Pace bend cat 3s 60 miles

Pace bend cat 3s 60 miles
After spending the night with Eric Benz at his house along with fellow
houstonian Jason Bently. We headed to the start of pacebend in the
early afternoon at around 10:30. The weather was perfect, 70 degrees
pluse and very sunny. I gotto the race and got my numbers and got
everything pinned, even wore my new shorts that came with the kit. I'm
pretty sure that metro v dub has the sexiest kit on the txbra cuircuit
right now, sorry patty and Zach.
The start of the race was very slow and leisurly which always makes me
happy. The race was 10 Laps long. There were severall attacks and such
but nothing got more than 20 seconds on the field. Me, Will, and Ian
used this race as a great oppurtunity to practice our teamwork and
communication in the pack. At the start the team decieded to make me
the leader and expend their energy to try to get me the win. There
were a few times I called on Will, Ian, or Todd (one of the club
riders) to move up to the front to bring back a break that had
potential to be a threat. At one point I we had every Volkswagen guy
rotating at the front to bring back a break that had alot of teams
represented. For alot of the race nothing super interesting happened
there were no big crashes and such for the first nine laps. Heading
into the final lap the field had a completly diffrent mentality than
the begining. The entire race I was fuiling perfectly. Drank all three
my bottles and ate all my GUs. The entire race leading up to the final
lap me and my team were taking about how we where going to set up a
good leadout to try to get me up the hill first. But Ian was cramping
bad on the final lap and when crunch time was approaching we couldn't
find eachother right away and the finish was approaching really fast.
Will had made it to the front and was trying to raise the speed to try
to catch the lone rider still off the front but the pack let him go
and he was between a solo leader and a dangerous cat 3 field with less
than a kilometer to go. Back in the pack things were getting pretty
physical. I had to even had to headbut a rider to protect my position
and stay safe. We then hit the bottom of the finishing hill at 30+
miles per hour and I was holding the white line on the far left of the
road. I then started revving up my sprint and was making up enourmous
ground on everyone. That is when disaster struck and the rider.
Directly infront if me crashed with 200m to go and I ran into him
(didn't crash though) causing me to lose all my speed and momentum.
All I can do now was watch as the guy I was about to pass get third
place and Will
Get caught with 100 meters to go A for sure podium postiton loss in a
fraction of a second after spending over 3 hours getting ready for
that final charge up the hill.
Race was very fun, I love this course good job by San Jose for
hosting. Got to give a very special thanks to my teamates for all the
work they put in for me, so close yet so far. Also have to give thanks
to Eric Benz for letting me sleep at his place Saturday night and
Jason Bently for driving me to the race and all the way back to P-
land. Next race might be Lago.

Walburg cat 3s 72 miles

Walburg cat 3s 72 miles
Walburg , one of the most miserable courses in the state of Texas,
this was my first race in 2010 and I've been looking forward for it
for several months. I left for the race after school friday with my
old teammate Rich. We headed up our hotel and slept pretty good
considering we were watching figure skating. The morning of the race
we packed up and drove off to a burger king for some breakfast yatta
yatta yatta. ...... We got to the parking lot and everything was dry,
a change from the normal walburg experiance. I found my Volkswagen
guys and was able to get the new kit to open my season in. I was
unable to warm up the way I'd like to from the fact it took me a
little longer to get ready
The start of the race was very slow and leisurly which I liked,
72 miles is a pretty long race. From what I saw about halfway through
the first lap a break of around 6 had formed and the pack didn't seem
that interested in chasing. The break by the end of the first lap had
built up a lead of around 90 seconds or so. Teammate Will Rader took a
few really hard pulls to try to get an effective chase to go on, and
it worked temporaraly becuase the break was well in sight with a small
30 second gap with about 10 miles to go in the second of three laps.
The pack then decieded to sit up even though the break was very close
and the leaders then slowley started to pull away and by the end of
the second lap they were back to a 90 second gap. I attacked the
finishng hill to see if the pack was gong to do anything and they let
me go for a couple mins untill they decieded to chase me and a few
others that came with me down. I was starting to get really frustrated
with the fields inability to keep the pace up. In the final 15 miles
or so there where some attacks to try to get away but the field wasn't
letting anything go too easily, with about 9 miles or so I attacked
after the field went pretty hard up a hill and started to build a gap
from the field, I quickly caught one rider that was off the front and
joined by two other riders that bridged to me. The four of us then
went into overdrive and started pulling away from the field very
quicky and before I knew it we were 30 seconds up the road. Have to
give credit to Will, Rich, and Todd for good blocking. By the time we
reached the final kilometer the lead break was within 20 seconds of us
and almost touchable. Half way up the hill one rider jumped a little
early and I sprinted after him and claimed 5th place. Really pleased
with this result, great way to start the year.
Got to give another thanks to Rich for the ride up and some blocking
as well as Will for blocking and trying to bring the break back. Great
race up on by all the officials, going to race Pace bend tomorrow
afternoon.

Sent from my iPhone

Metro Volkswagon Teambuilding camp

Metro Volkswagen team building camp

The final weekend of January I was privileged enough to get to fly up to Dallas to meet my new team for 2010. I have been waiting to go to this camp for a long time for it would give me an oppurtunity to meet my jr teammates Will, Ian, and Kyle. As well as the elite men.

Of course the weekend I decided to come to Dallas a cold front had came through and brought the weather below freezing for the majority of the weekend. For the weekend i stayed at the Rader's were they gave me a place to sleep as well as some very good food to eat. The first thing that we did as a team at the camp was that we watched the Dallas Stars hockey game inside one of the VIP booths. The game was really cool And I got to meet all the jrs and alot of the elite guys. After the game i went back to Will's house (it was snowing) and rest up for the long rides we where planning on doing in the morning.

The next day we had planned two long rides with the team, the only problem is that is was way too cold to ride. 28 degrees. After the ride had started I was frozen, it was a goodthing Will had some extra clothes to keep me warm cause my Houston winter gear wasn't cutting it. About thirty mins into the first ride my bottles had actually frozen for the first time. After the first part of the ride we rode for around 90 mins or so just ridng in a double paceline the place. After this ride we went back to the shop and sat around for a little while. once everybody got warm again we headed out for the second part of the ride. For the second part of the ride we rode for around 4 hours around a diffrent loop, this second ride had a bit a drama. It had tears, blood, crying, a bunch of really miserable looking faces, and one car wreck. (no one was hurt, just bad truck driver hitting a car) between a moving truck and some old people. At the very end of the ride I got to strech my legs a little and do some chasing with the elite guys and even after 100 miles (omgwtfbbq) still got to power through.
After this ride me and Will drove home ate some of his mom's ravioli and got cleaned up for the team presentations that night. At the team presentations I met everyone and got to see what the bikes are going to look like for next year as well as get a team polo :).



The next morning was another long ride, but was more of a hard group ride were you can just let it hang. This was another very cold moring but I was prepared for once and was nice and warm, I even wore my state champion jersey for the ride ;) I had alot of fun ridding through dallas This day. the weather felt alot warmer and we were going alot faster so warm blood was pumping keeping me alot warmer then yesterday.. At the end of this ride some of the elite guys went for a sprint about a mile or two out and i tagged along for the sprint. after the sprint the ride was over and we just cruised into the start of the.


After the ride me and the Radar's grabbed some chinese food and went to the house to pack for my flight back to Pearland.


All in all I can say is that im really happy to be part of the Metro Volkswagen team for the next season and look forward to a very fun 2010 racing season.

1-9-10 cold ride

Just on blogger while i recover from my ride.

after some really cold cold front came through the weather was a lot colder than it normally is. the weather was almost 20 degrees colder than what it normally is which is pretty cold considering it has been in the 50s for the last couple weeks. On this ride we delayed the ride a couple hours to hopefully have some warmer weather to ride in. at 9:50 i headed to the start of the group ride and the weather was right at freezing. The goal of the ride was to do the normal wee mart route which is usually around 3 hours and around 65 miles or so. when I arrived at the start of the ride the only people there where Darrell, Rich , and Evan. we started the ride and the cold wasn't too bad. I was just worried about my feet because i have a problem with my feet and the cold. After the first thirty mins of the ride my feet where starting to feel cold. this was good because at least i can still feel them, around this time darrell turned home. After the first hour of the ride was done my feet went from cold to burning from the cold, not a good sign since it still isn't the halfway point and there is a head wind all the way back. We made it to wee mart (halfway point) in around 1.5 hours which was good. I felt pretty good on the way down and won the two sprint zones. After a quick stop and some food at wee mart we started to our way home. by now it hasn't even been two hours and my feet where gone I couldn't feel couldn't feel anything below my ankles. On the way home we all took good long pulls to fight the head wind and get home to warm up as fast as we could. On the way home we did two more sprints. Me,Rich, and Evan finished the ride in about 3 hours and had no casualties.

well now i can say that i finished my coldest ride of my life. Sunday should be a little warmer.

Start of 2010

Hello, I know I haven't blogged in a while but one of my new years
resolutions is to keep all my blog followers more updated as I get
faster and better on the bike. For those who haven't been part of my
Twitter tweets and don't know what I've been doing since the off
season has started. Well since my off season started way back in
October I've taken part in my schools cross country and had a little
success, even made the regional team as an alternate.
After the cross country season ended I turned back to cycling. And
here i am right now training and getting faster so that i can continue
my success from the past and get better and better.

Age Based Texas State Championship Criterium.

Going to this race I wanted to win. I didn't want anything less than first. This was my first time racing against the Jr Texas field this year so I saw some old friends along with some new kids I have never seen before.

My race didn't start till after 1pm so it was going to be a very hot race when I got there the temp was already over 95. warming up I just rode around for 15 mins I was scared to overheat just from peddling around slowly.

At the start of the race I all the Jrs rolled out as usual. The race started off really slow as any Jr race does. After about 2 or 3 laps a big Metro Volkswagen Jr got to the front and put in a hard 3 laps to hopefully weaken to field.  Just as he pulled  off I attacked and soloed off  the front. I then got a 20 second gap on the field and after 20 mins of a hard solo effort some the Bigger stronger Jrs brought me back. this included Cody Foster who is a strong Cat 2 Jr. Once I was caught I quickly countered myself  and was on another solo break. After being off the front for another 10 mins Cody Bridged up to me from the Jr pack and the 2 of us started to work really well together. going into the final lap me and Cody had a very large gap and we knew one of us was going to win. heading into the final 200m I was in optimal position and started my sprint with 150m and was able to win my half a bike length then my friend Zach was able to get third from the Pack sprint

11 traits of the champion. from hot tubes developmental team websight

11 Traits of a Champion

1) Calmness:  Champions demonstrate a stoic calmness that allows them to focus on the task at hand.  No prima Dona outbursts or ridiculous demands on friends or trainers; Just calm commitment.  

2) Self-Assured:  Champions, the really great ones, never really boast.  They have a quiet self assuredness that transcends talk, and they seldom distract themselves with such foolishness.

3) Aggressiveness:  Champions seem to be very aggressive.  Strong moves are indicative of the outstanding athlete.  Yet the moves whether made by design or by instinct are not made frivolously but rather only at times when their chances can be greatly enhanced by such a maneuver.

4) Tenacious:  Certainly one of the primary traits that all champions’ show is tenacity.  They just keep on coming whether it be a part of their training, a race or another part of their lives.  Adversity is only a step in the process rather than an impassable hurdle.

5) Not afraid to fail:  To a degree, we are all afraid to fail.  The champion seems to be willing to risk it in spite of the possibility of catastrophe.  

6) Patience:  Part of being a champion is the realization that patience is an integral part of success. Patience is not just a trait, it is a tool that a champion uses to a definite advantage.

7) Self Direction:  This does not mean the champion is self-coached or self centered, but rather that the champion knows where he or she is going and will use the best available means at their disposal to achieve that end.

8) Consistency: Champions seem to demonstrate a great deal of consistency, both in temperament and performance.

9) Inward Focus:  The really great champions seem unconcerned about whom they are competing against.  The riders in a particular event only provide a standard by which they will apply and measure themselves.  The champion competes against their own abilities and limitations. The champion does not look outward, blaming others for a loss, but rather inward to those areas that can be improved for the future.

10) Willingness to suffer:  Great champions do not wish to suffer any more than you or I, but seem to accept the pain of  athletic  suffering as part of their endeavor.  They seem to force more out of their bodies than other riders do, especially when the going gets tough.  Much of this sport, at all levels, is decided by a mental commitment that allows the body to react accordingly.  

     

An eleventh attribute that is harder to define in a single word and is probably as important as any.  Ultimately, a bicycle race is just a bicycle race, lives are not saved, the homeless are not housed.  Champions seem to realize this as well, and realize the lessons of racing and training are really only valid when applied to our life as a whole.