Nationals

After having trouble accessing my blog account I can now do an update!

I spent the week before Nationals in the mountains of North Carolina training.  The weather was perfect!  I think the high temperature was 68!  I was able to find a recreation center in town that let me use their aerobics room to set up my road bike on a trainer and get a few rides in.  I was also able to get back over to the Dupont trail system for a ride also.  I was feeling good during my training since CycleYouth camp and felt like my body was starting to peak. 

The trip from NC to PA was a long one and the closer we got to PA the hotter it got.  The morning after arriving I prerode the course and TRIED to find some good lines.  There were so many rocks that the good line was where your front wheels bounced too.  I did stop to work on a couple of sections but still was not able to find the lines I was looking for.  After the ride we headed to Gettysburg.  I stayed off my feet most of the day but Gettysburg was so interesting I had to walk around some, and I'm glad I did!  The next day I met with the rest of the CycleYouth team and we did a preride together.  I remembered a lot of the trail and felt I was ready for tomorrows race.

The heat was bad on race day so we all pinned ice packs on the back of our jerseys to stay cool and stood under umbrellas at staging.  When the 19-29 CAT 2 was in staging USACycling opened up the gate and then called them to the start line.  I lined up on the front row at the gate but when the gate opened for us everyone took off before scoring called us up.  The gate opened on the right and I was on the left so I got stuck behind the gate watching everyone else go to the line.  I ended up starting in the second to last row and knew I had my work cut out for me.  When the gun went off it was just a big mess of tangled handlebars with 40 other racers.  The trail was really open and long before getting into the singletrack so I had to push it really hard to make up time.  I was weaving around racers and making quite a few passes but ended up getting blocked in with a rider in front, a rider to the right and barriers to the left.  Unfortunately they were riding the same pace.  As we approached the single track someone crashed and we came to a stop.  Now I was in a walking bottleneck.  The course was hard to pass on because of the rocks so I could only gain positions on wide climbs and the few gravel road sections.  I managed to pull up to 17th for the finish but went home knowing there was nothing more I could have done.  It simply just wasn't my race to win.

Overall I had a really fun time at Nationals and learned a lot for next year.  During my 2nd preride I had Todd Wells brush against me, Georgia Gould follow me up a climb and ended it with breakfast the next day with Drew Edsall.

Special thanks to Leroy and crew at Leroy's Bikeworks for unlimited support to all cyclists and my teammates for cheering me on!

I took a week off after returning to Florida and started my new training program for the Florida State Championship Series.   

Central Florida Sports--Athlete Spotlight

I was contacted by Central Florida Sports to be their athlete spotlight earlier this year.  The final cut is ready and will air on PGTV Friday June 4 at noon.  Here is the youtube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWsi_5PBr_w&list=PLBWPhCrv3wIAKM_fOipQoyiQe6R_MOA0p&index=1

Enjoy!

SERC 5--Conyers, GA

Well the trip started off great.  The weather in Conyers was perfect.  It was in the 70's and the trail was dry and fast.  I have never ridden Conyers dry so I was really anxious to preride.  I rode with CycleYouth founder Andy and teammate Adam Cohen.  The first half of the course we flew through the trail and using Ethan Quehl's cornering technique that I learned at camp last year made the trail that much faster.  The downhills were smooth and the climbs seemed almost too easy.  The second half of the trail was on the granite section and IT WAS BUMPY!  I have only ridden over there once due to bad weather conditions and had to go slow.  So, this side was really new to me.  Andy took us off the course to ride some other sections of Conyers and there were some big climbs that hurt.  But with every big climb comes a big downhill!  After our ride with Andy I decided to do the first half again and I slowed it down a little to pay closer attention to some lines.  The next morning it started raining, then it started pouring.  I was hoping it was going to quit so the first wave could dry up the trail some but it just never quit raining.  When our wave started it had almost quit raining but the trail was already soaked.  Since I had more experience riding Conyers wet I wasn't too worried.  The whistle went off and immediately everything from my tires went straight to my eyes.  I had a hard time seeing where I was at but so did everyone else.  I didn't go into the woods where I wanted so I had some ground to make up.  I could see the leaders and was closing in on them.  I was going to try to catch them on a downhill section and released the brakes and started cruising after them.  BAM, I went down hard.  I went high on the corner and my wheels were out from under me before I knew it.  I slid down hill and ended up about 6 feet from my bike.  As I was running uphill back to my bike I realized my right knee had an issue.  I mounted back up and took off again.  I took off hard to try to catch back up with Adam who passed me during the crash.  I lost my confidence in the corners and that made it hard to catch him.  After the first lap I was on 9th place and had a lot of work to do to catch the leaders since the race was cut short by a lap.  On the second lap I started to gain my wet, muddy cornering confidence again and passed two people.  I started flowing the trail pretty good and I guess I got too confident again because I went down again.  Landed on the same knee again but this time the bike sled with me.  I once again mounted back up but never caught up to anyone.  I ended up 7th and covered in red Georgia clay.  This was not a good race for me but not every race can go as planned.  Congratulations to Carter Anderson for taking the win Simon Xhauflair on 4th, both of CycleYouth.  A big thank you goes out to LeRoy at LeRoy's Bikeworks for helping me fine tune my Niner RDO before the race and Allegheny Millwork for their support too.

SERC 1--Santos

I have always been a huge fan of the Santos trail system so I wasn't too disappointed when I found out it was not at Gainesville.  Plus, I never seem to have a good SERC race at Gainesville.  For some reason I am always sick this time of year.  This year was different.  I was healthy.  I wasn't really in sprint shape because I had done so much endurance training since the FSC but my Dad started throwing in some interval workouts and some additional sprint training.  My top end speed wasn't there but I could ride for a long time. 

We pre rode the course on Saturday and I loved it, so much I did more laps than I usually do.  I felt confident and was ready for Sunday.  There was a chance of rain on Sunday so tire selection became our biggest concern.  With it staying overcast we decided to stick with our normal race setup and lined up for our three laps.  My strategy was to follow one particular person the first lap because I knew he would go out hard.  On the second lap I was going to make my move and sprint the third.

The first lap was pretty uneventful.  I simply followed the leader with my teammate Sam right behind me.  On the second lap the leader started attacking right away.  I countered every attack and stayed right with him.  About the mid way point I made my move.  We had an open section and I sprinted it out to gain the lead.  Second place kept trying to get back around me so I picked up the pace just enough where he wouldn't have room to get around in any open sections.  Coming through scoring he attacked again to try to regain the lead.  I opened it up a little to keep him behind me.  The first part of the lap was easy trail so I picked up the pace quite a bit as planned.  Next thing I knew I was riding all by myself.  I slowed down my pace a little to save some for the finish.  Next thing I knew Sam was catching up to me.  We were able to ride out the rest of the third lap without having to give it too much effort.  I could tell my endurance training had paid off.  As we came to the finish line I was prepared for Sam to try to out sprint me but he never did.  We were able to cross the line at a comfortable pace. 

The CycleYouth team had a great day at the SERC.  1st and 2nd in junior sport and 1st, 5th, 8th, and 10th in 10-14 and 3rd and 6th in 15-18.  The rest of the LeRoys Bikeworks team also had a great day pulling a few wins and many other podium spots.

SouthEast Bike Expo

The SouthEast Bike Expo was better than I could have imagined.  I was ready to do some mountain bike riding outside of Florida and Conyers, GA seemed like the best spot.  Although it was 40 degrees and rainy we still were excited to be there. 

We arrived on Friday night and had dinner with Josh and Ty from Orbea.  Those two are really cool to hang out with and we had planned on riding with them but they were too busy at the expo.  Next time guys! 

First thing Saturday morning we hit the trails.  Conyers wasn't like I remembered it.  It was muddy and open.  The area was logged last year and it opened up the area a lot.  The last time we were there it was rainy but the trails held up better than they did this time.  The climbs were still there and I did some of them several times just to get some training in.  Since it was so wet we skipped the granite side and got cleaned up and headed to the expo.

A lot of vendors were there and we got to see the new products and talk to a lot of people about their products.  The highlights were meeting the Vee Rubber Tires crew and getting to see their complete lineup of tires and the SRAM tent had me drooling for some XX1.  Vee Rubber Tires is one of our CycleYouth sponsors and I really enjoyed seeing all their tires first hand.  They have a tire for every kind of bike riding and my Dad and I spent a lot of time with them.  I saw about 5 different tires that would work great here in Florida.  We have hard packed, sand, mud, clay, and everything else in between down here and just about every state series race could require a different tread.  Vee Rubber has us covered!  Thanks for all the swag guys!!!  The socks are super comfortable!

We did another ride that afternoon and hit a small portion of the granite but it was still slick so we cleaned up again and headed out to dinner.  The next morning a few of us went for another ride and the trails had dried out some and the sun was out.  We were able to ride the granite side this time and got some good mileage in with a lot of climbing.

I headed back to the expo for the final time and ran into some of the Georgia CycleYouth team.  I went to the KMC tent and hung out for a while and then made my way to Vee Rubber Tires again.  I feel I have some good tire combinations picked out and can't wait to try them out.

The expo had a lot of vendors and plenty of swag to go around.  I got a lot of samples of gels, tshirts, key chains, water bottles, stickers and beanies.  I can't wait until next years expo!

6 hours of El Legarto

This was my first endurance race of the year and I trained my butt off for it.  I wanted to concentrate on more endurance training this year so I set my first goal to win this race.  I won the junior division a couple of times so last year I moved up to the adult division.  It didn't work out too well.  Even though I would have won the junior division again I only placed 12th in the adult division.  This year I was out to win it!  I entered the Strava base mile challenge to help keep me motivated.  I did 570 miles in January on the mountain bike preparing for the 6 hour race.  Thanks to my training partner Jeff Adams for pushing me at a fast pace during these rides.  We tried to keep the pace above 13 average and were successful at doing so.  The week before the race I did my last big ride of 80 miles and averaged 13.2 mph.  I felt really good on that ride and knew I was ready for the race.

On race day I was pumped and ready to ride.  Red Trail Racing always starts this race off with a 50 yard potatoe sack hop and I was the second one on the bike.  I ended up behind Zach Fout and he had the same strategy as I did...take of hard to avoid the bottle necks and then settle in.  I followed him for the first two laps and then he asked me if I wanted to lead for a little bit.  I went around him and without even realizing it I had opened up a 30 second gap.  I stopped after each lap to get a fresh bottle and some food.  The quarter turkey sandwiches, honey stingers, granola bars and twizzlers were going down great.  As I was leaving my pit area I could see Zach entering his and we were eyeballing each other the entire time.  When I would get to a certain part of the road leading back into the trail Zach would take off again.  I knew he was pacing me.  Around the fourth hour I was expecting Zach to make a move but he never did so I held my 13 mph pace and so did he.  I was feeling really good and was ready for Zach to attack at anytime.  As cutoff approached I was looking over my shoulder a lot and Zach was not closing in so I maintained my pace and kept chugging along.  As I approached scoring for my last lap I was debating on whether to stop again.  My bottle was low so I quickly grabbed another one and took off.  I pushed really hard on this lap trying to open up the gap on Zach so he would really have to work hard to beat me.  I noticed in the trail he was a little further behind me but I wasn't going to back off.  The last thing I wanted was a sprint finish after doing 70 miles.  As I was getting closer to the finish I kept trying to pick up the pace even more and ended up making my last lap just about as fast as my first.  I was excited to take the win.

My goal was to win this race so I could move up a class and race against Kenda/Felt rider Drew Edsall next year.  Drew gives riding clinics to my team a few times a year and it will be an honor to race against him next year.  Our local newspaper, The Ledger, did an article on me and the CycleYouth team before the race and they showed up to do a post race interview.  I had a lot to live up to and I'm glad I did.  My teammates Sam, Jordon, and Jared also had great races finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  Good job guys on a podium sweep in the junior class!   

 

This is who I'm going after next year!

Here is to good riding Drew...see you soon!

FSC # 9 Santos

This was probably the most nervous I have been about a race.  I was tied for first with Colin and the points for this race cannot be dropped.  I had to have a good race or I would not win the Florida State Title.  I had trouble eating before the race because my stomach was in knots.  It took me almost an hour to get a Clif bar in me!  Finally we were on the line and was ready to race.  The whistle went off and I got a decent start but pushed my way into the lead going into the woods.  Colin found my wheel and settled in behind me.  The first lap was pretty uneventful as Colin and I made our way through the other classes.  It was right before scoring when Colin made his move to get around me.  The trail opened up and off he went.  Through scoring I settled in on his wheel determined not to let him open up a gap.  Colin is fast in the open areas but I am faster in the technical sections so I really needed to stay with him.  When we got to the first technical section Colin had about 5-10 second gap that I closed quickly.  When the trail opened up he attacked.  He opened up another gap so I chased him down as hard as I could.  I really needed to pass him before the next technical section so I could launch my own attack.  I had about 15 seconds to make up and could occasionaly see him as I was coming off a corner.  Then the trail got really twisty.  I was not able to see him through this section because there were so many corners and the woods were too thick.  I knew I was slowly gaining on him so I kept hammering to catch him.  When I got to the next technical section he was already in it.  So I thought.  Turns out Colin made a wrong turn and was now behind me.  I heard after the race that the tape or some arrows had been moved but I never noticed anything.  I flew through the technical section hoping to catch Colin and was gearing up for a sprint finish.  Since I never caught Colin in this section I really started to crank it out to the finish.  I slid out on a corner and went down.  I quickly got back on my bike and started sprinting.  My heart rate skyrocketed and I knew it was probably over.  I was realizing I would take 2nd overall again this year.  My teammate Adam and Tyler caught me in the last mile or so and I followed them to the finish.  I had nothing else in me to catch Colin.  Adam and Tyler battled for position all the way to the finish with Tyler having the better sprint.  As I approached the finish line I saw Colins Dad with his hands in the air and I thought he asked where Colin was.  Then I heard a bunch of cheers from my teammates parents and my Dad.  I was thinking "I just lost state, why are they cheering like that?".  As I crossed the finish line I heard my Dad say "You just won state!".  I said "I won?" and everyone started saying "yes, you won".  It was the most confusing few minutes in my life.  It quickly sank in and my heart rate started to spike again but it felt like the world was off my shoulders.  I worked very hard for this race season and I am glad it paid off.  I learned a lesson in this race.  You never know what is going to happen in the race so go hard until the end and pay close attention to the course during the preride. 

The CycleYouth/LeRoy's team of myself, Adam, Madison, Sam and Jordon also placed 1st in the team competition and I believe this is the first time an all junior team has done that!  Great job everyone that raced for CycleYouth/LeRoy's this year!

 

I would also like to give a big thank you to CycleYouth for allowing LeRoy's Bikeworks to be one of the DEVO leagues, LeRoy's for making sure the team has the best equipment and our bikes are always in race ready condition, my Dad for coaching us along and killing us with his workouts, all the parents who make sure that everyone is always at practice and my Mom and Mrs. Tracy for always taking lots of pictures of us to remember all of this.  And a big thank you to Goneriding for putting on these events!  As we like to yell on the trail...'MERICA!