Hey All,
I am now officially back in the mix of things here in LA. Between graduating High School in next week, USA Nationals in a month, and training like hell, my schedule is pretty packed right now.
Now, last month I race in the 2009 Vlaamse Ardennen Jr. Stage Race. This included 3 days of 4 stages, as well as a team time trial.
The USA National Team was comprised of Ian Boswell, Juan Carmona, Ian Moir, Anders Newbury, and myself.
Day 1: 115 k. Road Race.
4 loops around a pretty flat course, then 5 more loops around a bigger course with a bit of a hill in it. Long story short. I grabbed a great starting position on the starting line. Only took about 25 minutes to get it. ;D The race began, good pace. About half way through, I got in a break. Legs weren't having it and dropped back towards the field, with the breakaway falling back soon after. I drifted back towards the caravan in search of a bottle. Then some kid crashed in front of me, broke my derailleur...seeing as that my team car was in front of me at that point, my day was pretty much done. The commissaires allowed me to advance to the next day, as they did with just about everybody else in the field. Not sure what their motives were, probably seeing as that there was a team time trial the final day, and you need a minimum of 3 starters.
Day 2: 110 k. Road Race.
Felt superb going into it, as well as catching some of the Belgian heat. Funny thing is, the Euros don't like the heat that much...I thrive in it. 8 loops around a mostly flat course with some technical turns, and a 1 1/2 kilometer climb. Legs were GREAT. Stayed towards the front the entire time. 2 to go, some kid sitting on me decided to whip his bike around me to cut me off...taking himself out. Wouldn't have cared as much if only he didn't crash me out as well in the process, not to mention we were halfway through the climb. I almost killed this kid. My chances of winning were kaput. My bars were bent like hell out of shape, front wheel out of true. Probably some blood coming out of my ears for being so angry. Spent the next lap suffering through the caravan, trying to get back on the peloton. Tried really, really hard. Then popped with one to go. I rolled up to the commissaire with the caravan long gone...he said I could yet again start the next day. Ugh, it still pisses me off just thinking about all that.
Day 3: 9 k. Team Time Trial, 80 k. Road Race.
The road bike got fixed up, the trial bike put together. All of us started, my legs...not so hot. Went as long as I could, led the team up the 2nd to last climb, and exploded. My job was done. We took 4th...1/2 a second off of 2nd place. Bummer. Now for the Road Race. 8 loops around a 10k. course with some minor bumps...nothing threatening. Legs were pretty darn beat after the morning, and two day before. The team and I had plenty of time to kill before our race, so we checked out the other Jr. team racing at 3 Days of Axel. I was completely out of it, and slept most of the time. My body was screaming for attention. The kind of attention that includes a bed. We left the Axel race, which by some circumstance was only 4 k. away (fighting
I am now officially back in the mix of things here in LA. Between graduating High School in next week, USA Nationals in a month, and training like hell, my schedule is pretty packed right now.
Now, last month I race in the 2009 Vlaamse Ardennen Jr. Stage Race. This included 3 days of 4 stages, as well as a team time trial.
The USA National Team was comprised of Ian Boswell, Juan Carmona, Ian Moir, Anders Newbury, and myself.
Day 1: 115 k. Road Race.
4 loops around a pretty flat course, then 5 more loops around a bigger course with a bit of a hill in it. Long story short. I grabbed a great starting position on the starting line. Only took about 25 minutes to get it. ;D The race began, good pace. About half way through, I got in a break. Legs weren't having it and dropped back towards the field, with the breakaway falling back soon after. I drifted back towards the caravan in search of a bottle. Then some kid crashed in front of me, broke my derailleur...seeing as that my team car was in front of me at that point, my day was pretty much done. The commissaires allowed me to advance to the next day, as they did with just about everybody else in the field. Not sure what their motives were, probably seeing as that there was a team time trial the final day, and you need a minimum of 3 starters.
Day 2: 110 k. Road Race.
Felt superb going into it, as well as catching some of the Belgian heat. Funny thing is, the Euros don't like the heat that much...I thrive in it. 8 loops around a mostly flat course with some technical turns, and a 1 1/2 kilometer climb. Legs were GREAT. Stayed towards the front the entire time. 2 to go, some kid sitting on me decided to whip his bike around me to cut me off...taking himself out. Wouldn't have cared as much if only he didn't crash me out as well in the process, not to mention we were halfway through the climb. I almost killed this kid. My chances of winning were kaput. My bars were bent like hell out of shape, front wheel out of true. Probably some blood coming out of my ears for being so angry. Spent the next lap suffering through the caravan, trying to get back on the peloton. Tried really, really hard. Then popped with one to go. I rolled up to the commissaire with the caravan long gone...he said I could yet again start the next day. Ugh, it still pisses me off just thinking about all that.
Day 3: 9 k. Team Time Trial, 80 k. Road Race.
The road bike got fixed up, the trial bike put together. All of us started, my legs...not so hot. Went as long as I could, led the team up the 2nd to last climb, and exploded. My job was done. We took 4th...1/2 a second off of 2nd place. Bummer. Now for the Road Race. 8 loops around a 10k. course with some minor bumps...nothing threatening. Legs were pretty darn beat after the morning, and two day before. The team and I had plenty of time to kill before our race, so we checked out the other Jr. team racing at 3 Days of Axel. I was completely out of it, and slept most of the time. My body was screaming for attention. The kind of attention that includes a bed. We left the Axel race, which by some circumstance was only 4 k. away (fighting
race promoters?), and headed to the line. The day was hot, real hot. The kind of hot that makes you feel your skin start to turn into beef jerky, as your waiting on the starting line for 1/2 an hour. The race official went crazy since there was such an early line up of riders (believe me, getting good starting position is intense) that cars could not pass by. They made the whole peloton get into a caged off area and wait. Like Cattle. My teammate Ian Boswell and I tried working the system and whipping around the cage as they would let out the herd of riders. Didn't work, the officials were catching on to our idea and watched us like hawks. Bastards.
The race went off. I started in lovely last position, next to my trusty teammate. Once there was a clear wide opening in the road, I took the luxurious sidewalk route with some other Belgians and hopped onto 3rd wheel. Pretty slick, ey? Didn't take much of any effort either. Spent the next lap just hanging out in the top 10. We pursued up one of the hills, or bumps should I say, and BAM! the legs felt like acid was being injected into them. My legs were tired, and this was their way of saying it. I drifted back...wayyy back. Like 3rd to last wheel back. Then made my
way to to our team car to say hi to our team director Ben Sharp. Thought he might be bored...kidding. My legs were just not having any of this, what seemed like a really bad joke with my body. I tried pacing and moving back up. WRONGO. I pedaled up to our feeder, Mario. He says, "This is much different than the track, eh?!" Typical. I don't think I'll ever quite understand those jokes. So yah, my weekend came to a close. Though having a rougher time than most, I used my sponge abilities to take in more knowledge than I could ever write in this report.
Totally great weekend. Plus, I obviously need to keep real expectations on my experience racing the road here. I am still getting the gist of things, and once I pay my dues as I have done on the track...there's no telling how great it will be!
My philosophy keeps a smile on my face...Whether you win or lose, if you learn a lot, you still get a prize. And it will really help you in the future. I left Belgium with the taste of excitement in my mouth. It was a completely incredible opportunity brought upon me by those at USA Cycling, and I would really like to thank them for all of their hard work.
I have a clear conscience about my fitness. So what if I had a grey cloud follow me on the second weekend. I am totally stoked to have won huge for Team USA, and now have the European road seed growing inside that is calling out for hard core racing. I am so pumped.
Thanks to everyone for all of their amazing support and guidance! More on the way...
The race went off. I started in lovely last position, next to my trusty teammate. Once there was a clear wide opening in the road, I took the luxurious sidewalk route with some other Belgians and hopped onto 3rd wheel. Pretty slick, ey? Didn't take much of any effort either. Spent the next lap just hanging out in the top 10. We pursued up one of the hills, or bumps should I say, and BAM! the legs felt like acid was being injected into them. My legs were tired, and this was their way of saying it. I drifted back...wayyy back. Like 3rd to last wheel back. Then made my
way to to our team car to say hi to our team director Ben Sharp. Thought he might be bored...kidding. My legs were just not having any of this, what seemed like a really bad joke with my body. I tried pacing and moving back up. WRONGO. I pedaled up to our feeder, Mario. He says, "This is much different than the track, eh?!" Typical. I don't think I'll ever quite understand those jokes. So yah, my weekend came to a close. Though having a rougher time than most, I used my sponge abilities to take in more knowledge than I could ever write in this report.Totally great weekend. Plus, I obviously need to keep real expectations on my experience racing the road here. I am still getting the gist of things, and once I pay my dues as I have done on the track...there's no telling how great it will be!
My philosophy keeps a smile on my face...Whether you win or lose, if you learn a lot, you still get a prize. And it will really help you in the future. I left Belgium with the taste of excitement in my mouth. It was a completely incredible opportunity brought upon me by those at USA Cycling, and I would really like to thank them for all of their hard work.
I have a clear conscience about my fitness. So what if I had a grey cloud follow me on the second weekend. I am totally stoked to have won huge for Team USA, and now have the European road seed growing inside that is calling out for hard core racing. I am so pumped.
Thanks to everyone for all of their amazing support and guidance! More on the way...
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