Brown County Road Race

I thought it would be a good idea this weekend to do the Brown County Road race this weekend thinking it would be good training for nationals. My other teammates ventured to St. Louis to do some crits (which now I wish I did). I knew this road race was going to be wicked because I had ridden the course before but did not know the exact direction the course was going to be headed. This park that the course was located could be one of the hilliest places in Indiana. With hills reaching peaks over 1000ft.

Graham and I thought why not make this the most epic day possible so we rode out the the course which is about 25miles. luckily we had a nice tail wind so it did not take us too long to get out there. As many might know it is not flat around here so there will still plenty of climbs that need to be climbed on the way out to the park.

The turn out for the race was rather low. The 1/2/3 field had a whopping 26 riders. And Jake the snake was there which made me think this was not going to be an easy race. First lap up the large climbs the field was cut into half, 2nd lap up the hills the field was shattered into small groups. I suffered all day just trying to get up the dam hills. The loop was only 5miles long but we had to do the darn thing 12 times. Each lap had at least a couple hundred feet of climbing. I ended up being the last finisher which gave me the place of 10th overall. 10 out of 26 finished. WOW! Graham and I tried to ride home and got a few miles down the road and stopped at the golden arches were we stuffed our faces and waited for Pam to come pick us up. Pam is a god for picking us up. I honestly don't think I could of made it home.

Winona Lake is next weekend which should be a blast because it is our team race. Then off to Colorado the week after that for nationals. Racing season is here and I am loving every bit of it.

Regionals Report

What a great weekend. We ventured up North to Wisconsin for collegiate regionals last weekend. Wisconsin is by far one of my favorite states. We got off to a late start after the Little 500 Banquet which ended up to be not very eventful. The GPS had the trip calculated for arrival time around 2am which was not very far off.

Saturday was the road race. I did not have the best luck during it. I am struggling with a cold so I was unsure how I was going to feel. Legs felt great for the first couple laps of the RR but soon the massive urge for urination set in and I could not stand it anymore. Pulled over and pissed because I am not cool enough to piss of my bike. That was it, pack was flying and I chased for the whole lap and they had put 4min on me. It was over. The rest of the team did very well. We got one in the break and Isaac finished strong in the field sprint.

Sunday was the TTT which we rocked. Felt really good to win something this weekend. We did not even have our actual Nationals team together for it and still won by 5 sec. I look forward to getting my new TT bike and killing it in Colorado.

Sunday afternoon was the crit around the capital in Madison. What a sweet crit, fast with a short lap. I live for crits like this. My legs felt some how amazing in the crit which was amazing after all the riding I had done that weekend. Did a lot of work bringing stuff back and trying to get away and had nothing left for the sprint. Finished 10th right behind Isaac after I started to cramp in the sprint.

6 hour drive back to Bloomington was not so fun after that long weekend. We won the whole conference and we are going to Nats so it was a very successful weekend. Our IU girls crushed it this weekend and were a big part in IU winning the overall conference.

Recovering....

So the weekend has come to a end and I am feeling every bit of it. This weekend was a blast even though the weather was not so hot. Friday was the womens little 500 race which was very exciting to watch. Pam road a awesome race. Her team only rode 2 of the 4 riders which made it a much harder race for the both of them. Congrats to them for sticking in there and not giving up. They ended up 7th.

Saturday was the mens race. Epic conditions were present for the whole race. Low 40's with rain and 20+ mph winds. The conditions made for a exciting race. I am not going to go into everything about that race, but to some it up Cutters won which everyone is quite upset about. I thought we might of had it with 50 laps to go. We ended up 3rd which I am happy with. It has been fun riding little 500 for the past 3 years. I have made alot of great friends and had some great experiences. I would recommend everyone try little 500 if they have the chance. Its now time to focus on road, Ive got a long season ahead of me.

Last night we hit the clubs hard. All the riders were out in full force ranging it hard. Its so nice going out to a bar and being surrounded by cyclists. It only happens a couple times a year down here in Bloomington.

Next weekend is regionals so we are going to head up to Wisconsin on Friday and hit up some sweet bike races. I hope for some good weather. I heard there could be snow still up North.

Little 500

The Little 500 has just about everything you could want in a college weekend. Exciting bike races between true student-athletes competing for little more than the thrill of sport. Passionate fans in team colors packing a stadium to root on friends. Alumni returning to campus for traditions that make them feel 19 again. Parties spilling out of houses, hormone-stirring bands and sorority girls in biker shorts.











Race in Saturday at 2:00pm. Weather calls for cold temps with chance of rain. It will be one yell of a race this year. There are a lot of fast teams out there to get the win. Good luck to everyone!

Marian Crit Pics

Finished 5th in the Crit on Saturday.

Hillsboro Report

What a mess. First big race of the season. I guess my legs are not ready for 90mile road races this early in the season. Oh well I know they will come around. The course at Hillsboro was awesome. It had a little bit of everything wind, gravel, hills, tight corners. Gravel sections were by far my favorite part. It was so much fun just hammering through those sections with gravel flying and dust everywhere. My roubaix wheelset could not have been better for this race.

I felt great for the first 2 laps, even though they were not that fast. Brought a couple small things back which made me feel somewhat worthwhile. Started to feel the cramps coming on the end of the 3rd lap. When we came back into down the field got broken apart in the feed zone. I was just a little bit to far back when that happened and I got gapped. That was the end for me. I worked my ass off to try to get back to the pack and just could not do it. I got so close a couple times. I road the last lap mainly solo going in and out of a few groups. I finished the race with a small group. However they were freaking attaching and doing ridiculous stuff. We are sprinting for 32nd it really does not matter what I yelled at them, but they kept on attaching. I was not into all this so I rode in at my own pace for 38th. I hope you guys feel special that you got 32nd through 38th. There were over a 100 starters so I do not feel to bad about my result. The results will come later this spring hopefully. Tom ended up right behind me in 40th I believe. It was sweet to have teammates this weekend. Nice job Tom and Chris.

Word on the street is that Toona is not happening this year. It is only going to be one day. This means Superweek to the max and the Chicago Crit. I really wanted to do Toona but I can't complain racing in my backyard.

Props to Isaac for winning Miss-n-out this weekend.