Yeah, it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but my life's been a little hectic for the past month or two. First I had to deal with finishing up exams and what not with school, and then there was the prospect of resuming training for the first time in six weeks.
I've also been a little disappointed over the outcome of my surgery, as it was unable to abate all of my leg numbness symptoms. As of now it is possible that I've fixed the problem in my calf muscles, but I'm still having issues with losing feeling in my feet. At this point the only thing I can do is to keep riding and looking for solutions to this frustrating issue. As of Friday I have now settled down in my summer home of Kutztown, PA, where I will spend the next few weeks racing and training in preparation for nationals. It's pretty boring up here so I might actually bother to post something on occasion.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Alright so I didn't post anything for the month of April, but truthfully nothing that important has happened in the past four weeks besides from recovering from surgery. The good news about this four week gap is that shortly I will be back on the bike and training, albeit not full speed. The surgery went pretty much as planned, and there's nothing too special to report about that. I was only on crutches for less then a week and since then I've been getting progressively more and more active. This week I'll be getting back on the road for the first time, probably not more then 30 minutes at time but training that will be very important in getting me ready in time for August.
For now I plan to enjoy the rest of my impromptu break, although I certainly miss the appetite that come with a full blown training schedule.
For now I plan to enjoy the rest of my impromptu break, although I certainly miss the appetite that come with a full blown training schedule.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Big News...
Alright so I've been putting off writing about this for awhile (I don't like to reveal my weaknesses), but here it goes:
This Wednesday I will be trading in my bicycle for this shiny new pair of crutches (the carbon fibre ones are still on order) in order to get surgery on my legs. I will be getting a relatively simple and somewhat gruesome outpatient procedure aimed to fix a reoccurring problem I've had on the bike for nearly a year and a half.
Ok, so imagine this delectable sausage is my calf muscle. The muscle, like the sausage, is made up of a meaty inside surrounded by a thin casing, in this case a connective tissue called fascia instead of pig intestine. Now image what happens if you put that sausage on the grill on boil it. If you heat it up enough, the insides expand and puts pressure against the casing, and this pressure is released when the sausage cracks and juices drain out. The same thing happens to my legs under high levels of exertion, say a time trial or breakaway, except for the fact that there is no way for the pressure to release as fascia doesn't easily expand and having it burst open like a cheddar wurst would be bad. As a result, I experience a numbness sensation that starts at my feet and intensifies to the point that a can barely pedal. The surgery I'm getting will be the equivalent of slicing the sausage casing right down the middle in order to allow the muscle to expand and allow better blood flow and nerve conduction. The medical term for this is Chronic Compartment Syndrome, and I will be undergoing a bilateral compartment release.
So how do I know I have this condition, and why is this surgery even necessary? True, I was able to win a national title while experiencing symptoms and I don't feel the usual amount of pain associated with compartment syndrome. Plus I have been riding pretty strong this season, having already finished top ten in a few Pro 1/2 fields. The fact is that I'm a time trialist, and my ability to win races relies on me being able to ride at high levels of exertion and wattage for long periods of time, something that simply cannot be done with legs that become, well, big sausages ten minutes into a 30k time trial. Sure, I could sit in for field sprints or ride kilo's on the track all day long, but that simply isn't where my true strength lies. And as I continue to grow the amount of power I produce will only increase, putting more pressure on my already constrained fascia tissues and making my symptoms more ins tense and quicker to onset. Sure, at Nationals last year I was able to pace myself and keep the numbness from overcoming my legs until the last few kilometers, but I was 10-15 pounds lighter then and required less of my calves to push my skinny butt down the road. Nowadays I'm heavier and my opponents have gotten faster, leaving me with few options unless I can fix this condition.
As for the diagnosis of compartment syndrome, it was quick and painful. After almost a year of MRI's, bike fits and shoe changes, my doctors finally got around to giving me compartment testing. This involves inserting a needle into the each of the 4 compartments in the lower leg in order to gauge the pressure between it and the surrounding tissue. Despite nearly passing out due to needle phobia, I was able to perform this test and the reading showed that my compartment pressures went from 10-15 mm Hg to nearly 40 mm Hg after doing spending 10 or minutes at 300 watts. As far as I know there is nothing that causes elevated compartment pressures besides compartment syndrome, so getting this surgery should be a good bet at curing my problems.
Anyways I'll be off the bike for 6 weeks or so, so I'll probably have plenty of time for future posts (I haven't decided if I'm going to write while on painkillers).
~Mike
This Wednesday I will be trading in my bicycle for this shiny new pair of crutches (the carbon fibre ones are still on order) in order to get surgery on my legs. I will be getting a relatively simple and somewhat gruesome outpatient procedure aimed to fix a reoccurring problem I've had on the bike for nearly a year and a half.
Ok, so imagine this delectable sausage is my calf muscle. The muscle, like the sausage, is made up of a meaty inside surrounded by a thin casing, in this case a connective tissue called fascia instead of pig intestine. Now image what happens if you put that sausage on the grill on boil it. If you heat it up enough, the insides expand and puts pressure against the casing, and this pressure is released when the sausage cracks and juices drain out. The same thing happens to my legs under high levels of exertion, say a time trial or breakaway, except for the fact that there is no way for the pressure to release as fascia doesn't easily expand and having it burst open like a cheddar wurst would be bad. As a result, I experience a numbness sensation that starts at my feet and intensifies to the point that a can barely pedal. The surgery I'm getting will be the equivalent of slicing the sausage casing right down the middle in order to allow the muscle to expand and allow better blood flow and nerve conduction. The medical term for this is Chronic Compartment Syndrome, and I will be undergoing a bilateral compartment release.So how do I know I have this condition, and why is this surgery even necessary? True, I was able to win a national title while experiencing symptoms and I don't feel the usual amount of pain associated with compartment syndrome. Plus I have been riding pretty strong this season, having already finished top ten in a few Pro 1/2 fields. The fact is that I'm a time trialist, and my ability to win races relies on me being able to ride at high levels of exertion and wattage for long periods of time, something that simply cannot be done with legs that become, well, big sausages ten minutes into a 30k time trial. Sure, I could sit in for field sprints or ride kilo's on the track all day long, but that simply isn't where my true strength lies. And as I continue to grow the amount of power I produce will only increase, putting more pressure on my already constrained fascia tissues and making my symptoms more ins tense and quicker to onset. Sure, at Nationals last year I was able to pace myself and keep the numbness from overcoming my legs until the last few kilometers, but I was 10-15 pounds lighter then and required less of my calves to push my skinny butt down the road. Nowadays I'm heavier and my opponents have gotten faster, leaving me with few options unless I can fix this condition.
As for the diagnosis of compartment syndrome, it was quick and painful. After almost a year of MRI's, bike fits and shoe changes, my doctors finally got around to giving me compartment testing. This involves inserting a needle into the each of the 4 compartments in the lower leg in order to gauge the pressure between it and the surrounding tissue. Despite nearly passing out due to needle phobia, I was able to perform this test and the reading showed that my compartment pressures went from 10-15 mm Hg to nearly 40 mm Hg after doing spending 10 or minutes at 300 watts. As far as I know there is nothing that causes elevated compartment pressures besides compartment syndrome, so getting this surgery should be a good bet at curing my problems.
A fun afternoon at sports medicine
Anyways I'll be off the bike for 6 weeks or so, so I'll probably have plenty of time for future posts (I haven't decided if I'm going to write while on painkillers).
~Mike
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Alright, so this pass weekend marked the end of back to back to back roubaix race weekends, so basically I've raced 100+ miles on dirt for the past month. Sure it's been great fun, but I'll be happy to return to some shorter races that don't leave a bad taste in your mouth.
The BH bears the scars of battle
The first of these was Rouge-Roubaix, probably the toughest terrain wise of them all and certainly the closest thing I've seen to a renegade bike race (in past years the payout was one deep, this year my friend got 5th and got a measly $50). The race was a big success on a team and personal level, and I got thrill out of participating in a few new aspects of bike racing that you don't see when you go solo: I got to wear a radio (though I couldn't understand 85% of what Nate said), help set tempo at the front of a field, take a musette bag and sacrifice my chances at the race by giving a teammate a wheel. Of course the last thing was thing big problem about the race, the fact anybody could've gotten a flat but Christian and we would have still won the race, but naturally it never works like that. So basically I got to drive 10-hours home all flustered with team spirit while being endowed with a new respect for how a mechanical can destroy a race.
The next weekend was Perry-Roubaix, which is probably the most baffling of all the Georgia Cup race with respect to why anyone would show up at it. For some reason the promoter can host three completely independent events over the weekend whose payout doesn't depend on your overall performance and call it an omnuim. Anyways I had a lackluster TT for a number of reasons, but the circuit race later that afternoon went very well. Yes, I was worked over by the TOSHIBA team multiple times in the course of lapping the field, but I still think it was pretty stellar to be trading pulls with Frank Travieso and to finish top ten in a race that was stacked by a pro team. As if the circuit race alone wasnt grueling enough for one weekend, the following road race was pure hell (at least for me). Between some wicked crosswinds and a small, yet big enough hill I was satisfied just to hang on for the full distance. I also took the honor of calling a pee-break on the last lap (14 guys were up the road, thus the field became a sunday ride). This race was probably the least Roubaix of them all, as the moist red Georgia sand did little more than make everyone look Ginger for the day.
The last race of the Roubaix "series" was held a mere 1.5 hours from my house in Webster, FL, and was probably my biggest result of the year so far. While the course was a piece of cake elevation wise, especially compared to Rouge, the dirt was bumpy and dusty and favored the riders off the front. After sitting in for the first 40 miles (my tactical masterpiece of the day) I moved my lethargic rear end to the front of the group and lead through the dirt a couple of time (12 nine mile laps), and soon afterwards I got into a break with the strongest guys in the race, namely the brothers Chaves and Bobby Sweeting of TOSHIBA-Santo. It's safe to say I probably did less then my fair share of work, but after being destroyed in the final K's it didn't really matter (I was in the break for 60 miles, which I believe is the longest allowed distance in a juniors road race). It was fifth for me, which is a big improvement of crashing in the cat 4's last year. I returned to my car looking not unlike the cow patties that infested the field where I was parked content and ready to not have to race any dirt for another year (baring entrance to the real Paris-Roubaix).
I wonder why my bike has been creaking ever since Webster?
The BH bears the scars of battle
The first of these was Rouge-Roubaix, probably the toughest terrain wise of them all and certainly the closest thing I've seen to a renegade bike race (in past years the payout was one deep, this year my friend got 5th and got a measly $50). The race was a big success on a team and personal level, and I got thrill out of participating in a few new aspects of bike racing that you don't see when you go solo: I got to wear a radio (though I couldn't understand 85% of what Nate said), help set tempo at the front of a field, take a musette bag and sacrifice my chances at the race by giving a teammate a wheel. Of course the last thing was thing big problem about the race, the fact anybody could've gotten a flat but Christian and we would have still won the race, but naturally it never works like that. So basically I got to drive 10-hours home all flustered with team spirit while being endowed with a new respect for how a mechanical can destroy a race.
The next weekend was Perry-Roubaix, which is probably the most baffling of all the Georgia Cup race with respect to why anyone would show up at it. For some reason the promoter can host three completely independent events over the weekend whose payout doesn't depend on your overall performance and call it an omnuim. Anyways I had a lackluster TT for a number of reasons, but the circuit race later that afternoon went very well. Yes, I was worked over by the TOSHIBA team multiple times in the course of lapping the field, but I still think it was pretty stellar to be trading pulls with Frank Travieso and to finish top ten in a race that was stacked by a pro team. As if the circuit race alone wasnt grueling enough for one weekend, the following road race was pure hell (at least for me). Between some wicked crosswinds and a small, yet big enough hill I was satisfied just to hang on for the full distance. I also took the honor of calling a pee-break on the last lap (14 guys were up the road, thus the field became a sunday ride). This race was probably the least Roubaix of them all, as the moist red Georgia sand did little more than make everyone look Ginger for the day.
The last race of the Roubaix "series" was held a mere 1.5 hours from my house in Webster, FL, and was probably my biggest result of the year so far. While the course was a piece of cake elevation wise, especially compared to Rouge, the dirt was bumpy and dusty and favored the riders off the front. After sitting in for the first 40 miles (my tactical masterpiece of the day) I moved my lethargic rear end to the front of the group and lead through the dirt a couple of time (12 nine mile laps), and soon afterwards I got into a break with the strongest guys in the race, namely the brothers Chaves and Bobby Sweeting of TOSHIBA-Santo. It's safe to say I probably did less then my fair share of work, but after being destroyed in the final K's it didn't really matter (I was in the break for 60 miles, which I believe is the longest allowed distance in a juniors road race). It was fifth for me, which is a big improvement of crashing in the cat 4's last year. I returned to my car looking not unlike the cow patties that infested the field where I was parked content and ready to not have to race any dirt for another year (baring entrance to the real Paris-Roubaix).
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Alright so it's been awhile since my obligatory blog post, but I wrote a 2 and half page Valley of the Sun story for the website last week so I figure I'm covered. Since it's been so long I've got a couple of race weekends to write about, even though about 1 day of all of them was significant.
A couple of weekends ago I went down to Orlando to do the Sanford and Lake Mary criteriums, the route of the former resembling a drunk stagger through the lakefront downtown and the latter a wide open circle in the heart of overdeveloped Orlando. While I would traditionally think that the wide open course would favor me the most, but it was in fact the technical course that gave me a better shot. Not to mention that from about 6 in the morning I woke up till about half an hour after my race was over it was pouring rain. While a lot of riders forfeited their 28 dollars instead of reducing the surface area of their epidermis, I bravely saddled up for the 70 or so minute swim around lakefront Sanford. Remarkably, there were alot of people who cornered worse then me, and I didn't have much of a problem getting to and riding on the front (except when it actually mattered at the end of the race). I did, however, have a problem with team Herbalife, who has decided this year to sign just about every bike racer in the state of Florida, resulting in nothing short of ridiculous domination. To make a long story short I ended up about 14th place.
There's not much to say about Lake Mary, mostly that junior gears suck on tailwind finishing straights.
Now for the much more thrilling Georgia Cup race in Albany, GA, a city that despite being larger than Gainesville, I've never heard of in my life. The two day three day format is usually better suited for an omnium, but the race organizers decided it would be much for fun to see everyone battle it out for 2 second time bonuses and made it a stage race. Anyways there was a 3.3k prologue, 60 min crit, and an 85 mile road race. I had a decent ride in the TT, less than 20 seconds down on the leader and I felt I could have pulled off much better. It was particularly impressive considering I missed my start time by about a minute or so, but luckily the transponders didn't seem to care and I got my normal time (or I'm really just that fast). I figure the fact that I had to pass a guy in the first 15 seconds cost me a place in the top 20. As for the crit, it was my worst performance of the weekend. Instead of being aggressive in the first few laps and working my way up, I got stuck at the back and spent my time just trying not to get dropped as I dealt with the exponentially increasing degree of difficulty as I slipped farther back. I consoled myself a little bit considering that I haven't had much practice in 8 turn crits with big fields and that there were a couple professionals attacking up front, but this type of racing defiantly need some work on my part.
As for the road race, it was probably the highest result I've had in a field that had a few big names (certainly more than the local Florida competition). I started out the day in near the back of the field, chatting with some friends while the group let a couple of guys get off in an early move. Being a little envious and wanting to get some fresh air, I half-jokingly remarked that I should go make a move myself. To my surprise I suggested that it wouldn't be a half bad idea, so I did something uncharacteristic of my wimpy riding style and moved up the sketchy shoulder on the right. I made a quick move and got a little ego boost when I was pulled back in by a Jittery Joe's rider. A couple more attacks followed, and I ended up riding up alone to another group of two. Feeling sore in the legs from they day before, I wondered what kind of suffering was in story if I was starting the day like this. The two up the road waited for me to bridge and we started working gradually to the lead couple even further up the road. With the leaders in sight, one of my companions broke a shift cable and for some reason didn't want to ride in his 11 for 70 miles. The other member of my group followed suit, and I was left to bridge on my own. Once I finally reached the two on the front, a rider from Tri-Star and a 40+ master, our chances looked grim. The field had stepped it up a notch and an attack of the front had made them hungry for blood. Miraculously, they sat up within about 200 meters and the three of us made a last ditch effort to establish a gap. It paid off, and within no time the group was well out of sight. After about 10 miles a pack finally appeared in the distance, but this time it was much smaller. To my surprise and joy it was a group of about 11 guys rotating like a well oiled machine and captained by de facto leader Tim Henry of Jittery Joe's, who got this status not by merit of GC standings but by the amount of baby oil on his legs. Anyways we rotated smoothly for another lap and a half, pausing only briefly to watch somebody crash as they made an attempt to take musette bag in the feed zone. With about 15 miles to go rotation began to stagnate a bit as the sprinter types, confident that the 4 minute gap would hold, decided to endure the storm of curses hurled at them and wait it out for the last 200 meters. Whether it was because I'm just a sucker or I felt that one less man working would throw the group into a real funk I figured anything top-ten would be great and continued to work all the way toward the finish. In retrospect I think I missed a great move at 1k, but I managed 8th in the sprint. I took pride in being the only junior that far up the road (and the only one still wearing knee and arm warmers), and gladly had the officials roll out my bike. The gigantic gap I earned in the road race should give me top ten in the GC, so hopefully I'll be getting a check in the mail sometime soon.
Anyways, this weekend is Rouge Roubaix, so I'm sure I'll have something to say about that.
A couple of weekends ago I went down to Orlando to do the Sanford and Lake Mary criteriums, the route of the former resembling a drunk stagger through the lakefront downtown and the latter a wide open circle in the heart of overdeveloped Orlando. While I would traditionally think that the wide open course would favor me the most, but it was in fact the technical course that gave me a better shot. Not to mention that from about 6 in the morning I woke up till about half an hour after my race was over it was pouring rain. While a lot of riders forfeited their 28 dollars instead of reducing the surface area of their epidermis, I bravely saddled up for the 70 or so minute swim around lakefront Sanford. Remarkably, there were alot of people who cornered worse then me, and I didn't have much of a problem getting to and riding on the front (except when it actually mattered at the end of the race). I did, however, have a problem with team Herbalife, who has decided this year to sign just about every bike racer in the state of Florida, resulting in nothing short of ridiculous domination. To make a long story short I ended up about 14th place.
There's not much to say about Lake Mary, mostly that junior gears suck on tailwind finishing straights.
Now for the much more thrilling Georgia Cup race in Albany, GA, a city that despite being larger than Gainesville, I've never heard of in my life. The two day three day format is usually better suited for an omnium, but the race organizers decided it would be much for fun to see everyone battle it out for 2 second time bonuses and made it a stage race. Anyways there was a 3.3k prologue, 60 min crit, and an 85 mile road race. I had a decent ride in the TT, less than 20 seconds down on the leader and I felt I could have pulled off much better. It was particularly impressive considering I missed my start time by about a minute or so, but luckily the transponders didn't seem to care and I got my normal time (or I'm really just that fast). I figure the fact that I had to pass a guy in the first 15 seconds cost me a place in the top 20. As for the crit, it was my worst performance of the weekend. Instead of being aggressive in the first few laps and working my way up, I got stuck at the back and spent my time just trying not to get dropped as I dealt with the exponentially increasing degree of difficulty as I slipped farther back. I consoled myself a little bit considering that I haven't had much practice in 8 turn crits with big fields and that there were a couple professionals attacking up front, but this type of racing defiantly need some work on my part.
As for the road race, it was probably the highest result I've had in a field that had a few big names (certainly more than the local Florida competition). I started out the day in near the back of the field, chatting with some friends while the group let a couple of guys get off in an early move. Being a little envious and wanting to get some fresh air, I half-jokingly remarked that I should go make a move myself. To my surprise I suggested that it wouldn't be a half bad idea, so I did something uncharacteristic of my wimpy riding style and moved up the sketchy shoulder on the right. I made a quick move and got a little ego boost when I was pulled back in by a Jittery Joe's rider. A couple more attacks followed, and I ended up riding up alone to another group of two. Feeling sore in the legs from they day before, I wondered what kind of suffering was in story if I was starting the day like this. The two up the road waited for me to bridge and we started working gradually to the lead couple even further up the road. With the leaders in sight, one of my companions broke a shift cable and for some reason didn't want to ride in his 11 for 70 miles. The other member of my group followed suit, and I was left to bridge on my own. Once I finally reached the two on the front, a rider from Tri-Star and a 40+ master, our chances looked grim. The field had stepped it up a notch and an attack of the front had made them hungry for blood. Miraculously, they sat up within about 200 meters and the three of us made a last ditch effort to establish a gap. It paid off, and within no time the group was well out of sight. After about 10 miles a pack finally appeared in the distance, but this time it was much smaller. To my surprise and joy it was a group of about 11 guys rotating like a well oiled machine and captained by de facto leader Tim Henry of Jittery Joe's, who got this status not by merit of GC standings but by the amount of baby oil on his legs. Anyways we rotated smoothly for another lap and a half, pausing only briefly to watch somebody crash as they made an attempt to take musette bag in the feed zone. With about 15 miles to go rotation began to stagnate a bit as the sprinter types, confident that the 4 minute gap would hold, decided to endure the storm of curses hurled at them and wait it out for the last 200 meters. Whether it was because I'm just a sucker or I felt that one less man working would throw the group into a real funk I figured anything top-ten would be great and continued to work all the way toward the finish. In retrospect I think I missed a great move at 1k, but I managed 8th in the sprint. I took pride in being the only junior that far up the road (and the only one still wearing knee and arm warmers), and gladly had the officials roll out my bike. The gigantic gap I earned in the road race should give me top ten in the GC, so hopefully I'll be getting a check in the mail sometime soon.
Anyways, this weekend is Rouge Roubaix, so I'm sure I'll have something to say about that.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Valley of the Sun
Ok so this post is coming a little late, but if you haven't noticed
already I'm keeping a trend of posting one or two days later each week.
I'm not exactly sure why, but it has something to do with me being
really lazy. Anyways this past weekend was the Valley of the Sun stage
race, and the Metro Volkswagen team was well represented throughout
most of the categories. Being the first major race of the year and my
first chance to ride with my teammates, I raced juniors this past weekend. Anyways here's a recap of each event:
Time Trial: The time trial, despite my best efforts in the road race, was
pretty much the determining factor for this race. Being around 25k and
full of crosswinds, the course was not only longer than nationals but
one that would separate
the powerful riders from the week ones. Unfortunately it was a bad day
for me, as I was plagued by a couple of major issues. For one, my rear
disc pulled into the chain stay (not the first time I've done this),
and I had some issues with my legs. Overall I ended up 3:30 down off of
the GC leader.
Road Race: We had originally
planned for me to be leading the race by this point, and that I would
simply have to ride to protect my jersey and get my teammates up the
road. But after the issues in the time trial and what I think was and
underestimation of the strength of the other riders, our tactics for
this day shifted dramatically. I was now going for both a stage win and
the GC. What resulted was close enough, as I rode away solo to the stage win and put about 3 minutes on the field.
Crit: At the start of the criterium
i was 27 seconds down and it was decided that I would go for all or
nothing. After a couple of minutes to let things settle down I began to
attack relentlessly,
but the leaders were simply too motivated and the race was way too
short (25+5!) meaning there wasn't enough time to wear down the field
and slip off the front.
So what did I get out of Valley of the Sun? A stage win, a fourth place GC finish and some racing experience with my Texas based team mates. I guess the only thing that could've gone better would have been if I had put about 4 minutes on the field in the road race, but whatever.
Anyways this weekend will be the Sanford and Lake Mary crits, so I'll probably be coming back from Orlando with a urine-soaked chamois from my first real Pro 1/2 crits.
already I'm keeping a trend of posting one or two days later each week.
I'm not exactly sure why, but it has something to do with me being
really lazy. Anyways this past weekend was the Valley of the Sun stage
race, and the Metro Volkswagen team was well represented throughout
most of the categories. Being the first major race of the year and my
first chance to ride with my teammates, I raced juniors this past weekend. Anyways here's a recap of each event:
Time Trial: The time trial, despite my best efforts in the road race, was
pretty much the determining factor for this race. Being around 25k and
full of crosswinds, the course was not only longer than nationals but
one that would separate
the powerful riders from the week ones. Unfortunately it was a bad day
for me, as I was plagued by a couple of major issues. For one, my rear
disc pulled into the chain stay (not the first time I've done this),
and I had some issues with my legs. Overall I ended up 3:30 down off of
the GC leader.
Road Race: We had originally
planned for me to be leading the race by this point, and that I would
simply have to ride to protect my jersey and get my teammates up the
road. But after the issues in the time trial and what I think was and
underestimation of the strength of the other riders, our tactics for
this day shifted dramatically. I was now going for both a stage win and
the GC. What resulted was close enough, as I rode away solo to the stage win and put about 3 minutes on the field.
Crit: At the start of the criterium
i was 27 seconds down and it was decided that I would go for all or
nothing. After a couple of minutes to let things settle down I began to
attack relentlessly,
but the leaders were simply too motivated and the race was way too
short (25+5!) meaning there wasn't enough time to wear down the field
and slip off the front.
So what did I get out of Valley of the Sun? A stage win, a fourth place GC finish and some racing experience with my Texas based team mates. I guess the only thing that could've gone better would have been if I had put about 4 minutes on the field in the road race, but whatever.
Anyways this weekend will be the Sanford and Lake Mary crits, so I'll probably be coming back from Orlando with a urine-soaked chamois from my first real Pro 1/2 crits.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Team Camp and Beyond
So as of right now I'm in a random town in the middle of Texas, one that consists of a Flying J truck stop and a Days Inn, at which I'm staying. Nathan, Christian, Shannon, Rachel, Gordon and I are on are way to Pheonix for Valley of the Sun, taking along the team van and the accompianing gigantic trailer. The drive's about 15 hours or so, meaning that we'll be finishing the rest of it tommorrow. It'll be interesting to see how we keep ourselves entertained for the rest of the trip, considering that today I ended up singing along to The Police in the back seat in order to keep everyone awake, especially Nate so he didn't crash the van.
The past two days have kind of been down time between mounting tires and sleeping in late. The real excitement was this past weekend, the annual Metro Volkswagen team camp. It was awesome to meet all my new teammates, espcially the juniors, plus I made off with a duffel bag of clothes and a shiny new BH road bike. I got to ride with the team a few times, with us juniors heading out to the track on Friday to work on team pursuit. We then did a little paceline work on Saturday, and then had a lesson on team cohesion. Aside from riding, we took some spiffy team pictures at the Metro VW dealership.
Anyways Valley of the Sun starts Friday, so I'll have a race report after that's over.
Here's some pictures I stole from Shannon's Blog:
Parker Thompson participarting in a pre-photo ritual (my legs remained oil-free)
Me checking out the sweet new TT bike
The past two days have kind of been down time between mounting tires and sleeping in late. The real excitement was this past weekend, the annual Metro Volkswagen team camp. It was awesome to meet all my new teammates, espcially the juniors, plus I made off with a duffel bag of clothes and a shiny new BH road bike. I got to ride with the team a few times, with us juniors heading out to the track on Friday to work on team pursuit. We then did a little paceline work on Saturday, and then had a lesson on team cohesion. Aside from riding, we took some spiffy team pictures at the Metro VW dealership.
Anyways Valley of the Sun starts Friday, so I'll have a race report after that's over.
Here's some pictures I stole from Shannon's Blog:
Parker Thompson participarting in a pre-photo ritual (my legs remained oil-free)
Me checking out the sweet new TT bike
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
First Race of the Year
This weekend I offically participated in my first race of the year, the third installment of the "Bring it On" series. I continued my all or nothing streak in these races, finishing virtually last after a suicide attack on the last lap. I have to admit I was pretty scared in the first few laps, as i've been training pretty much by myself all winter and it was strange to ride in a pack again.
Sunday marked the annual running of the Battle of Olustee, not a civil war reenactment but a 120 mile ride/race. It was probably one of the strangest rides in recent history, though it was only my second, as thanks to confounding wind conditions the group stayed together despite the numerous attempts by individuals to break it up. This resulted in about 50 cyclist rolling down millhopper road, clogging up traffic and taking both lanes, which is always good fun. Personally I finished in the group, but I was happy enough just to finish the ride.
On thursday night i'll be leaving for team training camp in Texas, which is exciting becuase not only do i get to meet my teammates and get my stuff, but I also get to take a week off of schoo.l
Sunday marked the annual running of the Battle of Olustee, not a civil war reenactment but a 120 mile ride/race. It was probably one of the strangest rides in recent history, though it was only my second, as thanks to confounding wind conditions the group stayed together despite the numerous attempts by individuals to break it up. This resulted in about 50 cyclist rolling down millhopper road, clogging up traffic and taking both lanes, which is always good fun. Personally I finished in the group, but I was happy enough just to finish the ride.
On thursday night i'll be leaving for team training camp in Texas, which is exciting becuase not only do i get to meet my teammates and get my stuff, but I also get to take a week off of schoo.l
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The SAT: A recipe for fatigue
Yesterday I just completed a major stepping stone on the path to my collegiate career, and that's taking the SAT. After sitting an a lecture hall for four hours bubbling a scantron I have absolutely no idea how I did, but I know for sure that that test effectively incapacitated me for the rest of the day. This Saturday was the second installment of the local "Bring It On Races", and I once again missed out on getting to race, despite the fact that the test started at 8 and the race was at 2. Instead I just decided to roll around and look pretty while talking to everyone, all while pretending to actually be training, something that's not traditionally my style but I was so ridiculously fatigued that a could barely get my spandex on.
So already being a bit tired, I decided to make things better and ride nearly six hours today. It was actually a rather pleasant ride, with sunny weather and a tailwind back home. I can't say i feel more energized afterward, but I certainly feel better then yesterday. It's amazing how you can burn 3000 calories and ride 100 miles on a bike, yet still feel better then after taking a standardized test. As for next week the final training race will be augmented my the historic battle of Olustee, a ridiculously long ride/race that turned into bonkfest for me last year, so I'll be working on my eating strategies for the next week to get prepared.
So already being a bit tired, I decided to make things better and ride nearly six hours today. It was actually a rather pleasant ride, with sunny weather and a tailwind back home. I can't say i feel more energized afterward, but I certainly feel better then yesterday. It's amazing how you can burn 3000 calories and ride 100 miles on a bike, yet still feel better then after taking a standardized test. As for next week the final training race will be augmented my the historic battle of Olustee, a ridiculously long ride/race that turned into bonkfest for me last year, so I'll be working on my eating strategies for the next week to get prepared.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A little bit about myself
My name is Mike Niemi, and I'm a junior at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida. As a competitve road cyclist, I'm keeping this blog to keep the world updated on my life as I train and race to achieve my goals as a junior cyclist.
Though I've only been racing for about 1.5 years now, i've become quicky enthralled with the sport. Just last year I was racing cat 5 with a vintage steel frame bike, and I had no idea that within a few months I would be earning a stars and stripes jersey for my time trial at junior nationals. This year I'm riding for the FCS Cycling/Metro Volkswagen team, based out of Dallas, TX. Between Pro 1/2 crits and junior nationals for the road and track, my team and I are going to take on some tough challenges that I look forward to with both anticipation and anxiety.
As of right now, I'm in the middle of doing some base miles to get ready for the early racing season. I took a week or two off over winter break to go skiing, and now i'm paying for it by having to rebuild my aerobic base. In a couple of weeks I'll be doing my first race of the year in the form of our local "Bring it On" crits. These are a a series of three training races held in alachua every year that used to be put on by local hotshot "Dangerous" Dan Larson, but have been recently been taken over by the guys at the local Cycle Logic team. Hopefully I'll have a good race report to provide in couple of weeks.
That's it for my first post,
~mike
Though I've only been racing for about 1.5 years now, i've become quicky enthralled with the sport. Just last year I was racing cat 5 with a vintage steel frame bike, and I had no idea that within a few months I would be earning a stars and stripes jersey for my time trial at junior nationals. This year I'm riding for the FCS Cycling/Metro Volkswagen team, based out of Dallas, TX. Between Pro 1/2 crits and junior nationals for the road and track, my team and I are going to take on some tough challenges that I look forward to with both anticipation and anxiety.
As of right now, I'm in the middle of doing some base miles to get ready for the early racing season. I took a week or two off over winter break to go skiing, and now i'm paying for it by having to rebuild my aerobic base. In a couple of weeks I'll be doing my first race of the year in the form of our local "Bring it On" crits. These are a a series of three training races held in alachua every year that used to be put on by local hotshot "Dangerous" Dan Larson, but have been recently been taken over by the guys at the local Cycle Logic team. Hopefully I'll have a good race report to provide in couple of weeks.
That's it for my first post,
~mike
Monday, January 7, 2008
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