Happy New Year

I would like to thank all my sponsors, family and friends who helped support me in my cycling and life endeavours this year. I wouldn't have been able to accomplish the things that I have with out your help!

Here's to the off season, 2009 and a happy new year! Cheers

Cross Nationals

I forgot how much fun collegiate racing could be until last weekend in Kansas City. Although my result wasn't quite what I was hoping for I still had a blast trying. It was the perfect way to end a long season.

A couple stops for gas and lots of Iowa country side in the middle of the night makes for a pretty uneventful drive down. I rolled into Kansas City around 7am Saturday morning just in time for the sun to come up. Took a quick nap in the car before some breakfast and checking out the course. The venue looked pretty good with a little bit of mud, some technical turns to keep things interesting and a gradual climb across the back of the course leading to the run up. I watched a race or two before finally getting on the open course at noon for some warm-up laps. I managed to score (free) some sweet new Challenge Grifo tires with the help of an old teammate Patty from the Planet Bike team. I was pretty pumped and decided to run them for my race. Everything looked good and felt dialed so it was off to the hotel to relax until the big race.

You know it's windy outside when it wakes you up the next morning. The good news was it was windy but warm out side, upwards of 65 degrees that morning. I knew I packed my sandal for a reason; one last chance to wear them this year outside.

I should have known the whole sandal thing was too good to be true! Just getting back from a little spin is when the cold front took away my joy of warmth and reminded me it was cross season and mid December. In a matter of a couple minutes it went from 65 to 30 something. I wish I had a video of all the people scrambling in the parking lot diving into their bags to find knee warmers and thermal jackets. I felt bad for the collegiate women; they were standing on the start grid when the front hit so no one had a chance to change into warmer cloths.

Starting in the second row is awesome. Pissing away a second row start is not so much. I shouldn't have been surprised when just about everyone was bashing and chopping wheels on every corner for the first lap. Let's just say I wasted a stellar call up position and found myself pretty far back by the half way point of the first lap. I did my best to claw my way back up to the front but the leaders were already long gone. It took a lap or two but I got settled into a rhythm and started to pick people off one by one. The cold front was bringing the possibility of rain and snow so I let some air out of my tires in anticipation on the start grid. No bananas on the rain or snow left me riding too soft in the rear. It's rather frustrating knowing you are capable of going quite a bit faster on the entire course and rallying every corner but not being able to because you might roll a tire. I pushed my luck as much as possible on every corner and thought I was going down a couple times but I kept it up. With 4 laps to go I found myself in no mans land with no one in sight ahead or behind me. Something was wrong at this point as I felt like I was riding in a bog and everything was rather sluggish. I debated with myself every time I came close to the pits about grabbing a different rear wheel but decided not to with the fear of being caught. The lap cards slowly turned over one by one as I keep riding as fast as possible. I tried to catch the guy in front of me and came close a couple times but ended up getting gaped out of every technical corner. I ended up finishing in 38th place on the day; short of my goal of a top 25. Although I didn't make my goal I had fun trying. It wasn't until after the race that I noticed what my part of my sluggish feeling was caused by. My rear tire had about 2 inches of the bead come out of the rim and created a small bulge that my brake was rubbing against every turn. I'm not saying they were bad tires, in fact the tires were awesome and felt really good when they had the right amount of air in them. I'm sure if they were some cheap injected molded tires and not quality tires that are hand made they would have surely rolled off. This goes to show you should thoroughly test your new equipment before racing it.

Just because my race season was officially over doesn't mean everyone Else's was. I put on some warm cloths and watched the elite mens race to cap off an awesome season. I was a little disappointed in the super fan turnout, but the few that did were impressive. Running around crazy with next to nothing on in 20 degrees with biting winds is super fan worthy if you ask me.

Honestly, one of the best races I have ever watched. There was always something going on in the race and not just at the front either. I was kinda bummed I wasn't in there racing with them for a little bit after racing with most of them at some point or another this cross season. It was pretty amazing to watch some of our nations young talent duke it out with the best of the best. Mad props to Jamie Driscoll and Jesse Anthony, they'll surely be wearing the stars and stripes jersey in the years coming.

Trebon killing it.

Wells and Page duking it out

Ryan and Jamie at the finish.

FYI: Cross season isn't over yet! Don't forget about Matter who's racing in Europe for at least two more weeks.

What now? I'm thinking I'm going to try skate skiing again this winter along with hopefully learning to either snowboard or downhill ski. Anyone want to teach me? I'd be a fool not to try learning some form of winter sport with over a 18 inches of snow on the ground already and more coming this week. It'll surely be a white Christmas. Happy holidays!

Finals

I will update soon I promise! One more final in a couple hours to get out of the way before I can enjoy my winter break. Nationals went ok with the lack of riding in the last couple weeks. I'll write all about it tomorrow.

Coming to a close

Wisconsin weather can be a real test of ones patience. I have yet to ride outside this week with the unseasonably cold conditions. Highs in the teens without the wind is just not a good idea leaving the trainer and rollers as the last resort. I actually dusted them off from their last use sometime in March. I'm glad the season is over after Nationals because I don't want to have to log too many hours sweating profusely on the trainer. Ski season is almost here!

I'm going to make this post short with the pile of homework not getting any smaller on it's own. The last week of classes always brings mixed feelings of joy to be almost done and frustration with the amount of last minute work to be done in every class. Here's a couple more pictures from Jingle Cross and a video I found from USGP Jersey that I'm in.

Next Stop Kansas City, Kansas for Nationals

Jingle Cross Day 2- PAY DAY

After my last post Brian, Jesse and myself headed out for some dinner. I was told the place to go for authentic pizza was Paglia's in downtown Iowa City. The rumors were true and the pizza was some of the best I've ever had. We saw quit a few other racers coming in as we were finishing up. Word travels fast when it's something good to be had.

The 3 of us rolled back to the hotel to watch a little college ball and re-pin numbers for Sunday's race. The forecast was calling for true cross conditions of high 20's and blowing snow. Here's a picture out the hotel window in the morning.

Day 2 of racing was a new course that runs backwards up Mount Krumpet letting us ride up the back side and descend the really steep section. I don't know what people were complaining about, I was having a blast ripping down the hill barely touching the brakes. The Grinch was even having fun on the decent, check out the end of the video.

Did a couple warm up laps with Brian and found the conditions to be Belgium worthy with slip-n-slide mud, off camber corners, spectators cheering in the worst of conditions and plenty of running. I was pumped and felt like I was able to ride just about everything. The only problem before the start was trying to stay warm and dry. You would think starting in the 3rd row on the far left side would be a pretty good spot right? I was thinking thinking this until the guy in front of me started at about 4 mph and left the entire field pass us! Upon getting around him I was sprinting behind two guys who were trying to lock handlebars and headbutting each other. Needless to say the start was a little sketch in the back. I worked my way up into the top 20 after the first barrier and kept the gas on until Mount Krumpet for the long sloppy run. Running seems to be my weakness this year as I watched the group of 5 I was with gap me by a little more every lap. Closing the gap started to get harder and harder until I couldn't do it anymore. I got passed and gaped by Kyle J. on the run up on my last lap before getting pulled. At first I didn't worry about it knowing I was riding better everywhere else on the course until I looked back and saw the leader Todd Wells was not that far behind. I sprinted through the start/finish area hoping to catch Kyle and praying they would let me go for one more lap to pass Kyle back, but I got pulled with 2 to go. I was pretty bummed because I still felt good and was having a blast . Here's a couple post race shots.

It wasn't until Brian and myself were cleaned up and ready to leave that I saw Kyle again. He was also about to leave and mentioned I had made the payout. At first I thought he was messing with me until he said I was 24th. Let's just say I was a little excited and probably looked like a fool as I was jumping around in the parking lot. My first elite payout! Brian had to hear about it for the next 2 hours in the car too.

I'm still pretty pumped from yesterdays race and have some new motivation to train hard for the next 2 weeks till nationals. This race was just what I needed after a couple disappointing races. I'll post more pictures as I find them from the race. Next stop Nationals!

Congtrats to Brian for being selected for Euro Cross Camp. Help him out if you can as his trip is going to be pretty spendy.

Jingle Cross Day 1

Brian and myself made the drive down to Iowa early this morning after crashing at Elicia's house in Madison. We stopped after an hour or so for a little local cuisine at Marilyn's Cafe. The sign looked OK but the food was awesome, especially the pecan pie.

Shortly after hitting the road we noticed a bunch of birds in the field next to us. It looked like turkey vultures at first until we noticed they all had white heads and tails. The farmer must have put a carcase in the field because there were upwards of 50 bald eagles. I know it's hard to believe so I put up a picture to back it up. Check out the tree with them all sitting in it!

We rolled into the race 2 hours early to scope it out and get a decent warm up in. The start was a little sketch with the normal countdown going from 1 minute to start to go 10 seconds later. This caught a lot of people off guard including myself. I got things rolling and was able to work into a decent position by the first barrier. Things got pretty hairy right after that up the first climb. The rider in 2nd place crashed in the off camber mud and caused a huge pile up and left the two Wells brothers to roll away from everyone else for the 1-2 finish. I wish I could say my race went as well as Todd and Troy but that's just not the case. The run up was called Mount Krumpet and it felt like a mountain each and every time up it. Between the actual sloppy run and the additional vertical riding after it proved to take its toll in the form of lost time and energy. My lack of running and the Wells brother's gap from the early pile up caused my race to end a little sooner than I had hoped. Hopefully tomorrow is a little better which is hard to say with a forecast of 20 something and snow. Could be another Jersey?

Somethings missing

The drive home from Jersey took an unexpected toll on me. It left me feeling kinda sick and not very motivated to ride in the cold weather. I managed to ride the bike a couple times during the week but felt like crap after every ride. Saturday rolled around and now it was time to make a decision; race feeling like crap or take a weekend off and miss the state championships. Now that it's Monday morning I think I made the right decision by not racing. Looking back I've been gone racing every weekend for the last 10 weeks for sure. Sometimes rest is the most important training. I'm definitely feeling more motivated to ride this week with the holidays and jingle cross this weekend. Sorry no pictures this time, I gotta study for a huge Materials exam. I'll put a couple up from today's first snow soon.

USGP Jersey

Mark and myself left town around 6 on Friday night for the long haul to Jersey. 14.5 hours later we rolled into the rainy race venue. The first race of the day was already done and the CAT 2-3 race was going on when rolled in. The easiest way to describe the course was completely trashed after one race. The grass was just about non existent already and what was left was disappearing fast. My wish had come true, the first muddy race of year.

Riding a lap with Brian before the start of the women's race left us off the bike just as much as on it. It didn't pay to bash and chop wheels to make up 3 or 4 spots considering everyone was off the bike and running after the 2nd corner. The first muddy ditch on the course proved to be my undoing as I came out of it with the front tire leaking air fast. I ran the bike to the pits and grabbed a wheel from neutral support to start the chase. I barely got out of the pits when I realized my rear tire was going soft too. It took a lot of running and lost time to get back to the pits for another wheel. My race was cut short getting pulled with 2 laps to go.

After a decent nights sleep the 3 of us headed back to the venue to scope out the hopefully new course. After a quick look around we found the course unchanged with the exception of more mud. I did my best to mentally prepare for another long day of running through the quagmire. The bike held up better than expected in the mud and I managed to keep air in the tires. A few spectators were getting into it by cheering and sticking money in the mud through one of the worst sections of the course. It wasn't super fan worthy but getting there with a few people even doing beer hand ups for a little extra motivation. I did my best to collect some toll money for the long drive home with a beer hand up for good measures.

The overall weekends results were far from stellar racing the best of the best but still worth the trip. 4 weeks till nationals still leaves time to get faster.

After cleaning the bikes once last time we packed up the car and started the drive home. We grabbed a hotel in Hershey, PA to check out the chocolate capital of the world. The place is pretty crazy with Hershey kiss street lights and a giant amusement park right in the middle of the city. Although we didn't stay at the Hershey Hotel just walking around it we could see it was an architectural feat nothing short of remarkable. The pictures don't do it justice.

While driving through Hershey I happened to glance over and notice a rather intriguing sign. Beer Zoo? Of course I stopped and picked up some Yuengling which is only sold on the east coast. The trip wouldn't complete without a stop at the all famous Tim Hortons for an Icecap and some fruit explosion muffins to bring home.
Next race is the Wisconsin State Championships this Sunday.

Determination

So it's already Thursday, the weeks more than half over and I still haven't updated from Iceman. Things have been kinda crazy this week with an exam Monday and 2 quizzes thrown in for good measures. Going to school to be an engineer can be a real treat sometimes. Anyways, ICEMAN 2008.

Left Friday morning at 7am with Brian to make the trip around the top of the lake. Arrived in Traverse City with plenty of time to get a good warm up ride in. Saw quite a few familiar faces, one being TJ. He was rocking the pink Ferrous showing that it's OK to wear and or ride pink. Busted out a quick ride with Brian who was hacking and sniffling the entire drive. I was just hoping he didn't get me sick. Dinner was pretty good at Traviso's which has turned out to be the annual pre-dinner spot for half the racers! The place was packed and the wait was long but the food was worth the wait. Finished up some accounting homework before heading to bed for the early start.

Rolled out a little late with Mikey and Heidi leaving little time for a warm up. I had enough time to suite up and spin around the lot a few times before having to jump in the start shoot. My start wasn't the greatest getting caught behind a few people leaving me to chase. Sitting in the 20's was too far back on the first sandy downhill. Of course someone stacks it and causes the first major pileup of the day. I had no where to go but on top of the pile which happened to be a really soft landing. Jump off the pile, run up the hill while trying to pedal the bike to get the chain back on is easier said than done. I didn't loose too much time but enough that left me chasing the front group the rest of the race. Never feeling too good at any particular point in the race left the perception of never really moving fast. Breakfast was a little to much and was sitting like a rock in my stomach. My goal was to finish in under 1:50 and I was watching my watch pretty close to try to stay on track. With 3 miles to go I had about 11 minutes to make my goal so I was freaking a little but still determined. The watch showed 7 minutes with 2 miles to go and a little over 3 minutes with 1 to go. I don't know how I did it but I finished in 1:49:45 just making it!

My race was over but Brian's was still to come as we drove back to Kalkaska for the pro start and met up with Dallas and Sarah to complete the team for the weekend. Brian got a good start grabbing JB's wheel right from the line. After a quick drive back to the finish we waited patiently for them to finish. The crowd's noise signalled us they were close and we watched intently from the finish as Bishop sprinted around the corner for the win. Brian was just off his wheel finishing 6 or so seconds back. Not bad for sounding like he was about to hack up a lung at the start.

Grabbed dinner with some friends after the awards ceremony before heading to the all famous party bus. Brian was pretty close to right when he said you needed a pro license to get on the bus. The who's who of biking was there ripping it up. Not one but both ice trophies ended up on the bus being used as the sweetest shot glass know to man. JHK was playing bartender for a little bit pouring the shots of Jack into the trophy.

The music was bumping and the people were dancing so hard the bus was lucky not to fall over or apart! Brian even did a shot out of the trophy after a little coaxing from the crowd. We bailed before 1 so we could get some sleep before omelets in the morning.

The snow started to fly in the morning leaving us the decision of driving around the top and risking the bridge being closed or driving around the bottom and risking Chicago traffic and a longer drive. We flipped a coin and heading north. White out conditions almost had a turn around but it cleared up and left smooth sailing for the rest of the trip putting us back in Sheboygan in a little over 7 hours. Another Iceman in the books with everyone coming home happy.

I'm leaving tomorrow for the long drive to Jersey in the team car!! USGP should prove to be another great mental and physical test racing the best of the best. The goal is to make it to 2 laps to go before getting pulled which could be hard starting in the back.

Iceman 2008

Another Icmean in the books. Finished in 1:49:32 for my best time to date which was over 15 minutes faster than last year! The goal was to beat the 1:50 mark and I just made it. Didn't feel the greatest through out the race and never really got it going at in particular point but I still posted a decent time that I'm happy with. Brian finished 2nd 4 seconds back from Bishop which is pretty amazing considering he was sicker than a dog even at the start line! I'm updating from the Grand Traverse Lodge computer so no pics this time around. I'll post them when I get back to Wisco with a little better update from the weekend. It's time for a little dinner and then off to the Bells Party for a little party bus action!!!

My first Iceman

2008 will mark my 3rd time racing the Iceman in the last 4 years. It all started in 2005 driving the trusty Hyundai Santa Fe team car around the the top of Lake Michigan to Traverse City, Michigan. I made the trip with Tristan and Brian leaving relatively early for the 8 hour drive. Being the rookie at the time I really had no clue what I was about to get myself into. This was my first year of racing the Triple Crown races and was still new to racing against 2000 people all at the same time. I stayed pretty quiet for the drive listening to Brian talk about the race and how many years he's raced there. We made it to Kalkaska where the race starts just in time to get a little pre-ride in on the course before dark. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing as we rode around pretty much in the dark.

After the ride we loaded up the car and drove over to Traverse Bay where we were staying in a friend's lake house. Brian was driving the car up to what we thought was the house we were staying in right on the bay when he drives off the gravel road onto the sandy beach. The car didn't have a chance and dug in instantly!

After a couple attempts to dig the car out we had to call Triple A to pull us out. Not the greatest start to the weekend but the house was right there. Around 11 we finally get a look at the house. The place looked exactly like an IKEA store with all the designer furniture and appliances. After a quick look around the place it was off to bed for my early start. Brian and Tristan were racing the Pro race later in the afternoon so they got to sleep in.

I woke up early and made myself some breakfast before driving over to Kalkaska again. 8am starts blow as I soon came to find out. A quick warm up before lining up on the start line in the first wave of the day.

Here's a picture of me early in the race. I was not looking this happy at the end to say the least but I survived my first Iceman. Shortly after I finished I drove back to the start to catch Brian and Tristan's start. Here is a picture of them at the finish showing the stacked field of local and National talent. Tristan had a good day and finished on the podium with Doug Swanson and Adam Craig taking the win.

After the awards banquet it was off to the bars. The Bells Beer team hosts an annual end of the year party somewhere in downtown Traverse City. I heard Brian and Tristan talking about some sort of party bus that shows up to the party and was a little intrigued by this point. Adam Craig showed up to the bar with the famous ice trophy that's chiseled every year and the party was on! Beer was consumed, memories were shared and ridiculous dancing was done by all. The party bus lived up to its name with a built in bar and stereo system rocking out in the alley next to the bar.

2007's Iceman proved to be much of the same with Brian winning the race this time around and another sweet party bus appearance. Next post comes from 2008's Iceman!!!