hiatus

I have decided to take a hiatus from racing this summer. While I may do one or two races on the track this summer, I just need to focus on my own health and fitness before focusing on racing and winning races.

I have been having a rough spring and summer season, with losing a job I had, and having constant back pains for the last two months now. Trying to do stretches and light workouts in my bedroom to get past the back pains but right now nothing seems to be working. It could be something more serious that I've gone to a doctor for it, but right now I don't even have health insurance to get x-rays and stuff done. So for now I'm just trying to relax, I plan on getting back on the bike lightly pretty soon, and just take nice easy rides to see if that might help my back in any ways. I know from past experiences that riding the bike have helped my back and core get stronger, healing and previous back pains I have had and preventing further back pains. So hopefully that will be my only answer I need... to ride the bike!

So, for any of you readers that are racers in the Lehigh County and Berks County area. I wish you luck to any races you have this summer. You won't see much of me around.

Off the bandwagon

I have fallen off the bandwagon with cycling. My motivation just isn't there anymore. However I do plan to get back on it soon. Weather is getting pretty nice early this year, and my girlfriend wants me to race. So, I plan on doing just that.

I have retaken an old love of mine back in the fall, bowling. I used to bowl a lot growing up but I've lost touch with it during the college years. Last June I've met my girlfriend, now of 8-going-on-9 months. Turns out she loves to bowl and does so in leagues. I've gotten back into bowling because of her and now we bowl in a league together.

Enough of bowling, since this is a cycling blog. I might start up a new blog for that, but not sure.

I cannot believe I haven't updated this blog for almost 9 months. I don't have many readers but I hope to get back my previous readers and new ones soon.

That is it for tonight. I hope to post another one soon to update saying I am riding.

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season opening results

Today wasn't very good for me. Lack of training these last few months did it for me, sadly.

First race was a 2K (6 laps) scratch race. I actually finished the race but got second or third to last. I kept with the main pack until a two or three laps to go and then just dropped off. I was in an 86" gear (48x15) for this one, and I felt my cadence was too high and that caused me to drop off because I just wasn't getting any faster at one point.

Second race was a 3K (9 laps) point-a-lap race. for this one, I went up to 88" (49x15), which turned out to be a bad move. After the free lap, everyone just sprinted out of the fourth turn and I tried to keep up. I was able to for about a lap or so, but then because I was pushing harder to keep my speed with them, I spent my energy quicker than I expected to. I dropped out after 2 or 3 laps when I just couldn't push anymore.

Third race was a 3K Sprint Race, with a sprint lap at 6, 3 and 0 laps to go. This one, I decided to stay in 88" thinking it'd go just a little slower. I was kinda right, kinda wrong. I kept with the field for the first two laps, then someone attacked and the field broke up. Kept with one small pack for a little, but started dropping back cause they were pushing hard. I pulled up to take a second to think about it and then considered just dropping out. At about the time I was ready to get off the track, I saw the big field in front of me by about a half a lap was slowing down so I wanted to stay in and sprint hard to catch up to them. Unfortunately at this time, the race officials thought I was done and getting ready to leave that they blew the whistle and pointed to me as to say "you're done, get off now". I was kind of disappointed then.

Overall, my performance SUCKED. I did not enjoy it today and hope I will soon find the equilibrium between work and training. I really need to get back on the bike more often and SOON! Just work is kicking my @$$!!!

That is all for tonight. Next weekend R-Phils have home games so no racing. The following weekend I think it is just back to the track. Not sure if there are any local criterium or road races, but I'll update on that soon.

2010 season starts for me!

Today is the first day of Master's and Rookie's at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center (Trexlertown, PA). I'm excited, but also pretty nervous as I have not been on the bike much this last few months. Also, I've only been on the track bike once since the end of last year's track season (and that was about a month ago). So yeah, pretty nervous but I'm just going to give it all my best today. I won't be racing much this season due to my internship with the Reading Phillies. I've recently thought about just sticking with Track and not worrying about road or criterium races this season. but I'm sure I'll be motivated at some point to do some of my favorite races (i.e. Allentown Sportsfest and the Pottsville City Cycle 17).

Well, I'll post my results later today or early tomorrow.

Spring Time

This year, Spring means many things. The more important things are:

1) warmer weather
2) cycling season coming
3) BASEBALL!!!

Ok, so I never talked about baseball before, but it only matters this year to me because of my internship with the Reading Phillies (http://www.readingphillies.com). My cycling season is going to be light this year due to my internship with the R-Phils, as i am required to work all home games this year. Out of 16 total track races for me, most I can make would be 8 or 9 I believe. That's how drastically shorter my season will be compared to last year.

But yeah, I'm excited for both the Baseball season to be starting officially this week, and Cycling season is right around the corner. The Thursday Night Training Crits have started this past Thursday, but I will be making very few of those. Traffic from Reading to Trexlertown, PA is tough enough already, I just don't think I would have enough time to make it to the races and get a few laps in before the start. We'll see though.

Happy April!

Bummed out

Just had a reality check. The 2010 road and track season for me is going to be barely existence.

First, the track. According to the calendar on the velodrome's website (http://www.thevelodrome.com/) there will be a Master's and Rookies race every weekend between May 15th and September 4th. I am doing an internship with the Reading Phillies (AA Minor League affiliate of Philadelphia Phillies - rphils.com) and on weekends I only work if there is a home game. Well, that's about half of my summer weekends that I'll be working. 8 Saturdays I am not working this summer, but provided one or two weekends of vacation and other stuff that may come up, it's going to be between 5-7 races this weekend I'll be able to make up. Also can't forget weather, which has cancelled 2 or 3 races last season. The good thing that can come out of this is that I will start regularly training soon, and train hard, so I could kick it up to Category 4, maybe 3, by the end of those very few races I can make.

Road... Just like last year, Saturdays will be primarily for the track. However, if I can fit a road race with track racing on a Saturday, I will probably do that. Sundays, if there is a criterium I want to do it.

Seeing how limited even my training will be this year, I am going to focus on probably 90-95% track and not really focus on road training too much. Just like any other years, probably going to only do Criteriums if anything. I don't know how much of all-around training (hills, flats, track, downhills, etc) I could do with the time I won't have for training as I would if I didn't have this internship.

Welcome to the real world, Zach...

twenty-ten resolutions

Yes, I call it twenty-ten, I won't call it two-thousands ten.

I didn't get around to this until 4 days into the new years, but decided to write it tonight before heading to bed.

1) lose another 5-10 lbs by summer
2) get back into a regular training schedule by February
3) Upgrade to Cat 4 in Road and Cat 4 or 3 in Track
4) place top-15 in all of my road races. I simply just do not want to be lapped in criteriums anymore which will be quite an accomplishment for me this year compared to the last three seasons.
5) Buy new bikes (road, track, possibly cyclocross) and maybe upgrades for those bikes.
6) Give cyclocross a try in the fall.
7) Get more sponsors
8) Start riding 3+ hours on training days.

That's pretty much it for this year. Let's see if I can get all of them done. Happy New Year everyone!!!!

The year 2009

First off I'd like to talk about the coaching.

The plan that was written out for December was very good. The only thing that would have made it better is if I was actually out riding my bike just about every day I was prescribed to ride. Honestly, December was a busier-than-expected month for me, and I only got out at most twice a week this whole month. It was also very cold and windy in Eastern PA, and has snowed once, enough to cancel my riding for a few days.

On a brighter note for January, the start of 2010, I got a trainer, riser-block and mat for Christmas. A very nice, lightly used (on eBay) CycleOps Magnetic Trainer. I got it for a great deal (saved at least $100 from retail price of all three combined) and mainly it was because I knew it was going to be a bad winter. My prediction is correct so far. I don't know, maybe I've become a wimp when it comes to riding in the winter, because I used to never mind it. Now, I won't ride outside unless it's at least sunny outside, very little wind and 20+ degrees. I used to ride down to 10 degrees in any condition except icy roads obviously.

Now, as I've done in the past, I will reflect back to 2009 and my resolutions from last New Year's Day.

1) Top 9 at Rutger's Season Opener Time Trial for the ECCC collegiate season under the Men's D category.
Well, I did not get top 9 but I did have a decent trial.

2) Lose 10-15 lbs by mid summer
I didn't lose it by mid summer, but I did lose 12 lbs somewhere around August and September. Now I just have to concentrate on keeping it off this winter unlike last winter.

3) Start track racing and upgrade to category 4 by end of the season
I did start track racing and enjoyed it very much. However, I am not Cat 4 yet.

4) Place top 15 in all USCF races over the summer
Haha yeah, my motivation to RIDE the bike last summer was very little. I need to ride more. No I did not place top 15 in any races except 4th in a race of only 4 riders.

5) Category 4 in Road possibly?
Read #4 and you'll see this is a BIG no!

6) Upgrade bike components
Hm... the only thing I would consider an actual upgrade during the race season were the aero wheels I got for my track bike. For Christmas I did get a new Sigma computer from my older brother, pretty nice computer and now I have to choose between the Sigma and the Cateye currently installed.

7) Compete in at least 6 USCF races (Road races, crit, or TT)
Hm, most I can remember competing in are three races. No, make that four.

So those were my resolutions from last year. I did complete 2 of these and partials for some. However, I still have more work to do.

Tomorrow or Friday, I will post my 2010 resolutions. 2010 is going to be a great year for me, and not just in cycling but in my life, my officiating job, etc. I cannot wait to get 2010 started. Oh yeah, been pondering this question. Will 2010 be pronounced "two thousand ten" or "twenty-ten"? I like the second better. It's easier to say.

coaching... finally

So I did it. Today, I finally "signed" with a coach, my personal good friend and a great, professional cyclist Kim Geist (http://www.kimgeist.com/). Long time due, I was able to figure out what type of budget I should have for the next few months and decided to go with her coaching services on a consultation base. This will hopefully only be temporary, just until I start working in March at a paid internship. When I figure I can afford it, I'll go with the full-blown coaching service.

When Kim told me she was going to make a "business" out of her coaching, I knew I had to sign on with her asap. Why? While the both of us attended DeSales University and raced for the cycling team, she has done me and the rest of the team huge favors by giving us free training schedules, tips, words of wisdom, etc., and it has all helped me out big time. And yes, I did say free. Let's say Kim was just practicing for when she started doing this as pretty much a full time job after we graduated this past May.

Unfortunately, and understandably, she wasn't able to provide me or anyone else with free training schedules, but I have paid her several times over the summer to write me up 2 or 3 week plans. Each time I came out stronger than before. If she could do that to me in just a few weeks, I can only imagine what she could do for me from now until the spring when I start racing again for the 2010 Road and Track season. But, like my momma always said, don't count your chickens before they hatch.

On a last note, Kim will be using TrainingPeaks for all of my training schedule. It's an interesting web application/program, as I was just getting myself familiar with it. The free account stuff is good for me for now, but I may eventually upgrade to the Premium.

So, I'll let you know how the coaching comes through in a few weeks! Until then, enjoy your Thanksgiving Day leftovers!

It's Late!

Well, as I did the last two years, I wanted to post my end-of-season rankings. However, being Category 5 at the end of the year it is kind of not accurate to what I was at the official end of the season. By this time, many Cat 5 who are better than me would have upgraded to Category 4, pushing me up to a better ranking than I really am. I did have a decent season though, having once reached top 120 in the nation, and top 20 in the state if I remember correctly. That is on account of placing 4th out of 4 riders in a race that I did pretty well in compared to the other riders in my category. So, let it be known that my official ranking does not reflect my actual capability.

I got big plans for 2010. By the end of this month I will be meeting with a friend of mine, professional cyclist Kim Geist at http://www.kimgeist.com, which we will be discussing coaching. I've pushed off coaching for too long and it shows in my racing results. While I may be a smart cyclist, I'm not a very strong one and without the strength needed, I'm not winning races. Now is the time to start coaching and training for the 2010 season to start somewhere around April or May. I also want a coach so I have a schedule to follow and it will "force" me out to ride. I haven't ridden much in the last 2 or 3 months. At most, I'd say I was on my bike 10 days out of the last few months, which is pretty sad, despite a scheduled 3 weeks break in August/September.

So, this is it for now. I will update about my coaching once I get that set away and started by the end of the month. 2010 shall be a great year for me, and I will reach Category 4 by the end of the season in both road and track!

Should have raced

Looking at the results from last week's criterium, I probably should have raced. Even if I finished last place, I would have still gotten some points to give me a better ranking. There were only 11 racers, and some didn't get points, I'm assuming those are the citizen riders, not license holders. But whatever, I'm 112th out of more than 2500 riders, which is still pretty damn good. Yeah, I know, I just got lucky with the one criterium where only 4 riders were present, and I got 4th.

So, just as I do every year, I will be posting my official, end-of-season rankings within the next few weeks. I don't believe there are any more big races left in Pennsylvania, or in the NE region of the US, so my rankings should be pretty much set, give or take a few places by the end of the year. Even though some would tell me to upgrade to Cat 4 with a ranking of 112th, I am just not ready yet. This winter I hope to get very serious, more serious than ever, with my cycling. I hope to hire my good friend, Kimberly Geist, as a coach within the next few months, and just start cracking down with a good training program that will get me better.

2010 is going to be a good year for me in a lot of aspects. I hope to get a job sometimes soon or within the year 2010 and I should be able to upgrade to Cat 4 rightfully (as in, upgrading and not then just getting last in all Cat 4 races). There are a few other stuff I hope to achieve in 2010, but those will just put you to sleep if I type them out.

Anyways, I'm currently on a 2-3 week break from cycling. I've felt lately no motivation to riding, but just laying around and doing nothing but watch TV and play video games all day. So, I'm going to do just that for the next two weeks. I also officiate soccer on the side, doing high school games during the week and youth games on the weekend, so I'll get my physical activity through that. I've also taken up jogging, starting on Friday, but I doubt that'll last once I get back into riding. Need to run more though...

Until my next post, enjoy life!

Official End of 2009 Season

Well, this morning I happened to wake up between 2 and 3 AM for whatever reason. I was thinking, I'm up now, I might as well go to the Yuasa Right from the Start criterium in Laureldale, PA. I got on the computer, played some games for a little, then at about 5:00 I started getting ready. My mind was not well rested though, apparently, and had the timing of my preparation and leaving for the race all messed up.

Race starts at 8:00, and I usually like to get to the course at least an hour ahead of time, more preferably an hour and a half. So this would add up to arriving sometimes between 6:30 and 7. I had that figured out earlier, but I didn't figure out what time I should leave by (which would have been 5:45ish). Then a little later I was thinking about it and thought "ok, I need to leave no later than 6:45", totally forgetting that I needed to ARRIVE at about that time. I get into the car at about 6:45 and head out. I turned around about 2 miles into my drive realizing that I was going to be late and may risk missing the race. Good thing I didn't pre-register, or that would have been $20 I lost for good.

Yes, I probably could have still gotten there by about 7:30. However, I have a strict pattern of getting ready for a race and I would have had to skip several steps, including a good warm up, in order to race.

So, having said this, my race season is officially over for 2009. I would like to give one last shout out for my only personal sponsor, Tooks International, the maker of Tooks Hats. The website again is http://www.tookshats.com/ I will have a Sponsors list to the right eventually, once I clean up all the crap all the way over there. Some things are outdated obviously.

Have a good Sunday everyone, and a good week!

My season is soon over

Tomorrow (Saturday) I am hoping to race at the track for the last race of the track season. I got my goods from my sponsor, Tooks Hats http://www.tookshats.com which includes the Tooks Classic beanie, some stickers I have placed on my wheels and bike, and a Tooks shirt to wear before, in between and after races (as term of my contract). I have mentally prepared myself (and still am) for tomorrow races, but the weather god must not be looking in my direction right now. Looks like rain for most of the day at 50% or more chance. I will be really disappointed if it does rain and the track racing gets cancelled and not postponed. I gotta think positive though, as that has worked in the past regarding races. Days that looked like rain (even up to 90% chance) would turn around and be a decent to sunny day after all.

Then, on Sunday, is a big day in Reading, PA. They got a carnival-like gig set up for the day around the race course (which is a criterium by the way). So a lot of people should be there, maybe even the news (from rumors) will be there. This will be a big race for me, as I try to keep my 4th place in state and 105th in nation standing. If I do well, who knows, I could pop up to 2nd or 3rd in state and top 100 in nation (how awesome would THAT be?!). I'll have to put that in a cycling resume I plan to start up soon.

So, pray for no rain tomorrow until after 3:00. What the heck, ask for no rain until Sunday afternoon haha. I can't wait to wake up in the morning to see what the weather is looking like tomorrow.

Tooks Hats

So, I ordered one of the hats from my sponsor, Tooks Hats. It came on Friday and I haven't really had much of a chance to try them out, mainly because I don't have an MP3 player anymore after my last one decided it didn't want to charge batteries anymore. I gotta order one soon to try out, I think I'll just get a cheap 2gb MP3 player just to last me a few months until I can afford a better one.

The hat I ordered was the Tooks Classic Beanie in black. I have it plugged into my computer now as I type this and jam to some DMX, Eminem, and other Hip-Hop/Rap music. With the surprising loudness as I hear it, I thought it was too loud that people around me would hear when I'd wear this in public or whatever. However, when I took the hat it was almost no sound when I had the computer music turned up to the loudest. Just like headphones or earphones, no one around you can really hear it unless they are really paying attention and you have it on the loudest volume setting. I wouldn't suggest having this on the loudest when riding or running as you'd still need to hear traffic around you, but I think this would be safe enough at a lower volume for riding. I don't know this yet, and won't get the chance to do that until I get a portable media device (i.e. MP3 player). I will probably be ordering the skully soon as well, since I could use that under my helmet to keep my head cool in the summer and warm in the winter. This will certainly keep me entertained on long, boring training rides!

Off topic: a few hours ago I discovered on the www.usacycling.com website that I am ranked 108th in the nation for Category 5 Criterium racers, and 4th in the State of Pennsylvania. I have some other of my rankings, including age groups and total riders, to the right of this blog post. Check it out!

Weekend race report and my new profession

This weekend was the Vortex Cycling Club hosted race weekend. Yesterday was the Criterium that was different than last year's criterium, and much more of a criterium than in previous years. Today was the Circuit Race, which was the criterium in previous years. The Criterium yesterday was cut down from 30 to 20 laps because of the races already falling behind before the start of the first race, our Cat 5. I hate how they always target the Cat 5 races for cutting down. The Circuit race today was it's usual 10.3 miles, 8 lap circuit.

Before Saturday, I was the only rider pre-registered for the Cat 5. Right now I wish I was the only rider to show up haha. Just so happened we had 4 riders total, meaning only ONE was not getting any medal. And that one happened to be me unfortunately. Two other riders were Vortex teammates of mine, and the other guy was a Guys Cycling rider who I knew from track racing this season.

If you did the math, that means I got 4th place out of 4 riders. However, it did come down to a semi-sprint finish at the end among the four of us, almost. First off, I got dropped at one point because the Guys Cycling rider (Anthony is his name) attacked on the one lap just to speed up the race a little. That was totally unexpected and those three riders rode together for several laps until I was able to catch up. At one point I think I was more than 1/4 a lap behind them. They slowed down after the first preme lap and I was able to catch them. The next preme I made sure I wasn't going to get dropped again, so with no intention of going for the preme I just stayed on a wheel that whole lap.

With two laps to go I was in the front pulling everyone... it was now or never for me. coming into the third turn I looked back and saw that I was ahead of the other three by about 5 yards. I decided to attack coming out of the third turn up the slight elevation and go for the Gold. Well, when I started attacking one of my teammates got right on my wheel, pulling everyone else with him. Coming out of the 4th turn towards the start/finish line, everyone started sprinting on the last lap and I tried my best to stay with them. One of my teammates and the Guys Cycling got off the front, and I was with the other teammate until the hill where he just started sprinting. Now, I should say, my teammates were Juniors, probably 13 and 14ish, and like 100 lbs. The teammate that I was with got away from me and I tried to counter it by cranking hard in a bigger gear to catch up and pass. It did not work, and I came through the finish line 4th and last.

The circuit race went pretty much the same as last year, but this time about half the field than last year. We only had 10 riders (last year, 21 or so). Right on the first lap I got dropped on the limb and just decided to ride and not really race. I had a guy behind me, but he was behind by a good distance so I just made sure I kept my distance, but not push too hard and kill my legs because I had to run later in the day while ref'ing soccer matches. After getting lapped twice, I crossed the line in 9th place.

Overall, it really wasn't a rewarding weekend for me. I mean, the rain from Friday into Saturday and the coldness (60s) Saturday morning caused many riders not wanting to show up and race, and caused the other riders in the field to go slower. If this had been a sunny day with the four of us, I possibly would have gotten lapped.

As for my new profession... I was asked to do the announcements and stuff during the races, and turns out I'm pretty good at it. I got a lot of compliments from people, saying I made the races more interesting to watch.

Announcing New Sponsor

Tooks International
HTTP://WWW.TOOKSHATS.COM/

About Tooks Hats: (taken directly from their website)
Tooks were born in the spirit of winter sports but can be used for just about any activity. Whether you're out walking, jogging, biking, snow riding, or just hanging around the house, Tooks make the perfect companion to your MP3 or other favorite media player.

This company had offered me a sponsorship a few days ago after seeing an online profile of mine. After viewing their products and debating about it, I've finally decided to sign the contract of sponsorship earlier this afternoon.

I plan on getting making my first purchase soon. Once I get the product, I am required to make a product review (as a term of the contract) so I will let you readers know what I think of the product!

I particularly became interested in their Sportec Skully, which will fit easily under the helmet and keep the sweat from my face and the sun from giving me helmet tan-lines (as I like to call it). And, with the removable headphones, I can use the Skully during races where I wouldn't be allowed to listen to music.

Great Track Racing Day, Horrible Weather!

My recent post mentioned the death of our dog, Wizard. Today, I decided to wear his collar in his honor and in memorial of him. I felt his presence around me all day, and that really made me better and ready to race today.

We had rain this morning, but the rain stopped and the track dried up in time for the racing, despite being started 15 minutes late. Not a whole lot of people showed up, and I was wondering what the track officials were going to do about that. My category, Men's 5, was not combined with any other races, but the second and third races were shortened a few laps since we only had like 8 or 9 in our field. Some of the other categories were combined since they didn't have as many showing up.

My first race was a 2K (6 laps) Scratch Race as scheduled. Just a normal race, nothing special, I was in my 88" gear (49x15) which was a good gear to be in. I raced this very strategically and it paid off. I got 4th place!

The second race was supposed to be a 3K (9 laps) Point-a-Lap race, so I went down to my 86" gear (48x15). However, they changed it to a 2K Points-a-Lap which I did not like at all for two reasons. First, there's not enough laps to really benefit from being cross the start/finish line first of each lap since you only get one point per lap, and two, I wish they had told us earlier so I could have stayed in my 88" gear. Anyways, I tried to go for the first lap's point, but when I realized who I was dealing with while in my smaller gear, I sat in and just rode with them. The first three guys got away, and I rode with this young kid, probably mid-teens, until the last lap where I just took off and left him behind. I was 4th across the finish line, but when the points were added, I got 1 point which gave me 5th place points-wise.

The third race was supposed to be a 4K (12 laps) points race, with sprint laps every 4 laps. They shortened that to 3K points race with a sprint every 3 laps. Now my 86" gear was good for this race. Still, there were stronger guys in bigger gears so I tried to sit in as much as I can. With a few laps to go, I was in 5th and on my own, and saw the same young kid ahead of me probably 15-20 yards. With these last few laps, I caught up to him and just barely beat him in a final lap sprint with a bike throw (which is when you use your legs and arms to "push/throw" the bike forward).

Now, at this point I'm usually done. However, with the advantage I had of a smaller field and getting some points, I qualified for the Featured race. After a small intermission, I got back onto the track ready for this one. The featured race combines the Men's 5 and Women's 4 in the B race, and the Men's 4 and Masters in the A race. The B race was first, so there were about 12 or 13 of us lined up with the combined Women and Men field. Instead of the scheduled 24 laps scratch race, they changed it to a Power Sprint Elimination race. What this is is that the race starts with a neutral lap, then when the gun goes off out of the 4th turn, the next lap starts the elimination process. The last person to cross the finish line of each lap is eliminated from the race. This goes on until 5 riders left, which then the lap count is 5 to go. Keeping positive and strong, I made sure I was in the front the whole time through the elimination laps, which I was pretty much the first or second guy to cross the finish line just about every lap. Once the last person was eliminated and 5 left, the actual scratch race started. There were 3 guys and 2 girls left. One guy and one girl went off the front, and I rode with the other girl and guy left in the field with me. With two laps to go, I started sprinting and then realized that the other girl was in front of me by a quarter of a lap. I sprinted all out to try and catch her, but I didn't start my effort soon enough and she was able to beat me out by 10-15 yards for 2nd, while I got 3rd.

The President of the cycling club team I'm on told me "just 10 seconds earlier and you would have caught up to her and gotten 2nd". Geez, thanks for THAT comment haha.

This was a great day, and not only because I raced well, but I felt I was able to honor Wizard in a great and respectable way, placing top 5 in all of my races. I don't know yet if I'm ready to go up to Cat 4, I'll see how I'm feeling these next few weeks I have off from track racing. I only have one more race that I can make at this time, but I'm trying to open my schedule up for the next race, Sept. 5th. If that doesn't happen, then I will be able to make the final race of the season on the 12th.

Sorry for the long post, but it was such a great day for me. Thanks for reading if you made it this far haha.

RIP Wizard

I didn't think I would have a post like this so soon after my cat died last summer... Wizard, our small-size dog, was killed today after being struck by a car while loose from the house. He was a strange dog, but definitely a joy to have in our lives and home. We only brought him into our home about a year and several months ago. His life, although short-lived, was full of excitement and fun. He will be greatly missed.

Track Racing

Today I was in Trexlertown again for another day of track racing. Today on the menu was a 2K scratch, 4K points race, and another of my absolute unfavorite race that I hate so much, the Unknown Distance race. Today turned out to be a weird day.

In the first race, the 2K scratch race (6 laps) I was in the field for most of the race until the last lap and a half when I finished behind the lead field by about a half a lap I believe. There were some guys behind me but I couldn't tell you exactly where I finished. I was in my 49x15 for this race (gear ratio) which comes out to be about an 88" inch gear (how far the bike will go in one full pedal rotation). This is all track cycling talk.

For the 4K sprints race (12 laps), there was a sprint lap every 4 laps (8 to go, 4 to go, final lap) which I knew would make this a faster race. I went down to my 48x15 (86") to give it a try. I tried to keep up and was doing a good job until 4 or 5 laps to go when I started dropping back. I got lapped with 2 laps to go, and I pulled out only finishing all but one lap.

Now, for my most hated race, the Unknown Distance... This is where the "weird day" part comes in. As you may remember in my previous posts, I hate this race because you have to really use your ears in this one to listen for the bell to mark when we have one lap to go. I did pretty well keeping up with the lead field, which after a few laps went down to probably 10 or 11 of us. I was leading the field for a lap, and then pulled off to get back into the field and sit in. This turned out to be a good move at the right time, but I ended up getting in the far back of the lead field instead of in the middle where I wanted to. It would have been more perfect if I accomplished that.

After a lap of this, the bell goes off and everyone starts sprinting. Coming around the finish line with one to go, I just gassed it with ALL I had, and I mean literally ALL I had and started passing other riders one by one. There were four off the front, and I caught up to these two guys a few meters behind them, and sprinted out for 5th place with them. I missed 5th place by an inch or two, and I'm not sure if I beat the other guy or not. My honest guess would be that he beat me by just a very little. So out of 15 or so, I got 6th or 7th in this race, which was my best performance for today and one of my best performance in my cycling career, despite it being the one I absolutely hate to race in. When I got back into the infield, Dad was waiting for me but didn't expect me to practically collapse on the ground after getting off the bike. I couldn't feel my legs after all that energy I exerted from that strong effort. My heart rate maxed out at 235 bpm, and my established max heart rate from last year during a testing was 199 bpm!
I'm amazed I did this well in the first and last race, considering I haven't been to the track since the last time I race there about a month ago. I'm ready for next week's racing now, I can't wait!

I have two more races I can make it to (of the final three available). The next one, as I mentioned, is next week. This will be a make-it-or-break-it for me, as to whether or not I'm ready to upgrade to Category 4. I want to do well next week, and then take the 2-3 weeks I will have to train hard for my final race on September 12th, hopefully as a Cat 4.

Warning, watch out for Pick-up trucks!

Yesterday, while on my bike heading to the group ride, I ran into the back of a pick-up truck. It was completely my fault, and I know any lawyer will tell you not to say "sorry" or admit it was your fault, but it was. We were at a T-intersection, and the truck had just recently passed me. I'm pretty sure he did the tap-and-go at the stop sign (tap your brakes, then go without coming to a complete stop). Thinking he was on his way into the intersection, I looked right to see a motorcycle coming, so I went down to a slower speed (10-12 mph probably) and kept looking right waiting for him to pass. Then I went to look forward to get ready to go, and I saw the truck still in front of me.

Lucky for me, I was towards the left rear corner of the truck and was able to avoid hitting my wheel and having any more physical injuries. The collision happened when my right brake lever hooked onto the rear of the truck and I slammed hard into the cap of the truck and then tumbled into the road.

I rolled myself to a stand-up position, looked at my bike and then to the driver of the pick-up. He got out and was like "oh wow, are you ok?". Very nice guy, didn't even care about the little scuff I made on the rear door that was made from my brake lever. I was fine, just cut up a little badly on my left elbow and a few small cuts and scraps on both of my knees. The guy just happened to have an unopened bottle of water and some paper towel so he helped me clean my elbow. Then, just by pure coincidence, an off-duty EMT guy drove by a minute or two later and noticed that I was bleeding and saw a bike under the truck, so he pulled over to offer assistance, and had an EMT kit in his vehicle. He got his stuff out to wrap my arm in bandages and then offered to take me home if I needed to. At this point I was feeling fine enough to continue riding, so I politely turned down the offer so I could go catch the guys for the group ride before they left.

My bike is fine, the handlebar was knocked a little out of sync from the wheel so when I got to the group ride location I corrected it. Then we went out for our ride. About halfway through I was starting to feel the pain and all in my upper body so I turned around and called someone to come get me.

Today, I'm just feeling very stiff and bruised up, so I took today off from any sort of physical activity. Hopefully, but not likely, I'll feel better tomorrow to go to the track for a 2 hour training. Fingers Crossed!