Valley of the Sun Stage Race

This past Wednesday I flew out to Phoenix, AZ with my parents to compete in the valley of the sun stage race. This is a 3 day long race consisting of a time trial, road race, and a criterium. This is one of my favorite races of the year because it gets me out of the Michigan snow and allows me to test my fitness against some of the best riders in the country. This is also a very important race to me because many national team coaches were here and look closely at the results.

The time trial on Friday went well for me. I had a good warm up and felt confident. I started off at a good pace and I was able to hold it for the rest of the 14 mile distance. I finished up in seventh place for the day with an average speed of 27 mph. The goal was to be top 5, but I know that I gave it my best and I will accept my placing. Also, fellow Michigan junior Rudy Peterson had a great time trial finishing in 8th place!

Yesterday was the 62 mile road race that consisted of 4 laps around the desert. 7 miles in I flatted after hitting a pothole and I had to wait a while for the wheel car. I tried to stay calm and when I got a new wheel, I hopped back onto my bike and began chasing. I made it up to another rider who I worked with to make it back to the lead group. This effort took a lot out of me and the rest of the race was just trying to hang on through the brutal crosswinds. At mile 56 my body completely blew up on me and could not take any more. My body started shaking, cramping, and felt very nauseous.I found a ride back to the finish where I was taken into an ambulance that gave me a lot to drink and monitored me for a while.

It disappoints me greatly that I was not able to finish the road race, and therefore was not able to start in today's crit. Cycling is like life, we all have our share of good and bad days. It is how we deal with the bad days that really makes us who we are. I am not going to allow yesterday's bad race to drag me down, I am going to let it motivate me to have an amazing next race.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who made this weekend possible for me including: Daniel Sterling for being an awesome boss and letting me borrow his bike box and wheels, Brian Adams for being the best physical therapist in the world, Lucas Wall for being an amazing mentor and coach, IS Corp Cycling for providing me with the best team ever to ride for, and all of my friends and family that are always cheering me on! I am leaving back to Michigan tomorrow with confidence knowing that I am in great shape and that I have many more races left to compete in. Thank you for reading!

ACT and stuff

Wow, a lot has happened since returning from LA a couple weeks ago. Since then I went back to Tuscon, AZ with my team for 5 days and got in a lot of good training. I also competed in my first race of the year that was held on the University's campus. It was a 40 min long junior crit that my teammate Garret and I worked together in. I ended up with 4th place and Garret in sixth. Not bad for our first race and having ridden 3 and a half hours the day before. I am not satisfied though, the wins will come soon.
After ariving back from Arizona last week, I took the ACT this past weekend. I was very nervous, but I did my best. The worst part about the test was having to sit in a seat for 5 hours and having to fill in little bubbles. I am glad to have it out of the way though.

This wednesday I am leaving for the Valley of the Sun Stage race in Phoenix, AZ. This is a very important race on my calender and juniors from all over the country show up to it. I am in good shape and I am excited to measure my progress from last year.

Life has been very busy, but I am working hard and doing my best. I have big goals this year and I know that I can acheive them. Believing in yourself is the first step towards success!!! Thank you for reading!

Update from LA

I'm currently in Los Angeles, California training at their world class indoor velodrome. I am making the most of my short time out here and I can feel my body getting stronger. My main goal for this season is to represent the USA at the junior track world championships and I am doing everything I can to reach that goal. I have done a couple time tests to see what I need to improve on which is very valuable info to me.
On top of getting in some very good training in, I am meeting great people and seeing new places. I have sacrificed a lot to chase my dreams, but I know that my hard work is paying off and I am excited to see where it will take me. Thank you all for your support and for reading my blog. I will be posting regularly now that I have more events in my life to write about.

The Smell of Racing Is In The Air

Wow, the winter has been going by fast. Lately my life has consisted of work, school, cycling, and chasing after girls. This last week I have been working very hard on school knowing that things are about to change in a week. My first race is in about a month in Phoenix, Arizona and I am starting to get ready. Knowing that my first race is coming up, the intensity in my training is coming up and my traveling is also starting to pick up. Next Saturday I leave for LA, California to train at the Home Depot Center velodrome for a week. I am super excited to see this world class track and to get some very hard workouts in. After returning home for a few days, it will be off to Tuscon again for a couple days of hard work.

Phew, I will be busy this next month. Everything is coming together and I am feeling very confident that this will be my best season so far. I know that my hard work is paying off and I have so many good people behind me. Thank you for reading and supporting me.

Team training camp

After spending a couple days in Houston, Texas with my parents and family I was off to my teams first training camp of the year in Tuscon, Arizona. My parents dropped me off at the airport early Christmas morning and I was off. Every day we rode a little more than 3 hours on some of the best roads around. It felt amazing to be riding outside in sunny and warm weather. After riding, I took a shower and then got a massage. I got the all-star treatment. My favorite ride is going up mt. Lemmon.  It is a 40 minute ride to the base of the climb and then the climb is 28 miles to the top. I only made it to mile 14 because after that it gets very cold. Climbing a mountain gives me a sense of joy and freedom that I cant explain. Also, once u turn around, the descent is very fast and fun. 

The riding wasn't to he most important part of the camp though, getting to hangout with some of my new teammates was the best part. We watched a couple of movies and went out for ice cream one night. I am leaving this camp with new friends, a little more fitness, and excitement for the upcoming season. My first race is in a month and a half which I can't wait for! 

I am sitting here at the airport ready to go home and I would like to thank IS Corp Cycling, Billy Jones, Mr. Roth, and my parents for giving me this great experience. Thank you everyone for supporting me in reaching my goals. Happy new year!!!!

Why Do I Race My Bike?

Why do I race my bike is a question that I ask myself A LOT. After racing on the track saturday night, I went to bed very sore, tired, and needing to take my inhaler. I missed hanging out with my friends to race my bike, but why? Well, these are the answers that I came up with.

1. I feel accomplished after I finish a race or training ride. I know that I am working hard towards my goals and that my hard work will pay off. There is no other feeling like finishing a 90 mile race and knowing that you gave it your all.

2. Cycling provides me with goals in life. I am a highly motivated person and having goals drives me every day to work hard. If I can dream it, I can do it.

3. The people and places that Cycling has taken me to are amazing. I have raced all over America and have even raced in Belgium! I would have never been able to go to Europe if it weren't for cycling. I have also met the most wonderful people through cycling. I feel very blessed to know the people that I do. They truly care for me.

4. Cycling also keeps me in shape. If I wasn't cycling, I would probably be 15 pounds heavier and eating whatever looked good.

5. Competition. I am very competitive and I am wired to compete. I like trying to do my best to overcome my competition and rivals.

Those are a couple of the reasons that I love my sport. I feel as though my bike is my identity, and I wouldn't know what to do without it. Life is not very easy for me and cycling gives me an outlet to plug into when I need to let my anger out. I sacrifice a lot for cycling, but it has given me so much in return. Cycling has also taught me a lot about life. Cycling has taught me that life isn't easy, you have to work for what you want, and patience is key. I love my sport and I wouldn't do anything over in my life.

Thanks for reading and being a part of my life.

Winter Fitness

One of the problems about living in Michigan is that the winters are nasty. They are cold, wet, cloudy, dark, and just straight up miserable for me. I personally hate being cold and I do not prefer to ride outside when it is in the 30 degree range. Therefore, I have been riding my bike in my basement which is not a lot of fun either. To keep up my motivation for training I decided to go up to London, Ontario to race on their indoor velodrome (a wooden, steeply banked oval) on saturday night. The velodrome is about 2 and a half hours away from my house and is located in an old hockey arena that is not heated very well.

The racing started at 7 and was in a tournament format. It started off with four groups of about 11. The top 6 from each group qualified for the semi-finals. Then the top 6 from each semi final qualified for the final race. If you did not make it in the semi-finals, you had one more chance to make it into the finals by getting 1st or 2nd in the "last chance race" for the riders who didn't make it through the semi's.

So the first heat went smoothly for me. The semi finals were a lot faster and I finished 7th, one off from qualifying. Even though I was really tired, I hopped back on the bike to try and get into the finals. The last chance race started off super fast and I just followed wheels and conserved myself. Near the end of the race I felt very good and I made my move. I caught two riders off the front and passed over them. I finished 1st! Now I had to worry about the 140 lap final scratch race with the best riders. The race was super fast and it exploded immediately. At lap 40 my legs had had enough and gave up on me. I finished 8th overall.

It felt very good to race again and especially to ride a new track. My goal is to go to junior track worlds this year and  I am feeling very confident in the fact that I can do it. Thank you for reading my blog!