Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Quick Update

Took two weeks completely off the bike and started doing some swimming and lifting weights, trying to now transition from legs to upper body. Been working a lot trying to get some mula for the school year.

Got all moved into my apartment with Tpow for the year. It is gonna be epic!!! Then after work Monday I drove to Cedar Rapids. Gonna hang out here for a few days before going back to school next Wednesday. Went out for the first ride in 2 weeks today and lasted about 2 hours. Didn't take any food with me and I could tell towards the end. Ended up with a good tempo session instead of just cruising haha. I felt pretty good!!!

I am going to try and ride through the winter as much as time and light will allow.

My 21st birthday is coming up next Friday, Sept. 4th. Finally I will join the rest of my class.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Tour of Kansas City

Bethany and I drove down to KC on Thursday for a 4 day weekend. We got down in the evening, dropped off our stuff at her Brother Phils' apartment and headed to dinner. We ate at a "Carlos O'Kelly's" style restaurant called Jose Peppers. Very good, we both had Chimichangas and all the chips and salsa you could want. I was stuffed. Then we just went back, waited for Phil and then went to bed.

Friday we got up and had breakfast and headed to the pool that Phil's apartment complex has for residents. A nice pool, no one around and was able to soak up some sun. Then Bethany and I went to a huge mall complex where all the stores have outside access, kind of like a downtown but all mall stores. Walked around for a couple hours and got Starbucks at Barnes and Nobel. We then went back to the hotel and made BBQ Chicken pizza! Watched movies and went to bed.

Saturday we got up and Phil drove us downtown KC to see where he works at the Mercy Childrens Hospital. We also saw much of the downtown. Very confusing streets and many different interstate interchanges made this a town I don't think I would wanna live in. We headed out east of town and saw the two stadiums where the Royals and Chiefs play. Got stuff together back at the apartment and headed to the race in Kansas City, KS. A two hill criterium that was fast and very windy. All9 Yards had 4 guys, only 4 I recognized and knew. Fast race, single file for much of the race. Felt ok, legs didn't open up like I thought but I ended up top 20 out of 60 or so. After the race, we went to Dave and Busters for dinner. This place is like a Chuckie Cheese for adults, it was a lot of fun.

Sunday, we got up, had breakfast and headed to the race in Overland Park. A flat course with a couple false flats. Very fast race and despite many many crashes, a fun time. I was gapped on the last lap after a crash but still managed 11th. I know I could have gotten higher but because I was gapped, no dice. Got my money back plus some from that race. Phil, Bethany and I then went to "The Other Place", a restaurant started in Cedar Falls, but have two locations down in KC. Very good pizza!! Beth and I then headed home and had some fun times. We hit bad storms while in Des Moines on I35 and I80, going 30mph on the interstate with blinding rain. Made it home around 10PM last night.

Overall a great weekend!! My first time driving in MO and KS, and down there except for St. Louis airport. The racing is pretty good down there, but many sketchy riders. I was so surprised at the number of crashes and wobbliness of the peloton. Also, many teams were represented but no team would keep the pace high. Seems like there are many "single" riders on teams out there.

Don't know if I will be racing the rest of the season, have to work quite a bit.

Monday, August 3, 2009

State Road Race

Saturday was the Iowa State Road Race Championships in West Branch. Bethany and I got up, had a good breakfast at my parents house and drove down. Got my number pinned up and bottles sorted out with the team. 4 Laps around a 27 mile loop made for 108 miles and a long day in the saddle. The weather turned out to be awesome, a little chilly at the start, and a bit warm at the end. Wind also played a decent sized role in the race with wind speeds around 10-15mph.

45 riders, 25 Cat 3's lined up for the Cat 1,2,3 race. Cat 3's ended up being separate in both placing and prize money, which helps the mentality, knowing that there is a better chance to get some mula. We were off and for the first lap, it was pretty chill as no one really wanted to be in a break for 85+miles.

At the start of the 2nd lap, a group of about 6 guys got off the front, and a chase group of 3 after them, all containing the major teams and 1 Cat 3 was among them with Ryan French(All9Yards). The pace slowed down and two guys from Colorado started setting tempo. After a while, the chase group came back which included Bryan Moritz (Bikes2You). They now had no one in the break and had to set tempo for the next 2 laps. At the start of the last lap, the break seemed to be gone and we went through the feed zone, I saw Duey Dickey and Jeff Barnes (ICCC) as well as Paul Deninger (Zoom) go to the front before we turned north. I knew they were gonna put the hammer down and so I got into about 6th wheel.

I was right, once we were going north, they pushed the pace and when I looked back, a split had occured in the peloton, only about 10 of us made the junction. I was hoping not many 3's would have made it, but I was wrong. Shreck(All9), Kris Kunze(Rassy), Sarge(Wheaton), Brendan Keely (ICCC) had all made the split. We were crusing a long and we ended up catching Clark Preibe and Ryan French. That means us 5 were going to battle it out for the top 3 in the state.

We got through the feed zone in Cedar Bluff and Duey made an acceleration that took Jeff Barnes and Jerod Osterloh(All9) with him. These 3 were gone, and the group was down to about 8. With no one coming back from behind, we just set a nice tempo and rode to the finish. I was chatting with Sarge, who lives in Decorah and we have trained together all year. Both of us were cramping.

Turning west, there were some accelerations and we ended up also catching Lou Waugaman(Rassy). Shrek put in a large attack with about 1.5 miles to go and Sarge and I chased it down the best we could. Lou then put in an attack to get rid of Paul and Joe Hetrick. This is when Kris and Brendan chased a while and we stablized Shreks gap. Coming up the finishing hill, I had no snap in my legs but Sarge was able to shoot out and pass Shrek for the win!! I ended up in 3rd place in the 3's and 12th overall in the Cat 1'2'3.

Much better than last year, where I punctured at the start of the 3rd lap and DNF. This was also my FIRST ride ever over 100 miles. I didn't know what what happened, but my training helped out a lot and I had a lot of fun. With my 3rd place, I am pretty sure I have enough points to upgrade to a Cat 2. I am going to wait til the end of the year to try and get my upgrade, just to get a bit more experience.

I am going to Kansas City with Bethany this weekend for the Tour of KC crits on Saturday and Sunday. I always remember some good results for Iowa boys.

A bit thanks to Vern and Larry for their help in the feed zone, wouldn't have finished without you! Also, ICCC and Mark Guthart for all their work to make this a great event.