New Change

It's the Holiday season and 2012 is fast approaching and I have a lot of changes going on for next season and I am very excited about it. I am currently in Denver Colorado with my family and am in the process of looking for a new house in Louisville Colorado! I am pretty much moved out of Grand Junction but I have one more trip over the Mountain on Tuesday to get the last bit of things.
I recently just purchased a scooter for some motor pacing. In the past I have never got in the routine of motor pacing because I didn't have the resources so i think the high speed training will help out a lot for a stacked crit schedule for 2012. 

I am leaving on Thursday Dec 1st to head to Tucson AZ to get some warm miles in. It is already too cold for me in Colorado so I am very excited to get to warm weather in the coming days! I have never had the opportunity to travel somewhere warm in the off season so I think it will have a huge benefit being able to get long hours in and mentally stronger in the winter being able to train in warm weather. Then I come back for Christmas and move into a new house, get settled in then have Team Exergy first camp in January! It will all be here before we know it.

New Approach

Right now we are in the off season and the weather is changing very quickly, from warm sunny days to cold dark days. Usually during this time it makes for great cyclocross conditions however its rough during base miles. Like I mentioned before I am not racing cyclocross this season so I have time to fully prepare for the 2012 road season. It is a nice change not having to be on good form for most of the year, but I do miss the cyclocross racing scene a bit. With the different time schedule I have plenty of time to train right. I already got most of my base miles done which is awesome because I usually don't get that done until end of January early February if I was racing cyclocross. I also am now starting some gym workouts. I go to yoga in the morning to help stretch out the muscles, it is actually a lot harder then people think so don't bash it until you try it. Then after the morning yoga session I get to work on some weights. This week is the first week so very minimal weights, don't want to go in guns blazzin and be sore for the rest of the week and not be able to recover right. In the past few seasons I have done some weights but with a different approach so we will see how this years approach works. Then after all they gym workouts I am able to go out on the road and ride when the weather warms up a bit.

I am really anxious to get back and training right. This whole past week I thought I caught the sick bug. I thought I had a virus so I rested to let my body heal and really just laid low for the whole week. I was able to get out and spin for a bit and felt great but didn't want to push it and get worse. I didn't understand why I wasn't getting better, I was doing everything right but no progress. Then I was told maybe I have hay fever? You have the same symptoms if you were sick but actually it is just allergies. I usually don't have allergies but I guess I do. I took some allergy medicine last night and I now feel like a new man. Its kind of a bummer that I lost a week of training because I thought I was sick but actually it was just allergies but o well. I am learning to really listen to my body this off season and rest when my body tells me to and that's what I did, but I was fooled this time.

This "off season" is where you put in all the hard work and long days to prepare for the following season. I think many people believe the off season is where you just sit on your butt and watch movies. That is partly right, you definitely need to take a couple of week off the bike and recover physically and mentally. But once that short break is over you need to start busting you butt for the next season. I am really excited to see the benefits from this off season, after doing a whole new approach for next season.
New news, Conor and I will be writing a blog this season for VeloNation! Stay tuned for the first post.

Exergy 2012

Peloton Magazine has announced the official roster for Team Exergy 2012!! I am very excited to be racing for Team Exergy again in 2012. Last season I started racing with the team  2 months remaining in the season to get a taste of the pro racing scene. Next season will be my first full year racing with Exergy. I am really looking forward to the year and have been training hard so far to make a bigger impression next year. Stay tuned for more news!
Check out Peloton Magazine for the write up.

Cali Trip

This past week I was fortunate enough to travel to California and ride for a week. My coach had a week off from work and wanted to go see his family in California and asked if I wanted to travel with him and get some good miles in. OF COURSE! First we went to beautiful Tahoe for a couple of days to get some good climbing in the legs. We were very fortunate enough to be able to crash at a condo right in Tahoe City. Josh the Exergy mechanic knew a guy who owned the place and he was kind enough to let us crash there. Rob is currently a cycling agent and road pro back in the day so it was really cool talking to him for a while. We were able to catch up with my coach’s friend from when he was growing up Marty and he road with us for a few days. It’s always fun too ride new terrain and ride with new people, makes for a nice change. 

 

 

Monday we headed towards Sacramento to do some MTB but it was raining since we woke up and I was not too thrilled to ride in the wet and mud but I gave it a go for a bit. I only lasted about an hour before my coach and I turned around and left Conor and Marty to keep riding. Then Tuesday Rob hooked us up with AthletiCamps, which specializes in VO2 and lactate testing. I have done quite of VO2 testing in the last couple of years but never a lactate test so it was good to get some more data for training purposes. 

Then we were able to stop in Salt Lake City on the way back to Colorado to ride with a good friend Chris. We went MTB and it was actually fun. Smooth rolling terrain and great weather. Altogether it was a good trip and met a lot of good people and made relationships that will last!

I am currently now in the car driving to Denver to see my Family and Friends for a couple of days before we head back to GJ. It has been a lot of time in the car this week. It feels like race season with all the travel but it keeps be busy. But it will be nice when I am able to stay in one place for more than two weeks.

Cyclocross Bike for Sale!

I am selling my cyclocross bike that I used for the last 1.5 years. It is a Great bike and still in great condition but I am unable to race this season so I don't want the temptation sitting in my living room so please help me out!

Check it out on Ebay

   

2nd Week

Right now I am in my second week of base miles and feeling great. The weather has been fantastic so far but next week looks like it changes for the ugly. Leaving for California at the end of the week with Conor and our coach to go ride for a week!  Been trying to take some photos to post on here the last two weeks of riding. Enjoy!

Living

Well it feels great to get back riding everyday and feeling good and having FUN!! Talking about fun, what better then riding with a group of juniors. Yesterday Conor and I got the opportunity to go ride with Two Rivers Junior Cycling team here on the western slope of Colorado. I love junior racing for many reasons. Juniors is where I started racing and learned a lot about the sport. Its where you learn to have fun and the basics of racing and riding. I just love the enthusiasm of Juniors while riding, they will ride their heart out until they blow. This team is what I love, a lot of sponsors and parents who back the team. The western slope is such a great place to ride and they are the only organized team out here, props to them. After the ride we got to hang out and eat some good food and talk to the juniors and parents about racing and what it takes to be a pro. Then we got to hand out some Exergy stem caps so the juniors will be rippin around with Exergy on their stems.

Other great news is I just bought a fully automatic Espresso machine!  I love this thing and think I am using it already too much but why not.