History 8

Summer 2006

This season was another season of learning. The big difference between this season and the last was the presence of clear leaders. Josh and Steve were both strong, on-bike influences in my riding. Having those leaders introduced a new level of accountability. If someone screwed up or didn't perform in a race, there was something said about it. It was good for me because I had to push myself past what I thought were my limits. Now, down to the details.

After a little post-graduation vacation in Colorado, I raced the Missouri State Road Race. Although I do look back at the weekend with much regret, (different actions on my part could have won us both races) I did come away as MO State RR Champ. The next weekends were big money crits: Winghaven, Rochester, & Proctor. There were a couple of other races in there, but little of note.

Superweek was next (I should mention that I was feeling pretty good coming into Superweek). I was in the money for a few crits, even getting a top 15 at Menasha, but after about a week of racing I began to get tired. All told I did 10 races in 11 days. I proceeded to do a few more Superweek races before going to Altoona. THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE. I didn't take enough rest during July and cracked bad in stages 3 and 4 of Altoona. When I came back to the Midwest I broke into a fever and had to take time off the bike. When I finally did get back on, the Tuesday Night training races had become grueling. I was stuck at medium-fast for the rest of the season. All the way through Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove, Winfield, & Gateway I was near useless.

Gateway was the last of my racing for 2006, after taking a few days off I continued to train till the end of September. The season had gone down as another season of learning and I was determined to pool all my resources to have a break-out season in '07. With a new focus on weight and overall health, I took my weeks off in early October and ended my 2006 season.

History 7

Fall '05 - Spring '06

The 2005 season was a long one for me, so I was ready to take a break... And take a break I did. Seven weeks without a bike ride that fall. I didn't sit on my butt though. I participated in two large projects for school, and I dated, successfully.

The first project was writing the software for the Washington University IEEE Dance Floor. I was part of the CSE436 team that wrote the software package to control the floor. The project was very cool and was a hit at the debut. It appealed to me because it covered the every part of a program. Our software interacts directly with the physical microchips that turn on and off the LEDs as well as providing a control interface for any person who wants to control the floor. There is now an extension that allows people to make animations to run on the floor. I have a half finished, partially working version of the software on my computer that will react to the music being played. All the machine would need is a line in. I don't consider myself done. There are others, still in school, who continue to make the hardware more robust, and I hope others continue with the software.

The second project was for CSE462. It was to create an USB Harmonic Ultrasound system. This was also very cool, in theory. It became cool in practice once it actually worked (there was a lot time in between where it was simply a burden.) The final product could be miniaturized into a probe head and powered via the USB cable. The harmonic imaging was done in hardware so the system didn't put a heavy burden on the host machine. It was able to image roughly 20cm deep with a decent resolution. After the project was finished, I pushed to continue the project, hoping that it would turn into a published paper or possibly a commercial product. There were many practical questions that needed answering, and before we could sort everything out, another company had put out a product that was similar enough that it wouldn't pay to pursue our idea further. Still, very cool.

As for the dating, nothing to note till Erin. She's great and super supportive of (almost) everything I do. I was kind of a shit-head to her during this time though, so we'll skip over that.

After a grand total of three rides, I went to Tucson in January. I put in back to back to back monster weeks to make up for all the base that I hadn't been building. When I got back I was finally all psyched up for cycling again. I tried to balance school and training January and February, until the Vuelta Sonora, Mexico (UCI 2.2). Mexico was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. The life experience was too great to put into this context. At one point I decided to write an account of my experience. It soon grew to many pages and I lost my motivation.

The weekend after I got back, we decided to go race in Ohio, just to keep racing. The first day was rained out. Apparently the course was flooded. I was the only one that stayed for the race the next day, as I was on my way to Oberlin anyway. Sunday, March 12, 2006 I was hit by a deer while in the soon-to-be winning breakaway. Here's the picture:The two yellow arrows in the picture are the deer (right arrow) and I (left arrow). I'm not going to claim that that was the exact deer that hit me, but yes, a deer did hit me. That deer knocked me that far off the road. I was fine. My bike was not. The deer was one of many that ran across the road. Enough said.

Spring racing continued, and I raced well, being able to contribute to team wins and scoring many top 10s. Graduated: Washington University in St. Louis May 2006.

History 6

Summer 2005

This was a time of learning. I went to Quad Cities, Proctor, Apple Cup, Superweek, Winfield, Downers, Gateway, and Olney (with many other races in between). I felt that I was able to race well in early June and then again in late August. It's possible that I was actually riding well the whole time, but the races during late July and all of August were just plain fast.

One thing that became apparent and later frustrating with the team was the lack of a clear leader. We needed someone who would take charge, on the road, during a race. I think it's possible for a team to have many leaders, but we seemed to lack even one. It didn't have to be the same person every time either. By gateway, we got our act together and designated leaders to avoid the feeling and appearance of disunity. It was nice to finally have direction on the road.

That brings me to another point: I didn't really know how to race my bike as part of a team before that season. I mean, I hadn't had a team for much of the previous summer. I have learned that racing with a team happens on multiple levels.

The first thing that has to happen (or the first level if you will) is learning what it means to race as part of a team. This is on the equivalent of a book-learned level. Kinda like the recitation, "Racing for the team means giving 100% to the team," or "it doesn't matter that I finish, as long as I give my all to the team." That's just 'knowing' what it means.

The next level, one that I only began to understand the summer of 2005, is to understand what it means to ride as a team. I feel that this has much more to do with knowing what it feels like to give 100%. When it comes down to the end of a race and you're hurting like you're gonna die, you need to know that you can go harder, or faster, or hold that pace for just a little bit longer. Understanding what it means involves really not caring about personal finishes (unless of course your finish is the finish the team is counting on.)

Physical ability and confidence are part of it as well, but those are something that come with time on the bike. I definitely learned what it means to ride for a team, and I began to understand as well.

History 5

Fall '04 - Spring '05

The end of the 2004 season was good, but the end of racing was welcome when it finally came. I was eager to be able to take time to bring my fitness level up to par with the elite category. I bought a Computrainer and rode it. A lot. The computrainer is one of those things that you love and hate at the same time. I would really hate to ride a regular trainer for hours, but having the computrainer's variation makes indoor endurance rides tolerable.

For the fall semester I sublet an apartment in DeMun. I could see Forest Park from my bedroom window. At the end of the semester/year, I turned 21. It was fun. We also had team camp that winter. The team's sponsorship changed to Mesa Cycles. The new kits were orange and black. The camp was a lot of fun with rock climbing included.

The second semester I worked for Monsanto as part of their Web Solutions department. It seemed like that dept. was a catch-all for creative projects that needed to get done. Overall, it was a great learning experience. I was given great challenges and opportunities in the form of Interchange '05, which was an international conference held at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. Other times during the internship I felt I had to create challenges for myself.

In any case, the training was decent. The job afforded me a routine that I could count on. After a couple of weeks in Tucson at the turn of the year, I continued to train. I won the St. Charles Cycling Classic in early April. To be honest, there wasn't any real competition there. Luca, my teammate, was the probably the strongest rider there. It was a confidence booster either way. The next weekend at Hillsboro-Roubaix the team missed the breakaway, but I won the field sprint. As you can see, I was meaning to give Luca (left) a lead-out, but he had no need to come around me (center).

To be honest, there isn't much to report from this time. My personal life sucked, so I rode my bike. I guess it showed cause I could actually do things in the elite races. Work at Monsanto slowed down my training, but since I wasn't spending time on anything else, it wasn't that bad.

History 4

Summer 2004

This was a good summer for me. At Tour of St. Louis, I wasn't able to get a win, but I was near the top in every field and got third overall. There is a picture from the TT in History 2. In the middle of June I took a two week vacation to Atlanta where I continued to train. The Proctor Cycling Classic was the first weekend I was back in the Midwest. I got third in both the road race and the criterium to take first overall. I got a little plaque to take back to my dad (it was father's day). The following weekend was the Illinois State Road Race, which I won. It was nice to finally get a win in the midst of all these top ten placings. I felt that my fitness was finally coming back to where I was before finals. Finally, just before Superweek... I should also mention that I had been talking to Julie Carter (former Director, Long John Silvers Cycling Team; current Director Mesa Cycles Racing Team) about a spot on their team.

My first Superweek race of '04 was in Menasha, WI. In the closing laps I got into a break with two other riders. One of them was too weak to work and the other beat me. Go figure. In any case, this put me in second overall, nipping at the heels of Randy Reichardt. The next day in Manitowoc I took four primes and the race win. Monday was Alpine Valley where I got into a two man breakaway with the winner from the previous year. Barely winning Whitnall Park I attacked/sprinted him with about 300m to go and won. The day after at MGA Proving Grounds, I won again, this time in a pack sprint. Wednesday was the Whitnall Park RR. It's a beautiful course winding its way through parks in western Milwaukee. I narrowly won that race in a pack sprint. You can see in the picture how close the race was (I'm father away from the camera). In a higher res version of the picture, I'm about a pixel farther along than the other rider. Thursday was Humbolt Park, where I got sixth. The rider who got fifth was Michael Anderson, who had emerged as my closest competitor. Friday I won Brewer's Hill Criterium in downtown Milwaukee. The last three laps of the race were very bizarre weather-wise. Early in the race I kept hearing people cheer, "Go Mike!" They couldn't be cheering for me cause I didn't know anyone watching for me that day. I later found out that they were cheering for Mike Anderson. Weather-wist, a nice, hot, Midwestern summer had turned into torrential storm weather. I attacked on the back side of the course and took the uphill, tight corners as fast as I could. Anderson was half a bike behind me by the finish. After the race I went to dinner with Jesse Mendonca (from CA) and his host family. By the time the pro race started that evening the sun was out again.

After an unexpectedly good seven days of racing, I took Saturday off. Saturday was the Carl Zach Cycling Classic, which I hate, so I didn't miss it. Winning my seventh Superweek raceSunday was Bensenville. Bensenville is a fast course in a western suburb of Chicago (by O'Hare). It was the first race where I had family and friends in attendance. I was able to make them proud by winning my sixth Superweek race. Monday was Holy Hill, where everyone looked to me to chase every break down. I won the field sprint for seventh. Tuesday, the Lake Front course was the same, except I finished third, getting second in the field sprint. I skipped Wednesday on account of the distance to the race. Thursday, another crit, featured a large breakaway that was threatening, but didn't stay away. I won the field sprint and got a good picture out of it too. Friday was Kenosha, my last day as a 3. I won my eighth and final Superweek 3's race. I had mathematically locked-up my overall victory. Even if Mike Anderson won the next two races and I scored no points, he wouldn't catch my lead. I got my upgrade right after the end of the 3's race and jumped into the Pro race. Amazingly, I finished. I was not so lucky for the next two nights. That's all I've got to say 'bout Superweek.

The next weekend was the Arlington Heights crit. I crashed badly and was off the bike for a few weeks. The rest of the season was lack-luster after my Superweek showing, but the team did get some good results at IRS (Indiana Race Series: 1st, 2nd, 5th overall), and Onley (1st, 2nd, 3rd). It's a long post, but there was lots to say. Next: training as a Cat. 2.

History 3

Fall '03 - Spring '04

This is when I started to get more serious about my training. Once I was finally on my new Moots in October, I began to train with greater resolve. I did my first indoor trainer rides and took my first trip to California.

The California trips were amazing. My uncle lives in San Luis Obispo, CA and has been an avid cyclist since he was a teenager. My first trip was during winter break. I did many of the best rides around San Luis country. My second trip was during spring break. The riding I did on that trip was even better, logging over 500 miles in seven days of riding. On the fourth day of riding I rode the coast line via Hwy 1. I started just north of San Simeon, rode north to Big Sur, and rode back. It was absolutely incredible and remains one of the most memorable rides that I have done to date.

The racing that spring went well. I got third at Tillis Park (my first race) and followed that up with a second and a pair of wins. It was nice to do well in those races, but I knew that finals would bring down my fitness level, so I decided not to push the upgrade. I stayed a category 3 through the spring and into the summer.

History 2

Summer 2003

The summer of '03 was a busy one for me. I worked full-time at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago as well as part-time at Turin Bicycle. This left me very little time or energy to train. The manager at Turin convinced me to upgrade to a Cat. 3, and so I did. I did a handful of races for the rest of the season, Superweek's Alpine Valley, Gateway Cup, but no good results to show for it.

I did however, have a grand total of three run-ins with cars that summer.
The Moots in TT mode the following summerThe first two were not good, but ultimately my bike survived. The third one was the worst. A car turn (oncoming traffic turning left). I wasn't too badly hurt, but my bike was done for. I was back up and running quickly, but it took a while to get my bike together. I was able to part out the bike and accessories to recup maximum loss from the accident. I decided to purchase a Moots Compact frame, Look HSC fork, and all the trimmings. I was able to keep many components from the damaged bike. It certainly wasn't a new bike, but it was a great ride. I didn't get the bike for four weeks, so I was on borrowed bikes for the whole end of the season. Sophomore year next.

History 1

Summer 2002-'03

I'm often asked how I got into cycling. It started near the end of my senior year of high school when my parents sold my car. It wasn't really mine to being with, but it was so awful ('90 Plymouth Voyager Minivan) that no one else in my family wanted to drive it. My sister, who had just gotten her license, refused to drive it because it made her feel "unsafe", with understandable reason.

I turned to my mountain bike as my independent mode of transportation.
My first bike: C-dale Super-V 1000The bike itself was an eyesore, just like the old van: a blue & silver '94(?) Cannondale Super-V 1000. The frame was build for a headshock, but I pressed reducer cups into the head tube to allow me to use a gold RockShox Judy XC. Yeah, I know, that saddle looks painful. Enough about that old mountain bike, I didn't end up riding it much longer.

When I got to school in the fall I was inundated, as every college freshman is, with potential activities. One thing I chose to pursue was the WashU Cycle Club. The organization was much different in '02. The leading members were outgoing seniors and very enthusiasic about cycling. My weekend recreational rides were becoming longer and the mountain bike was becoming more of a problem. Coincidentally, one of the senior mountain bikers had Cannondale CAAD 3 road bike that he was willing to loan out. The upgrade to a road bike was a true upgrade.

After about a month and a half of riding the borrowed bike I decided that it was time to get a bike of my own. I did quite a lot of shopping around for the right company, frame material, geometry, but, as I didn't really know what going on, every bike felt pretty much the same. I settled on a CAAD 7 R2000 from Big Shark, mostly because the owner gave me a smoking-good deal (for some kid off the street).

The seasons progressed into and through winter as I logged rides as long as four hours. One of the Cycle Club kids was from Macon, Georgia (host town of the Tour of Georgia). Macon became our spring break destination in '03. Not long after our return from spring break, the team went to the first road races of the season. All I remember about them is that they were in Ohio and that the second day was in Huston Woods (State?) Park. I won the Cat 5 race on Saturday and the 4/5 race on Sunday. It was exhiliating. I got a 4th place and then another 1st in subsequent races. In May finals hit, my college freshman year ended, and I started working. Summer 2003 next.

History

So, before I make this blog available to the public, I'm going to fill in my cycling back story. Nothing juicy, just the (relatively) cut-and-dry version of my cycling background. Here goes...

First Post

After very little thought, I have decided create a blog for myself. I figure it'll be a good way to keep people up-to-date about my travels, training, and racing. There'll be more to come once I get used to this new medium.