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.