The weekend race weather!

So it looks as if the weather will be very nice for my teammates and I in Greenville this weekend. I will probably be bundling up a bit Saturday morning for my Fork Shoals race in the Greenville Training Series, but maybe it'll warm up before the race starts.



The weekend weather for my teammates traveling down to Albany looks as if it will be completely beautiful! I hope this holds for them, as conditions like this will make for a memorable first stage race weekend.

SNOW!!!

So it's snowing for probably the last time until next winter. I felt that was note-worthy. In other news, I rode a bicycle last night. It was kind of fun, so I think I may start doing that some more.

What it takes...

I don't even know, actually. I do know that one small aspect is riding, though. Last night after a long day at work I had to put a new axle in my Subaru to save some labor money. I got home around 8:15 and really didn't want to ride. The only reason I still did was because I could hear my coach in my head saying "Well I guess you just won't get better today" or something similar. At least I only had to ride an hour.

Video Blog!!

An interesting quote, and it's relevance...

I frequent the PEZ Cycling News website. I feel that their views on training philosophy and pack tactics are closely related to the way I feel about the same. I found a very interesting quote on there a day or two ago, which was:

The biggest thing that has helped me is confidence in my preparation. I know I’ve done what I needed to do, regardless of how I’m going at that time.
-Ben Jacques-Maynes

Take a minute to read over that, and then read it again. Here's what it means to me. From a team standpoint, I know for a fact that almost my entire team has been very dedicated to their winter training, hardly missing a day off the bike. I've ridden the Winter Bike League in Athens, GA with some of my teammates, and in all honesty feel that we've prepared ourselves. I know last season I had a problem with being angry with myself when I didn't perform the way I felt I should, and this quote helps me understand better that the rest of my team felt the same way more than likely, but they just didn't show it quite as outwardly as me. Everyone feels "defeated" when they didn't do as well as they felt they should. We took many podiums last season. I can't remember the number, but it was alot. On a team of about 10 guys last season, that's incredible to take part in such a large amount of podium appearances. Still, with all that, there's still that feeling of defeat sometimes. I think the mentally fit cyclist is able to look past these times and just tell themselves that no matter what, they've done their job and prepared. You can't win every race you're in. I feel that we're there as a team, and I'm there as an individual. We're ready.

Not bike related

I'm on a roll posting a few days in a row! I got a call from Troncalli Subaru this morning saying that one of the heads on my Forester is warped, and therefore must be replaced. This is definitely a hard punch to the wallet. We were actively trying to pay off some cycling-related credit card debt recently before the baby came, but now we are going to have a nice $3,000 bill from Subaru once everything is said and done. I'm to the point where I know that I need God to intervene in this and help us out. We'll get the money from somewhere, and I need to stop stressing, but it's easier said than done!

Intervals and some Tour of California.

I did some nasty supra-lactate threshold intervals tonight, and boy did they stink! The only way I was able to finish the last one is because I was greatly motivated by the final attacks into the finish of today's stage of the Tour of California. Just as I finished the final seconds, so did the pro peloton. I then headed over to Habersham Bicycles to watch my team finish up their suffering which takes place weekly. I go whenever I can, but my wife being pregnant along with my work schedule usually prevent me from enjoying attendance of this. The excitement for our first race as a team is still building. This Sunday is our first "team" race at the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina, and we've got some heavy hitters this year. Last year we did well as a team, but a break got away and was never brought back. This year, who knows what'll happen. Regardless, I can't give away our super-top-secret team strategy.

The Road Season Draws Near!

So this weekend the road season officially starts. I'm incredibly excited to see if I am Category 3 worthy now, and can't wait to test out my new lower weight and higher power! My wife, Hope, is about 2.5 weeks out on being full term in her pregnancy, and everyone I talk to is taken aback that I'm racing this close to her due date. She registered me for these next three weekends of racing, and said she'll be very angry if I don't go. I'm hoping Aaron, our little boy to be, waits until a Monday to come so I can not have to worry about Hope while off racing. After my performance this past weekend in the inaugural time trial of the year, I hope my form carries over (minus the crashing part), and I feel as good this weekend as I did last weekend. Saturday will maybe favor me a bit more than Sunday, but both days should favor my other teammates in one way or another. If I can get my video blog working, I'll post last Saturday and this one together.

Third Place

Normally, third place would be a very happy thing for me. I mean it's definitely a respectable finish, given my time was of three in the Cat IV's under 22 minutes. The only problem is I crashed, and still only missed out on first place by 36 seconds. No biggie, since this was the first race of the season. I did manage to average an estimated 26mph on the course. I still enjoyed the course, minus the crouch busting concrete lip sticking 1-2 inches up in the road where the bridge crossing was. My coach Matt got 3rd in the Pro, I, II category. I had a really nice video blog to present Saturday night instead of a written blog such as this, but alas, I couldn't get the audio to work when transferring it to my computer, so you unlucky 3 or 4 people who read my blog will still have to read, instead of watching. This upcoming weekend I'll be in Greenville, South Carolina for the beginning of the Spring Training Series. Maybe I'll have my video working by then.

So here we go!

So I guess the season officially starts tomorrow. I'm going to do my best to take my camera with me to begin shooting a documentary-type video accounting my races throughout the season. I have decided that with a lot of help from God, my team, my wife, and myself, I can have a very good season that will hopefully be beneficial to me, as well as the rest of my team.

Been a few...

It's been a few days since my last update, and I've had some things happening that are good, and some bad. Friday while on my time trial bike, I was almost run off the road by a white Dodge Ram single cab 4x4 on highway 123 in Alto. I doubt the person who did it can read, much less get on the net, so I guess the vehicular description is useless. When it was all said and done, I was sliding across the pavement between two cars in the other lane, and he kept going.
My new shoes came in yesterday. I got some Shimano RD-220's from my bike shop sponsor, Habersham Bicycles. Just from trying them on, I can tell there's a beautiful relationship to be had with these incredibly comfortable shoes!
My first race is in a few days! I'll be in Hiram, Georgia at the Frozen Tundra Time Trial. I'm pretty excited to be going, and feel like I will do well at this race. I have a lot of teammates going, and we are known as a strong time trialing team, usually having 3-4 guys in the top 10 for stage races, so we have a lot of potential podiums. This season is gonna be great!

Don't eat Chili!

Well, you can eat it, but not before a ride with tough intervals! I don't think I should have to say anything else about it.

Less than two weeks...

It's less than two weeks until my season starts, and I must admit I'm a little nervous. I definitely thank my coach Matt, who has been a huge support and help to me this winter, for bringing me as far as he has in such a little amount of time. I feel very confident that I will be able to compete at a higher level this year, with the possibility of being quite a decent Cat 3 racer!
After the killer rides Saturday and Sunday, I had a recovery day yesterday, and another today. I keep getting these strange cravings for sweets, and it's definitely getting harder and harder to resist. Today at lunch I couldn't help but have a small piece of Baby shower cake that my wife Hope brought home from one of her two showers this weekend. In about one more month, I'll be a dad!

Quite a tough one!

So yesterday I headed down to Athens, Georgia, to partake in a wonderful ride known as the WBL. I always find it interesting how things happen in ways that teach you something you could have never learned had you not been in the company of weathered professional cyclists who frequent these rides. I had thought I was finally a climber, and for some reason had a thought in my head that I would, in fact, not get dropped making the ascent into Alto, Georgia via the notorious "Stair Steps". I was definitely wrong about aforementioned skills! I am definitely someone who appreciates "being knocked down a notch" and humbly, but angrily (at myself) limped into the store stop with a group of about 6-7 other guys who were unlucky, and blessed at the same time, enough to witness a constant onslaught of pro cyclists showing us what's up on the climb.
After a nice pep-talk and scolding from my coach Matt for thinking I had gotten that fast in three months (I know, I know), I rode on to the next attack zone with the pack to "crackback hill" in Franklin County, Georgia. I surprised myself on this one, helping Matt and others a little by bridging them up to a small break that went early on the climb. After the store stop, I had 75 miles, and it was time to turn around and make the long trek home (Hope had brought me to Athens so I could do this and not have to drive home after a tough ride).
The ride home was definitely a rough one, as I ran out of hydration, and began to cramp at the base of a 3.5 mile climb known to the locals as "Dick's Hill". So as not to add injury to such a prosperous ride, I took a shortcut to Hope's parent's house to wait on Hope to get home from the baby shower. All in all, the day went pretty good. I ended up with about 95 miles on the day, with a little over 5 hours of riding!