2 Days and Counting!!!!

2 Days til the State Road Race. I have had 2 days off this week to think about the race and what I am going to have to do in order to prosper. The longest ride I have ever done in my life was 85 miles. So being 20 miles longer, who knows whats going to happen. 

I will have at least 2 team mates to work for/with in order to stay in the front, and a numerous amount of other teammates taking part in the other races and to help with feeding. The amount of liquids and food I will have engulf to stay above bonking line will be like a 3 course meal!!!

Im really excited though, it will be a tour de france stage length road race. So Im thinking it will be slow to start and will blaze by the end. 

Payout is 1200/10 places, overall so that is always a goal, but also Cat. 3 is separated out for State Champion Medals separately then 1/2's. I have quite a few guys to watch who will be on form and I think ready to kick some ass.

B2U

Chad Bishop

Jimmy and Adam Price

Basso and Death Squad

Norbert, Dom and Jacobsen

I know many others......

Its gonna be a great race within itself. Hopefully I don't get left behind to early on!

Two Bee "Thanks Jason RR"

Yay for Conn Day Races!! I was finally able to get to one this year, after pleading with the guys at the shop to allow me to come in a little late for work.

Chris Reed and I rode down, and saw Ian Robinson, Mack Sheldrup, Keith Snoop and Jason Amoriell all ready to race for the day. We ended up having 5 of the 15 starters or so. We were saying that if we couldn't win on this day, wow...we are horrible. 

Race started off pretty mellow, with a few attacks. After about 6 miles or so. A big attack got off with Ian, Jason, Chris, a 2 Bee guy, both Nick and Tim Campbell. I knew this was serious, but just sat back and waited to pounce on the guys who missed out. After a while, I was bored and I know Gary McNabb and I wanted to make the race a little more interesting. We punched the pace and tried to bridge up to the leaders. In this process we dropped all but one guy. 

Once we got up to the break. Jason put in an attack and was off for a while. 10 miles or so to go, we caught him and hung in the pack. With about 7 miles to do, Chris put in an attack and had a slight gap, once he got reeled in. I punched the gas and took off. I looked back once and had a small gap, I decided to try and stick it.  I kept opening up a gap as my teammates did good blocking and didn't allow one of the Campbells or Two Bee guys to jump across. 

I crossed the line about 45sec to 1 minute ahead of the field. Chris Reed and Ian Robinson took 2nd and 3rd on the day. Junior Mack Sheldrup got back into the "peloton" and ended up with the 5th spot!

This was the first race, where I have ever really done team tactics and it finally worked. We were able to work over Tim Campbell, who was probably the strongest in the race (Cat 2), and come away with some Cookies, Brownies and such.

This was a great race, it was some good low key hard racing!

Next up is a week of training for the big one! 108 Mile State Road Race.

Looks like there will be 3 of us Cat 3's and hopefully Eastburn will do it :)

Tues. Group Ride

Did the Cedar Rapids Group Ride tonight. Lots of people showed up which is always good. We went north to Alburnett, Central City, Waubeek, Springville and back in. Ended up doing 55 miles in just under 3 hours total time. 

Avg. Watts: 255

MPH: 21

A couple of the guys were on fire, and def. putting the hurt on us. *WINK* Easburn, Norbert, Chris *Wink*        

MAC Hope your doing good, I think it was my fault, that a way to take it like a champ.

How Long can it last!

My legs feel awesome right now. Went out for 55miles yesterday with Chris Reed and Chris Eastburn and felt good. Yea sweet, 53 miles still to go to finish the State Road Race ha. Oh well, Im excited for a ride that long! Im hoping to maintain this form until the end of my season. Coach Paul thinks because I am so young, I may be able to keep it for another month or so. That would be awesome. 

Will have maybe 2 weeks off of racing for training and work. Every weekend in August should bring some great hard racing.

State Road Race

Downers Grove National Crit Championships

State Crit

Gateway Cup

Aug 8-11, I am going to Door County with Bethany and a couple that we swim with at Luther for a few days at a cabin. Will be a lot of fun.

Dopers Suck!!!

Seriously....I thought maybe we had gotten a clean tour. But now the all stupid Beltran and now Riccardo Ricco!!! What a dumb ass, I hope he quits cycling. It obviously shows from Vandevelde that you can race clean and win the Tour!!!(Potentially).  I am almost ashamed to be involved with cycling now. Cyclists get so much crap, everyone is always like.....oh yea, the sport with all the dopers!!

Oh well, they get what they deserve.

Check out our new team blog...... our team is continuing to grow and gain some support around Cedar Rapids!

http://hba-racing-team.blogspot.com/

State Road Race looks tremendous for a Cat 3 race, 108 Miles!! WOW should be awesome

Day 5.....Do it or Lose It

Last day of SuperWeek for now. Had to come back so that I can work and have money for Door County and College in general. 56 Starters and 32 Finished. IT was about 95 degrees at the start of the race, I had drank 3 bottles before the race and 2 during the race. 

Same course as yesterday. Did 40 laps today instead of 35. After a couple laps, a crash happened behind me and took about 10 guys down. This make the chance of placing well go up. I put in 1 attack today and didn't drag anyone with me, of course of course. I tried to bridge to another break and didn't get to it, before it was swallowed up. Did quite a bit of work at the front, as some of the teams didn't want to chase the serious break near the end of the race. Luckily it came back 1/2 way through the last lap.

Didn't get passed by anyone in the sprint but, didn't pass anyone else. Ended up in 15th today, so I finally broke the 20 spot and got some money. I had a blast the last 5 days riding with Cat 3's from across the nation and some foreign guys as well. IT is a lot different riding with these guys then with most of the Midwest dudes. I think a lot of these guys could be Cat 2's, but want to wait and poach some money before upgrading. Whose to blame them, as who knows when they will get money again!!!! 

It was an awesome time, and I know I am getting some good form from Ohio, and hope it will last for a while longer!!!

Day 4.....

Day 4 a 35 mile Crit in Bensenville, Illinois. The course was pretty sketchy, starts in a park and leaves through a rough exit onto a neighborhood then re-enters the park on a very off camber turn back onto blacktop. It was ok though, we all took the corner fine. Alittle off camber S Curve to the finish. The races started out fast with it being strung out. A break of 4 went up the road as usual, but this time it stuck for some reason. They got a gap of up to 1:15 over the field, that means we were really slow and not chasing hard, or they were just kicking our butt. I think it was more the first, but also some of the 2nd. The laps ticked down and I stayed toward the front. Andrew F. from Bikes 2 You had a busy day, no one wanted to pull so he pulled probably a total of 10 laps or so?? Including the last 2 and still placed 6th in the sprint. He was a real motor today.

Came in 21st. Wow, I can't be so close to the money (20th) and never get there. 21st, 23rd, 21st the last 3 days!

 

1 More day to move into the money for now! Hopefully I will be able to leave it all out there and make a break or sprint for a good placing!

Day 3....SuperWeek

Day 3 was another 40 mile crit in Richton Park, a neighborhood on the southern part of Chi-Town. It was a great course, very smooth with only some rough spots in the corners. 

Bikes 2 You showed up today after dominating the Clear Lake Races. Chris, Bryan, Will and Andrew were here in force. I knew these were the guys to watch, and it turned out to be a good plan.

After the start they started launching a few attacks, with none sticking. At about 1/2 way point. Bryan and Andrew were in a break up the road. I knew it was the place to be, so I bridged across dragging another B2U dude, Chris. This was def. an Iowa break with only 2 others not from Iowa. The pack wasn't going to let this go, so we were swept up. Some untimely attacks lasted throughout the race and were reeled in. With 6-7 laps to go? Moritz went on another attack and only 1 guy went with. This was the move. Moritz was able to win the sprint! Awesome!!!

Andrew got 5th or so??? I came in 23rd and almost saw Will go down, he was in  great position for the sprint but clipped his pedal on the floor. It was a great race, I had lots of fun, and it was intense. We avg. about 27mph. 

2 more days to go! Maybe us Iowa guys can take some high spots in the races to come!

Day 2...Crash Fest?

Day 2, a 40 Mile Crit in Olympia Fields. A Very fast .5 mile crit through a new residential neighborhood. 75 riders took to the start today. Got to the front and stayed there for most of the race, put in an attack and got a small gap, but no one came with. It seems no one will come with when I go, I don't know if its cuz Im not known around here or what. I try to then go with the large teams. Did a couple times and had some small gaps but it was coming to a field sprint. 1 guy jumped with 5 laps to go and won, barely. 2 laps to go a guy crashed going across the finish line, in front of me. Another 2 went down in the first corner on the last lap, in front of me. Then coming to the line, no less then 5 riders went down in certain spots. It was intense!

Came around in 21st, 1 spot out of the money. Shucks!

I did notice on the list, I am the only other Iowa rider. Are there any others coming out at all for the racing?

Time to quit racing...

By the sound of it. Juan Valdez(local iowa racer) doesn't seem to like how I ride. I might as well quit, before I kill someone.

Yea, I made a mistake at the Big Creek Race, sorry to those involved. So Im getting called out for not riding in straight lines? And Minnesota Riders now know how I ride? The only person who yelled at me in that race was from Iowa, and when I have to sweep wide to miss another wheel sweeping wide in a sharp corner, I don't think its right to get yelled at for not being my fault. But I guess everything I do on the bike must be wrong? I don't ride in a F#@King straight line.

And all the Iowa and Minnesota riders have had enough of my shit? Well might as well quit huh. Would that all make you FUCKING HAPPY!

Edit-

Did the first SuperWeek race today. It was a lot of fun, about 70 riders or so lined up for the 40 lap, 40 mile race. Started off with a few attacks, and nothing really got going. Pretty soon I found myself with 3 other guys going up the road. After one hard pull, one guy popped off and it was just 2 of us. We were soon absorbed by the pack about 2 laps later. A counter attack went 1/2 lap later, and this was the 6 man move that won the race. Shoot, I was close to getting into the right break. Oh well, I tried! The bad thing was all the major teams were represented, DOAHH!

A few of us tried to put in a chase, but the teams showed good blocking tactics. I even tried to bridge up 1 time, but the group was up about 25 seconds and I never get within 10-15 I don't think before being caught.  

Came across the line in the pack somewhere, not the best positioning for the field sprint! It was a lot of fun though, my legs feel like they are getting recovered for tomorrow!

Thanks for all the support trying to race my bike!!

1st SuperWeek Experience

Leaving for Superweek. Will race 5 days or so. Then I have to get back and work.....Dam Work!

Should be fun, hopefully get some cash and will see some pros ride!!! Staying with my roommate and swimmer bud, Dougie. Great to not have to pay for anything but food and gas, which I guess is like paying for hotels if you think about it.

Ill keep the race reports coming!

Have fun in Clear Lake to those attending.

Northfield Crit

Went up to Northfield with my girlfriend Beth for the race Friday.  Great to see some IA guys up there!! Iowa Ortho and All 9 guys!! 

It was  fun time, I really like this course. Lined up for the 3's race with about 35 other riders. Pace started off pretty fast, with a couple attacks going off here and there. 

After a few laps having sat in the field, I started to move up in the field and patrol ready to pounce when I had the chance. With about 13 laps to go, there was a break of 2 up the road and we started to bring back the two, and when we hit the hill I took off out of the pack and passed the two breakaway guys. I looked back and hoped to have some help but I didn't. I had a decent gap and put my head down to see what I could do against a field of 3's. It was fun, never felt as though I was killing myself but after 3 laps, I was reeled back in. Got back in the pack and had a drink of Gatorade. 

As the laps clicked down, I through a few more attacks off on the hill but to no avail. It was such a great race, I had a lot of fun being active and attentive. 

Last lap, I didn't get up to where I needed to be and opened up the sprint from a ways back. I did pass a few guys in the end. Ended up in 9th. 

As I crossed the line, the guy in front of me who placed 8th sat up and took his hands off the bars right at the line. I was going around him, and he started to lose control and swerve towards me. I got passed him, but then heard a wheel touch my back wheel. I heard then a crash and spokes hitting the wheel.  When he hit my wheel, he broke 3 of my spokes. I never thought I would see this happen at the end of a Cat 3's race. Oh well, stuff happens. The official didn't relegate him, but did tell him how bad of a move it was to do. 

So awesome race!!! Im feeling really ready for Superweek, feel a good taper coming! Maybe get some Cat 3 points next week!

Spent the rest of the weekend with Beth and her roommate and boyfriend who we both swim with at Luther. Watched some fireworks, at some good food!

Cheers