2014 Race Season: Kickoff

Wednesday I dusted off (literally, used a swiffer) my track bike and took it out for a spin to make sure it was still in good working condition. Three weeks ago I was heading out for a casual ride on my extended lunch break when I ran into a track friend before I was able to get going. As we started talking, the thrill of racing and the excitement of powering your body to 40 mph on a single gear came rushing back. There was talk of the upcoming Pro Race Series and my Atlanta friends I haven't seen since last fall. That casual ride ended up having three speed sections in it with an impromptu 4th to ensure I wasn't attacked by a loose dog. I was pretty much hooked. The email a day later from race director and track manager inviting me down for the invitational Keirin field locked it in. I would be returning to the track to start my 2014 racing season off on Friday May 9th for a Sprint Tournament and Saturday May 10th for 'The Keirin'.

It's not so simple though. Two weeks ago as I was preparing to do my first set of intervals for the year, I was frozen with fear. It took me several minutes to press that lap button to start the first interval. I was afraid of not performing, failing to live up to my previous standards. The fear of failure was keeping me from even trying, from doing what I love. Well this weekend I put that aside.

It's an honor to be invited down and included in the program for the Dick Lane Velodrome Pro Race. I'll be lining up next to several strong riders from the Atlanta area, plus guys from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Australia. Just the usual international competition down at DLV. I guess I'll be representing the great state of Tennessee. Go Vols!

This also works out great because for the first time, my girlfriend Laura will get to see me race. She'll get a glimpse of the crazy, obsessive, time consuming world that is bike racing. You couldn't ask for a better stage either. You might see the start and finish of a road race, you could see the riders once a lap in a crit, but on the track? On the track you can see the entire race without ever moving! (Now I have to impress!)

So with minimal rides and zero training, I'm hitting the track tonight for high speed, pedal power. Come out and watch at 7pm Friday night and the main event at 6pm Saturday night.

Year in Review: 2013

2013 was a miraculous year. I couldn't have asked for a better comeback to cycling after my crash and surgery in 2012. I got my first Physical Therapy related job with 2 great co-workers and travel companions. I met an amazing girl and started a very fulfilling relationship that pushes me to better myself. I traveled. I traveled for sport, for work, for family, and fun. I had more life experiences than ever before.

Looking back on the goals I set for myself in 2013:

1. TORBRA Cat 1 BAR Champion
2. TBRA Cat 4 BAR Champion
3. Xterra Southeast Regional Champion
4. TBRA Cat 4 Crit State Champion
5. TORBRA Cat 1 XC State Champion
6. Xterra USA National Champion
7. Continue to succeed in school by learning all I need to know
8. Maintain my GA position by staying on top of my hours
9. Train methodically and scientifically for better performance
10. Fully adapt and incorporate my new, less stressful running stride
11. Travel more, for races and to visit friends
12. Ride 5,000 miles

Goal 1: accomplished
Goal 2: missed; I upgraded to Cat 3 right before State Crit thinking I had enough points and it would be much more rewarding to win the Cat 3 State Crit than the Cat 4 State Crit. In the end, someone surpassed me in the Cat 4 standings. I will still have to pay race entry's in 2014.
Goal 3: I scrapped triathlons for 2013 once my success on the bike took off. I also say it's because of my new knee not being able to withstand running early on. missed
Goal 4: I upgraded this goal to the next category. And accomplished.
Goal 5: accomplished
Goal 6: Traded in for Collegiate Track Nats; didn't bring home any hardware, so missed.
Goal 7: I passed...so far. Unfortunately facing issues that might prevent me from returning this spring and graduating on time. Pray for me. accomplished
Goal 8: accomplished (Spring term only)
Goal 9: accomplished, very pleased with that one
Goal 10: missed, gave up on running, doing better thought
Goal 11: accomplished, immensely more than I could have imagined including out of the country
Goal 12: accomplished, in the middle of August

That's 8/12, so 66%. I have to do better than that on my Boards to pass, but with these goals and what I've accomplished and gained in 2013, I am very happy and satisfied.

2014 will bring a whole new set of 'firsts' and life experiences. I will hopefully be graduating in May, dependent upon some people letting me start clinic or not. I will get my license to practice Physical Therapy. I will accept my first Physical Therapy position. I will move to a stable residence, probably. There are several hard choices in there though. I don't know where, geographically, the best location is for me and what's going on in my life right now. Geography also plays a big role in which PT position I decide to accept. I'll just keep living and praying for the best, knowing things will work themselves out under His direction.

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

Taking to the Track

This past weekend I decided to do something new. I tried track cycling. The track had briefly caught my eye in years past, but I never gave it a genuine consideration until I begin training with a powermeter this winter. After reading a few books to learn how to interpret and properly train with my powermeter, I began to recognize some my numbers as ones that correspond to good track racing numbers. In track racing, the weight factor of the rider is all but eliminated, so my stocky build should not hold me back on the track as it does on climbs on the road. I then looked into my cadence and noticed some high numbers I am able to hit consistently. Put all these things together, let my power become pure watts and not necessarily watts per Kg, and on paper, I should be a good track racer. 

This past weekend was the first beginner class of the year at the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta, so I headed down to get acquainted and see how I liked it. Temperatures in the low to mid 30s both days with light flurries on Saturday during the class limited our riding time for the two day, 6 hour class, but I got a good enough feel for how the track works. I got to wet my appetite for flying 200 meter sprints, match sprints, getting perpendicular to 36 degree banked corners, and non-stop pedaling. 

So, Monday afternoon after this weekend experience, I was at HUB Endurance asking what my options are for a track bike and how we can make it work. I am now registered and set to go to Rock Hill, SC for a collegiate clinic at the end of my spring break in two weeks. By the time the summer racing rolls around at Dick Lane, I think I will be ready to take on the track. Looking forward, I can't help but notice that with Xterra Nationals probably dropping off my schedule, my last big "A" race now occurs in mid-July. Seems like that gives me a solid 9 week buildup to Collegiate Track Nationals in Colorado. Who knows. Might be switching one national championship for another.