Rollin on a new dubs

FINALLY after a good month of waiting I have a new road bike. It showed up at the new shop on Friday and I was not going to go another day without putting it together and riding it. I don't know if it's sad to say but my new bike coming in was probably the highlight of my week up until that point. My choice of bikes has been pretty partial for the last couple of years but that's because Trek is just that good, especially the new Madones. Don't get me wrong I loved my cross bike and would totally recommend buying one for training (especially winter), but my first ride on the new 5.2 Pro Madone was a world of a difference. The amazing smoothness of the ride and the direct transfer of power from the pedals to the wheels was almost disgusting how much of a difference there was from the cross bike to the Madone. I'll ease up on my excitement and talk about the bike before it starts to sound like a Trek commercial. The point is the new Madones are SICK!

The training front has been going well and some definite progress is being seen. Last weekend was our chance to host a collegiate race out in Greenbush. 80 miles of riding with the likes of these guys is tiring but a lot of fun.

This was the last of my base 3 this week and what better way to end a long training block than to put in one last effort in the form of a race. I rode with Brian on Saturday for the weekly breakfast ride for a couple hours in the rain. Funny thing is it ended up being just Brian and myself, everyone else bailed or was busy making cupcakes. Sundays attendance was a little better for the rainy race here in Sheboygan at Evergreen Park. The course is made up of a small section of pavement that loops through the park for about a mile with one steep hill right before the finish. I managed to find a few familiar faces to race with in the 3's which always makes things more interesting. Timmy P. was crushing it as usual and the rest of us attempted to follow for the first half of the race until he and another guy rolled off the front. I had a laps of mental toughness for a lap and found myself off the back pretty far before I knew what really happened. I knew this was unacceptable and proceeded to put my head down and drill it for the next 3 laps until I managed to catch back on. If my memory serves me correctly this is the first time I have been dropped in a race and been able to catch back on, I even surprised myself. The little mental boost I got from catching back on had me ready to keep going and ride off the front but I knew that was not an option. I played my cards smart and sat in for the rest of the race until the last time up the hill for the finish. The new bike worked flawlessly as I hammered on the pedals and clicked through the gears as I hung it all out there to make it over the top first. I created a little separation from the group to make it over the top first to surprise myself twice in one race. The problem was I couldn't really sprint for the last 50 meters due to a loose handlebar. I did keep the gas on and held on for 5th place and my best road finish to date! Perfect ending to this training block and a great way to start a rest week.

I've been logging some decent training hours lately, quality more than quantity but I have plenty of that too. Nothing good from the camera lately or things to really write about. If your not busy this weekend we still need volunteers for our collegiate race in Greenbush. We'll feed you for your troubles and right now the weather looks really good too.

1 MONTH until the first real race of the year!


Don't forget I have a couple bikes for sale. Cross bike and Mountain bike.

24 years young

Not to much to report as of late. I turned 24 since my last post. It was a good birthday celebrated with friends and family. A year older and a year wiser, at least I hope. Started another training block this week which looks to be pretty good. I did my first VO2 intervals on Tuesday and Wednesday. My very first one on Tuesday probably hurt more than anything else I've done in a long time. It felt like my lungs were seriously seered and ready to jump out of my chest. I don't know if it was just a poor warm up or what but they progressively hurt less which was good.

Next week Saturday UW Milwaukee is hosting our collegiate race weekend out in Greenbush. If your not busy you should come check it out. It's an awsome 10 mile loop through the Kettle Moraine Forest with plenty of places to cheer for all the racers. Sunday is UW Madisons crit around the Capital building which is also a great race to be a spectator at.

In other news Sheboygan Bicycle Company is making some great progress with renovating their new shop. I've been in the place a couple times now and the new paint on the walls looks pretty sweet.

Pick One!

Not a whole lot to write about in the last week. Took some time off the bike to recover from break and catch up on some projects. I did manage to get a massage which is always a good thing. I was fully decided on a road bike for this year but that may have changed. I'm exploring the possibility of a totally different ride. What better gift for ones self than a bike for their birthday!

Post Break

I'm finally back home after 2200 miles of driving, 2 races, 22 sandwiches, 1 go kart race and 400+ miles of training. This is going down as my best spring break ever! I'll try to summarize the last couple days of break.

Tuesday was the first MTB ride of the year. It's so nice to ride on dirt again!

Wednesday was Cherohala Skyway- 100 miles. Logged the first century of the year with almost 9000 feet of climbing in a little under 6 hours. I don't know if it was my brain not fully functioning from it's lack of oxygen but I got the bright idea to roll back home for the last 30 or so miles with the "Pain Train". I once again survived and managed to stick with the group with the exception of the 2 major climbs. My legs were getting pretty tired but managed to keep spinning. Wednesday night was Guayabitos; our one meal out as a group. The margaritas were pretty good and the special dinner was enough to feed a small horse. There was a mustache contest over break which was hilarious with Cassey "the man beast" winning of course. Thunderdome was after dinner and off the hook as usual. I managed to not be challenged so I got to sit back and enjoy the matches.

Thursday was another MTB ride for a couple hours. I rode solo for most of the ride to take it all in and have a little alone time. I really wish we had trails like that back home here! It was good to get one last ride in on ole blue before I sell her. Friday was a travel day to Notre Dame for some racing action. Seth, Addison and myself rolled out at noon and managed to turn a 10 hour drive into a 12. We stopped to race some go-karts, eat 3 times and anything else along the way that looked interesting. Saturday was the first race of the year. 70 miles on a 10 mile loop with a couple sections of road with holes big enough to swallow a bike whole. I suited up with the Men's A field to give it a go after a long week of training. The legs felt ok and I sat in for 2 laps. I forgot my brain once again and didn't play it smart tactically towards the end of lap 2. To make a long story short I managed to make a break, and then ride myself right out of the race right after haha. Addison, Seth and myself proceeded to tour every campus in South Bend (7 or so) in the car and eat more Chinese food then we thought we could (16 plates and ice cream).


Sunday was the crit with no corners and 2 rollers. I surprised myself and finished with the pack after 70 minutes of constant attacking between the Lindsey Wilson and Marian teams. I stayed up front and out of trouble and even contributed a little work to a few of the chases.

All in all this spring break was nothing short of amazing and I would do it all over again tomorrow if I could. Now it's time to make the last push in the semester for 7 weeks.

It's also time to sell off a few bikes to make room for new ones! My cross bike and mountain bike are both for sale at this point in time. I'm asking $1500 for the cross bike and $2200 for the mountain OBO for both.

Spring Break-NC day 7

A lot has happened since my last update. Logged the first century of the year and a coupe awesome mountain bike rides. I have so much to write about but The car is packed and we’re moving shop from NC to South Bend, IN also home of the Fighting Irish. There is a collegiate race this weekend so what better way to end a long week of training with a little racing action. I’ll post a formal write up from the last couple days soon. It’s a long drive between here and there so I’m going to cut this short and leave you with some pictures from the last couple days.

Spring Break day 2

Today was another soggy day in the saddle. I manned up and decided to ride the Freshy Steve “Pain Train” ride to Fontana Dam and back. The estimated mileage was 75-80 and 5 hours. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a 5 hour ride so I wasn’t sure how the legs were going to feel. The other fact I forgot to mention about the “Pain Train” ride was that the people who generally go are the fittest and fastest people who come on break. I knew I had a rest day tomorrow so I thought I would test my fitness with the best of the best on a pretty serious ride. About 10 of us rolled out together after breakfast in a light drizzle. The pace wasn’t too bad in my opinion for the overall ride. Either I’m actually gaining some fitness or the ride has lost a little bit of its edge. I was a little uneasy for the first little bit thinking to myself I was riding with some heavy hitters until I reminded myself I was very capable and deserved to be on the ride.

The gradient on most of the climbs was below 7% with a couple 15+% climbs thrown in randomly to keep you honest. By no means am I calling myself a climber but I feel a lot more comfortable and confident in my abilities compared to this time last year. To top things off I’m doing it on an aluminum cross bike while just about everyone else is on a carbon road bike.

The miles ticked by rather easily up until the 3 hour mark. I just started actually base training a month ago so there haven’t been too many rides over 3 hours. There was a little discomfort in my legs at this point but nothing out of the ordinary. The group stopped at a gas station around the 3 hour mark before the last leg of the day. Tuskegee was the last major climb of the day with over 1000 vertical feet of climbing in less than 2 miles. The rest of the ride home was smaller climbs by comparison and some serious rollers for about 25 miles. I’ll admit I was a little intimidated by the description so I took option B. Dallas and Julio were going to take the EASIER route (if there is such a word in the mountains) home because Julio was suffering pretty badly the whole day. We rolled through Robbinsville and gradually climbed our way out of the valley back home. Along the way on a false flat an arrow came sailing over my head just barely missing me and my front tire and landed in the grass right next to the road. I had to look twice to make sure I just saw what really happened. I snapped my head to the left where the arrow came from and found 2 little kids about 1oo yards away with bows and arrows all over their lawn. I flipped it and grabbed the arrow for our story time/meeting held every night otherwise it’s just another embellished story. I’m glad the kids missed me because it would have been hard to explain to a doctor much less my family what really happened. All said and done the ride was 85 miles and 5 hours with a little under 6000 vertical feet of climbing. Even after stuffing my pockets with food I was still starving for the last couple miles back home. As soon as I got back I went to the fridge and made this! Sorry the pictures are scarce, didn't want to flood the camera.

I’m pretty happy with my form so far over break and hope things keep rolling along this nicely. Enough typing for one day it’s time for bed. I’ll try to update every day so check back often.