Virginia Slim in Boulder, CO

Spring Break, Then Back to Reality

2010-04-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Spring Break was really fun, but of course went by way too quickly. Lisa came back to Richmond with me so she got to meet my family and see some of Virginia. Some of the highlights Spring Break (at least for me) were:
- Jay-Z concert before we left for Richmond
- going to a nice restaurant downtown on the James River called the Boathouse
- seeing Monticello on the way up to spending a night at Wintergreen
- a day trip to Washington D.C. that included seeing the Holocaust Museum
- getting to spend a day with my cousins- running the Monument Avenue 10k

Now that break is over, it's time for the final push before graduation in May. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to ride much since I got back due to homework, tests, and trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life after college. It's been stressful to say the least. However, I just finished my third round of tests yesterday and the weekend weather is looking to be in the high 60s, so I'm hoping to be able to get in some good riding.

Weird Weather

2010-03-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

This past week was filled with great mountain bike rides on sunny, warm days. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all over 65 degrees, and I took full advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to get in some good fat tire bike practice and finally expose my pale skin to the rays of the sun. But, in typical Colorado fashion, it dropped over 30 degrees and snowed 13 inches on Friday. So much for my trip to Moab with the roomates this weekend... At least I still have a Jay-Z concert on Monday and our trip to VA to look forward to.

CU Race

2010-03-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our home collegiate crit. Crashes marred the first 4 collegiate categories leading up to the Men's A race, and since I broke my wrist in a crash at this same course last year, I was quite nervous before my race. Fortunately, the majority of people know how to handle their bikes in the Men's A races, so I made it through unscathed. Our team made up the majority of the field, and we controlled most of the race, sending off attack after attack. I did my part by chasing and blocking, but everything ended up getting pulled back so it came down to a sprint finish. We weren't able to organize a strong lead out and we ended up not getting the W. However, I was up there at the finish and came across the line 13th, better than I usually do in crits. That and the fact that I didn't go down in a heap of bikes and bodies made the day a success in my book. Lisa also had a successful race in the Women's B field, taking a solid 4th place. She narrowly avoided a crash that saw another girl break her jaw, so she too was fortunate to come out unscathed.

Today was spent taking it easy seeing as I have very little work due between now and spring break. It feels nice to know that I can just coast this next week until more racing next weekend in Fort Collins. The weather was crappy today, but it's supposed to get nice in the middle of the week so hopefully I can get some good hours in on the bike. Maybe the trails will even be dry enough to do a little fat tire riding...

Let's Try This Again...

2010-03-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

So, it's been almost a year since I last wrote on here. A lot has happened since then, and I have neglected to keep updating. I'm just going to start fresh, and that begins with the fact that I am currently in the final semester of my college career. Wow. It's kind of intimidating, and I'm not sure if I am ready to go out into the real world. I still do not know what I am going to do post-graduation, which is the scary part. I really need to figure that out. Until then, I have Spring Break to look forward to! My girlfriend Lisa and I are going to be seeing a Jay-Z concert on the 22nd, and then flying back to VA the following day. I can't wait to go back home and give Lisa a little taste of my hometown, as well as see my little cousins (Jameson, Rylan, and Greycen). It's been too long...

Also, my last collegiate road season is officially underway. We had our first race this past weekend: a crit in downtown Denver. It went pretty well considering I haven't gotten to train very much. All I have been doing is a few weeks of base miles, so a 60 min. crit was definitely a shock to the system. I hung in with the lead group, though, and finished in the pack. I'm just glad I didn't get dropped. I hope to continue with some base miles and racing, and hopefully get into decent shape come nationals time. This weekend is our home crit at the Research Park... I'll have an update after that, and hopefully I'll continue this on a regular basis again.

T-minus 3 days...

2009-05-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in the library, amped up on most likely unhealthy amounts of caffeine. I just thought I would convey the repulsive feeling I have towards studying right now. Summer cannot come soon enough...

Almost there...

2009-05-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend's race ended up being slightly different than we all expected. The road race course got changed due to snowy conditions in the mountains around Salt Lake City. Instead, the race was held on laps of the Miller Motorsports Park (a world class auto racing complex) outside of Salt Lake. We ended up doing 8 laps of a pancake-flat 7 mile loop, and I actually surprised myself with my performance. My legs actually felt like they had some jump in them, and I was able to take pulls at the front and respond to attacks with relative ease. We covered the 56 miles in just over 2 hours, so the race was quite fast. I ended up finishing somewhere around 20th, but not too far off the winning time. I finally feel like I'm getting some fitness back, which is encouraging. But the best news of the weekend was that our team won Conference Finals, which hasn't happened since I've been here at CU! We beat out two of the best teams in the country, CSU and Fort Lewis, which is just rad.

After a LONG drive home from Utah, it was time to face the last week of the semester. This past week I've been busy finishing up a big paper for a writing class, and getting ready for finals. I did manage to get one good ride in on Wednesday with Carter Jones. He had just gotten back from the Vuelta de Bisbee, and kicked my ass in a hill interval workout. I was sore the next day to say the least.

In other news, my roommate Chris just got back from spending 3 months in Africa. He did some AIDS education in Cape Town, and then worked with water treatment in Ghana. It sounds like it was an awesome experience for him. You can check out some of the cool stuff he got to do by reading his blog (click on the Trogdor blog to the right).

Well, that's about it for now. Finals start on Tuesday, end Thursday, and Road Nationals are next weekend! I'm unfortunately not going to be racing, but I will definitely be there cheering and gettin' rowdy. Hopefully we crush. I will leave you with one last thing... I found my new dream car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaENG1vt6-Y

Utah

2009-04-23T14:57:00.001-07:00

So it's off to Utah this weekend for Conference finals. The last few days here have been absolutely amazing, with temperatures in the mid 70s. I got a few good rides in, but the legs are still feeling a little sluggish. Hopefully they'll be prime for this weekend though. Weather is looking like 50s and rain for Salt Lake City... boo.

Bike Racing is Hard

2009-04-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Air Force road race. I got a few good training rides in last week, so I was hoping my legs would feel better for this race. The race started out well, but on the 2nd of 5 laps, Brad wanted me to go to the front on the big climb and set a fast pace to try to widdle down the field and help to bring back the break that had gotten away. I took 2 good long pulls at the front, and was able to make it over the climb with the lead group. However, on the 3rd lap the effort from the previous lap caught up with me, and I got dropped on the climb. I ended up soloing for another lap and a half, then called it quits. There was no way I was getting back up to the group, and my legs were shot. Oh well, at least I was able to help out the rest of the team before dropping out. Maybe after a few more weeks, I'll be back in racing shape. This entire week is supposed to be in the 70s, so hopefully I can get some good training in. It's finally starting to feel like spring is here. It's about time.

Where do I start?

2009-04-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

Since September, a lot has gone on. I raced the collegiate mountain bike season, got a cyclocross bike and did a few 'cross races, went to a few concerts, went snowboarding, turned 21, broke my wrist/had surgery, and went to Moab. All of that with a lot of school in between. It's mostly been fun, but it's gone by way too fast.

Mountain bike season was a blast. I raced well, and just enjoyed the good times and relaxed atmosphere of each race. Collegiate mountain biking is a nice change from a summer of really uptight and intense road racing.

I decided that I couldn't go through another fall/winter in Boulder without racing some cyclocross. However, that required getting a new bike. I ended up getting a Bianchi Cross Concept from a friend, and it seemed to do pretty well. I only did 3 races, but I picked up the nuances of the sport pretty quickly, taking a 5th place at the Boulder Cup. The bike also served well to train through the snowy months.

Snowboarding was pretty fun this season too, although I didn't get to go as many times as I wanted to. I got in a few good powder days, and Mike and John came out again this year for our annual ski trip. This year we holed up at Breckenridge, and had an awesome time.

One big event recently is that I (finally) turned 21! I know my mom is probably even more excited about me turning 21 than I am. But it did feel quite good to be able to go into a bar and buy beer at the liquor store...

I also recently broke the navicular bone in my wrist. It happened at the CU crit, on the last lap of the Men's A race. I was sitting about 10th or 12th wheel, and some idiot a few riders up tried to shoot a gap that was way too small, and took out another rider's front wheel. It took a bunch of us down, and I ended up with some pretty bad road rash and my bike took a beating. I didn't really suspect my wrist was broken until hours after the crash. It just kept throbbing and hurting more, so I decided to go to the ER and get X-rays. Sure enough, I cracked the navicular bone in half. Options for recovery were to be in a cast for 8-10 weeks, or to have surgery and get a screw put in. I opted for the surgery since it would only take 2-3 weeks for me to be back on the bike. Everything went well, and now I have some metal in me. I got to race the road race this past weekend, but I definitely lost some fitness after being out for 3 weeks. I got dropped like a bad habit.

For spring break I had planned on going to Moab to do some mountain biking, but breaking my wrist threw a monkey wrench into the works. I had to schedule surgery over spring break instead. However, I did manage to get out to Moab for a few days before surgery just to camp and hangout, and it was still a lot of fun. I got to go hiking in Arches National Park and dabbled in some 4-wheeling with my Jeep. It was great to get away for a few days for a much-needed break.

Well, that's the last 6 months in a nutshell. Here's a few pictures from my adventures.

Preview of Things to Come...

2009-04-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

As you are probably well aware, I haven't posted in quite some time. A lot has gone on in between then and now, and I hope to be able to catch you up on some of the bigger events that have occurred. I'll also try to throw in a few choice pictures. However, all of this will occur AFTER my physiology test tomorrow (don't worry Mom and Dad, I am actually studying). Sorry for the long break...

Start of a New School Year

2008-09-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

The first few weeks of school are under my belt. Classes have been going pretty well, and I'm getting to ready for the first round of exams. I'm taking some hard classes this semester, including anatomy and the second semester of organic chemistry. I just had my first test in anatomy lab this past week, which I think went pretty well. This coming week is another anatomy test, as well as an organic chemistry test. Ouch. Lots of studying to do...

Well since school has started, I've been to 3 football games. The first one was the big rivalry game with CSU at Invesco Field in Denver. The roomates and I went down early and tailgated, and then got to watch a good game that resulted in a CU win. The following weekend I didn't get to go to the home game, but I did get to race my mountain bike at the first collegiate race of the year. I took 9th in the short track and 16th in the cross country. The weekend was fun because we also got to camp. It was kind of cold at night, but overall it was good racing weather.

Last weekend I got to go visit Mike in South Carolina. I flew in on Friday night and went to the USC-Georgia game on Saturday. It was blistering hot and much more humid than I was used to, but it was still a great game nonetheless. USC put up a good fight against the number 2 team in the country and the atmosphere was really cool. SEC football is pretty exciting. I flew back to Boulder on Sunday morning after a way-too-short visit, but it was a good trip despite the brevity. It was good to see Mike and his new apartment. He is definitely in a nice place.

This past Thursday was the big CU football game against West Virginia. It was nationally televised on ESPN and the fans decided to "blackout" the stadium. It was a really fun game to go to, especially since we beat WV in overtime! Maybe we'll make into the top 25 after the weekend is over... Tomorrow I'm off to Wyoming for another collegiate mountain bike race. I've never done this race, so we'll see how it goes. That's all for now. Until next time...

Catch-Up

2008-08-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long time between updates. I have been pretty busy recently traveling and such. A couple weeks ago Mike came out to visit for a week. We had fun hanging out in Boulder, going to Water World in Denver, and going to the Mile High Music Festival and seeing John Mayer, the Roots, the Flobots, and of course, Dave Matthews. It was a really hot day for the festival, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees, but it was still a great atmosphere and the shows were really entertaining.

After Mike left, I had a week before I flew back home. I spent it doing a fair amount of riding. To end it, though, Jacob, Chris, and I decided to go climb two 14,000 foot peaks ("fourteeners") west of Denver. The two peaks we attempted to climb were Grays Peak and Torreys Peak, which happen to be right next to each other. This is nice because it makes it easy to climb both in the same day. We drove up to the trailhead on a Tuesday afternoon, and prepared to hike part-way up and then find a campsite for the night. Unfortunately when we got there, the trailhead was already at treeline, and it wouldn't have been safe to hike and camp higher than treeline, so we just camped in a nice grove of pine trees at the trailhead. We spent the afternoon exploring the area and soaking in the amazing scenery. We cooked dinner, then went to bed early in preparation for the next day. We woke up the next morning at 4:30 a.m. and ate a quick breakfast before setting out on the trail. The first part of the hike was still pitch black, so it was nice and cool. It was neat because we got to see the sun rise over the mountains, and the lighting of the early morning was beautiful. We climbed up Grays Peak first, which is 14,270 feet high. We had to stop multiple times on the way up to snap pictures of the amazing views. It seemed like every new angle just had to be captured. After about 3 hours, we finally summited Grays Peak, my first fourteener! It was probably between 45 and 50 degrees at the summit and it was kind of windy, which made for a cold wind chill. I was glad I brought layers. After taking some more pictures and signing the summit log, we descended to the saddle between Grays and Torreys, and continued our trek to Torreys Peak, 14,267 feet. The climb up Torreys was steeper and more challenging than Grays, and I became much more tired than I had anticipated. But it was worth it because the views from the summit were incredible and we got to summit our second fourteener of the day. On the descent, we saw an awesome mountain goat that seemed to just climb up over the cliff that dropped off the side of the trail. We made it back to our campsite by about 11:00, and then packed everything in my Jeep and 4-wheeled out on the same gnarly road we drove in on. It was a cool way to top off a great couple of days.

After my mountaineering experience, I flew back home for two weeks. While I was there, I seemed to be continuously doing things. I got to go visit Lesley and Jim and the boys a couple times, see some friends, go to Gettysburg to visit family, go to VA Beach to see a Dave Matthews concert, go to Wintergreen multiple times to play golf, and I got to go on a great hike up Old Rag Mountain with Dad and Mom and Mike. All-in-all, it was a pretty packed trip. I didn't really want to leave, but Boulder was calling. Now I'm back in the 303 and school starts soon. I guess I'm excited for it, but I'm also not really ready for my wonderful summer to end. I did get to do a lot of cool stuff this summer, so I guess I can't really complain. That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Random Stuff

2008-07-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've last updated, so here's what's been going on. Last week was really hot. I didn't get to ride much in the beginning of the week, and then I got sick later in the week. I think it was food poisoning of some sort, but I'm not sure. That lasted for a few days. Then on Saturday John, James, and I decided to go ride some trails in the southwestern part of the state. We drove to Kenosha Pass and stopped there to ride the Colorado Trail. We did about 16 miles on that, which was pretty cool. It was a nice day for a ride, but that meant that everyone else was out also. It was pretty busy for a trail, so we kept the ride to 2 hours. Then we hopped in the car and drove the rest of the way to our final destination, Salida. We found a good camp site and set up camp, then went back into town for dinner. After dinner, we pretty much just went right to bed because we were planning on waking up early the next morning to catch the shuttle to the Monarch Crest Trail.

Sunday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and ate breakfast and took down the tents and stuff. Then we drove into town to the place where you catch the shuttle, and caught the 8 o'clock up to the top of Monarch Pass. From here we planned to do an epic 40 mile ride back down to Salida. The first part of the trail was awesome. Actually the entire trail was awesome. The first part is just rolling singletrack above treeline, which seemed like another world. The elevation was about 11,500 feet for the first part of the trail. And oh yeah, there were still massive snowbanks. Check out the video.

Then we hit some cool descents and some more climbs, and then it was time for a lunch break. After lunch, we had another really fun descent, but this is where the trouble started. John had one flat not too long into the descent. Fairly routine. Then he and I both flatted about ten minutes later. At this point we were kinda pissed because the loose rocky descent was destroying our tires. And to make matters worse, John realized that he had broken his rear skewer. This rendered his bike unridable, and we were still a good 6 miles or so from the dirt road that would take us back to town. This meant it was walking time. So we took the next cutoff trail and walked/pushed John along for a good 4 or 5 miles, then I took John's keys to his car and went ahead to get it.

After another 6 miles or so, I reached the car and drove it back up to meet John and James. It was kind of disappointing to have to cut our ride short, but we still got a good 4 hours of riding in, and the trail was probably the best I've ever ridden. I'll have to go back for sure.

Yesterday was another sweet ride. This time it was just John and me, and we decided to go to Buffalo Creek. I had never been here either, but now I sure want to go back. This area has a bunch of cool trails that you can connect into pretty much as big a loop as you want. John had a general idea of where we were going, and with the help of the map we came up with a super cool loop that incorporated more of the Colorado Trail. The whole trail was pretty much a sandy consistency with very few rocks, which made it smooth and fast and it had a good flow to it. The scenery was pretty too. All in all it made for another excellent ride.

Today John and I planned out a course for the short track race tomorrow, and this weekend I have the Mt. Evans hill climb (which is probably the hardest thing ever) and then Mike comes out to visit! I can't wait.

This is what some of the riding out here is like, for those of you back on the East Coast (sorry, the first one is sideways):

Dead Dog

2008-06-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was in Laramie, WY for the Dead Dog Classic stage race. I did this race last year in the 4's and did pretty well, so I was pretty excited to go back. I drove up Friday night and stayed with a few guys from my team in the classy Ramada. Saturday was the road race, and the day started out with an early wake up time. Fortunately, the forecast was for sunny skies, calm breezes, and a high of only 75- basically perfect weather for a race. The road race was 87 miles, with close to 7,000 feet of climbing. It was definitely a daunting stage. The race started out pretty calm, but about 25 miles in we hit the first of two big climbs, and the race immediately splintered. I was caught almost immediately in between the lead group that was quickly pulling away on the climb and the stragglers behind that couldn't hold the pace. I got into a good rhythm, though, and climbed pretty well. Two of my teammates caught up to me close to the top of the climb, and we worked together the rest of the race. The second climb was just as long and hard as the first, and my legs were really starting to hurt. It was a welcome sight to see the summit, and long descent helped me to recover slightly. The flat road back towards the finish was plagued by a strong crosswind, so we had to roll a sweet ecehlon which actually worked pretty well. The last 11 miles were rolling climbs, and that is where I really hit the wall. I was so spent from the climbs and the crosswind stretch that I could barely turn the pedals over. The last K was absolutely brutal, and my body was screaming at me to stop. I finished, but it wasn't pretty. I crossed the line in 18th out of about 50 riders in my category, so overall I did pretty well. It was probably one of the hardest road races I've ever done, and I was glad when it was finally over. The rest of the day on Saturday was spent sleeping, eating, and just recovering. I had to get ready for the crit and time trial on Sunday.

The crit was the first stage on Sunday. My legs were still brutally sore from the race the day before, but after a good warm-up session they felt a lot better. Early in the race, a break got away and nobody seemed willing to chase. So I went to the front and put in two really long efforts to try to close down the gap. But both times people weren't willing to continue the chase, so my effort was all for naught. Oh well. The rest of the race I just kind of sat in and tried to stay near the front. It came down to a bunch sprint for 3rd place, and I ended up coming in 12th. I was still happy with my race because of the amount of work I did and how I was still able to be in the mix at the end, which I hadn't been able to do in the last few crits I've done.

Immediately after the crit was the time trial. It was a little over 10 miles and started out downhill, then turned around and came back uphill. It's a hard course for sure, and my sore legs made it even harder. During it I just felt like I had zero power left in my legs. Oh well... I guess that's to be expected for not having done many really long rides this year and then trying to go out and do a brutal road race followed by a crit and a time trial. I finished pretty far down in the time trial, but ended up taking 22nd overall, which I felt wasn't too shabby. Overall, I was pretty happy with how the weekend went.

Now I'm back in Boulder and starting my last week of summer school! I can't wait until that's done. I don't have any races planned for this weekend, so hopefully I can get in some good long rides. I'm also really pumped for the 4th of July. I think a few of Jacob's friends might be coming up from New Mexico, so maybe we'll have a small party or something. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Cool Photos

2008-06-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

John took some cool photos, and we messed around with Photoshop. Here are the results.

Short Track Blog

2008-06-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

The CU Short Track Series has a blog! Check it out:

http://www.cushorttrack.com/

That is all.

Crested Butte

2008-06-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend the whole Boulder gang went down to Crested Butte for the fourth stop in the Mountain States Cup mountain bike series. I had never been to CB before, so I was pretty stoked. Plus, it was my first real mountain bike race ever. The drive down was scenic, and pretty entertaining. John, Bryan, Sarah, Wayne and I headed down first, and Katie, Kate, Caitlin and Phil came down later in the evening. When we got into Crested Butte, the scenery was breathtaking. After registering, we went on an adventure to find a campsite for the weekend. After a couple no-go's, we finally found an amazing campsite about 8 miles up a dirt road, near the aptly-named Paradise Divide. The pictures say it all.

Our race was at 9 the next morning so we went to bed early on Friday night, but not before going back into town and eating at the Brick Oven, and amazing pizza place on the main strip. On the way back to camp, we took Bryan's car off-roading through a river that was much deeper than we thought, but it all turned out alright. It was pretty cool.

On Saturday morning, I got to the race feeling pretty nervous. I didn't really know what to expect in the race, and not being able to pre-ride the course didn't really help much. I raced the sport category, so there really wasn't too much to be worried about, but I still wanted to do well. The race was 20 miles, and started out on a long climb. Without a very good warm-up, my legs and lungs were really feeling it on that climb. But about halfway through the first lap, I started to feel good. I held my position in my category and only had to deal with catching and being caught by riders in other categories. The course was awesome, with some sweet single track through aspen groves and a pretty fun descent, which all made for a great first mountain bike race. When it was all said and done, I took fourth in the sport category and got to stand on the podium! Not too bad for my first race! The rest of Saturday was spent playing some cornhole (its' the beanbag tossing game) with Dave from Mafia Racing and a bunch of other people. We also got to watch Wayne own the clunker crit... a three lap race that involves chugging a beer both before and after the three laps (I don't think I've ever seen anyone chug a beer as fast as Wayne). Then we went back to the campsite and hung out around the campfire. It was a pretty awesome day.

Sunday we woke up and packed up the campsite. Then we went and got coffee at a really cool coffee shop in town. After the coffee, we were all wired and ready to go for a mountain bike ride on one of the many trails around CB. The trail we rode was probably the coolest trail I've ever ridden, with awesome flowing single track and amazing views. Plus, there was a really cool creek crossing that was as deep as my tires and I was surprisingly able to ride it. It was a perfect way to end our time in CB.

The beginning of this week was spent with class and studying for a test. Pretty lame. But tonight was the Wednesday night short track, and it was a lot of fun as usual. I helped set up, then raced in the B race, then got to watch a battle of the big guns in the men's A race, with Bryan Alders and Brian Fuentes going up against JHK of the Gary Fisher team. It was pretty cool to see some of the best riders in the country at our local short track race. After the race, I went to Katie, Kate, and Caitlin's house for the traditional post-race dinner and now I'm headed to bed. Another good day.

A Good Day

2008-06-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today wasn't anything special. In fact, it was actually pretty routine. But for some reason, it just felt like a really good day. I got up early and went to class, then came back and grabbed some lunch at Half Fast with John. We watched the playoff in the US Open between Tiger and Rocco. Pretty sweet that Tiger pulled it out. Then John and I went up to Walker to go mountain biking. It was a gorgeous day for it, and I didn't crash like I did yesterday, so that was a plus. I hate crashing, and hopefully it's out of my system now for a while with 2 hard crashes in just as many weeks. After the race, I took a wonderful nap. Now I'm refreshed and ready to take on the world tomorrow. It's tough, but somebody's got to do it...

Also, congrats to Kiel for getting 10th overall at the Nature Valley Grand Prix and winning the Best Amateur Rider Jersey in the process! Way to go Kiel!

Catch-Up

2008-06-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since my last post. I didn't get to post anything while I was in Italy, and I've been really busy since I got back in Boulder. I guess that's a good thing, though. Here's the abridged version of what's taken place the past few weeks.

Italy was an awesome time. We went to Venice, Cinque Terre on the coast, Montepulciano in Tuscany, and finally Rome. Each place was unique, but the common thread was wine- really good wine. It was great to be able to take another trip as a family, and I think we all really enjoyed our time together. But all good things have to end, and I had to come back from vacation so that I could make it back in time for summer school, which started on June 2. I'm taking a stats class, and so far it's going ok. My professor is cool, and the class is only an hour and a half each day. My first test was this morning, so we'll see how that turns out.

Other things that have happened since I got back in Boulder: rock climbing a few times, cycling, and stitches. Yes, stitches. I had a pretty routine crash mountain biking at Walker Ranch- nothing fancy or cool, but somehow I managed to gash open my calf and I had to make a prompt trip to the ER for 4 stitches. It wasn't too bad except for the 5 shots they had to give me to numb up the wound so that they could clean it. I'm not too fond of needles, so I wasn't really stoked about that part. The good news is, my injury has not hindered my ability to be mobile and do my normal activities. I'm still able to ride, and I've played volleyball and gone climbing since my stitches have been in. I even did the first Boulder Short Track race last Wednesday, and I raced the Mike Horgan Hill Climb up Sugarloaf Road this past weekend. Both races were fun in their own way. The short track got cut short by torrential downpours and hail, which made it quite wet and muddy. The hill climb was good because I came in 17th in the 3's after 2 1/2 weeks of not riding, so it was a better result than I expected and my legs actually felt pretty good.

So that's about all I have for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Last Post Before Italy

2008-05-16T18:08:00.001-07:00

So this will most likely be my last post before we're off to Italy! I'm so excited, I can't even describe it. Today I woke up early to see Lesley, Jameson, and Rylan one more time. This time, they came to our house. It's fun having them over, because everyone gets to act like a little kid again. The rest of the day was spent running last minute errands and trying to get everything ready to leave. The stress level is high here, at least with my parents, and I will be glad when we finally leave.

I am going to try update this at least a few times during our trip. Hopefully there will be plenty of internet cafes around. Anyway, I hope everyone has a good start to the summer, and I will see everyone when I get back. Ciao!

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

My last week in Boulder for a while was pretty relaxing. First of all, I just got to be a spectator at collegiate road nationals, which was entertaining to watch. Taylor Kneuven got in a break in the road race and ended up taking 4th, so that was a pretty good result for CU after getting 2nd in the team time trial. Unfortunately, Kiel crashed a few weeks ago at Bisbee, so his form was off. He definitely had a chance to win the road race and crit. After nationals, I just got to ride and chill out without a care in the world. There were two days where I got in both a road and mountain bike ride in on the same day. I had to try to squeeze in as many rides as possible before I left for home, and more importantly, Italy!!!

There is nothing like coming home. Even though Boulder is my "home away from home," there is just something comforting about coming back to where you grew up.
Yesterday, I got to go straight from the airport to go see my little cousins. I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was good to see them again. After that, I went and had dinner with my parents and then came home and just crashed. I had an early flight out of Denver, so I was really tired. Today I was busy running errands, and then got to play golf with my bro. I miss playing golf, but I surprised myself by playing pretty well. Tomorrow will be spent packing and getting ready, and then Saturday we leave for Italy! I'm so pumped. Here are a few pictures from home:

construction at home- I remember when everything around here used to be trees or farmland...

Mike on the tee

Jameson having some fun

It's Summer in Most Places...

2008-05-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to more snow and cold weather. WTF?

Conference Finals

2008-04-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was conference finals. Well, sort of. I drove up to Wyoming on Friday night with Phil, and we arrived dreading the next morning because we heard that it was supposed to be below freezing and snowing and windy. Not the most ideal conditions for a road race. So I got up at 5:45 the next morning and was greeted by a wintry scene outside with freezing temperatures and blowing snow. I immediately considered going back to bed and not even racing. It just was not worth that kind of suffering. Then I got the best phone call I have gotten in a while... the race was cancelled! So I went back to sleep and was able to relax the rest of the day. Sunday was the conference championship crit, which did not end up being cancelled. The A race started at 8 AM, so I was up early again. The weather was a little nicer, but still cold. Temperature on the start line was 34 degrees. The race went pretty well for me... I stayed towards the front and held on for 45 min. out of the 60 min. race, which was better than last weekend's crit.

Today was a beautiful day in Boulder. I celebrated the nice weather by going for a great mountain bike ride with Peter. We did a quick ride up to Betasso, and came back in time to go to the Club Sports end-of-the-year reception, which was nice because it was a free dinner! The next few days are supposed to be even nicer, so hopefully more good rides are to come. In the meantime, I'll be studying for exams, which are next week. Ouch.

Spring has arrived!

2008-04-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we finally had nice weather all weekend. I took advantage of it by racing in Colorado Springs. Peter, Chris, Abby and I drove down on Saturday morning to get to the Springs in time for the crit in the afternoon. The weather was actually hot, at least compared to the weather we've had recently. By race time, it was probably close to 75 degrees. This race was a new step for me because it was my first collegiate A race, meaning that I am now racing with the big guns. The crit was hard from the gun. The group got strung out immediately, and my heart rate shot upward. In fact, I couldn't find a single place on the course to rest, as I was just trying to hang on for dear life. I lasted about half the race (28 min.) and finally got gapped after the tight U-turn on the course. That was the end of the race for me, and I got to go sit in the shade and catch my breath while the rest of the guys battled it out. I was kind of disappointed, but after all, it was my first A crit and the course was not well suited for me due to the power climb on each lap. After the race, we grabbed some food, then took a much-needed nap. We went to Carraba's for dinner, which was quite entertaining, and then went back to the hotel and crashed. Sunday was the Air Force road race. Our race was 5 laps on a loop that was roughly 13 miles. This time, the course suited me pretty well because it had a long, steady climb in it. I took 4th in the B's last year at this race, so I was confident I could do alright in the A's. Unfortunately, however, it was a really windy day, with gusts reaching close to 35 mph, which made the race a little harder than I anticipated. I hung in the main group for 3 laps, then stayed with a small group off the back of the lead group for the 4th lap, and ended up soloing the 5th lap. I pretty much hit the wall on the last lap and came in roughly 10 minutes behind the winners, but I was proud of myself for hanging in and finishing the race, seeing as many of the riders dropped out. I think just because I finished, I guaranteed myself a top 20... I'll take it. After the race, I got to drive an hour and a half back to Boulder, and we made it back just in time to see the ridiculousness of the 4/20 celebration, although we did not partake.

This is Colorado for you...

2008-04-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

So apparently it likes to snow 3-5 inches the day after it's 80 degrees in Colorado. The weather is teasing me. That is all.

Fun Weekend

2008-04-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was quite fun. Friday night, I just got to sit at home and relax with my roomates, which was actually very enjoyable because it's not often that I just get to sit around and not worry about having to do anything. After sleeping in on Saturday, Jacob, Phil, Chris P. and I went to Hall Ranch to hit up some mountain biking. It was a beautiful day, and the trail was surprisingly dry. I rode well, and cleaned a good number of technical sections that I normally have trouble with. AND I didn't have any hard falls like last time, which made the ride all the more fun. Today was the cycling team ride-a-thon, and about 20 people showed up for a relaxed group ride. Chris and I put the hurt on from the get-go with our sneaky double prong attack from the back, and Chris owned the climbs to claim the virtual king of the mountains jersey. I think it was probably the proudest moment in his cycling career. The weather was even better than yesterday, and I managed to get a pretty gnarly tan line. Yes, that's right, the cycling tan is back for another season...

Looks like another trainer day...

2008-04-10T10:38:00.001-07:00

I'm ready for it to be warm.

April snow brings May flowers?

2008-04-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post on my new blog! Hopefully with this whole blog thing, you (my friends and family) will be able to catch a glimpse of everyday life for me in beautiful Boulder, CO. Although right now, my life has a lot of constants, with those being school and training. In fact, that's about all that has been going on the last couple of months. A couple of weeks ago, I did get to spend the weekend with my parents, who flew out for the beginning of my spring break. It was so great to see them, and the short time they were here was jam-packed with activity. That Saturday, I had a collegiate cycling race up in Greeley, CO that they got to come watch. Immediately after that, we drove up to Estes Park, and got some fresh mountain air and stunning views. The next day was our home collegiate race in the morning, which I followed up with my first pro/1/2/3 race in the afternoon. In fact it was an afternoon of firsts, because it also happened to be my first race with my new cycling team, Vitamin Cottage. The race went especially well for me, because I got to race with the big guns- Tom Danielson, Ivan Stevic, Chris Baldwin, and many more, and I hung in for the entire 1 hour crit. I did get dropped with 2 laps to go, but it was close enough to the end that I didn't get lapped, and that was a moral victory for me. I'm so glad my parents got to be here to watch, as it was definitely a milestone (if only a small one) in my short cycling career.

The next day was spent on a very pleasant hike up at Walker Ranch. We were again treated to relatively mild weather for this time of year, and of course great views at the top. Unfortunately, this was my parents last day of their visit, and the next morning they flew back to Richmond. The time they were here was short, but well spent and enjoyed by all. I can't wait to see them again.

After my parents' visit, I was able to go to Moab, Utah for 4 days of mountain biking with Abby, Chris, Peter, and James, all friends from the cycling team. It was my first trip to Moab, and I don't think I could have had a better first experience. We camped at the Slickrock Trailhead, and got to ride some of the coolest trails I have ever ridden. I think the Porcupine Rim Trail was by far my favorite, and each day was in the 70's, so that made the trip even better. There's nothing like riding your bike all day, then coming back and relaxing at the campsite all night, and then getting up and doing it all again the next day (all without a shower, of course). In fact, that was the only downside to the trip... no running water. But I definitely got my fair share of hobo showers in the City Market. After Moab, we went to Fruita, CO on the way back towards Boulder to get one more good mountain bike ride in before everyone had to head back. We hit up the Mary's Loop and Moore Fun trails in Fruita, which were just as technical and fun as the trails in Moab. After our ride we parted ways, as Abby and Peter went back to Boulder, and I stayed in Grand Junction for the collegiate road race the next day. I met up with the rest of the team that night at our hotel, and got a much needed shower before going to bed early. The race the next day went fairly well. It was a 60 mile road race, with a fair amount of climbing. I got in a break, and ended up taking 7th in the B's, which was a pretty decent result this early in the season. Last year I took 2nd in the race when it was the Conference Championship road race, so the course seems to suit my strengths.

After my busy but fun spring break, it was back to school, and that's all that has really happened the last week and a half. This past weekend I got to race again, with a hill climb in Golden on Saturday, and the always-popular Koppenburg Road Race on Sunday. The hill climb went alright place-wise (5th), but I felt that I could have pushed a little harder because I ended up with a lot left in the tank at the end. Oh well. The Koppenburg on Sunday was a different story. It was only my second Cat 3 road race ever and considering, I think I did alright. I dropped my chain going into the first climb, then had to chase hard to get back on. Bad luck struck again on the third lap, when there was a brutal crash in front of me on the fastest part of the course (40 mph). I heard broken ribs, wrists, and dislocated shoulders were the result. I didn't go down, fortunately. However, I did get gapped from the front group, and ended up having to work with one other guy for the next three laps which was super hard, especially with the strong winds. I ended up 22nd out of 47, so I guess I can't complain too much. A mid-pack finish in my first Cat 3 race of the year... I'll take it.

After yesterday's race, my legs needed some rest. I wasn't sure whether to go on an easy ride today or to just plain take the day off, but my choice was made for me when I awoke to snow on the ground and temperatures in the high 30's. I guess April snows bring May flowers out here in Colorado, at least that seems to be the trend. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer and I can get a good workout in. Oh yeah, and study more for my physics test tomorrow night...

I will leave you with a few pictures from the past few weeks.

In Fruita, CO

My new car in Moab with 5, count 'em, 5 bikes on top

Chris and James livin' on the edge

Peter and James peering over

on the attack

lined up for the pro/1/2/3 race next to Chris Baldwin
and Tom Danielson!

some big horn sheep on the way to Estes Park

view of Boulder with a dusting of snow