Belgium

As some of the people close to me know I was thinking about moving to belgium, because the UK has not really lived up to the expectations that I had.  There is much more races and much more quality over in Belgium, also I feel that the racing best suits my style over in Belgium so it is the obvious choice.  I will not be riding for any teams in Belgium, but will be racing alot and looking for teams or contacts to help me out in any way shape and form. 

I have also been very sick over the past two weeks, so I hope that I am past the sickness for my adventure to Belgium.  I feel much better, but last night when I ramped up the speed in a training exercise I found out that I had lost quite a bit of fitness from being sick, but being in belgium and racing and resting I am fairly confident that my fitness and speed will return soon.  As i am not sure exactly where I am staying, I believe it will be somewhere around Ghent, in the Flanders  region, as this is the area with the most racing.  soon I will know more about my adventure because I will hopefully be going as quickly as next week, Keep checking the blog for updates on this new adventure. 

caio for now 

LOCAL RACES ARE GREAT

I love the local race they help you to get your confidence back when you are feeling down I was feeling pretty bad after the last few weeks going to large UCI races and getting dropped just over half way through was starting to get to me a little bit.  so this weekend I did a local race in Essex and even though i had been pretty sick for a few days I finally felt like I was starting to come around and my legs where starting to get back under me.  I attacked early in the race, and got away for a few miles but the only person to come across the gap, of course was the smallest guy in the field.  so that didn't last too long on a windy course.  Then three laps in my teammate Joe Skipper attacked to bridge up to a breakaway that had already been established, so naturally as a teammate I did all the chasing.  I spent two laps chasing down all the attacks from the main field to make sure that no one else got up to the break.  After this I was pretty tired so I sat in the pack until the last lap.  On the last lap, cramps and all, I figured it was now or never to try and get away, the breakaway was not coming back so I put in my flurry of attacks.  within 12 miles or so I put in about 4 decent attacks that gave me a slight gap over the main field, but every-time they chased us back.  then in the last kilo I put in my last attack, and basically didn't go anywhere so that was it I was done!  

Right when i'm am starting to feel good, I was very happy that my legs where starting to come around, but because I went into the race this weekend sick, naturally I came out even worse off.  So now I find myself taking anything that will help me get better for next weekend, another big premier calendar race this weekend and I want to be able to go into it with the best possible chance, even though i'm not quite right still from the transition. 

Rutland UCI 1.2

Hello everyone,

Last weekend I did the Rutland CiCLE Classic, its a fun race in the middle of the country of England. It was a very tough race as most of you can see from the title, some people call it the Paris Roubaix of England. It is even complete with the Paris Roubaix style of counting down the sectors of cobbles, in short this race should have suited me.

The race started out with two big laps of Rutland water, a reservoir in the area, these laps where fairly flat and suited my style of racing, being a big guy. Then after the reservoir there came the tough real man sectors of the course much like the famed classic Paris Roubaix these sections separated the men from the boys. I was good for the first few sectors, but after while came the KOM (King Of the Mountains) not suiting my style of racing I went from the front of the group to the back of the group on one measly climb. Maybe it was my weight that prevented me from staying with the group, or maybe it is just getting used to everything over here. What ever it is it defeated me in a way that I will try to prevent from feeling ever again. That day, that bright sunny day in the middle of England I almost got in the broom wagon! when they pulled up by my side and said would you like to continue no almost rolled off my tongue, but i held it and said hell ya. I chased and chased, but i did not give up and then about ten miles later they told me to hit the showers, but I did not give up, and I hope never to stoop to that low again in my career as a cyclist.

after racing the two biggest races of the season in my two first weeks in Europe, I am now going to a smaller race this weekend and hopefully this will bring my spirits up. just gotta hang in there and give it some time, everyone keeps telling me I'll come around, sure hope so!
Thanks for all the support
cheers

P.S. I know I will come around, just takes time!

INTRODUCTION TO EUROPE

The first race that I was to do in Europe was the Souvenir Michel Roques, I thought this was going to be a local road race in northern France no big deal. Well as it turns out every DS1 team in France showed up to this race, and then there was us. At the beginning I was a little nervous, but more excited then after two laps of racing I got dropped. After getting dropped I was slightly demoralized, but I continued to press on thinking that I would finish the race, wrong again. I continued in the race until lap 7 when the field lapped me. Here I was racing in France and getting dropped right away, at this point I'm still thinking that this is some local road race, until I see two of my other teammates who are having coffee at the finish line. this brought my spirits up a little bit, then I talked to them and one of them said "this was the hardest race I have ever done." that helped to bring my spirits up a bit more.

The biggest boost of the day however was just before the end of the race when I was getting something out of the team car I gave my first autograph as a professional road cyclist, this was a very big moment on the day.

When we came back across to the UK we had some border issues with my passport, but we finally got in. I now can no longer travel back and forth, so i will have to talk to my team manager and see what our options are. because that is the whole reason for me moving here is to be able to race in Belgium and France. The next day the team sent out an email that made the disappointment of the weekend go away almost completely, every team in the peleton was a ds1 team in France, that is the level right below pro tour. So my prediction is that 20 or so guys from this weekend will be racing pro tour in the next 4 years, this made everything a little better, but it was still an eye opener to see how far i have to go. so now I'm not eating, at all!

WRONG SIDE OF THE WORLD

Hello everyone,
writing to you from London, England I got here two days ago and already have had some great adventures. The plane trip was great a little long, but didn`t bother me too much, the food was actually really good just not in large quanity. getting through the airport was a bit more of a hassle than I anticipated, immigration wanted to know everything and the baggage boy rolled up with an open bike box and shifters in one hand and said "these fell out", great what else fell out? As soon as I met our team manager at the airport things fell into place, we went straight to the hose of my host family, then I had dinner and went to bed, with no knowledge of what troubles the next day would bring.

The next day we went to the local bike shop bright and early to get my steer tube cut and some cables for my new BMC. After the bike shop we went to james`s house to put the bike together, except all the houses in Europe are very small so we had no space to do the bike in the house, and it was raining. So after two hours of putting my bike together in the dreary misty rain we could begin the real fun. On that note we set off for a 3 hour ride in the rain, man i love England so far. The riding here is very nice the roads are small but every car waits for you then passes you with a lot of room to spare when it is clear. Where I am based it is very flat, But it is still rolling hills however small the hills may be, it makes the training very hard when you mix in the rain and wind as well.

I have enjoyed my first few days in this backwards new world, and can`t wait or predict what the next steps. This Sun we are going to be racing in northern France, a great introduction to European racing on the road. then back to England for two Premier calender races then off to Belgium for some really tough shit! I have enjoyed what little bit i have seen so far, and hope to enjoy the rest, but i have to learn how to ride on the bloody left!
Cheers

WEEK OF LASTS

Today as many of you know I am embarking on a very long journey that will take up the next few years of my life, as i sit here at the LAX airport I think of the last week and all the good times that I had in my short time in San Diego.  This last week I did many things knowing that they would be the last in SD, just enjoying every minute of my adventures.  I would like to thank  everyone in the San Diego area that has touched my life in the past 6 months, you all are so special and I will not soon forget my time in SD, cheers 

A flood of emotions have been running through my body over the past few weeks, and finally it is all coming together.  making this trip happen is something that I anticipated that I would have to do i just didn't expect to be doing it so early, the earlier the better for this adventure tho.  The reason that this trip is such a big step is simply because it will direct my career as a professional cyclist and tell me if I will make it.  Kind of a scary thought that your whole career boils down to the next few months in europe.  Even tho its a scary time its also a very enjoyable experience and I will learn a lot.  So that is why I would like to thank all those that  have helped me to get this far, and to those that impeded my progress JUST WAIT!

BMC UK RT

Hello everyone, I just confirmed some very good news. I will be riding with a new team for the remainder of the season, but no this isn't only a team, it is BMC.  That's right i will be racing for the U23 BMC RT in the UK. I am so excited because i will be racing in Europe this was the goal for myself a lot further down the road, however when this opportunity presented itself it had to be taken.  Not leaving myself much time partly due to races that I will be going to over there, and partly due to excitement, I will be leaving for the UK april 14th. Early I know, but if all goes well I will be racing in France and Belgium the weekend after I arrive, so my dream of starting my carer in Europe is in fact happening a lot faster than expected, and I LOVE IT!!!!

Confirmed Suspicions

At the San Dimas stage race this weekend I confirmed my thoughts that it might be time to take a break from the training for a little while.  So I will be taking a break until sea otter, now for those of you who do not train as a cyclist, taking a break still consists of 8-10 hour weeks but it is just rest weeks and therefore gives the muscles time to recuperate. 

After my break however I will have some very big races right in a row so I'm going to have to step back up to the plate as soon as my break is over.  I feel ready to do this however because right after that I will be going to europe to try and prove myself on the big stage.  It is not yet clear on what team i will be racing for in the UK, but I can assure you that i will rock their socks off over there!

Cheers 

Tour of Murietta

(teammate Chad Derosier after flying over the bars)

They should seriously think about re-naming this race crashfest, in the PRO field there was at least 15 crashes over the course of two days.  This was the most crashes that i have seen this whole year, I'm very glad that i was able to come out of his weekend without breaking anything. 

 

The crit was pretty fun, a wide open four corner crit, lots of wind and a corner that went from 3 lanes to 1. (this might have been the reason for some crashes) however i forgot to put fuel in the tank throughout the whole race this makes it very hard to get to the front of the field at the end of the race for the sprint so I got a mid pack finish, with the wind and crashes i was just glad to finish the race on two wheels.

 

The road race, I thought that this day would be much better because i would remember to eat, oh man maybe i just need to take some time off the bike.  the same thing occured i just couldn't move to the front of the field, after a 60mi RR this should be no problem, but i was stuck with another 30th or so finish.  After San Dimas this coming weekend i think that i will takea few weeks very easy and try to reset myself before sea otter classic, we shall se how that goes. 

CHEERS

Merco Cycling Classic

One of the best races of the season, the former NRC Mclane Pacific, is now the Merco Cycling Classic.  the crit was very fast very intense and very fun with an average speed around 30mph this was no simple walk in the park.  2 laps to go and misfortune came over me coming down the back straight away I was on the wheel that would go on to take the win, and a sudden move took my front wheel out from under me and next thing you know two or three riders are on the ground, this race I felt  really good in as well, oh well thats racing!

A time for redemption, the next day was the road race a 120 mile monster i was ready to get the win.  we started out at a pretty fast pace for the first two or three laps out of 5 then the 4th lap was really easy, because there was a group of 10 riders off the front, and in this group where some very strong racers.  Well as we come to about 5k to go we indeed caught the group of riders and first place was up for grabs once more.  Coming up to the sprint i simply was in the wrong position so i managed to only grab 8th place, not great but will have to do.  The Merco Cycling Classic still remains one of my favorite races of the season.

Snelling RR

Long flat and cloudy this sums up the eventful day just outside of Merced CA, at Snelling. the race went very well fast pace and good riding, enjoyed this race very much, walking away with a 7th is not too bad either.  However the next day was much less fun, racing in downtown Merced we had a crit, and this day it had rained in the morning then let up enough for the pavement to become completely dry and as the pro race was starting the rain decided to plague us again, an entire race in the rain so much fun.  to make a long story short i did a whole lot of work with no reward, but had fun none the less.

Valley Of The Sun 2009

The valley of the sun stage race, I was given the idea that the valley of the sun stage race was a large important race.  Man was I wrong, the valley of the sun stage race was not a race i would return to if it hadn't been for the great company that I was in throughout the trip, spending time with my new friends from San Diego.  The best part of the trip was not the racing, but the company, that we all had such a great time around dinner.  

The races however where very fun other than a few downfalls that occurred during some of the races.  During the Time Trial I got a horrible time and was placed 78th in GC, this was my only chance to contest the GC.  Then the road race, I was very excited for the road race because I had a very good chance of winning in this discipline, but Arizona racing being what it is inhibited us from doing this.  Because of a crash around the finish line they didn't allow the pro 1 field and the CAT 2 field to finish, when the race could have simply had another lap added on to clean up the crash and give us a finnish.  

That was the bad news, then followed the good news the crit, the crit course was very fun lots of turns and uphill and downhill I took a 7th place not too bad of a result considering that I didn't have this luck the previous days.  To cap off the last day I met a very beautiful girl who shares with great interest the racing bug Ivy, drove down with her mom from Missoula MT, for a small stage race in Arizona now that is dedication. 

Boulevard Road Race / Red Trolley Crit

Boulevard Road Race:

 usually an epic battle that takes place in early feb in southern california, well this year was even more epic than ever.  Right before the start of our race it stated to snow very heavily, within the first 200 meters there was a crash, actually the only crash of the day, but I looked back and all I see is Jelly Belly riders sliding across the ground and they pretty much just turned around and didn't race.  I lasted for three laps of this early season classic, then I was dropped going up the hill, the cold was so intense that i was forced to turn around half way through the last lap in order to preserve my health. Valley of the sun is my next race and it is vital that I am in good health for this race.  Whenever you get to race in the snow, it will always be a battle of epic proportions and even though I was forced to abandon this was a great race for me.

Red Trolley Crit: 

  The day after the Boulevard road race is the red trolley crit, it is a fun short course with a slight riser at the end of the back stretch, however on this day I was not feeling my best because of the brutality that occurred the day before, i just simply didn't have any thrust in my legs, but I had fun, so this was a good weekend. 

SANTA BARBARA WEEKEND

This weekend was the first road race of the year, it was located in and around Solvang CA right above Santa Barbara CA.  It was a fun race, however team type 1 showed up with  everyone on the team, this however was not fun.  team type 1 put ten men up the road and then controlled the race to a T.  they would put 4 guys on the front of the pack and then go attack over the yellow line so no one was able to chase after them, and this made for a very uneventful rest of the race.  Due to the team type 1 debacle the main field had lost the incentive to race hard because of the simple fact that we would be racing for 20th position.  other than the highly annoying team type 1 squad the first road race of the year was very fun and went very well.

Mothballs: the mothballs crit the next day, this was a big chance for me to get a big result on the season, the first part of the race very uneventful, I put in a few early attacks and tried to bridge a few gaps early on.  Then disaster at the 20 laps to go I feel my rear tire start to slip in a corner and then to realize i have about 20lbs of air in my rear tire , damn a flat at this time.  This is perfect time as teams are starting to get organized  for the sprint.  going to the pit i take my free lap and back in the race in no time, however my adrenaline being so high i went with the fist attack that went off the front as soon as i rejoined, this was the wrong thing to do, because i just wasted a bunch of energy with not much time left in the race.  After recovering as much as possible i lined up behind teammate Paul Che, my replacement wheel however had a 12 tooth rear gear and this was impossible to sprint on with speeds reaching 40 miles an hour. ending up 12th i was not incredibly happy but still a solid finish. 

LEARNING SO-CAL

Last weekend i had my first so-cal crit, It was a learning experience.  After the race i learned from a teammate that many of the so-cal crits end in a breakaway which surprised me because a lot of the crits in the north country end in a field sprint, also it was a great time to learn about the people on my team and other teams that i will be racing with this year.  I learned people and how they react to situations and how they perform in certain situations, stuff that is valuable to know during the course of the season.  

The race was not as fast as i thought it might be, early on there where many breakaway attempts, but nobody had promising look until about 2/3 the way through the race then a break went up the road with the right mix of riders to succeed.  there where two of the major  teams in the race represented in the race therefore the impetus for the group to chase was not strong.  Through out most of the race i did a lot of work because i was under the impression that the break would be pulled back at only a 20sec gap, but this was not the case and i burned al my matches, so when i finally did figure out that the group would stay away i simply didn't have the pop to put in an attack that would put me in the front group.  I just tried to follow the final attack by Justin Willams of Rock Racing to contest the field sprint, but some things unfolded and my lead out fell through the pack as soon as Justin attacked, therefore putting me in 18th position for the finish. 

OH WELL THAT'S RACING!!!! 

ARROGANT BASTARD TRAINING CAMP

New team sponsors Pista Palace bike shop and  

Stone Brewing Co. present:

Arrogant Bastard Training Camp

DAY 1: 

We had the first day of training camp today it was interesting, as it always is to meet your new teammates.  With limited numbers we made it work, Paul Che, and Shane Lawlor joined myself and team director Justin Beope for a four hour cruise up Palomar MT.  the first part of the ride was at a leisure pace but as soon as we started to climb up Mt. Palomar the pace quickened and we where able to test each others strengths.  Today being the first day and limited turnout was very fun and successful, I expect tomorrow to be much better because we are combining training camp with the ever fast Swami's ride and more teammates should also be there!!

François Parisien

DAY 2:

The team did the swami's ride for the second day of training camp, even though all of us didn't do the long loop.  team director Justin and Paul Che had to cut out early, but Chad DeRosier and I continued on.  Thanks to former teammate James Gunn and François Parisien the long loop ride was very fast. even though the pace and the strain on the muscles was a lot it was excellent training especially for the 100+ mile road races that I will encounter during the season. We can mark this one up as another beautiful 80° day of training in beautiful San Diego!

Day 3:

Free Day, due to the conflicting schedules of the team we where able to do a ride of our choice today.  I started my ride with former teammate James Gunn and François Parisien and also some other strong guys visiting from Quebec.  half way trough the ride however i split from the group to take a scenic loop home, so i wouldn't exceed my hours for this week.  this week i was supposed to do 22 hours so if i would have continued to ride then i would have exceeded the 3 hour ride i was to do today to make that limit.  So i cut off and did the SDBC Saturday ride backwards back to my place.  That however lame it my have been was the Arrogant Bastard Training Camp!

Racing Blues

Its the time of the year right before the season, most of the racers around the US are starting to feel anxious to get into the racing season. personally i know that i am tired of training for the season and not being able to race on the weekends.  the season starts to come into full effect in the beginning of February, this month seems like it continues to evade me. yet it is still another month till the first race of the season, when  the season starts i know that everything will move at a much faster pace.  

From the month of Febuary to September there is more packed in the schedule than there are animals in the aquariums at sea world.  except for the month  of July which only has two large races one of which is in PA.  therefore it also makes it a busy month just not as many races, the ominous schedule proves one thing true for the upcoming season, the fact that i won't have much time at all!!!!

Damn the cycling coverage! cycling coverage just makes the blues of the ominous racing season even worse, as i was watching the coverage of last years paris Roubaix i was so excited for the season that i was literally bouncing of the walls. this is probably because my excitement for the 2009 season can no longer be contained.  in the upcoming season i will be racing in many PRO peletons and having some experiences that will be unmatched, YOU WOULD HAVE BLUES TOO!!!!!!!!!!

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

SCHEDULE

SUN 25            CBR LONG BEACH 18th
SAT JAN 31 PO KIDS SB 28th

FEB

SUN 1 MOTHBALLS GOLLETA 12th

SAT 7 BOULEVARD CHULA VISTA DNF 3 LAPS
SUN 8 RED TOLLEY SD LAST
FRI 13-15 VALLEY OF THE SUN LAST,7TH
SUN 22 SNELLING RR SNELLING 7TH
SAT 28 MERCO GP MERCED CRASH

MARCH

 
SUN 1 MERCO RR MERCED 8TH
SAT14-15 TOUR DE MURIETA STUPID
SAT 20-22 SAN DIMAS SR

APRIL

SAT 3-5 SAN DIEGO CV OMNIUM
SAT 11 FORT IRWIN ROAD RACE
SUN 12 EASTER CRIT ONTARIO
FRI 16-19 SEA OTTER MONTEREY
SAT 26 DANA POINT GP

MAY

APRIL 29-03 TOUR GILA SILVER CITY NM
SAT 9 ENCANITAS GP
SUN 10 LA MIRADA GP

JUN EUROPE
JULY EUROPE
AUG EUROPE

SEP

SAT 5 SAN FRANCISCO TWILIGHT
SUN 6 ESPARTO TT
MON 7 GIRO DE SAN FRAN
FRI 11-13 CYCLEBRATION FOLSOM
SAT 19-20 CHICO RACES