College life and biking racing

After a long summer of being home and working, I am finally back at Ripon College. Its really nice to be back with everyone again and being able to meet some new people. Its been about 10 days since I've moved in and I've been enjoying every moment. Besides riding and racing, our team has been doing a lot of team bonding, which is always cool. We are building trails, playing mini golf and hanging out when we are not racing. Now that Its officially collegiate season, I'm racing for the Ripon College Cycling team. Almost our whole team has gone to the last 2 WORS races. The first race, Colectivo Classic, I lost 3 of my 5 bottles and got dehydrated. I then proceeded to get dropped and lost 4 spots from the first 2.5 laps. I ended up 22nd overall and 2nd in age group. Still good considering my other results in WORS were just a couple spots ahead of this one. I'm still showing consistent results with the beginning of the season. Then after a good week of fun and hard training, along came the Reforestation Ramble. WORS number 9 for the series and probably my last one for the year, so I had to make it count. After a solid warm up I was feeling just like always, nervous and ready to race. I lined up 3rd row and after Don's long GO, I clipped in took 2 pedal strokes and got knocked almost off my bike and faded to the back of the field. I quickly jumped onto the pedals and got going. I easily managed to work my way back up to the top 15 and was sitting comfortably in the front group. The massive field worked its way around into the first single track section when we got split up. I had no idea where I was. I knew it couldn't be to bad seeing how 2-3 people who usually beat me, were in my group. For that first lap, we were really giving it and a few people fell off. Our group was now down to 4 people. I took the lead at the start of lap 2, where I held a fast but comfortable pace through the first sections of single track and open flats.  Nobody got dropped yet, but I could see that one person was hurting. I pulled off and sat in when Rick Mezo attacked. I chased and managed to hang on with Mike M from LAPT. After 1/2 a lap we managed to push it hard enough to pop Mike off the back. Now Rick and I were taking pulls. We hit the 3rd lap, I took the front and pulled for a long time, then let Rick take over. Then when he got to the front he slowed up. He was hurting, so I attacked on a hill and got a gap. I held a hard pace to the finish, which landed me a spot on the overall podium. I finished 9th overall and 1st in age group. This is now the 2nd time I've cracked the top 10. Now that I've tasted it, I want more and hope to have a great collegiate season. 

Sunburst thoughts

For the past couple of years they have been running the same course for the Sunburst race. Not many people actually liked the old course for some reason or not. Me personally, I didn't mind it.  I seemed to do good at it each year. A couple spots were not so much fun, but thats racing. This year, thanks to Attitude sports and WORS, the course was completely different. There was close to a 50/50 ratio single track to open. Probably a little more open because of the lower part which switchbacks so much. These switch backs were the hardest part of the race. After you did about 4 of them, on the lower slopes, the hill really kicked up and made you suffer. You did 4 or 5 switch backs before the top. Then once you were at the top you dropped into single track. It wasn't hard but it was nice to have it in their. A couple log ride overs and some rocks but nothing hard. Then you had a fast single track decent, hard left into a field, then climbed up and around a corn field back into some single track, where another fast decent was. The decent was long and fast enough, where if you were good at it, you could drop people. After the decent you climbed a little, across the hill, turned right, climbed a little more then hit a single track climb. Then a little more open at the top, then into a fast decent, down to the bottom where you lap through. This last decent was key. If you were in the front on the last lap you were most likely going to beat the people behind you. This decent is what we did in the past, but instead of descending it, we climbed it at the start of the loop. This course was, race pace, 16-20 minutes long depending on who you are.  A lot shorter laps then most, but I liked this style. It made it feel more like a world cup race. After 5 laps, I managed to hang on for 20th and 2nd in age group. Still really consistent with the other races.  All in all the course was fast, hard, fun and made you suffer. I think this new course is here to stay. 

MTB, Skinnies and Nats

Haven't really been keeping up with this so it has been a little while since I've wrote anything. Life has been going good, I started the WORS season a little slow. I had to DNF the first race, the next 2 races were much better taking 17th overall and 1st in age group and 18th overall and 2nd in age group. Then at the 4th MTB race of the year, Cam-Rock, I ended up rolling the tire off the bead. Luckily I had a spare tub, I threw that in and got going. I was just riding and trying to have fun with it and get some good practice. That race I took 29th overall and 2nd in age group. Thats been the start to my MTB season, next week I've got the Subaru Cup. This will be the true test before nationals the following week. A lot of the people Ill be racing against at nationals will be here. So kinda a pre race for nats.  This year nats is in PA so Ill be driving out to Bear Creek Resort PA the 18th and coming home the 21st. My race is the 19-22 Cat 1 at 8am eastern time. A little early seeing how I usually race at 1:30. It'll be interesting to see how the body reacts to the high stress. Then the week after nats ill be heading out to Washington for my uncles wedding. Taking the MTB to hopefully hit up some good trails. This site is what I going off of to find them. I was hoping this season would have been going better but can't dwell in the past. Keeping things rolling and hopefully go into the end of the season still fresh and ready to rock it for Ripon college!

Then for the skinny tires, I just finished racing TOAD, Tour of Americas Dairyland. I like doing these races because they are close, fast and fun. I only raced 4 days, I finished 3 of them and go pulled in the other.  For those 3 days I finished in the main field about 30th place. For now thats good enough. But next year if things go as I hope they do, I want to upgrade to a Cat 2 and maybe race Road Nationals in Madison.  One more road race for me, the state crit championships, and thats on the 6th. That's it for now more post as the weeks go by. 

WEMS #1 Greenbush

This past Saturday the 11th of May coach Joe decided that it would be a good idea for me to race the 100 mile WEMS race. Knowing that I could do a 100 mile race, I wasn't worried about finishing the race, just wasn't sure how well I'd do since it was so early in the year.  I was really nervous the days leading up because of trying to pack, ride and work.  I wasn't sure if I had everything that I would need to tackle this race. But after a couple days of checking and re checking, I was positive that I had everything. I had my extra set of Bontrager 29-1 tires, a couple Camelbacks, extra set of Sun Ringle rims, spare parts and extra Crank Brothers pedals. I think I packed a spare part for everything that could easily break. After stressing out for a few days about this, Saturday finally rolled around. After leaving the house at 5:20 my dad and I arrived at Greenbush at 6:45am. A little earlier then expected, but it was nice because we got first pick of pit spot.  Then after dragging all my stuff out I changed into my kit and rolled around for 10 minutes before the start. A brief riders meeting then we were off. We ran up a gravel road to our bikes, mounted and came back down the grass side of the hill. I was first onto my bike and first into the single track. I was riding at a comfortable pace making sure to hold the horses back so I wouldn't blowup later in the race.
 Lap after lap I came through the feed zone switching out bottles and grabbing Honey Stinger products. After the first 5 laps I was still feeling strong, then about 1/2 way though lap 6 I felt sick and slowed down. I didn't take anything from the pit this time around but after whatever worked through my system about 4 miles into lap 7 I felt way better. I ate a couple gels and just wanted to finish that lap. At the end of lap 7 I ate a Dark Chocolate Mint Almond Protein bar and felt amazing. My lap times even started to decrease for laps 8-10.  Also, mentally it got a lot easier because now the 3 and 6 hour races were at the venue. Then before starting lap 10, Brian Matter came over, and talked for a little, which gave me a little bit more motivation to finish strong.  Then only a few miles in, Brian came screaming by me and was gone like a flash of lightning. This last lap felt forever but after lapping 3rd place and 2nd place I just wanted to finish. I tired to push it cause I knew I was close. I rolled around the last corner and up the gravel hill to the finish with a time of 8hrs 56 minutes. After the race I could hardly stand up and walk because my back was so sore from the pouding that this course gave. So I went into the little hut sat and ate. We waited around for a bit to get awards then headed home.
Now 4 days later I'm feeling much better and was debating about doing the Bone Ride but decided against it because of WORS #1 this Sunday. Thanks to my Dad for being my pit and making sure everything was perfect for me. A I would be able to this without a great pit.

Ripon Spring Classic

           This past Saturday, April 6th, the Ripon College Red Hawks cycling team hosted a 110 mile ride through the beautiful Wisconsin countryside. The days leading up to the ride were very promising, sunny, 40's and 50's and very little wind. But of course the weather changed and made this truly a "Spring Classic". On Saturday it started off a bit gloomy and only attracted a small dedicated group of about 17 people. We had a mix of people from all over. A couple ISCorp teammates Hayley Giddens, and Kyle J. showed up. Some others were Bill Koch, Mike Klapperich, Ted Hanes, Scott Cole and Mike Curtis. After going through what the plan was for the day, handing out maps, and taking a couple pictures we headed out. We took off North towards Berlin and rode at a nice pace that we could all hold.  But after about 35 minutes, I looked down and my Cycleops Joule started telling me my hub battery was low. I kind freaked out for a bit but then shortly forgot about it. I then moved to the front with Ted and he started pushing 300 watts on the flats. Being on the front I had to keep up with him and then it hit me to slow down cause we had a long day a head. We all settled back in and I moved to the back. We made it into Berlin, went West a little, then came back South into a 17 mph head wind and rain. The rain only lasted for about 45 minutes but was enough to soak my shoes, socks and glove.

Group at the Pub

         The pace was higher then when we started but I felt comfortable sitting in the pack. After going South for about another 45 minutes we were on the North side of Green lake, we turned west and headed towards Princeton. We snaked around then finally made it to one of the sections of dirt path. Scott Cole, Mike K., Hayley and I were pushing on the front and split the group a little. After 20 or so minutes of this, we got back onto the road. We stopped, re-grouped, I opened up a Honey Stinger Waffle and gel, while others grabbed a couple Ripon Good Cookies and bananas from the sag van and took off. This is when the group split. Some of us took off solo and formed small groups while a small group of about 8 stayed together. After cranking way above threshold I caught a couple riders and was in a group off the front with Mike K. Ted, and Scott C. We then meandered through the country side, rode through the country club in Green Lake and popped out on a rode just north of the lake. This is when Scott C. dropped off and waited up for the people he came with. Now just us three, we started a small rotation going around to the South side of Green Lake. We turned South on County O, then headed back West.  While us three were cruising down a long straight away the group of 10 or so, stopped at Riley's Pub in Green Lake. From what I heard, after a couple Irish coffees and Guinness the group decided that they would take the shortest route back to Ripon.

Group before the ride, Photo credit: Scott Cole

            Now after what seemed like forever my group made it to mile 70 where the road turns to dirt yet again. This time the dirt was a bit softer and made riding much tougher, it was total 'cross conditions. We crossed over a damn and continued on past a logging operation and came out on the road at about mile 73ish. We made a turn back East when we rolled by the Mexican place that we were supposed to meet the others at.  After consulting with the group we decided it would be better to continue on and eat after the ride. Good thing cause the others would have never showed. But of course we were snacking on cookies, bananas, Honey Stinger products and another goodies we packed. Right after the restaurant we met back up with the lead van to re-fill water.  We each started to take off some of our outer layers cause the weather was starting to warm and get nice.  Now with only a small portion of the ride left we turned North and had an amazing tail wind. Cruising at 27 the last 30ish miles flew by. I was pulling on the front for about the last 1.25 hours cause the others were hurting. I don't think Ted had enough food and Big Mike K. did a lot of pulling earlier in the ride. We made it back into Green Lake and with only about 20 minutes left, Ted and Mike started to seem happier until they found out about the last 2 hills. One isn't so bad but the 2nd one is a killer. Granny gear for about 2 minutes to crawl up it, slowly. Not so bad until you have 5hrs 45 in your legs. We rolled in at exactly 6 hours and my hub battery still didn't die. We got some good miles in the legs and I had a great time getting to know everyone.  Hopefully next year will bring good weather and more people. Thanks to all who came out for the 2nd Annual Ripon Spring Classic.

Back to it

        Man its been a while since my last post. Since then I've completed another cyclocross season with ISCorp and Ripon. I competed at nationals in January then went to Worlds and watched in February. I took some time off in December and have been getting in some good base training with my newly structured plan that Coach Joe has me on.  I have been riding the Cycleops trainer mostly. I've been trying to get outside more often than last year and now that its getting to be March hopefully it will start to warm up so the winter atire can start to come off. After looking at the forecast looks like we still have at least one more week on winter.
          Now that its March the road season has kicked off.  I did my first race this past weekend, March 2nd and 3rd, down in Indiana. The Depauw team hosted both days. After upgrading to B's, a couple days before the race, I had a 40 mile road race on day one. The race itself wasn't that hard. The course had some rolling hills but nothing to hard. While racing it was about 27 degrees and it started to snow, the flakes were huge!!  This was the first time I've ever raced in snow on the road, which in a way was fun, but road shouldn't have snow falling during it. Lap after lap the pace held pretty steady with a couple attacks near then end but it came down to a bunch sprint. I felt I was sitting in good position for the sprint but missed the lead train and ended up 10th.  For me this was an excellent result seeing how I was on a cross bike and how I thought last year the C's were hard.  After the race we sat around in the suburban and watched as T-Kaatz raced 72 miles in mens A. He was going up against kids who are cat 1, race on the USA national team and are supper fast. He lasted almost the whole race then in the last couple laps he popped and ended up getting pulled but still an excellent result!!

Start of the TTT, thanks Jay Labecki for the picture

         After they were done we drove to the TTT. This was only a 5 mile race so nothing challenging. A down and back on a relatively flat course. Looking at my power file it only had about 50ft of elevation change. The wind was howling from the left, on our way out, so we had an echelon going and each took our pulls. We tried to power as hard as we could but had some fitness differences between us and had to slow just a bit. After the turn around we went as hard as the 3 of us could hold and finished. Nothing spectacular but we were not expecting anything much.

On Sunday we had the Crit. The weather was beautiful, barely any wind and sunny. It was about 35 but didn't feel like it. The course was about 2 miles long, flat with 4 turns and a winding final stretch. Todays race was 45 minutes. Eric and I lined up and took off. The pace was hard for the first lap or so then once the legs came around it wasn't to challenging. A group of 3 or so took off from the start and got about a 50 second gap. While they were off the front, I was sitting happily in the group not doing much, just sticking on. We never closed the gap to the lead group but we came close. So around the final corner we all sprinted for the line and I ended up mid pack. I wasn't trying to win more just going for a pack finish and thats exactly what I did.

Then after the race I sat around and watched Tony race the A's. During his race I got to catch up with some friends that I don't get to really see except for on race weekends. It's nice to be back in the swing of things and I can't wait for the MTB season to start!! The Iola Bump N' Jump is May 4th. Stick around for more to come. If you want more "live" updates follow the Red Hawks on twitter.  

Thanksgiving Day

Hot Apple Pie with Streusel
crumb topping 

Again this Thanksgiving I have taken the reins and am cooking with the help of my mom. Last night my mom and I went grocery shopping and got all the food then we came home and I started to brine the turkey, and make the apple pie with streusel toping which I am going to bake it first thing in the morning.

Reducing down POM
for the vinaigrette 

Today I woke up at 5:30 made a egg, ham "McMuffin" and a cup of Alterra coffee. Then I started my full day of cooking. First I started the oven then popped in the pie. While thats cooking I started to reduce down some pomegranate juice for my pomegranate vinaigrette.  I will use this on an Apple,and Toasted Walnut salad topped with blue cheese.   Next I will make my homemade cranberries that are cooked down in OJ and some sugar. But first I headed out for my ride.  I did my usual route out past Pewaukee and back. It was nice because no one was one the roads and I didn't have to worry about anything around me and I could just ride. After getting home and showering I made up the cranberries and Pear Pecan stuffing.  For the stuffing, I first toasted the bread in the oven, then pulled it out and combined it with the sautéed pears, onions, butter and chicken broth. I sprinkled on S+P and some nutmeg.  I realized that this batch wasn't going to be enough so I asked my dad to run to the store to pick up some stuff for the cranberry and sausage stuffing. Again I toasted the bread combined with butter and chicken broth, but add thyme, rosemary, and sage. Now with both stuffings done, cranberries done, pie done, salad dressing done only thing left was the green beans in beur blanc sauce and the turkey.

Turkey Pre Cooking

Making fresh bread cubes
 for the pear pecan stuffing

Now around 10, I pulled the turkey out of the brine and let rest for 30 minutes. I then seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme and rubbed it all down with butter.  I set it in the roasting pan stuffed it with carrots, celery, onion and surrounded it with more vegetables.  I poured chicken broth in the bottom of the pan and a glug of white wine then tented it with foil and placed it in the oven at 350 for about 4ish hours.  After being in the oven 2 hours this where going good the thermometer was reading about 80 degrees and was climbing.  My other family members showed up and started snacking on my mini caprese salad skewers.  Then about 1 hour later I came back and with the temp around 130, it started to go down. For some reason when we lock our oven it stopped cooking. We unlocked it and the oven turned back on. This set things back about 45 minutes but no big deal.  Then around 2:30 I made the mashed potatoes and saw that the turkey had reached 160. I pulled it out and let it rest while I made up the green beans.  Once it rested 15ish minutes the thermometer read 165 so I figured we were ready to go.  I dressed the salad and topped it with the apples and blue cheese. While my mom served it I cut into the turkey and it looked good until I hit the deepest part of the breast and it was still pink.  My worst night mare just became a reality. I thought everything was going to go smooth but now that I needed to cook the turkey longer and dinner already started things got hectic. My dad was rushing me to get everything served, instead of letting me do my thing, I rushed and had no choice to quickly cook the turkey pieces in the micro and serve it. The one and only thing I hate to do and try to never do, cook food in the micro, was my only choice for quick service to make the food safe for my guests. With every side dish on the table and being passed around I brought out the now fully cooked turkey and served it.  While everyone was enjoying dinner and sipping on their red or white wine, I was still cleaning the bird and making sure it was cooked.  Then after most everyone was done with their first plate I finally came out and enjoyed the dinner I just spent a full day stressing over.  I couldn't focus on how well the meal went with the turkey on my mind. So i didn't really enjoying the dinner like I should have.

Fresh Wisconsin Cranberries 

 Once we finished our plates full of food I brought out the cherry nut cake and apple pie. Each had 5 candles in it for my dads birthday.  Each person had 1 or 2 pieces of dessert topped with freshly whipped cream.  This was also served with a dessert wine that  tasted like pure honey.  With everyone satisfied with the meal the day was finally over and I could just relax.  Looking back on it, the meal went pretty well, but I wish it could have been a little bit better.  If you head over to this page you can find some of the recipes I used. If you would like any recipes not posted just ask and ill send them to you.