Collegiate Track Nationals: Day 3

After having Friday night off, I was ready to head back to the track Saturday morning for my strongest event: the one kilometer time trial. There we 42 heats, 84 riders contesting the time trial for the men. I was scheduled in heat number 35 paired against the rider from Colorado State that beat me in the 1/8 final of the sprint tournament. Thanks to Jeff Hopkins and the Marian University Cycling team, I had a place and some rollers to warm-up on. Warming up for an all out event that only takes a minute and some change is very important, so I was very grateful for the Marian generosity.

My previous time for the only kilo time trial I've ever done was a 1:10.088, less than one second off that track's record. So as I lined up for my second ever kilo, this time on the national championship stage, some might say my goals of making the the podium were rather lofty. I wanted to go sub 1:08; what it would take to get on the podium compared to last year's times. I knew I could do it. I knew I had improved quite a bit since that first run. I knew I would rise to the occasion of this event. A PR was on the way. I felt like I started strong; time splits afterwards would show I had the slowest first lap of all the top 5 guys though. I kept pressing on for the full 3 laps. I could hear mumbles from the announcer saying some stuff about the current first place. I also heard him announce my competitor's time before I hit the line. I had lost to him, a sinking feeling. But after I cooled down a bit and could breath, I found out we had just set the new fastest times. The Colorado State rider finished in 1:06.6 in first place and myself at 1:06.98 in second place. Seven heats to go to find out if I would be in the top five, make the podium, and bring home a medal.

A few more heats passed and no changes in the top standings. Then I got bumped by two riders. I was in 4th place with one heat, two riders to go. One rider was Baranoski, reigning national champion, so I knew he would beat my time. My fate rested on the time of Marian rider Barrett. I waited, extremely anxious as the announcer came over the PA system with time splits. I was looking good at the halfway mark. However, as both riders hit the line, they both beat my time. I got bumped off the podium on that last heat. I would finish 6th place in the kilo, just barely missing a medal.

Kilo Results

By this point, I was pretty beat. I had struggled with motivation and burn out before heading into nationals and after the disappointing start and then the hard to swallow podium miss in my strongest event, I was pretty toast. Next up were the qualifying scratch heats. Top 9 riders in each of the 3 heats advanced to the major final, the next 8 riders in each heat advanced to the minor final to race for 28th place. The race was fast and mimicked a points race more than a scratch race. I found myself in the front more than I wanted so I wasn't prepared to respond to the attacks when they started going off the front. I found myself pretty far down with maybe 8 laps left to go. I kept pedaling, but without much vigor. Maybe 3 laps to go, the field had slowed down and I could see the bunch together maybe 100 meters in front of me. I thought about it, but couldn't really muster it to close the gap. Even if I had, I would have used so much energy to get there, I wouldn't have been able to sprint for any position (at least that's what I told myself). I kept it together and finished in 17th place, good enough to make the minor final.

After doing the math, I found out I would have to finish 13th or better in the minor final to better my overall omnium points: currently I was in 10th place for the overall. Most of the riders right around me were in the major final, so they would be scoring more points than me. It would be very difficult to make any advances or to even maintain my 10th place standing in the overall. After much consideration and talking to other mentors, I decided to bag the race and call it a weekend. I finished 15th in the overall omnium. I would now have time to pack up my bike, stop by the Olympic Training Center, and go to the Air Force v. Wyoming football game that night at the Air Force Academy. The scratch race would have been good experience, but I wasn't sure if I would have the legs or the proper mental state to be up in the mix to make it worthwhile anyway. So, I had fun at the Air Force football game with a former UTC PT graduate and her friends. I got to meet some cool people and people I will probably be networking with in the future. I think it was the right decision. (All Results)

Olympic Training Center

Air Force v Wyoming game

Overall, I got in a good mix of Colorado vacationing and track racing. I gained some valuable experience and was able to see what the next level looks like. I got to visit a few PT clinics and give my resume to some potential employers. I met up with a PT friend and confirmed the feasibility of packing up and moving to Colorado after graduation. While my performance was not what I was expecting, overall it was a great experience. Something I will remember forever.

Thank you to all the people who have helped me along the way this year. Every bit helps for the student athlete without many resources or experiences. Without any one particular person, I wouldn't have made it as far as I did.
Thanks to: Eddie and Melanie Robbins, Wayne Whitesides, Fran Rudy, Jeff Hopkins, Michael Barman, Joe Marshall, Jamie Ingalls, Andy Sweet, Bob Gentile, Brittany Phelps, Kirk and Kelly Shaffer, UTC & UTC Cycling, Lacy Bobo, and Becca Mabius.

I look forward to the things to come.

Collegiate Track Nationals: Days 1 and 2

DAY: 1
The sinus congestion continued into race day; however, I didn't think it would hinder me too much since most of the events are anaerobic. It sure wasn't going to stop me from trying.

Storm moving in over Pike's Peak.

We (My mom and grandmother drove out to Colorado to watch the races and make a vacation out of it. It was really great having them there with me and to support me.) got to the velodrome in good time Thursday morning so I had plenty of warm-up for the flying 200 meter time trial. The flying 200 is used to seed riders in the sprint tournament and not technically a race in itself. The top 18 riders would advance to the sprint tournament and the other 40 or so riders were eliminated. I had ambitions of going sub 11 seconds. My PR at Dick Lane in Atlanta was an 11.65s and my PR at Giordana in Rock Hill was an 11.55s. I ran an 11.48s good enough for 13th place and into the tournament. But, I was disappointed. I ran it terribly. I think I had so much speed down the home stretch (with a tailwind) that when I went to stand in between corners 1 & 2, there wasn't enough resistance to push against. The bike started wobbling and I didn't feel like I had control. I had to sit back down. Then I really screwed it when I tried to stand again as I came out of corner 2 and into the wind. Still no more power or leg speed. I completed it feeling pretty frustrated and like I had really blown my chance. I would now be starting in the bottom of the sprinters bracket which meant I would be facing stronger, faster guys earlier in the tournament than I had planned. Oh well, at least I made it.

Sprint round one was that morning too. I was facing a guy from MIT. Thankfully, I had a friend in Marian Team Mechanic and Dick Lane Velodrome manager Jeff Hopkins who came over and gave me a few pointers for racing this guy. While it didn't end up actually playing out as described, I still really appreciated the advice and would return many times to ask Jeff for advice or help. He was a great asset for me being out there by myself.

Anyway, I started from the back in the first sprint so I could see what my opponent was doing. He jumped coming out of corner 4 into the bell lap. I responded with a reduced jump and got into the slip steam on the home stretch. Rounding out of corner two, I turned on the speed and started running up on him for a nice clean pass on the back straight. I dropped into the lane in corner 3 and carried it on around to the finish line. I had won my round one match! I was very pleased with how that race went. It was a textbook run up and pass. It felt good.

During the break between morning and evening sessions, we went to tour the Garden of the Gods at the base of the mountains. It was a pretty cool attraction, but my mind was still primarily on the racing.

I got back for the evening session prepared to race a guy from Colorado State for the 1/8 final. I was told this rider would be a more pure sprinter with lots of tactical games compared to my first round guy. I got to start from the back again. We starred at each other for the entire first 1.25 laps and then I started to try and run up on him as we both accelerated down the back straight. I was beside him as we headed into turn 3. Midway between turn 3 and 4, he moved up track with both wheels crossing over the red line, the sprinter's lane. I had to dart further up track and lost more ground. He carried it away on the home stretch for the win. I appealed to the head judge for the illegal move of coming out of the sprinter's lane once the sprint had been engaged. The judge said he definitely saw it, but he didn't feel like it changed the outcome of the race. I lost.

So next I was to race in the 1/8 rep which is a 3 person race giving the winner a pass back into the tournament for the quarter finals later that night. The two losers in each rep would go to the 9-12 finals later that night. I tried my same move pretty much on the back straight and easily made it around the first guy, but coming around two guys in 200 meters and travelling further distance by riding high in the corner proved too much for me to accomplish. I finished second in the rep and would be going to the 9-12 finals.

A 4 person match sprint, even the 3 person match sprint, is something I have never done before and the tactics are very different from the standard two person sprint. The 4 up 9-12 finals was a fast race from the start as I was expecting. It almost became two races within the race. One rider from Air Force was trying to pin me up high while the other two guys were racing each other in the sprinter's lane. I finally backed off in corner 3 on the first lap so I could drop behind the air force guy. Heading into corner one, I decided I had to go. About that same time the 2nd rider also pulled out and made an attack. I was coming from the back and had to move over the top of all the riders. I quickly got around the Air Force rider and the rider who had been leading the whole time in the sprinter's lane, but the lead rider had a decent gap from his acceleration out of the draft. He went on to take 9th place and I held on strong to the finish line to edge out the Air Force guy for 10th place in the match sprint tournament. Definitely not how I expected the whole thing to go down and really wish I could get another shot at it. Oh well, so it goes. I definitely learned some things though, so that's always good.

Race gear from VOmax powered by HUB Endurance and BRL Sports

DAY 2:
Since I was out of the sprint tournament and wasn't racing the points race, I only had one race on Friday and it was the individual pursuit. It's a solo time trial race around the track for 12 laps or 4 kilometers as fast as you can go starting from standing still. I didn't have high expectations for my finish in this event, but definitely wanted to set a nice PR. While I did set a PR of 5:18, it wasn't nearly as fast as I was expecting to go. Looking back at the splits, I had a perfectly mirrored race. My kilometer times were: 1:13, 1:22, 1:22, 1:13. My first and 4th kilometer times of 1:13 were the 4th fastest times on the day. My middle two kilometers are what killed me though. I guess I took it too easy on those fearing burnout in the last few laps of the race. Should have turned it up sooner, but the burning in my hamstrings and glutes were telling me not to. I don't think I had been that low and flexed on the bike since I raced the state championship track event.

My time put me in 41st place for the pursuit which meant I still scored some points. Since the pursuit counts as an endurance event, I know had scored points in both a sprint event and an endurance event which qualifies me for the overall individual omnium. By the end of the day Saturday I was in 18th place for the overall.

Collegiate Track Nationals: Getting There

As soon as I got through the security at the airport in Chattanooga, I got a voicemail and an email telling me my original flight had been cancelled/delayed 50 minutes. My original layover in Atlanta was only supposed to be 45 minutes. I called Delta and spoke with their rep. My scheduled flight from Atlanta to Denver at 7:15 was the last one for the night. He told me I could chance it, or wait and start again Wednesday morning. I decided to chance it. We ended up boarding in Chattanooga at 5:50, only 15 minutes later than the original departure time. But then we had to sit on the plane for 25 minutes before we finally took off around 6:25. The scheduled landing time was 7:08 in terminal D. My Denver flight was leaving terminal A at 7:15. We got to the gate in Atlanta at 6:55. I was off and running by 7:00. I haven't ran in a long time, and when you throw jeans and a big bag in each hand into the mix, it became fairly difficult. I was feeling the soreness in my anterior shins from that run for the next 3 days. My gate was at the very end of the A terminal too, but as I turned that corner, the door was still open and the attendant was still accepting passengers. I had made it! That was all I was asking for since I had found out about the initial delay. I was happy.

However, the good vibes started fading. My recent sinus issues continued to grow as the plane climbed higher. I was getting a very intense sinus headache and couldn't breath out of my nose: something that had started when I woke up Sunday morning. I landed in Denver with no relief. I proceeded to baggage claim to get my stuff. You know what happened next. My bag didn't make it. I knew it was a possibility so I wasn't too upset when I found out they would just deliver it to me the next day in Colorado Springs. I had packed all the things I needed to ride in either my carry-on or my bike box that had been shipped prior. I would just go without vitamins, underwear, shorts, and shirts for the first day. I was fine with that until the next morning when I was building my bike in the garage and I remembered that I mistakenly put my saddle in that checked bag. Crap! No riding for me until the airline got around to delivering my bag on Wednesday. I had wanted to get to open track when it first started at noon so I could hopefully have more space and avoid the crashes I've heard about on warm-up days. That wouldn't be happening. The scheduled delivery of my bag no later than 4:30 showed up around 7:15 Wednesday night. Thankfully, I had heard from a friend that I could borrow a saddle from the rental bikes at the track. So, I ended up getting my ride time in anyway even if the saddle height was way off.

As I was about to wrap it up on the track on Wednesday, I noticed Matt Baranoski had just started riding. I sped back up to ride along side him. (Baranoski is the two time reigning national champion in the elite and collegiate divisions for both the kilo time trial and the match sprint. He also won the keirin and team sprint national titles a few weeks ago.) We got to chat while we cruised for about 25 laps around the track. He even took me through a run of the 200 meter line on the track. Pretty cool time.

I had my numbers pinned to my new custom VOmax skinsuit and my gear bag packed and ready for racing to start the next morning. Flying 200 meter time trials were up first.

View of Pike's Peak from the backyard of where I was staying.

Race Report: Velodrome Cup Pro Race Series

This past weekend was the last of the Pro Race Series at the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta. I’ve enjoyed my time down there this year getting to know some really good people and learning to rail 180° turns at over 40mph. I’ve come a long way since that cold and snowy day in March when I completed my beginner track class, but I still have a lot to learn on the track.

I was fortunate enough to get upgraded to the A category for this last Pro Race which meant I got to mix it up with the big boys. (And race for big money) I wasn’t good enough to make the final podium, but I did manage to grab wins in both the 3 lap time trial and the flying 1 lap time trial. I was pleased with my times on these events as they were both PRs. The flying 1 lap time actually made the track record at 19.376s. Another plus of these results was that they let me see where I am physically going into collegiate nationals next week. I think I’m right on schedule.

I had picked out a few of the 8 races I would really try to score points in and just considered the other races as survival events, trying not to go down the rankings too far. Those targeted events (except for the timed events) didn’t exactly unfold as planned, but that’s what happens when some really fast guys show up. I knew Thomas Brown would be hard to handle, but I was thoroughly surprised and impressed by the riding of Brody Hartley who ended up winning the overall. He sure has learned and developed a lot from his time spent at T-Town this summer.

Final Podium: Brody Hartley, Thomas Brown, Steve Carrell

Standings going into the last race of the night. 

The afternoon session included the 3 lap Merckx TT (1^st), a 30 lap Split-Scratch (7^th), and a 60 lap Points Race (9^th). The evening session, or ‘main event’ with rider introductions, included the flying 1 lap (1^st), a 20 lap Reverse Snowball (3^rd), a Miss-n-Out (9^th), a Win-n-Out (5^th), and a 1 mile Scratch Race (7^th). The Points Race and the Miss-n-Out are the bane of my existence so I wasn’t expecting much there. I was expecting a little better in the Win-n-Out and the Scratch Race, but by that time of the night, my legs were pretty toast. I had already pretty much locked in my omnium position so there wasn’t much left to fight for. With those results I finished 4th in the omnium giving me my biggest cycling pay day to date.

Overall, it was a great time and fun day at the track that finished with a night out in Midtown Atlanta with some of the GA Tech boys. What a night. None of this possible without the help of Wayne Whitesides, Nathaniel Rowe, and Christian DiCenso. Thanks Guys.

I have 4 more races left this year. I registered for them today, shipped my bike out yesterday, leave for Colorado on Tuesday, and start racing one week from today. Time to finish strong. 

(Here's the link to an awesome video from the races Saturday: here)

I made the program!

Poor guy separated his shoulder

Waiting at the boards

Rider Introduction