Not Biking Season Is Going Fast

This "not biking season" that most people call the "off season" is going really fast. That's good because we have had what seems like a ton of snow the last 2 months and a ton of just normal cold weather and little sunshine. That is really miserable generally for me but since I knew Id' be undertaking this home remodel I really haven't cared at all what the weather has been like since I've been inside working like mad. We'll, the shoveling out at two houses has not been fun, I have left work many times and shoveled out one house till 1am and then up in the morning to shovel out the 2nd. I've considered it my cross training for the winter. I also consider it endurance training since a good night sleep is now about 6.5hrs and a normal day is from 8am-12:30pm at the house and at work, some nights I head back over to finish sanding or painting something too so it's ready to go in the morning again. I've been running it tight but that's only so I can be done by the time we have a little more daylight and warm weather, cold riding isn't fun anyway and I've done my fairshare over the years
This month has all been about the kitchen. My mom saw the panic in my eyes and started donating her time to the painting which has freed me up dramatically

old kitchen

late night working

new configuration

working on contertops this weekend

timeout for some ice skating in the backyard

timeout for tunnel digging in the backyard

Mom getting it done and donating her skills and time - huge thanks

22 gallons of paint and counting to cover up 100yrs of this old house,
it's back to life now

4" of snow became 12" overnight, more tunnel digging.

I just love where this came from



to where it was going...

to the final result

Next on the list is some hardwood floor refinishing and then some warm weather for touching up the outside. See, if it was warm out I'd be panicking right now, but since it's still 17 degrees out when I wake up I just write it off as another painful winter ride I'm skipping and head over the house guilt free.

It's been about 10 years since I have taken this much time off of any sort of exercise for this amount of time. What I am saying is, I'm at a 10 year low in fitness. The good news is I rode my bike to work today ( 4 minutes) and I made it in the same time (4 minutes) that it always takes so I guess I'm doing ok and haven't lost it all yet.
After the season ends I always want to just take a break and not think about doing anything. The problem is, since racing and training is my 2nd job, having an off season is really just eliminating one of them and it really doesn't feel like much of a break, or vacation, I just have a few extra hours in the morning before work. If I didn't have a real job, I might be more motivated to keep up some sort of fitness, but mentally I'm just done for a while and just need a break, or I guess 1/2 break.

So, to fill the extra hours I have I started a house remodel. It's more exhausting than training but I've set an aggresive timeline and am trying to stick to it. I'm not in construction, but I like to learn and I like take on things like this (well, I've never taken anything on like this before) and work my way through it. Last fall we had the oppurtunity to buy a house and I'm finally converting it to a rental now that I have some extra time. The nice part is that there is nothing major that needs work, but a ton of smaller projects and mostly general neglect and repare. It's eye opening sometimes to see what some peoples standards are compared to  what we are used to. I wonder how long they lived there with the electrical messed up in the living room and no lights?


took a bit to figure this one out but it was nice to find an explanation as to the reason for the hole in the upstairs closet floor with random wires nutted together. Unfortunately for them they didn't know what wires were supposed to be together.

I've pretty much been working at the house 9-2 and then going to work, but I feel I'm getting over the hump of the major projects and then I'll be able to back off and get some workouts in besides just crawling around on my knees all day.
Major projects completed are pulling all the knob and tube electrical out of the upstairs and climbing around on planks in the attic dropping new electrical and adding outlets to all the rooms, 100 yr old homes only have 1 per room and now all 3 upstairs bedrooms have 3 and I inhaled 3lbs of insulation!
We completely gutted a gross, awkward bathroom to a clean and usable one.

pure nasty, plastic pink tile
 

not a plumber I guess, or even close

the new bathroom, lots of plumbing changes
 

We added two walk in closets to the master bedroom and new windows.

I also cleaned, scrubbed and painted the entire basement, that was one of those jobs that made a huge change with very little cost and actually not much time.

jamie getting her paint on

Painted the entire 2nd floor and I just completed and updated the 2nd floor railing/banister.
This weekend I'll finish tearing out the kitchen and start putting in a new floor and then work on new cabinets and a new layout.
Still up are refinishing some hardwood flooring, a couple more windows, 1/2 bathroom update and then some outside work when the weather warms up.

It's been a ton of work, but also at the same time not that much considering what we have accomplished and that most of the jobs I can complete in a day or two and feel like I'm making good progress. Of course the bathroom took a good week, but I had my brother-in-law come up and he did a majority of the construction/plumbing/installation work so that was a big help.

Keeping J out of trouble and paint

So, I feel a little guilty for taking 5 weeks off the bike/skiis, but I feel pretty good about what I accomplished and having a rental house will hopefully be a great investment down the road and worth the effort. The weather has generally been to crummy for anything else anyway so why suffer through it?

Ellie is a HUGE help pulling the tap measure in and out
 

the last project upstairs to complete, got this one done just before work today.

I bet the time it took to build this...

...was the same amount of time it took to build this

Nationals

ridiculous course conditions, 

It's been a rough start to the off-season so far this year, came down with the Flu Tuesday night and was laid out in bed until Saturday morning, it was awful. Luckily, it was just a massive headache, aches,chills, and sweats but none of the other unpleasant flu stuff which was good. None the less I had some time to go over my race from last Sunday and have a lot to be happy with and a lot to take away from it.

6" wide course

 Things came together good in Verona for me. The speed I was missing in Chicago the week prior was there and it was a good feeling. Mid-week I went out motorpacing for an hour just to keep the leg speed up and maybe this is what I had been missing the previous weeks leading up to Chicago, I don't know, but I sure felt much much better on Sunday.

I haven't heard or seen anyone really talking about course conditions at nationals for the Sunday races after the fact but that course was horrible to race on. The layout is good, but the frozen ruts was extremely dangerous and just silly, the course was essentially 6" wide the whole way around. It was bad, the worst I have raced on. If that happens in Louisville, I predict the Euro's don't start. Anyway, all that said, the conditions suited me pretty well if that makes sense. I think if it hadn't been slippery on top it would have been a little different, but it was so slick out there it reduced the horsepower of most riders and that is always good for me and benefits those can ride smooth and stay upright.

So things were clicking good for me on sunday, I had a perfect setup at the OPtum trailer, I warmed up and knew I had good legs, I was warm and stayed warm while at the start line and I was feeling confident and optimistic that I could pull off a good ride. I had a great start and first lap, somewhere inside the top 10 and I rode most of the lap behind J Powers. I was smooth and confident and it was strange because riding behind Jeremy I could tell he was struggling a bit with the conditions. Of course, he straight away rode away from on the road section but I was ok riding my own pace and I new consistent lap times and staying up would be the way to race for me. Gaps opened up huge on the first couple laps, I was riding near the top 10 going back and forth with Troy Wells and Isaac Neff who was having a great ride but then I started to struggle clipping in to my pedals. It got progressively worse to the point where after seems like an eternity to finally get them in, one would just snap out anywhere in my pedal stroke sending my foot flying off in all directions. Apparently Ice was building up so thick and heavy on my shoe sole my cleat just disappeared from under my shoe. I was battling with those guys pretty good and it didn't occur to me it was my shoe that was the issue and not my pedals so I kept taking bikes but the issue was still there.

where all my problems started
that is solid ice under there

I basically rode the last 3 laps without being able to clip in at all and without any control of keeping my feet on the pedals. I couldn't get up the hills because I couldn't pull the pedal around and I couldn't keep my pressure foot on the pedal pushing down. Hindsight I should have stopped in the pits and hacked out the ice, but like I  said, it never occurred to me how bad the bottom of my shoe was or could be and in the heat of the race, thinking of stopping in the middle of a race just didn't pop up in my head. I probably could have saved maybe a 12th or 13th place, I thought maybe I could have ridden with Troy inside the top 10 but that is hard to say, it's easy after a race to say you could have done better than you did. Regardless, it was disappointing to put together a good race and have some ice on my shoes screw things up for me.

riding with troy, Isaac following

So, with Nationals behind me and obviously no selection to Worlds my season is over and I've got some downtime to think about things and look forward to taking what I've learned this year and carry it into next season. It was awesome having OPtum as a sponsor with all the added support they provided and I really have to thank them for making things significantly easier for me both on and off the bike so huge thanks to them.

Hopefully 2013 will bring some new races and good results and I'm looking forward to it.

Year End

20" of snow in Wisco right now

It's been quite a while since the last update, been quiet a while since the last race too. There hasn't been too much really going on in the excitement department to talk about really. The last races in Bend were 3 weeks ago and it almost feels like last season. I'm still not excited about this huge gap in time between the end of racing and nationals. If there were some good races it would be one thing, but really all I've seen are a few random local races around the country in warm climates and that leaves the rest of us out with not much to do.

2012 most painful ride = frozen
 

I will say that after 3+ weeks of not racing I am feeling anxious to go and that is a good thing. We got a ton of snow here about two weeks ago, and the temps have been in the mid 20s ever since with a few more days of 3-4" accumulations so it was more or less mandatory trainer time. The one day I tried to go out it started snowing and after 20 minutes the roads got wet and an hour later I rolled up the driveway completely soaked and frozen. Undressed, redressed and back on the trainer for the remainder of the workout. Usually I ride the trainer 1-2 months in February/March as I am getting into shape so it's a bit painful, but riding it in December after 8 months of riding is a different feeling. I am good at riding the trainer and I do it enough each season to have a good routine. I got right back in this rythm when it snowed and now 3 weeks later I am feeling some good effects of my scripted workouts which basically include some for of warm up, interval, tempo, and cooldown. It makes 2hrs go by pretty fast and the last 4 days I have done 9hrs on the trainer without much problem. I seem to get some good sensations after a bunch of weeks on the trainer too so hopefully my fitness got a boost and maybe in Chicago this weekend I can blow things out a bit and get a little speed just in time for nationals. I guess without racing it's hard to know but at least I am not shattered like I was last year right now and I feeling better with each ride and not worse.

 

Did anyone catch this picture of Nys holding the prize check from a race earlier this winter? 12,500 euros is a ton of cash - there is a reason he is still racing at 36 if he is making this much bank each weekend. That is just prize $$$ too, on top of endoresments, startmoney and a paycheck - that is some serious money making for bike racing.

 

Has it been that long since I last updated? It doesn't seem like it but at the same time it feels like quite a while ago. The cross season is a bit weird because it always seems like it's packed into such a small amount of time but then as the season nears the end we have these large gaps built in and it's hard to adjust.

I think the last time I updated was before Jingle Cross so we'll step back to there for a quick review. I had a plan going in this year but it didn't really work out. Last year I raced all 3 days and it was a hard weekend with tons of riding in the slow mud. By Sunday I was cooked and didn't have a great race and at Jingle cross, Sunday is what counts. This year I decided I'd only race Saturday and hope for great legs and a great race Sunday. I'm usually better Sunday anyway plus with work and driving adding a 3rd day of racing for me is a struggle anyway. We'll, the plan worked ok, but it wasn't anything super special on Sunday so I probably should have made the extra effort and raced Friday night as well. Who knows. Both races went ok, I was 6th on Saturday and rode a majority of the race in the front group, but sunday's race I just didn't quite feel right and struggled a little bit. I wasn't riding my bike that great and having trouble on some of the corners and my legs weren't 100% like they normally are on the 2nd day. Still, I managed a 7th and that is ok. Jingle Cross is an awesome event and we are lucky to have it here in the Midwest.

pretty cool to see race director John Meehan
out cheering us on (white shirt)
 

So, with the season now about 2/3 over I had a chance to finally push the reset button a little, back off a few days, catch my breath, and then hit it pretty good the last two weeks. It seems like every year at this time my energy levels start going down and the same amount of sleep that worked 4 months ago is not enough anymore. There isn't much I can do about it since I can't add time to my day but I have to try and stay focused and motivated. Having the last two weeks to get some training and quality riding in should help to get me back in a routine and hopefully boost the fitness a bit and polish up again before USGP in Oregon next week. With about 6 weeks until nationals we still have quite a bit of time to go, but really for me only two more race weekends which is a little hard to deal with. It's unfortunate the National championships were moved to January, but that we'll only be able to race 1 time in December and 1 time the week before Nationals, that is a lot of time to have to train for two weekends of racing especially when you live in WI where the whether is bad and daylight is limited. It still doesn't make sense to me but it is what it is. I'm not sure if not racing is going to make me faster for nationals or not, sometimes training is good and sometimes racing is good. I just wish I wasn't watching all the east coasters score massive UCI points at all their local races while I sit at home and watch my start position move back each weekend. I guess I need to start a local series with UCI points if I am going to be on the 2nd row for nationals. Lets hope it doesn't get to that, but I might have to.

Ouch! The last couple of weeks have been painful. I don't know what is going on this year, but I've been sick more times in the last 2 months than I have been in the last 5 years combined. Not good. And it hasn't been like a cold or something small either, it's been two different rounds of flu type something, one round before Chequamegon that laid me out for 5 days, then a second round about a month ago, and now this last week some other type of virus. I couldn't figure out what happened at Iceman or Cincinnati two weeks ago until the drive home, that's where it all came together. Sinuses packed up, ears got sore, glands got swollen and sore. Yep, got taken out by another bug and had the aches and chills for a few days after Iceman. At least I wasn't left wondering why I was so empty at the races. I was pretty disappointed to perform so bad that weekend, it would not have been a weekend I would have picked if I could have but that is not the way it works.  And then finally to top it all I got a migraine at work Thursday last week and that thing took me out. I don't think I suffer as bad as some people do, if I catch it early enough and get some migraine medication I can usually just come away with a splitting sinus headache that lasts about 2 days. I managed it this time, but they whack out my system pretty good, I get super jittery when they start, and then I crash and feel wasted when they are done. I think some people get them a lot worse so I'm probably lucky.

Anyway, despite my mortality I managed to pull myself together enough to make it down to Louisville for USGP round 7-8 this last weekend. I was unsure I should go and Saturdays' race wasn't my best, but it didn't feel bad so Sunday I went for it and actually had a good solid race. Anytime I can be top 10 at a National level race like a USGP I am pretty content and Sunday I was able to finish 7th so I was pleased with that.
Now I just need to make it through this last weekend in Iowa at Jingle Cross and I'll be looking forward to a few weekends without traveling or racing. I think my body could use the rest and recovery and hopefully also get some training and fitness for the remainder of the season.

It was good to take the weekend off of racing, it  wasn't so good to have a mild case of the flu for a couple days last week. Ellie and Jamie had the flu while I was gone last weekend in Ft Collins and despite my best efforts to keep it away, there really isn't that much you can do to stay away. Probably my best effort was not to finish Ellie's meals or finish her milk, which always seems to be sitting on the table 1/2 gone, but when kids require you to do most things for them when they are 3, there isn't much you can stay away from them.

It wasn't totally out of the plan to go easy last week anyway though, I'd raced 8 times in the last 4 weeks so a bunch of days easy to recover was in order and having the flu mid-week didn't change that plan very much. That said, I was in partial denial the whole time I had it and rode maybe 45 minutes each day anyway, except for maybe the worst day when I was really achy and tired, but I still went to work and in my opinion, if I can't ride I shouldn't be at work either, but usually I don't have that option even though technically, at work, you are supposed to. It must not have been that bad of a bug in the end though and not nearly as bad as whatever layed me out for 5 days  about 6 weeks ago before Chequamegon. Or, maybe after that round it just made this one not seem near so bad.

This coming weekend starts another heavy month of racing. First I'm headed out for a quick weekend to Boulder for the races there. Then I'm really looking forward to heading over to MI in two weeks for the Iceman and also the plan is  still to get down to Cincinnati the following day for the big CX race there before heading home. Then Louisville USGP races follwing and Jingle cross to finish things off for November. Busy busy but mentally I feel really fresh and ready to go and that is good. I have prepared all season for these months and it's exciting looking forward to each event. Gordy has me on a steady good ramp the last few weeks and the results show it. Also having the travel support from Optum is making a difference, comign home and not cleaing and redoing bikes has been such a great benefit, I've actually had some time to think this year inbetween races vs. other years.

Ft Collins USGP Report

Optum Pro Cycling race report and photos

It was Optum Pro Cycling in full effect last weekend in Ft Collins at round #3 & 4 of the USGP. Full support staff, mechanics, the full mens team and also a full womans team meant a lot of racers and a lot of bikes in a small area. It was really fun to be a part of the team, it's not something I am use to, nor is having 3 tents and a mechanic on hand to hang out in. It really changes the feel at the races and we had probably the biggest pressence of any team at the race. You can click the link below the picture and read about it on Optum Pro Cycling.com

I had the best weekend of racing I have had in a long time and for sure this season. I'm not sure what it is, but I seem to race really well at altitude. I haven't figured out why, but I've had some of my top cross results ever both in Ft Collins last year and Boulder last year and this year was no different. The last few weeks I have been building and finishing stronger each week but this weekend I was going really well.

Saturday was really a good race for me. I was riding the HED Ardennes SL wheels with Griffo tires and it was a great setup for the course since the ground had that perfect hero dirt tackiness to it. The course also  has quite a bit more climbing to it than most courses, maybe that helps me a bit as well, but I was able to sit in the front group until about 1/2 way through the race and that was a great feeling.  It finally came down to Danny Summerhill (Chipotle), Ben Berden (Raleigh/Clement), and myself in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th with under 2 laps to go and I was pretty sure I'd be able to at least have a chance at a podium or worst maybe 5th place. Something went wrong with my front derailleur mid lap so I pitted and lost the group but was still ok, unfortunately the air valve on the rear wheel must of been leaking a tiny amount on my 2nd bike and when I got on it it maybe had 10psi in it. I rode a lap on it, but barely hanging on since it was washing all over in the corners, I lost a spot to Mitch Hoke and Geoff Kabush before I could get my A bike back the following lap. I ended up only 6 seconds back from 6th and 10 seconds back from Kabush so it was pretty disappointing to have bad luck with such a great result that close, but I'm pretty lucky to still manage 7th with all that going on and I think I can still build off that ride.

Sunday I had another good day. The course was much dryer and faster with a lot of groups forming during the race. I chased the front group maybe 5-10 seconds back all day and picked off riders as they came off one by one. I never quite made contact with the front group, but managed another top 10 with 8th on day 2 and I am pretty happy with that.

It was a great weekend to hang out with the team and meet some new people. We had a couple team dinners after the races and it was great to hear all the war stories the riders have from a full season of road racing. I think the big reason we all race is so we can all sit and talk about the races when we are done.

Next up is Boulder Cup. Till then I'll get in a couple days of rest, and then a good solid block of training again. Hopefully I can build off the last few weekends and start working on some top 5s!

Gloucester and Providence Reports

Photo: Niki Cyp

The last two weeks have been full tilt for me. Since USGP Madison I have spent as many days traveling and racing as I have at home and it seems like everything is happening way too quickly.
Following the weekend of USGP Madison I flew out to Boston for the Gran Prix of Gloucester (pronounced Glaaasta if you're fromt Baaaaston) and had a great time out there. We stayed in great place right on the coast in Rockville, MA, had some fish n chips and raced bikes in the sun and rain.
The fields this year have been a little bigger and a little more stacked and it seems like everyone has upped their game a little bit. The racing has been tight and I feel I am riding pretty good right now, but maybe not at my very best. I think normaly I would have finished a little better even riding how I am, but this year it seems like 3-4 guys I normally beat when I am good, are beating me 50% of the time and a few new guys are now competive too. I didn't have any huge results in Gloucester, but I did improve on my races from Madison quite a bit and my legs felt a lot faster and up to speed. I think I was 12th and 9th, probably raced better than those results but I'd rather be a little more aggresive and lose a spot or two than passive and just ride to the finish.

Following the 3 day trip to Gloucester I had a quick flight home and a full day of work on Monday which turns into a really long day. Not being able to get home and relax has been a bit tough, since by Tuesday I am already trying to plan out the following weekend but I still have dirty laundry from the last weekend. So, last week I had 3 days to turn around and fly back to Hartford, CT where I stayed with my CT host house Family and race the cyclocross race in Providence, RI Sat and Sun. I have been staying with the Pulvers since 2005 when I first stayed there during my east coast cross campaign of 2005 and 2006. That was also the first year CX nationals were in Providence and I think the first year I went to CX worlds. Anyway, I always have a great time with them and the racing went better as well. Saturday the course was tacky and fast. I had a decent start but never saw the front of the race. I ended up riding in the 2nd group the whole race which was fighting for 5th place. I made a pretty hard move with about 3 to go, but I wasn't able to break the group down any smaller and in the end it hurt me more than helped. I suffered a bit the last lap and ended up last in the group for 11th, but still my best C1 result this year.

Photo: Cyclingnews.com

Day 2 seems to go better and again this week it rained pretty good for about 3hrs leading up to the race so the course was super slick and technical. I felt totally comfortable letting the bike do what it wanted underneath me and eventually worked my way up to 5th. I was riding pretty comfortably with Ben Berden (Clement/Raleigh) when I pitted for a clean bike and that is a bit when things starting going backwards a bit. Bike #2 had too much air and Iwasn't comfortable on it at all. I switched back to bike #1 but lost Berden in the process and maybe a litle steam. Yannick Eckman caught me and I rode with him a lap but lost him as well. I should have pitted again but decided mentall I like the bike I was on despite it being super heavy and I rode it out the last 3 laps. I didn't really notice it but Driscoll was coming up on me the last lap pretty fast and I was still lugging my heavy bike around. He ended up getting me with about 300 meters to go and I ended up 8th. In hind sight I should have pitted more and kept taking light clean bikes, but mentally I kept thinking I liked how I felt on the bike I was riding and just stayed on it.

This coming weekend I am heading out for round 3&4 of the USGP in Ft Collins, CO. It's good that there is no races on my schedule the following week because as much as I love traveling and racing, I feel a little out of breath and need more than 3 days at home to reground myself, get in some decent rest and training, and spend some time with the girls. After that, it will be full tilt again for another few weeks, but cross season is short relatively and it will be over before you know it.

Cyclocross season started with a bang last weekend. Nothing like jumping in the deep end first race of the year to see how cold the water is. It was a big weekend for me with a lot to accomplish. I had my home bike for a couple weeks, but didn't have a chance to get on the race bikes really till race day. We worked on fits for about 2hrs before the races but that turned out not quite ideal, I'm pretty picky and particular and I just can't jump on a bike and feel comfortable on it without some time and tiny tweaks.

     

It was pretty awesome to have full support at the race and anyone there saw what that support entails. As the season goes on and a few more road racers are coming to the races we will fill in the tents nice and really appreciate the canopy when the weahter gets bad.

The new bieks and wheels are great. This last week I have felt really good and comfortable on them, sometimes it jsut takes those race efforts to break yourself and a bike in and feel good on it and I think I have it now.

The races themselves weren't exactly what I was looking for but looking back they were both ok results. I've had great results some years in Madison and I'm always looking for those, but they weren't in the legs the first day out. I realized I haven't raced in about 5 weeks other than Chequamegon and I was missing some top end snap and speed but considering the length of the season there is a long way to go and if having a bad day is 13th I'll take that.

This weekend I am flying to Boston for the Gloucester GP. I've been there a couple years in a row now and last year teh course was great. Jesse Anthony should be there to race with also so that will be fun to hear about his season.