but the pace was still very high in the group behind and I wasn't sure it was the time to go. I sat back into the group and waited till an attack came from Russel Harding. I gave him a few seconds to get a gap, and when I saw race leader, Fortunato could not mark the move, I quickly bolted from the group and crossed the gap. We were quickly joined by Rio rider, Adam Weissman who was second overall in GC. The three of us rolled turns at full speed and quickly got a gap. Within 3 miles we had caught Stephen and we now had a strong group of four riders. The finish into Pinos Altos is diffcult, much more difficult than it looked on paper. Constant up and down, and really no time to rest. Rarely did I look down at my powermeter and see less than 380 on the screen, it was a serious effort and in the end, a very successful move. As we approached the finish, Stephen attacked and I tried to follow. I lack the quick finish and ultimately ended up second on the stage.

It may have been second, but it was a huge victory for me after the mishap on the first stage. It leapfrogged me up into 8th overall which I had to be content with.

Post Gila
Took a few days off and then did a few shorter rides this week. Along with catching up on work, I also applied from my Cat 1 upgrade and it was approved! My season was basically on track besides the slightly lower GC placing than I had hoped for.

From here, I had planned to head to washington state to race in one of the final Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro ride qualifiers but funding is not going to allow that so it looks like I will have to revise some plans.

I am looking towards the biggers multi-day stage races, such as Mt Hood, and cascade. Most of the larger races require you to be on a registered team so it looks like I may have to wait a year.

After a week of rest, I'm ready to build on the fitness I have and hopefully take it up a level. Still chasing that first since my return! More to come soon!

Thanks so much to my right hand man Merril Anderson, my ever so supportive girlfriend Lindsay, and my food sponsor Chaun Sims! :)

Tour of the GIla update

I figured I would give a quick update on what has happened over the first three days here in New Mexico. I'm going to keep it as brief as I can.

Day 1: 94.7 miles, basically flat, with a few rollers, wind, heat, and then a brutal climb 6.7 mile climb up the Mogollon to finish everyone off. Bascially, things started off well, right up until I missed my second feed zone. We had about 40 miles to go until the climb started and I was rocking one water bottle. This kept me from eating since that would make me even more thirsty. At the feed right before the climb I sucked down a gel, and drank a whole bottle of water but it was to little, way to late. I stayed with the front group through the first 2 miles of the climb. As soon as we hit the final 4 miles I hit a brick wall, and it basically took everything in me to keep the pedals turning over. My hamstrings cramped, my arms cramped it was miserable! I limped up the climb at about 130 watts lower than I could consistently do in training. Sad sad performance that lost me 7 minutes. Probably the worst I have ever felt, and it was obvious where the mistake was made.

Day 2: 77.9 miles. still just over 5000 feet of climbing but alot more climbs with less gradient. Woke up very sore from running the tank empty the day before. I was pissed and was ready to make something happen. The pace started off very quick, and on the first climb out of town, people were popping off the back right and left. I made the selection over the top and as we came down a very sketchy 3 miles decent, there were only about 7 riders left. Of course noone wanted to work, so a group came back. Long story short, I kept attacking and raising the pace but in the end, it was a sprint of about 20 riders and I pretty much just rolled in with the pack.

Day 3: 16 ish, mile time trial. 30+ mph wind with insane gusts. Its a tricky course because it starts up a rather tough 4 mile climb. You have to really know when to go hard because the final 4 miles you are going so fast you can barely pedal and it really doesn't take much work. I passed a bunch of guys but in the end I was 6th on the day. Finished 1:40 down on the leader which of course pissed me off again because I could've sworn I rode faster than that. Regardless, I went from 32nd over all on the first day to 11th overall today.

We have 2 stages remaining. The crit tomorrow is survival for me, and the last day is a brutal 102 mile road stage with tons of climbing. Should be interesting. This is my last day to take time back so I am hoping for strong legs and a strong mind.

At this point I am not where I wanted to be. The first day mistake broke my spirit a bit and it has been a struggle to recover from that. I felt I had the condition to win this race and after that bummer I just lost a little piece of my drive. Going to be hard to get a good ride with this kind of performance. Trying hard to rebound and make these last days count.

Thanks to all for the support. The crit will air live tomorrow. My race begins at 1:30 Mtn time http://nmaafilms.ezstream.com/play/index.cfm?fuseaction=embstay&id=1F22117FB5

Tour of the Depot recap

Friday evening, Lindsay and I packed the bikes and the dogs into the Element and headed off for Salt Lake City, Utah. Besides having to battle a slight blizzard for the final 100 miles, we arrived safely at our destination. We were lucky to be hosted by a our friend Justin Grisham who just happens to live at the top of what I would call a small moutain, just outside of Salt Lake City. We pulled in around 1:15 AM, got to bed around 1:30 and the alarm went off at 6 AM.

The road race started out of a small town (or area) called Stockton. It was snowing/raining, blowing and right around 32 degrees. They had re-routed the road race to stay at the lower elevations and shortened it to only about 70 miles. Within the first 5 miles, I thought for sure I was going to drop off the back. My legs felt horrible, I was cold and of course everyone wants to attack in the first couple miles. I was able to hang with it till my legs warmed up and from then on, I felt much more comfortable. The canyon cycling team had enough riders in the race that they were able to send an attack off the front just about every minute which made for a series of hellashish (if thats a word) accelerations. Finnally a break went, and our pace became more steady.  A somewhat organized chase began a few miles later but it became clear around mile 50 that there was not enough organization to pull the break back. The weather was miserable, and at times I could barely see the road in front of me due to the blowing snow.

With about 10 miles to go, a second group went up the road with two team exergy riders and another Cayon rider. Once the gap got fairly large, I attacked with the intent to bridge the gap. It took me about 10 minutes, and a huge effort to cross the gap. Once accross, we worked fairly well for the final few miles into the finish, it was full gas, and I barely remember it as I'm pretty sure I was cross eyed the entire time. In the end I was able to take 8th place on the day and get a pretty sizable time gap over the next group.

As the weather deteriorated, the racer promoters decided to cancel the afternoon time trial. I was dissapointed, but at the same time, I had seen the course and it would have been extremely dangerous with the rain, snow and now slush on the roads.

I got a good dinner, and some good sleep that night to prepare for the 40 mile circuit the next day. The course was very similar to the Tucson Bike Classic circuit which basically went up a hill, then down the other side. An early break went, but I stayed with the GC leaders since they both had strong teams that I figured would eventually work to bring the break back. Unfortunately, this did not end up being the case and  in the end, 4 riders stayed away. Nice job to team Bissells Chase Pinkham for his well deserved victory on the circuit. I did make a last lap attack that snagged me the 5th position but once again, my playing it safe probably kept me from securing a better result.

The race really did not have a ton of climbing, but what it did have never really put me under pressure. My biggest challenge is keep up with the brutal attacks. I don't have quite the snap in my legs and I end up closing gaps a lot. I was impressed with the Team Exergy riders in both the strength of their riders and their proffesionalism. We worked together in the road race to gain time, and in the circuit as well to try and get rid of the leader. Definitely a good group of guys and strong riders.

I ended up 6th overall in GC and I was the highest placed Cat 2 rider. Still chasing my first win since my return! :)

The next race for me is the Tour of the Gila. I really don't know how I'm going to stack up, but in my heart I know up to this point I had put in a lot of work. I feel good, and with two more weeks of solid training, I feel that I can at least do something. I set a few personal power records over the weekend which is great because I am continuing to improve. Starting to become more and more clear that I need a good team to ride for. Hopefully a good ride at Gila will help with that!

April 2nd, the next step and a little history.

So after settling back into a normal routine back in boulder, it is time to look toward the next objective. Upon my return, I took a day completely off the bike and 2 days that consisted of an hour long easy spin. It was hard for me to even take that much of a break, but it did me a lot of good.

Training since I've been back:

Monday I got back in the saddle and road some flat roads for about 3 hours. Tuesday and Wednesday and thursday I went into the hills and did a bunch of back to back climbs. Wednesday evening, I did my first CompuTrainer workout in a while and it was brutal! Friday was an easy day with me simply teaching my indoor cycling class, and today was a great day of climbing hitting up the four steepest paved roads in the boulder area.

My goal this week was to ride just as much as I felt like riding and keep the rides 3 hours or less for the most part. I did just that, except for today which was about 4.5 hours, and justifiably so since it was almost 80 degrees out! Should end up with about 22 hours on the bike this week and I still feel quite fresh!

Next race:

With most of the Colorado racing consisting of criteriums this time of year, I have opted to use my time to get in long training rides with a ton of climbing. My goal has always been short 3-5 day stage races which tend to suit me better. I enjoy them more, and it is hard for me to waste a whole weekend day to race for 60 minutes.

My big goal is to somehow get myself town to the Tour of the Gila at the end of this month. That is still up in the air since the cost is substantial.
For now, I going to plan as though I am going to Gila and continue to build my fitness with that in mind. As a tune up for Gila, I am looking to head to Utah next weekend to compete at the Tour of the Depot stage race. Since it is 3 stages in 2 days, It appears I may be able to make it happen without missing any work! The course looks challenging, with a lot of climbing, and a medium distance Time Trial which will be really good for my build up. It is a mixed cat1/2 field so I will have to overcome some fast riders to place well, but I know I have done my homework the best I could up to this point.

From there, I will have roughly 2 weeks to prepare myself. I have a bunch of other goals set for myself over the next two months that I will reveal later when I feel a bit more confident. For now I will be trying to hit up the races that suit me and see what I can do! Putting in the work will pay dividends at some point...and it doesn't hurt to have a little heart to go with it. Motivation is high!

Nonsense: If you don't want to know a whole lot about my history, stop reading here!

When I look at where I was fitness wise a year or even two years ago, it is definitely an eye opener. The years 2008-2009 were probably the worst year I have ever experienced. My last year at CSU was 2007 and was probably one of the best of my life. Coming off a breakout season and multiple victories over the summer, I was ready to take the cycling world by the neck in 2008. After an amazing training camp in Tucson and and productive winter on the Trainer, I ran into a road block. Team opportunities fell apart, job market was terrible and I suddenly found myself in quite a mess. A rather complicated situation with my soon to be team came to the surface and in the end, I was left with nothing. I was so shocked by how it went down, that I basically stopped riding. I didn't touch the bike for months.
That may I actually went up to Alaska, to work and get away from everything in Fort Collins. I spent upwards of 14 hours a day laboring for my mothers business. More than anything I needed a release to get out the anger I was holding from the team situation. When I returned to Fort Collins, I continued to work at a local athletic training facility and tried to ignore the nagging feelings. This was the most challenging time for me mentally and it tested me to a level that I wouldn't realize till over a year later.
A friend of Lindsays family broke me out of my funk and offered me a free ride in the Triple Bypass bike event. Its a fun ride with lots of climbing and is generally rather hard to get an entry to. I accepted and got back on the bike. I trained for a month, and rode the event is just over 7 hours. My goal was to ride it as hard as I could and just crush myself. Following that event, I had some motivation, but it wasn't enough. I put the bike back away and returned to my rather pathetic existence. This is basically where I remained for the next two years.
At the end of that year, Lindsay and I ended up moving to Boulder so she could begin Graduate School. I continued to work in loveland doing athletic training but the commute was to much. I then spent almost 2 years unemployed and searching for something to inspire me. Worst two years of my life by far. At the end of 2009 I really began doing a small amount of personal training and even riding a little. The roads around boulder are amazing, but with my level of fitness it was just embarrasing. I was overweight and extremely out of shape. The simplest rides would take everything out of me, but I continued to ride recreationally every now and then. That winter I ended up with an amazing opportunity to work the the soon to open Colorado Athletic Club Boulder. The opening of the club was definitely a turning point in my life. Good people were running the show and I felt comfortable for the first time in a while. I worked my ass off to be there every moment of the day for the first 3-4 months. My training took a huge hit, but in the end I knew it would be worth it.

After establishing a decent business, I began to train. In July and August of 2010, I put in about 90 hours on the bike each month. I entered my first race in 3 years which was the Boulder Time Trial series, and ended up 4th. I raced the ACA road championships and got my teeth kicked in. I raced the Steamboat Stage Race and once again got destroyed, but one thing came out of these. That thing, was the desire and motivation that I needed and was looking for.

The 2010-2011 winter was my most productive ever! I was at the gym usually over 12 hours each day. I would work in the morning, ride the CompuTrainer for 2-4 hours and then work in the evening. If it was nice out, I would ride from the gym. My fitness was so far behind everyone else in my category that it was going to take a ton of work to even get close to my previous level.  Its hard to look 6 months ahead and visualize the goal, but somehow I made it through.

This brings me to where I am now. I have one good race under my belt and am happy with the outcome. I have set very high goals for myself this season and some may seem a bit crazy. I have a lot of big races on my schedule and also the hopes of finding a good team.  You are never guarunteed anything in this sport, but a good friend told me, all I have to do is do my homework, and the results will come. So thats what I will continue to do. The peole around me are amazing and that is really all I can ask for.

here are some old racing pics

 Steamboat road race 2010

 Collegiate nationals Team Time Trial 3rd place. I'm on the right.

Steamboat circuit race..after getting dropped.

Thanks to all for following. I will keep this updated pretty regularly with training and racing updates.

March 22nd Race Recap and training update

 Well, a couple days have passed, and I have had time to digest the result of my first race back. I can't say I am dissapointed in my performance, but I am a little frusterated with the final result.

Besides the fitness and speed you lose when away from racing, I feel that I also lost my head a little. I forgot exactly how to race. Despite certain people telling me, "look for the break" I still decided to sit back and hope things would come together. When I did take the chance to chase an attack, it was a complete waste as the whole group was on me instantly and in truth, the rider who attacked couldn't have gotten far anyways. Basically I wasted a lot of energy where I shouldn't have, and I saved a lot when I should have been chasing. In hindsight it seems so simple, but in the moment I remember being very frusterated and almost panicked with the situation. It's probably the first race I have been in that I wished I could have had another 20 miles!

Its funny because I was just going over race tactics with Lucy the other day, and it seemed to come to me so quickly and I felt I had an answer for every situation. I guess its easy to see from the outside, but when all the blood is in your legs, and your brain is working on the bare minimum of oxygen, you can't see quite as clear.

Its funny because the kid who won the time trial, and I had taken the leader jersey from, attacked me about 4 times in the first two laps. Each time I was forced to chase and due to my terrible positioning, I was almost always boxed in when he went. Each time I brought him back using a huge amount of energy. Then as thing calmed down and the dangerous break actually went I didn't seem to care. Then this kid comes back to me a lap later and explains that we need to do something to pull the break back. I agreed, and we both went to the front to work. After about 2 rotations the kid falls back into the group and leaves me to work. I realized later he was playing on my stupidity! Unfortunately for him, he was not able to follow when I did go, which knocked him completely out of the top 10, but the fact that he was able to manipulate me like that is something that still bothers me. Once again, my brain has to learn to race again!

I did realize that I love Hammer Heed drink mix while I was down here. Very little taste, but much better than plain water...I like!

The monday after the race, I went out for about 50 miles. The legs felt heavy and my motivation was a little low after the dissapointment from the day before. I got home just after noon and proceeded to sleep and eat.

Today I felt a little better and went out for a long ride. Rode out through Tucson mtn park and over gates pass, then through tucson and up to the top of Mt Lemmon. It ended up as a 112 mile day and I felt great at the end. Head held a little higher today, but its funny how even a small race like this can mess with your head.

I have two more days of long training down here before I head back to Boulder. We may stop in silver city on the way home to check out at least one of the major Gila climbs.

Thats it for now.

March 20th Tucson Bike Classic Circuit Race

Well, today didn't exactly go as planned, but I did give it a good effort, just a bit late though.

We had a 45 mile circuit race on tap, which bascially climbed up, and then came down for 8 laps. My goal was to mark the guy in second place for the first part of the race and see what happened. On the second lap, he attacked really hard and I was forced to respond. Noone seemed to care that he had gone, but as soon as I jumped, they were on me like white on rice. Twice I had to bridge gaps due to bad positioning and both times I knew I was making myself work more than I should. For the next lap I stayed glued to his wheel.

A break got away on the end of the 2nd lap, which I wasn't completely aware of. By lap 4, they had almost 2 minutes on the group. I went to the front and started rotating pulls, but noone really wanted to chase. The guy in second place took, probably 2 pulls and fell back into the pack.

As my frusteration mounted I figured I had to do something. On the 7th lap, I attacked and crushed the climb, one guy was able to get up to me, and proceeded to sit on my wheel. As we hit the downhill, he started to pull through a little, but his pace was weak. I figured this was the time to go all in, and I basically just Time Trialed for the next lap. We picked up 2 stragglers from the break, who also proceeded to sit on my wheel and not help! The final lap I would say I pulled 99.5 percent of the time, power on the climb was well over 400 watts and only dropped to about 390 for the downhill. I brought back some time, but nowhere near enough to hold the lead. All in all, I made my move way to late.

I have never been in a race where the riders in the top 10, who are only separated by maybe 30 seconds, have no desire to work??!! They were content to just let their GC hopes go down the drain. Maybe they were just that weak or already at their limit, but it was unbelievable. I made a bad assumption in thinking that they would care, so I waited to long to chase the break. I felt amazing, and had no doubt that I was the strongest rider in the race. Tactically, I made some errors though and it cost me.

At the end, I finished 3rd overall. Not exactly what I had hoped for but I guess its a good place to start. Now I got 4 more days of good training and then its back to Colorado.

Thanks everyone for all the support!

March 19th Tucson Bike Classic Road Race

Wow..where to begin..

Day started off fine, up at 6, coffee, oatmeal and an egg (seems to be a great breakfast for me) and then off to the race. The road race starts about 20 miles out of town in an area called Green Valley. Our group was set to roll out at 9:15 and we had four 20 miles laps on tap for a total of 80 miles. I was one second off the lead and the leader had his bright yellow jersey on so he was easy to keep track of.

Of course a break went on the first lap and I was in to position to join it. At the same time, half the riders in the group had my number taped to their handlebars as someone to watch, so I doubt I would have gotten away. I was content to sit in the group and do as little work as possible. I spent most of my time sitting right behind or beside the yellow jersey (the leader of the race). The first time through the feed zone, a couple of guys crashed right in front of me and my dad, who was handing me water, luckily it just slowed things down so I got an easy hand off and just simply dodged the bodies.

At this point, the gap to the leaders was around 2 minutes and unfortunately,  myself, the yellow jersey and the guy 3rd in GC were all without teammates. Very few riders wanted to work, so a group of 6 of us ran a nice rotation for the next 12-15 miles. We got absolutely no help, and only took about 30 seconds off the lead group. At this point we sat up, and rolled through the feed zone for the second time. This was where things got a bit hectic, I missed my feed due to butter fingers....and I had half a bottle of water for the third lap. The break was up around 2 minutes again, and I had very little water to work with which meant I really couldn't help in the chase.

I took my chances and sat in for the third lap. Luckily the pace was high enough to keep the gap from increasing. Coming into the final feed, we nailed it, I chugged some go juice, and got to the front. A group of the fastest riders assembled at the front and started taking monster pulls. I buried myself over the rolling hills and we actually created a bit of our own gap. Within about 8 miles we pulled back the break away. There were numerous attacks that followed, most were neutralized immediately. I knew with the yellow line rule in effect, I needed to be right at the front for the final 3-4 miles leading into the finish. I sacrified a good draft, for a better position for the finish. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the line would receive time bonuses, which is what I was looking for.

The sprint opened up just before 200m to go and being a bit of a non-sprinter, I luckily had the right wheel and came around to finish either 2nd or 3rd (not sure with no official results yet). Either way the yellow jersey scored no bonus which should put me where I want to be. All in all, it was a great day. I really never had to ride over my head and I am extremely happy with the result.

The race bike

Tomorrow is the final day which is a 5.6 mile circuit. We cover the course 8 times, for a total of roughly 45 miles. I'm sure it will be tough but I feel up to the challenge.

Looking for my first cat 2 win tomorrow!

March 18th, Prologue day!

Today started out well! Up at 7, followed by coffee, oatmeal and an egg. I then geared up and headed out for an easy ride around 9 am. I did an easy loop south of tucson, just turning on whatever road looked the best. I was shooting for an easy hour with just a couple efforts and I got just that. Legs felt great!

From there it was more oatmeal, lots and lots of water, compressions socks and rest. I laid down to take a nap, which of course didn't happen, but at least I got to rest my legs. Around noon it was time to get the bike and gear ready. This really meant standing it up, looking it over and nodding...yup, its ready

From here it was time to get the gear ready....Yup...all ready

Signed in at 2:30, began my warmup at 3:30 did a few good efforts, felt good. It was insanely hot...about 85.

 Rode up the the start around 4: 20 and found myself standing in line for 10 minutes. Pretty sure my heart rate was down around 50 when I rolled of the ramp. This made for a rather slow and painful start but I still gave it everything I had. Passed my 30 second guy after the first climb, and then buried myself on the final climb. Pretty sure I damaged a lung I was breathing so hard, but after a few minutes of dry heaving I was able to regain my vision and begin riding back for a cooldown.

So after waiting and waiting, I find that I ended up 2nd place, by a single second!! This is good and bad. Good because now I won't be quite as marked tomorrow which is really good since I have no teammates. Bad, because, damn I wanted to win that prologue!

Tomorrow is the 80 mile road race. Time bonuses at the end could make the difference. I'm hoping for good legs! For now I am compressing the legs and eating.

Stay tuned..



March 17th

Today was not the ideal day by any means. Should have been an easy day to open up the legs, it ended up being much longer than I wanted due to a communication problem between myself and my Dad. In the end it was my own fault and my legs paid for it. I did however keep my average power under 200 watts so I figure that even if it was a bit long, at least I wasn't over taxing them.

Tested out the road race course, which seems to be fairly simple. Long false flat/climb heading up towards the finish, and then just a bunch of rolling terrain. As long as I don't have a horrible day, or do anything stupid, I should be able to hang on.

After eating and resting, we drove out to ride the 3.2 mile prologue course and test the time trial equiptment. The course is much hard than I expected, with a couple rather steep climbs. I couldn't believe how much climbing they fit into 3.2 miles. All in all I expect to do well, but I will have to endure a great amount of pain.

Tomorrow morning I will spin the legs out lightly for an hour or so, then eat and rest till its time to start warming up. I go off at 4:37:30 so I got lots of time to sit and dwell about it :)

For now, I'm sitting here compressing the legs and eating rice and a veggie stirfry that my dad cooked up. No pictures from today but hopefully some from tomorrow.

March 16th first day in Tucson

Well since I last updated, a lot has happened. Sunday I did a couple hours easy after I realized my legs were toast. Monday was a 4.5 hour climbing ride that included Leehill, Super Jamestown, backside of leehill, and then a double climb of super flagstaff to finish things off. Legs were shredded but it felt good.

Tuesday morning I taught my usual indoor cycling class, and then worked with my last three clients before hitting the road for Tucson. We had clear sailing, minus a whole bunch of construction that appeared to be mostly a bunch of random cone in the road to slow traffic. Of the probably, 15 to 20 different construction zones, I think we saw one that actually had "men at work". We also witnessed a semi-truck that had run into a bridge, it was on fire and there were probably about 30 emergency vehicles there just watching it burn.

This morning was coffee, and a tortilla with peanut butter before hitting the road. Now I know probably the best thing to do right now would be to rest, but I just can't waste any days in the sun. I told myself that I would do my best to keep my riding under 300 watts and focus on endurance and just have fun. Well it was amazing! At 9 am it was already closet to 80 degrees and I was smiling from ear to ear. I did a very controlled, scenic ride up Mt Lemmon. My good deed for the day was giving a random guy one of my precious CO2 cartridges so he could get home. Legs felt great, and the only thing holding me back was my hydration. I don't remember the last time I ran out of water! Its funny how riding in Colorado all winter you take for granted the fact that you can ride for 80 miles on 2 water bottles. Even in the CompuTrainer room, I am a quick jaunt away from the water fountain.

I went through about 6 bottles of water and one red bull, and still pulled into the hotel pretty dehydrated. Put in about 800 liquid calories of recovery and now here I sit with my legs up and the AC cranking.

Tomorrow will be very easy. I most likely drive out and preride one lap of each course. From there it is rest, recovery and dialing in the TT bike. Caley Fretz was kind enough to lend me a set of Easton aero wheels to help me in the time trial. Beyond that, its time for the legs to do the talking. My start time on friday will be 4:37:30 pm. This means a nice easy 90-120 minute ride in the morning, food, nap, and then a long warmup prior to my start. Its only 3.2 miles and I'm looking to make my mark from day 1.

Here is the website for the race http://www.tucsonbicycleclassic.com/index.html

Pics from todays ride.

More to come soon.

Saturday March 12th

So the final week of intense training leading up to Tucson is almost finished. Two more days left to put the fininshing touches on my fitness.

After a week of destroying me legs on all the local Boulder climbs, I took to the computrainer room for our monthly 10k Time Trial series. Although I felt terrible the whole time, I was able to put down a personal best 402 watts over the course. We had an amazing turnout with many people laying down their own best times. Following the Time Trial, a group of us hit the road to add a few more miles to the legs. Fueled by these amazing little spinach and egg calzones that Lindsay whipped up, I pulled Lucy Conklin (watch for this name in the future) and Dave Costa around the boulder roads. Both amazing riders and amazing people! Only about a 3 hour day, but very productive.

Sunday will bring another 5 hours of climbing around boulder and possible up towards Fort Collins. Monday will be back in the computrainer room for the final power workout. From there, it is rest and recovery rides.

It feels great to put the pressure on myself to perform. My confidence is definitely higher than it has been in years and I am going in with the goal of winning. The people around me are amazing! My family, friends, my girlfriend Lindsay as well as my co-workers and clients have all played a huge part in getting me to this point. Thank you so much to everyone.

Top of Super Jamestown Canyon March 10th...repping CAC!!


More to come soon..

First Blog

Well, I have never blogged before, and probably for good reason. I can't imagine anyone caring much about what I have to say much less what I have to write. Maybe it is more for me to release my thoughts for myself, or for anyone who cares to listen.

Just like everyone other person who has lived 27 years, I have a story of how I got where I am today. I will save that for another time. This blogspace will serve more as a way to track my training and progression as I make my return to competitive cycling. I say that as if I was once "something" in the world of cycling, which is not exactly the case.

My life has taken many twists and turns since I exited my last college classroom in 2007. My last competitive cycling race was august of 2007 and I did not compete again until August of 2010 when I took part in the Colorado State road championships soon followed by the Steamboat stage race. I complete these on two months of very intense training which allowed me to simply hang on and make up part of the peleton.

This year I plan to put together my first full season of racing since 2007. After what I would consider a fairly solid winter of training, I will be competing in my first goal of the season, the Tucson Bike Classic. I will continue to update this blog with my training leading up to it as well as day to day during the race. Following the race I will remain in Tucson for a week and train in the sun.

More to come soon...