Questionable Fortune

I went to Germany and I was racing over my head. My goal was to finish the race. I knew it would be hard goal, but it was maintainable. However, as luck would have it, I wasn’t to finish.

The first stage wasn’t a great start. For the most part Danny and were dangling last 20 guys. Moving up was hard; every time you would get to the front 80 people would manage to swarm around you. The pack was either strung out from the pace or bunched together. There was no in-between. The first hill came and it was nuts. I averaged probably 450 watts for 5 minutes and I was dying at the end of the hill to hang on finally the last 4k came and I was trying to move up then again there was another wreck. Someone took my teammate down and then I went down behind him. He got up uninjured and I got a chunk of my skin out on my hip and my wrist is swollen again from Paris Roubaix.

When I got back from the race it seemed as if every little thing was against me. The hotel we stay at has very strange rules. You pay for drinks, you pay for internet and they changed dinner so you have to have a ticket to eat. I go inside and the waiter outside the dinner tells me I have to have a ticket to enter the dining area. So I go upstairs to the elevator and I manage to get stuck in the elevator with the Australian national team. Finally we just opened the door and walked up the stairs. I ask Chris if he had the tickets and he said no Noel does. Noel was downstairs eating so finally I have to tell the waiter that my coach is in the dinning room eating. I actually got to eat a little bit.

The next day is even worse for me. It was a long day 170 kilometers. I got dropped 60 k in the race and I was dying. I was in a group of 12 guys with Austin Carroll my teammate. Ahead the main field was neutralized by a train so we caught up to it. When I was in the pack I was surprised to find myself hurting more than normal. Noel told me to move up but I couldn’t sprint to save my life and I was having a hard time holding my line. Finally when the group started picking the pace up, I was gone. I was going slower and slower and then when I was pulled in the feed zone and when I was putting my bike into the car I tried to move my wheel and it wouldn’t even move. My breaks were rubbing, bad. I found out later that I broke a spoke.

Noel wasn’t too happy when we got back. He told me that I should have known that my break was rubbing and he was mad at other people for not moving up and sitting at the back. Austin and max finished 10 minutes down and the others finished in the second group 40 seconds down.

So unless someone else drops out I have to stay here in Germany. Sitting in a hotel room all day won’t be too fun. I’ll have to find something to do. For those of you concerned of my well being I am indeed having a tough time but I would rather it be a tough time than a good time. In good times we find comfort and in tough times we find growth. Regardless, I’m looking forward to a bit of time off the bike when we get back and a little bit of peace.

A Sunday in Hell

The only way I could describe Paris Roubaix was bad luck. Some riders go down because they do something stupid, others are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s me.

The pack was nasty out there. The pack was constantly breaking and stopping. In addition we were in very condensed quarters. One little slip and everything could go wrong. I remember Noel telling me not to waste energy trying to stay up at the front the entire race and move up to the front at the important parts. In the back of my head I was dreading the Paris Roubaix junior race. I prayed to god it wouldn’t happen to me again.

I constantly looked down at my speedometer, 30 kilometers into the race. There was still an ample amount of time to move up and no reason to do any unnecessary work. I remember telling Danny Summerhill if he needed anything just let me know. In an appreciative manner he told me thanks.

40k, then 45k. Time to move up right before the first cobble stone section, then all of the sudden there was a hard stop up at the road. In a split second a hit my breaks but no use, the guy ahead of me was cross-wheeled with the guys ahead of him. He goes down hard. I hit him and prepare to do a summersault that I learned from martial arts. I use my right arm to roll and slam my left one on the ground to stop impact. Immediately when I land I look back to see the carnage coming towards me. I ran into the ditch and got up after the wreckage. I was frantically looking for my bike. I looked to the left, I looked to the right. Then there it was in the ditch. There was a pause I just looked at the rider on the ground curled up in a ball crying, surrounded by people trying to help him. I saw the riders picking up there bikes trying to get back in the pack then there was my bike, sitting in the ditch broken in half; one part on the left of the crying rider and another part on the right. I paused for what seemed an eternity but in reality it was only for a couple a seconds. Then I screamed and shouted. Son of a bitch! Why can’t you guys stay up right?

While I was having my outburst of anger, Noel and the mechanic came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go on. I was fixed on going on, even If I would just quit up the road anyway. There was no way in hell I was going to pull out before the cobblestone sections. I take the spare bike which didn’t fit me at all and I headed off with only a couple of riders.

I guess up the road when they hit the first cobblestone section the motorcycles ended up going down which neutralized the field. I could tell you first hand, it wasn’t because they did something stupid. Those cobblestones were greased up with mud. There were riders that got off their bikes and start running on the sides. Suffice to say it was nuts catching back up to the pack. I caught strangling riders dangling off having a miserable time; riders with flats, mechanicals and some whom just couldn’t hold the pace.

Finally I caught up with the pack again. The pack was moving along at an extremely slow pace and finally came to a stop. I could feel my right wrist swelling up. Noel came up to me in a hurry and told me to talk to a doctor. I went with him dogging cars people and riders and found the doctor. He was taking a pee on the side of the road and finally looks at me. He brushes my wounds and then he tells me to take a pain killer for my wrist. Noel tells me to move up threw the grass. I do that and right when I unclip, get into the grass they start the race again. So I cyclocross mounted on to my bike and got on the back. I made it threw a few cobblestone sections and then pulled out 80k into the race. Little bit under half way.

I was in the car with Noel and he was telling me all about the race while he was driving like a maniac staying with the peloton. Danny Summerhill came back and had to use his spare bike because the one he used apparently wasn’t shifting at all. Noel stops at the feed zone, throws my bike on the ground and tells me to go with the team helper Chris Fox. I rode back with David Talbot and the car ride for the most part was silent. When we were approaching the velodrome I remember breaking silence and said we won because we were the first one to cross the velodrome. Chris said he beat us because he was first then David replied that he was DQed because he wasn’t u23. Chris sarcastic in nature said David F you.

When we got to the velodrome I got my stuff to take a shower. I used some of my French to find out how to get to the shower and they showed me where it was. The kiddies’ race just finished and there were a handful of kids in there. By all the benches you could see all the names of the pro riders who did Paris Roubaix. I just took one without caring and I showered up.

In the shower opposite from mine a kid went up to it and was trying to reach the shower plug. The only thing that divided us was a wall in between me and him. All I could see was his small hand trying to reach the shower. I was showering and he kept trying to get the plug but kept failing. Finally I pulled it for him. The Paris Roubaix showers are turned on from a chain hanging down from the shower valve with a plug at the end of the chain. And it only stays on for 30 seconds so you have to keep on pulling it. Once the 30 seconds finished for the child I saw his hand go up once more and I kept pulling the plug for him. Finally I was done.

We went back and saw the finish of the race. Danny finished 7^th in a group of 8. Austin Carrol was in that group but he wrecked and finished top 35. A rabobbank guy ended up winning. After the race we took a team picture with my broken bike.

Els the house keeper was convinced that my wrist was broken so I went to the hospital with Noel. I talked for him with a while about Belgium, school, racing and everything else. Finally after a while I got my X-ray and as I suspected nothing broken. It was really hot in the hospital and I started asking for water but there was no water fountain and I started to pass out and I was lying on the table and noel was waving a towel over me to cool me down. Finally I get back home and tell everyone the good suspected news.

My wrist healed with some time and now I’m off to a stage race in Germany that’s supposedly super hard and I will supposedly have a hard time keeping up. It’s a 6 day stage race that has harbored many pro tour riders like Thomas Deckor (however you spell his name). It will be rolling hills, and it has one 38k TT. I race Tuesday and it’s over Sunday. Tell then

T’is.

Paris Roubaix

Today I leave for Paris Roubaix I’ll update you when I’m done. I’m sitting here a nervous wreck waiting for the day to finish. I don’t have much time but I’ll edit this post after the day is over.

Welcome to Izegem

It’s been a while since I updated my blog. Part of that is I was diverted by all the fun I was having and didn’t have time/energy to make a new blog post.


Comparatively, I’m not fast to everyone up here. I may do well in the local 1,2 races back home and yes that’s enough to make me fast .However, I probably won’t be taking any top tens here let alone top 40. So my goal in this case is to finish. There shouldn’t be too much pressure on me in that case. My other goal is to have fun and my final goal is to come back faster to the states. I’m trying to avoid thinking about racing and I’m trying to lighten up. This is so I avoid cracking.

I finished my first race and it wasn’t too bad until the end. I made the mistake of not eating enough and got dropped 5k to go. It started raining on us once we hit the circuits and suffice to say there were some wrecks. I staid upright though and everything ended up fine. I finished three minutes down, somewhere in the top half with a group of 10. there was 200 starters in all.

Next week I do Paris Roubaix u23. I know that the world champion u23 rider will be there so I know I’m probably going to crack in this race. I don’t even know if I’ll finish or not.

Life up here other than racing is pretty boring so we find things to do to kill the time. I’m reading Angela’s ashes and I’m almost done with that. Someone brought Into the Wilds up here so I may read that after I’m done with the book I’m reading now. We’re watching band of brothers again and I’m messing around with Matt Brandt & Christian Parrett all day.

What Doesn't Kill You . . . .

There's no question to it, cycling is a hard sport. Everyone loses more than they'll win. However, it's a fact of life, that no one can win them all, no matter who you are. What it's mostly about is losing. One guy wins while the rest technically lose. Cycling isn't all about 1st place, in fact it has little to do with first place. Cycling is about meeting goals for yourself and yourself alone. This could mean finishing a race or getting better cycling skills, becoming a better person, getting in shape, or even just having fun.

However some cyclist lose the point of why they bike race. When they get a taste of a win they want more, they start yearning for more and start competing at higher levels. The satisfaction of a race win becomes more than a want, it becomes an addiction. The satisfaction of ataraxia is something we achieve after doing well in a race. We only get an appetizer, and after any appetizer we start to crave more. So after that we'll want more and we'll get it sooner or later, then something bad will happen; a bad wreck, drop out of a race, or something else. A lot of riders are extremely hard on themselves and sometimes they burn out.

WAKE UP!

Wake up from this illusion you're having, and remember why you started bike racing in the first place. Look how far you came and think of all the goals you met. When you're looking back at this ridiculous path of glory you were on, what was really at the end of that trail? I'll tell you what will happen, it's a premorse ending with the outcome of you, burning out and quitting. Of course you probably already knew I was going to say that.

Now how do we change this? What's the right path? You must succumb to the fact that you will probably lose a lot of races. Everyone does, even Lance Armstrong. What you need to do is look at what you did wrong in that race and then try to improve your mistakes. Don't weep over it. If you won you wouldn't know what your weakness is.

A real cyclist could lose and come back from it. It's more about surviving the hard times, than how many wins you can get.

"If you're going through hell, keep going." -Winston Churchill

In honor of Martin Luther King

What does the American flag represent? Does it represent all the Americans that fought and died for our right to live?

Some wars don't involve guns or other countries. Some wars our being fought in our own heart. Men like Martin Luther King fought for the people, he fought for their rights.

I think the American flag represents people who died for our country like our soldiers and like Martin Luther king. Martin Luther king, to me, was a solider.

As long as people are alive, your words will always be remembered.

"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him." -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968)

Salt Lake City/U23 Team Camp

As you may have heard, I attended the U23 team camp in Salt Lake City. Let me wrap up all of the details for you.

We were lectured on a few things; insurance, nutrition, doping, training peaks, and our personal goals for next year.

As I've explained in my last post, insurance will be a necessity for Europe. It will cost 3 dollars a day, so it will be a little pricey. However, that's at 75 percent off, so you can only imagine how expensive it would be if you're not getting any discounts. The insurance, MedNex (whatever it is), is for when you seriously hurt yourself in a race. The ambulance wont deny you permission to be treated in a hospital or at all. Instead of paying them up front or getting left behind, you can just give them some paper work and you're off. If you don't have money or insurance, you just have to sit there until someone will pay up for you. So that means if I don't have insurance I have to wait for Noel (the u23 team manager) while he's in the caravan. You also get to go home instead of sitting around in Europe doing nothing after you just had surgery. I already explained this in my previous post, so I'm sure you don't want to hear any of it again.

The nutrition was interesting. I'm not going to go into details about everything she said but I will tell you some interesting things that were brought up. One of them being about chocolate milk. She said that chocolate milk wasn't the best recovery drink for after a bike ride. She didn't say it was bad but it's not geared towards cycling in general. Truthfully, it's really for bodybuilding. She said to use different drinks weakly and not to drink a lot of one specific drink. Another thing I thought was helpful, is that when you lose weight you should eat less on your recovery days than on your long days. On your long or intense days you will need all that fuel to properly exercise your muscles. However, every once in a while, you want to go out and ride on a somewhat empty stomach to teach your body to ride on the edge. Also, you should eat your main meal 2-3 hours before the race, 60 minuets before the race would be bars or something small, and 60 to go should be very easily digestible races. Of course in stage races, you need to eat more for energy but they should be very specifically geared towards carbs. The last thing she said is sweating salt. She said that some people sweat a lot of salt so putting more salt on their food would increase performance. I'll find you more details on this stuff later but for now let me talk about something else.

The doping was kind of interesting. Most of the subjects that were mentioned you probably already know but something I found interesting were a lot of the domestic pro teams and eastern block pro team are more likely to dope because USADA and WADA regulations don't apply to them. At least that's the speculation. Noel told all of us that you will be better in time if you stay clean than if you were to dope. Which in that case you would just be fast for a couple years and then slowly kill yourself.

The rest would just bore you to tears, as I'm sure you don't want to know how to download training peaks on your computer.

A couple nights at the camp we went out to dinner, but the last night me and my roommate Christan Perrate, who was on the junior national team with me, missed dinner. I thought we had to leave at 6:00pm but I guess they left at 5:45pm. So instead, we just ate at Cracker Barrel. We were a little embarrassed but no one cared, so no harm done. After that Matt Brandt and I wrestled around and we went to bed.

The next day we were getting ready to leave salt lake city. I was squatting down to pick up a bike box and all the sudden I hear a tear. I immediately knew what this was. I looked at my ass and I saw that I just ripped my pants. I was like "dude, I think I just ripped my pants." When Carter Jones saw the rip on my ass, we started to crack up! It was hilariously! I ended up taking my pants off in broad daylight, in the hotel parking lot, and luckily I had my bag with me so I could put on a new pair of pants. I need to invest in some better clothing!

After the camp I susprised to come back and see how cold it is over here. It's colder than it was in Salt Lake City.

link here


In other news...

Taylor Phinney won the Olympic Pursuit Qualifier, so he will be going for the golds at the Olympics. Some 17 year old kid has a chance to win golds at Olympics. That's nuts! Good luck Taylor.

link: here and here