As you know this past weekend I was fortunate enough to get to race with the best young triathletes in the nation. I have been competing in triathlon for about 2 years now but I have yet to compete against such a group of competitors. It was evident after arriving at the site of the race Friday morning that this was no Virginia Tri Series Event. The athleticism that surrounded us was amazing. You could feel the excitement and the nerves in the athletes as they embarked on their pre-race workouts, shaking out the nerves and the cobwebs. After being at the race site for approximately 2 hours, picking up my race numbers, going to meetings for the Mid Atlantic conference, and getting in a swim in the ice cold Black Warrior River, Evan and I decided it would be best to stick to the cool air conditioned car to scope out the bike course and then head back to the room for dinner before we psyched ourselves out by over analyzing. That night we met my family for dinner and in typical Greg fashion, had quite the delicious feast with good conversation. Heading back to the hotel room I watched a few youtube videos before nodding off to sleep.
The alarm came early the day of the race. 5:15 never feels as early though when you are about to compete so Evan and I both jumped out of bed. My nerves were quite apparent as my hands begin to shake with everything I do when I get nervous. We got to the race course at around 6:10, thinking wed have plenty of time to check in our bikes before the race. HA, wrong. The line to get the bikes into the transition was awful. The worst thing about this was I knew it would be critical to get the bike into the transition area in enough time to get in the water before the swim wave went off or I would not have time to acclimitize to the water. Fortunately after waiting for nearly an hour we got into the transition area at about 6:55 (swim w/up was from 7-7:20)
After quickly setting up my transition area I ran over to the area to put on my wet suit. Like a dumb ass I brought my backpack so after taking my wetsuit and goggles out I had to sprint back over to the tent area to throw my stuff under a random tent since the W&M club is not funded at all as of yet, something we will be working on. Running back I put on my wetsuit and got in water. With my mind on the race the 59 degree water did not feel nearly as bad as it had the past day. After realizing that I may actually make it through the swim (thanks Bert so much for the wetsuit!) I got out and congregated with the athletes of the first wave. After being called we made our way down the dock the camera in our face, the athletes from all the schools screaming loudly. I jumped up and down a few times to help relax myself and keep myself calm. Jumping in the water I was focused and successful in creating my own place, serene and with only my thoughts before the horn went off.
The beginning of the race was a RUDE awakening. I surged forward off the dock and was nailed in the junk by a swimmer in front of me. Arms flew like clubs as we battled to get off the crowded wall. Trying not to panic I tried to find a hole and get in it. Having to resort to doggie paddle to get the river out of my mouth I finally was able to stretch out and begin my swim. As the swim went on I surged from group to group, this is proof to me that I am probably better than the time I swam. About 150m from the end the 2nd wave began catching me. One dick-wad decided it would be cool to hurdle me so after being dunked underneath him and through his legs I resurfaced. Fun. To bad I cant try to knock him off the bike gladiator style, maybe contact should be instituted as part of the bike leg. Getting out of the water in 23:45 I remembered my plan to really put the hurt on people in the transition. Unfortunately my plan to run hard to my bike was not about to happen. I thought for sure I was going to vomit as I ran to my bike, whydoidothistomyself?!?!?!
I put my shoes on in the transition area this week instead of opting for the flying mount and ran to the bike start. Immediately I passed about 10 idiots struggling to get their shoes on. If you are good at putting your shoes on while on the bike Im sure it is faster, but most of you are not and should just take the 5 secs in transition instead of struggling for the first 5 miles of the bike. On the bike I caught a good number of dudes. 4 people got penalties for drafting off me. 1 was on a Trek Speed concept with a disc and two others were on cervelo p3's, HA, fearmyroadbikebitchzzzz. I am interested to know the damage I could do if I were on a TT bike and my goal is to try to find one. Such a mission is about as rough as any James Bond has ever encountered however because I only have about 200 bucks ilovebeinginkollege!
Getting off the bike it was running time. Time to hurt. At the beginning of the run 2 guys passed me. Jesus your kidding me right? I dont mean to sound cocky but I NEVER get passed on the run. They had to be going to hard right? Fortunately they were. My strongest asset is my understanding of my body and the pace that I can run. I dont know how but I have gotten incredibly good at finding a pace I can maintain and sticking to it. The first mile was uphill and i hit it in just under 6. The second was mostly uphill, 5:55 and by now I had caught the Oregon State guy who had passed me in addition to about 10 other people. The third mile 5:51, 10 more passed dudes. God I love being a runner. The next miles went by about the same as they flattened out, passing about 5-7 guys per mile, to bad I cant dunk guys as I pass them on the run ay? In mile 5 someone went by me pretty quickly wearing an orange Saucony loose jersey. I figured out after the race that he would go on to run one of the fastest spilts a 34 mid and was an ex-UF runner who now ran for Saucony. The last 200meters I saw a VERY familiar site of tech's Grayson Cobb. Grayson and I have been friends since this summer and were immediately bonded by your intense passion for competition. We have very similar overall times as he is stronger on the bike and the swim but my run balances me out. Catching him with about 100m left he surged ahead and cross the finish line 2 seconds infront of me. Crossing the line he collapsed and I felt like I was going to. The intense heat (approx 86 degrees) made the run extremely rough as we had not had heat like that all year.
My overall time 2:06. Going into the race I was hoping for top 20, I got 41st. That said I am NOT disappointed. I raced hard. The competition was unbelievable and a big eye-opener for me. I was able to beat many outstanding athletes and was humbled by 40 others. It is no secret that success in this sport is determined by perseverance and work ethic. We all have set-backs and good training periods. It is dealing with these and moving on that make us successful. This past weekend I learned ALOT. I need to work on my swimming. I also need to work on my biking and running...theres always a bigger fish in the sea, the question is how many? The answer that I discovered this weekend is alot. Good to know, back to the grind. Time to get faster.
TRI THIS
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Famous Last Words
So tomorrows the big day. Im nervous as hell, it would be a lie to say otherwise. Its unfortunate that it took till my final year of my undergraduate career to participate in this event, but better late than never right?
The drive was very long. Like 13 hours long. Thankfully my teamate, Evan Fulton's parents drove us while we got to chill out in the back of the roomie Chevy Tahoe. I owe them huge. We left yesterday at about 2 and drove till a little after 11, stopping at a hotel in Tennessee over night. We got here pretty early this morning, a little before 10, just in time for the open water swim. We walked down to the water and congregated with the masses, putting on their wetsuits and joking with one another before giving their wetsuits a try. JESUS CHRIST that water was cold. As soon as I jumped in I tried to swim a few strokes but I realized I couldn't breathe deep enough to get in a full stroke with my head underwater. Finally after paddling around and attempting to get warm I was able to begin to swim. The temperature will, without a doubt, serve as intense motivation to swim fast to get out of the water.
The transition area is a huge plus for runners. After exiting the swim its probably about a 400m run to the transition area. Time to dig back into the days of the track and pull out some quarter speed. This will definitely be a good place for me to make up some time on the faster swimmers.
After the swim Evan and I rode around a bit before going for a quick, and separate shake-out jog. The bike course seems like it will be pretty fast. There are some rolling hills that go on for maybe a mile or so. They appear fairly gradual but Im still banking on them working to my benefit to slow down the bigger, stronger riders on tt bikes (assholes and rich-boys =p). Not that im jealous because I can run and will look forward to smanging them in the run.
The beginning of the run looks brutal. The first 1.5 miles go uphill. It will be extremely important to drink on the bike, which I neglected to do last week, because the weather is really hot and humid here, especially compared to Williamsburg. The rest of the run is really flat though and goes out a bike path and then back down the road.
If you had told me back when I was 12 years old, that in 10 years I would be competing among some of the most fit college athletes in the country I would have called bullshit. I was the kid who would hide behind the fence and eat dominos during pre-season soccer runs. How much I have changed. Over the past couple of weeks alot of people have asked me what my goal is...to be honest, I dont know. Would I like to win? Sure. Do I have a chance to win? You bet. But none of that matters now. What does matter, is that in 12 hours I plan on laying it all on the line. Punishing my body and asking it to dig deeper than I ever have before. If I do this, then I will have succeeded. Then i will be satisfied.
The drive was very long. Like 13 hours long. Thankfully my teamate, Evan Fulton's parents drove us while we got to chill out in the back of the roomie Chevy Tahoe. I owe them huge. We left yesterday at about 2 and drove till a little after 11, stopping at a hotel in Tennessee over night. We got here pretty early this morning, a little before 10, just in time for the open water swim. We walked down to the water and congregated with the masses, putting on their wetsuits and joking with one another before giving their wetsuits a try. JESUS CHRIST that water was cold. As soon as I jumped in I tried to swim a few strokes but I realized I couldn't breathe deep enough to get in a full stroke with my head underwater. Finally after paddling around and attempting to get warm I was able to begin to swim. The temperature will, without a doubt, serve as intense motivation to swim fast to get out of the water.
The transition area is a huge plus for runners. After exiting the swim its probably about a 400m run to the transition area. Time to dig back into the days of the track and pull out some quarter speed. This will definitely be a good place for me to make up some time on the faster swimmers.
After the swim Evan and I rode around a bit before going for a quick, and separate shake-out jog. The bike course seems like it will be pretty fast. There are some rolling hills that go on for maybe a mile or so. They appear fairly gradual but Im still banking on them working to my benefit to slow down the bigger, stronger riders on tt bikes (assholes and rich-boys =p). Not that im jealous because I can run and will look forward to smanging them in the run.
The beginning of the run looks brutal. The first 1.5 miles go uphill. It will be extremely important to drink on the bike, which I neglected to do last week, because the weather is really hot and humid here, especially compared to Williamsburg. The rest of the run is really flat though and goes out a bike path and then back down the road.
If you had told me back when I was 12 years old, that in 10 years I would be competing among some of the most fit college athletes in the country I would have called bullshit. I was the kid who would hide behind the fence and eat dominos during pre-season soccer runs. How much I have changed. Over the past couple of weeks alot of people have asked me what my goal is...to be honest, I dont know. Would I like to win? Sure. Do I have a chance to win? You bet. But none of that matters now. What does matter, is that in 12 hours I plan on laying it all on the line. Punishing my body and asking it to dig deeper than I ever have before. If I do this, then I will have succeeded. Then i will be satisfied.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Up-Swing
It is no longer fair for me to start off by commenting on how long it has been since I have last made a post. It seems that these monthly posts are now becoming the trend. A great deal has happened in the life of Greg since I last made a post, and the best part about it is that, for the most part, there has been a great deal of good!
Of the happenings of the past month the one that was not so good involves my wreck at our home crit. Sitting at the front of the break, I rounded turn 1 to sharply, my bike slid out from under me and I felt my body gliding across the pavement. Pavement is not ice, and your body is not supposed to slide across it. Standing up quickly I realized my bike was ok, but as the adrenaline wore off my head was in a good deal of pain and the bruises and cuts I picked up began to hurt. After a couple of sleepless nights and just feeling like a goldfish flushed down the toilet, I finally started to feel better and be able to ride my bike again. The next weekend was Navy race weekend, no big loss, and the weekend after that I would race bikes at duke, and post my best finish of the season, an 11th place finish at the road race. Yes.
The week before spring break which I guess would be two weeks ago now, give or take, I received a phone call from Wake Forest informing me that I had been accepted into their graduate school program of Health and Exercise Science. My elation with this call cannot be put into words and the burden that this has lifted off of my shoulders is monumental. It is nice to no longer worry that I will be living out of a box and slicing meet in the Wegmans deli for the remainder of my life. Pretty sweet.
Spring Break was cool. I have a better than that most people that went the beach which amuses me. The tan lines I have are something of which I am proud, unfortunately the general population does not find them as cool as I, but they are missing out.Anyway, over spring break I didnt go anywhere cause the clutch in my car crapped out. Not awesome at all, and I ended up paying alot of money to replace it. Hard to see a bright side in this one, other than I guess I wont need a new clutch for a while? What I did do over spring break was enjoyable though, it basically consisted of: swimming, biking, eating, watching netflix shows, AND NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN A LATE NIGHT TRIP TO WAL-MART. Be jealous.
This week I started running again. My hip is definitely on the upswing and I put together a pretty solid run on Quarterpath Thursday morning. The Mug-a-rita from the night prior was rough on the stomach for sure, but I still came in under 49 minutes, a solid run for me. Collegiate nationals are growing close and training is getting pretty intense. My swim is finally coming around now that I am getting in the water 3-4x a week. I am starting to feel less like a drowning rat and more like a goldfish with a missing fin. Improvement for sure but a long ways to go.
This season I will be representing both Honey Stinger and Bike Stop. Both of these sponsors have generously offered to support my racing career. Im excited to work with both of them and am looking forward to the season. Oh, and the weather is getting nice to. Kewl.
Of the happenings of the past month the one that was not so good involves my wreck at our home crit. Sitting at the front of the break, I rounded turn 1 to sharply, my bike slid out from under me and I felt my body gliding across the pavement. Pavement is not ice, and your body is not supposed to slide across it. Standing up quickly I realized my bike was ok, but as the adrenaline wore off my head was in a good deal of pain and the bruises and cuts I picked up began to hurt. After a couple of sleepless nights and just feeling like a goldfish flushed down the toilet, I finally started to feel better and be able to ride my bike again. The next weekend was Navy race weekend, no big loss, and the weekend after that I would race bikes at duke, and post my best finish of the season, an 11th place finish at the road race. Yes.
The week before spring break which I guess would be two weeks ago now, give or take, I received a phone call from Wake Forest informing me that I had been accepted into their graduate school program of Health and Exercise Science. My elation with this call cannot be put into words and the burden that this has lifted off of my shoulders is monumental. It is nice to no longer worry that I will be living out of a box and slicing meet in the Wegmans deli for the remainder of my life. Pretty sweet.
Spring Break was cool. I have a better than that most people that went the beach which amuses me. The tan lines I have are something of which I am proud, unfortunately the general population does not find them as cool as I, but they are missing out.Anyway, over spring break I didnt go anywhere cause the clutch in my car crapped out. Not awesome at all, and I ended up paying alot of money to replace it. Hard to see a bright side in this one, other than I guess I wont need a new clutch for a while? What I did do over spring break was enjoyable though, it basically consisted of: swimming, biking, eating, watching netflix shows, AND NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN A LATE NIGHT TRIP TO WAL-MART. Be jealous.
This week I started running again. My hip is definitely on the upswing and I put together a pretty solid run on Quarterpath Thursday morning. The Mug-a-rita from the night prior was rough on the stomach for sure, but I still came in under 49 minutes, a solid run for me. Collegiate nationals are growing close and training is getting pretty intense. My swim is finally coming around now that I am getting in the water 3-4x a week. I am starting to feel less like a drowning rat and more like a goldfish with a missing fin. Improvement for sure but a long ways to go.
This season I will be representing both Honey Stinger and Bike Stop. Both of these sponsors have generously offered to support my racing career. Im excited to work with both of them and am looking forward to the season. Oh, and the weather is getting nice to. Kewl.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Who ever knew Id learn from Candyland?
So its been over a month since I last posted anything new on here. What is really hard to believe is that I have now been a second semester senior for a month....are you sure I didnt just get back to school last week? I guess it is what it is, I have still yet to hear from graduate school or decide precisely what it is I will be doing after May. It's a work in progress however, and although I am a bit nervous about the change I am working on embracing it. I love it here at W&M, that said I will enjoy things such as not having to share a kitchen with roughly 250 other kids, and being able to go to sleep at 10 p.m. without the rest of the world around me planning on 4 more hours of being awake (which is something I have desired to do quite frequently as of late).
As you probably have guessed by now the main reason I have not been posting daily or evenly weekly blogs is because for the past month I have spent the majority of the time I have been awake either in class or training. Last year I trained by myself, trying to swim, bike and run some each week. It ended up more like riding alot, running some, and swimming one time a week. This year I have Debi Bernardes of Youcandoit coaching kicking my ass. When I found Debi I was somewhat skeptical of the benefit of having a coach, I knew most pros did, that said, who would push me harder than i pushed myself. I now wish I could put my foot in my mouth. Thanks to Debi my training now has much more structure, Im getting in the pool 3+ times a week and I am doing workouts. Although this leaves me in a great deal of pain at the end of the day and when I wake up in the morning, especially after 16 hill repeats, I am looking forward to the dividends in the future.
One thing I have learned is the amount that I can push myself is much further than I had ever thought. Killer workout in the morning? Probably going to be followed by some sort of swim in the afternoon. I am not underrating the importance of listening to my body, that said, I feel like frequently we all can do ALOT more with our bodies than we think possible. This i am learning.
Unfortunately the hardest part of the training, and something that it seems as if I will forever work on is patience. Last week I got a pretty nasty cold which took me out for a couple days. In the meantime I spent my downtime looking up results for professional races. Seeing the times I was immediately invigorated to get back to training because I feel that I can compete with these guys. That said, I am young, 22 is far from prime for a triathlete. Harnessing my energy and learning to accept that these guys would absolutely love to teach me a lesson in humility is a must. Much like Candyland, training frequently involves going forward, then landing on Lord Licorice and having to take a few steps back. Unlike the days of my younger years, I cant cheat here, there is no overshooting the evil Molasses Monster Gloppy (who was probably moving at least 1min/mile faster than me this morning) or escaping the wrath of Queen Frostine. Patience is a virtue goes the old saying. That it is, and that I am still working on.
As you probably have guessed by now the main reason I have not been posting daily or evenly weekly blogs is because for the past month I have spent the majority of the time I have been awake either in class or training. Last year I trained by myself, trying to swim, bike and run some each week. It ended up more like riding alot, running some, and swimming one time a week. This year I have Debi Bernardes of Youcandoit coaching kicking my ass. When I found Debi I was somewhat skeptical of the benefit of having a coach, I knew most pros did, that said, who would push me harder than i pushed myself. I now wish I could put my foot in my mouth. Thanks to Debi my training now has much more structure, Im getting in the pool 3+ times a week and I am doing workouts. Although this leaves me in a great deal of pain at the end of the day and when I wake up in the morning, especially after 16 hill repeats, I am looking forward to the dividends in the future.
One thing I have learned is the amount that I can push myself is much further than I had ever thought. Killer workout in the morning? Probably going to be followed by some sort of swim in the afternoon. I am not underrating the importance of listening to my body, that said, I feel like frequently we all can do ALOT more with our bodies than we think possible. This i am learning.
Unfortunately the hardest part of the training, and something that it seems as if I will forever work on is patience. Last week I got a pretty nasty cold which took me out for a couple days. In the meantime I spent my downtime looking up results for professional races. Seeing the times I was immediately invigorated to get back to training because I feel that I can compete with these guys. That said, I am young, 22 is far from prime for a triathlete. Harnessing my energy and learning to accept that these guys would absolutely love to teach me a lesson in humility is a must. Much like Candyland, training frequently involves going forward, then landing on Lord Licorice and having to take a few steps back. Unlike the days of my younger years, I cant cheat here, there is no overshooting the evil Molasses Monster Gloppy (who was probably moving at least 1min/mile faster than me this morning) or escaping the wrath of Queen Frostine. Patience is a virtue goes the old saying. That it is, and that I am still working on.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
W&M Training Camp 2011
One of the most enjoyable parts of cycling is winter base miles. I say this both truthfully and with a hint of sarcasm. While it is nice to set out on a ride, carefree of numbers and intervals, the low temperatures and strong winds that have greeted me this winter have been less than enjoyable. So far this winter break I have been able to get in some somewhat long solo rides before going into Wegmans in the afternoon to work at the deli and eat everything in sight. Unfortunately the cycling gods have not been with me on the majority of these rides.
The first of these 4 hour rides i did this break I didn't bring enough food, dumb mistake. Christmas Eve I set out for a 50 mile ride and broke my rear derailleur cable in my rear shifter 10 miles from the house. bad luck. The next 4 hour ride I set out for i made sure to bring enough food. There would be no bonking this time...or would there? As I stared at my fallen poptart on the ground before coming out of Occoquan, still 20 miles from my house I decided to avoid disease and hope the food I had eaten earlier on the ride would carry me through. 3 miles from my house, bonk. Im sticking to rollers, least then when I bonk I only must travel up stairs to feast my brains out. Im ready for training camp.
Last Saturday Chris E. and I got in my car on a snow morning and departed for Bridgewater where the W&M cycling team would be held. The drive was a bit slower than initially expected as we got stuck in some snow. Hi-light of the drive was probably the stop to get gas on 81 where in the bathroom I noticed a vending machine selling "horny goat weed". The rest of the drive Chris and i discussed our fascination with the intriguing product.
Arriving at the house of the club president, Adam Harris we got settled and ate some lunch to prepare for the afternoon ride. That afternoon those of us that had arrived, Chris, Emily, Burbey, Andrew, Adam, JOA, Pete, Brian, and I set out for a 2 hour ride over Mole Hill. The mile long climb is a good warm-up for whats in store for the rest of the week, although not the most challenging of the climbs in Harrisonburg, it certainly beats Williamsburg climbing. The temperature was cold and the wind was strong but as it was only the first day, spirits were high. On the ride back JOA, Burbey and I veered off to climb Hopkins, a more steep 1.5 mile climb. During the climb I neared my 5 min watt max, and JOA and Burbey looked strong as well. Arriving back to the house JOA, Burbey and I decided it was a good idea to set out for a short run. Our freezing feet thought otherwise, each step causing a good amount of pain. Let me reiterate, it was cold. Just ask Emily. That night Mr. Harris prepared us a delicious mystery casserole that we ate with gusto
The next day JOA, Burbey, Andrew and I set out to do the previous mornings ride, sans Hopkins climb before the days group ride to the nut (Massanutten). The morning ride Burbey and Andrew decided they were feeling there legs a little from yesterday and Burbey may or may not have forgotten to eat anything solid for 3 hours until he was reminded of the importance of food. Fortunately he feasted his pro-max protein bar and was able to use his mountain climbing finess to ascend the Nut like a pro. Props to new riders Bryan C. and Chris E. for beasting it up this steep, gravely climb. Im really looking forward to seeing what they can do next year! When the group got back to the house, JOA and I feasted lunch quickly and set out in search of 26 more miles and cappucinos at Sheetz. The good news: we got the 26 miles and then some, totaling 103 miles for the day. The bad news: I still have no sense of direction and we never found Sheetz. The other good news: If you ride your bike for 6.5 hours it costs only a little over a dollar to get drunk....The other other good news: Adams dad makes really delicious Chili and rolls.
Monday alumni and RPC team member Cory Scott showed up to ride with us. The gang decided to venture across the gravel to Reddish Knob this frigid morning. And frigid it was. On the ride to the Knob we hit some JOA terrain (gravel) and Cory, JOA, and I took off, hammering across the rugged surface. Arriving at the end of the gravel we waited a bit to see Wilson appear, cursing us for leaving Emily with a flat, apparently watching someone change a flat makes them change it faster because Wilson was not pleased with us for not being there to watch Emily's flat be changed...or something like that. Anyway, the group made it to the knob and for the most part everyone made it to the top. Unfortunately Adam's roomate Pete only had a single gear which made climbing difficult. This day he rode Adam's dads touring bike and was able to get in a solid effort up the knob. Although not able to summit, Im pretty sure it will only be a matter of time before Pete is handing a good many people their asses. The guy is one focused dude and I was stoked to hear that he was looking for a bike to race with us this season!
The next day Cory and I set off to do the Triple Crown, the nut, hopkins, and reddish, all in one day. The rest of the gang split up, some going to the gym to swim and lift from x-training, and others going to the knob to mountain bike. The thing about Tuesday was the forecast was for snow. At about 230, Cory and I had only the knob remaining, by far the longest of the climbs, a 10 mile category 1 climb, similar to the Alpe d'Huez in the tour de France. All was well until 2 miles from the summit. The sky opened and the snow began to fall....or dump. 1 mile from the top Cory looked at me and asked what I wanted to do. "TO THE TOP" I said, up we went. Reaching the saddle we zipped up and agreed to stay close and be careful. "I really hope we make it down without crashing" I said, "Insallah" Cory and I said to one another, the Arabic word for "god willing. The way down was rough. The snow came fast and hard, the group was covered and slick. The sound of our squeaking breaks was consistent and the snow came harder and harder. About 2 miles from the bottom I had the problem of the snowflakes sticking to my eyelashes. The clung to my eyelashes, severely f****** up my vision. Reaching the convenience store at the bottom of Briery Branch Cory and I happily went in to warm up. Fortunately pro-mtn biker Jeremiah Bishop and Trek-Livestrong U23 team rider Joe D, just finishing up a mtn ride at the knob saw our bikes outside right as we were about to get kicked out of the store and offered us a ride back. The rest of the night went as such, beer, all u can eat buffet, sleep.
The next day I rode mountain bikes while others went to do some X-country skiing. Somehow I enjoyed it. Great, another thing for me to spend my money on. Fortunately right now Im so broke I can't even entertain the thought of buying a mountain bike. Welcome to college. There are some things about college I wont miss, being broke is one of them. There are other things about college i will really miss. One of the things that I think I will miss the most is the W&M Cycling Team. There is little better than being able to hang out with such an awesome group of people. As corny as this sounds I really mean it. So many laughs and good times. Works bombs and 40's and "insert sex joke here" jokes, what a life it is to be young. How fortunate I am to know you all.
The first of these 4 hour rides i did this break I didn't bring enough food, dumb mistake. Christmas Eve I set out for a 50 mile ride and broke my rear derailleur cable in my rear shifter 10 miles from the house. bad luck. The next 4 hour ride I set out for i made sure to bring enough food. There would be no bonking this time...or would there? As I stared at my fallen poptart on the ground before coming out of Occoquan, still 20 miles from my house I decided to avoid disease and hope the food I had eaten earlier on the ride would carry me through. 3 miles from my house, bonk. Im sticking to rollers, least then when I bonk I only must travel up stairs to feast my brains out. Im ready for training camp.
Last Saturday Chris E. and I got in my car on a snow morning and departed for Bridgewater where the W&M cycling team would be held. The drive was a bit slower than initially expected as we got stuck in some snow. Hi-light of the drive was probably the stop to get gas on 81 where in the bathroom I noticed a vending machine selling "horny goat weed". The rest of the drive Chris and i discussed our fascination with the intriguing product.
Arriving at the house of the club president, Adam Harris we got settled and ate some lunch to prepare for the afternoon ride. That afternoon those of us that had arrived, Chris, Emily, Burbey, Andrew, Adam, JOA, Pete, Brian, and I set out for a 2 hour ride over Mole Hill. The mile long climb is a good warm-up for whats in store for the rest of the week, although not the most challenging of the climbs in Harrisonburg, it certainly beats Williamsburg climbing. The temperature was cold and the wind was strong but as it was only the first day, spirits were high. On the ride back JOA, Burbey and I veered off to climb Hopkins, a more steep 1.5 mile climb. During the climb I neared my 5 min watt max, and JOA and Burbey looked strong as well. Arriving back to the house JOA, Burbey and I decided it was a good idea to set out for a short run. Our freezing feet thought otherwise, each step causing a good amount of pain. Let me reiterate, it was cold. Just ask Emily. That night Mr. Harris prepared us a delicious mystery casserole that we ate with gusto
The next day JOA, Burbey, Andrew and I set out to do the previous mornings ride, sans Hopkins climb before the days group ride to the nut (Massanutten). The morning ride Burbey and Andrew decided they were feeling there legs a little from yesterday and Burbey may or may not have forgotten to eat anything solid for 3 hours until he was reminded of the importance of food. Fortunately he feasted his pro-max protein bar and was able to use his mountain climbing finess to ascend the Nut like a pro. Props to new riders Bryan C. and Chris E. for beasting it up this steep, gravely climb. Im really looking forward to seeing what they can do next year! When the group got back to the house, JOA and I feasted lunch quickly and set out in search of 26 more miles and cappucinos at Sheetz. The good news: we got the 26 miles and then some, totaling 103 miles for the day. The bad news: I still have no sense of direction and we never found Sheetz. The other good news: If you ride your bike for 6.5 hours it costs only a little over a dollar to get drunk....The other other good news: Adams dad makes really delicious Chili and rolls.
Monday alumni and RPC team member Cory Scott showed up to ride with us. The gang decided to venture across the gravel to Reddish Knob this frigid morning. And frigid it was. On the ride to the Knob we hit some JOA terrain (gravel) and Cory, JOA, and I took off, hammering across the rugged surface. Arriving at the end of the gravel we waited a bit to see Wilson appear, cursing us for leaving Emily with a flat, apparently watching someone change a flat makes them change it faster because Wilson was not pleased with us for not being there to watch Emily's flat be changed...or something like that. Anyway, the group made it to the knob and for the most part everyone made it to the top. Unfortunately Adam's roomate Pete only had a single gear which made climbing difficult. This day he rode Adam's dads touring bike and was able to get in a solid effort up the knob. Although not able to summit, Im pretty sure it will only be a matter of time before Pete is handing a good many people their asses. The guy is one focused dude and I was stoked to hear that he was looking for a bike to race with us this season!
The next day Cory and I set off to do the Triple Crown, the nut, hopkins, and reddish, all in one day. The rest of the gang split up, some going to the gym to swim and lift from x-training, and others going to the knob to mountain bike. The thing about Tuesday was the forecast was for snow. At about 230, Cory and I had only the knob remaining, by far the longest of the climbs, a 10 mile category 1 climb, similar to the Alpe d'Huez in the tour de France. All was well until 2 miles from the summit. The sky opened and the snow began to fall....or dump. 1 mile from the top Cory looked at me and asked what I wanted to do. "TO THE TOP" I said, up we went. Reaching the saddle we zipped up and agreed to stay close and be careful. "I really hope we make it down without crashing" I said, "Insallah" Cory and I said to one another, the Arabic word for "god willing. The way down was rough. The snow came fast and hard, the group was covered and slick. The sound of our squeaking breaks was consistent and the snow came harder and harder. About 2 miles from the bottom I had the problem of the snowflakes sticking to my eyelashes. The clung to my eyelashes, severely f****** up my vision. Reaching the convenience store at the bottom of Briery Branch Cory and I happily went in to warm up. Fortunately pro-mtn biker Jeremiah Bishop and Trek-Livestrong U23 team rider Joe D, just finishing up a mtn ride at the knob saw our bikes outside right as we were about to get kicked out of the store and offered us a ride back. The rest of the night went as such, beer, all u can eat buffet, sleep.
The next day I rode mountain bikes while others went to do some X-country skiing. Somehow I enjoyed it. Great, another thing for me to spend my money on. Fortunately right now Im so broke I can't even entertain the thought of buying a mountain bike. Welcome to college. There are some things about college I wont miss, being broke is one of them. There are other things about college i will really miss. One of the things that I think I will miss the most is the W&M Cycling Team. There is little better than being able to hang out with such an awesome group of people. As corny as this sounds I really mean it. So many laughs and good times. Works bombs and 40's and "insert sex joke here" jokes, what a life it is to be young. How fortunate I am to know you all.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Embracing the inevitable
I can’t exactly admit to embracing this whole “getting older” process with open arms. It often scares me to think about the changes that the future will bring. I am a creature of comfort, as evidence look at the fact that during my first year on the bike I only rode 2 routes. One was out to the race course (4 turns?) The other involved riding down route 5, veering off a bit, then turning and coming back…on route 5 for umpteen some miles. This year in particular I admit to being a bit concerned with the prospect of the future. In the coming year I will leave my undergraduate school of William and Mary and either go to graduate school or find some sort of employment. Some sort of anxiety is to be expected, however in reflection my fear is foolish. I realize now that for the past 22 years of my existence, simply by living I am risking change. Every second I am alive, something new comes to be. The year of 2010 has been 365.24 of the best days of my life and why should I expect the next year to be any different?
Later, when I have time I will try to do a synopsis of the past year. Now it is time to drink and be merry with the family. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Later, when I have time I will try to do a synopsis of the past year. Now it is time to drink and be merry with the family. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Using the little ring
As competitive endurance athletes many of us are extremely type A. I admit whole heartedly that I fall victim. My friends frequently have to remind me that not everything is a competition. For example, the other day my good buddy Ben and I were discussing our obsession with the sport. I proceeded to try to make my point that my passion for the sport was greater than his by discussing how much I loved training. Ben then proceeded to tell me that he woke up at 5 or 6am on the weekends to watch ITU races on TV. Quickly we realized the foolishness in our debate as Ben reminded me that it was no competition. When you are as competitive as we are, anything can be a dick measuring contest.
Another example is when I go out for rides frequently it is hard for me to, in the words of Stingle "chill." When Savage and I ride we constantly find ourselves pulling at 23mph, crushing one anothers legs and sprinting up hills. We may be some of the worst offenders of pointlessly massacring each other. Even if there is no race in sight, and no point at all to be going anaerobic, that inner desire simply drives us to constantly try to "one-up" each other.
The need to constantly compete against one another is simply part of being a competitive athlete. It is this desire that gives us the motivation to spend an ungodly amount of hours in the saddle, or get up before sunrise to get a workout in. HOWEVER, we must understand when it is time to shift to the little ring. Ironically, our competitive edge is one of our greatest faults as well as one of our greatest assets. As during winter training on the bike, we cannot always be riding around in the 53x11 (the biggest gear combination on a typical bike). There are times for hammering and there are times for "chillin'." It is being able to balance ourselves, and knowing when to use the little ring that is important. There is nothing wrong with Jon and I's weekly hammerfests we enjoy them, and that is what it is all about. On the other hand, there are times when life dictates down-shifting as well. It is critical that we pay attention to these times in our lives as well. I admit that to frequently I fall victim to the constant hammer philosophy. This week, and in the future I will work on knowing when to sit up and spin easy.
Another example is when I go out for rides frequently it is hard for me to, in the words of Stingle "chill." When Savage and I ride we constantly find ourselves pulling at 23mph, crushing one anothers legs and sprinting up hills. We may be some of the worst offenders of pointlessly massacring each other. Even if there is no race in sight, and no point at all to be going anaerobic, that inner desire simply drives us to constantly try to "one-up" each other.
The need to constantly compete against one another is simply part of being a competitive athlete. It is this desire that gives us the motivation to spend an ungodly amount of hours in the saddle, or get up before sunrise to get a workout in. HOWEVER, we must understand when it is time to shift to the little ring. Ironically, our competitive edge is one of our greatest faults as well as one of our greatest assets. As during winter training on the bike, we cannot always be riding around in the 53x11 (the biggest gear combination on a typical bike). There are times for hammering and there are times for "chillin'." It is being able to balance ourselves, and knowing when to use the little ring that is important. There is nothing wrong with Jon and I's weekly hammerfests we enjoy them, and that is what it is all about. On the other hand, there are times when life dictates down-shifting as well. It is critical that we pay attention to these times in our lives as well. I admit that to frequently I fall victim to the constant hammer philosophy. This week, and in the future I will work on knowing when to sit up and spin easy.
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