Woke up and rode the cruiser anticipating for the day to speed up.
The moment came and I finally got my braces off after years of waiting. Now I'm probably going to rub my tongue raw from just licking the front of my teeth.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wednesday Night Crit
I think that this is the hardest one of these crits so far. Dave Wenger showed up for this race since the driveway crit tomorrow is canceled and he made it hard!
Well the race started out at a maintanable pace probably in the 27 mph range, and Bennet Brown and a Tilson homes guy rolled off the front from the begginning and stayed off a few laps, Bennet trying to impress his girlfriend, until a bike barn rider wanted to go up. We ended up catching the break and another one went off, so Carlos moved up and countered when we got back to them. After Carlos countered I countered off him and got off the front with some guys, but I didn't want to work with them since I didn't really know if they were worth being in a break with either, so I eased up back to the pack and the going got tough then, which was about 35 minutes in. Well Kremke, Wenger, Carlos, Mitch, I, and some others kept making moves off each other stringing the field out across the course trying to make some damage on the weaker riders. I think this is the first night where my lungs were actually burning from pushing so many watts out. After stringing it out for a few laps we sat up and recovered and the field came back together. This was attempted a few more times until the real one finally happened. When a move took off with Kremke, Carlos, and Wenger, everyone was trying to go with it since it would have been "The Move", and I kept trying to block riders off as much as possible. It turned out that it split the field in half, which is something I had never seen before, and then I needed to bridge back up without taking anyone with me. I made my move in the turn where I had made my earlier move and soloed away from the chase group and spent a lap and a half all out to get back up to the half field break away. After getting up there they were still going all out and riders were dropping like flies to the left and right of me, but I was fighting hard to get back up. I think there were about 15 riders in the front group and when I got up there it was 5 laps to go so I just needed to sit in and recover and that is what I did. At one to go I moved up but couldn't get on the train of Kremke, Carlos, and Wenger, so I tried to get a lead out from the 3 guys lined up in front of me, and took 4th at the line. The finish order was Kremke, Carlos, Wenger, then me.
Well the race started out at a maintanable pace probably in the 27 mph range, and Bennet Brown and a Tilson homes guy rolled off the front from the begginning and stayed off a few laps, Bennet trying to impress his girlfriend, until a bike barn rider wanted to go up. We ended up catching the break and another one went off, so Carlos moved up and countered when we got back to them. After Carlos countered I countered off him and got off the front with some guys, but I didn't want to work with them since I didn't really know if they were worth being in a break with either, so I eased up back to the pack and the going got tough then, which was about 35 minutes in. Well Kremke, Wenger, Carlos, Mitch, I, and some others kept making moves off each other stringing the field out across the course trying to make some damage on the weaker riders. I think this is the first night where my lungs were actually burning from pushing so many watts out. After stringing it out for a few laps we sat up and recovered and the field came back together. This was attempted a few more times until the real one finally happened. When a move took off with Kremke, Carlos, and Wenger, everyone was trying to go with it since it would have been "The Move", and I kept trying to block riders off as much as possible. It turned out that it split the field in half, which is something I had never seen before, and then I needed to bridge back up without taking anyone with me. I made my move in the turn where I had made my earlier move and soloed away from the chase group and spent a lap and a half all out to get back up to the half field break away. After getting up there they were still going all out and riders were dropping like flies to the left and right of me, but I was fighting hard to get back up. I think there were about 15 riders in the front group and when I got up there it was 5 laps to go so I just needed to sit in and recover and that is what I did. At one to go I moved up but couldn't get on the train of Kremke, Carlos, and Wenger, so I tried to get a lead out from the 3 guys lined up in front of me, and took 4th at the line. The finish order was Kremke, Carlos, Wenger, then me.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Kamp Karthauser day 5
So last night I decided it was time to get a haircut, and let James shave off the "Joe Fro." It took about 30 minutes because I had so much hair, but it sure does feel refreshing on a nice long ride.
Well today we woke up at around 8 after the rain had cleared up and James and I went on a ride called Cypress Creek, which had to be one of the prettiest rides that I have done the whole trip. We rode for two and a half hours and it was pretty fun. The main reason that we rode that ride was so I could see some of the roads that I am going to use when I go to UTSA in the fall to get up to Kerrville. Since it had rained so much in the past month we crossed 3 river crossings, and one was about a foot deep so we had to take are shoes off and walk through it.
After the ride we got back and showered up and I repaired the cruiser because Neil at Hill Country Bicycle works hooked me up with some old v-brakes that he was never going to use, so they were perfect for the bike.
I put the brakes on and then we went to Andy's house to help him unload his moving truck that came from San Diego, since he moved here last week. We were gonna ride earlier in the morning with Andy but since he had to wait from 9-12 for his moving truck to come, and it actually ended up coming at about 3:00 in the afternoon and the driver was full of excuses, and everyone kept there cool so it was all good.
We spent about an hour or so unpacking the moving truck and putting the stuff in the house, and then he hooked me up with a messenger bag, which I have been wanting for quite a while, and almost got one from Austin on my way back home tomorrow. Then Kart and I made our way to San Antonio to see UTSA, which was the main purpose of the whole Kamp Karthauser.
On the drive down to San Antonio we decided to take the scenic route, which is the way I would ride from there to Kerrville, and it seems like it is going to be a very good training ride on the days I ride it this next year.
We arrived into San Antonio and Kart showed me where the campus was and we drove around looking at it, and also found the dorms in which I will be staying at, which seem like high rise luxury apartments, far from what he would call a dorm room.
Dorm Rooms
After the campus cruise we went to eat at a place called "EZ Brick Oven Grille". It was really good but what we did after was even better. Well as we pulled back onto I-10 and I'm messing on my phone, searching facebook or something, and Kart whips the car into the Ferrari dealership. I was pretty excited so I jumped out of the car as quickly as possible and we went in and posed around the cars. I guess we weren't dressed fancy enough or they smelled the cheap food we had eaten, or cologne James was wearing, or could it be some bad B.O., but they acted like we were cockroaches and wouldn't even make eye contact with us.
"A car with a glass hood must be fast"
We went to Bass Pro shops soon after that experience and this was Kart's first time to ever go in this store and I think he was like a kid walking into Chuckie Cheeses, which was freaking hilarious.
While we're in the store Andy calls us up to come chill in his hot tub. So we check out and then go to his parents' other house which is in the same part of the neighborhood and hang out in the pool and hot tub and have a good time for a couple of hours.
And that is the best day at Kamp Karthauser in a nutshell.
Well today we woke up at around 8 after the rain had cleared up and James and I went on a ride called Cypress Creek, which had to be one of the prettiest rides that I have done the whole trip. We rode for two and a half hours and it was pretty fun. The main reason that we rode that ride was so I could see some of the roads that I am going to use when I go to UTSA in the fall to get up to Kerrville. Since it had rained so much in the past month we crossed 3 river crossings, and one was about a foot deep so we had to take are shoes off and walk through it.
After the ride we got back and showered up and I repaired the cruiser because Neil at Hill Country Bicycle works hooked me up with some old v-brakes that he was never going to use, so they were perfect for the bike.
I put the brakes on and then we went to Andy's house to help him unload his moving truck that came from San Diego, since he moved here last week. We were gonna ride earlier in the morning with Andy but since he had to wait from 9-12 for his moving truck to come, and it actually ended up coming at about 3:00 in the afternoon and the driver was full of excuses, and everyone kept there cool so it was all good.
We spent about an hour or so unpacking the moving truck and putting the stuff in the house, and then he hooked me up with a messenger bag, which I have been wanting for quite a while, and almost got one from Austin on my way back home tomorrow. Then Kart and I made our way to San Antonio to see UTSA, which was the main purpose of the whole Kamp Karthauser.
On the drive down to San Antonio we decided to take the scenic route, which is the way I would ride from there to Kerrville, and it seems like it is going to be a very good training ride on the days I ride it this next year.
We arrived into San Antonio and Kart showed me where the campus was and we drove around looking at it, and also found the dorms in which I will be staying at, which seem like high rise luxury apartments, far from what he would call a dorm room.
UTSA Main Campus
Dorm RoomsAfter the campus cruise we went to eat at a place called "EZ Brick Oven Grille". It was really good but what we did after was even better. Well as we pulled back onto I-10 and I'm messing on my phone, searching facebook or something, and Kart whips the car into the Ferrari dealership. I was pretty excited so I jumped out of the car as quickly as possible and we went in and posed around the cars. I guess we weren't dressed fancy enough or they smelled the cheap food we had eaten, or cologne James was wearing, or could it be some bad B.O., but they acted like we were cockroaches and wouldn't even make eye contact with us.
"A car with a glass hood must be fast"While we're in the store Andy calls us up to come chill in his hot tub. So we check out and then go to his parents' other house which is in the same part of the neighborhood and hang out in the pool and hot tub and have a good time for a couple of hours.
And that is the best day at Kamp Karthauser in a nutshell.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Kamp Karthauser day 4
Last night Tristan, Tyler and Andrew came to Kart's house to get in some good riding also. They got here around dinner time and went out riding, and this was the hilarious part of the whole night. Well Tristan thought it would be funny to go out riding in all of my clothes so he went thrashing through my duffel bag and picked out my Texas shorts and my L'abitibi jersey. But wait it gets better. The Texas shorts were sitting on top of my bag airing out from the long ride earlier that day, so he wore my dirty chamois. They went out for an easy ride and we went and hung out at sonic later that night.
Today we went on a 2 hour ride in the morning and got back and went to the shop to buy some spokes to build up my rear wheel for the cruiser. After getting all the supplies for the bike Kart and I got back to the house and waited a little bit and then we built up the rear wheel. I always thought that building up wheels was a hard task, but Kart made it look like Micky Mouse in Fantasia by talking to the spokes in Italian and they just went to work.
After we built the wheel up we finished putting the other stuff on like the seat and brakes, but the only brakes I could find were some broken cantilevers, which are the old school kind, and I ghetto rigged it with a sweet set up. Kart wouldn't let me ride it without the brake so I put it on after about 30 minutes of work, and it barely worked but got the job done.
We went cruising into downtown with Kart on his cyclocross bike and me on the cruiser. After showing it off at the bike shop we went to Starbucks and chilled there for a little while.
Today we went on a 2 hour ride in the morning and got back and went to the shop to buy some spokes to build up my rear wheel for the cruiser. After getting all the supplies for the bike Kart and I got back to the house and waited a little bit and then we built up the rear wheel. I always thought that building up wheels was a hard task, but Kart made it look like Micky Mouse in Fantasia by talking to the spokes in Italian and they just went to work.
After we built the wheel up we finished putting the other stuff on like the seat and brakes, but the only brakes I could find were some broken cantilevers, which are the old school kind, and I ghetto rigged it with a sweet set up. Kart wouldn't let me ride it without the brake so I put it on after about 30 minutes of work, and it barely worked but got the job done.
We went cruising into downtown with Kart on his cyclocross bike and me on the cruiser. After showing it off at the bike shop we went to Starbucks and chilled there for a little while.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Kamp Karthauser day 3
Today we rolled out of Kart's driveway and rode to Medina which had to be the sweetest ride ever. About half way to Medina we reached "The Eagles Nest" which is a hill that is more than a hill, more like a mountain. I always thought the ride we used to do from Leakey to Medina was "The Eagles Nest", but it turns out that is "Condoras Nest", which is also a steep long climb. "The Eagles Nest" climb is in a forest setting and there are switchbacks and a max grade of about 15% in two spots on the switchbacks. The technical climb was shy of a mile, but totally worthwhile, and it was followed by the most technical switch back down hill, which was a blast to go down. About a mile after finishing the decent it started raining, and I sure am glad it wasn't raining on the decent or it would have been extremely dangerous. After the hill James flew on past us and stayed off the front for a while, but dropped back to Andy and me. When we got to Medina, which was roughly 20 miles into the ride, we stopped at the gas station to fill up and got back on the bikes. We turned down a chip and seal road about 2 miles out of town and it was about a 5 mile steady false flat climb, and I kept wanting to go over 13 mph but the wind and hill was making it hard. Finally we got to the top of the false flat and there was a steeper climb and I decided to go hard up it to get another good interval in. After the ride we got back and Andy left to go back his house to get some work done and we plan to go to his house to watch the Tour de Swiss on the big screen.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Kamp Karthauser day 2
Today James, Andy and I woke up and drove to Vanderpool for day 2 of Kamp Karthauser. The Vanderpool ride is by far my favorite ride of all time in Texas, even though the loop is 50 miles.
For those of ya'll that don't know Andy Wilson, hes a Cat 1 Californian that is super strong. He is also Kart's first kid to coach dating back a whole 20 years ago.
The 45 mile drive from Kerrville was a sweet drive because we took the scenic route that goes through the "Eagles Nest", which we're riding tomorrow morning. On the drive the weather was on and off drizzling and I don't like starting a ride in the rain but I had to make do with what I had. We pull up to the gas station in Vanderpool where we were going to park and the weather was nice and dry, so we kitted up and got on the bikes by 8:30. The weather was cloudy and about 5 miles into the ride the air was just wet, I guess it was sprinkling, but it felt good. The weather stayed like that the first half of the ride until our gas station stop. On the first half of the ride, since we went clockwise, saving the "mountains" for the end of the ride, Kart "left us" and dropped Andy and I for a few miles. After the stop half way into the ride we rolled easy until the climbs started and thats when Andy and I took off to get a hard workout in. After going down "The Wall" I decided to go back up it for a good hill repeat since it is one of the toughest climbs I've ever done, and probably the best in Texas, Andy kept going and I kept riding until I found James and rode back to the car and Andy was still riding and we caught him in the car to do some motorpacing which he did after the epic ride. After I got the bike on the car I noticed my rear tire was about half way inflated so I descended on the wall with a flat tire, hitting 50+ mph speeds.
We got back and had some amazing quesadillas that Ms. Karthauser made, and went to the bike shop and hung out there for a while.Friday, June 22, 2007
Kamp Karthauser day 1
It was a four and a half hour drive to get here, but it was totally worth it. On the drive it started pouring down rain about 30 miles before San Antonio and finally blue skies were seen about 30 miles out of Kerrville. I got here and messed around in the bike shop in his house and then we went for a ride with a Californian Cat 1 who moved back to Kerrville this past week, that James coached as a kid. We went out for an easy hour and a half ride and my legs felt like crap. After we went for the ride we got back and showered up and it was about 8:30 when we left to go eat and we went to Chili's and I think that's the last time we'll see that place again.
Kamp Karthauser
Today I'm leaving to go to Kerrville to get some good hill training in before I leave for nationals in two weeks. We plan to ride in Vanderpool, which is the best climbing west Texas has to offer. On Tuesday we plan to go to San Antonio, which is about an hour to the east and tour around, since I will be there in the fall for college, and take part in their Tuesday Nighter. I should be back on Wednesday of next week and I will be posting about the riding on here.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I didn't really sleep that well last night, mainly because the red bull I drank before the race didn't wear off by 10:30, so I just layed in bed till about 12 till I finally fell asleep.
I woke up at about 9 and the weather didn't look too promising so I hopped on the rollers for about 30 minutes to do an easy spin to recover from last night. After my ride I decided I should hook up the printer that came with my computer when I got it, well it was all going smoothly until I found out it didn't come with a USB cable to hook it up to the computer. My brothers computer came with the same printer and his is still in the box from January so I thought maybe this cable could have been in there. I was wrong so I had to go to the store to find one. While I was out I sold my PSP since I dont play with it anymore, and then went to Best Buy to find the cable. I get there and I'm looking for it and the link cable is $40, so there was no way I was going to spend $40 for a free printer. So I went back home with intentions to find it and my dad calls and tells me we may have one in the drawer, so I found one, and $40 was saved. Well now the weather sucks, like it has the past week I've been home. Seems like 100% humidity and it has rained everyday this week. Later on if it clears up I plan to take the TT bike out, and leave off to Kerrville tommorow to ride for a few days. Im hoping that it isnt as humid there.
I woke up at about 9 and the weather didn't look too promising so I hopped on the rollers for about 30 minutes to do an easy spin to recover from last night. After my ride I decided I should hook up the printer that came with my computer when I got it, well it was all going smoothly until I found out it didn't come with a USB cable to hook it up to the computer. My brothers computer came with the same printer and his is still in the box from January so I thought maybe this cable could have been in there. I was wrong so I had to go to the store to find one. While I was out I sold my PSP since I dont play with it anymore, and then went to Best Buy to find the cable. I get there and I'm looking for it and the link cable is $40, so there was no way I was going to spend $40 for a free printer. So I went back home with intentions to find it and my dad calls and tells me we may have one in the drawer, so I found one, and $40 was saved. Well now the weather sucks, like it has the past week I've been home. Seems like 100% humidity and it has rained everyday this week. Later on if it clears up I plan to take the TT bike out, and leave off to Kerrville tommorow to ride for a few days. Im hoping that it isnt as humid there.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Memorial Park Crit
I arrived to the race at 4:45 with a start time of 6:50 wanting to get a good warmup in and some more miles than the 70 minute crit. I hopped on the bike at 5:00 and rode until the start of the 4/5 race which started at 5:50. I got in a few good openers while on the course and then rolled around the parking lot until the start of my race.
6:50 approached and it was time to head to the start line and start the race. On the first lap Ron took a flyer trying to get the early move started and I just sat in because the first lap is too early, but I did need to get a good workout in. He stayed off for about a lap and then he soon got reeled in and I hopped on Kremke’s wheel because I knew for a fact that he was going to make a counter attack, since the field was stacked with Bike Barn riders. I got on his wheel and a Tilson Homes rider was with us and we got quite a distance on the field, but the intensity was just a bit to high for me and my junior gears spinning as fast as I could at 31 mph, so I faded back into the pack after about 3 laps and waited for another move to take off. When I get back Barry makes a move to try to get up there since we needed to have someone from San Jose in the lead group at all times, even though it was just Barry and I, but we got the job done. Well his attempt wasn’t as successful as planned and a move countered off that with about 6 riders. I waited about a lap to see what that break was going to do, and they seemed to be progressing so I decided I should attempt a move to get up there. My first attempt wasn’t successful, but my second one was after countering off someone that was trying to do what I tried, and I bridged the gap and got in the group. When I got up there they weren’t all that organized so we ended up getting caught after about 3 laps. We got caught and I just stayed in the top 10 waiting for something to happen again. While all this was happening the break with Kremke and Tilson Homes was getting further, so I recovered some more and kept trying to get people to bridge the gap back up, and finally we caught them. When we caught them Barry tried some stuff as well just to shake things up. As of then we were sitting about 50 minutes into the race, and I thought that time had flown by quite rapidly. Soon after that the lap cards were up for 3 to go, so I decided to stay in my top 10 spot. Barry came up to me and told me to hang on his wheel and I was sitting in 3rd place right behind him, and at 2 to go someone tried to make a move but he just sucked them back in. Finally midway through 1 to go Kremke and Richard Lamb came up and I jumped onto Richards wheel and just hung on for dear life, and about 500 meters before the line Barry jumped infront of me to give a leadout and I came around him about 100 meters to the line and took 3rd in the sprint. Thank you Barry for all the hardwork in the race.
6:50 approached and it was time to head to the start line and start the race. On the first lap Ron took a flyer trying to get the early move started and I just sat in because the first lap is too early, but I did need to get a good workout in. He stayed off for about a lap and then he soon got reeled in and I hopped on Kremke’s wheel because I knew for a fact that he was going to make a counter attack, since the field was stacked with Bike Barn riders. I got on his wheel and a Tilson Homes rider was with us and we got quite a distance on the field, but the intensity was just a bit to high for me and my junior gears spinning as fast as I could at 31 mph, so I faded back into the pack after about 3 laps and waited for another move to take off. When I get back Barry makes a move to try to get up there since we needed to have someone from San Jose in the lead group at all times, even though it was just Barry and I, but we got the job done. Well his attempt wasn’t as successful as planned and a move countered off that with about 6 riders. I waited about a lap to see what that break was going to do, and they seemed to be progressing so I decided I should attempt a move to get up there. My first attempt wasn’t successful, but my second one was after countering off someone that was trying to do what I tried, and I bridged the gap and got in the group. When I got up there they weren’t all that organized so we ended up getting caught after about 3 laps. We got caught and I just stayed in the top 10 waiting for something to happen again. While all this was happening the break with Kremke and Tilson Homes was getting further, so I recovered some more and kept trying to get people to bridge the gap back up, and finally we caught them. When we caught them Barry tried some stuff as well just to shake things up. As of then we were sitting about 50 minutes into the race, and I thought that time had flown by quite rapidly. Soon after that the lap cards were up for 3 to go, so I decided to stay in my top 10 spot. Barry came up to me and told me to hang on his wheel and I was sitting in 3rd place right behind him, and at 2 to go someone tried to make a move but he just sucked them back in. Finally midway through 1 to go Kremke and Richard Lamb came up and I jumped onto Richards wheel and just hung on for dear life, and about 500 meters before the line Barry jumped infront of me to give a leadout and I came around him about 100 meters to the line and took 3rd in the sprint. Thank you Barry for all the hardwork in the race.
New Email Address
My hotmail address wouldnt work on my phone so I set up a gmail account and my new email address is josephtokarski@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Surround Sound
So I had the idea to get good sound on my comp I would move my stereo to my desk, and it sounds amazing.
DPS On My Birthday
So today I turned 18 and I woke up and went for an easy ride on my TT bike for about an hour since I put a better seat on it than the slr that it came with. I put the Terry saddle that I used for cross on it and it is a lot more comfortable.
After my ride I went to DPS to renew my license and man that was an experience. I get there and wait in line at the desk and get the number 45 and they were only on 19 when I got there. So I just sat in the only open seat that there was and it happened to be right next to the waiting line, so I thought this could be entertaining. I just sat there for an hour and a half surfing the internet on my phone and watching people and see what they were doing. Across from me there was this older guy that looked like a hobo and he had some goofy sunglasses on. For a while I just watched him because he looked kind of odd, like most of the people that are in the DMV. Well he was sitting next to a pretty decent looking young lady and he kept checking her out and putting the sunglasses down his nose, which I found pretty funny. The lady finally got up and moved because the guy was creeping her out, which I don’t blame her. From then on when a woman would walk in this guy would do the sunglass thing and all I could do was giggle inside. Another funny thing from waiting there is listening to all the people that complain and get pissed off when they forget forms such as a social security card or their child’s enrollment form, and man do they get pissed off.
Finally the numbers started getting closer to mine and I was happy to finally get called up into the other line. When I got up there they called 46 and this girl came up and her mom was with her and the officer goes “Mam, is it necessary for you to be here”, and the lady was running around in the line trying to hide from the officer, and all I could do was laugh again at how retarded she was acting and the officer finally kicked her out for not cooperating.
So I get called up to the desk and everything is going smoothly until she asks for the money. The other two times that I had to renew my license it was $5, but I guess when you turn 18 the price goes up to $24 and all they take is cash or check and I only had $14. The lady was nice and let me go to the ATM at a gas station since it was my birthday and I was saved.
And that was my day at the DPS office.
After my ride I went to DPS to renew my license and man that was an experience. I get there and wait in line at the desk and get the number 45 and they were only on 19 when I got there. So I just sat in the only open seat that there was and it happened to be right next to the waiting line, so I thought this could be entertaining. I just sat there for an hour and a half surfing the internet on my phone and watching people and see what they were doing. Across from me there was this older guy that looked like a hobo and he had some goofy sunglasses on. For a while I just watched him because he looked kind of odd, like most of the people that are in the DMV. Well he was sitting next to a pretty decent looking young lady and he kept checking her out and putting the sunglasses down his nose, which I found pretty funny. The lady finally got up and moved because the guy was creeping her out, which I don’t blame her. From then on when a woman would walk in this guy would do the sunglass thing and all I could do was giggle inside. Another funny thing from waiting there is listening to all the people that complain and get pissed off when they forget forms such as a social security card or their child’s enrollment form, and man do they get pissed off.
Finally the numbers started getting closer to mine and I was happy to finally get called up into the other line. When I got up there they called 46 and this girl came up and her mom was with her and the officer goes “Mam, is it necessary for you to be here”, and the lady was running around in the line trying to hide from the officer, and all I could do was laugh again at how retarded she was acting and the officer finally kicked her out for not cooperating.
So I get called up to the desk and everything is going smoothly until she asks for the money. The other two times that I had to renew my license it was $5, but I guess when you turn 18 the price goes up to $24 and all they take is cash or check and I only had $14. The lady was nice and let me go to the ATM at a gas station since it was my birthday and I was saved.
And that was my day at the DPS office.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Off Day
I finally have an off day after the intense week prior to this one. I woke up at 12 for the first time in two weeks since I've had so much to do. Went to the bike shop and dropped my wheel off that i broke a spoke on at camp, and am contemplating about building up the tubulars that I have rims for that Kart gave me.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Back Home
I am finally back from my journeys....
Last weekend I left to go to the Copperas Cove State Championship road race where I finished 16 then stayed the night with Ricky, who is our mechanic at l'abitibi again this year, then off to the camp we went where I met a lot of cool juniors that I didnt even knew had raced, and they were from Texas too.
The camp hads its ups and downs, mainly not as much riding as I would have liked to get in, but I understood since not everyone is a cat 2, and needs the mileage. A sweet part was on one ride we stopped and there was an ice cream truck where it was organized to give us some on our long ride. Another cool thing was the dinner Tim had organized at an Asian buffet, which now I'm a big fan of Sushi since Barry Lee had introduced it to me during Tulsa Tough.
Last weekend I left to go to the Copperas Cove State Championship road race where I finished 16 then stayed the night with Ricky, who is our mechanic at l'abitibi again this year, then off to the camp we went where I met a lot of cool juniors that I didnt even knew had raced, and they were from Texas too.
The camp hads its ups and downs, mainly not as much riding as I would have liked to get in, but I understood since not everyone is a cat 2, and needs the mileage. A sweet part was on one ride we stopped and there was an ice cream truck where it was organized to give us some on our long ride. Another cool thing was the dinner Tim had organized at an Asian buffet, which now I'm a big fan of Sushi since Barry Lee had introduced it to me during Tulsa Tough.
The Buffet had an amzing array of chocolate chip cookies.After the camp my journeys went back to Austin and I helped out at the race in the morning and went back to Ricky's house and rested a few hours before going back out to the race later in the evening. While I was there in the morning I worked my way around the expo center and checked out some of the "Keep Austin Weird" festival that was going on. Also hung out with the .people at the Ducati Dealership.
When I arrived back at the race the 3's race was about to start and Barry had one of the Porsche's out and I took a few opening laps with him in and, and man that was a blast.
After my race I stayed at Andrew Dahlheim's house in Austin and took a dip in the hot tub and pool that he is maintaining.
The race earlier this morning at the driveway course was one of strange circumstances. Andrew and I get to the race an hour before our start and there are only about 6 P12 racers, and it just got done raining so I wasnt expecting much of a turnout either. Later on the Toyota United guys roll on in, and they just sit there chilling while I take a few laps warming up. We roll up to the line and there are about 15-20 guys and the pros ask if they can cut the race from 70 minutes to 45, and I was astonished because they are pros, but then again they stayed out till 4 in the morning on 6th street, but still. All I could say is "Life in the Fast Lane", these guys are my heros. I only lasted about 15 minutes in the race because I was tired from the AT&T crit which was 12 hours before.
I stayed around the race a little while longer to watch the start of the 3's and went back into town to go to Austin tri cycles to pick up some supplies, then I drove back home to Houston.
AT&T Downtown Crit
I arrived at the race after a week of USA cycling camp in Lubbock ready to race. I got there early to watch some of the womens open and 3’s race to see what was going down and get a good warm up on the trainer. I hopped on the trainer an hour and a half before the race because I knew I needed a good warmup for what was to be the fastest race I’ve ever done. So I got on the trainer and went easy for about 20 minutes and did about 3 openers, then got off then rolled around the course for the rest of the time leading up to the race.
After the warmup we rolled to the line and the Governor and Mayor took 2 laps and then some of the pros got called to the line to start in the front. While we were waiting for this to happen I just concentrated on getting in the front line, since a front position was crucial. We got called up after the line up and I got in the second row at the start line which was good for me.
The race started and I looked down at my speed since I was running out of gear and we were going 30+, and the race maintained its speed the whole time. Since I had got a good start I was able to stay up in the front 10 people and stay out of trouble as well as the rest of the team. When a couple breaks started I tried to get into some, but nothing ever stayed and I wasn’t able to get in the ones that looked like they could have. Will Ross and Tyler Jewel got into one midway through the race that stayed off for about a lap, but Tyler got crashed out of it and got back into the pack after taking his free lap. A little while after that Andrew Dahlheim got into a break that stayed off about 5 laps also, but that couldn’t stick either. I started fading midway into the pack at about 60 minutes and Barry yelled at me to move up and I tried as hard as I could and managed to get into the top quarter of the group and maintain it for the rest of the race. So 5 laps to go soon snuck up and I can usually work my way back up to the front within that time but on this fast course that wasn’t all that possible. I was looking for lines to take and the only person I knew that was around me capable of something was Stefan Rothe, and he was working hard too. In the final sprint Carlos took 7, Will and Andrew in top 15, and I got 28 with Barry right behind me.
Nice racing Team Hotel San Jose
After the warmup we rolled to the line and the Governor and Mayor took 2 laps and then some of the pros got called to the line to start in the front. While we were waiting for this to happen I just concentrated on getting in the front line, since a front position was crucial. We got called up after the line up and I got in the second row at the start line which was good for me.
The race started and I looked down at my speed since I was running out of gear and we were going 30+, and the race maintained its speed the whole time. Since I had got a good start I was able to stay up in the front 10 people and stay out of trouble as well as the rest of the team. When a couple breaks started I tried to get into some, but nothing ever stayed and I wasn’t able to get in the ones that looked like they could have. Will Ross and Tyler Jewel got into one midway through the race that stayed off for about a lap, but Tyler got crashed out of it and got back into the pack after taking his free lap. A little while after that Andrew Dahlheim got into a break that stayed off about 5 laps also, but that couldn’t stick either. I started fading midway into the pack at about 60 minutes and Barry yelled at me to move up and I tried as hard as I could and managed to get into the top quarter of the group and maintain it for the rest of the race. So 5 laps to go soon snuck up and I can usually work my way back up to the front within that time but on this fast course that wasn’t all that possible. I was looking for lines to take and the only person I knew that was around me capable of something was Stefan Rothe, and he was working hard too. In the final sprint Carlos took 7, Will and Andrew in top 15, and I got 28 with Barry right behind me.
Nice racing Team Hotel San Jose
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Texas Tech Camp
I'm in austin now waiting to do the Austin downtown crit and want to talk about the fun time i had at camp!!!
Well the first we left out last Sunday the day after the State Road race where I finished 16 out of the 69 that started, but I won't talk much about that. It was a 6 hour drive from Austin where I was staying for the weekend and on the way up we stopped in at Kart's Dad's house who is a pretty cool guy.
Camp started on Monday and we had a skills drills session and Mike Heitz was running it and Andrew Schwalb and me just spent the time having fun, and messing with Kart. We went for a ride later that day around Lubbock just taking it easy.
On Tuesday we woke up and went to breakfast and it was raining and I didn't know if we were going to be going on the second session of the skills drills, but it got rained out. Later that day was the most important piece of the camp which was the computrainer testing where we tested ourselves and I had set up next to Stefan Rothe and that guy is now my hero.
Wednesday we had a 20k time trial in the canyon area of lubbock and that was my favorite ride of the camp, and we had a picnic lunch in a park in Slaton which is near Lubbock.
Thursday we went back out to that canyon and did hill time trials and had a picnic lunch at a Ford dealership in Slaton again and the mayor of Slaton came out and was very happy to meet us.
On Friday we went out for an easy ride with sprints, but I was too tired and wanted to recover so I rode extremely early.
Well the first we left out last Sunday the day after the State Road race where I finished 16 out of the 69 that started, but I won't talk much about that. It was a 6 hour drive from Austin where I was staying for the weekend and on the way up we stopped in at Kart's Dad's house who is a pretty cool guy.
Camp started on Monday and we had a skills drills session and Mike Heitz was running it and Andrew Schwalb and me just spent the time having fun, and messing with Kart. We went for a ride later that day around Lubbock just taking it easy.
On Tuesday we woke up and went to breakfast and it was raining and I didn't know if we were going to be going on the second session of the skills drills, but it got rained out. Later that day was the most important piece of the camp which was the computrainer testing where we tested ourselves and I had set up next to Stefan Rothe and that guy is now my hero.
Wednesday we had a 20k time trial in the canyon area of lubbock and that was my favorite ride of the camp, and we had a picnic lunch in a park in Slaton which is near Lubbock.
Thursday we went back out to that canyon and did hill time trials and had a picnic lunch at a Ford dealership in Slaton again and the mayor of Slaton came out and was very happy to meet us.
On Friday we went out for an easy ride with sprints, but I was too tired and wanted to recover so I rode extremely early.
Copperas Cove State Road Race
The field was pretty stacked with 69 riders and there were a couple of out of towners here such as Kristian House and Robby Robinette, but that wasn’t going to put an end to the insanity of a tough race. Copperas Cove is probably one my top 5 race courses because there are hills and wind. The last time that I raced it was last October in the Cat 3 State Championships and I had a pack finish then.
The race started out with a two and a half mile neutral start, which I found as a good thing so I could get a little warmup in before the race truly started. After the warmup I just sat in for about the first half of the first lap because I didn’t want to go out too fast and not have any for the finish. About 23 miles into the 85 mile race I found myself at the front of the pack and there was a 2 person break that rolled off the front and got a little way up. I was soft pedalling leading the pack and found that I got about 2 yards off the front and layed down an attack and me and about 5 other guys bridged up to the break and there was probably about 3 velosimo and 3 AT&T riders in total. Robby Robinette was in this break too and it was only him and me that were wanting to work in this break so we ended up getting reeled back. When we got back in I sat in and recovered for a little while. About ¾ of the way through the first lap I went back up to the front and there was a couple of riders off the front and I gased it, and caught up with them and a few other riders trailed up to us. We were off from the normal feedzone to the neutral feedzone which was on the other side of the lap. I looked at my computer and when we got off we were at mile 35 and we lasted to about 54 miles. At the beginning of the break the guys were rolling at about 30 mph and I was just suffering in my junior gears except when we hit a 40 mph downhill I had to tuck down low just to hang on the back. After suffering for about 5 miles in the break I knew it was going to have to come to a stop and then we soon got into a good speed in which we were still gapping the field. I looked back while we were up there and I think we got over a minute on the field. We reached the neutral feedzone and I was completely out of something to drink and I was glad when we got there. After taking the feed I looked back and the field was about 20 seconds back so I just dropped back in and rested at the back. I stayed straggling on the back until the feedzone when James Karthauser handed me a feed bag and I went up to the front and delivered bars and drinks to the other teamates and stayed up there for the rest of the race. I think it was a good move to move up there because right after that when the big hills started the field split in half. I think we probably ended with about 15-20 guys in the main field. There was Andrew’s group then a chade group followed by the main pack, and I took about 5th in the field sprint that we had. Awesome job to San Jose and especially Carlos and Andrew. They went off before the normal feedzone and stayed away the rest of the way. Andrew took 1st and Carlos took 3rd.
Nice Work guys!!!
The race started out with a two and a half mile neutral start, which I found as a good thing so I could get a little warmup in before the race truly started. After the warmup I just sat in for about the first half of the first lap because I didn’t want to go out too fast and not have any for the finish. About 23 miles into the 85 mile race I found myself at the front of the pack and there was a 2 person break that rolled off the front and got a little way up. I was soft pedalling leading the pack and found that I got about 2 yards off the front and layed down an attack and me and about 5 other guys bridged up to the break and there was probably about 3 velosimo and 3 AT&T riders in total. Robby Robinette was in this break too and it was only him and me that were wanting to work in this break so we ended up getting reeled back. When we got back in I sat in and recovered for a little while. About ¾ of the way through the first lap I went back up to the front and there was a couple of riders off the front and I gased it, and caught up with them and a few other riders trailed up to us. We were off from the normal feedzone to the neutral feedzone which was on the other side of the lap. I looked at my computer and when we got off we were at mile 35 and we lasted to about 54 miles. At the beginning of the break the guys were rolling at about 30 mph and I was just suffering in my junior gears except when we hit a 40 mph downhill I had to tuck down low just to hang on the back. After suffering for about 5 miles in the break I knew it was going to have to come to a stop and then we soon got into a good speed in which we were still gapping the field. I looked back while we were up there and I think we got over a minute on the field. We reached the neutral feedzone and I was completely out of something to drink and I was glad when we got there. After taking the feed I looked back and the field was about 20 seconds back so I just dropped back in and rested at the back. I stayed straggling on the back until the feedzone when James Karthauser handed me a feed bag and I went up to the front and delivered bars and drinks to the other teamates and stayed up there for the rest of the race. I think it was a good move to move up there because right after that when the big hills started the field split in half. I think we probably ended with about 15-20 guys in the main field. There was Andrew’s group then a chade group followed by the main pack, and I took about 5th in the field sprint that we had. Awesome job to San Jose and especially Carlos and Andrew. They went off before the normal feedzone and stayed away the rest of the way. Andrew took 1st and Carlos took 3rd.
Nice Work guys!!!
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