Limping through the season

Time Pro Cycling has strung together a few excellent weekends, with 2nd at the Iron Hill USA Crit, 3rd at the Louisville NRC (after lapping the field), 1st at Norton Commons, and most recently 3rd, 4th, and 6th (again, lapping the field) at the Boise NRC/USA Crit! The team is really firing on all cylinders and we are hoping to bring Adam Myerson home for the overall USA Crits win, as well as secure the Team Overall and the U-25 Overall. We have the Crossroads Criterium Series coming up this Friday through the following Friday, leading into the big-money Charlotte criterium and our own race at Haynes Park in Winston-Salem.

The U-23 guys (Eric Barlevav, Jackie Simes, Andy Baker, and yours truly) are going to pick and choose which Crossroads races to do, and Andy and I are flying out early on the Sunday before Nationals (just 12 days from now) in order to scout out the TT and road courses as well as acclimate. The guys are super motivated and ready to rock!

I found my racing legs at Louisville and Norton, where I finally felt like my old, powerful, attacking self after over two months of purgatory trying to find my form following my car accident, a broken rib at Nature Valley, and a concussion on the final monsoon-stage of the Tour of PA. Unfortunately, my bad luck and even worse timing continued . . .

My high-side crash at the tail-end of the Norton criterium has turned out to be much worse than I had anticipated. It has now been nine days since the fall, and I am still hobbling around and unable to put shorts on without leaning on something. I had been riding all last week right after the accident, putting in really hard 4+ hour rides on Thursday and Friday, but found myself out of commission after I pulled a tendon in my left knee that seems to give me some grief every winter.

I had been putting up with the stiffness and sharp pains in my hips and lower back for the past seven days by pounding five or six Advil each morning and at lunch, but after my knee flared up I decided to just ride longer and really easy to try and keep it moving . . . then Monday morning I decided to really assess the situation: no ride, no Advil, lots of ice. I came to the heart-breaking realization that my heavy dosage of pain killers had been causing me to think my maladies were mending, but in fact they were still plaguing me almost as painfully as the day after the crash!

First I called my mom and vented for 40 minutes about how frustrated I am: I have now had five crashes this season, including two broken bones, two concussions, 30+ stitches in my forehead after getting glass removed, and lots of road rash. I have struggled mentally to overcome my setbacks, as each accident occurred at perfectly spaced intervals to prevent me from really getting the ball rolling and getting my form back to previous levels. I have felt the pressure of being on a new team with new teammates and failing to come through with the success that I know I am capable of when I am 100%. I have dealt with the stereotype of being just a strong time-trial-specialist who is not able to read a race or ride at anything faster than a steady 30 mph for 30 minutes. I worked incredibly hard from October 2007 to May 2008, and put much more pressure on myself than I had realized, only to find numerous setbacks that have prevented me from reaping the rewards of my efforts.

My mom is an excellent support system, and she was incredibly understanding and helpful. She knows when to just listen, when to give me some advice, and when to tell me to quit my bitching and man-up. My dad is always there for me 110%, but he is like I am (maybe that is backwards!): he cannot help but attempt to solve problems, and most of my problems this season have no solution. My mom and I came to the realization that no matter what happens for the rest of the season, I am going to come out with incredible new experience in some of the country’s biggest and fastest races, as well as loads of training and racing at levels I have never reached previously. But most importantly, I am going to have a bunch of excellent teammates and friends who are motivated to come back out next year and just rock! It will be HUGE to know my teammates, how we race, how we live together, how we travel, and how we deal with rough patches. I want to make the most of the rest of the season, and I have some huge races coming up, even if I am dealing with some injuries and still looking for that “the-chain-is-missing” form.

After Erik Saunders came over to the house for a little visit and saw the ice bag riveted to my knee, we talked about my injuries and, always the man with the answers, he told me to call Dr. Matt. Dr. Matt is our pro-bono team doctor and a good friend of Mike Stoop’s. We talked on the phone and Matt said that if I am still having severe pains and stiffness in my pelvis and hips after over a week has passed since my crash, then there is a good chance that I have a hairline fracture or I have broken the tough outer layer of bone between my ligaments and bones. In either case, the body treats the injury like a break, and just takes weeks to come back to 100%.

In my stir-crazy cabin-fever dementia, I decided I would take a second day off the bike and travel by Amtrak up to Richmond, Virginia to pick up my Vespa from Mike Stoop’s house and drive it back down to Winston. The trip would dovetail perfectly with a visit to Dr. Matt so he could poke and prod me and give me the news, for better or for worse, as well as tell me whether a chiropractor (NOT covered by my insurance!) would be helpful or necessary.

So here I am, riding in a comfortable-but-packed train up from High Point, NC to Richmond, VA. I am looking forward to driving the Vespa over 200 miles on some beautiful back roads, through hills and small mountains, back to Winston, and I am anxiously awaiting Matt’s diagnosis. I know that, with the help of Advil, I can come back to riding (and maybe even training) tomorrow, but the knee issue is something I have had before and needs to be cared for very well or it can be a plague that lasts for weeks. I have to get back into things steadily and surely, and make the most of the next 14 days before the U23 National Time Trial (with the criterium the next day and the road race three days after).

It has been a very tough season for me, but Iron Hill and especially Louisville confirmed to me that, no, I DON’T suck, and that I am still at another level than I have ever raced at before even when I am not 100%. I just need to get healed, get healthy, and not put pressure on myself to adhere to a timeline or expect certain things from certain races in August. After all, I know that cycling is a tough sport and if it were really easy to go out and dominate I probably wouldn’t enjoy it! Perseverance pays off, I just have to stick with it through thick and thin and always remember what it is I love about racing my bike.

3rd place in Louisville NRC, and then an unfortunate left turn

Matt Winstead and Hilton Clarke follow as I get the winning break going.

I almost took out Mark Zalewski (cyclingnews.com) in the fast Turn 3 in the break.

Here is an SRM power file overview of the Louisville Metro Police Foundation NRC criterium. I put a threshold line at 380 watts and smoothed it a bit, but notice that the first 2/3 of the race are much harder and faster--I was in the break almost from the gun! Also notice the last two laps were just balls-to-the-wall and over 30mph the whole time.

Here is where the break was initiated. Again, I took a page out of Steve Tilford's book and ramped it up from 10 back just before a turn, then put my head down and killed it for a few straightaways without looking back. Luckily the move looked good to Hilton (Toyota), Matt (Inferno), and Bergman/Albers (Roadhouse). Notice it only took 1.5 minutes to settle in and start working just above threshold--that is when you know a break is going to work! We got the gap and then settled into a pace just faster than the group, and I knew we were down for the long haul without having to burn all my matches in the beginning getting it to stick.

This is the penultimate lap . . . you can see where I almost crashed and then started to give it the stick to salvage things at 2:40:27.

The final lap was just an all-out 2-minute drill. Notice that my heart rate was just about through the roof (consider that I TT at 170-172!) and the speed was also pretty good considering there were many turns and headwind sections. For the final two minutes I averaged over 460 watts including coasting through some turns, and my 5-minute record is 460 up a climb with no coasting . . . not too shabby for the end of a 100-degree criterium!

LOUISVILLE NRC CRITERIUM RACE REPORT

What a weekend! The guys and I traveled up/over to Louisville, Kentucky for a $15,000 NRC criterium on Saturday and another local $5,000 criterium on Sunday. Adam Myerson had worked with the race promoter over the winter during the 'cross season, and we had been hooked up with a tight suite at the Galt House just a few miles from our races! After Tom Soladay and Adam arrived Friday afternoon at the airport after flying in from Boston, Eric Barlevav, David Duncan, Mike Stoop, and yours truly rolled in and we suited up for a nice cruise to a local park with another friend of Adam's, Brian.

We all went out to dinner Friday night, and unfortunately chose a restaurant that Brian had recommended which was more popular than EPO at the Tour. We waited, and waited, and got some beers . . . and waited some more. Finally at about 10PM we got food and a cool little magic show from a restaurant magician! We quickly headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

After sleeping in until 10AM and getting out for a nice morning spin, we all chilled out in the hotel until it was time to leave for the race that started at 4:45. The weather was quite insane, with temperatures hovering close to 100 and rumors of 70% humidity to boot! I filled two plastic Subway bags with ice and put them in a musette bag to carry to the race, and after a very short warmup I stopped in the shade and packed my bottles, jersey pockets, and a Zip-loc with ice. I learned this from Steve Tilford, who has probably done more 100+ degree races than I have raced TOTAL: bit a small hole in the corner of the Zip-loc to let it drip down your back as the ice melts, giving your evaporative cooling and also preventing the need to carry around a large bag of warm water for the majority of the race.

My cooling strategies helped a lot, but I still knew that a race this hot and this long (90 minutes) in blazing sun and wind would require a good amount of pacing--go over your threshold too much or too often and the legs will just evaporate. I also had a feeling that an early break would go because some people would do well in the heat and most would feel sluggish and paralyzed. We were aggressive in the first few laps, getting off the front for primes and during the lull just after a prime, but it was my attack on the fifth lap just before Turn 2 that initiated the winning break.

Two roadhouse guys (Kirk Albers and Adam Bergman), Hilton Clarke on Toyota-United, and Matt Winstead on Inferno all came into the break, and then things got really good just a lap later when Tom Soladay made it into the move. Two of seven ain't too shabby! However, after some tactical miscommunication, Tom had thought the move was going to get brought back and attacked the move solo, hoping some others would come up to it as the group was catching. The break never came back at all, and instead Tom sat out in the wind, solo, for a number of laps and burned himself badly, later having to drop out of the break and the race altogether. Things got even worse for us when John Puffer, an excellent sprinter, bridged up to our group solo . . . things just went from TWO in seven with a strong sprinter and a strong leadout to ONE in seven with just a strong leadout, against THREE Roadhouse guys and their top sprinter! Don't even forget about Hilton, who was pulling so hard he almost dropped the break each time he hit the wind . . .

I knew once Tom was out of the race that I had no duty to pull in the break, so I bided my time and tried to save my legs as much as possible. Sure enough, the group sat up a little when it was clear that we were gone for good, and we were quickly approaching the tail end of the field. I knew that this was a crucial moment: Hilton didn't want to take the break with him when we lapped because he was outgunned by a stacked Roadhouse team and many Inferno guys. Roadhouse didn't even want to lap at all, because three in seven is much better than being caught up in the big field. Therefore, Hilton was going to attack the move soon and try to get to the field, then work with Heath Blackgrove and Sean Sullivan to drive the field and prevent Roadhouse and our break from making it a lap up. I also knew that I couldn't wait for Hilton to attack because I probably wouldn't be able to follow his acceleration . . .

I decided I needed to get to the front and DRIVE the break up to the field to make sure Hilton didn't drop us and let Roadhouse start attacking Matt and me. I pulled us up about 10 seconds on the field in two laps, and then got to the front and found my last teammate in the race, Adam (all the other guys had dropped out due to the heat!). I made sure to rest and recover as much as possible while staying glued to Adam's wheel and keeping out of trouble. The final few laps got a bit hairy, but we could see that it was being set up as a field sprint by Roadhouse.

A large gambler's prime was laid on the line (this is a big-money prize for the winner of the penultimate lap, given to shake things up in the race even more than usual!), and the race began to detonate . . . unfortunately I almost crashed after getting my handlebars clipped by an Inferno guy and dropped from the top-15 to outside the top-30 with just 1.5 laps to go! Thus began a frantic solo chase at eyes-bleeding-pace to try and salvage my sprint for the line.

Roadhouse guys were strewn across the road like a tornado had hit their leadout train, and I was just dodging guys right and left as I blazed though the shattered field to get to the front. With just two turns to go, I saw Adam on Matt Winstead's wheel, and I kept drilling it and reached them in the final turn. Adam had planned to sprint Matt and take 8th, first in the field, but saw me coming from behind and swung wide. I hit the turn hot and carried my momentum through to just barely edge Matt out at the line for the last podium spot!

It was an excellent race for me, and really boosted my confidence after a tough first season on the pro circuit and confirmed to me that I am actually coming back from my car accident on May 5th. It also salvaged the race for Time Pro Cycling, as I know most of the guys were really bummed about dropping out. Third is our top result in an NRC race to date!

Adam, BBQ and I went out looking for some dinner and some nice quality brews (Adam is a learned connoisseur, so it's always fun drinking $10 beers with him), then hung out a bit at the Third Street Dive after our cute waitress said it was a fun place and that she was interested in meeting up with us after work! Things didn't pan out, but we still had a good time and got to relax a bit after a tough day on the bike.

NORTON CRITERIUM RACE REPORT

The next day's criterium was a more laid-back affair, with 1/3 the prize money and no NRC status, but most of the same guys from Saturday (save for Hilton) showed up. We knew that it would be a battle of the teams, Inferno vs. Roadhouse vs. Time. From the gun, the entire team was up near the front, guys swapping off being in moves and initiating moves and getting primes. I knew it was going to be a good race.

It was only 60 minutes, and not as hot nor as challenging a course as the day before, so getting a break to stick was going to be pure luck of the draw and timing. It didn't stop me from trying, though. At 45 minutes into the race, I had just sat up a little after being off the front and seeing a mad Roadhouse chase behind me. I noticed the Tom had been sitting on them, ready to pounce and counter my move, so I swung wide in the left Turn 3 to let him come in on the inside before I closed the door. This was the perfect place to go, as Turns 4, 5, and 6 came in quick progression and were very tight, so it was very easy to get a big gap and carry your speed while the group bunched up. Unfortunately--and I still don't know exactly what happened--I high-sided after clipping a pedal.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it comes from motorcycle racing and happens when the rear brake is applied in a turn, locking the rear wheel for a second and sliding the bike a little, before being released and hooking up again. When the rear wheel regains traction, the bike is out of line and actually flicks the rider upright and over to the outside of the turn. This is a very serious problem, and often leads to the death of the rider on twisty mountain roads as he is thrown into or over the guardrail down into a ditch or down the mountain.

Luckily I was only going 24mph when it happened, but nonetheless I landed really hard on my right hip and the back of the head. I started screaming from the pain, and had to stay down in the road for three laps while the pack maneuvered around me. I thought my pelvis was broken . . .

I finally got helped off the course, had my slight road rash attended to, and then tried to walk around a little. The good news: no breaks or fractures. The bad news: incredibly stiff, painful to move, and painful to walk. However, Mike Stoop and Tom Soladay setup an excellent leadout for Adam and we won the race! I was very happy that the team was successful, and it definitely capped off an excellent weekend.

I am now trying to heal up and get ready for a final 15-day training block leading into U23 Nationals. The pelvis is getting better each day, but it is still very stiff. I can ride--it actually feels better to ride than to get up and walk around!--and I have just taken the past three days pretty easy. I don't think me preparation will be compromised too much, and I have the confidence from the past couple of weekends to take with me into my training block and Nationals.

BBQ and I have been hanging out at Jamie Bennette's house (our team's main sponsor) and dying of boredom . . . I am really looking forward to getting in some good rides and then doing a sweet racing schedule in August: Crossroads criteriums in late July, the U23 Nationals August 6-10, Downer's Grove USPRO Criterium the following weekend on the 16-17, Chris Thater and a couple other local NY races August 21-24, then the big show with USPRO RR and TT in South Carolina followed by the 100k Classic and the Univest RR and criterium!

Thanks a lot for reading, I'll try to post some updates on my injury and my training in the next week!

An up-and-down Tour of PA and a podium at Iron Hill

Eric Barlevav taking 3rd in a slip-and-slide final Tour of Pennsylvania criterium, Pittsburgh

Well, Tour of PA came and went . . . we did very well on Stages 1a and 1b, with 7th, 8th, and 15th in the prologue (Andy Baker became Best Young Rider, then Stoop, and then me) followed by a good showing in the technical, sketchy criterium with our sprinter Eric Barlevav getting boxed in for 5th and me following with the leadout for 20th.

Stage 2 went even better, as Eric and I made it into the winning move of the day and I helped drive it to get over 2 minutes on the shattered field. I lead out the strongman-sprint, but BBQ's legs were sapped and he managed 7th behind a super-strong Kevin Lacombe and Kelly Team. I rolled in for 12th, moving up into 8th overall.

Then Stage 3 broke us! The plan was to be aggressive and get into the early move, because there was a huge KOM 65 miles into the 105 mile stage. Unfortunately, there was a considerable headwind and we killed ourselves to get the move to stick. Andy made it into the break, but BBQ and I were shot from the previous day's efforts and everyone pretty much got shelled on the climb. From there, we just had some damage control in the grupetto, but basically the general classification goals for the team went out the window.

Stage 4 was shorter, only 60 miles, but with some serious climbing, and we just went out to make the time cut so that we could perform on Stages 5 and 6.

And perform we did: Stage 5 was a nasty saw-tooth profile with dozens of leg-breaking one-minute steep hills and some serious crosswind sections to boot. We all managed to make it into the final circuits, and The Gutt said he was feeling fantastic so we decided to setup the sprint for him. Things started to break apart on the run-in to the circuits, and we made sure a guy was in every move . . . unfortunately, our efforts were in vain and probably sapped us a bit for the final 5k. I was on the front through most of the final 9k of circuits (3 laps of 3k), and put in some serious pulls, but misjudged where we were on the course in the final lap and was not ready for the insane Kelly Train when they came over the top at over 35mph! Stoop tried valiantly to latch on, but a 10 foot gap to David Veilluex's wheel was impossible to close, and The Gutt's sprint never really happened.

The team's moral was bolstered after seriously disappointing Stages 3 and 4, and we were once again confident that we were one of the strongest teams and could ride the front at the end of a killer stage. Things didn't work out right, but we were all looking forward to the final criterium in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Unfortunately the rain started pouring after about 30 minutes of racing. The whole team had been on the front controlling things and neutralizing attacks at 30mph, hoping to setup Eric Barlevav for a final stage-winning sprint. The plans went out the window when my front wheel slid out in the first brick-laden turn and I hit my head pretty hard . . . the race was neutralized do to threats of a tornado, but then restarted (at the behest of the entire peloton!) because it was being covered live on Versus nationwide. We raced hard, but my legs locked up from the gun and I couldn't get the confidence to stay at the front through the corners. My race was over, along with most of the peloton, as the race was being run as a one-day race with no overall consequences for the Tour. Stoop, Andy, and The Gutt worked hard for Barlevav, but in the end only The Gutt was left at the front to work with Slipstream-VMG in the final laps. Barlevav was on Daniel Holloway's wheel in third position into the final turn, but a gap opened and that was all she wrote. Barlevav got on the podium with 3rd place, which was a nice consolation after a very tough week.

We got back in the van and jetted on Monday morning, leaving at 8AM and arriving in Winston-Salem at 2AM after making multiple stops to drop guys (and girls, our souigneurs!) off along the way. The Gutt and I got in some good training before heading 10 hours BACK UP TO PHILLY (!!!) for the Iron Hill twilight criterium . . .

We knew before the race that we were the largest team, but also that Toshiba was a force to be reckoned with. From the gun the race was super fast with constant attacks. I got a $100 prime, but shortly after Heckman got away from us solo. We didn't have all of our guys up front at that point, and the two laps that were required for us to organize and chase him down were just enough for him to get out of sight and start building his gap--and build it he did! Every lap the gap went up a second or two, with me, Tom Soladay, Mike Stoop, and David Guttenplan chasing our hearts out. Toshiba just sat on us and messed up the rotation a few times, but none of the other teams (read Batley-Harley Davidson and Inferno) helped out much at all.

We were definitely behind the 8-ball, especially after Travieso attacked our chase at the front and started to ride away. Guttenplan pulled through strongly through the final uphill turn, and I let the gap open up just enough for him to get away solo. I didn't think this was wise, as I have never seen The Gutt bridge any type of a gap before, but I was pretty blown anyway and thought it might be nice to get another couple riders to do some work for a little while. However, The Gutt rolled away doing 30+mph and bridged up to Travieso! Those two were up the road racing for second place when Heckman lapped the field and came to the front. In the final minutes of the race, Stoop got off the front with some hangers-on and ended up taking 7th, while The Gutt edged out Travieso in an excellent sprint for 2nd place!

I was proud to have enough left in the legs to do the leadout for Adam in the field (Barlevav took a nasty spill in the infamous third corner earlier in the race) and I rode from 3-to-do to 1-to-go before Heckman and Yosvany (both on Toshiba) came over the top, Adam right on board in third wheel. He got a little boxed in at the end, but managed 12th place, while I completely blew on the last lap and rolled in dead last of the 40 guys who finished the race.

It was great to have the team up on the podium in a tough race, and confirmed our abilities in the USA Crits series with Adam moving up into 3rd overall and Time Pro Cycling 2nd in the team overall classification, nipping at the heels of Toshiba! Our main goals for the rest of the season include the USA Crits series, U23 Nationals in Los Angeles, CA, USPRO Criterium Nationals in Downers Grove, IL, and the Univest Grand Prix in eastern Pennsylvania.

Early on in the race, first corner . . .

Stoop tries a move without much help.

Sitting in the front 15 early on.

Later on it got dark, and the chase began.

Boy did it begin!

I think I was going after a prime or something . . . it is all a blur.

In the heat of the chase now.

A Time among Toshibas . . .

It felt like I never really got OFF the front the entire race. Here below is a nice leadout sequence with 2 laps to go . . .

Then with one to go Heckman came over the top with Yosvany and Myerson on third wheel . . .

I was definitely hurting a little here.

The Gutt definitely earned his 2nd place and put Time in a good spot!

What a sprint!

The Gutt up there in 2nd with the big boys (and me admiring the scenery :-)

All in all, a good showing by Time Pro Cycling. This coming weekend we are traveling to Louisville, Kentucky for the Metro Police Force NRC race on Saturday and another big-money criterium on Sunday. It is not on the USA Crits series, but only 7 hours away, so we are going to RIP!

Thanks for reading.

Tour of PA, here we come!

Amanda and I strike a pose in front of my newly-acquired 2006 Vespa GT200 (it does indeed hit 90mph on the freeway!)

an inopportune photo at Cap Formals in May

After a tough Nature Valley, where most of the team was fried after Philly Week and 20+ hours in the van, I have taken some rest and recovered quite well. I am the only guy doing both Nature Valley and Tour of PA, but I have been building back to form after my car accident on May 5th so hopefully Nature Valley has helped me get that old pain threshold back up there!

I have been living at our sponsor Jamie Bennette's under-construction house for the past week, all by myself because the guys are either in Austin for the USA Crit or at the Tour of Ohio. It has been a bit lonely, but very relaxing and restful--especially with Jamie's sick TV, PS3, Blu-Ray movies and espresso machine! It has been very nice to just relax, get my bike all fixed up, and mentally prepare for the team's biggest race all season.

I am going into this race, and the entire season, a bit off my game after the accident. I am extremely lucky that I have even been able to do all of my scheduled races, much less walk, so I am looking at everything as a positive. I am really focusing on learning how to race at the top level of domestic cycling (and it isn't really even domestic at all if you look at the riders!), and as Erik and Jamie have told me lately, "cycling is not a fitness sport!". I have always approached cycling as a test of strength, but I am finding that at the top level, everyone is within a few percent of everyone else! You can have great legs one day, bad legs the next, but the winner is ultimately the smartest rider--the one who best uses his own energy, the energy of his teammates, and the energy of his competitors, to win the race. I have not been in many races where I was not one of the strongest 10 riders . . . it is definitely a learning experience to not even be one of the fast guys and then have to figure out how to contest the race!

I am a young rider, and this is really my first season doing NRC races even though I have been strong enough to participate in them for a few years. This lack of experience has reminded me of the primary reason I joined TIME Pro Cycling--it is a development team focused on teaching fast, strong young riders how to race their bikes in the top events in the U.S.

Thanks for reading--I have to ride out to Auto Shades where our team van is ready to pick up after getting the windows blacked-out!

In the meantime, check out this excellent article describing the Tour of PA (and you can watch it every night on Versus at 6PM est (Tuesday through Sunday).

Somerville, Philly week, and now Nature Valley and a monsoon

Wow has it been a long time! So much has happened, but I will just do a quick summary:

After getting back from the Time camp, I finished finals and moved out of the dorm with help from my dad who flew in for the weekend. That was a GREAT time! We had some nice dinners and some good racing, my first since the crash in May 5th.

I did the Hills of Somerset road race on Saturday: INSANE rolling enclosure, single-loop RR with some serious hills in the second half which I did not end up doing due to a flat, so I just sat in the sag van for 2 hours and watch :-(

Then I did the Bound Brook criterium on Sunday: cool flat course with a chicane, basically just worked a lot at the end to bring back a 12-man break then sprinted in for a measly 14th but felt pretty decent.

The weekend culminated with the Somerville Criterium on Memorial Day. We had a full Time team and were ready to win. We did a great job setting up a leadout train, just did it a few laps early and had nothing left with 4 to go when Colavita and Inferno set up a great couple of trains. Our sprinters Adam Meyerson, Tom Soladay, Eric Barlevav, and David Guttenplan were all positioned very well in the top 20, but all either crashed out or almost crashed out in the last three laps. Our only success was The Gutt wining the $500 gambler's prime on the penultimate lap. We got some good press for it, though!

On Wednesday I did the Ricola Twilight Criterium in Basking Ridge, NJ with the Time team there as well as Kelly, Type 1, Inferno, Batley Harley Davidson, and Dominique Rollin (who won, of course!). It was a super hard race, but we did pretty well in the final getting 10th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, and 26th when only 40 guys finished out of ~100! That is a great course, very technical, and hard to do with a healing collarbone, but I could tell it was getting better every day.

We then drove down to Richmond, VA to stay with Mike Stoop, and I went to Virginia Beach to pick up my 2006 Vespa 250cc scooter from my good friend Amanda Scott. Again, AWESOME time! It was great to see her (haven't seen her since skiing together with Nicole Clarke after Christmas last year out in Breck, CO). We had a nice Italian dinner with her parents and then I crash that night before driving the scooter back to Stoop's house the next morning . . . that was a scary and exhilarating experience, to say the least. I was drafting trucks at 80mph, having a blast and getting a sunburn. Good times.

Since then, the team has been up at Stoop's parents' house in Philly doing the CSC Invitational, Allentown, Reading, and Philly races. I only did the latter two after resting up from my previous week of races. These races are the biggest, highest-quality fields that we will see all year, and it was SICK racing against High Road, Liquigas, Slipstream, and some of the other top teams in country and the world. We held our own and were aggressive, but Daniel Ramsey definitely came through for the team with some excellent performances, finishing Reading just behind the front group and making the early break in Philly.

The races were insanely fast, but to be honest it was the heat that got to me the most. The legs were good on Sunday for Philly, and I even crested The Wall in the top 10 the first time up, when EVERYONE wanted to be in the top 10, and I was hoping the break would go then (see my power file picture below for the first time up The Wall).

Unfortunately, it didn't go until three laps in, when I had been toasted after following a big move into the base of The Wall and struggling to just get up to the top. The early break went and Dan was in there, so we were psyched, but my core temperature was basically a ticking time bomb . . . the top teams were getting socks with ice in them to put down their jerseys, as well as fresh frozen bottles of water each lap, while I basically couldn't get feeds and ran out of anything to drink, much less pour on myself. I detonated after breaking my rear Zipp 404 leading into the finish and chasing back onto a 30+ mph field and catching just 2 miles before the 7th time up The Wall. You know it's over when you can't get your heart rate below 160 even when coasting and you TT at 172! It was definitely the coolest race I have done in a LONG time, and a great experience.

After crashing at the race hotel Sunday night, we (Dan, Tom, The Gutt, and Duncan) drove in the van from Philly to Minneapolis all day Monday and part of Tuesday to race Nature Valley. It looks like a sweet race, I have never done it before, but it feels like home up here! The parents are coming up from Des Moines for the TT and crit Friday, and then the final Stillwater monster on Sunday. Unfortunately the midwest has been having monsoon conditions with rivers cresting their Flood of '93 levels and much more rain expected these next two days. Should be interesting racing!!! I'll try to get some good race updates as the stages go by. Thanks a lot for reading!

U23 Camp went off with a bang!

I just got back last night after a great weekend of testing, riding, and talking with other under-23 cyclists at the Time Pro Cycling U23 camp. It was a great time for all involved: we learned a lot (the 3 Ps: Performance, Personal motivation, and Professionalism), rode a lot (Conconi test, three outdoor time trials, and a mass-start hillclimb up Pilot Knob!), and chilled a lot (excellent dinner at the Magic Mushroom with Jamie Bennette, another dinner with all the guys at Biaggi's Italian restaurant).

I had a ridiculous night/day of travel on Friday with a 6:15AM flight, meaning a 3:30AM taxi/train/shuttle to the airport. Then Erik and the guys picked me up in the big green van and we were off to Per4mance Training for a fun Conconi ramp test. The guys were super motivated and I hear that we pulled off some excellent numbers, but Erik and Pat wanted everyone to be friends, not competitors, so the numbers were kept secret. After some excellent Italian, we all shacked up with the Hawthorne Inn, a quaint hotel in Winston-Salem with EXCELLENT staff and a great breakfast buffet!

Going further with the them of "keeping us on our toes," Erik had us out in the parking lot the next morning at 7AM for an unknown ride. The roads are AMAZING in Winston, and I am psyched to be living with Jamie this summer and will have some excellent training. We headed out for an hour before pulling off into a parking lot and being told the plan: a time trial of 3-5 miles, straight on a rolling course, with a finish line wherever Erik decided to stop the Durango! I set the benchmark, which was probably not a shining effort after just getting back on the bike Wednesday with a broken collarbone, but I raced it nonetheless. The TT took just over 7 minutes, then we rode back to the same parking lot for another, longer one. Then we rode back again for yet ANOTHER, final TT that would be the same as the first.

This protocol was done in an effort to see how consistent people were, how they fatigued, how familiarity with the course affected their rides, etc. Pretty interesting, as I cut 15 seconds off my first time. I know I was super tired, and the more tired I get the longer it takes me to "open up" to race pace efforts, so I guess it is what I expected. Then we all rode back to the hotel for some lunch and then a lot of time in the conference room in the afternoon.

My roommate Will, a mountain-biker-turned-roadie from Lees-Mecrae, is a very gregarious guy and was always keeping me in good spirits throughout lunch and basically keeping a smile on my face at all times. We had some nice pitas and headed up to the conference room where Pat and Erik talked at length about what it takes to race for a living, what riders should look for in a team, what teams expect from their riders, etc. We also heard from John Gamble, the owner and founder of Dedicated Athlete, best known for their super product Ep-No!. He told us about nutrition and refueling both on the bike and off. Then I wrapped things up with a little speech about how I have been able to go to school full time and also improve as a cyclist and get onto Time Pro Cycling. I hope it wasn't a snoozer! I think some of the guys got a bit out of it, because I definitely talked one-on-one with quite a few of them afterwards and I am giving out my email and cell to them all for future questions.

After a quick nap we all went to the Magic Mushroom for an excellent pizza dinner, and Jamie Bennette, our team's main sponsor and behind-the-scenes man, sat at my table and talked to us a lot about what things were like back in the day. It is pretty cool to hear about how they raced back then, sleeping in cars at the race and couch surfing, racing just to eat, etc. I have great respect for them and it really gives me a good perspective when things get tough.

Sunday's 7AM ride was again unknown, but we were accompanied by John and Jay, a supporter of the team and the owner of a sick local bike shop, respectively. They led us on some beautiful roads out to Pilot Knob where we had a mass-start hillclimb! Ouch--but not too bad for me since I went up solo 7 minutes ahead of the pack to get times! I definitely needed that, as the legs were TOASTED--thanks, Pat! The top finishers were quite impressive and unexpected, and it really gave us some good information along with Saturday's time trial results and Friday's Conconi test. The climb is pretty sweet, with an inconsistent pitch and beautiful forest surrounding it--I was in the 27 most of the time (broken collarbone=NO PULLING ON THE BARS!) and it takes 12-15 minutes to climb depending on pace (and abilities!).

Sunday was followed by a great talk with Ronny "the Rocket". He was around in Davis Phinney's days, from '72 to the mid-80's, but he still races and is basically an amazingly experienced, talented, super-fast racer. He won literally hundreds of races, 12-15 a season, at the highest levels, and it was very cool to hear about him and absorb his advice: stick with it, Stick With It, STICK WITH IT! The Rocket also told us how to make connections and how incredibly important it is to build a solid reputation, thank your sponsors and promoters and fans, and be a professional no matter what. Then Pat and Erik talked more about racing tactics and we even ran through hypothetical race situations. Those guys have so many years of racing experience that you can't help but learn from them, which is one of the main reasons I joined Time Pro Cycling, and I know the guys got a lot out of that talk. Then Erik finished things off by giving us a talk about doping and making choices, as well as his own experiences in Europe, before making an open offer to help each and every rider at the camp in the next year with racing, getting to races, making connections, getting experience, etc.

All in all, it was an excellent camp and I had a blast--the guys really impressed me, and it is super encouraging to me personally to know that I can give advice and act as somewhat of a role model to other riders. It really motivates me and keeps me honest and professional when things are tough.

Now I just have to get through my last final this Thursday and I am home free!!! Next big race: June 3rd, the Commerce Bank Lehigh Valley Classic!

USAF Classic went well, but the morning after was not as fun!

Hey friends,

A lot has happened to me since May 1: the team and I killed it at the US Air Force Classic, I was almost killed the morning after by a car passing a bus and broadsiding me, I was back on the bike 48 hours later and on a plane to Nationals in CO 72 hours after the crash, I supported the Princeton team and road in the mountains a couple days, then the body started to recover from the trauma and really caught up with me so I am now off the bike and trying to rest as much as possible.

The USAF Classic was balls-to-the-wall from the gun, and I was in 50% of the breaks for the first half of the race because the team thought for sure something would split off (look at time 13:24!)  After we tried desperately to get something established, it became apparent that every team needed the PERFECT break, so nothing would work, and instead it would be an insanely fast 95 miles in just over 3 hours.  The legs were great, and my form was really showing through . . .

Then the next morning, on a recovery spin, I was hit from the left while pulling out of a gas station.  The car was passing a bus, just flying, and could not see me until it was too late.  I hit the windshield with the whole left side of my body, from my knee to my forehead, and sustained a fractured (distal third) collarbone, lots of bruises, and a huge gash in my forehead with a bunch of glass for a souvenir.

I was rushed to the ER where I was worked upon by my good friend Lou d'Amelio, the head trauma surgeon and main man at the Capital Area Regional Trauma Center.  It was so great to be around a friend, and he made sure I was very well taken care of.  I also called my parents myself and made sure they heard the news from ME.  After a lot of CT scans, x-rays, morphine (hey, I'm allergic--who knew?), and stitches/glass removal, I was back at school in time for dinner, answering dozens of concerned emails through my trauma/pain-med-induced haze.

Since then, I have traveled to CO for Nationals with the Princeton Team (SOOOO hard to watch those races!!) and even gotten in some hard training on the bike (mistake: the body let me know a day or two later, and I have been off since trying to recover).  I go back in tomorrow for more x-rays (I am going to try to get some JPEGS to post!) and a recovery update.  It looks like I can train (once my overall system is healed and ready, probably another couple of days) but racing is out of the question for at least a couple weeks.  My goal is to be back in time for Philly week, which starts three weeks from today.

Now I have been working my butt off at school, getting a robot and its report finished with my best friends in Sol Cycles (yes, we do all of our group projects together!) as well as studying for two finals in the next week.

Thanks a lot for your wishes, I hope to be back soon and then get stronger and faster than ever!

Easterns win and US Air Force Cycling Classic on Sunday!

I'll keep this short because I need to go to bed.  Last weekend went very well--the Princeton team kicked things off with a decisive win by 30 seconds over Dartmouth in the Team Time Trial at their home weekend hosting the Eastern Conference Championships.  Then I went away solo in the crit after about 10 minutes and lapped the field before going off the front again to win it handily.  I was hacking up a storm as I had been sick for the past couple of days, but the legs went well and the team worked things to perfection!  It is a great feeling to finally get towards my racing form, and this win does a lot for my confidence going into my first season as a professional.  I was also psyched to see a new record 1hr normalized power of 390 watts, with 376 average, for a nice FTP of 5.20 watts/kg.  Not bad for a big time-trialist!

On Sunday the road race from Hell began: 102 miles and two 1500 foot climbs each time around the two laps.  Nick Bennette and I pulled out 65 miles in to keep from burying ourselves, while Austin trucked away in the front group before going into the sprint blindly and finishing in the middle of what was left of the field.

I have been taking it super easy this week and am now feeling excellent!  I have been doing a lot with school and Sol Cycles so it has not been a stress-free rest week, but the legs are feeling completely fresh now.  I will do some openers tomorrow, then drive down to Arlington, VA on Saturday afternoon for the US Air Force Cycling Classic.  This is a USA Pro Tour race, UCI 1.2, with all the major teams from Georgia.  It is 150km on a 12.5km circuit with only one 100 foot hill in there at about 5%.  Basically it will be a super-fast circuit race but probably finish in a sprint.  I am excited to do my first BIG race with TIME, including Jon Hamblen, Dan Ramsey, Tom Soladay, Jered Gruber, Erik Barlevav, and Andy Baker.

Here is a map and profile of the course.  It looks pretty sweet, as it travels around the Pentagon and includes the Armed Forces memorial roundabout!

I'll have an update after this Sunday.

AHHHHH, FORM!

Sorry for not posting for 3 weeks--it has been a very busy time!  I will keep this one short in anticipation of a longer one after Easterns at Dartmouth this weekend.

First of all: Sol Cycles is in the Daily Princetonian!

Second of all: I got 11th at Battenkill after leading out the sprint!  I was one of only 19 guys to make the final selection . . . the race was awesome and went very well for me, I am definitely finding my racing legs.  In case you have never heard of this race, here is a great description from Cyclingnews.com:

Largest one-day US race set for April

The 2008 Tour of the Battenkill Cycling Race in Salem, New York has become the largest one-day race in the United States, organisers announced Thursday. With 1200 current registrants, the race has already surpassed Monterey California's Sea Otter Classic, and more than 1600 racers from across the US and Canada are expected to race on April 19.

The event, which is hosted in cooperation with the Towns & Villages of the Battenkill Valley will benefit Farm Team Cycling of Cambridge – an area Junior-level cycling team, and the Public Libraries of Southern Washington County, NY. Starting and finishing in the rural village of Salem, New York the race features one of the most challenging and unique race courses on the North American calendar with a single 55 mile loop, rolling countryside, direct passes through small villages, covered bridges, and the un-paved roads that have become the race's trademark.

Challenging sections of the course include Juniper Swamp Road in the Town of Salem – a 1/4 mile un-paved climb with a 15% grade, Meeting House and Becker Roads in Easton – four very difficult un-paved climbs that come late in the course, and the challenging climb up Willard Mountain at mile 30.

The Elite and Professional Men will race on an extended 82 mile course that will feature the rarely-traveled McKie Hollow Road in the Town of White Creek – a half-mile unpaved climb that averages 12-15% in grade, and a final seven mile circuit in the Town of Salem. Along the way, racers will pass directly through the Villages of Cambridge and Greenwich giving spectators several opportunities to see the race.

There are 17 separate races from Junior to Professional Men's & Women's races. Among the Professional teams attending are the Advil/Chapstick Women's Professional Cycling Team, Kenda/Raleigh Men's Cycling Team, Calyon-Litespeed Professional Cycling of Montreal, Target Training Elite Development Team, Team RACE Professional Cycling of Ontario, Fitness Together / IF pb Lionette's Men's Elite Cycling, MetLife Pro-Am Cycling, and VW/Trek of Quebec.

Third: I got 7th at the Lower Providence, PA criterium against a stacked field of Colavita and Rite-Aid riders after being off the front for 13 laps with Chris Ruhl (PA Lightning) and Luca Damiani (Colavita), with a 30 second gap, but Rite-Aid gradually pulled us back.  The final 10 laps had many attacks but the field was pretty much whittled down to Colavita, Rite-Aid, and a few guys not on those teams including my teammate Jackie Simes.  We worked well together covering moves, but it was gruppo compacto for the final lap.

I went into the fast penultimate turn in perfect position, 7th place, and knew that I was feeling really good for the uphill, headwind sprint after the final turn . . . until a car pulled onto course and I narrowly avoided DEATH by only ripping off its driver's mirror with my forearm and hip!  I then kept on the gas a bit and made it back up to the lead 6 guys for a decent placing . . . mostly I was just incredibly scared, grateful, and pissed about the car incident.

Here are some photos from theshutterworks.com:

After stringing out the field for the first few laps in pouring rain, the elastic snapped and Ruhl, Damiani and were were three for the road, getting up to 30 seconds.

We worked pretty well together, and put in a valiant effort, but the gap started to drop about 1 second per lap as some people chased hard . . .

Who missed the break??  OOOOH, Rite . . . ;-)

Rite-Aid set some tempo, and there were a few attacks in the final 8 laps, but we all came together in the end, just in time to almost crash into a car at 35mph.  I just tried to wait it out and make sure that any dangerous break had Jackie or me represented . . . and of course I know which sprinter's wheel to follow!

I should mention that the previous weekend was the Boston Beanpot, the best weekend of collegiate cycling all season.  We won the TTT handily, by over 40 seconds on a 20 minute course, and then later that Saturday we played our tactics to perfection, getting Nick Bennette off the front with Toby Marzot (Dartmouth) and Jamey Driscol (UVM) helping out--Bennette won.

Princeton: 2.  Everyone else: 0.

Then on Sunday we raced in the infamous Tufts Criterium, a very technical and extremely difficult race with a poorly-paved steep climb and some bad cobble crosswalks, not to mention a 30+mph downhill, off-camber second corner.  I had won this criterium every time I had done it, in 2006 as a freshman and in 2007 as a sophomore.  I knew the race was from the gun, with a break of strongmen always winning.  Ben Showman (Army) and I decided to go from the gun, and I got the holeshot and led the first lap at a blistering pace.  Then Ben came around for the second lap, and then we had only one more with us: Isaac Howe (UVM).  We worked well together, and were soon joined by Josh Lipka (Penn State).  We were just drilling it thinking the pack was close by, when after 20 minutes of racing we saw the pack . . . IN FRONT OF US!  We lapped the field, I quickly moved through to the front, and then we started attacking each other for pretty much the remainder of the race.

Josh countered one of my attacks, and everyone looked at each other and let him go for a little bit . . . give Josh a leash and HE IS GONE.  With the win already sealed up, I tried to get away a few more times, but in the end it came to a sprint and my legs were cooked, well-done.  I got 4th, but definitely had good sensations and put out a HUGE power file that now dwarfs every file I have previously recorded.

Princeton: 2.  Everyone else: 1.

SKETCHY second corner!

Three for the road . . . Ben, sorry about those wheels!  :-(

Four for the road . . . Josh is a beast.

Driving it through the chicane.

POWER FILES

Beanpot TTT . . . 351 average and 389 normalized for 20 minutes, not bad considering my ride at nationals last year was also 351 average but just 356 normalized!  We worked together very well, and even though we just had three guys (teams are four), second place was still WAY behind.

First five minutes of the Tufts Criterium--I TOLD you we went hard those first few laps!  420 average and 461 normalized are close to my highest ever five-minute recordings.

Tufts Criterium, the whole race.  Definitely the biggest hour I have ever done.  In the words of Mike Chauner, "that race was like a really hard test--you know it is going to suck and you just sit in your seat and do it."  I don't know that I have ever experienced that much pain during an exam, Mike . . .

The breakaway at Lower Providence with Chris Ruhl and Luca Damiani.  Notice the huge 30-second efforts: those were when I pulled from turn 4 through the uphill, strong-headwind finish and into turn 1, every single lap.  We worked pretty well together, but it was not to be :-(

Thanks a lot for reading, I will have some more updates after the Eastern Championships at Dartmouth this weekend and then fly down for the ARMED FORCES CIRCUIT RACE MAY 4TH IN D.C. WITH TIME PRO CYCLING!

AHHHHH, REST!

Well, right after camp I got down to business with some serious and seriously hard training . . . and forgot that I had scheduled 4 days easy/off at the tail end of Spring Break!  Now I am not one to declare that I can predict the future, but I know myself pretty well by now and I NEEDED that break in order to build back up through April and race strong in the Armed Forces circuit race on May 4th.

I went really easy on Wednesday and Thursday for around an hour or so, and was WHIPPED!  I could barely get up from my chair to mess around with this stupid robot that the Fantastic Four (Sol Cycles founders, Tom Yersak, Will Watts, and Doug Wolf, that is!) had to get to autonomously follow a light.  That is a whole other story that is too depressing to talk about now . . . let's just say that not ALL of our classes are stimulating and inspiring!

So I do some good openers on Friday morning and then we all caravan to State College, PA for what should have been an AWESOME weekend of racing: tons of climbing in a decently-long road race, a sweet and windy ITT Sunday morning (short, but hey, I'll take any ITT!), and then a cool 60-minute crit later that afternoon.  Well, after crashing <10>

Then things got interesting: I took Tylenol on an empty stomach, after a demanding race, and then by dinner time I was feeling the need to pray to the porcelain gods.  Well, none were to be found, but an alleyway outside the race banquet suited me just fine!  Needless to say, I missed dinner and had to cram down some gas station sandwiches just before a terrible night's sleep on sore hips and road rash before waking up at 6:30AM to suit up and warm-up in sub-freezing weather for a prologue TT.  Yeah, this is collegiate racing.

I was throwing up in my mouth while pre-riding the TT course, and wisely decided to call it off before it started.  I cruised back around town found some breakfast, then went back to our awesome host house and proceeded to crash on their futon for over 3 hours.  The whole day is pretty hazy to me--I was just completely whipped from a too-long stint of training and racing, some serious stress from school and crashing, and not enough sleep in the previous few days.

As cyclists, we tend to push through things because to get good, you have to know how.  That said, it is very important to listen to one's body and think days and weeks ahead and KNOW how different training and races are going to affect you, as well as quantifying non-cycling stresses which play just as large a role in your performance.  After looking at my performance manager and seeing the blue Chronic Training Load line just flat for a long time, near my peak-to-date of 135 training stress points per day, that tells me a lot: I have been holding on to a lot of fitness for too long without a break and another build-up period.  I know I could have stayed with that front group up the climb because when I was with them and watching the watts, they were easily 40-60 below what I can do for 20 minutes.  However, I could definitely NOT do it that day!

Now I know what to watch out for in the future, and I know at least a ballpark limit for myself: when I get above 130 TSS/day, I should only hold it for a week or two at most before taking a nice break and recovering.  Your fitness as an elite cyclist is not the kind of "fitness" that 99% of the populations talks about--rather, it is an incredibly high level of stress that your body has adapted to for a finite period of time.  The hardest part of cycling is not getting to that point, it is figuring out how to arrive at that point on or during your most important events, and then doing it multiple times throughout the season.  I am not talking of a "peak" because those are often far too difficult to predict, I am just talking of having an overall form of 7+ on a scale of 1-10.  From there, you just have to do a lot of events and know that you will really hit it out of the park in only a couple.  It is a LONG season, after all!

By the way, look for big things from Sol Cycles in the coming couple of months . . . those bamboo bikes are getting quite a lot of interest!