Sunshine always gives me a smile

It was good to wake up this morning and feel the warm sun on my face. I know it’s supposed to rain and be cold tomorrow but just for today summer is here. And boy is it late. The winter has been dragging out longer than one of my dad’s stories. It’s a nice reminder that the warm weather will be coming eventually. It’s something of a nice reminder to me personally as well as it matches up with my life right now.

School and Formula have really been taking up all my time in the last couple weeks. I have been working hard enough to stay away from those all-nighters like before, and have been doing simply late nights until 2 or 3am. Things are getting done which is refreshing, but those late nights have been taking their toll too. I haven’t been riding too much, save to and from work and class, but I have been feeling better. I think the cold that I have lingering around has cleared somewhat. I suppose at the end of the day I feel tired and stressed like before but I’m dealing with it better.

Now for some other big news. I was informed last weekend that my eligibility for nationals was in question as I only had 2 of the 3 needed mass starts in the A’s field. I quickly appealed with the help of the club president on the basis that I was sick one weekend as an A and therefore didn’t race. Basically I would have had 4 stars except I was sick and I thought they could make that exception. No such luck was had by me, and no more nationals. This is a pretty big disappointment. I was using road racing as a way to get faster and I did that. But my metric for success was measured based on my nationals race and not only getting there, but doing alright. So now that that’s out of the window, I suppose I just have to be happy with the success I’ve had already and carry it through into the off-road season and the rest of the road. Still sucks though.

The car on the other had is coming along nicely. I spent last night finishing the bodywork and getting it all smooth and nice for vinyl. I was hoping for it to go out today, but looks like supplies didn’t show up. The diffuser and splitter have been getting done and they are looking nice. I just really hope there is enough testing done to properly shake them down and get some data for design validation. I is likely going to be a long weekend, either way.

On top of that I went to the doctors today. I had an accident last fall when I was hit on my bike by a garbage truck. Well the range of motion in my shoulder never returned and my lawyer suggested I see a specialist. As things turn out, the small fracture I had caused the bones to shift and some extra bone to grow in in the area. Doctor says that if things go well, the problem can be taken care of with physical therapy over the next couple of months. If things don’t go well I won’t have range of motion without surgery. I suppose its good news, but I get worried about going to the doctor as I really can’t afford it right now. I sure hope the law suit pays off.

Overall, even with everything going on and the law suit and doctor stuff adding in, I feel like I have a better handle on things than I did a few weeks ago. My guess is that it’s the sun, it always makes me feel better.

Hard Times

This past weekend was the MWCCC regional championship at Lindenwood University in Missouri. It was a very long week that lead up to the weekend, and it really showed in the races.

The formula car unveiling is coming up this next Saturday (4-23) and preparing the car to unveil is a big project with almost all of the bodywork needing to be started last Monday. The process of making the bodywork is extensive and complicated; I will spare you with the details. It is a task that is known to take a month when done right, but seldom is. The past 3 years with the team have all been the same; bodywork is started last minute and is rushed to completion. I am proud to say that under my leadership we have had some Wisconsin Racing first. 210 was the first car ever to unveil with bodywork, and this year’s car could possibly be the first car to ever be unveiled with decals, even if they are not the actual decals.

So the week was really busy and I was able to get my workouts in, but felt tired and crappy all week. This showed during the collegiate regional race when I just didn’t have it. It was hard to tell if I was tired or if it was the fact it was my first A’s race. All I know is that it took all my mental fortitude to keep my head up. I have to say though; the support I get from the UW riders is insane. It’s honestly hard to feel crappy about a ride with all the support you get. After my amazing week winning all the B races, I thought the glory was over, but the cheering was just as loud without the winning. All be it without the congratulations on the win part.

But now onto something more important and less fun, my life. I have been thinking a lot about things and how I spend my time. My freshman year I spent all of my time in the shop doing formula. My sophomore year I did something similar with a little bit of riding in there. Now this year I’m finding that I am really burnt out. Adding Saris, Bike training to school and Formula that I was already doing, my schedule is packed. I get asked a lot how do you do it all. The answer is I don’t. I feel like I’m giving 10% to each thing when I need to give 100%. I need to do less, and do better quality work. I need to improve my grades, I need to be awake at work, I need to train better and get faster, and I need to be more complete on my design work for Formula. You can see that there just isn’t enough time.

So the big question is what do I drop and what do I give a back seat. I think it’s safe to say school needs to be first, for once in my life. Work is what pays the bills so that should be second. The good news is that all I need to do is be awake and on time, ie no homework. So that leaves bikes and Formula.

Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Formula is time consuming, hard, and when I give it 100% it hurts school and work. But on the same token it’s incredibly educational, I feel very accomplished when it’s done, and it’s something close to what I want to do when I graduate, except with bikes.

Cycling is always fun, good for my body, and I really enjoy the people and the atmosphere. But I feel like I’m wasting time when I race and train, because I have so much other work to be doing. It’s not really going to help me get a job; in fact it might be hurting that. Plus it’s expensive.

I guess the choice at this point is should I drop something completely, or just scale back both.  I guess this kinda sounds like a cry for help, but I just need more sleep and more sanity.

So as the semester wraps up I have a lot on my mind and a lot of work to be doing. It’s all coming to a head and something has to give, in fact it really already has because I’m miserable. I just need to hold on till the summer and figure things out then.

Little weekend recap

Saturday was the KS Energy - Team Wisconsin launch in Delafield at Revere's Tavern. The tavern allowed us to use the basement which was a very nice hall. We talked about some of the happenings with the team, rides, races and such. I was feeling a little bit sick so I stayed home from the Collegiate weekend to rest up. I decided i was up to riding with the boy, especially because we had out new kits! I am really happy with the design and how it turned out. The clothing quality is also exceptional from Kalas. I have to admit I didn’t know much about them at first, but the clothing fits well, its comfortable and seems durable. The day ended with a nice easy spin, somewhat at least, then dinner. It was a nice night.

The GDVC race #1 in Madison was scheduled on Sunday. With looming clouds it was hard to know if the race would be on. I woke up feeling better and decided to race. KS-Team Wisconsin has a great cat 3 squad so I was excited to race with everyone. We looked super pro in our new kits too. As it began I knew that it would be our job to control the pace as we had the largest team. The races had a huge head/cross wind on the finish straight, so the plan was to use our numbers and make everyone hurt. I sat on the front and pushed the pace only to look back and see that I had a gap. I originally wasn’t planning on this, but I had the gap so I went for it. I was chased down by a Brazen rider, Marshall Greene. I tried to hold his wheel, but dude is an amazing time trialist. I sat back in and rested up. With 3 laps to go I attacked on purpose this time from the small group of 4 that I was with. I knew that if I dug really deep I could hold them off. I made it to the last corner with the field closing quickly. I attempted to stand up and sprint for the win but was caught on the final little kicker right before the finish. Julio was able to sit in well enough to put out an amazing sprint for 2nd. I was happy to see it, as my work hadn’t gone to waste. Overall, solid weekend but I’m still sick.

Total Redemption

This past weekend was the Marian/Purdue Collegiate set of races. This included a long crit on Saturday and a TTT and road race on Sunday. I was coming off a terrible weekend and really needed to redeem myself. Monday I rode and still felt tired and slow. After a rest on Tuesday, I put down some serious power on some hill sprints followed by some huge 20 minutes intervals on Thursday. With an easier ride on Friday to open up the legs I was feeling solid for the weekend.

The crit was a long 1.5 mile course with some insane corners to finish up the lap. As an avid mountain biker and cross racer, I was excited but as a newbie on the road I was nervous. The pace was fast and people were falling off the back like flies. My teammate put in a serious amount effort to chase down breaks for me, allowing me to sit in a little. With only a few laps to go, it was time to party. I broke away only to later get caught with 1 to go. As the group came together again a Marian rider broke away. I let the two OSU guys chase him down and before we caught him I attacked and gave him chase myself. Through the corners I was able to make contact and made a bid for the sprint in the 100 foot dash to the finish. I beat him by about an inch. I need to get the photo from the finish, I was so close.

The TTT on Sunday was also amazing. The B’s groups worked like a well-oiled machine as all of us were putting in equal strong pulls. We passed the Lindenwood TT group and never even looked up. We won the race by 45 seconds to Marian in second.

The road race was also incredible. Huge 40mph gust made it a day for the sprint. Many breaks attempted to get away, but the pace was kept fairly easy as the wind was killer. There was a lot of acceleration. There was a monster head wind section and a huge hill for the finish on the other side of the 4 mile loop. I put in a few attacks because I was feeling good. I figured if a strong group could get away, it would make things easier to manage. There was a few time I almost got away, but there was always a lack of cooperation in the group due to the huge toll of the wind. It came down to a sprint on the hill, and I love climbing. I was able to put a 20ft gap on the second place Marian rider, the same Marian rider who placed second the day before. This win needs to go to all the people cheering for me at the finish. The cheering was so loud that even when my legs said stop, I knew I had to keep going. I was truly lifted to the top by my teammates. For that I thank all the UW-Cycling people cheering.

The drama however was not over. After the finish my teammate Lindsey gives me a high five and says you are awesome, but I have some bad news. I had taken a hand up on the left side, a huge no-no. The official was going to DQ me striping me of the win and charging me a $35 fine. I had a chat and was able to talk him out of the fine, but he said that he needed to talk to the head official about the DQ. Later the officials come and talk to me and notify me that they would not be DQing me, giving me the win and the upgrade points I needed to race A’s. The relief I felt was incredible. I am trying to stay humble about the wins as they were in the B’s. But I suppose what I am really excited about is that I set a goal, and I accomplished it. I wanted to win so I did. My big goal for this road season is to race nationals. At this point it’s all but there for me. Picture from the race will follow soon.