Summer is here, part 1: What a start

So I am a few weeks behind on my blog. I was doing so well about updating every week. Oh well, no big deal. Since my last update a lot has happened, it seriously feels like months ago. It has been down, up down and up. In fact so much has happened; I’ll be splitting it up into a few installments.

The week following the first mountain bike race was ok, to be honest I don’t totally remember it, but I rode very little and had busy days at work. Nothing really to report on, but I suppose it set up the weekend perfectly. I didn’t have my head in the game. It was like my brain was sort of switched off, probably my body forcing me to rest up mentally and physically from the busy year at school and Formula. Whatever it was I didn’t feel all there.

Having felt like this all week, one could imagine how weird it was to wake on Saturday before the Heartland crit feeling awesome. I was awake and ready to go. I arrived plenty early and ready to race. My parents and aunt were there to cheer me on so I was glad I felt so good. I was determined to put in a good showing and make them proud. Before the race, Dave our team director talked to us. He gave us a solid pep up speech which got us all ready to go. The plan was to keep it fast enough to be safe and pull back the breaks. All this was to set up a sprint in the end for Kelby. John “mother fuckin” Heile would make the last lap fast, I would lead Kelby out and he would sprint for the win with me taking a high placing as well. Another teammate, John Reynders , did about 5 laps on the front to keep it spicy. And Heile came around with me and Kelby in toe with one to go. The team work was amazing. We held tight and things were looking good. I took turn 3 a bit hotter than I should have and got on the left side of Heile’s wheel. As he began to slow up and let me start the lead out, I lost concentration for a second and crossed wheels. John was ok, but I fell hard on my right shoulder and the bike flipped over me as it was run over by a few riders who also tumbled. All in all I took the worst of the crash, and I was my fault.

I was pretty banged up with road rash to spare and a nice crack in the frame that scared the hell out of me. I was worried that the bike was toast. I got up and walked to the start line. Dave and my dad were disappointed, but supportive and put the crash into good perspective. I felt pretty shitty because I caused a crash on the last lap and feel like I embarrassed the team a little. In hind sight it wasn't as big of a deal I made it out to be in my mind.  I was relieved to find the bike was ok, save the front wheel. A cosmetic crack in the paint along the down tube and a few scrapes along the bars and saddle were all that happened.

I decided right away that I needed to race again the next day, this time off road. I went home and got fixed up, then had a pretty uncomfortable night sleep. I woke up early and made the drive all the way to Rhinelander for the Crystal Lake WORS race. The days forecast was rainy and terrible, with a course that is known to be hard on the body and mind. In hind sight probably not the best idea to race, but then again when is anything I do a good idea. And that’s how it played out; nothing good came of it at all save some sexy pictures. I ended up dropping out and getting a DNF after 24 miles of suffering. That makes 2 DNFs in a weekend, nothing to be proud of for sure. No worries because this is only part one. Part 2 to come soon.

Summer is coming...right?

The first mountain bike race of the year has come and past. The Iola Bump and Jump is always one of my favorite races despite my annual not doing so well. The week leading up to the race I was a little torn on two things. Should I race, as I had many other possibly more important things to do, and which race to do. There was also a crit in La Crosse that same day. Now to be completely honest, I was going to do the WORS race over the road any day, but I thought about it for a second. But to actually race was another story. I was really busy and didn’t have a ride. I called around and everyone was already there on Saturday or was full up. I ended up calling my parents Saturday night and getting a ride. Thanks Mom and Dad.

At the race my dad helped out with hand up, which I should have been taking but wasn’t. I was seriously just putting my head down and pedaling. It was my first cat 1 race and let me tell you, it hurt. I was expecting some pain, but knew I wasn’t in the best racing shape due to lack of sleep and eating correctly. I felt surprisingly ok though. I was able to hold a solid pace and ended up in 40^th place. I am happy with this finish for a few reasons. I never do well at Iola, I’m not feeling great, and I was in Cat 1. I think all these add up to 40^th. But beyond all of the stats and the feeling and everything, it was just awesome to get back on the dirt. I still need to get some of those upgrades for my bike going, but I don’t care. I just love the dirt.

One thing I will say about the race was it was cold. Now it wasn’t terrible, it was in the 40s and windy. The problem was that I woke up late and checked the weather, which said 55-60 degrees, sunny and no real wind. I was dressed for that without anything else to really keep me warm. I had to scrounge up some gloves and things and raced in my warm up jacket. The cold has continued on. This past Tuesday was the first practice crit in Madison. FUCK IT WAS COLD. I was dressed for racing in the 40s, and it was low 40s and I was standing around for a good 45 minutes. I felt ok, still tired, same old same old. I was able to put in some good attacks but could tell that no one really saw any of them as a threat. I dropped out with 2 to go, because I was feeling overworked. I would have stayed in but I don’t think I looked up at the lap cards once. Finished the day off with a nice ride home with some good friends.

Things are shaping up to be a good summer. I can’t wait to be done with school, and ride more often. I am looking to get in really good shape and bring that through to next fall for collegiate MTBs. On top of that I’ll be working at Saris and getting more involved with actual design. Over the summer, the plan is to work on not only getting a head start on some things for the fall, but also making a conscience effort to simplify my life, and simply do fewer things. This way I can focus on doing a better job on the things I care about most.