yep, it's that time again

Sunday: San Diego, CA, 74 degrees

Monday: Asheville, NC, 42 degrees

Tuesday: Banner Elk, NC, 19 degrees

FANTASTIC!!!

California

I've been in California for a week, staying with C-dub. The weather has been great, and certainly better than in North Carolina. So, we've been riding a lot to take advantage of it before we head back to the east coast for the spring semester. We spent a few days in San Diego, and now we're in Warner Springs. Which to me, is the desert. Riding is a little harder here, it is really dry and feels warmer than it is. But tomorrow we head back to San Diego for one last day, before our flight on monday.

I am about to start my last two semesters of college, and luckily this semester doesn't look to daunting. So, hopefully I will have more time to ride and race than I did last semester.

I will try and get some pictures up soon, since text posts are not too interesting.

addio,

e

just an update

Well I haven't posted in an eternity it seems. I've had to devote a lot of energy to school this semester. I am still in the process of working out a team for next year. I should have the final word in the next weeks.

I've been in the weight room a little bit, and on the bike a little bit. training will prick up a lot as soon as december rolls around.

I'd like to thank the Capri-Foundation and Joe Carpisassi for everything last season.

til next time

e

tour de toona report: a really GOOD day

well it's old news by now, but heres the official toona report. me and carson drove up to altoona pa and took part in the 3-stage cat2 race. We drove up a day in advance so we could ride the 9 hour drive out of our legs. so we explored nearby duncansville and holidaysburgs. stage was is a super fast, rolling course mainly through a bunch of fields, but you come through a residential area for the start finish, so theres six 90 degree turns in the last km. i crashed with three turns to go last year in the rain when someone slide out, so i decided to try and conserve and get up there if the oppertunity presented itself. i got through the stage well, but a lot of those guys take that race extremely seriously, and despite several attempts, getting good position leading into the last km wasn't going to happen without really getting aggressive. so i stuck to the flat and cruised in, in 51st i think.

stage two is a beast that goes over blue knob ski resort, with a total of four 5km climbs, all in the last 35 miles. blue knob ended my hopes last year, and it took everything i had this year as well, i really struggled the first 2km, and had to claw my way up, and bridge several dropped groups, and had a really good final km, and went over the top in the third group, 10 seconds behind the second group of 12, and 20 seconds behind the leading group of 18 or so. I had a teammate, Rob Mcconnville with me, and our group worked well together thankfully, and we bridged to the second group within a few miles, and then quickly rejoined the leaders. this made the lead group about 45 riders strong, so we dispensed of a good 40 riders on blue knob. the next two climbs are a true 5km, and aren't as steep and blue knob. the second climb starts really gradual, and then the last km really kicks up and again, i suffered a lot on the steeper section, but made it over in the group, and we lost another 4-10 guys. the third climb is almost identical, gradual intro and ended with a brutal final km, i felt great on this climb and rode comfortably in the top 10 across the top. this is when all the training in Banner Elk starts to pay off i guess haha. a 6 man break got away somewhere first before the third climb and was maintaining a 40 second gap across it, and into the valley, and by the final climb, they had 2 minutes. the lead group was down to about 30 tired guys, the pace on the final climb didn't pick up until the final 3km when we went through 20km to go, a couple guys attacked and really stretched out the group, and instantly put some riders into the red. i surprisingly handled the acceleration well, despite having a hard time with that all year. the final km, like the previous climbs, the road kicked up a bit, and i feel like everyone was on the rivet, and a few guys were driving it, and it was really stretching out and i made the desicion to conserve since it was going to be a very select group for the sprint, i'd take my chances there. across the top there is a nice extended plateau through a small village and come guys hammer across, and i took two really hard pulls too to try and keep anyone from rejoining before the decent. after that, there is a 12km decent to the line, and the group was down to 21 riders. the sprint is really wide, 4 lanes, and very slightly downhill aka not my thing, but i was pretty confident, there were some attacks in the final km but nothing was going to get away, the sprint was pretty drawn out and chaotic, and i didn't judge it well, and only managed 8th from the group, slotting me in 15th overall. which despite the reality of the potential 7th i was sprinting for, i am really pleased with since last year i got dropped on blue knob and finished 64th. i find myself a lot, debating aggressive vs conservation, i have chosen conservation a lot this year it seems, because i've been subjected to some big races like tour of virginia and u23 nats where i have been racing over my head. and i feel that generally i can out climb the sprinters, and out sprint the climbers, but can't match the purists of any disipline. looking back at the blue knob race, i wish i'd of driven it up the final climb and worked the group down to 7-8 riders and sacrificed my sprint. but it is easy to say things like that looking back. there is always next year.

we rolled into downtown altoona for the stage three criterium, 20 minutes before our start, for no other reason than we are really lazy haha. but we got ready and got to the line, and took off with no warmup. luckily after two killer days in the saddle, you're pretty open and warmed up anyway. so i made and plan to stay where i was, in the back, and ride for 6 laps to get warmed up before i started moving forward. this worked out well, and ten laps in, i was sitting in the top 25. but much like the technical circuit race friday, the locals were taking huge risks in the corners, something i was a little hesitant to do. but it's the last day, i'm young and heal fast right? so the last five laps were crazy and i was determined to get up there and contest it, i worked my way into about 25th wheel and there was a small crash in the final corner before 3 laps to go, i got through it really cleanly on the inside, and had to close a 2 second gap, but the chaos moved me into about 10th wheel. i haven't previously mentioned that i had nursed a broken seat rail through the circuit race and road race, that i broke on our ride in holidaysburg before the start. well literally over the line with 2 laps to go, the other one broke! so the nose of my seat went down, and was only being held on by the railings behind the clamp, so i could sit my weight really far back on the seat in the turns and then had to stand through the straights. anyone that rides knows, two laps of mostly standing kills you haha, but i suffered through it and only lost ten spots and finished 21st i believe.

so it wasn't a tremendous weekend results wise, but overall i am really pleased with how it went. I got through safely after crashing twice last year. and improved greatly on my position each day and overall. and just as important, this race was really fun and altoona is an cool litlte town.

I just got moved in up at school, and will enjoy one more free weekend before the collegiate mtb season starts. and the search for a new team begins as well. some small negotiations have come up, but nothing serious by any means. hopeully something will work out. til next time,

e

uno mais foto espoir nationales

Espoir Nats and French Broad Classic

The finish of the tim trial at u23 nationals, it went okay. The course was open and wide and straight, with four turn-arounds! and it was fairly windy aka not really my kinda time trial but I think I managed 63rd. The most frustrating thing was that I couldn't line up at TT helmet, it kinda sucks not to have the proper equipment for nationals but whatever.
Mr Tollesson navigating the third turn-around. I was his minute man, so needless to say, I eventually saw him out on the course. Felt like the old LMC days!
Me negotiating the third turn-around, not to stoked about having to start the sweet slight grade without precious momentum haha.
In the start house. Ready to rock.

The road race went ok as well, I don't have any pics unfortunately but I managed to get through in the second group, in 81st place. Not stellar, but I was pleased to have finished and have a vibe that I was getting back on track.

My home race in Asheville was last weekend, the French Broad Cycling Classic. The time trial was brutally windy for the early starters, which included me, because I was too lazy to register early haha. So I was on a great pace until the turnaround, but didnt have the power to fight the headwind, and only ended up beating my time from last year by 1 second. But, my placing was higher...15th. I felt GREAT in the road race, "no chain" as Hincapie says. But in almost identical fashion to last year, I got a little excited and instead of waiting for the field sprint, I attacked with 1km to go...and got caught 50m from the line, sucked, but the reality of racing bikes. there was a break off, so it was only for 5th anyway. But it is frustrating to feel so good in front of your home crowd and not come up with the goods. But it's only one race after all. I ended up 15th, again. I'll just keep hoping one year they decide to make the race longer. please. haha. The course is really flat, and I actually really like it a lot, I do time trial practice on the exact loop that we raced. But unfortunately, when the course is easy, I need it to be long to really excel. One day...I'll win it.

The crit is a super tough course that I managed a very good result at last year, but this time around it was a suffer fest, there is a really sharpe turn before the climb, so you hit the climb at like 10mph and have to sprint up it every lap, and it worked me over pretty good. I couldn't do much more than sit in and survive. Amazingly....15th place, yes, again. Worst case senario, I can call my weekend performance consistant haha.

I am In Altoona PA right now, for the Tour de Toona. I'll do a TdT post as soon as it's over and I get some pics. Stay tuned

e

the new mtb

this is my new mountain bike, i just got it built this weekend. BMC aluminum frame, carbon rear triangle, cane creek zonos wheels, sid race, avid juicy brakes, filled out with xtr and sram x.o. weighs in at 22.8 lbs.

if i can get the engine in a little better shape maybe it can do some damage this fall on the collegiate circuit.

3 weeks?

well i've got three weeks of race-free atmosphere. my ribs are doing better, but i am going to have to pass on the Soto Memorial stage race, which sucks because it was one of my goals, but life goes on. i had a free weekend scheduled after that anyway, which fits my three week "no racing" period the docs conjured up. so i'll get going again June 6th at the TT at Lowes Motor Speedway, then the Roan Mountain RR June 9th. I'll try and get some fotos up since text posts aren't too exciting.

bustED

well. the road race went like this: flatted on 1.5 mile gravel sector first thing. got a wheel, in the pack, no biggie. Felt good, entered the feedzone 8th wheel, got a feed, while my hand was still off my bar someone tapped my front wheel, i over corrected and crashed, landed on my bike and a few guys piled ontop of me. got the wind knocked out of me, some bruising on my chest and back, nothing much. bent my frame, broke my front shifter. dnf.

yesterday i went and talked to a doctor cause my chest was giving me some trouble. word is i crushed some of the cartilidge that connects my ribs to my sternum. GREAT. but not much i can do other than load up on ibprofen and rest, it's supposed to hurt for three weeks. bummer. so i have some uninvited restdays coming up, but shouldn't affect any races, since i wasn't scheduled to race this weekend anyway. and i still plan on lining up at the Soto Memorial stage race May 25-28.

Team Time Trial

the first event of collegiate nationals is in the books. it was mildly successful. one of our girls flatted at about the halfway point which is terrible luck, but they rode well to seventh place in DI.

by the time the guys lined up it was super hot. our team hadn't done much training together prior to the last few days but we worked pretty well together we just didn't go fast enough, we rode the hills pretty well but on the final five miles of flat we were struggling. when we finished we had the third best time posting 24:50, but fell to 13th by the end of the day. I was the only returner from last years national championship team and i think i should of been able to carry more of the weight on my shoulders this year but it was a good learning experience and something to build off of since we'll have all four guys back next year. ttt life is a little harder when you don't have Bookwalter buring it at 32 for extended periods of time. we're sitting 8th overall in the team omnium right now, not where we wanted, but out best events are to come, so we'll take another look after tomorrows road race.

we'll be back next year to contest for the win.

the road race is going to be super dynamic. part of the course is flooded so they are re-routing us across 1.5 miles of gravel. it is going to be crazy, that section is just after the 1.25 mile dam we have to ride across, with only a nice hill inbetween them. that section will make the race.

Channel 6 Interview: Collegiate Road Nationals

watch my interview here

Eve of TTT

another day in kansas in the books. early this morning we indulged in some continental breakfast, then the mens and womens TTT teams piled into the bus and drove the course. Then we came back to the hotel and got dressed, drove back to the course and rode it twice. we did two ten minute efforts with the team, rotating at 80%. Then we did two 4 minute max cadence efforts to get the legs good and open. I feel pretty good, and the team looks solid. we should have a good ride.

we then ate at chipotle, aka i walked to subway haha. and then we went to the host hotel and took care of registration, which went very smoothly and fast for such an event. i was impressed. and while we were there i got interviewed by channel 6 news which was kind of cool, it airs tonight so i'll get to see how pro and diplomatic i can pretend to be. still no fotos but i am working on it.

over and out

KANSAS

well after 14 hours of driving the LMC team has made it to Lawrence Kansas. We just went out and rode for 2 hours, the TTT did some rotating and practiced a few turn arounds. The legs feel pretty good, but not great after all the driving. The TTT is friday and the RR is sunday, then i get to help the guys that are doing the criterium on sunday. more updates to follow and i'll try and get some fotos as well.

Lowe's Motor Speedway Time Trial

the LMC team made the drive down the charlotte for the TT. the orignial plan was for us to do Team Time Trial practice and me not race, but we didn't get there early enough to do practice, so i decided to race since i was there. it went okay, all seven laps were within 3 seconds of each other. official results aren't up yet, but i have me at 20:28 unofficially. that's 1:10 faster than i did last year, and it is only early May, that has to be a good sign?

TOV

well my Tour of Virginia adventure ended on the third stage. I had a dissappointing TT, where i just couldn't get my legs rolling for a 3.6 mile effort. In the stage 2 crit, I felt great just sat in on the difficult course and finished same time, just as planned which moved me up 23 places on GC. Stage 3 was a road stage with three categorized climbs, two cat 3s, then a cat 1. I made it over the first climb okay, near the back but not in the red. then there were at least two climbs that weren't categorized that sure felt like they should of been, and I was wearing down and dropped off the back on the second one. then managed some very uneffective use of the caravan to try and get back into the pack, blew a lot of energy and got dropped for good. a teammate wasn't too far behind and me and him chased until the second feed zone at 85 miles, where we were already 25 minutes down, with a cat 1 climb remaining, so knowing we we're destined to make the time cut, we loaded up into the team car.

it was pretty dissappointing but i've got way too much left on the agenda to dwell on it. so, one weekend of local stuff to get the legs moving then off too Lawence kansas for Collegiate Nationals where I will race the TTT and the RR. Then it is straight to Russellville Arkansas for Tri-Peaks Stage Race, then straight to Nashville for the Soto Memorial Stage Race. Then there will surely be some rest and family time, and time with my beautiful sarah beth. Then i can plan out the second half of the season.

addio

Conference Championships

riding da bike
sometimes you just have to go solo for a while just to show everyone you can


watching the morning racing with a lil buddy, that i officially named Ewok

what a bear

conference was fun, but it is nice to be back. loading the truck up tomorrow to drive up to lexington VA for the Tour of Virginia.

Lee's McRae Collegiate weekend

(L to R) Spencer Beamer, Scott Sewart and me, catching and dispensing of the break one by one on the climb up hw 194.

well, a little rest the last two weeks and the legs are coming, as all the work is starting to pay off. This weekend was a lot of fun. I got to do my first climbing race of the year, to test out what the numbers in training were saying about my form. it was 48 degrees and threatening rain, misty and foggy. quite epic. 6 laps with your standard avery county portions of climbing.

we let a 7 man break roll at the start, and were content to stay conservative. but the climbs and the technical decents shreaded the lead group down to 8 riders after 2.5 laps. LMC had four there, Scott Stewart, Carson Worts, Kevin Holdber and myself. we kept the pace solid for another lap when on the 3 mile climb Scott, Spencer Beamer and myself went off on our own. The gap to the leader was too much to worry about, but there were people inbetween to be caught and of course, Spencer to deal with. next lap on the same climb Scott and I started attacking him and finally I got clear and stretched out a 15 second gap, and scott dropped Spencer at the top. I waited on Scott on the following technical decent and we worked together, or basically he pulled me around another lap and a half haha. but the last two laps it started raining really hard and my legs got really cold and went from feeling "no chain" to unfunctional in the matter of one decent. we had caught all but 3 of the break, and while 5th on the road i called it a day. I was freezing and got everything I wanted out of the race, some TOV prep and some confirmation of how my climbing is looking. I was really happy to be in the three man group with two VMG/Nat'l Team guys, and to be able to cut it down to an LMC only chase group late in the race and on the biggest climb after pulling everyone else around for 3 hours.

Next weekend is Conference Championships at Vanderbilt, then it is quickly back to school, then off to Tour of Virginia on monday. not to mention the masses of homework I have to do inbetween now and then.

easter break fotos

me and sarah before i went out to ride
sarah and lil sadie
my dads crazy project
carson and me posing for some fotos
and some knitting
and of course my lil sister, annabelle

3 steps of collegiate racing

1. Bike Racing: Luke Winger (LMC), me (LMC) and Spencer Beamer (Furman/VMG) lapping the field in the Criterium at UGA.

2. Sleeping after bike racing: that is a sweet van you might say

3. anddd...eatting after sleeping after bike racing: this is actually after eatting too, but whatever. downing some ruut beer.