Bike Handing Clinic #2 with Third Coast Training

Demonstrating proper cornering

Yesterday would mark the second clinic I would be doing with Third Coast Training in Pasadena, Texas (Southeast Houston). After having much success with the first clinic I ran in 2014, Johnny (Owner/Coach at Third Coast Training) and I decided to give it a second go in 2015. Our plan was to build upon what we did the first time to make this workshop a better experience for riders of different skill levels.

Super Squadra 2015

The first time I was part of the winning team with SuperSquadra in 2012

I am very happy to announce that in 2015 I will be racing with my old team, Super Squadra, based out of Austin Texas. I was given a choice between racing professionally or continue my education at the University of Houston. I ultimately chose the latter.

I learned a lot racing professionally this past season, and I feel that I reached a new level in my own cycling growth. Racing against the best American Criterium racers here in the states, as well as butting heads with some real world tour talent over in Europe has taught me a lot about the sport, and about myself.

I plan to take what I learned on the road with Astellas in 2014 and use that experience to help develop Super Squadra further in 2015. Big plans for next season and I couldn't be more excited

New Faces with astellas professional cycling team (Old Pueblo Grand Prix, Team Camp, Tucson Bicycle Classic)

From Left to right: Chris, Matt, Brecht, Ryan, Justin, Cortlan, Stephan, Clay,
Brandon, Max, Hogan, Andy, Pincus, Thomas.

Team camp did not start off on an easy note. After some very smooth travels with Southwest Airlines I was able to get to Tucson Arizona on time and ready to meet the new group of guys. The first group of guys I would end up meeting would be Andy, Clay, Chris, and Ryan. As we walked from our Townsuits Marriott one of the first things we started talking about was Tinder. Right then I knew this was going to be a great team and team camp

#pincusmiles2014 A Winter Spent Preparing for the Next Chapter

Such a beautiful day

I never thought that my friends would give my own hash tag. It started in the off season of the 2012 when Kenneth Day tagged me with #pincusmiles2013 on his twitter after he came down and rode with me for a few days during my winter break. My friends are familiar with my off-season antics. Typically once I get out of school for winter break I stack on miles like it is going out of style, and it was no different this winter. I know that once the semester starts I become quite limited in my time and devotion I can give to the bike.  I am happy that Ken Day, Jonah Tannos, Jason Codianne, Jason Bentley, and Gavin Mannion all got to go on nice one on one bro rides with me. I am sure I talked for hours on end and you all got a nice dose of my life stories and adventures to last you till next time.

School's out. Lets Ride!

I took a selfie. Get over it.

With the fall semester coming to a close I am very happy to say that I made it through another semester as an engineering student. My grades were a bit below what I wanted amongst all my classes. I was able to keep everything at a 3.00 gpa. I had a great star to the semester which gave me a false sense of security in my grades. I ended up not doing so hot the second part of the semester and my grades slowly went from all As to Bs. Well live and learn. Next semester I will not let any sort of security trick my mind and study habits.

My first weekend on Winter break I decided to retreat up to Austin to get a few days of riding in, as well as see my friends and have some fun.

Jersey change for 2014. Astellas Professional Cycling

Wanting to keep everyone up to date on my endeavors. So I just want to say that I am very excited to say that I will be racing with Astellas Oncology through 2014. I am very excited to be giving an opportunity like this and plan to make the most of it. It is a little saddening that I will be leaving the Squadra family that I have been apart of for the two years. It is a change that I have been working hard for since I joined the team in 2012. Now I will be following Shane to the Continental level to continue on in my cycling career.

Down and Dirty at Tough Mudder Houston 2013

Kristin, Alex (Dad), Becky, Kelsey (sister), Myself, Sheri
from left to right. Cajun Chaos 3.0 was the team name

What is tough mudder? That is the exact question that I had to ask myself a week before the event. My sister has been hyping up this event for several months now, and I wanted to see what the big deal was. She even was able to make my dad do the event with her. As the final days approached to the event I started to dig around and find some information and what exactly tough mudder is. A few google searches later I came to the conclusion that tough mudder is a basically a 12 mile course that you can do solo or with teams. Where in between the start and finish line there are many obstacles that would need to be circumnavigated as well as lots of mud to sludge through.

A long awaited close to 2013. A season of learning and growth

Stach Watts

In my opinion 2013 feels like it has been the longest season of my cycling career. This season would end up being my 6^th season since beginning racing back in 2007, as well as my 2^nd season on team Super Squadra. My goals for the season would be to improve upon the great 2012 I had. I knew that I would be capable of it. My winter training before the season was flawless and my motivation for racing was the highest it has ever been. I finished 2012 with some great results to my name. Including an 8^th at my first u23 national road race, 4^th at Pro states, u23 state champ, and the youngest winner of the Fayetteville stage race.

Article in the Racing Post

Just want to give out a shout that I have an article in this months Racing Post about my adventures spent with the USA Jr Camp I did back in June. This article is a lot longer and more in depth then the write up found on my blog from a while ago. I would recommend for everyone to go to their local bike shop and pick up a copy. You can also find the PDF version of this month's racing post at their website which can be found HERE. My write up is on page 7. I recommend checking it out when you get a chance. Andy Hollinger has been putting together the racing post for as long as I remember. He also supports texas racing through the hosting of races and events. The Racing Post has a website of their own which is at theracingpost.us

The Close of a Summer and the Start of a Fall Season

            

Shasta and I

So as summer comes to a close, the Texas cycling season goes back into full gear.  The Hotter Then Hell Omnium is this weekend, and my first day of fall classes the following Monday. My excitement for these fall is out of this world. With HHH, Tour of Austin, Chappell Hill, and the Texas State Championships. Couple that with the fact I will be surrounded by college women again on a daily basis gives me a reason to look forward for the next couple months.

HTX Team relay Ham Cycles summer Series. Allycat style racing in Houston!

The winning team (team drunkstrong) posing with Crystal

I got the invite from what would end up being my teammate for the event, Dan Morgan. He messaged me saying that there would be some sort of relay going on in downtown Houston. He said it would a little “for fun” event and he thought it would be a great idea for me to give it a try. He was right.

USA Jr Devo Camp

Although this was a long while ago, I want to put in a few words about the USA camp that I had the honor of being a coach for.

For a week, I got to be a coach and the Dorm Daddy of a USA cycling Jr Development camp. What that meant is I got to make sure all the camp attendees went to bed on time and did not get into any trouble, as well as help out with drills and the rides/races that will all be going on.

The Start Of A New Blog

Today I am creating a new blog. This one I plan to make bigger and more broad then previous blogs. I will have the typical race reports, as well as more posts on just general travel to and from races. I will post a bit more on my training along with some school posts here and there. For big race reports I will probably have them on my team blog which I will post a link here that will direct you to the Squadra blog. Be patient on the first couple weeks of this blog. I will be tinkering with HTML codes trying to make this blog look and feel the way that I want it to. Hopefully this blog will hit stride soon and I can entertain others with my stories and adventures.