Before Work

I am realizing that the title of my blog is really quite lame. If you have any ideas about a better one, please let me know.

One thing that a lot of people don't know about me is that cycling is not the only sport that I follow. Ok, well my close friends know only all to well that I follow a number of even less known sports on a regular basis. I just got done watching the NCAA XC championships over the internet. Awesome race to watch and it reminded me of my collegiate cycling days. There were a number of runners this year from top teams that would have had a shot at an individual title, but held back to help their team. It's called team running. A team championship was more important for them than an individual one, and that is pretty honorable in my book.

That's how it was at UC Davis too. Imagine a team with Paul Mach, Phil Mooney, Will Riffelmacher, Tyler Dibble, Shawn Rosenthal, Jesse Moore, Stephen Dey, and myself.. An all-star cast of riders who on any given day would have a chance to win an individual title. However, we rode as a team and the team title was always our goal. I have never been more proud of an accomplishment than when I won my first collegiate team title.

In other news, I drove out to Suffolk last Saturday to participate in a cross race. Good course, but I swear they took a hose to one part of the course just to make it a mud pit. Either way, the race was a blast. The field was small, but that was fine with me. After a little double-teaming by some teammates, I finally had to let go of the leader and conserve my energy for 2nd place. I didn't want to the teammate sitting on my wheel around at full gas for 45min, so I started to ride a little conservatively. Coming into the last lap, we went into a trackstand since neither of us wanted to take the front. What ensued was the best lap of cyclocross that I have ever done.

He finally took the lead and I settled in behind him. I backed off his wheel, and 100 yards before the mud pit I hit it hard. I blasted through the mud, but washed out in the ensuing muddy u-turn. Luckily, this was right before a run-up, so as he came around me, I got right back on his wheel. We would pass each other 6 times over the rest of the lap, fighting for the inside of every corner. At 400 yards to go, I took the lead. At 200, he came on my inside and we came to the final barrier/u-turn section together. We both jumped on our bikes and clipped in for the dash to the line. I opted to try and shift into the big ring and immediately lost the race right there. Fun times nonetheless.

Anyways, off to work time. I am at the start of a rest week right now, but I'll stip be lifting today. Wednesday I'll be off to Cleveland for Thanksgiving followed by a Detroit Red Wings game. Should be fun

Core and Arena Racing

Last Saturday I got the chance to see some arena acing at the Richmond Coliseum thanks to the owner of SPortsQuest who is buying the franchise. Imagine Nascar on a velodrome, except the cars are 1/5th the size and the track is about 150m long. These guys (and girls) haul ass though. I got to see a couple cars get flipped as well. If I can schedule the time off work, I'll be out the Wed driving some of those cars around the track. Check it out here



On a different subject, I've been putting a little more time in the gym this year. This is mostly based on the fact that I am working at the gym, and when I don't have clients, I'm usually working out. It's more core than anything, but I've managed to put on 8 pounds of muscle during the off-season, which isn't terrible for me. With a change in terrain in Va, it might not be terrible to adapt my racing style a little as well. I'm also helping it will help me overcome the back problems I have had in the past, so we'll see. Here's a clip I got from TT master Dan Harms. This little workout, especially repeated 4 times, kicks my ass.



Check out his blog as well at chasingfast2012@blogspot.com Good stuff

A New Begining

Once again, I find myself starting another blog. We'll see how long this one lasts, but I think I'll be motivated to keep it with all the changes in my life.

A lot has changed over the last few months. I finished one of the best seasons of my cycling career, not necessarily from a results standpoint (although I did have some excellent results), but in a rewarding sense. My teammates on Yahoo! were, and always will be, some of my best friends. Despite most of us moving on from the team next year, I think we managed to revolutionize Northern California Cycling over the course of only a few months. Definitely my favorite team ever.

Alas, I have moved on as well. In late September, after an awesome going away party, I moved to Richmond, Va to start a new chapter in my life. I'm out here living with my awesome gf (and speed skater extraordinaire) and am loving it. I didn't move out here for just her though. I'm currently the Director of Cycling for SportsQuest and will be starting graduate school to get my DPT in Physical Therapy next June. When I'm not working with SportsQuest, you'll find me working as a Personal Trainer at Gold's Gym and as of yesterday, teaching spin class.

So, stay tuned for the rest of the year. I'll be back in Cali to finish up a class from Jan to March and will be racing with the Harley-Battley Cycling Team. Should be a fun year