Crash and Burn!

It is bound to happen if you race or ride a bike long enough..... You will crash at some point. Even when it's no fault of your own, People get edgy when they see someone go down and can not regulate their reactions. The past weekend was Le Tour De Mont Pleasant. We had a team plan to ride for Trae, as it was his hometown race. I had no issues with riding for him and burying my aspirations for a weekend. In the criterium, one of the MCG guys crashed on the first lap right next to me...... my reaction was just hope that he slides to my outside and soon enough I had averted one mishap..... As the race went on a Priority Health guy (Alex) went solo and the gap stayed anywhere from 15-30 seconds the entire race. After going to the front several times and getting very little cooperation to bring Alex back, we were resigned to the fact that it would be a field sprint..... Coming into 5 laps to go another Priority guy took off and I was in the pain cave.... But that is when you learn to dig deep and just ride yourself blind. The move he made wasn't coming back, so I decided to sit near the front and wait for the sprint.... Well it is not easy to sprint when you go into a corner 4 wide and the guy on your inside crashes and slides directly into the perfect exit line..... So I just drifted further out and let him continue his asphalt surfing..... I may have kicked the guy on the way by "inadvertantly". By the time this was said and done the race was 5-10 seconds ahead of me and the was 250 meters left...... So needless to say I just cruised in and was already focused on Sunday.
After some beer pong and fun at Trae's on Saturday night we began the road race to clear skies, which was nice. From the gun it was ON.... I have never been in a road race that was just guns blazing from the word go. Later I found out we averaged around 30 MPH for the first 15 miles, which is sweet. Right around the 15 mile mark I see people acting stupid..... this was due to a crash at the head of the field and I was sitting in the middle recooperating after an attack I made. I was in perfect position to thread the needle between Collin's bike laying ahead of me to my left and his body to my right..... Then I felt a hard thump from behind. Someone ran into my back wheel and sent me directly into Collin's downed bike. I hit his seat or seatpost and went for a ride. I saw the asphalt coming for me as I headed face first into the ground. I put my left arm in front of my face to protect myself..... I don't remember hitting the ground or feeling pain. My first thought was, "Shit, now I have to chase back on." Before I was even on my feet I was grabbing for my bike in a tangle of bikes laying around me. I got my bike up to realize my chain was wrapped around my pedal, my hoods were both bent facing the opposite side of my bike, and my front brakes were rubbing.... I got my chain on in about 15 seconds and took off. I adjusted my brakes on the fly and wrenched my hoods back into a normal position. I was in pursuit of the group and they were flying along. I probably lost about 75 seconds in the crash. I redlined it for about 5-10 minutes and got within 15 seconds only to see attacks go right at the moment when I thought I would make it back. At that point I was DONE. The race went up the road and I couldn't help my team in any way for the rest of the race..... EPIC FAIL! Soon after I realized that my elbow was throbbing and there was significant pain in my forearm and elbow. I ended up stopping and waiting for Collin who had crashed also, and we rode home in groups that started behind us.
I guess it could have been worse, but when you crash like that and brake a insignificant bone, the least of your worries is what may be broken. I was more concerned with doing my deed for my team. On Monday I went to the ER to find out my radial head has a crack in it and I have a broken bone in my elbow. So much for being the one who doesn't crash.............

Kensington and Cone Recap

This past weekend was a first for me in it being that the Tour of Kensington Valley and Cone Azalia were on back-to-back days. So we left for Kensington Metropark at 5 am and arrived to less than customary bike weather. Temps were in the 40's and clouds were looming, not to mention there are reports of up to 40 MPH wind gusts. Knowing this I figured not many people would really want to race their bikes, but I did! So, I figured....... hell, why not go right from the gun???? Well I got a small gap and realized my shifter was still toast and sat up to see how things would develop. Not even a mile later and Trae (teammate) rolled off the front, in what wasn't even an attack. So, for all of the SC boys we just had to guard the front and make sure no one tried to do anything to bring Trae back into the group. As the race neared the halfway point, I literally was thinking to myself that the weather was rubbish and wanted to call it a day, which was a first for me in any race. Next thing I know, we are going through the dicey gravel turn-around and coming out I see a massive gap. I did not hesitate and thought to myself, THIS IS THE MOVE! So I went and bridged solo to a chase group of 2 or 3, one of whom was my teammate Todd. I went right to the front and laid it down. I saw that there was still a group of 6-7 ahead of us and Mark was in that group. I literally made an effort that I thought would make me explode, but about 90 seconds later there we were. The group had 11 guys in it, 3 of which were representing SC Racing. So, doing the math I realized we had 4 out of the top 14 guys in the race. From that point on, it was touch and go. There was no way I was going to work with anyone in our group to jeopardize Trae's lead. Once we realized that everyone had dropped out after our group got established I took it upon myself to try and drop guys who had just sat in all day long. Well, it worked for the most part, as we came to the last climb with 7 guys left in our group and I figured Mark could do his thing in the uphill sprint. So, I jumped off the front about a mile before the last climb only to get caught halfway up the climb. From there it was just hold on for the ride as the "sprint" was coming up. I did my version of a slow motion sprint to the line and we came away with 3rd for Trae, 6th for Mark, 8th for myself, and 12th for Todd. So, all in all, Trae, Mark and myself got paid and picked up some good points in the point series. After the race we went and spent some time at our sponsors shop...... which I will not comment on.
With lack of sleep and proper rest, the next morning we were up at 8 am and Zach Maino prepared a excellent breakfast of eggs toast and fruit. Big thanks to him for the hospitality and putting up with our shit. We got to Cone Azalia late and hurried to get ready. I have never arrived at the staging area for a race so late. No warmup, no gloves, no knee warmers...... very unprepared. Cone is always a crapshoot anyway. If your lucky enough not to puncture, then maybe you have a decent shot. That is if the gravel and dirt sections do not destroy your legs during the race. From the gun one of the leadout boys hit the gas, and knowing that I do not like to sit in the back in the gravel sections I joined him. One thing led to another and after the first gravel section we lost about 7 guys from the race due to punctures. From that point on it was just a race of attrition. I tried to attack countless times, only to see none other than one of the Leadout boys chasing me down. One time I actually heard a "guess who" from one of them as he came up to join me. There were times in the race when we would be doing 30+ MPH and times where we would be doing 13 MPH. Needless to say it was frustrating. Anyhow, as things progressed we lost Trae and Nate to flats in the gravel sections. So it was left to Mark and myself, and Mark had told me his legs were fried. I on the other hand was hurting, but in no way was I going to race for second place. It came down to 10 guys left coming out of the final dirt section. I made a little dig and the group was like flies on shit. It would come down to a sprint and being one of the lightest guys in the remaining riders, not exactly ideal for me. One guy who sat in for the majority of the day hit out at the 1K to go sign and it was single file from there. I realized then that even getting onto the train of the first four guys was hard, so I would not be able to stand up and sprint. I did my seated grind to the finish and the Leadout boys took 1-2, while I was left taking a 5th. Mark came in right behind me in 8th, and Trae rode solo for 11th. Nate also came in solo a few minutes later for 13th. All things considered it was a good weekend for us on the SC team and we got some feedback on what we can do better for the coming races. Congrats to the 2 boys from Leadout racing for going 1-2 after laying down multiple attacks and covering my every move. I may have started most of the aggression in the race, but they finished it off.

The musings of life

Thought I would post a quick update about life. School is going well.... I mean as good as it could for being on Spring Break. My schedule isn't too rigorous, but the classes I do have keep me fairly busy. I am taking graph theory and even though there is a lot of homework I am enjoying the content in the course. The other class I have currently is Technology in Secondary Education and other the the professor the class is ok..... The only thing that makes the class ok are the people in the class and the friendships you develop with those in your specific content area. I never thought I would make solid friendships based upon classes that you have in common with others.

Riding has been going very well. I just got done with a rest week after 4 really solid weeks of training. Despite the weather I have been out and accomplished every ride with improved results compared to last year. I guess that is what this sport is about afterall, not winning or proclaiming how good one is, but rather the intricacies that go into progressing on an individual level.

Life always has its ups and downs, but as of this past Friday things seem to be looking up..... Im not going to go into detail on this, but I really enjoyed this past weekend and can not wait to see what the future may hold. Hopefully it turns out the best for both of us. Oops.... kinda gave a little away there. Hope everyone who reads this is doing well, and I am sorry for my secretiveness. I just believe truly good people only deserve the utmost respect. So that is the reason for my sealed lips.

All things relevant

So it has been a long time since I last posted on here. So I must give a quick update on school, riding and life in general. First off, school is nearing the new semester again. Last semester I took one history elective to finish my history minor. All my other classes were for my mathematics major. I took Math 3300, 3400, and 3500. Math 3300 is Modern Algebra (Abstract Algebra) and whne most people think of Algebra they think of it as very simple.... This class was brutal. The entire class was based on Ring Theory and Group Theory and used Mathematical Proofs to attain one's ultimate goal of gaining some knowledge of Abstract Algebra. Long story short, I was happy to get through the class rather unscathed. I have an old friend who took the class 3 times to get a D and we can just say I did better than that the first time through. The other two class were Math 3400, which was fundamental concepts of geometry was basically proving Euclidean Geometric axioms and Theorems and looking deeper into Desargues Theorems..... There is one other Mathematical genius that we studied but I am at a loss for his name currently. Math 3500 is teaching of middle school mathematics, and while I did not learn a lot about my own techniques used in mathematics, I did learn how others may approach their mathematical thinking. I ended the semester with my worst GPA since starting this second degree..... 3.25. This coming semester I am taking Introduction to Graph and Mathematical Models and Computing Technology in Secondary Education. After that I have 2 classes remaining for this degree. The end is in sight.

Now onto the riding. I took a month away from cycling (well mostly) to just clear my head and relax while the holidays were in full swing and I was studying for finals. I did maybe 5-8 hours a week during this month when I needed an escape from life. In the past few weeks I have either been on the trainer or outside for at least 2 hours on a bad day and up to 4 hours on a good day. Note to all cyclists who want to ride outside in the winter *make sure your breaks dont freeze up while descending and wear plastic bags over your feet (under your socks) and also I have been putting surgical gloves under my winter riding gloves. These things help greatly in keeping the wind and wetness off your feet and fingers. This is key to staying out on the roads and not getting the dreaded frostbite.

Life is good other than that. I mean I don't really do much else then ride and school (that I care about). So to everyone who reads this I wish you a happy and safe 2010.

Getting back to being me

So I know it has been quite a bit, but here I am. I am alive and kicking. I was in a rut for a bit, but it is weird what a little time away from everything can do for you. First of all I want to comment on how I felt about the Superior Bike fest..... Day one was a crit and I was ready and I had tappered properly to compete at full capacity. Problem is when you do not check your tires before racing, you may feel like complete shit. I was involved in two crashes which I did not get hurt, but I was questioning WTF was wrong. All I will say is racng on 65 PSI will never happen again. I cant blame anyone but me for overlooking that fact. Day 2 I got within 4 seconds of the break and my body wouldnt let me go further, even when the eventual state champion comes by and says "Get on my wheel". Thanks Greg, but I couldnt do any more at that moment..... Messed up the sprint by thinking it was further down the road and the rest is history.... my fault again. Day 3 I tried bridging to the 2 guys up the road and again..... blocked... I gave up on myself this day. I just did not have it and the best racers showed who they were for that weekend. Kudos to those who did well. This past weekend though was a different story. BTR was a home race of sorts for me, a few miles from where I reside. As Bill Gallagher put it, " I fired off bullets like a true cowboy." I did everything I could to get away and FINALLY it worked. Wona $40 prime and ended the day in 6th place. I started the second breakaway and ended up paying for my efforts, but alas it was worth every second of effort. The WMU newspaper even had a picture of me in it when I read it this morning. So all is good, and there may be more good news ahead. Cheers!!!

Kensington Recap

So another race is in the books. What a difference two weeks makes. At Cone I felt unstoppable to some extent. Kensington is a different story. I did not mind the wet and little bit of chill. At the start line I realized I still had my cycling cap under my helmet and did not want to race with it on, so I took a few extra seconds to take the cap off and departed shortly after the rest of the racers left. Once I got up to the group I realized that a break was already up the road. Well I didnt even see it go and they were gone all day. Once things got going and I got a little warmed up I decided to start making some moves to see if anyone would go with me. Well I got clear with en elite mtb'er for half a lap, then 3 guiys bridged up. I was constantly being told to chill and pull through less aggressive. I had a feeling that this move would not last, so as soon as the field was on our back I took off again and spent a lap solo. Needless to say I got brought back and the race from there was negative. Everytime I went I got marked, but when other guys went it was an instant gap for them. Oh well, that is bike racing. Not satisfied at all with the race, but will move on and try my best at the next one.
On another note, why is it so hard for people to admit they made a mistake or did something wrong. I always admit my flaws and errors in what I do. I guess it speaks to the kind of person you are dealing with when they do not want to even acknowledge that they did something to hurt you. All I can say is those people will get what they have coming to them. Karma works in mysterious ways.

Cone Azalia and life

So I guess I have been away for a little bit from this thing. Well I finished up school with a 3.89 again and started the summer training rather shortly there after. I did do the Wednesday night ride and felt better on the bike than I have really ever. I went a little hard, but I was hoping I would be alright for Cone today. So I woke up today and did not do anything specific this time for Cone. Its always a crapshoot anyway. I knew I just wanted to make it as hard as I could for everyone else. I literally tried to get away 10 times and got some freedom for a while, but no one really wanted to put in some hard miles. After a crash and losing a bottle, which was all the water I had left, I decided it would probably come down to a field sprint....which I suck at! I stayed attentive, but not enough to watch fellow Kalamazoo buddy Mike Jones sneak away in the last 5 miles. His efforts paid off as he won. I was left getting brought back with 2K to go and then weaving in and out of traffic for the field sprint. I ended up handling myself rather well in the sprint and got 4th, less than .3 seconds from 2nd place. Not too shabby for a little fella like myself. Kensington is up next and I can not wait for that race. Kudos to all!