finished my last final today. Good semester in the clinic, got a lot done, in a good position to knock out most of my requirements this summer. That would leave me with fall and spring semester next year to work on patient cases that I choose....the fun stuff.
Bad semester in the classroom. I mostly blame cycling. with racing and my obsessive nature over my hobbies/sports I found it pretty hard to stay motivated and study for exams. Also because I'm just really burnt out after the last 3 years of D. school and I've finally found an outlet for my competitive nature since I stopped playing soccer. It's really consumed my life, but I love it. I wish I got more involved in cycling earlier.
So now that I am officially a 4th year (where the hell did the time go) my sole priority is clinic; although there are a few classes in the fall semester, there is very little in the spring and NO CLASSES this summer - just seeing patients. So this summer I will attempt to take things to the next level in regards to racing and training. Hopefully after a full summer of racing and a smooth transition into the fall semester I will be ready to tone things down and prepare for part II of my National Board Exam which I take in december. The first portion of this exam ruined my last summer and I am maxing out my opportunity this summer.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Down Time
As I write this, my team is on a group ride...and I'm sitting on the couch drinking coffee in my robe. Velotek GP took it out of me. Sunday eve and monday I was just drained. Looking back, I probably didn't do enough to refuel after the road race on Sunday. I still ate about 3 times that afternoon/eve but it wasn't soon enough or frequent enough. Monday it was pretty rainy and I threw my bike on the trainer to do a bit of a recovery spin. After about 30 minutes I bonked. Literally. My glycogen stores must still have been super low. This is actually the first time I can say I bonked on "the bonk memoirs" and it happened on a trainer - nice.
Tuesday I talked myself into the practice crit. I could definetly feel the effects from the past weekend. I just didn't have energy that I'm used to. So what better time than to attack off the front - launched huge and got a big gap. It only lasted 1 lap though and I struggled to stay on the back of the pack afterwards. I actually thought about sitting out a lap because it took a lot out of me. Spent the remaining time sitting in and setting up for the final. with about 1.5 laps to go some guy went off the front and tried to solo it for the win. No one else was really chasing (or looked like they were chasing) so I lead a train to his wheel and caught him 100m before the line. Sat there and waited for someone to make a move, and Marcus blew by me on the left, another rider on my right. I jumped and came across in third. Marcus S. took the win.
As we drove home I was just feeling mentally and physically empty. As I have finals next week an no races for 2 weeks I decided in the car that I'm going to take it easy for a bit. Get some down time before my summer starts and the real training begins.
Right after finals I will be traveling to Wisconsin to visit some relatives for the week. I was actually born and raised Milwaukee, so most of my family still lives there. I'll be in Trempealeau, WI which is located on the Mississippi River. Apparently the roads around there have been labeled as the best place for road biking in the upper midwest. Super hilly, scenic, good pavement, and almost zero traffic. I'd say it's comparable to Hermann, MO or St. Genevive, MO. I'll get there just in time for the annual "hip breaker tour." 42 miles with apparently a bastard of a climb - I'll be representing in the Team Colavita/Parisi Coffe in full kit. The rest of the week will give great opportunities to get in great miles. The area sports 382 miles of interconnecting routes with an average of 3 cars per hour! the website needs an update but check it out clicky clicky
Tuesday I talked myself into the practice crit. I could definetly feel the effects from the past weekend. I just didn't have energy that I'm used to. So what better time than to attack off the front - launched huge and got a big gap. It only lasted 1 lap though and I struggled to stay on the back of the pack afterwards. I actually thought about sitting out a lap because it took a lot out of me. Spent the remaining time sitting in and setting up for the final. with about 1.5 laps to go some guy went off the front and tried to solo it for the win. No one else was really chasing (or looked like they were chasing) so I lead a train to his wheel and caught him 100m before the line. Sat there and waited for someone to make a move, and Marcus blew by me on the left, another rider on my right. I jumped and came across in third. Marcus S. took the win.
As we drove home I was just feeling mentally and physically empty. As I have finals next week an no races for 2 weeks I decided in the car that I'm going to take it easy for a bit. Get some down time before my summer starts and the real training begins.
Right after finals I will be traveling to Wisconsin to visit some relatives for the week. I was actually born and raised Milwaukee, so most of my family still lives there. I'll be in Trempealeau, WI which is located on the Mississippi River. Apparently the roads around there have been labeled as the best place for road biking in the upper midwest. Super hilly, scenic, good pavement, and almost zero traffic. I'd say it's comparable to Hermann, MO or St. Genevive, MO. I'll get there just in time for the annual "hip breaker tour." 42 miles with apparently a bastard of a climb - I'll be representing in the Team Colavita/Parisi Coffe in full kit. The rest of the week will give great opportunities to get in great miles. The area sports 382 miles of interconnecting routes with an average of 3 cars per hour! the website needs an update but check it out clicky clicky
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Velotek Grand Prix Weekend
This was my first big race series and also my first race as a cat 4. Another first was the 1.5 mile time trial. Too long to sprint the whole thing and short enough where you really cant settle in. I knew it was going to hurt and it did not dissappoint. I sprinted off the line into the first 200 meters or so and looking back probably went too hard there - because the next 90 seconds was spent trying to recover from my blow up. Got a bit more comfortable heading into the home stretch and tried to kill it to the line. Out of 58 cat 4's I was sitting in 33rd after the time trial. the leaders were about 30 seconds in front of me - a huge gap when you only ride 1.5 miles.
The crit was something I was really looking forward to. I've come to really like crits and I think I have the potential to do well in them in the future - I feel the more technical the course the better I can do, I love taking high speed turns and cranking on the pedals out of the corners. Anyway, huge field for the crit, it provided plenty of space to sit in out of the wind. I don't think I worked half as hard in the 4 race than I did in the previous 5 race. The course was just so congested I always had a wheel. Sat in for the sprint lap and thought I'd try my luck to move up for the final - although this was a timed series so there wasn't much to be gained from finishing 10th or 30th - maybe 5 seconds at the most. 2 laps to go and speed started to pick up, racers trying to get in position, used the corners to carry speed and pass riders when it opens up. Last lap and I passed about 5 in the chicanes and sprinted to pass a couple more before the line. Finished 11th. Hard to judge how hard the other racers were trying though - I'm sure a lot of them were contents to keep it safe and sit in.
58 mile road race was sunday. This was something I was wanting to really test myself in. the course was fairly hilly which suits me just fine. I've come down to a nice racing weight and my climbing abilities are only getting stronger. The only concern was the distance - this was literally the longest I've ever ridden at once without stopping. We rolled out and headed into some nice twisty hilly roads - pavement was smooth - legs were a bit tired from the day before, not so much from the crit but the time trial just took it out of me. Had a flask full of gel and two bottles on the bike. I almost consumed everything by the time the race was over- gel and water. After about 15 miles I was feeling good, legs were warmed up and was having no problem climbing or keeping pace. We descended a steep hill into a flat about 30 -35mph, heard a crash behind me and caught a glimpse of fellow teammate Steve V. hitting the ground hard. I looked around and didn't see my other teammate Brad and I assumed he went down too. Steve ended up being ok, just a lot of road rash and minor break on the bike, but he was done. Brad wasn't involved and continued on. As we were riding i started having mechanical issues. I thought it was a derailleur pulley gone bad - I was putting huge efforts in to pedal and when i tried to pedal backwards my chain would slack up - crap....I then became really pissed and was thinking maybe I should drop out when we finish the first lap - after about 5 minutes I decided that i'll just ride it out, if i get dropped then i'm dropped, it will be a good workout atleast. Couple more miles and all the vibration must of put whatever was screwed up back in place, I could feel myself pedaling easier and could actually back pedal now -hell yes. this was right before we headed up the big hill to the start finish line. I cranked up it passing about 20 riders on the way up and was feeling great. I started thinking about next time around and maybe I could contend for a podium finish. So the second lap I made sure I kept contact and tried to stay a bit closer to the front - speeds were up and down and approaching the final hill people started getting pretty twitchy - racers were elbowing eachother and shoving around for position. I had to wait about 10 seconds before I could launch and then just hammered it. Passed maybe 5-10 riders and my quads were dead, every pedal stroke felt like they were going to cramp up. With about 40 meters to go I blew up, and sat down and spun across the line. Probably 5 people passed me before I crossed. ended up finishing 14th - not too bad. I was really proud of that race - the distance and the effort. this was probably the first time I felt like a real racer - out of the 5's and racing good mileage with decent results.
Looking forward to future races - we had some teammates who weren't there - Matt P. and Dan O., when we're all together we'll be able to do some damage. Stay tuned.
The crit was something I was really looking forward to. I've come to really like crits and I think I have the potential to do well in them in the future - I feel the more technical the course the better I can do, I love taking high speed turns and cranking on the pedals out of the corners. Anyway, huge field for the crit, it provided plenty of space to sit in out of the wind. I don't think I worked half as hard in the 4 race than I did in the previous 5 race. The course was just so congested I always had a wheel. Sat in for the sprint lap and thought I'd try my luck to move up for the final - although this was a timed series so there wasn't much to be gained from finishing 10th or 30th - maybe 5 seconds at the most. 2 laps to go and speed started to pick up, racers trying to get in position, used the corners to carry speed and pass riders when it opens up. Last lap and I passed about 5 in the chicanes and sprinted to pass a couple more before the line. Finished 11th. Hard to judge how hard the other racers were trying though - I'm sure a lot of them were contents to keep it safe and sit in.
58 mile road race was sunday. This was something I was wanting to really test myself in. the course was fairly hilly which suits me just fine. I've come down to a nice racing weight and my climbing abilities are only getting stronger. The only concern was the distance - this was literally the longest I've ever ridden at once without stopping. We rolled out and headed into some nice twisty hilly roads - pavement was smooth - legs were a bit tired from the day before, not so much from the crit but the time trial just took it out of me. Had a flask full of gel and two bottles on the bike. I almost consumed everything by the time the race was over- gel and water. After about 15 miles I was feeling good, legs were warmed up and was having no problem climbing or keeping pace. We descended a steep hill into a flat about 30 -35mph, heard a crash behind me and caught a glimpse of fellow teammate Steve V. hitting the ground hard. I looked around and didn't see my other teammate Brad and I assumed he went down too. Steve ended up being ok, just a lot of road rash and minor break on the bike, but he was done. Brad wasn't involved and continued on. As we were riding i started having mechanical issues. I thought it was a derailleur pulley gone bad - I was putting huge efforts in to pedal and when i tried to pedal backwards my chain would slack up - crap....I then became really pissed and was thinking maybe I should drop out when we finish the first lap - after about 5 minutes I decided that i'll just ride it out, if i get dropped then i'm dropped, it will be a good workout atleast. Couple more miles and all the vibration must of put whatever was screwed up back in place, I could feel myself pedaling easier and could actually back pedal now -hell yes. this was right before we headed up the big hill to the start finish line. I cranked up it passing about 20 riders on the way up and was feeling great. I started thinking about next time around and maybe I could contend for a podium finish. So the second lap I made sure I kept contact and tried to stay a bit closer to the front - speeds were up and down and approaching the final hill people started getting pretty twitchy - racers were elbowing eachother and shoving around for position. I had to wait about 10 seconds before I could launch and then just hammered it. Passed maybe 5-10 riders and my quads were dead, every pedal stroke felt like they were going to cramp up. With about 40 meters to go I blew up, and sat down and spun across the line. Probably 5 people passed me before I crossed. ended up finishing 14th - not too bad. I was really proud of that race - the distance and the effort. this was probably the first time I felt like a real racer - out of the 5's and racing good mileage with decent results.
Looking forward to future races - we had some teammates who weren't there - Matt P. and Dan O., when we're all together we'll be able to do some damage. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Movin' Up
Made my official request to cat up to the 4's and end my 5 career on a win. I know the 4's will be much faster and more tactical and it will take me a couple months of good training before I could have the chance of being competetive but this is where I need to be to improve. Maybe a brand new bike could help that fight? Anyone feel like donating a few g's to help that cause? My goal before this season started was to be a competitve 4 racer by the end of the season and have a great showing at tour of KC in august.
On the other hand I am officially addicted to racing. In the past months I've found myself day dreaming about racing and it litearlly makes my heart speed up significantly and causes me to be short of breath like I should be breathing through my eyeballs on a last lap sprint of some crit. Sort of like I have a huge sympathetic reflex with a mass rush of adrenaline. My adrenal glands will be shot by the time i'm 35.
On the other hand I am officially addicted to racing. In the past months I've found myself day dreaming about racing and it litearlly makes my heart speed up significantly and causes me to be short of breath like I should be breathing through my eyeballs on a last lap sprint of some crit. Sort of like I have a huge sympathetic reflex with a mass rush of adrenaline. My adrenal glands will be shot by the time i'm 35.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Girl's Crit (Jane)
Went up to leavenworth on sunday for the ladies crit. she raced first with the 3/4's and then immediately raced the women's 4 race after that. 3/4 field was looking fast before the start. Course wasn't the greatest as it was laid out through a middle school parking lot...narrow, technical, not a lot of room to get going. the 25 mph winds didn't help either. After the first couple laps she was sitting at the back end of the pack. speed started to get faster and the group began to break up. Jane was not in a good position and had a hard time getting up to the main group and eventually settled in with 2 other riders off the back. There were already 2 ladies off the front (they ended up lapping the field twice) and jane chasing the big group of about 10. This went on for the majority of the race and jane eventually broke away from the 2 she was riding with. Long story short she got into a bad spot from the beginning and could have easily ridden the the main group. In the last 10 minutes when she finally broke away her speeds were faster than the majority of the riders and almost closed a 3/4 lap defecit from the other riders (minus the 2 leaders).
4 race was next and she was plenty warmed up and comfortable with the course. Spent about five minutes pulling the group around and when no one else wanted to pull she just broke off in a solo and lapped half the field (including some who beat her in the 3/4) for the win. Damn right.
She still needs a ton more saddle time and slowly gaining race experience. She has excellent base fitness and will do some damage against other 4's in the future.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Bazaar RR
Rolled down to bazaar, ks, just past emporia for a 50 mile road race. Raced in the cat 4/5 group with 5 other colavita racers. Our plan beforehand was to secure the win for Brad....keep him protected while trying to burn out the rest of the field. First 15 miles was quite pleasant, tailwind, smooth pavement, wasn't breathing at all. Approaching the halfway point the attacks started coming, put in some good efforts to stick with the group...still hanging in there. For awhile Eric Schaumberg, steve and I put on a few attacks ourselves. We had to have hurt some of those riders as we attacked in rotations. Steve would go off the front, get caught, eric would launch, get caught, the I would sprint off, settle in etc... Meanwhile brad was hanging at the back. somewhere after the halfway we lost fellow riders phillip and joe. climbed a big hill with about 4 miles to go and found myself and brad sitting on the front, both of us were feeling good. I jumped in front of brad to give him a wheel and was feeling like I had the legs to give him a good leadout for the finish. There was no doubt in my mind he was the fastest racer there and in a sprint could have torn some legs off. Got down to about a half mile to go, and was boxed in a bit, had to squeeze by a rider on the outside, almost going onto the gravel shoulder. Somewhere in the next 5 seconds someone bumped into brad and pushed him into the ditch off the road. He was able to ride it out and was okay, but out of the race. When he didn't come around me I figured something must have happened, I heard a lot of bumping around in back of me.....jumped from one wheel to another and crossed the line 4th overall, finishing 1st in the cat 5's. the picture is of the actual medal they gave me...pretty funny. During the awards ceremony they mistakenly handed me the 4th place check, which if I was a cat 4 would have gotten to keep, but when they figured out I was a 5 took it away and handed me a crappy medal. Maybe it's time to cat up??
side note: Great job to steve v. and Eric Schaumberg who put in a bunch of work on the front. They pushed the group at a good clip for awhile....tough luck for brad, at the end he said he felt like he didn't even get in a workout with the missed sprint opportunity. There will be good finishes for all in the future.
Velotek grand prix next weekend. Probably my final cat 5 appearance.....or cat up beforehand and help out for the team first place in cat 4's. I've said it before.....our 4 group is very strong.
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