2010 Redux & 2011 Goals

So I just finished reviewing my year and I ended up with about 300hrs. for the year. That's 6-7 hours a week if you add in a few strength workouts here and there. Don't ask me how this converts to miles because a lot of these hours were inside. Here's how my training year broke down:

Total hours: 330
Biggest month (August): 41hrs, 650mi
Longest ride (Shenandoah Mt. 100): 9hrs
Longest road ride: 105miles, 5.5hrs, 10k ft elevation gain
Fastest ride: Ring of Fire 3/31 - 29.1mph
Highest TSS: 86

The year had several highlights on and off the bike. First, of course, was the birth of my son Ethan! I also was able to fit a few bursts of fitness into the year which contributed to wins in the State TT (30-34), a win down at the River TT as well as an Elk Mtn TT, on the track at the last Ring of Fire, as well as a win on the mountain bike at Fontana. I entered the year without any major goals, like Nationals, since I wanted to fully enjoy the time with my son and not have to worry that my time off the bike was hurting a big goal. However I did want to win the State TT and having some success in local events, as well as across the event spectrum (road, track, TT, MTB) made things fun.

I'm refining my plans for 2011, but with the formation of Industry Nine Grassroots team there will be a new level of motivation and some great teammates to share success with. Tentative goals for 2011 will be:

• Repeat NC 30-34 TT championship
• Win a road race & cyclocross race
• Set PRs up Elk Mountain and at River TT
  

Happy New Year!

Race Report: NCCX Statesville

After opting not to race on Saturday due to a heavy workload (OK, actually because it was 35 degrees and sleeting), I headed to Statesville on Sunday to get my first real ride in after 7 days of working my tail off! The morning greeted me with my annoying phone alarm, a hot pot of coffee, grey skies, and snow flurries. Fortunately my heated leather seats, tights, wool socks, Mad Alchemy embrocation and a little Beastie Boys helped to warm the body, mind, and soul!

After greeting some friends I kitted up, warmed up on the trainer, then hit the course. It was grassy, soft, windy, and pretty smooth, but "torquey". I put on my extra tights, thermal jacket, and fleece-lined gloves to warm up in the sunny 35 degree weather. After about 45 minutes I was ready to go and actually starting to sweat - perfect! We lined up and abruptly started, which saw me in the second row and about 10 back in the field. As we looped through the first turns, one of the local Raleigh riders went down hard and a few riders plowed into him as I veered off course to narrowly miss poor Lucas' head! Little did I know this would foreshadow my own fate on the day. I bided my time and smoothly worked my way up to 5th position by halfway through the 10-lap, 60 minute race.

I was feeling good, but on the limit when I caught a stake through a turn, broke it off on my knee, and promptly proceeded to endo onto my head! I lay on the ground stunned and admiring the Carolina-blue sky for what seemed to by about 5 minutes (really 30s), before I finally got up. I straightened my handlebars, spun my wheels and slowly got back on the bike. Amazingly after a full minute, no one had passed me. After walking over the barriers due to the pain in my left knee I was caught by a Cannondale Factory rider (Alex) and decided to try to proceed, cautiously, on his wheel. After a lap I settled back into a rythym, and maintained my 7th place until the finish.

While I probably could've been top 5 without the crash, this is a reality of 'cross racing, especially when you're pushing your own physical limits. Fortunately, I didn't break anything and even got a few bucks for my placing - just enough to cover my entry and a coffee for the trip home.

I'll probably do one more cyclocross race in 2010, and then call it a season. And what a great one it's been! A few wins for me, a lot more for the team (including overall in our local biweekly series, another National Championship jersey, and not only on the road, but mountain bike, cyclocross, and track as well!

Thanks for reading, and a special thanks to our sponsors this year : Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS, Crossfit Brevard, Joe Lilly Photography, and Affordable Home Inspections.

RACE REPORT: NCGP Elite Race

My favorite race of the year! Aside from being in my backyard, the course in Jackson Park seems to suite me and my roadie background. After my win in the 2/3 race here last year I received my Cat. 1 upgrade and looked forward to the UCI race in 2010.

After a 2nd-to-last row start, and a madhouse dash for the first left-hander it was 2 laps of fighting for position, avoiding crashing riders, and bumping and grinding before being able to settle in for the full 60 minute race around the fast track! We averaged over 25 mph for the first 2 laps, and I was settled into the 3rd group. As riders started to fall back I tried to work my way up to the 2nd group on the road, but was stuck in "no man's land" as the 2nd group joined the leading group to form a 15-strong front group that whipped around the course in the 60 degree sunshine. My mantra was "smooth and strong" as I tried to stay steady and work my way up. Our group of 5 took turns pulling, attacking, and some of us - crashing. I managed to stay upright all afternoon and even put in a last lap attack, but was pipped on the line for 18th as a Lees-Mcrae rider had slipped away a lap before - both riders had sat on our group as the other 3 made efforts late in the race.

My teammate Eric pulled out a solid 15th place for a UCI PR, and only 5 spots out of UCI points and a world ranking.

Check out a video of the first lap here: http://vimeo.com/17089216

You can see Eric pass Josh, but you'd have to wait another lap to see me!

Sunday: unfortunately I was called in to the hospital for 2 cases, so I missed my race . . . that's the life!

Race Report: Mars Hill CX

After a solid 5th place Saturday, my teammate Eric and I headed up I-26 for a short drive to Mars Hill College, where the cycling team was holding their inaugural cyclocross race. Eric told me that it was a short course, however what we found was one of the toughest courses of the year . . .

A small, but amped field lined up for a late (3:15PM) race that followed both collegiate and USAC races on the day. As "the gun" went off, Eric got the hole shot, followed by Paul Webb (who will be racing with us on the road next year) and then myself. Eric kept the pressure on, gapping Paul, and I followed one of his bobbles on the descent to begin my race-long pursuit of Eric. Eric tapped out steady laps, and consistently put about 5s a lap on me as he throttled it up the long climb which started after the start-finish. The course followed a grassy, off-camber climb that wound along a hill, before popping up a short run up and zig-zagging through a parking lot. The short respite was followed by a quick left-hand turn that wound (straight up!) through the woods before beginning a fun and circuitous descent back down toward the start-finish area. The course finished off with some more off-camber action before a series of 4 S-turns spat you out to a short 10 meter sprint to the finish.

Overall it was a successful day for the team, a fun course, and it was great to support a local collegiate team on an imaginative course! Thanks Mars Hill! Pictures courtesy of Christopher Graphics.

Day job + Scary Cross & Boone Cross Reports

So it looks like it's been almost a month since my last post! During the past month, my business partner went on maternity leave (which means I'm on call 24/7), my son started waking up at 3AM EVERY night (fortunately he's back to his normal schedule), recruited some new sponsors for the team next year, finished a tough block of V02 intervals, raced a few times, and completed a power test. It's been a tough month physically and mentally, but I'm starting to get back in a groove. It's a rough thing, doing the working 50-70 hours a week, not sleeping much, trying to be a good husband and father, help build a local team, and still train on top of it all!

I completed a power test yesterday up Elk Mountain, and despite a fairly mediocre amount of motivation, I pulled out my highest overall power output of the year, and a time just under 23 minutes - not bad considering I was on a heavy bike, carrying my seat pack, extra clothes and a bottle, and had a headwind! So even though the head's a little weak right now, the legs are strong.

On the results front I raced 2 weeks ago at Johnson City and up in Boone. I had a decent start at Johnson City, and even moved into 3 place for a time, before blowing pretty spectacularly and falling out of the top 10. I managed to get my "stuff" together and start to reel riders back in one by one until I pulled back to 7th. Unfortunately a poor last lap, getting bumped over the barriers, and leading out an uphill, headwind sprint put me into 8th on the day.

In between races the family headed to a Halloween Party (not ideal recovery), but we had a blast, and Ethan was a hit!
After waking up at 3AM, I almost bagged a trip to Boone to race for the day, but at the last minute decided to head up to one of my favorite stops on the cross circuit. I got a good warmup, but after the heat and effort the day before, I was feeling pretty "crispy" and decided to start a little less aggressively on such a tough course - due to the altitude and climbing. I actually had an OK start, but a massive crash derailed my efforts as I went over the bars and ended up in the grass of the course. Out of 50+ starters, I was about 46 on the first lap . . . so I just set my mind to pulling back riders each lap, and I actually felt stronger and stronger as the race went on. I pulled back somewhere around 25 guys, plus with those that dropped out, I ended up 16th on the day. OK, but disappointing when a top 10 was well within reach. Unfortunately my teammate Eric was BEHIND even me, but pulled into the top 10 at the end of the race.

Overall, a fun weekend of racing, even though it was the toughest weekend of the year physically, but even more mentally. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the last few races of the year! NCGP is next weekend!

The Fun Park CX Race Results

http://thefunpark.blogspot.com/

A Race Mens (top 20)
1 - Will Black (defending the backyard)
2 - Mike Stewart
3 - Josh Whitmore
4 - Eric Wondergem (I like to try and take out families on the trail...:))
5 - Chris Larsen
7 - Jacob Magahe (just happen to show up on a mountain...yea right)
8 - Chris Bennett (cupcake baker....CB)
8 - Eric Muehl
9 - Jimm McElory
10 - Chris Evory

RACE REPORT: MSG #3 & #4 - Domtar Park TN

After Eric's successful debut last month in Tennessee's MSG Cyclocross series (www.msgcross.com), Eric, myself, and next year's teammates Will Black, Jacob McGahey, and Matt Willing traveled to Kingsport for the races #3 & #4.


Saturday's race course was grassy, bumpy, tacky, but fast, and included some paved trails, a SWEET flyover, some side-hill turns, a telephone pole laying in the course, and some high barriers. No big hills, but a power-man's course that was made all the more so by the wind the preceded the cold front that was coming in. After a second row start and a lot of jockeying during the first lap, I was able to move into the main group after about 2 laps. Just as I did so, Will Black and Eric Wondergem attacked and headed up the "road". The rest of us (4: myself, Noah Niwinski, Eric Marslender, Justin Crawford) consolidated over the next couple of laps as we traded pulls and attacks but tended to be equally matched. I had fun with the course as the open nature suited my skillset, the flyover was just a blast, and the turns were challenging but manageable for me.

The last half of the race turned into a fairly standard cat and mouse with everyone putting in a dig but being brought back into the fold as we watched Eric and Will build their gap. With one lap to go Noah attacked and kept his gap to the finish. I struggled to keep the pace at this point as my gear housing had frayed and I was limited to only 3 gears during the race. I ended up 6th, well in the money and felt good considering I have just started my cyclocross build for the year.

2	Eric Wondergem	165681	Hup United/pf bikes	1
21	Will Black	58540	Inland Construction	2
13	Noah Metzler	230698	Team Globalbike	3
7	Justin Crawford	271187	Virginia Polytechnic University	4
8	Eric Marland	91085	Boone Velo	5
26	Christopher Larsen	70660	Team A.C.E.	6
4	Joshua Whitmore	38071	Team Globalbike	7
22	Mike Stewart	210874	MSG Cyclocross	8
25	Noah Niwinski	236341	Team Ville	9
11	Matthew Willing

Sunday's course was the same as Saturday's, but a little wet and less windy, which made it faster all around. That, combine with the addition of Eric Muehl (thankfully my teammate) and Nate Wyatt made the racing fast from the gun! We started halfway around the course so that it allowed more jockeying for position before the (sweet) flyover and more safety. Almost immediately the field strung out as Will Black, Nate, Eric Muehl, and Eric Wondergem hit the front. I ended up in the chase group for the second day as we chased the rest of the race. Fortunately after starting in about 10th I was able to steadily move up as my legs started to gather themselves beneath me. While I had less snap than I did on Saturday, I was smoother throughout the course and was able to make up time on the long, straights. Unfortunately I was losing time over the barriers and through the super-tight turns.

My position allowed me a front row seat to watch the front group battle it out, and I was able to pick off guys steadily through the race, until ending up in a group of 4 chasers. I eventually attacked the group of the flyover (which I love) and was able to put about 15s into the group. I maintained the gap all the way until about 1.5 laps to go when I clipped the barriers with my rear wheel and dropped my chain, causing me to lose about 10s and a lot of momentum. Noah Metzler (who beat me Saturday as well!) caught and passed me during this time and pushed me back into 6th . . . where I would finish for the second day in a row. However I felt that this was a "win" for me as the race was faster and more competitive and I definitely felt that I improved over Saturday's race. I need to keep working on the technical bits (and continue my training plan) and I know that not only will I get smoother, but I will get stronger as the season goes on - just like last year!

21	Will Black	58540	Inland Construction	1
30	Nathanael Wyatt	127000	Carolina Fatz pb Santa Cruz Bicycles	2
29	Eric Muehl	246666	Team A.C.E.	3
2	Eric Wondergem	165681	Hup United/pf bikes	4
13	Noah Metzler	230698	Team Globalbike	5
26	Christopher Larsen	70660	Team A.C.E.	6
22	Mike Stewart	210874	MSG Cyclocross	7
11	Matthew Willing	284687	Mars Hill College	8
7	Justin Crawford	271187	Virginia Polytechnic University	9
18	Gary Yates	142195	Unattached	10

Check out pictures here: www.bart.ifp3.com/

Thanks to all of our sponsors: Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS