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.

So...An Update

So, I haven't posted in a while and I didn't come out with my January goals/resolutions for the year like I did the past two years. But, this year has been different. I'm closing in on the last few days of my final internship for physical therapy school. After my last day, I will have a week and a half before I sit for my boards exam, a 5.25 hour test that decides whether I can practice or not. Three days later I will be graduating with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy. I've also been interviewing for jobs, contemplating my offers and where I will begin my career, planning trips, and oh yeah, rehabbing another surgery!

I had hand surgery the day after Christmas in 2013. The procedure that was done in the operating room was the last resort that was discussed in the clinic and the recovery process had not been fully discussed. So, I was a little surprised when I was finally able to talk to the doctor and found out I would be in a brace for 8 weeks and not able to ride my bike for a full 10 weeks. This set me back a bit with all things cycling. However, this wasn't the first setback. The first was the burn-out and trudge through the burn-out at the end of the year in the 2013 season. I no longer had the drive and passion to get in the saddle like I did in the beginning of 2013. When you combine that with hand surgery limitations, working 45-50 hours a week (paying to work I should say), studying for boards exam, job hunting, and a few trips out of town, it's hard to get motivated to put in the required time on the bike to be at the level I would be satisfied with. I'm not going to half-ass it. I'm not going to ride just enough to show up to races and hang on. If I do it, I'm going to do it right and really commit to it.

So, that's what I've been doing recently and where my decisions have come from and the stance on racing my bike this year. I'm not giving it up completely, but I am definitely limited in what I will be able to do: because of the start to the year and some stuff going on in the summer, that's another post though.

I do still have some goals/expectations for the year, some I've even already accomplished.

1) Travel more, similar to last year, but I got to keep it going. Places I've never been. Things I've never seen. (Checking places off: Vegas, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Hoover Dam, Bristol, Asheville)
2) Complete the 'Chattanooga Things To Do' list before I move away (I've been working on it).
3) Graduate PT school and pass my boards exam.
4) Get my first 'real job' with a salary and benefits and all.
5) Watch 'Uncle Sam' take most of my money and understand the plight of the working man.
6) Obtain my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification. (Done)
7) Move into an apartment by myself; oh the sweet serenity that awaits.
8) Be conversational in Spanish
9) Be a better Man


More to come.

Driving past the Ocoee on the way to Asheville, NC

Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville

Another Asheville church and my beautiful travel companion

Race Reports: Rockabilly Gran Prix Omnium

Road Race:

Starting the race under omnious skies. 

The course was mostly flat, so I was feeling good about my chances and was looking to put on a show for my parents that got to come to this race. My Dad has never seen me do a bike race in person before and my Mom hasn't seen one since my crit win at River Gorge in 2011. We hit some patches of rain on the drive to the race that morning, so I was expecting some showers during the race. I wasn't expecting for it to get as bad as it did though. The rain really started during lap 2 of the 4 lap race. At the beginning of lap 2 I had made my way to the front so I could ride around all the pot holes and rough spots in the first half mile of the course; maybe the best decision of the weekend. Maybe a minute into lap two, I heard lots of loud clanging and crashing, carbon smacking the ground. I looked over one shoulder and saw some guys were/had gone down. I looked again over the other shoulder and realized it was a huge portion of the field that was crashing or behind the crash. I turned back around and punched it. I was moving away and only one guy was reacting and trying to come after me. I let him catch on and he immediately sat up and did no work once he pulled around me. We made the first corner and I slowly made my way up the first hill as I waited for the other 8-10 people that made it safely through the crash. We formed a decent paceline and started working to pull away. One "difficult to race with rider" jumped out of the saddle for an attack once it came around to his turn to pull in the paceline. That screwed things up for a while as no one wanted to pull hard after that. We eventually got back going, only for that same rider to attack again in the same fashion before dropping out of the back of the paceline to rest for a bit before trying the same attack as it came his turn to pull. This type of racing will make you a bunch of enemies pretty quick in the group.

We all stayed together though and came through to start lap 3 with more and more rain coming down. I actually slid my rear tire out about 6 inches in a hard right turn during lap two. I saved it but my bike felt weird for a little bit after that. It felt like I had flatted. I got a very sick feeling and worried there for bit thinking I had just blown this opportunity; it all worked out though. As our breakaway group moved through lap 3, the storm really started pouring down on us. It got hard to see due to such heavy rain and every turn had to be taken with extreme caution. About 6 miles from the finish, the race lead car pulled alongside us. They told us this would be our last lap. We would finish on 3 instead of 4. Once they pulled away, the attacks started and they didn't stop until we went under the 1K to go mark. Racing got very hard in those last 6 miles, chasing attacks, making breaks, all to get pulled back together. I had no perception of where we were on the course. I wouldn't have been worried or responded as quickly as I did to some of the attacks if I had.

As we closed in on the 1K to go mark, I was sitting second wheel feeling really good about my position and the run in to the finish. Around 500 meters to go, the race lead car had pulled alongside us again. All I could make out from him was that we were not supposed to sprint. I figured it was a safety thing and they didn't want our group standing up and throwing our bikes in a sprint that would likely cause a mass crash like before. What the lead car didn't see was the approaching truck in the same lane as the lead car. Our lead car sped up and quickly pulled back in front of our group, but not in time. The cars clipped each other as I heard clanging metal and plastic for the second time in that race. Adrenaline surged as I could imagine the cars hitting and coming to halt with me plowing into the back of the race car. A very frightening moment.

After that, I surged in the saddle as we came up to the start finish because I wasn't sure if we were still finishing or not. I came across first, but knew we were done at that point. There were no officials anywhere in sight at the line. The road race would not be scored and ended up just getting cancelled altogether. Apparently, there were tornado warnings in the area and the sheriff made the race director pull all riders off the course. Why did they let us race the last 6 miles and then cancel our race 500 meters from the line? I'm not sure, but it sure was a lot of work and effort to race for no outcome.


Time Trial:
The weather started behaving shortly after the road race course was evacuated and all riders departed the area. The time trial was set to go off as planned. Due to some unforeseen complications, I didn't make it back to the race area in time for a warm-up. I started out setting up my bike as if I would, but had to bail as I knew it was getting too close to time and it was more important to show up on time to my start than to ensure a thorough warm-up. I got in just over 3 minutes of warm-up for the 5 mile TT.

I was the last Cat 4 to go so I should have had lots of guys out in front of me to try chasing down; however, a lot of the guys were missing due to the storms and a few were even in the hospital from that morning's crash in the road race.

I started out of the gate hard, standing and putting full force into the pedals to get moving. I was going to pay for that effort about 3 minutes down the road when I was fighting with myself to back off the pace. I tried to keep pushing on, staying as aero as possible. I periodically took peeks at my computer to see where my watts were. I was putting out a stellar average so far and not sure if I would really be able to keep it up. Ideally, I thought I could average 400w if I were feeling good. Well I dug in and pushed hard through the line once I could see the finish. I clocked 11 minutes at 411 average watts on my computer: a great showing, better than I could have anticipated. I cooled down on the ride back to the start/registration area to later find out I won the TT with an official time of 10:55 with second place coming in at 11:02. I would have placed 4th in the Cat 3's. Happy to get this win as now the omnium would be decided by only the TT and Crit placing with the money from the RR being split between the TT and Crit payouts already scheduled.


Crit:
Then came the crit. We drove back to Jackson for the second day of racing with both my parents and my grandmother so all could enjoy the race. My grandmother has never seen a bike race before. Now I needed to impress with my family at the race for the first time in 2 years.

The crit started with an attack from one rider. I didn't want to jump that hard early on, but I was the one to bring him back after a few corners. We stayed together for a lap or two and then another big attack came with an unsuspecting rider taking a little gap on the field for a bit. He got brought back in shortly there after. There were a few more attacks, but nothing big until the rider that attacked off the start line threw another big attack and created a decent gap on the field that took over 2 laps to bring back in. This would have been the time to attack now, but I wasn't feeling that fresh and not sure if I could hold it. We stayed together and a prime was announced for the next lap. The field stretched out a bit, but as we approached the line I found myself sitting 3 abreast and only two wheels back from the lead. Being this close, I just couldn't let the prime go. So, I pulled off to the right and laid down some watts to surge past the leaders and take the prime. Like I said, I wasn't committed to attacking at first and still unsure of myself. I looked at my computer before I moved though and we were about 20 minutes into the 40 minute race which was exactly my plan pre-race. I kept my head down and continued to push over the flat and through corner one. Out of corner one, I was able to look back at the field and realized I had already created a sizable gap. It was now or never. Time to go! I tucked and buried it trying to get away from the field. It hurt. I was suffering out there for the next 4-5 laps second guessing myself and backing off now and then to make sure that if they caught me, I wouldn't fall off the back of the group. I tried getting a time split from the finish line officials, but instead got the 5 laps to go sign. It was the encouragement I needed. I was able to start counting down and out of corner 5 and corner 1 I could still glance back and see no one coming for me. The breakaway win was becoming more and more real with each passing lap. If I was caught now, it was over. I had to give it all I had. I pushed more. I made it to two laps to go and finally felt comfortable, but still never let up.

Crit Finish

Before the race even started, we had heard about how difficult the last corner could be with many of the earlier races having crashes there on the last lap, usually taking out the leaders. So I knew this would be a tricky point in the race every time we came through, especially as we closed in on those finals laps. How do you avoid the possibility of a crash and eliminate the need to chase down attacks throughout the race? You attack solo off the front and only have to worry about yourself. It was definitely a much harder way to win a race though. Waiting, covering, and out-sprinting everyone else at the end is much easier, but more stressful.

Crit Podium

So my family didn't get to see an exciting sprint finish all weekend, but I think they got some solid viewing time of me on and off the front. With the crit and time trial win, I secured the overall omnium and collected my biggest payout to date and earned a new champions jersey. Great rewards for solid, tough racing. 

Overall Podium

Race Report: Sunny King

Every race this year so far has brought on nervous anxiety in the days leading up to it. Sunny King was no different. At first I tried to downplay it in my mind. I told myself there are no BAR points on the line and I don't need any upgrade points, so just go have fun, try to make something happen, and don't worry about winning. But the night before and day of the race, pressures started swarming in my mind. People commented about this being a huge race and to win would be a big deal; it's still only Cat 4 though. Anyway, I said my prayer on the start line, knew my rough plan of attack, and we were off.

Like most Cat 4 crits, the first few laps were really fast and definitely got the heart pumping. I was happy to be near the front so I didn't have to do quite so much checking up and braking into every corner. The group was staying together nicely as the first prime was called out about 9 minutes into the race. It was too early so I just let it go. Around 16 minutes in, the next prime lap was announced and just as we had planned two other guys and myself were sitting on the front of the group coming out of corner two. The plan was to attack and not sit up after the line in order to form a break with these other two guys. Well, as the line neared, I decided I really wanted the prime and accelerated hard in the saddle. I took the prime and keep on going screaming into corner one. I was sure I was going down, sliding across the pavement, and slamming into the barriers. I hit the corner so fast with my bike leaned over so far. My rear wheel skidded, jumped, and skidded again I think. I don't know exactly what all happened, but I thank God I was able to keep my bike up and not lose any skin. I'm still amazed at how that worked out. Somewhere during that my chain fell off the outside. Soft pedaling along the barriers, I got it back on the big ring and was making forward progress. The field had still not caught me. Where were my guys that were supposed to break with me? I didn't realize how hard and deep I had gone in that section until later. Looking back, I hit the same max HR in that effort as I did in the sprint finish and almost just as many watts. I kept pedaling around corner two and down the back straight sitting up looking for what happened to the field. I now question whether I should have kept going and tried to solo break or not. I think I made the right decision being solo and the huge effort I had just made. Anyway, the field caught back up with me after corner 4 and we were back into the start/finish straight. It was now time for me to do some recovering if I wanted to be able to go again at the finish.

I drifted back in the back trying to stay out of the wind as much as possible. Things are a lot scarier the further you are back in the pack. You have to do a lot more braking going into the corners, a lot more out of the saddle hammering coming out of the corners, and there are a lot more people surrounding you with questionable bike handling and decision making. Somewhere around 30 minutes in, I heard the announcer call out a 3rd prime lap. There were only supposed to be two primes in the race according to our pre-race start line instructions. The timing of this one could have made it very interesting if I had waited to go for it. But I knew I couldn't. I was still sitting back in the pack trying to make sure I was going to be ready to go hard at the end.

At 6 laps to go I started making my way back up to the front. Four laps to go and I was where I wanted to be, but I could see someone up the road. I wasn't sure who he was or whether he was off the front or off the back. The motorcycle was in between him and the field which only added more confusion as some of the guys in the peloton were saying OTF and others OTB. At 3 laps to go I moved up to the front of the pack and got confirmation that the rider was indeed off the front. We were going to have to do some chasing and in a hurry. My buddy Michaelee was driving the group with about 3 laps to go and me sitting second wheel. With 2 to go, Michaelee pulled off and I took over to bring this guy back. Coming out of corner 2 I pulled off and waited for the next guy to pull through. As I turn to look and yell some harsh words at the field for their lack of help, Michaelee pulls on through again off my wheel and creates a little separation from me, again driving the field. We go through the one to go with the lead guy still off the front. In between corner 1 and 2 of the last lap, we finally brought the lead guy back in. Awesome job by Michaelee by the way.

Coming out of corner two for the back straight, I was leading the field with Michaelee maybe a bike length in front of me. I scanned my periphery and realized that still no one was willing to come up and pull, take over, or even throw an attack. At that point, I knew this was my run for the finish. I was all in at this point. If anyone had come around leading a train, I don't think I would have been able to pass them back. I dug in and drove it home, trying to keep the pace up to prevent anyone from coming around. Coming out of corner 3, I was back on Michaellee's wheel with a little speed, but I decided to check up and sit on his wheel through corner 4. Coming out of corner 4, I pulled off Michaellee's wheel and tucked my head. I gave another surge once the road started going up. Halfway to the finish line, I was certain I was going to see trains of people that had been sitting on my wheel the last 3 laps coming up on the side of me, but no. No one was there. I lowered my chest to the bar trying to stay as aero as possible, never got out of the saddle, and just kept mashing the pedals. I brought it home. Excited and thrilled to pull off my biggest win to date.

Dan Henry got some awesome shots of the race and the finish that can be viewed here. 

A sample is seen below

The Sunny King website has also posted a replay of the event here that can be viewed by clicking on the "Watch a replay of the Races" tab. The cat 4 race starts at the 2 hour mark if you wanted to skip forward.

Race Report: Aaron Shafer RR

Definitely a pretty drive through rural TN

I was skipping class to make this race, so I knew I needed to make it count. I had decided to not plan any particular attacks, but to simply race the race that unfolds with maybe some gas up the climb just to see what happens.

So about two miles into the race when the first attacks started going, I simply sat in and watched people burn matches for the heck of burning matches. I was sitting further back in the field than I was encouraged, but with the hoopla that was going on in the front, I felt more secure and protected where I was. Oh, and none of the attacks stuck or really ever even formed for more than 30 seconds.

Turning to start the climb, I had moved my way up to the front, knowing that I wanted to be in the top 5 wheels for it. Two other guys and I were working a rotating pace line over the easy rollers up to the climb and when the road started going a little more up, one rider went off the front. Unfortunately for him, he never made it more than 30 meters in front of us and stayed there the entire way. Once we got to the steeper sections, the field was stretching out and two other riders (different from the lower section) and myself knew what we wanted to do: hurt the field and create a gap over the top to start a breakaway. We began rotating nicely. I was about to finish one of my pulls, when all of a sudden teammate James B. came out of nowhere on my left and said he'd march ahead and do all the work. So I sat on his wheel and he pulled the dragging field along to the top steep kicker. At that point, a few riders kicked it up and over. I tailed along and got in a group of 3 with another group of 3 just ahead up the road. They didn't wait for us, so we had to chase them down over the next 1/2 mile. Once we caught them, we all knew what we needed to do and started a nice 6 man rotating paceline breakaway. Unfortunately, our group of 6 did not include a VW rider (assuming that is who chased the break down), so we were chased down and caught about 3 miles down the road. At this point I thought the entire field was together. I was wrong and supposedly we had dropped a good handful of people on the climb.

We continued rolling across the country landscape of farm animals and lush green grass. It was nice to take it in for a few quick seconds. This second part of the race didn't have any of those 3 and 5 second gap attacks like the first 15 miles. We were all rolling together and if someone accelerated, everyone in the front of the group accelerated with them. No one was getting away. I also made sure I stayed closer to the front from here on in, not getting much out of 7 or so wheel.

Once we made the second R hand turn nearing the finish, the group was really picking up speed. I was making my way up a few wheels along the yellow line. I knew soon we would be making the last L bend for the run into the finish. I was sitting somewhere around 3rd or 4th wheel as we made that turn and the finish line banner came into sight. The road was supposed to be open at the 200 m to go mark. Maybe around 300 meters to go, a CBC rider attacked from my left and created a two to 3 bike length gap between him and the field. At this, I pulled out of the line and began to charge, not quite knowing exactly what I wanted to do yet. I decided to bridge to his wheel and sit for maybe 2 seconds. Around 200 meters to go, I jumped off his wheel and went around to the left. It was perfect timing because as I was punching it out of the saddle, I saw riders out of the periphery of my vision on both sides of me going at the same time. I kicked it hard over the blip in the road. About 30 meters to the line, I took a glance over my shoulder and the race was over. I cruised under the banner super pumped and thrilled to have pulled off another win. A road race win!

It was frustrating to have to pack my car up and leave after the road race to get back to school. I had really wanted to do the time trial and defend my only race win from 2012. But life is life. I made back to class in time to discuss some material and complete the graded assignment before the 5 o'clock dismissal.

The very cool mugs they give to the podium. Now I have a set!

All the posters I 'get' to sign after the race

   

 If you look close, you can see me on the start line (top L corner). The picture they used was from last year's Cat 4 RR start. Pretty cool. 

I found some more photos.

Race Reports: HoS & PeachTree TT

It's taken me a while to get around to writing these reports, but I've been trying to focus on my school work and not failing grad school. I'm sure my parents would be proud. Anyway, school has been filled with endless projects, presentations, tests, and additional classes over the normal. They think they can just control our lives. I guess they can, but it is really getting annoying and my disgust for that building and program is growing quite rapidly recently.

Anyway, back to the races. I had been looking forward to the first road race for quite some time. Unfortunately, by the time it got here, school had me run down to the point that I was not looking forward to racing. I knew I still had to go, so early Saturday morning I set out alone for Berlin, TN and the first TBRA race of the year. Without a warm-up, I toed the starting line and we were off. I personally knew none of the other racers: all my friends from last year have upgraded to the cat 3's. I knew one person that I was going to be watching thanks to a friend's advice. The race progressed pretty uneventfully. I could hear someone blow a tire every once in while, but not a whole lot of action in the top 5-10 wheels where I was trying to stay. I hit the gravel in 2nd wheel. We didn't throw any attacks per se, but the accelerations up those punchy hills in the gravel were not nice on the legs. A bit later I charged up and over a hill creating a decent gap; no one responded. I knew I wasn't going to make it by myself so I sat up and waited for the group.

The next 15-20 miles were a big cluster mess. First the masters were closing in on us. We were told to go single file and slow down as they came up to pass. Then a few guys on the front accelerated and surged. Officials came back and regulated us at the front and we had to slow to less than 10mph for quite some time as the masters closed in and passed us. We continued to wait as they built up a gap so we didn't immediately pass them back. Once we were allowed to race again, someone shot off the front and up the road. Within the next 3 miles we were catching and passing the big masters field. About this time is when I was behind a guy that hadn't been up front in the race. Before I knew it, he led me right into a rather large pothole that gave me quite a jar. My fresh bottle I had just switched to the downtube cage shot out. I really could have used that powerful EnduraFuel energy later in the race, but I would have to do without. Here is where I must also give a big thanks to HUB Endurance for letting me borrow some super plush 28mm Vittoria tires for the race without which that pothole might have very well ended my race right there.

So, right before we entered the gravel for the second time, the official made us literally stop on the side of the road and wait. Several guys chose to pee as others sat around twiddling their thumbs. Now that everyone was well rested, any stragglers had a chance to get back on, and cold blood had time to settle in our legs, they let us off again.

Small surges from the front carried us the rest of the way back to the 2.5 mile finish stretch. By this time I had moved up to 2nd/3rd wheel as I was preparing for the finish. Unfortunately I was not patient enough to properly execute the finish. I was putting too much effort and riding in too much wind that entire trip back to the start finish. At the 1k to go mark the first attack went. I quickly matched and got on his wheel, another mistake. More attacks started coming from both sides. I was begging for the line, my body pleading with me to just stop, give up, and call it a day. I don't remember exactly how that last K went down, but I know at the end there were two big surges, one from each side of me. The one on the right was impressive and made a small gap, he took first. The one from the left was shaky and drifted slightly right and in front of me once he came around, he got second. That was enough to keep me seated and just holding on for the finish.

Take home: (1) be more patient and (2) sprinting at the end of a hard run into the finish is very hard and I didn't have it that day.

PeachTree TT:
The second race of the weekend was a time trial southwest of Atlanta. So once again, Sunday morning I got up and headed out the door for the drive down...by myself...in the rain...raining the entire way. I got there in time to setup for a nice little warm-up. My HUB skinsuit from Pactimo fit perfectly which I was very happy about as it was the first time I had tried it on.

I was on time for my start which is always rule number one for a TT. However, as soon as I went off, I came up behind a pickup truck sitting at a stop sign where I was supposed to turn right. I didn't know what to do at first as a slight panic set in. I ended up going around him on the left, but as I was beside him he started moving too. I continued on and passed across the yellow line. Not the best start, but I settled into my aero position and tried not to break rule number two in a TT: don't start out too hard. My legs were not putting out their best, so I just tried making up for it in aerodynamics implementing skills from the book of Tony Martin. I guess it worked because even with a subpar performance, I came away with the win.

It was good to get a decent distance TT in before I take on the state TT the first weekend of May (one of the reasons I wanted to do this race).

Overall not a bad start to the year. Three races and three podiums: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Back to the grind and back to racing soon enough. VERY glad to have this weekend off.

May 2013 Be Better Than 2012

From broken wheels, broken shoes, a broken Garmin, and broken dreams to the "one lap to go" finish at Johnson City and the amazing crash finish for 2nd at Moab. From being hit by a car to surgery and 6 weeks of NWB crutch ambulation. It's been pretty obvious that 2012 was not my year. Most of the goals I set for 2012 were not achieved. They must roll forward to 2013 where they have snowballed into even bigger aspirations; because as a friend once told me, a champion lives on to race another day.

In 2013, I am chasing jerseys. I have 6 in mind listed in order of difficulty.

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

The thing that will make this complicated and hard to accomplish is scheduling. I'm assuming a lot of these races will fall on the same weekends and I'll have to chose which to do. I already know one of our mandatory Saturday guest lectures for school will occur on a Saturday race day in April. Skip class? I think so. Other goals include:

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

The miles should come pretty easily if I follow my training program required for success in earning all the jerseys. Merely a task I would like to concur that was listed as a goal last year and didn't achieve. Even with being off the bike for about 5 months, I was able to ride 3,516 miles in 2012, about 400 more miles than I rode in 2011. The front half of the coming season will be loaded heavy with cycling events with a mid summer transition to heavy triathlon racing and training. This should help me accomplish the cycling goals since for the first time ever, training will have a sole cycling focus. Delaying triathlons will also give my knee more time to recover so that I can get back to running form. Currently, I haven't been able to run more than a mile without knee pain, and that mile was on the treadmill.

I have my work cut out for me now. Time to get serious and put in all the training necessary for success. Time management will be key to balancing all the workouts with all the school. Time to go to work.

Going Under

Well I thought I had it bad at ITU Worlds when I flatted twice and lost my first place standing. It was the worst experience I've had in the sport so far. That is until June 9th. I've waited for a while to write about this for many reasons: it was hard for me to face it for one, I didn't want to write details on the internet before the driver's insurance company accepted responsibility, and I was just feeling down and out about the whole situation without much motivation to do anything.

Most people probably already know about what happened to me, but for those that do not, or don't really know the details, here it is.

I was coming off a terrible race at Roan Groan and knew that I needed more practice at climbing, especially at the end of a race. I wanted to do well at River Gorge later in August, so I set out on Saturday June 9th, from my apartment in East Brainerd. I had mapped out a course that would take me over Missionary Ridge and the toe of Lookout before jumping into the River Gorge RR course. Things were going well and I was having fun playing out in my mind how the race would turn out this year and how things happened last year. I climbed Raccoon, stopping at the overlook to refill my bottles, eat some snacks, and take in the scenery. I started my descent from the mountain to head back home to get ready to head out to River Bend that night. Once I got off the steep slopes of Raccoon and made the hard 90 degree left hand turn, I saw a truck stopped at a stop sign on a side street to my right. He began to pull out to make a left hand turn and come up the mountain towards me. I was getting nervous and applying the brakes. As the truck got further out into the intersection, I was horrified to realize he was carrying a boat. His truck and boat were covering the entire intersection leaving me no place to go. I am grabbing as much brake as I can by this point. My wheels begin to lock up and my rear wheel starts fishtailing out from under me to the left. I was in shock and utter disbelief as I covered those last 3 meters before contact. I couldn't believe this was really about to happen. Skidding out placed me in a more parallel position to the boat so that my left shoulder and knee hit the boat first. I bounced off and swung around the back of the boat as the driver continued to pull away. I hit the ground and my bike went bouncing. I rolled around on the ground in intense pain in my left knee. It wouldn't straighten out and I knew I was injured pretty badly.

The driver and passenger got out of the truck after they pulled over to the shoulder. I laid in the middle of the intersection as they called 911 and asked if I was okay. I think the screaming and writhing in pain should have indicated I was not. Thankfully, I had just seen fellow teammate Jim Farmer at the top of Raccoon. He was packing his bike up and was about to come down. He drove up on the scene shortly after the accident happened. Another woman who had been running on Raccoon also stopped on her way down. These folks helped out a ton (Chattanooga obviously has an amazing outdoor community that cares for each other). My teammate was able to collect my bike and belongings and the other lady was able to call my parents back to let them know what was going on. The paramedics and fire truck arrived a little while later. They put me on the board and we were headed off for Erlanger ER.

Several radiographs and a CT scan later, they determined I had no broken bones and would have to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon the following week. The first visit with the surgeon was terrifying. The laxity in knee from the clinical examination pointed to several tears and disruptions in the tissue. The MRI ruled some of them out, but I was still going to need surgery. Thankfully, I didn't need immediate surgery which would have caused me to miss my first clinical rotation and be forced to sit out of the PT program for one year. Glad I avoided that disaster.

After much hassle with the police report, the driver, and the driver's insurance company, his insurance company finally accepted fault. They are collecting my medical bills and already reimbursed me for my bike minus depreciation.

I've had ups and downs over this time period. Times I would feel super energized about training for next season and all I will be able to do. Other times I was depressed and could only think about all the stuff I was missing out on and how hard it would be to come back after surgery. I missed several races including the Crit State Championship, which I was favored to win, the rest of the TBRA races, which now means I lost my Best Area Rider qualification, two Xterra races, which means I will probably lose my regional champion status and bid to nationals, as well as the Georgia Gran Prix stage race, the Huntsville race weekend, and two more crits in Atlanta. No defending my crit title at River Gorge this year. I also feel bad about letting my team down. This is the first time I've ever raced for a team and it ended with a terrible showing for myself. I wanted to do well to validate my spot on the team. I will have to settle for next year.

I got robbed, and I hate it. I've been so angry. But this is just the year I've been having with several broken pieces of equipment that required replacing and the bad finish at ITU. I have great plans for coming back next year with a more focused training plan, better knowledge of how to train, better equipment to train with, and a burning desire to come back strong and dominate the Cat 4 field. I'm trying to construct a detailed training plan without the help from a coach since I can't afford one. That being said, I would gladly take advice or suggestions from people out there that have had coaches or might be coaches just to make sure I am going in the right direction and I am interpreting my data correctly.

Surgery was yesterday (I meant to write this earlier in the week), so I have started the path to recovery and my journey back to sport. However, I guess I underestimated this surgery because of how easy my last surgery was on my right knee in 2007. I had my ACL reconstructed with a cadaver graft that time and I was able to get a full quad contraction the morning following surgery and was up ambulating without much pain at all the next day. That is not how this surgery has gone so far. I am in a lot more pain than I remembered or expected. I hope that it subsides before classes begin on the 20th. The first day of physical therapy as a patient on Monday the 13th. Should be a good experience. Just have to organize a way to get all my stuff moved to my new apartment while on crutches.

My bike got a little jacked, technically speaking

The culprits 

No big deal

No clue what this leg hit to get bruised 

Race Report: Johnson City Omnium

Well, I had high hopes for Roan Groan, but I think in the back of my mind I was skeptical all along. And when we hit the climb, it became clear to me that I am still weak. And very slow going up.

The peloton approached the climb together with no breaks. As we started ascending, I was sitting 3^rd wheel behind Hicks pulling and Nathaniel 2^nd wheel. Couldn’t have asked for it any better position wise. I shifted down to keep a high cadence, but never really fell into a rhythm. My heart rate shot up to over 180 and stayed there. About 2 or so miles into the climb it became clear I was not going to be able to hang when Hicks accelerated again and a huge group came around me to stay on his wheel as I went back through the field. It was a huge group and very demoralizing. I was spinning a high cadence, but I just couldn’t go any faster. My heart was pounding and it was all I could do to keep on pushing the same pace I’d been going. The climb was relentless too. Around every turn was just another long rise. There were some great views though. I yo-yoed with some other riders for a while as we pressed on. I wish we had finished at Carver’s gap because that’s about where my body started to really hurt and wanted to quit. But no, we took a right hand turn and continued on for another 1.75 miles. At this point we were climbing into the clouds that covered the road limiting sight of the ever-rising road. The temperature was dropping and the wind was strong. This section of the climb really seemed to go on and on and I never knew where the finish was supposed to come. My computer already read over the stated mileage of the race. Then all of a sudden out of the clouds there were some volunteers telling us to stay to the left as we made a right turn. Weird to be on the left. Then there was the finish. The monstrous climb was finally concurred. The wind and 40 degree temperature on top of the mountain made it very chilly up top while we were standing around. Thankfully, I got a ride from a teammate so I didn’t have to bike the course backwards to get back to my car.

After a short rest and some lunch, I was back at it warming up for the TT. It was supposed to be a 3.2 mile straight course with a one mile climb and a 6.7% descent on the backside. At the start line, I got some advice from last year’s RR champion which I think really helped: attack the hill hard and do what you can for the rest of the race. Well, I hit it hard and caught my 30 second guy at the top of the hill which was definitely less than a mile. The descent was definitely not 6.7% so I didn’t get to recover much from redlining it on the climb. I pushed on, but began to run out of gas and struggle as the finish line was nowhere in sight. On the flat straight I continued to give it as much as I could until I saw some cars including a cop car up a slight rise blocking the road off. I figured this was the finish so I backed off a bit in preparation for the rise. About this time, I saw the true finish where the officials were. So I ran out of gas, but I think attacking the hill was still the better thing to do. Finished in 8:26 good enough for 3^rd, 7 seconds behind 1^st and 5 behind 2^nd.

Sunday’s crit started out very fast. I think we probably dropped half our field in the first 5 to 7 laps. It got the HR up and going and made me shift up to the big ring; something I don’t usually do until late into the race. At some point, a small kid went off the front at which I told myself not to worry about him because I didn’t think he was strong enough to stay off for the next 10 or so laps. I don’t know when or how it actually happened (wish I had seen it and gone with him), but a BPC rider bridged the gap up to the solo leader. No one in the peloton wanted to work with Will and me so our efforts to pull the two leaders back were futile. The group was going to be sprinting for 3^rd place. I knew where I wanted to jump and then launch my sprint since I had scouted the course earlier in the day between some other races. What I hadn’t planned on was leading the entire last lap. However, it was working out just fine. I had a strong pull and accelerated on the rise preventing anyone from attacking me. I came through the last corner in first and shifted into the appropriate gear. I gave another acceleration and still no one was beside me. It was beginning to look like I was going to take the sprint without ever actually sprinting. Then about 25 meters from the finish line, the announcer said one lap to go. I was confused. I was pretty sure that they rang the bell last time around, but the laps-to-go had seemed to be jumping around and we had only been riding 35 minutes in a 40 minute race. I sat up at which point two racers passed me before the line. Ended up that was actually the last lap and I took 5^th.  I was pissed. I tried to talk to the announcer after I finished my cool down lap, but it was obvious he was an idiot and didn’t know what he was doing. It was too difficult and frustrating trying to talk to him so I just left and did another lap.

Good things about the race were that it was a really fun course with two sections of narrow alley way and tight corners combined with wide sweeping ones right after. I also took the first prime of the race away from Will as we were coming through the last corner. Then for the second prime, I passed Will in the corner and then beat another rider about 10 meters from the line. It felt good to snatch those away. I also have to consider it a positive that my legs were feeling good, I timed and planned the move right, and I was outriding my competitors. Really wish I had gotten those 7 more BAR points and 20 more dollars though.

I managed to hang onto the BAR leader spot but just barely. Things have been shaken and I need some good performances at the next few races if I want to pull it out. Time to get back to training. 

Some photos I took of the Cat 3 race. 

Race Report: State Time Trial and MOAB Crit

I just got flat out beat in the time trial. Hicks is a strong rider and a very fast time-trialist. However, given better conditions, I think I would have put up a much better fight to make the race closer. I never got into a comfortable position on the bike. Early on my head and shoulders felt very heavy and were a strain on my arms just to hold my body upright. I should have spent more time on the TT bike to make sure I had my position dialed in. I hadn’t been on it for over 20 minutes since preparing for a road tri last April. I also forgot to grease up and the new skinsuit and I did not mesh very well at the saddle interface. Let’s just say I’m a little scabbed over currently. That aside, I’m still disappointed in my legs. I’m not sure if I never recovered from ITU or I was just really having a bad day, but my legs felt like junk for most of the ride. I assessed my form a few times on the course and I couldn’t pin down what my limiting factor was. My legs weren’t burning and screaming at me to stop, but I also wasn’t panting for air. They just didn’t show up ready to go when I hit it at the start line. I finally got into some rhythm over the last 10K. All the hills were gone and I was motoring. I would estimate I averaged 28 mph over those last 6 miles. I’m glad I pushed hard and thought I still had some chance of winning because if not, I would have been way down in the standings incurring no points.

Sunday I’d be given another chance for success. The Cat 4 start time was 12:35. It was going to be a hot day with a course completely in the sun. I did a little warm up on some back roads while the 3’s were still racing and only got one lap in before we were lining up for our start. The field was looking big. A lot bigger than the online registration was showing. I was starting towards the back of the pack and had no buddies in the race with me. I remained calm and new I would be able to make my way up. That ended up being the motto for the whole race: remain calm and wait. I gradually moved forward and was quickly sitting in the top 10 wheels and stayed there for most of the race with a good time spent as 4^th wheel. Harpeth cycling put in a good amount of work and did a good job protecting their rider Will Montgomery. I never could figure out what BPC was trying to do. They would send one guy off the front but never more than 100 meters. And every time we came to the 120° turn before the slight uphill, one of their guys would charge to the front which would lead to us bringing the front guy back on the incline every time. I guess the charging guy might have been trying to get to the front and slow the peloton down, but that sure wasn’t working. We immediately engulfed him and pulled everything back together. Going into 2 laps to go, I decided it was time to shift up to the big ring and get ready to do some work. I edged forward still trying to save as much as I could but by this time we were booking it around the course. 

(So to explain the course, the 120° turn led to 150 meters of flat road before a slight rise in the road 100 meters long, then a 90° left hand turn that bottle necked the riders before the open 100 meter flat straight to the finish.)

Approaching the rise, I was sitting 4^th wheel with two Harpeth guys in front of me. As we reached the top and started through the curve, Will jumped off the front and several others went to the right of me and one guy to my left. I waited until I was completely through the corner before I really started mashing on the pedals. Will’s early jump gave him a big lead once we were in the finish line straight and it didn't seem like I would be able to catch him. I still saw two maybe three guys to my right that were in front of me. I continued my sprint but couldn't really tell where the finish line was with the white lines from the intersection on the ground. I was gaining on the Nashville Cyclist guy and began overtaking him in the last 20 meters. Ten meters out we made contact. I pulled off, gave my last kick, and lunged for the line. Steven, the Nashville Cyclist guy, lost control and crossed the finish line in 3^rd in midair before he slammed into the ground and slid for several meters. As the rest of the group came flying in, Marco didn’t manage to change course and t-boned Steven in the back and flipped over his bike landing on his head. Crazy crashes and finish in Murfreesboro.  

At the line, I think I had pulled Will back to only a bike length from me. I know I am faster than him and I hate that I lost to him again. This is the second time it’s happened because he made the same early move at Aaron Shafer Road Race for the win leaving me with second. I have to trust my legs more, go early, and go hard. I’ll be doing some practice work before the crit state championships. That race is mine. 

Now it's time to rest. Legs need to recover and this upcoming weekend is the only race with an HC (hors categorie, beyond categorization) climb finish on the east coast. The Roan Groan finishes with a 9.5 mile climb at an average 6.4% gradient with 4639 feet of climbing in the race. 

ITU Cross Tri World Championship

I did not DNF. That's the first thing that I was able to say to people. It still bothers and upsets to write this because it means I have to go back and relive the race; walk through it step by step which brings on so many emotions and frustrations. So far I've just been trying to not think about it, because if I do, then I get too distraught and emotional with what could have been, what should have been. That being said, here's what I recall from race day.

The days leading up to the race were good. I had a good "taper" with some short efforts, my legs were feeling good, and my nutrition and sleep were great. Friday I skipped school and drove down to Pelham for packet pick-up, pre-race briefing, one last look at the course (which got changed the day before), and the opening ceremonies. The course change shortened the bike course by a few miles which was to my disadvantage because I knew if I was going to beat these guys, I was going to do it on the bike. More distance on the bike gave me more time to make up time. Anyway, I scouted it out and heading back to the hotel to relax and take an ice bath.

I fell asleep relatively easily and was set to get almost 8 hours of sleep. Everything went accordingly race morning: breakfast, coffee, transition setup, body marked, timing chip in place, and swim warm-up. I was ready to rock. I couldn't wait to get the swim over so I could rocket the amazing trails of Oak Mountain. Not only was it going to be a blast, but it should feel emotional to pick people off one by one on the trail.

It was one of my better swims coming into T1 in under 25 minutes. It was the most congested swim I've ever done: getting hit in the head, ankles grabbed, pushed aside, and at one point I kissed someone's big toe. I guess that's what you get when you swim faster and stay with a bigger pack. Running into T1, my mom informed me I was in 4th position. Not what I was looking for, but hey, my part of the race was just starting. I spent the short time on the road tightening my shoes and putting my gloves on so I'd be ready to hit the trail as soon as I got there. Fifteen feet after diving into the trail, my chain dropped and got wrapped around the crank and jammed up against the frame. I stood on the side of the trail pulling and yanking on it trying to free the chain so I could continue. After about 2 minutes, it came free and I could start riding again. My time on the side of the trail put me further down in the race which means I have to pass more riders on the bike. Not an issue for a road tri, but here in the single track, it was going to take time and slow me down even more trying to finagle pass people. I took some dangerous and really aggressive lines to pass people, but methodically I was making my way up the field. I passed one guy in my age group who I'm pretty sure must have passed me when I was on the side of the trail, so back to fourth position. A little bit later I passed Ian King who was repairing a flat on the side of the trail he sustained from crashing into some briers. 3rd position. As I exited the single track to start the climb to the top of the mountain, I passed the Mexican, Bobadillo. 2nd position. I hammered on the climb. The riders behind me disappeared. I kept pushing and didn't realize when I had made it to the top; I was still looking for one more steep incline. I had completely zoned out and destroyed it. I knew I had been climbing better on the road which I accredited to my new supplements from Biomedical Research Laboratories (http://www.brlscience.com/SERVICES.html) and was thrilled to see it carry over for this race. I rolled along the top of the mountain for a bit before I saw him. I was catching Seavey. My heart jumped, increased its rate, my body released a massive amount of adrenaline and my emotions soared. I almost teared up. Passing him this early on meant I was killing it on the bike and no one was going to be able to touch me, let alone catch me. I still had several miles to build up a substantial time gap. The rest of the trail was more technical which favored me immensely. I was on my way to a World Championship victory. I passed him with force to discourage him from jumping on my wheel. I continued to hammer and dropped back into the trail towards Blood Rock blazing. I rolled through Blood Rock like a champ taking the perfect line. Now it was time for fun on the wicked descent. I had just caught another rider and told him he better be ready to rocket it if I was going to be behind him, to which he responded with a go ahead as he pulled to the side. I let it loose. Launched over the first set of rocks and continued on. I think it was the third set that I didn't come down on too well at which all my fears became reality. I heard the hissing of my rear wheel pouring air. I tried to deny it and say it was just the freehub clicking and spinning. Bump, bump. I was flat. Dead flat. It was the feeling you get when you just finished a 12 pack and the blue lights start flashing behind you, when you're 6 weeks in and she's 3 weeks late, when the phone rings in the middle of the night and your child still hasn't made it home, when the doctor himself calls to give you the bad news. I wanted to cry, I wanted to throw my bike down the side of the mountain, I wanted to bang the wheel on a rock until it was properly broken, but most of all, I wanted another chance. I pulled the valve stem and put in my spare tube. I could see the rim was bent in a few places which made me question how long I would make it on this tube. I didn't even look for the hole in the tire. For all I know it could have been a big gash in a sidewall which the tube would poke out waiting to get punctured. I fiddled with my canister of CO2 and finally got it to work. Enough air in the tube and I packed everything up to get back in the saddle. While I was on the side of the trail, Seavey and Bobadillo passed me. I started back down the mountain and made it probably 3 miles passing Bobadillo again and moving back into 2nd position. Then my fears became reality again: another flat. I was SOL for this one and just started walking and running it out, having to stop and move off the trail every time a rider still on his bike came pass me. I was devastated. I never imagined this race would go like this. I was not going to DNF though. I'm not sure how many miles I had to walk and run in my carbon mtb shoes pushing my bike, but I'm guessing it was around 4 costing me close to 25 minutes on the bike leg. Another guy in my age group passed me about a half a mile before T2, 5th position. I continued running my bike in and the officials at the dismount line jokingly said there was no need for me to dismount. I'm glad they found some humor in my misfortune. As I changed shoes, my Dad told me I was over 18 minutes behind Seavey and almost 3 behind 4th place. I was running mostly to finish at this point and just wanted to complete my two laps and be done. My legs didn't feel great, but not bad either. Coming around for my first lap my Dad told me 4th place was only a 1:30 ahead now. I wanted to catch him, but I wasn't going to kill myself to do it. It was only racing for 4th place after all. I kept progressing and was actually passing people, something I rarely do late in the run portion of a race. With about a 1.25 miles left, I spotted the 4th place guy. I was feeling good and running pretty well actually so I knew I was going to take it from him. At first I couldn't decide if I wanted to sit on his heels and wait til the end to jump or just storm on past him. He wasn't looking so hot and I sure wasn't going to slow down, so I flew on past him and some other racers. I took a glance back to see if he tried to pick it up to stay in contention with me, but he was gone. I came around the lake and finished strong for a sub 46 minute 10K. Not great, but given the circumstances I'll take it. So, probably my best chance at a world championship ended like that. This race is in the Netherlands next year and Xterra Worlds is always in Maui; terrains that aren't my backyard and suited for my strengths. There will probably never be a world championship in the Southeast again in my lifetime. A chance well wasted.

I can't forget about this race because there is plenty to learn from it and take with me, but there is a lot I'm trying to put behind me. I have to let it go and focus on what's next. This Saturday is the TN state time trial championships and then Sunday is the first crit of the year. Really would like to bring home a win, especially after the disaster of last weekend.

Coming out of the swim strong

Beaten and broken, doing all I can to not give up

Found something in the legs to pull back 4th

The future of Xterra elite men

With my biggest supporters 

Race Report: Berry Peddler

Last week I finally decided on a cycling team to join. I am the newest member of HUB Endurance Chattanooga. So this past weekend was going to be my debut in the team colors at the Berry Peddler road race and time trial. I wanted to do well as my first team showing but also for myself as usual. I recently found out about the BAR point series that TBRA does which basically allocates points to riders based upon finishes in sanctioned TN races. BAR stands for best area rider and the rider with the most points at the end of the year in each category gets awarded the state championship jersey for best rider. Well, I am currently in first place for the cat 4 racers so the places and points at each event I enter just became that much more important to me now that I know what is at stake.

I knew the RR would be hard since there was a Cat 2 climb 7 miles into the 32 mile race, but I wasn't sure the tactics that would be employed since the climb was so far out from the finish. I raced based on the assumption that there would be a rough regrouping of the top riders after the climb so I didn't go completely all out in the climb. I didn't hold back a whole lot either though. As soon as we hit it, one BPC rider went solo up the road. I wasn't too worried because the wheels I was watching were still close by. Climbing continued and people fell off from behind. With about a mile left in the climb, the group of five I had been climbing with started pulling away, 3 of which were on the same team. I didn't want to explode, so I just continued on in a steady fashion. The gap only grew. I finished the climb and could still see them up the road a bit. I tried to close in, but it just wasn't going to happen with who was in that break group. So I rode 17 miles alone. It was a hard, lonely 17 miles, but I kept pushing on especially once I began to see some riders up the road after being in no man's land for 14 miles. I was able to spot two riders who seemed to have popped from the 6 man break. If I could catch them, then I would be back in the running for 5th place. New goal. Well, I kept struggling to bridge the gap, and I could see a line of four riders approaching from the rear that were making up ground. Edging closer and closer, I finally put in a big effort to bridge the gap to the two riders up the road. Mentally, I knew it would be better for me to get to the front group before the back group bridged the gap and I definitely didn't want to sit up, wait for the 4 man group, and have them fly by me without me being to latch on. Once we were all together, things seemed calm. We were under 10K to go and I was rotating down the line. Once I saw that the two lead riders were on the same team and not rotating, I made my way back up to them and sat in third wheel. The pace lifted as we edged closer to the finish. When I saw the 500 meter sign, I jumped. I didn't notice an immediate reaction in my periphery, but it was hard to tell. When I saw the 200 meter sign, I stood to launch my sprint. A few revolutions in, I took a quick glance around to see if I was going to have to fight it out. Nope, I was clear. I sat up and cruised through the finish line for 5th place.

I cruised back to my car and began switching wheels to my TT bike for the time trial later in the afternoon. I was set to go at 1:40: five minutes after the women and the first cat 4 racer. I went out hard and quickly found my acceptable pain level to sustain for the 7 mile TT. Going into the turn around, I didn't quite slow down enough and missed the cones. My rear wheel eventually locked up and skidded out as I tried to correct. A little scary, but once I was up and rolling again, it seemed to be fine. I buried myself and enjoyed having the wind mostly at my back now. I really dug deep over the last 500 meters because I knew how close the race in Sparta had been. I didn't want it to be that close again, or if it was, I wanted to be on the winning side and knew that I left it all out there on the course. I came across the line in 16:24 which was a 25.7 mph average: a lot faster than I was at Sparta. Once the results were calculated, it was only good enough for 3rd place here. I was 10 seconds behind first and 7 behind second.

So, overall not my best showing, but I guess I shouldn't have been expecting too much. I've been overtrained and taking time off. I'm tapering and trying to prepare and focus all my energy and time on ITU Cross Worlds. Three days and counting. The big race is this Saturday. I've done everything I can and can only hope I have recovered and tapered properly. I will go out and race my best. The top 2 from last year's national championship will be there along with a few others. It is pretty much a preview of what nationals will be like this year except it is on my home turf and not at altitude. If I can't beat them here, then I don't belong on the start line in Utah.

Bar Standings: Cat 4

I See Cardinals

I really didn’t want to admit it, but I think I have to face the facts and accept it. I am overtrained and my peak workouts for ITU Worlds are getting thrown completely out the window. Recently, I’ve been getting fatigued a little too early in my workouts, I’ve noticed lactic acid building up earlier in my efforts, and my heart rate has been about 15 bpm lower than normal during my intervals. This is one of the things all athletes fear, especially right before their biggest race of the year. This news sits right alongside stress fractures and, for me, ACL tears. I had this week off school too, so I had the extra time to put in the extra efforts. Well, now those efforts would only hurt me and set me back even more. My body needs to recover and rebuild. My progress and fitness for Worlds is already determined and I can’t gain any more. I just have to hope that I’ve put in enough, I fully recuperate for the race, and everything goes as well as possible.

However, some hope hangs on previous articles I’ve read about people experiencing injuries or different travel complications that required them to take off a complete week before marathons or other big races. Surprisingly, some of them set PR’s and raced extremely well. Often we forget how important and beneficial rest is. I can only hope that the results for me will be similar and my legs show up ready to race in Alabama on May 19^th. Until then I guess I just have to design a 16 day taper for an Olympic distance off-road triathlon. If it doesn’t go well at least it will be an experience of a lifetime. And I’ll have the Time Trial State Championship to race in the following week. Man that will be an hour of hell: 40 kilometers to push yourself into the pain and sustain it all alone on an out and back course. Should be fun.

Even when I combine this with all the previous bad luck I had with my bike and equipment, I still have faith in what I’m doing. I still believe in my training and my racing. Either the southeast TN region has the highest population of beautiful male cardinals I have ever lived in, or God is definitely on my side telling me everything is going to work out and be all right. I couldn’t imagine trying to count all the cardinals I’ve seen over this semester on my rides and runs. I’ve used them as a sign from God ever since my old Pastor preached about it one Sunday many years ago. It seems to still be working, so why question it.

Also, I won the Sparta time trial and took second in the road race with only biking twice a week. School takes up a ton of time and then multisport training limits me even more. It scares me to think what I could accomplish if I devoted all my focus to road racing. I’m also in the search for a cycling team. I’m trying to decide between two different teams: one local and one in Knoxville. It’s a tough decision because both offer great, but very different benefits. This will be the first team I’m really a part of too. Furthermore, once I looked back at the Xterra Ft. Yargo results, I should try to not be too tough on myself. The times say I ran a 7:17 average mile for the 5 mile run at the end of the race. That’s great for me especially compared to last year. Those results would satisfy my goals and aspirations for Worlds. Maybe everything will work out.

On another note, if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations on recovering and tapering for the upcoming race now that I’m 14 days out, I’d be thrilled to hear from you.