I made my return to biking today after a 2 week hiatus. It was a nice three hour local loop ride with Steve. With the exception of no feeling in my tarsals, it was an awesome ride.
I got to try out some singletrack I have never ridden before. It was pretty technical and was tough enough that Steve and I had to walk a bit of it.
That is all...I just wanted to share my excitement that I am riding again. It is colder now, but it is still great to ride. My knee is feeling a lot better now, too.
So here goes the start to a couple month long base mile period.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Blog
It has been a long time and a lot has happened since the last time I posted on this blog. Since I got back from Florida, I have raced 14 races and only won one (out of 1 racer). This last half of the year didn't go as well as the first year as far as results are concerned, but it was still fun...at least most of it.
The Tailwind series ended with Stony Creek XC. It was one of the muddiest races I've done (until the next week at MSU- where I lost all braking ability). I got 1st place out of 1 in the race, which clinched my overall series championship. So, I was this years Expert Men 19-29 State Champion. Plus I got a free Iceman entry out of it.
Collegiate season was really long. We raced 6 weekends straight and it took its toll on my body. Combined with my way too serious attitude about race during the last half (which goes against everything I bike for), my form declined more and more each weekend.
After having a great race halfway through the season at Lindsey Wilson, where I was sitting 2nd almost the whole race until I crashed with a couple miles to go, then rapidly declining, I decided not to go to Nationals. It gave me a much needed month off from racing before Iceman a couple weeks ago.
Iceman went very well. I got fifth, but I still had a lot of fun and was in the lead for most of the race despite having crashed in the first couple miles and losing touch with the leaders.
One aspect of my racing that has improved the most this year is my starts. I have gotten very good at starting and was able to be in the top three for almost all collegiate races this year going into the woods, with a couple hole-shots. Starting better has had an amazing impact on my racing. Going into the woods third position at Lindsey Wilson definitely was a huge factor in my being in second place for most of the race.
The collegiate season marked some ups and downs. After Lindsey Wilson, I started taking racing too seriously and it started not being fun. Here is a picture of me being too serious:
During the third lap at regionals, I finally started having fun and enjoying myself. I rode out the rest of the race with Chris and Jon, and we were just chatting the entire race (mainly bashing Union). Here is a picture of me being not-serious (a fake sprint with Chris and Jon, we let Chris win since it was his birthday):
The best thing about this season was getting Kelly Bartlett into it. She started out already awesome...there must be good cycling in the Bartlett genes. She won 3 out of the 4 races she did. Her skill improved rapidly in just the few weeks she started riding. She bought a bike only two weeks into it and raced her first race only three weeks into it. Here is Kelly looking awesome going up a hill.
Unfortunately, she broke her collarbone and Team BCB won't be able to ride together again until spring. Team BCB is Kelly, Steve, and me. It is our super-cool team created once we got kelly into it.
I think I will start writing again, since Mike has a new blog (which means I will get some traffic again).
The Tailwind series ended with Stony Creek XC. It was one of the muddiest races I've done (until the next week at MSU- where I lost all braking ability). I got 1st place out of 1 in the race, which clinched my overall series championship. So, I was this years Expert Men 19-29 State Champion. Plus I got a free Iceman entry out of it.
Collegiate season was really long. We raced 6 weekends straight and it took its toll on my body. Combined with my way too serious attitude about race during the last half (which goes against everything I bike for), my form declined more and more each weekend.
After having a great race halfway through the season at Lindsey Wilson, where I was sitting 2nd almost the whole race until I crashed with a couple miles to go, then rapidly declining, I decided not to go to Nationals. It gave me a much needed month off from racing before Iceman a couple weeks ago.
Iceman went very well. I got fifth, but I still had a lot of fun and was in the lead for most of the race despite having crashed in the first couple miles and losing touch with the leaders.
One aspect of my racing that has improved the most this year is my starts. I have gotten very good at starting and was able to be in the top three for almost all collegiate races this year going into the woods, with a couple hole-shots. Starting better has had an amazing impact on my racing. Going into the woods third position at Lindsey Wilson definitely was a huge factor in my being in second place for most of the race.
The collegiate season marked some ups and downs. After Lindsey Wilson, I started taking racing too seriously and it started not being fun. Here is a picture of me being too serious:
During the third lap at regionals, I finally started having fun and enjoying myself. I rode out the rest of the race with Chris and Jon, and we were just chatting the entire race (mainly bashing Union). Here is a picture of me being not-serious (a fake sprint with Chris and Jon, we let Chris win since it was his birthday):
The best thing about this season was getting Kelly Bartlett into it. She started out already awesome...there must be good cycling in the Bartlett genes. She won 3 out of the 4 races she did. Her skill improved rapidly in just the few weeks she started riding. She bought a bike only two weeks into it and raced her first race only three weeks into it. Here is Kelly looking awesome going up a hill.
Unfortunately, she broke her collarbone and Team BCB won't be able to ride together again until spring. Team BCB is Kelly, Steve, and me. It is our super-cool team created once we got kelly into it.
I think I will start writing again, since Mike has a new blog (which means I will get some traffic again).
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