Finals week was a complete killer, I can’t believe is all over. I was staying up night after night until 2 or 3 in the morning. The end result was that I did pretty well on all my finals, and I think I nailed my projects too. My professional development presentation went really well, 97%! Besides the good news on that front, my body is trashed. All the late nights screwed up my sleep schedule, and I’m having trouble getting good sleep and going to bed before 1 in the morning. But the work is done for a few days, so I think things will work themselves out.
I’m really looking forward to seeing my family for Christmas; it feels like it’s been months since I’ve seen them. Plus the 4 days of rest and food and merriment will be good for my soul. I’ve had the chance to get on the trainer a few times since my training officially began Sunday, and rode a few times over the previous weekend. I’ve also taken skiing up a bit more than usual, which is an excellent workout. It helps there are some nice trails 20 minutes away by bike, got to love Madison.
Work was pretty awesome today. For those of you that don’t know, I’m an engineering intern at Saris cycling. I have been doing work on the new Powertap hub, which is going to change the world! But today I helped out with some Joule software update testing. I basically rode my bike for 3-4 hours and got paid. It was really awesome. I had to learn to use the Joule, everyone kind of assumed I knew how to, so that was not great, but I got the hang of it. Plus I got to leave at 3 instead of 5 for the holidays, super awesome.
I’m hoping to get on the bike tonight for an hour or two and spin the legs out, and then get some nice sleep tonight. My dad is bringing me home tomorrow, but we are going skiing first, pretty excited about that. But I also want to bring my trainer, road bike, and MTB bike home. Ride the trainer a bunch, and maybe go to Ray’s if it’s open. I am heading to Connecticut on the 30th for a few days to see some family. It will be a nice rest and a good way to relax, plus I love my family with all my heart. It will be nice.
As for this coming year, I’m planning on some pretty big things. As of now my first goal is to help my freshman teammate on UW cycling, Alex Meyer, win the collegiate road national title. He’s a super-fast kid and I figure if I can ride a bunch with him, I’ll get fast and he will win. Once road is done, I will set my sights on mountain bikes. My major goal is to take the national collegiate title. The race will be in the north east, so it’s closer and more similar to where I’m at right now. This is a pretty steep goal, but I’m confident. If I can make the same kind of gain I made last year, I’ll be unstoppable. After MTB nats in September I’m hoping to cool things down a bit with cross, and then race cross nats in January. They are in madison this year, so if I don’t race, I will cry. Overall, I’m hoping to have a real break out year. I know that outside my small group of friends and maybe UW cycling, I’m not really known, and not known as a fast guy to many people. I want them to know who I am, and how fast I really can be.
It’s going to be an awesome year. So awesome in fact, that it has already begun.
