Collegiate Cycling

Alright here is a long overdue post of my 2013 Collegiate cycling season. If I had to describe it in one word I would pick the word fun. I got to race with a team of great guys and had a blast doing so. My first and most important race of the season was Collegiate track nationals in Colorado Springs. It my coach Tim, Zach,Cam, and I all in a ford F-350 pickup truck loaded to the brim with bikes and gear. The trip was a grueling 24 hours stopping to sleep only once. Many of our stops for gas included a starbucks trip. Those starbucks trips only made my addiction to caffeine worse. When we arrived to our motel I was so full of energy that the when we were spinning on the rollers I would sprint and jump onto the bed, bike and all.

I got on my bike to ride the tack and it felt amazing. I felt the strongest I have ever been in months. All of the brutal hills at Lees-McRae really made me a string rider. My first race were the sprints, where I barely made it into the sprint tournament. I had to race against one of the faster guys. My goal was to keep the sprint short and use my smaller gear gap him on the wind up. However, I was too jumpy and went was to early and was beaten by a tire width. In the rep I did not fare so well because of my terrible position. I got stuck in the middle of the group of three so it was hard to keep an eye on both people.

Sprinting in the Points Race Heat

The highlight of nationals was the 30km points race. Around a 90 lap race on the 333 meter track. The gun fired and we were off. The pace was fast and my goal was to sit in the front and take tabs on all of the other riders. A break happened after the 2nd sprint, I saw this and noticed that there were some of the top guys in the break group. I put in a hard effort and caught them. My plan of waiting until after half to sprint for big points were out the window. Every sprint lap I sprinted to get points. This turned out to be very successful as I was able to hold on for a 4th place podium spot.

4th place!

That was possibly the hardest 4th place I have ever raced for. Coming into the scratch race I was sitting 4th overall and in striking distance of winning the overall title. I did not think about that when I clipped in at the line for the race. I was thinking of racing the best race I could. "No stress, no pressure, just perform. You know what to do." I told myself. The race started off well, I was waiting for the break or attack. All of a sudden the pace picked up sharply. I jump hard and hop on a wheel moving trying to move up the pack. I look to my side because someone was swinging up to me. Then all of a sudden I hear the dreaded sound of carbon and alloy scraping concrete. I quickly look forward and the wreck was inches away from me. I remember seeing the ground and the impact. I tell myself to relax and slide down the track, just don't fight it. Then I got hit hard by the pack behind me. I got from the wreck head hurting, ribs and shoulders killing me, but nothing broken. I got myself reoriented and hopped on my bike. I could not race however, the pain of the shoulder and ribs kept me distracted. I went from 4th overall to 9th. But even though I was beaten up I was happy. I did not let up in the race, even though it hurt I dug down and fought for lap and finished the race. Later I found out that I had a few bruised ribs and a sprained shoulder. Plus lots of road rash, thank god for tegaderm.

Wrapping up my season was cyclocross. I caught the bug and I really enjoy racing it. Coming from the high stress and pressure of track cycling to the more relaxed nature of 'cross was something I really needed. It was great to race and hang out with my team who are some of the greatest group of guys and gals I have met. I can't wait to kick some butt with them during the road season.

The Bones

1st Year.

When you imagine a cyclist whose father was a world class sprinter, you would probably picture a big tall hulk of a person as a result of perfect genetics. That's where you're wrong. I weigh at least 150 on a good day and I'm 6'1''. Its weird to think that. When I first started to race I was even thinner. It took 4 years of of hard gym work to get to my current weight. My career as a cyclist started late. I was 15 when I started to race. I was thrown into it and learned the basics of riding through the yelling and teachings of my dad and through the help of my dad's old coach, Gil.

3rd Year

That winter I trained hard though the gym and on the trainer. I made sure that I was going to be good. But again I was just decent. I was doing well in races. I was keeping up with the top local jrs, but I could not, for the life of me learn tactics, my inexperience was making me lose. That year was also the first year I heard people say stuff about me slowly moving through the ranks and my dad being director of the track. That hurt my feelings a bunch. There were nights I'd come home beyond upset and just sulk in bed. Depression hit me, it hurt me to hear those things.

4th Year. Last year as a jr.

Then one night of racing I beat a jr rider by a tire width. He was livid, in the warm circle he told me that the only reason I can get far in the sport is because I will piggyback off of my dad's success. Thats what set me off. The next race, out of pure rage, I hooked the kid all the way into the wall. The next two years I set myself out to show the sport that I am a different breed of rider. I will not be pure endurance or pure sprint. I will be both. I will be a powerhouse on the bike. To this day I train with the same anger that was put into my heart the night that kid said that to me. The last two years of racing as a jr. I crushed the local jr riders. But to this day I still have to fight to show to myself that I am one of the best track cyclist in the nation.

Intro/ My Story

You are a product of your environment, so the saying goes. If that is the case then I am supposed to be some superhuman track sprinter who is on a fast track to Rio. But I am not, I barely weigh 150 pounds and am 6'1''. For those of you who do not who I am Tyler Nothstein son of one of the most decorated American track cyclists of all time Marty Nothstein. I am always reminded of that. Don't get me wrong I am proud of my Dad and he is my number one role model. I want to be great like him. One day I want to go to the Olympics. But not for the sprints. I have turned into a mass start racer. Instead of the awesome and powerful one on one sprinting my dad did, I do the chaotic scratch and point races. That is where I shine I love the rush of being in a tight pack with over 30 riders on a banked oval track on a bike with no brakes.

The struggles of my success does not come from training and injury. It comes from my pedigree so to speak. The success of my dad hangs over me like a shadow. The local community expects me to be great, and I do too myself. But the pressure is crippling for me. One bad week throws me off mentally. And not to mention the things said behind my back and to my face. Things that made me want to punch the person in the face. Things like I piggyback off my dad's success, I am only at the level I am at due to the fact that my dad runs the local track and many others that I heard over my brief 4 years of racing. I dismiss those sayings with my results. National team sprint champion, 4 time national medalist, 2013 Jr. Track Worlds National team member, State and Regional champ in the sprints, and Pennsylvania Best all Around rider. I surged from a cat 5 on the track to a cat 2 in my 4 years of racing. 

I am bred to race it is in my blood. Bane from The Dark Knight Rises sums that up with this quote: "I was born in, moulded by it." 

I started this blog to talk about my struggles and my success, my races, and my ever growing career in the sport of cycling. I am not here to cry about what is said about me. The things that were said about me made who I am. It made me stronger, tougher, and faster. I use that rage and anger in my races. I set up this blog to document my life as a child of cycling.