Hyde Park Blast...was a blast

Last Saturday found the team down in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Hyde Park Blast. The race was in an awesome older neighborhood a little northwest of downtown Cincy. It was a mile long circuit that ran up and down one of the main avenues with a turn-around by a fountain on one end and a fast uphill/downhill through a residential section at the other end of the course. There were big crowds on hand...probably the biggest spectator turnout at any race so far this season.

As far as the actual racing....it was fast, fast, fast. Luckily our team got a call-up to the start line before the rest of the field, so we were all able to have an advantage at the start. It was full throttle from the gun and never let up once. I almost crashed twice coming around the fountain - once from coming in to the turn a little too hot and sliding out towards the barriers. That resulted in some nervous noises from the crowd behind the barriers. The other was from another rider in front of me coming really wide out of the corner almost pushing me into the curb. No worries though, just fast racing.

The race was so consistently fast that it was very hard to move up. It was a fight not to lose any position and you had to be careful not to let up at all or tap the brakes when you didn't need too or else you'd be shot out of the back with little hope of catching back on to the group. I ended up finishing mid-pack, but came away with probably the most fun race I've done in a while thanks to the crowd and a great circuit.

Here's a good look at the crowds that came out.

And a little pain-face after the finish.

Tour de Olmstead

Basically, long story short....we dominated Louisville this past Saturday. From the gun, Spencer attacked and from that point on, we had at least one team member off the front of the race at all times. We were in every single move that went, and ended up placing Blake in a three man break that stayed away to the finish. I had the luxury of sitting up just behind the bunch sprint to see Blake cross the finish line with his arms raised in front of the other two escapees. It was great.

The circuit was awesome. It was in Iroquois Park just south of Churchill Downs. The course was a 4 mile loop through dense trees and the only straight and flat part was the quarter mile finishing stretch. Everything else was up and down and really twisty. It made for fun and exciting racing in a great setting.

No racing this weekend, but June 27th is the Hyde Park Blast down in Cincy.

Pre-Race Prep for Tour de Olmstead

I figured I'd take an unorthodox approach to my preparation for this weekend's Tour de Olmstead in Louisville, KY. Instead of the normal intervals, tapering, and diet watching I normally go through before races, I decided to let my dog Jack take care of my pre-race nutrition by finding my stash of Clif Bars and consuming 740 calories in about 5 minutes. He weighs 30 lbs, by the way....that's going to be an unhappy stomach. 

He's so embarassed about how fat he's going to get, he can't even look at the camera. 

Now that my pre-race "carb loading" was all taken care of, all that was left was to get a good pre-race warm-up ride in. Normally this consists of a 15-20 mile ride that's nice and easy with a couple of moderate efforts thrown in. Nothing too taxing, just a nice ride to loosen up the legs. Well, I decided to forgo that nonsense and get some cross-training in right before the race. This consisted of a lot of shoulder and torso workouts, minimal walking, and absolutly ZERO time on the bike. I took a picture that I'm thinking of sending to Chris Carmichael so he can use it to help all those rich dentists tear it up during their weekend group rides.

The burn I got from this workout made me feel like a middle aged mom...not a bike racer. Such a refreshing change of pace!

Okay, in all seriousness....I had a great week of training leading up to this weekend's race. I'm feeling good and am ready to be aggressive down in Louisville. Maybe I'll give Mine That Bird a run for the money. Race report to come early next week!

State Champs Update/Obstacle Course

This past Saturday in Fishers, IN was the Indiana State Road Race Championships. Upon arrival at Chris Pfeiffer's house, we learned that there was a giant trench that, days before, had been dug right through the middle of a section of the course. Crispy was really concerned that the race organization wasn't aware of this new development and had probably been practicing his cyclocross dismounts at 27mph.

Luckily, the organization did know about the construction and had made some adjustments to the course that avoided  this impassable construction, but took us through a couple other sections of less-intense road constrution. The field only had to worry about bunny hopping a plank of plywood, jumping off of a couple small drop-offs, and praying you didn't get a flat running over a large patch of broken pavement. Oh...and also keeping your fingers crossed the person operating the backhoe wasn't digging up riders as they passed by.

The race was pretty uneventful and pretty fast (we averaged 25mph for the 60+ miles we did). The selection, instead of being made my the "hill" or attacks, was made by multiple racers getting flats every lap. Unfortunately, we had a couple of teammates flat that weren't able to finish. New teammate, Brian Richter put in a solo attack early in the race only to flat after getting a sizeable lead on the field. 

After 9 laps of the course, it was time for the sprint...unfortunately, I didn't have my banana that morning and began to cramp a little in the final mile. I was able to maintain my position going into the sprint, but once it started my legs weren't working like I wanted, and I fell back a bit to finish 33rd. Overall, it was a frustrating day for the whole team...no one did terrible (I think 3 or 4 were in the top 25), but all of us were expecting a lot more. It's a tough course to have any type of finish other than a 40+ man field sprint, so unless you're a pure sprinter, or get lucky during the lead-in to the sprint, there's little chance of making a big impact.

Next on tap for me is the Tour de Olmstead this weekend down in Louisville, KY...it's a hilly 4 mile circuit. That makes me drool :)

Benefits of a White Saddle...

...you know when your saddle sores pop.

Gross, I know...but I figured it'd be a great photo to share on the blog.

So, after having races every weekend since the end of February until the beginning of May, I've taken a month's break from racing and have been focusing on recovery and ramping back up for the second half of the season. Next on tap is the Indiana State Road Race Championships in Fishers, IN...just north of Indianapolis. It's basically in the backyard of my teammate, Chris Pfeiffer or, more affectionately known as Crispy. We're looking for a solid result (like a WIN) at this race and should have a great chance at it. Everyone seems to be on great form and the motivation is definitely there. I know I'm at least chomping at the bit to throw down some aggressive racing.

In other news, the rumor mill (aka Facebook...and now my blog) has let me in on the sweet secret that Sustainable Cycling now has a new team member - Isaiah Newkirk. He's from Bloomington, IN and raced for Marian College during the collegiate season. I raced alongside him during the collegiate season and found that he's a really nice guy and a strong rider. He's going to be a valuable addition to our quiver and I'm looking forward to racing together with him.

Well...I'm off to tent to the aforementioned saddle issue. Wish me luck and send me some DZ Nuts if you're feeling generous :) 

Legit Update Coming Soon...

....until then, here's a sweet picture to stimulate the right brain.

Italy goes all out.

Now I'm just poor...not a poor college student

Well...after four years at Purdue University, I'm a college graduate. The full magnitude of what I have accomplished never really hit me until I was on stage looking at my name on the big screen just before I received my diploma. That's when it hit me that all of the work and late nights I had gone through were finally paying off. Even better than that, I realized that never again will I have to do math homework, or B.S. an essay about some obscure topic of philosophy, or pull an all-nighter to hopefully pull off a miracle on an exam that I was no where near ready for. It's a huge sense of relief and accomplishment to have completed my undergraduate career.

The only downside to all of this is that I haven't secured a job yet...which means that I'm making the transition from being a well respected, unemployed, struggling college student to a dead-beat, unemployed poor person. Should be an interesting year ;)

In cycling news....Morgan-Monroe appears to not be happening, so my next race will be on June 6th up in Fishers, IN...the Indiana Road Race Championships. This race is a huge target for Sustainable Cycling, so all of our riders are expecting to be in fantastic shape to hopefully get Crispy the win in his backyard. 

I'm back down at my parents house for the week for a mini vacation and the weather looks like it will be dandy all week long. That means lots of miles put into the legs and perfecting the tan-lines.

Finals Week + Winona = Uneventful Post

Winona Lake weekend recap: Road Race - felt crappy...I need a break. Crit - Blake won! First win for the team in Indiana. 

This is my last week of college. The week leading up to Winona was terrible for me...called dead week at Purdue, it's the final week of regular classes before the final exam schedule. While Professors are forbidden to give exams or quizzes during this week, they DO seem to make all of our final term papers, final projects, and presentations due this week. I spent the vast majority of my week in the coffee shop buried in either my laptop or my papers wrapping up all of my final assignments. The good news is that I finished everything on time, the bad news is that "real" life got in the way of bike life and I only was able to get a few hours on the bike all week. Not the ideal or predicted run up to Winona Lake. Oh well...c'est la vie.

My body's itchin' for a little break from racing, though. I've been going non-stop since February racing nearly every weekend. Good thing is that I've got graduation weekend and Memorial Day weekend coming up, which should provide the opportunity to get some quality training in and gradually work myself back into form for the Morgan Monroe S.P road race and the Indiana State RR Championships coming up at the end of may and the beginning of June respectively.

Collegiate Career is Over...With a Bang

This weekend found the Purdue Cycling Team down in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio for the MWCCC Regional Championships at Lake Hope S.P. First off, this little pocket of Ohio is absolutely beautiful...rolling hills, lots of trees, winding roads, quaint little farms tucked in....in short, a great place for a road race!

Our race took place on a 20 mile loop around Lake Hope State Park. There were two big climbs per lap, but also a lot of smaller climbs and rollers that wore down on you. The final 8 miles of each lap was into a 15-17 mph headwind which made for a bit of a leg breaker finish. We did three laps of the circuit for 60 miles total.

The first lap was pretty easy...we only averaged 17.5 mph for that lap. The second lap was when the racin' began. The first big climb came about 5 miles into the first lap and about halfway up, 7 of us put the hammer down and had a good gap at the top. We bombed the descent and got organized into a break. It was me, two Purdue teammates, and one rider each from Marian, Michigan, Wisconsin, and DePaul. Our break worked well together and before long, we were haulin' some booty. We ended up flying past the A's peloton and chase group on that lap...pretty cool.

I forgot to mention that we started the race at 2:30pm and it was pushing 90 degrees. Hot hot hot. By the time we got to the feedzone to start the final lap, I was feeling the heat a bit. I was gapped up the first climb and never regained contact with the break. I decided to time trial my way to the finish because I didn't know how far back the field was. I ended up catching the DePaul rider just as the moto-ref came up to us to tell us that he hadn't seen another rider behind us for a while, so between the two of us we had 6th and 7th locked.

At the finish, my teammates took 1st and 2nd and I ended up getting 6th. Not a bad showing by Purdue at Regionals! Come to find out at the end, only 8 riders finished the race! I finished with the DePaul rider about 5 minutes behind the winning group and the 8th rider finished about 20 minutes behind me. Apparently when the 7 of us went away on the climb, the field completely exploded and everyone abandoned at end of the second lap. 

Not a bad way to end the collegiate career.

P.S. - I almost forgot to give a shout-out to Chris Langsenkamp for hooking me up with some phenomenal pass-ups in the feedzone...dude's a pro.

Ceraland Classic

Hey Hey. This past Saturday was the Indiana Race Series opener, the Ceraland Classic. In addition, it was also Sustainable Cycing's hometown race in Columbus, IN which provided the community and our sponsors a chance to see us in action.

Overall, the day went well. I feel really happy about how the team rode together...enough to even say that our team together is stronger than the sum of its parts. We animated the race more than any other team there sending off multiple attacks that made the race exciting. We were well organized in keeping the race in control given the fact that this was our first "real" race as a team. Unfortunately, we weren't able to bring back a small group of 2-3 at the end (it was close though). Spencer ended the day with a strong 4th and we had another few top twenties. 

Post race, we were able to enjoy some mudslides and milkshakes thanks to Culver's cupons that were in the newspaper containing this story.

Coming up this weekend are the MWCCC Conference Championships out at Ohio State University. The road race really tickles my fancy at 60 miles with two long climbs per 20 mile lap. My legs are feeling good and my confidence level is high. I'm expecting to finish off the collegiate season with a bang. This will be the last weekend where I suit up in a Purdue kit (or any collegiate kit for that matter). It's a little strange to think about. Including this week, I only have 4 more weeks as a college student. Then it's off to the real world, with real world responsibility. I'm looking forward to wrapping up my school career and starting my life as a "grown-up". 

Lastly, Fink put together this video introducing our team that will go up on the website later this week. Luckily, I'm putting it here, so you don't have to wait for it to go up. Enjoy!

(at 1:30 is a sweet segment of me puttin' down the hammer...haha)

Team Presentation

It's official now...Sustainable Cycling is the new team on the block for the 2009 season. We had our team presentation this past weekend down in Columbus, IN. It was a pretty smooth event...we were able to meet our sponsors, introduce the team and it's philosophy to the community, and have a rare chance to have all of us team members in the same place at once. Oh, yeah, we had some yummy food too (thanks to Kylie and Casey).

It's really cool being able to see what started out as a wishful conversation between a few of us on Chris Pfeiffer's back porch come to fruition. We have been able to form a team, secure sponsors, create a philosophy that we all support, etc. It's pretty cool to be able to have been a part of forming what should become the most dominate Cat. 3 team in the midwest.

This coming Saturday is the Ceraland Classic...not a big race in the grand scheme of things, but a big race for our team because it is our "hometown" race in Columbus, IN. It will be our first chance to show our sponsors and the community what we are capable of, and what we're doing with their support. We'll have 8 of 9 team members racing, so there shouldn't be an excuse not come away with a victory. Stay tuned for the race report!

Hail Purdue....The Road Race Report

Attacking, starting a break-away, and staying in the break for a bit is sweet. Nothing like the feeling of riding away from everyone, only to look back to see a big stretch of road between you and the field with one rider strong enough to stay on your wheel while fans on the side of the road are yelling at you to keep going hard because you've got a gap on everyone.

Making the break stick is a whole other story.

I found myself in this situation during the Purdue Road Race this past Saturday. The circuit is a 4 mile loop with a beast of a climb that makes you hate your body for being merely human and not some sort of mutant or android that is void of the ability to feel pain or fatigue. During the 4th trip (of 8) up the climb, I decided to put the hurt on everyone else. I popped it into the big ring and opened the throttle....it was pretty sweet feeling riding away like that and hearing everyone go crazy...running along side of me and screaming their lungs out. 

After the effort (that made me a little dizzy...I'm no super man) I looked back only to see one rider from Marian College, Isaiah...a real nice chap, on my wheel. I drove it for a bit, the with a flick of the elbow, he came through and started working. Sweet! Maybe we'll have a chance of staying away.

My youthful exuberance got the best of me though, and the ever realistic probability of 40 riders versus 2 got the best of us just in time to climb the devil hill again. I felt wonderful and strong in the break, but once we hit that hill, I seemed to go backwards, traveling from the front of the pack through to the back. I spent the next lap chasing back on. Thankfully, my power animal is a falcon, so I was able to fly like a madman down the descent and catch back on....too bad I caught back on just in time for the penultimate climb up the hill. Needless to say, the gas was out of the tank by then. 

Here's a picture of me finishing, I'm sure you can tell I'm not flying solo for the V. Although, I ended up only being a few seconds behind the lead group, so all-in-all, it wasn't a terrible result given the situation. I came away from the race happy and having had a lot of fun on one of the best road circuits in the Midwest.

I had enough time to give all of the fans on the side of the hill high-fives as I was finishing. They deserved a thanks for all of the support while we were racing. It was especially nice having my family and a lot of close friends there to watch me do what I love to do most. Thanks for caring everyone!

And a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Chris Uberti for getting a no-questions-to-how-awesome-of-a-rider-he-is victory on the day. That kid's a cowboy!

Two last images that sum up the mood of the race. My friends never dissappoint.

I'm getting really good at predicting second places...

The latest giant race of the pro calendar, The Tour of Flanders, ended with another fine showing by my pick for the win, Heinrich Haussler. But, for the second time in a row, he got second, thus making me an expert at predicting second places. 

Stijn Devolder defended last years win with a repeat this year....in nearly identical fashion. He's only the third person to win back-to-back Ronde's. Props.

The Purdue Road Race was this weekend. I've got a lot of good pics and stories from

a great day of racing. I'll toss a post up on that early this week, so stay tuned!

What Fuels Me?

Chipotle Chicken burrito bowls. A good mix of carbs, protein and fat without the bloating/lactic acid effect from white carbos (pasta, tortillas, flour based breads).

My favorite place to eat....delicious stuff.

Cavendish is ridiculous...fo' real!

Milan-Sanremo was this past Saturday...La Classicissima...La Primivera.

My pick (which can be verified by Andrew Truemper) was Heinrich Haussler, thus, you can imagine my excitement, then despair when I witnessed this act of super-human craziness:

For the record....I'm already picking Haussler for the Tour of Flanders this year.

Indian Mounds and some Racin'

On tap this past weekend was the Hueston Woods Road Race in Oxford, OH. It was the first race of the season where we had a majority of Sustainable Cycling's members all in the same race. The course was awesome....I loved it. It was roughly a ten mile loop in the Hueston Woods State Park. There were three decent climbs, two very fast descents, and an uphill finish. All qualities that suit me well in a race....and it did. I ended up finishing 4th after attacking with three others at the bottom of the final climb. My teammate Blake finished 2nd on the day (all 200 lbs of him...don't ask me how he does it....It's amazing). Truemper also had a solid top ten result on the day. 

The team did awesome during the race. We were definitely some of the big animators of the day with some solid attacks by Spencer and Truemper, I did some tempo work on the front as well as chased down a couple of guys, Pfeiffer and Blake spent some good time on the front as well putting the hurt on the caboose of the peloton. I'm really pleased with how I felt during the race. I put in some intense mid-race efforts and still had enough to have a solid finish.

Earlier this week, a friend Fink and I took an afternoon and went to the Angel Mounds down in Evansville, IN. It's a historical site of a native american settlement and a burial site as well. Both of us were pretty excited to see some sweet burial mounds as well as mentally stimulating educational experiences. We were, however, a bit let down to find a half functioning museum and a big empty field with a few lumps. The most productive part of the day was coming up with a sweet idea for a new reality TV show and how we would plan on using the money we scored from that to build Angel Mounds up to it's full potential....complete with hourly Buffalo hunts and indian battle reenactments. Both of those are stories for another day, though. Until then here's a great picture of our museum experience.

Hopefully the weather stays nice

It's been a bit since my last post...although I'm not sure that anyone has noticed (not even my mom reads my blog). Racing season is full underway, and it feels good to have something to look forward to and work for on the weekends. The weather hasn't been super nice to me, but who can complain...afterall, it's early spring in the midwest. 

This past weekend saw a few members of Sustainable Cycling down in Louisville, KY for the Long Run Park Circuit Race. It was a beautiful course around a small lake, with great pavement and fast corners. Too bad it was really cold and rainy. By the time our race ended, I was shivering so bad that I could barely get off my bike...I was soaked to the core, but after a half hour in the car with the heater blasting, I was back at it and happy to be racing my bike. I finished mid-pack (expected as my crit legs are far from being back), Blake posted a great result getting second, Spencer finished 9th, and Eric was a true trooper coming out to brave the crap weather.

Coming up this Saturday is the Hueston Woods Road Race out in Oxford, OH. I'm hoping to shoot off some fireworks in this race and grab a good result. My road racing legs are feeling good and hungry. Stay tuned for the update!

In other bike-related news, I make a few upgrades to the whip. I got a new saddle (Fizik Arione white on white), new brakes (Ultegra SL), and a new seatpost (Easton EC90). Now I can say that the only original part of my bike is the frame....everything else has been replaced by me over the past year or so. Check it out:

Murray State Survival

Well, the first race of the season is out of the way and without too much pain. We were racing this past weekend down at Murray State in southwestern Kentucky (almost Tennessee). That means that I was able to find a Waffle House and quench my post-race grease/salt cravings. Delicious.

The weather was by far the biggest factor in the race. It got, at absolute best, 40 degrees...but that was at the beginning of the race because the temperatures kept dropping as the race went on. It was drizzling a cold rain at the beginning that moved to a steady rain, then to a steady sleet, then to mini ice pellets that stung like crazy on my face at the end of the race. My dad said it best before the race that this was going to be one of those days where you're mind is going to be the strongest factor in finishing the race.

The other factor in the race was a decent size climb on the backside of the course about halfway through the circuit. The first two laps, overall were a pretty moderate pace. There were a few surges where I got caught out in the back and had to chase a bit to get on, but nothing too bad. The final lap was a lot more serious. The pace increased along with the crosswinds and on that climb, the field went to absolute shreds. At the top of the climb there was nothing left other than several group of 4-7 riders strung out all over. I ended up in a group of seven, including my teammate P-Crispy. That ended up getting widdled down to four of us at around 6 miles to go and at that point, I was done...I just followed wheels and held on as this goof from Cincy kept trying to attack out of our 4 man survival group. 

I ended up at around 15th or so, so not a bad result for the first race of the season. I feel I'm right where I need to be. After I crossed the line it was straight back to inside where I sat on a chair for a few minutes watching the water and ice drip off of my body. What a way to say farewell to February.

New Swag is in!

Check the new kits! Pretty fly if you ask me. They're going to look good as they zoom past everyone this season. 

Purdue season starts this weekend at Murray State down in Kentucky...which means one thing. WAFFLE HOUSE!!! The most delicious pre-race and post-race meal anyone could ask for. I can't wait. I'm feeling pretty good (at least I think so). Be sure to check back at the beginning of next week for a race recap and an overall analysis of my weekend and whether or not all of my winter training paid off.

Wish me luck!

P.S.

I ran 5 miles with this girl yesterday (yes, it's a Snuggie)....hopefully that will turn out to be my secret weapon for racin'. Thanks Brit!

New Website

Check out Sustainable Cycling's brand spankin' website!

teamsustainablecycling.com

Man, I can't wait for the season to start!