Valley of the Sun

Well it was nice to get out of the cold weather for a little while and hang in Arizona for a few days. The two Germans, Brent, Keeny, Conor and I drove down to Arizona Wednesday afternoon. It was a long day for me having to wake up at 4am for work in the morning and not going to bed till after 1 am once we got to Arizona. But before we settled in our place we hit up the first In N Out we saw, it was delicious. We sleep in on Thursday and woke up to warm weather. It was great we got out for a little bit to open up the legs again for Fridays TT.

The TT went as well as it could, got a bike fit from German # 1 a couple of days before we left. Raised the seat height by 3 cm at least and I actually looked aero for once. I felt good and shaved a few seconds off from the previous year. Then Saturday was a 90 mile road race with 400 ft or so of climbing per lap. I was going to take it chill the whole race and sit in and see if I could do something on the last lap. But it was really hard to get away and stay away. A lot of people tried thorough out the race but nothing stuck, so it came down to a bunch sprint at the top of the climb. I was feeling really good and felt like I was going to get a good result. However once we hit 2k to go everyone goes crazy and forgets how to ride and just rides dumb. So once we got past the craziness I was feeling good until 500 m to go I just shut down and had nothing left. Finished somewhere in the mid 20's, not too bad considering I was just going there for warmth, In N Out and some good training. The crit was Sunday afternoon and it was nice and warm. I wanted to get in a break or grab some primes and hope maybe conor could just sit in and get a good result. Right from the gun Conor went with an attack but got reeled back soon. Opened up his legs and sat in the rest of the time. I went with attacks and made attacks and but nothing stuck. I road very aggressive and felt really good for the first crit but with 3 laps to go I knew I was not getting away and sat in. Conor had good position up front and ended up 3^rd in the sprint which was great.

Now I am back in Junction depressed from going to very nice warm weather to crappy snowy weather. It sucks but I got to keep on training through it. Collegiate season is starting in a few weeks and we will have a STRONG team this year. I can't wait to race with a team for once. Then the summer will be great to. I just got some good racing coming up very soon. Until next time…

Training

Haven't posted on here in a long time. I am just going to school and riding my bike as much as possible. It's going to be a good year. The weather here in Junction has really sucked lately, it hasn't even hit the 40's since we started school, or at least that is what it feels like. Yesterday was the nicest day, it was perfect out, prob still in the 30's but it was nice and today it is snowing. I HATE the snow, I just want it to warm up.
Next Wednesday 6 of us are heading down to Arizona for Valley Of the Sun Stage Race. Looking forward to warm weather and wearing shorts and getting some good miles in. Just going down there for fun and training, not looking for a good result, but if it presents it's self that would be great. Looking forward to some In N Out, Yumm.
Pretty stocked just got a Garmin 705, it's pretty sweet. I don't know how to use all the things on it yet but it's got a lot. Look out for Mesa this year, we are going to KILL it. Cant wait, about a month till the first collegiate race. I need to get a camera so i can post pics on here but I lost my camera a while ago. i hate when that happens. Until next time.

New Year

It's a new year and I am looking forward to it. I am heading back to Junction in a few days. I have been off the bike since nats and it has been nice. Getting back to it in a couple of days. My "off season" went really fast this year. I am ready to get back to junction to get some good miles in and hit the gym. I am really looking forward to the racing season ahead. Mesas road team is going to be killer and my summer team as well. got my one upgrade in cross so in 2010 my goal is to get my one upgrade in road. hoping 2010 is more successful. Wish everyone a safe and healthy new year.

Crunch Time

Everything is all coming together at once right now. Trying to get everything done before I can take a break. This week is the last week of classes and next week is Finals. Once I am done with Finials it is off to CX Nats. Trying to study and being able to ride good at nats is a fun task. This cross season it could be summed up with Bad Luck. This season nothing seems to be going my way. Every race this year I have had some type of mechanical or flats etc. I am starting to feel really good racing now so that is a plus. I only need one race to go perfect and that is nats so if it goes good there I will be happy. Looks like Conor and I will actually have a really good team this summer to race for. Really looking forward to racing with a high notch team. Ready to learn a lot and have fun.

That's Cross Racing

This past weekend was some racing is Castle Rock on Saturday and Boulder on Sunday. We arrived to the race pretty early on Saturday to make sure our bikes were running good because this was the first race on our new cross bikes. We rode the course a couple of times and it was really muddy. It was about a 2 mile course which is pretty long for a cross course. I was ready to race and was able to line up second row which was huge; usually I am in the back row. With about 30 sec to the start I noticed I had a flat rear tire. I was going to try to ride it a lap to the pit which was at the end of the lap but once I hit the cement I knew w I was done. Luckily Jeff was standing there with his small MTB so I grabbed that and started racing. His bike was too small for me and he had different pedals then mine so I couldn’t clip in so it was a hard lap. I finally made it to the pit to switch bikes. At this point I was at least 2 min back from the last guy in the race, and who knows how much to the leaders. So I started passing guys one by one. Then just about when I started rolling I went through this swap area and went flying over the bars. I hit a rock or something at the bottom of the mud pit and just went swimming in the swamp. I got up very slowly loosing even more time. I bent my hood pretty good and my brakes were rubbing. So once I got to the pit I switched bikes again. At this time I really just wanted to pull the plug, but I didn’t give up and keep on passing people. I ended up 12th witch was not too bad considering all the mishaps I had. I just really wished I could have had a better race. Then we woke up Sunday to some flurries coming down. We drove out the Boulder Reservoir to race, Conor decided before we got there that he was not going to race because he crashed hard the day before and was getting a cold. So we watched some of the earlier races and I noticed that everyone was running A LOT. So I went and pre rode the course which was mostly sand and a lot of it you had to run. I wanted to ride my bike not run it. The weather was getting bad and the passes sounded like they were going to get pounded on. So I decided not to race so we could get home before the passes got worse.



on the first lap riding the small MTB







This weekend is the Boulder cup races. I can’t wait it should be some sweet racing. I am just hoping not to get lapped, that would be cool. The weather right now looks cold this weekend in Boulder so I hope the mountains don’t get too much snow so we can make it over on Friday. It is snowing here now in Junction so I really hope the passes clear up by Friday.

Survived

I survived this weekend of mountain bike racing. It was our home races this past weekend the RMCCC conference finals. Saturday was a technical short track. I guesses if you want a front row start you need to get to the start at least 15 min before the race starts. I didn't get that memo so I started in the last row. 30 sec into the race it shoots into a single track and I was the last guy into it, perfect. I was waiting to get lapped the whole race but didn't happen. I was passing a lot of guys through out the race. On the last lap i bobbled a little and two guys passed me, but o well I didn't fall so that's good.


Short track

The Sunday was the cross country race, i was actually looking forward to this race. I got very familiar with the course so I felt confident I would do well. The skies were black all morning threatening to down poor. We started in dry conditions, then about half way through the first lap you felt some rain drops, then it just stated pissing from the skies. So on our second lap it was a mud fest slip and slide. so pretty much everyone gave up and was walking a lot a trying to stay up right. When the dirt gets wet out there it turns to concrete. So I was hoping to would just cut the race short. On the last switch backs before the finish i decided to do a superman over the bars.Ouch was not expecting that but got up rolled to the finish and i was done. the called the race 2 laps in out of 4. I was happy but i wish it was dry the whole race so we could of done it all. O well I didn't get too hurt so that's always good.


Me right after I did my superman

Less then a week we are off to collegiate MTB nats in Truckee California. Should be a fun time, my goal is not to hurt myself, just have a fun time. Just cant wait for IN N OUT!
This weekend I am hoping to make my way down to Denver to do some Cross racing. Just hope the passes stay clear but it doesn't look that way so I will have to wait and see.

Take Action Oct 24 350.org

Dear fellow cyclists:

Riding our bikes on roads and trails, we have access to parts of the world few of our fellow citizens ever see, and enjoy scenery that most people don’t notice whizzing by at 65 mph. By being active outdoors during all seasons, we as cyclists surely take note of our changing climate patterns – and we are able to directly impact climate change by choosing to ride our bike more instead of drive. We're asking you as a cyclist to take action on Oct. 24 in a one-day project that we hope will have some measurable impact on changing the world.

You spend much of your time riding your bike out in the elements. It is likely that you’ve noticed your local weather patterns getting less stable, less consistent, and more volatile. Climate change is having a direct impact on our world weather through significant melting of glaciers. In fact, scientists who have drilled glacial cores around the world tell us this melt is happening ever faster, to the point where in our lifetimes it may endanger billions of people, ecosystems, food production and more. So far, though, the political response to climate change has been too slow!

The cycling response has been great: 350.org is lucky to have the CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross Team, Kashi Leuchs, Ted King, Adam Craig, Tom Danielson, Heather Irmiger, Lea Davison and more riders and teams supporting our cause.

Now, with the crucial negotiations looming on the horizon at the United Nations Climate Change Conference this December in Copenhagen, we can do something to help change that. The world's foremost climatologist, NASA's James Hansen, and his team last year declared that 350 parts per million co2 was the most carbon we could safely have in the atmosphere. That's a tough number, because we're already past it. At the moment, the atmosphere holds 387 ppm co2, which is why glaciers and Arctic sea ice are melting. Indeed, this research team cautioned that unless we got back below that number, then eventually the earth might well be ice-free.

The planet will scrub some of that co2, but only if we stop pouring more in. To move political leaders to take this seriously, 350.org is organizing a huge global day of action on Oct. 24, designed to drum that number into every head on the planet. So: we urge you to ride somewhere notable and visible on October 24 – by yourself, with a group, or at a race - and figure out some way to make the number 350 visible. What we'll need by day's end if possible, is a photo, uploaded to the web, of whatever 350 bike ride action you've figured out to do. We need a picture of you and 350.

A few days beforehand or a day or two after will work as well - the goal is simply to take this obscure number, arguably the most important number in the world, and make it the most well-known 3 digits on the planet. If we do, then it will set the bar for negotiators. At the very least, we'll have helped let the rest of the world know what the crucial reality facing the planet is.

If you can help, please contact Jamie Henn at Jamie@350.org.