Is it now 2010. This means a new conquest is beginning. This is road season! Road is going to be great and the training for it has just begun. Its a 8 month journey just about to begin. From now January 1 to August. I love road racing and this year is going to be great! And the best part about the new year is that is only a matter of months until the spring classics, which are hands down the best races of the year. My favorite of all is Paris-Roubaix because it is such an epic race. From now until riding-outside-season starts I will be riding the velodrome this winter also. I love the track and I am itching to to turn left once again! Here are some pictures of my favorite cyclists to get everyone excited for road season:
Something that usually infuriates me is snow. Because when the clouds are in the process of snowing or if there is just snow on the road, that means I'm not getting time in the saddle. But I will let it go for now since it is Christmas Eve Eve, December 23rd. This means it is almost time for Jesus's Birthday, or more commonly called, Christmas. I have been especially excited for Christmas this year, and I am not too sure why. I usually get excited this time of the year, so excited I can barely sit in my seat, I'm too giddy. But, this year, I am in a different mood about Christmas. I am in more a mood that I am just going to have fun. I have basically ignored everything material about Christmas, which usually annoys me as well, but this year I just haven't paid attention to it. I'm just really feeling good about Christmas this year, and to tell the truth, I could careless what I get for gifts. Something about this Christmas is just great. I love this time of the year. It just feels so right. Christmas is my favorite for different reasons than anyone would think.
I'm sure there are a few people who look forward to reading my blog and im sorry im so lazy. Well basically nowadays after my 12th place at nationals, my season has been over. I have been sitting on my ass 24/7 with the occasional spin ride. I've been mostly using facebook but i have also been playing games and watching tv. It really feels good to take a break. I will be picking up my training soon for some good early season results but for now i will just hanging out and doing nothing. My friends are happy because i can actually do something out side of riding my bike which is awesome.
Monday, December 7, 2009
The season....it went by like that! The local cyclocross season has now come to a close. My last 2 races of the season were both really good. The first of the two was Red Rocks Velo Cross #2 at Tony Grampsas Park in Golden. I raced in the SM Open with 25 starters with me coming in 18th. There were a ton of big boys out. I also was only really racing for 30 minutes out of 60 but I still had a pretty good placing. I started out really strong with a 13th spot at the highest. I was able to hold that as long as I was going hard but then I just cruised. But most importantly I got some sweet shots of the race.
The next race was the state championships. I raced the Junior Men 15-16's. I came in second right behind Zane Godby. I didn't have such a good race but thats okay. I will be back in full force for Junior Nationals!! Stay tuned....
As any ready of my blog would know, I am super psyched to do well at nationals this year. I just stumbled on a pre-ride video of the course at nationals:
Here is a map of the course as well: http://www.usacycling.org/events/2009/cxnationals/09CXcourse_map.pdf
I am feeling pretty good about nationals now after my result from last weekend at GMVS Cross #3!
I got 14 out of 33 in the SM Open which was really good considering all of the big boys that were out.
I had one of the worst starts and first laps I have ever had too. I started the race and I didn't get up very far
especially because I started in the 2nd row. But we went around the first corner and I realized I could barely
stop. My front brake cable had loosened up and all I had was the back brake which barely worked also.
So for the first lap of the race I rode with essentially no brakes, making it hard to ride very fast because I couldn't
stop. But once I got my pit bike, I started to eat up the field. It was RIDICULOUS! I moved up several places per
lap until I met up to Marty Guess on Rocky Mountain Bikes who was holding 15th in the race. I proceeded to sit on his wheel because
he was throwing big blocks at me every time I tried to pass. So I sat there until the last singletrack section
where I saw him let up a little and bobble so I attacked and passed him. He sat on my wheel for the rest of lap
until there was this huge straightaway section with just soft dirt, it wasn't even mud. I rode a line sort of down
the middle but I was slightly over to the left. This was to put a permanent block on him. He still tryed to
get around me but I threw a block that he couldn't get out of. I stayed ahead into the final corners and burned
him in the sprint. I think he was out of gas. The conditions were great though, it had snowed the weekend before
but last week wasn't very war, and it wasn't really melted. So it was pretty muddy in some sections but it was watery, wet ground
mud so it didn't stick on the bike THAT much. I still took a few bike changes just so i didn't break my stuff. I think this race
was great to prepare me for nationals in Bend, Oregon. These conditions could very well be the same at nationals.
This race was awesome! It was a much, much shorter version of the uber long race they had last month. As bad as it seemed to be outside, it really wasn't cold out. I raced with a jersey shorts a thermal long sleeve base layer and knee warmers. It was a really fun course with 2 different aspects to it. There was a Le Mans start, meaning you put your bike down on the course and then run at the start and see who gets their bike first. Then there was a different kind of finish too, a sand run through a volleyball pit. I love this course since there are so many awesome trails at the park. I would have placed about 9th or 10th in the SM Open if I had done the whole race. I only did 30 minutes since that is the race time at nationals. But I was crushing it before I dropped out. Thanks ICCC for putting on a schweet race!
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler." - Henry Thoreau
This is how my season has been going. I have been writing the future for myself in a way by performing the way I want to and dream about, not the way I think I will do. This season as a whole, along with the road season, has been one of the most determined times in my life, especially because of the amount of work I have put in. I have pushed myself farther than I ever thought I could before this year. I have achieved all of my goals so far this season, upgrading to cat 3 road and going to nationals and for cross upgrading to cat 3 at first and then cat 2 once I achieved that. That's right I am now officially a Cat 2 cross at 15 years old! There is only one more goal to be achieved this year. And I think all of my readers know what that is. It's the jersey, old glory, stars and stripes. My final goal and biggest goal for the 2009 cycling season, and more importantly the 2009 cyclocross season, is to win the National Cyclocross Championship. If I don't achieve this my season will in no way be a failure, it turned out much better than I imagined, especially due to having to recover from a car accident in February that sent me to the hospital and kept me from riding for almost a month when the season was just about to start. But, if I did achieve this, then that would be pure bliss. It will make my numerous hours of training and racing much more worthwhile than I could ever think possible. This season has been amazing.
