Past Two weeks...

Two weekends ago was the DU Crit. The race started out fast on a course that contained three round-abouts and overall sketchy turns. I instantly got to the top 5 of the race and tried to play it smart. I wasn't supposed to attack till the last 1/3 of the race. We hit the longest, fastest straight away before hitting the last turn before the finish where I decided to make my attack. I step on my pedal and find myself slamming hip first into the pavement at 35mhp instantly getting run over. My teammate swerved into me forcing me into the rear derailler of my other teammate instantly shredding my front wheel. I am not sure what my teammate was doing(he is known for his sketchy handling skills). This crash took myself and teammate out of the race(one that I had a great chance of winning) as well as a rough week plus trying to recover.

It took me about 4 days before being able to get my leg over my bike and another 5 days to be able to pedal semi-balanced.

Last weekend, the Durango, FLC race. Starting with the TTT was my first actual physical test on my leg. With a 4 man team we popped two riders and were forced to take 1min. pulls for the last 8 miles ultimately over stressing my injury. The Crit was the same day 3 hrs later. The start was fast and I felt strong. I soft pedaled away from the group gaining a big gap early. 2nd lap I hit the steep short climb and I instantly cramp/nott my injured hip forcing me to drop out of the race.

Sunday, the FLC road race I was given the job of not letting any breaks go. It was a pain-fest. I sat top 3 the whole race pulling every break back solo. With 6 miles to go I drop my chain after pulling a long break back resutling with me shooting out the back and soft pedaling to the finish.

Overall, it has been a stressful two weeks. Due to a teammates mistake I have been set back over a month with my overall physical fitness. This weekend there are 2 crits that hopefully will be a turning point.

New Meixco Race Weekend

So it was sunny, warm and I got a tan. The end! Seriously, it was a seven hour drive from Fort Collins to our race destination in New Mexico. We were lucky enough to have host housing for the weekend and really good weather (till we had to leave).

Saturday, the ITT and TTT were officially my first races ever on a road bike. I pre-drove the course and thought it was tougher then it actually was. I did the ITT first placing 12th (wasn't how I wanted it to go). I had and still am fighting a cold that has me coughing up a lung (literally) which made it hard to go hard. I started out by not being able to clip in and then just not pushing myself due to the fact that I thought the course was harder then it actually was.

The TTT! So, we started out fast and didn't slow down till we hit the climbs(basically majority of the race was climbing) which lead to our 2nd place finish. I was the strongest of the three in climbing so I went at their pace and then pulled them while they recovered (it was a really long pull). Overall it was better the second time around and if I had done the ITT second I think I easily could have been top 5.

Sunday, the Crit. I started out just riding mid pack till a break went which I was given the signal to bridge the gap and try to keep it to the finish. We quickly got a half a lap lead and then the guys suddenly sat up (I was in shock and slightly annoyed) so the group caught us. As soon as we were caught another attack went (at this point I had to go with every single attack because my only other teammate popped off the back) and I had to instantly bridge another gap. This was the story of the race. Being the only CSU rider in the race I had a tuff race. After about 8 attacks and me being in every single one of them things seemed to mellow out so I sat about the 10th guy back and suddenly two CU riders sit up and I am boxed in (not very happy). a group of 5 riders instantly get half a lap on the field. I am face with the choice of waiting for another team to come and try to pull them back (wasn't going to happen) or try and solo to them. I choose to go solo and basically rode the rest of the race solo finishing in 8th (I was shot at the finish or else I would have beaten the three guys that I left go by.

Overall, It was a really good weekend for me never racing road before. I learned a lot and plan on doing better this weekend which will be in Denver, Colorado.

Almost time...

This week was full of intervals, and more intensity. With the season coming up quickly I am just trying to do some fin tunning to make the first race less painful. Since I am not going to be peaking till July I have some time. Road season is more of a step in my training for MTB Nationals this summer.

I purchased two of the licenses that I will be using this summer, and when I got my collegic license every category was wrong which lead to "almost stressful" issue of trying to mend the situation. With the Help of T.G. Taylor everything got worked out and now I am ready for the race year to get underway.

This weekend I have planned: the oval ride(should be good pending on the weather), and then either heading to the mountains snowshoeing/winter camping with some friends before not having any weekends free due to racing. A couple of weekends ago when I did cross training in the mountains I got an incredible workout and mentally relaxed. Should be good fun. If this falls through I shall partake in another Rio Group ride.

In May I will be officially racing for Veloxcycles and for the month I will be back out East I will be riding for Bliss racing.

The run down

So this past week was basically an off week due to bad weather (winds that made it impossible to ride) as well as a ton of school work. I think I totaled 2hrs on the bike maybe three all of which were on rollers(no fun).

This weekend I did TT practice with the Colorado State University cycling team. Basically, the group will be racing with has a ton of experience, and all we did was got a feeling for riding together, technique, etc. After that I didn't want to ride with the team(just felt out of rhythm) so I rode with my teammates Megan, and Caley.

I got a new MTB, which is sick. The frame is a full carbon HT(weighing in at 1300g) so I had to ride it. Hit Blue sky trail and then turned around within 500 yards(sank my bike in mud).

So I went and got back on the road bike and did sprints for an hour.

Sunday, it was supposed to be warm so myself as well as numerous people on the RIO group ride dressed according, the only problem was that it actually was cold. Sad day. We headed up to Masonville, CO. The start was slow. Felt strong on the climbs( it was a big ring day). Tempo picked up mainly due to myself and a couple other riders pulling the whole day. Near the end Caley, Erick and myself attacked and believe it or not people chased. We hit the climbs hard and basically rode away from everyone. From the Hoorsetooth Mountain Park back into Fort Collins we rolled turns near 30mph.

About a week and a half ago I started ramping up the training intensity and have felt strong sense. Part of My plan is to have a good base and finish the rest of my training with the start of the road season. I am going surprisingly fast for the amount of training.

Starting in May I will be racing for Velox Cycles, newly formed team. Should be good. Hopefully starting strong this season should make for a good overall race year. I have some good races lined up and reachable goals.

J.

CSU Group ride

Today I woke up ate a really good breakfast and stretched for about 40 minutes before heading out to partake in the CSU group ride. We headed south towards "Windsor Wall" and then beyond. Not completely sure where it was that we had all gone but it was a good ride. Averaged around 21 mhp for about 3.5 hours, then split off from the group and headed to to the Masonville loop. Three of us were rolling turns at around 28mhp with a wicked head wind. Then, did some uphill sprints that pretty much hurt oh so good. Ended the ride with a total time of 4.5 hrs and 80 miles...not too bad. easily could have done 100 miles if we weren't planning on riding for another 5 hrs tomorrow.

Joining the Rio ride to warm up and then possibly going our own way to get some more intensity built in.

Struggling

So this week hasn't been the most productive training week. I mean it hasn't been bad but it has been a struggle. Its my easy week so as long as I am semi-productive it doesn't really matter. With my training plan I have been lifting (painful, but have been seeing/feeling the results). The weather sucks right now. The days that I have been able to ride my bike it has been so windy that it is nearly impossible to ride outside.

I did interval training on the oval (in the center of Colorado State University's campus) because the buildings sheltered the road from the wind. With slowly working more intensity into my training things have been getting harder. Recovery Has been taking longer due to my muscles being shocked.

This weekend I plan to get some good riding in. There are two group rides that I am planning to attend and hopefully will have a quality workout.

Well back to reality and studying.

Change of Pace with training

After putting some quality time in on my bike I thought it was about time to change some things up. This past week I noticed that my lungs were giving out before my legs and heart (not very technical) so after talking with my Friend Erick Carlson (also teammate for CSU and possibly Velox cycles) we planned a camping trip at Lake Agnus, Cameron Pass, Colorado. The deal was that we would pack in enough gear for the weekend, dig a snow cave, and then climb the crags. The crags usually are only climbed in the warmer months due to snow and ice. They are basically cliff like mountains.

We hiked in Saturday morning (packs weighing around 60lbs.) 1.5 hr hike, dug our snow cave (2.5hrs), then scouted the route that we were going to take in attempt the summit the crags.

The Snow cave was pretty intense. If you have never dug one or slept in one I will admit that it isn't for the average person. The Cave was about 7ft*9ft*4.5ft. The temperature in the cave was above freezing all night even though the outside temperature was around zero.

Sunday we made our way to the base of the crags. Already sitting at almost 12,000ft (on The lake) we were looking at another easy 1,000 feet of climbing.


The climbing was intense. This is where the cross training took place. Being high in altitude and pushing your body to do things that shock it (breathing at high elevation while doing work). It was physically challenging as well as mentally. You had to rely on the person on the other end of the rope. One slip and you could easily fall and not stop till you either hit a rock on the way down or the lake itself at the base.

This weekend was a good change of pace. I was able to clear my head, think about what I have to do in the next couple of months, as well as let me know what stresses my body is able to stand (pushing through the pain threshold barrier is a constant struggle).

Back to business with Monday's 8AM classes.