New Year!

Starting the day out with this really help me get going.

Well the break is over and school starts up again. It felt like the last 5 weeks flew by. Now i have to go back to school and it is going to suck to have to ride the trainer a lot. On MWF it looks like i will be inside riding the trainer wich sucks i really hate the trainer but it will get my mental game in it.
I finally feel like I am getting my fitness back after 2 weeks of some good training. I have been riding my bike a lot out here in Gj in the cold. I have been here for a little over two weeks and it has not past 42 degrees yet. It was 42 out yesterday and it felt like summer, I hope it warms up. I have been also doing some cross country skiing. At least i am trying to, it does not look that pretty, i don't go down hill that well, usually it is on my butt. This weekend i think i am going to do my first cross country ski race. It is a 10k , wich does not sound far, but the speed i go it is.

Mad speed!

Right now i am just getting in my base miles. Next month I am planning on going to Valley of the Sun for a training race. Not going there to win, just to get some good hard riding in, in the hot weather.

Up early

I am up early getting ready for my fitness walking class. What a joke. It gets me up in the morning so I can go ride later instead of sleeping in real late.
Lately I have been waking up early going to the gym walking for a while. Then I go lift some weights then it is on the bike for a while and if i am feeling good it is some CX skiing up on the mesa. That's pretty much all I have been doing. School starts in a week and it looks like the temps are getting warm here soon. It is suppose to get into high 30's low 40's. That will feel warm compared to what I have been riding in. I don't think it has reached much warmer then 32 here in GJ.
The other day I went on a 4:30 hr bike ride then went up to the mesa for 2:30 hr cx skiing. It was a full moon out and it looked like day time up there. It was a lot of fun, very tiring but a good workout. I am still not that good on the skis, epically down hill my skis just split. I just bought some used cx skis which seem to be working out good.
Well I am still not 100% yet who I will be riding for this year for road. I am hoping for Rio Grande but will not find out until this week so lets keep our fingers crossed.
Well my picture upload is being lame and not letting me post pictures, so i will try later

Slacking!

It has been a while since the last post. Cross nationals went a lot better then expected for me. In the U23 race I ended up 12th and I was pretty happy with that result considering who all was in front of me. I accomplished my goal, wich was to beat 19th place which I got the year before. The collegiate race went a lot better then expected. Got a front row call up which helped out a ton, I wish I could start up there every race. There was a group of five of us off the front for pretty much the whole race. it was really cool to be up front and actually make the race. I ended up 2nd and was really stoked. Going into the day I was hoping to just get on the podium. even during the race I just keep telling myself stay where you are and you will get fifth, I was not even thinking about 2nd. I wish i had more confidence going into the race. i was only 10 sec off from fist and maybe if I believed in my self a little more something could have happened. O well I was very pleased with my 08 cross season.







I have been taking a break off the bike since nats and plan on starting to ride next week and do some cross country skiing. I already head up to school on the 1st for a 2 week fitness walking class? We will see how that goes.
Suppose to meet with a guy from Rio Grande Cycling this week, so lets cross our fingers that we get on that team for 09. I can't wait for road season to start. Before I know it i will be in Arizona for Valley Of the Sun.

Count down

Everything is coming to a close end. I am almost done with school for the semester. I only have four more days of finals left and i am done. Cross is almost done for the year for me as well. Two more races at nationals, Collegiate and U23. I am hoping to do good at Nats this year. I did pretty good last year for it being my first year, so now I am hoping for a little better this year. The last race that I did was in NJ. The running race. I tried racing last weekend but my pedal came off a couple laps in so that doesn't count. Hope that was all my bad luck for the year. I was planning on going down to Boulder today to race the state cross race tomorrow but that didn't happen. I just didn't know what the passes were going to be like on Sunday and I have to be back for finals on Monday so it was not worth risking it. Just get some good riding in and studying instead.
I am hoping Nats won't be frozen like last year. It was fun but scary. I dislocated my pinkie and it still hurts today. We leave for KS next Thursday out of DIA around 8. I get out of my last final on Thursday at 12, then we have to drive to Denver to catch the flight. Crossing my fingers that the passes are ok.


Last years frozen tundra.

Thanksgiving Break

It was good to get home for a while and see the family and friends. Left Grand Junction last Tuesday after class and made it home in pretty good time. Pretty much just relaxed all week, had some good rides and saw some good movies. I was looking forward to racing cross because my legs were feeling good.
I woke up Saturday morning with a couple of inches of snow on the ground and was looking forward to race. Got to the race early to watch one of my Buddy's race in the fours. The course was long, it took the 4's about 10 min to do a lap. About 80% of the course was single track and really muddy. But this mud was rideable non like NJ a couple of weeks ago. Didn't really get a good starting position and didn't really have a good start. It was loose gravel at the start and guys were going everywhere. Then once we got to the single track you were just fighting to stay upright. The first lap was good, almost everyone was still together. The second lap I had a guy three in front of me who could not ride worth crap. He made a huge gap from the group in front of us. I passed him when it opened up then crashed on a slick corner and a few guys passed me. I got back up and it was hard to get going again. I was almost catching the group in front of me, before i knew it i thought i slipped off my pedal up a little incline and tried clipping back in but noticed my pedal came all the way off. The pedal was on the bottom of my shoe. That was my race, even if i had a spare bike in the pit i was screwed, the laps were so long there was nothing i could do about it. Conor had a good race sitting in 6th the whole race until the last corner when he fell on a corner and the guy 10 sec behind him passed him in the sprint.




Pissed my pedal came off

Was unable to race yesterday due to the weather. We had to leave Denver early to make sure we could get back over the passes ok. We had to cram into one of our Buddy's car to get back. Had to leave the cross bikes back home. I am hoping to get back this weekend to race the state cyclocross. That is depending on how the weather is. Then the following week it is off to U23/collegiate cyclocross nats in Kansas. Can't wait, hope i have a good ride there.


Fun drive back

The light at the end is near

Well last weekend I traveled to NJ for the second grand prix. It was my first Grand Prix ever so i didn't really know what to expect. I knew it was going to be fast and I was going to be slower then normal. I was sick for the two weeks leading up to it. The first week I had a very bad virus and could barley stand up then the next week it turned into a sinus infection. So i finally got some medication for that and started feeling a little bit better before I left. I was only able to ride three times leading up to the race so I knew I was going to get my butt kicked or I was going to be fresh and feel good. We got there really early Friday morning due to delay of our flight. Got to bed about 4 am. Got to the course around 1 pm to pre ride. The course was awesome fast and long and I was really looking forward to it. My legs actually felt good during the pre ride.Then Friday night it rained and I didn't think anything of it. Got to the course Saturday afternoon and it was a mud bath. People were running the slightest up hill section. I was not happy,I HATE RUNNING. I started near the back and stayed there. Sunday pretty much went the same way a lot of running. I made a dollar during my run. the fans were throwing dollar bills in the mud for you to pick up.




Now I am feeling better and am almost done with school for the semester. Got thanksgiving break next week. Then a week of class then finals. I was going to go to Portland for the last GP but am unable to go anymore. I am pretty disappointed about that but to well. Now I am just getting ready for U23 and collegiate nats. i hope my time off the bike wont kill me at nats.

Getting better

Well I have been sick since the Boulder cup and have only road twice since then. I went to the doctors last week and they said I had a virus and they really couldn't do anything for me. Then I went back into the doctors again at the beginning of this week to try to get meds so I was better for the weekends USGP. They said it was turning into a sinus infection and they gave me antibiotics. I am feeling a lot better not not 100% yet but almost there. I am going to try to ride my cross bike today for a little just to get the legs moving, nothing hard. I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for Jersey. I leave junction around 440 and leave Denver around 640. Don't get into Jersey till 1230 am. A little late but i need to go to school first then I will have all day Friday to sleep and pre ride the course. My family is all coming from New York to watch us race. That will be pretty cool, I think it will be an eye opener for them because I don't even think they know what cyclocross is. It's my first USGP and I don't feel prepared. I just hope I don't get more sick by racing.