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| some of the road rash on my back |
Leading up to the weekend
As I counted the days to my flight to Charlotte, one thing
became a thorn in my foot. It was an exam that Monday I get back. Luckily my
professor moved it from the Saturday I was supposed to take it, to the following week so I can race. She knew that I would
be out of town that weekend (talked to her about my race schedule many months
out). However when I made my race schedule, I did not know how bad I was going
to do on my first exam in circuits… So now my entire ability to pass the class
boiled down to one exam. It was frightening. I have never not passed a class,
and if I were to not pass this one, I would have to change my fall 2014 schedule
almost 50 percent. Failure really was not an option.
What I thought was great form a week before the race,
started to deteriorate a little bit as I was having sleepless nights studying for
my exam, as well as terrible sleep as I could not stay asleep with the amount
of examples and problems running through my head. And if I was able to fall
asleep, I always found myself working more problems in my dreams. It was a cycle
that was beating down on me. This sport is more mental then physical, and I was
losing the mental game before the races even started.
Charlotte
The Charlotte Criterum is the highest paid criterium race in
the country. With a first place price of 10,000 dollars, racers from all over
the continent were here to try for glory. This race is basically 2 mini
criteriums connected by a long up and down hill straight away. I knew starting
position was going to be crucial, especially when I saw that we were going to
have over 130 starters in the race.
The start of the race was very fast, and very chaotic. I
quickly found my teammates. (We were fielding 5 guys. Thomas, Chris, Hogan,
Brandon, and I) and started to push to the front of the field with them. I felt
a bit of security being with 3 other teammates of mine as we pushed towards the
front of the peloton. That was until we were making our way to the start of the
4th lap. A rider in front of me was being a bit too aggressive and
ended up taking himself out as well as those next to him. I had no where to go
but up and over. I sailed through the air with the finesse of Russian figure
skater, doing a near perfect front flip I landed square on my back and shoulder
blades. I then felt and saw the charging group run over my body and equipment.
As the chaos started to cease, I rolled onto the sidewalk and got out of the
way of any more cyclists. I sat there on my knees with my head tucked into my
chest, helmet against the pavement. I was stunned from the quick and sudden
crash, and needed a moment to collect myself. My heart rate was through the
roof and I was doing what I could to bring it back down. I did a quick self
check and felt like all bones were intact. Nothing was broken. As I looked for
my bike, I was greeted by Brandon who also went down in the same crash. I found my bike somewhere on the
sidewalk and did a quick look over. Front wheel lost a few spokes, shifting was
done for, brake cable was destroyed, saddle was destroyed, and my derailleur
hanger was a little bent.
I straightened out my bars, and rode over to the pit. There,
the SRAM neutral support was able to get me a front wheel, and get my shifting
good enough to jump into the action. As the peloton came flying by, I sprinted
into the group to the best I could. Immediately I felt like I lost my edge, I
was thinking too much as I moved in the peloton, and with that I felt like I
was stuck near the back. I fought off waves of riders as I tried to make it up
towards the front, but the pack was always a quarter mile long. For every 15 to 20 riders I’d pass, I would loose just as many places two laps later. I was
getting frustrated, my body was aching from the crash, and I was in a constant
battle to get my bike to work the way I wanted to. As the laps started to tick
by, so did the matches in my leg. The whip at the back of the group was
painful, and I was being brutally beaten by it with my inability to move up.
Finally I lost connection with the group. I rolled to the medical tend and got
a quick look ever. Nothing too bad, for such a big wreck, I walked away with
only moderate road rash and bruising. I would live to fight another day. As for the team, Thomas had some poor
luck with with a late race puncture just outside of the free laps, and I believe
we were able to snag some top 15 spots.
Belmont
If I thought my race weekend could not be any worse (knock
on wood, I came away with not too many injuries) , I obviously did not have a
clue what was in store for me at Belmont. A very tight technical downhill,
followed by a long steep straight up hill made for the carnage to come quick. I
was feeling sore from yesterdays crash, and was already feeling defeated at the
start line. At times I would just tell myself that I can win this race, that I
am just as good as anyone there, that I am the best one there. My little pep
talks helped me crack a smile at the start line. A smile that quickly
diminished once we started the race. Due to the 30 call-ups at the start of the
race, as well as my lack of aggression to literally shove my way to the front,
I found myself near the back of the pack before we were even given the gun shot
to start.
As the race went underway it was a sprint to the first corner,
everyone in the race knew just how hard this race was going to be. I was
already bumping elbows and shoulders within the first minute of the race.
“Rubbing is racing”. I felt like I put in some hard efforts to get to the front
on the uphill, it was the only place were I felt like I could have some
breathing room to move up. The rest of the course I felt like I was in a
constant lean as I held onto the wheel in front of me. The gaps were opening
thick and fast. The course was literally stripping the field down every lap. I
did not last much longer once the peloton started to windle down. I came off
the back of the group only 15 minutes into the race. The last time I was
dropped in a criterium that fast would probably have to be the first Tour of
Austin Pickle Criterium I did. I rode a few more laps to try to calm myself
from my terrible attempt at Belmont.
It was awesome seeing the rest of my team race hard from the
sidelines. Not being able to help my team feels worse then not being able to
help myself. I watched as I saw Chris, Thomas, Hogan, and Brandon fight to stay
at the front and work with each other when they could. Thomas would eventually
finish 10th on the day.
Circuits Exam II
From the moment I went to bed Sunday night I knew the race
was on, not a bike race, but a race to make . I was still in Charlotte NC when I woke up at 3:50 Central Time. I have
told my professor I should be back on campus to meet with her in her office to
take the exam at 12:20 in the afternoon. Brandon and I made it to the airport
with some time to spare. We were on the same flight to Chicago. From there we
would go our separate way. As I
was on the airplane, I tried to do some last minute studying, but I knew there
was no use. Crying babies, mixed with motion sickness I get from writing in moving
vehicles made it a no go. As I made my connecting flight, I sent my professor
one last email telling her there was no delay. A substantial victory in my
opinion. After a quick cat nap and some podcasting on my flight to Houston I
landed at 11:15. I had an hour to get off the plane, find my bike, find my car
in the extended parking lot, park my car, and get into my professor’s office.
As I was running around Hobby airport I could feel my energy
was being zapped from me. Poor sleep, mixed with little sleep, mixed with being
up for almost 8 straight hours along with my amazing breakfast of a 5 hour
energy and an oatmeal was not faring well for me.
Somehow I did make it to my professor’s office on time. I
ran through a rainstorm in nothing but flip flops and a tee shirt to get there,
and in the end it paid off.
That was until I realized that I still have to take the exam….
3 question 90 minutes… The exam itself, I felt like I did okay on. Way better
then exam 1. I spent 90 minutes in silence alone in my professor’s office. At
one point in the last problem I remember my hand started shaking and I started
to mumble to myself. The last time this happened to me it was in a all weekend
study session during a race weekend at Ian’s House…. Ian made me take a break
at that point.
But the exam is over with and I should have my grade relatively
soon. Fingers crossed I did what I needed to do to get the marks I need to keep
my head above water…
Next race on the calendar with Astellas will be US Pro
Nationals, next race on my calendar will be the Matrix challenge.
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| The Prince was at the Winston! |
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