Feeling a bit jumpy at Pace Bend

Keeping a tab on the fast guys

After a rough day at Walburg I was hoping to get a little bit of relaxation the next day at Pace Bend, relaxation in terms of warm weather, and no yellow line rule. Pace Bend Park, like Walburg is always one of the top attended races of the season. What sets Pace Bend apart from many of the other Texas races is that it is located fully within the Pace Bend park allowing for the race to have full lane racing. Unlike the previous day where many racers were caught flirting with the yellow line, Pace Bend allows the full peloton to take up as much road as needed. This creates a type of racing that is more familiar with higher-level NRC races as well as allowing racers to be able to move around the pack more fluidly. This changes the dynamics of the race subtly and in my years creates a more enjoyable experience. Less rules to follow typically means one less things I have to think about during my race.

Crosswinds, Cyclecross, and Cheating at Walburg!

It was a nice start to the heart of the Texas racing season with the Walburg Classic. The forcasted weather looked crisp, sunny, and looked like it was going to be a good day overall.

As the race started I quickly was having déjà vu of the 2011 tour of new Braunfels road race where the entire cat 1/2 got disqualified for riding left of the center line. As the winds picked up, so did the number of teams that went to the front to try to put the field in the gutter to get some damage done. However if there was any sort of draft found left of center, riders were willing to take it. I kept waiting to hear the official follow car to come up and honk, neutralize or disqualify riders, but that never came. I kept to the right of yellow along with many other riders who knew that is the safe, right, and noble thing to do. Riding over the yellow line is cheating.

Pre-Walburg Excitement!

Bat City Cycling is the team that is promoting and running the
Walburg Classic road race this year again

I have been getting many questions about if I should race or not race Walburg this year. Many of these racers are men and women who have not raced Walburg before and do not know how great of a race it is just yet. Here is some information on Walburg that will hopefully push you in the direction to go ahead and register for a great weekend of racing.

Starting 2014 Off 2014 With Some Road Rash and River Road ToNB 2014

Unfortunately I have not gotten a hold of any photos from this weekend. 

Omloop. (90 minutes)

Going into the Omloop I could feel my excitement was hard to contain. I have been lucky enough to find my friend Zach Bergh the night before and get my hands on an old Astellas kit. I was finally in some sort of team-clad colors and I was eager to test my legs.

This race would end up marking my first race of the year and I was feeling very strong. I had a flawless off-season mixed with high volume, no sickness, and no injuries.

As the race started I took off the start line I quickly moved to the very back of the field. I know that the omloop is a course that is very hard to stick a break and it will have plenty of crashes. Being at the back was my way of staying out of trouble. As the laps slowly started to trick off the counter I started to feel comfortable on the bike and started to move around the pack a little bit. Last year my experience racing the omloop was bad. I ended up flatting out of the race on lap three and I knew just about anything would be better then that.

Dialing in a School Schedule Feels like Dialing in a New Bike Position.

It has been a long time since I was rushing to get
rides in before sunset

Since last semester I have been waiting eagerly for the start of my 4^th semester at the University of Houston (GO COOGS). The reason is because this will be the first time that I will finally be in my major specific classes. Which for those that do not know is electrical engineering, and to be more specific EE with EE option. For the past few semesters I have been mostly just getting basics out of the way as well as a lot of math and sciences classes. Actually based on my flow chart I am finally done with all the math classes I need for the rest of my degree plan.

When I was registering for my classes I had a little drama with just the fact that my scheduler opened up a few days later then most of the rest of campus.

#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.