Randy LaPrairie

30 is the new 20

2008-07-15T18:26:00.002-07:00

Life is good.

My riding has been awesome lately, too. A couple weeks ago, I rode with Simonster and Hermitman. It was one of my most memorable rides ever. I am one of Mike's biggest fans and most people don't know that he has been the most inspirational figure of my cycling endeavour since I started a few years ago.

Later, Rebecca came up to visit. We went camping and riding near some of my secret training grounds on the coast of Lake Michigan. I borrowed a road bike for her to use and took her out on some of my most hard-core training rides. She continually amazed me as she held my wheel while I pulled some times 30 mph on the Orbea. She is one bodacious bad-ass babe. Women collegiate racers should be glad she graduated, because she could probably do some serious damage in a crit right now. Read Rebecca's testimony to "RSL cycling systems" here. ; )

Rebecca's post is interesting because it is in many ways an accurate explanation of what my riding and race preparation is often like living in the heart of a suburban area.

I haven't done any extensive trail riding in a while, but that is about to change tomorrow as I will be making a sacred pilgrimage to one of my favorite trails, Pontiac Lake Recreation Area. I need to brush up on the trail riding a little as I will be heading back to NC fairly soon. I have only ridden "Stoner Creek", Bloomer(s), and Brighton, since being home. Hopefully I will get the Poto in there before I leave, too.

Stony Marathon report

2008-06-29T14:32:00.006-07:00

Before

The longest race I have ever done before this was the Brighton stage race cross country event a couple weeks prior. This was my longest race ever! And man was it hard. I have never really replicated that feeling in my training.

I started off behind The Simonster and Christian. Early on Mike pulled away a bit in the single track, but I caught back up with a few others in tow. Starting the second lap though, it started to get fast and Mike, Christian and myself broke away. They were going fast and attacking, probably trying to tire each other out and drop me. I held fast though, feeling comfortable on their wheels. But then, coming into the first single track section, my handle bars came loose in the stem after jumping a log! AHHHH! It's not every day that I get to ride with these fast dudes, and I was bummed that it had to end with a mechanical.

Neither of them had tools to help me (I only carry CO2 and a spare tube when racing) so I just kept trying to move forward, even though my bars were coming off. Mike and Christian pulled away in the single track. Eventually I got to a part of the course where it passed by another section going in the opposite direction. There were some sport level riders going by and I asked each of them if they could help me. Luckly, one guy stopped and let me use his multi-tool. I think he told me his name was Mike. So shout out to you Mike, if you're reading, for helping me finish the race!

The Simonster and Christian were long gone at this point, but Bell's/Quiring racer, Jason Lummis, had just went by as I was fixing my bike. I caught up to him and then went around him. After a while, I let him pull me down some two track on his 29er. But, unfortanately for him, his pedal came off! So I was on my own again.

After this, I was by myself for the majority of what remained of the race, becoming progressively more and more fatigued as the laps went by. My legs muscles started contracting wildly on their own on the 4th lap, but I just ignored it and went as fast as I could.

All the while, I knew local badass, Greg Kuhn, was not far behind. Sure enough, on the last lap, he came by. I was too tired to hold his wheel. Greg took 2nd place, one minute ahead of me. I came in for 3rd since Christian dropped out.

All things considered, I am okay with this result. I have always had difficulty in the long distance races, and this one was no exception. It was very challenging. I think if it was another lap longer, I would not have finished. Hopefully, these long races will make me stronger in the standard cross country distance.

I don't have many races on my schedule for the next two months. I will train for the USAC Ruby XC race and the Stony Creek time trial after that. Then I will rest before tackling the collegiate season which will begin early September.

Great job to everyone who raced at Stony! See you next time!

After. SE Michigan has been getting a lot of rain!

I've come to the conclusion that you don't feel pain

2008-06-21T08:54:00.008-07:00

Since I've been in Michigan this is the first Saturday I've had entirely off from training and work and other committments. I'm enjoying it very much. I guess I can make this into a kind of mid-season race/training report. I don't get the impression that people enjoy reading about my training, but I feel like writing about it, if for no other reason than the fact that it will serve as a warm up for more substantial writing I will do later in the day.

I started training in December after a month off after The Iceman. I was following a new plan I had formulated. It seemed to be working well, because when I got back to LMC after Chirstmas break, I was beating up on my buddies fairly easily. I ran into a couple problems in the winter though. I fell onto my knee and got a bad contusion that put me off the bike for a week and a half. Not even a month later, I got a really bad flu or something that put me off for another week or so. In both instances, I was able to bounce back in only a weeks time, virtually unaffected.

I kept up with the training, still not slowing down, even though I think my training partner might have worried about me being in such good shape so early in the year. I can't say that it didn't cross my mind that I might have been going too fast, too early. But overall, I didn't really care. I just wanted to go fast.

I won my first race easily. It wasn't a very deep field or anything, but I saw it as a good sign. I was looking forward to the big SERC regional race at Tsali the next weekend. That, however, turned out to be a disaster, having DNFed after riding with the leaders because I didn't prepare myself for the intense heat after training in the cool mountains. It was a pretty rookie mistake. I also did a lot of road racing at this time that complimented my training well. It was only collegiate 'B' category, and two category 4 races, but the relatively relaxed racing environments allowed me to screw around with the fields and breakaways without having to deal with uptight seasoned roadies. It was good training. I rode my cyclocross bike with 'junior' gearing.

My training has continued to go well since. I came back to the Mit and have raced twice thus far. Details on those are in my most previous blog posts. I have continued to improve my training throughout the season. I have been especially pleased with my recent training rides. This year my training has been geared toward traditional cross country race distances, but last weekend, I ramped it up a bit to test myself for the marathon distance. I easily rode 68 miles in 3:50, about a third of which was through stop-and-go city traffic. Last Wednesday, I averaged 19 mph over 43 miles of city and road riding mixed with some Stony single track.

I have never felt so fast before. I guess I finally have this training thing dialed in. This has also been the funnest seasons yet. When I get back to LMC, it's going to even better because that is my favorite place to ride and I will have more people to hammer with. I hope that I will win some races, too.

I am looking forward to the Stony Marathon race next weekend.

Brighton Stage Race report

2008-06-08T13:47:00.002-07:00

The start line-up looked pretty good with most of the usual suspects. I had my eye on Christian Tanguy in particular. After last week I felt that I was ready to race him.

The race set up consisted of a time trial and short track race on the first day and a cross country race on the second day. Conditions were extermely hot and humid both days.

In the time trial, I did not feel so well. My tires had too much air pressure and I was not waring gloves. Without gloves my arms got very tired because I was sweating so much which made it hard to get good leverage on the climbs. Since I knew I wasn't feeling well, I took it easy. I never try to make my body do what it does not want to, since that usually only makes me go slower.

I figured that I just needed a little "opener" as they call it, since I hardly trained at all during the week. So I was confident in the short track race. I got a good start and just settled in to 2nd place behind Christian (who had won the time trial about 1 minute or so ahead of me) His pace was not over-the-top for me so I just sat on. My only intention was to not let him gain more time. At one point in the 3rd lap I took the lead and punched it a little to get the two of us more separated from the pack. I let him back into the lead and just sat. On the last lap, lapped riders were becoming an annoyance and Christian was able to put a little distance on me. I did not care because I knew he would not put any significant time on me in one 2 minute lap. Only 8 more seconds, in fact.

That night, I stayed at my man Brent Steinberg's house. He and his family were very hospitable to me. They made me a sweet chicken dinner. I then had 9 1/2 hours of top quality sleep on their couch (big shout out. keep it real, brother) That morning, I felt like a super-charged bullet train on the start line of the cross country race. I was not even nervous; I was ready for the challenge. If I wanted to win overall I had to beat Christian by about a minute and a half. No easy feat, and if this was even going to be a possibility, everything would have to be perfect. Perfect.

Well, everything was not perfect. You see, the start line was the same as the short track race the day before. Only instead of turning to the right around some shrubs, it turned left. For some reason, I was not even aware of this and the flags were still partially marked from the short track race. At the call, I shot off the finish line, (unknowingly) cut off the field and went right, around the shrubs. When I got to the other side of the shrubs, I didn't see the course any more. AHHHHH! With no time to think I turned around to see the back of the elite field trailing off into the distance. My first instinct was to take off like a jet place and try to get back to the leaders before the race went into the single track. This I did, passing most of the field in only a few moments.

There they were, Christian and all. I was only able to get on to the back of the lead back, 3 wheels back from my target. A few minutes after I caught up, the leaders up front started drilling it. I was too out of breath to keep up so I fell back a little. By the time I caught this group again, Christian was gone and I was stuck behind them with nowhere to go in the tight Midwest single track.

When the course came out on to the dirt road again, I immediately went ahead. I was on a mission. All the while, it hadn't occurred to me that I was in for a 3 hour race! for I did not pre-ride the course. I'm not sure if I cared either. Alone I kept on going. Every time I came by a spectator, they told me the gap was about one minute. Always one minute. Still, I never saw any one up the trail. On the last of five 8 mile laps, my ridiculous start was beginning to make itself known to my body. The energy was running out, and fast. I put it into survival mode, trying to stay confident. I let my newly refined technical skills allow me to keep my momentum, for my legs were gone.

At the end of the day, I rolled in for 5th place which earned me 4th place overall. Not bad, all things considered. I was kind of bummed about my start, but what could I do? I knew I had better things to look forward to that day anyway.

See you next time! Check out Robert's blog for some pictures and stuff.

Hanson Hills Cross Country report

2008-06-02T07:52:00.005-07:00

As Mike put it, this race was representative of "why I love mountain biking".

Two days before the race I found as I was checking over my bike that I had broken the axle in my rear XTR hub clean in half. Luckily my dad agreed to let me use his race wheel and Macomb Bike and Fitness came to the rescue with a temporary replacement for his bike. I had to do a lot of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off to get that taken care of.

Anyway, I had been looking forward to this race for some time, especially because I knew my Lees-McRae teammate, Mike Anderson (Nat. ST Champ, recently crowned Sea Otter Semi-Pro ST champ, etc.) would be there. Mike and I actually haven't raced each other yet this year, and it was obvious that he was racing strong, and I knew I was too, so I was looking forward to the challenge.

Off the start line the pace was soft. So right before the first climb I moved to the front and started punching it. Mike came with me and we were gone. In the first of three laps of the ten mile track, I accidentally went off course at which point Mike took over the lead. He maintained this position till the end of the race. I just followed. While behind him, I thought several times about attacking on the climbs, but I knew my efforts would be futile. Our strengths and weaknesses that day were balancing out. Neither of us would be walking away very easily with this, I thought. Still together on the last lap, I decided where I needed to attack if I was going to win. For this to work, Mike would need to be tired out enough for me to create the gap. Unfortunately for me, Mike was not tired! HAHA. With about a quarter of a lap to go until the end of the race, Mike gradually pulled away. There were really no climbs or significantly long flat sections for me to pull him back. He and his 29er rolled away almost effortlessly.

After a hard two hours of racing I had to settle for 2nd place. I was very happy with this as Mike was clearly the better man and I did everything I could to try and win. I am looking forward to racing again next weekend at Brighton. Mike may or may not be there because of obligations to his family that might make it inconvenient for him.

On-the-fly results from The Hermitman

Confirm

2008-05-28T16:45:00.002-07:00

To hell with high gas prices; I won't let them keep me from having a good time. This weekend my dad and I are going to race Hanson Hills. Just like old times.

Training is wrapped up. Hanson Hills and then Brighton. Fucking A.

Training partner, Chris Pickerell, and myself circa early May, 08

Hanson Hills

2008-05-22T15:05:00.004-07:00

I am interested in car pooling with some one or some people to the Hanson Hills race. At this point I am willing to leave the day before or morning of. I will go in on gas money. I live in Warren.

Please let me know if you are interested. RSLaPrairie@wowway.com

What you need to know

2008-05-11T19:56:00.003-07:00

I am back in Michigan.

The past month has been a difficult time involving reading and writing for exams, traveling, and so forth. During this time I have managed to train well, and I am now ready to add the finishing touches of my regimine that will prepare me to race at my top level for the balance of summer.

Some one let me know about some local hammer rides going down. Email me at RSLaPrairie@wowway.com

A Savage weekend

2008-04-12T15:38:00.016-07:00

I had a good opportunity to attend a quality race this weekend, but I decided to stay on campus instead. After two weekends of driving to races I wanted to spend some time here and 'relax.' I think maybe my focus wasn't so good last weekend because of traveling. It's one thing when you are in a team bus with everything provided for you, but quite another when it's your vehicle and you in charge of all your resources.

So instead, John and I went out and killed it on some death climbs and jeep trails. It was a great time.

Here are some images from last weekend's race and some road races I did early this year.

Next weekend is the home road race. I wish it was a mountain bike race, but I'll take it.

SERC MTB @ Tsali

2008-04-08T06:51:00.004-07:00

I don't like to share bad results, but I do think things are generally going well, so in spite of a DNF at Tsali I shall keep you informed on the current state of things.

At Tsali, conditions were hot and the air was dry, unlike any conditions I have trained in yet this year. The first two loops loops took one hour a piece to complete and I did not bring sufficient fluids with me on the bike. I kept one bottle in the feed zone, but after the first lap, I, in the heat of the race, failed to pick it up. This left me with little fluid for the second lap. While attempting to bridge back up to the leaders who gaped me on the more or less downward half of the course on the the first lap (already a sign of fatigue), I overexerted myself. So badly was it that I faded from 3rd place to maybe 10th in a matter of minutes toward the end of the second lap. When I was finally able to drink again I was too fatigued to continue on at anything but a snail's pace. After two 15 mile loops and only one bottle of poweraid, I said to hell with the final 6 mile circuit.

So I was not happy about this, and it was a novice mistake on my part. What can I do though? Only learn I suppose.

In spite of this embarrassment, I am still aware and have not lost site of where I am fitness-wise, and I am looking forward to some top performances in the coming weeks.

Uwharrie Southern Classic Series MTB* race

2008-03-30T18:00:00.006-07:00

We decided to leave for the race early Sunday morning instead of staying over night somewhere. So, we left at 7 a.m., got lost due to some questionable directions from the race website - okay, scratch that, I misread the directions - and arrived 20 minutes before the start. We got dressed and registered and headed to the start line.

The race went well, but I didn't feel right with out a warm up and an empty stomach. I got dropped on the first lap, but caught back up to the leader and rode away for comfortable win on the second and third laps.

After breakfast at 6:30, I didn't really eat again until 3:30. I don't think this was good for my race and after the race I felt sick. Next week at the SERC race, I think I will be stronger if I can prepare properly.

Spring Preview

2008-03-22T17:39:00.005-07:00

Winter is dead. It may not feel that way for those of you in the North, but it wont be long for you. This was the best winter I've ever had, which probably had a lot to do living in North Carolina. It only seemed like a true winter on rare occasions.

It reminds me how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to come to Lees McRae. When I am out on some sweet trail or road, I think about how great it is to know that I have been to all these wonderful places. I am really enjoying the school experience too. It's tough having 5 reading intensive philosophy/theology courses, but I still love it. So thanks Doug, Brian.

It's just about time to start racing. I scratched the Chickasaw race because I found out that it's in Nashville, not Knoxville; six hours away, not three. Instead, I'll head over to Troy N.C. for some race over there. I'm sure there will be some good competition. I think I saw JHK and other world cup super stars in the past results. Then, the next weekend, I'm going out to Tsali for a SERC series race. That should also be good. I'm as excited about riding there as I am about racing since it's one of the country's mtb meccas.

After that I will chill out a little bit since there will be no more near by mtb races before school gets out. I'll do our home road race some time mid April and call it a spring season. I'm excited about that one because the course has something like 1000-1500 feet of climbing per 10 mile loop, so I would like to take it seriously and see how I do. Unfortunately, I can only race at the collegiate B level for road. Oh well.

My goal was to get back to Michigan for the Fort Custer Stampede. But, that's the last day of school, and even if I knocked out my finals a week early, I think I'd still have to stay because of my R.A. duties. I think that will put my first Michigan race into June - either Hanson Hills or Brighton. Either way, that's too far into the future for me to think about. I'm racing next weekend! Stay tuned for results.

The Birds Are Singing Morning Song

2008-03-10T17:25:00.013-07:00

Breakfast
Went's crepes

Crazy Tom is an Aborigine from Australia. He's never had his picture taken before, much less has he seen a camera.

At the base of Sugar Mountain

Enchanted forest

Frosted mountains

Typical rides

campus dog?

After Bio John Doyle saw an episode of COPS, he decided it was time to cut the mullet.

Bio John's mullet

SNOW DAY!

2008-02-27T06:43:00.008-08:00

When I woke up this morning, this is what I saw outside my window. So, I opened up my email, and sure enough school was cancelled! So what better day to kick on some DEVO and make a blog. And man, it's still coming down like crazy.

I've been meaning to show off some of my new speed machines, so without further ado, here are some crude spy shots. It's not possible to capture the aesthetic beauty of these machines on camera without some good naturale light, not to mention some good Shimano-approved soap.

2008 Orbea Alma: Shimano XT drivetrain and brake set, XTR wheelset, Rockshox SID Team, Zeus carbon and aluminum components, 21.5 lbs complete

I took this bike to my new favorite NC trail, Dark Mountain, and man, this thing rips. The fit and geometry are better than any bike I have ridden in the past. It's light, climbs well and I can hit corners like I'm on a motocross bike. It does everything well.

2007 Trek X02: Shimano Ultegra/Dura Ace mix, Bontrager Race X Lite wheelset, Bontrager and FSA carbon and aluminum components

This is the latest addition to my stable. I bought it off Mike to use primarily as a training bike. It's my first ever curly bared bike. I really enjoy riding it especially on the fast down hills around here. I love to get in the drops and just hammer. This bike will allow me to take some training abuse off the Orbea and also make it possible for me to do some road racing.

In fact, this weekend I might head down to Georgia with the team for my first ever road race. It should be some good fast training.

Stop At Nothing

2008-02-16T10:28:00.008-08:00

I'd be lying if I said my training was anything but horrible over the past two weeks or so. It's been like riding through a minefield. First, I hit my knee really hard on a frozen slick rock while riding a jeep trail. Then after the contusion had recovered I nearly hit it in the same spot when I hugged a tree at 15 mph. The day after that the chemical warfare began when the North Carolina Plague of Death overtook my body. I guess they've been shutting down nearby universities because of it. At least my birthday was a success! Thanks to everyone who was a part of that.

So now I am on the upswing: still not 100% healthy, but close. I don't know what I am going to feel like when I get back on the bike. I was in pretty kickin' shape before I got sick, so hopefully it will come back quick. I wanted my first race to be the Chickasaw Trace classic, but we'll see if I am ready. Quite simply, I'm not racing this year with anything but the intent of winning.

badasses, frozen shutters, and vistas

2008-02-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

Aaron Bradford

Chris Pickerell

Brian Sheedy

Some guy

85% - A few more days

2008-02-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

But there is no off-season

2008-01-26T07:11:00.001-08:00

Sex

2008-01-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

Days go by

2007-12-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to post on here a couple times, but every time I do it seems like the same old same old. Training, back in Michigan, blah, blah..

It's true, I'm back in Michigan. The second night I was here there was a snow storm complete with thunder and lightning.. scary. Two days before I left Banner Elk I was riding in shorts and a jersey.

I'm pretty pumped about next season, but I think I am every year at this time. I've been trying to chill out and think about other things, but it's hard because there's not much to do here compared to LMC. I love that place. But for next year, I am going to do things a little differently. I am going to race a little less before the collegiate season, and focus the entire year on Nationals.

I'm using this winter to work on my technical skills as well. Yesterday's ride was kind of good for that. I really had to wrestle with the bike to keep it upright in the snow. I was riding my dad's 9.9 with Michilin XC race tires. On that note, my new ride should be in soon...

So that's all for now. I'll take some requests for blog material.

Regeneration

2007-11-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Banner Elk now after staying in Charlotte with some family from Thanksgiving break. It was convenient to go there while the college closed instead of having to go all the way back home to Michigan.

No riding as of late. I kind of tuned out of everything after the Iceman for some mental clarification and reflection. I have been working on the training model for next year, and I think I have it now the way I want it. Speaking of Iceman, team mate Kacey has a pretty good write up on her blog.

Sponsorship is also arranged for next year. I have reunited with my favorite bike shop, Macomb Bike and Fitness in my home town Warren. MBF is awesome because they have been there for me ever since I started riding mountain bikes some years ago.

I look forward now to racing next year. 2007 didn't go quite the way I wanted, but it's time to move on. I have learned a lot, and hopefully I can apply this knowledge to make some good things happen next year. See you there.

Pictures

2007-10-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

These are some of the pictures I've been trying to download for the past few weeks. I finally solved the picture problem on my blogger and now I can post pictures.

Fall Break at LMC

2007-10-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

I was thinking that my blog was getting a little tired without any pictures, so I decided to spice it up a bit with something else. Here for you, my training from October 2006:

DAY: WORKOUT
8th: 2 laps Poto: 2:44 total
9th: 5 hours road
10th: 3 hours road
11th: 3 hours indoors (rain)
12th: rest day
13th: rest (sick, migraine)
14th: 3 hours Stony w/6 mile X.C. loop t.t. in 28:54
15th: 3 laps PLRA 45:52, 43:12, 41:59
16th: 5 hours road
17th: 3 hours easy road
18th: 2 1/2 hours Stony/dirt roads
19th: 3 hours road
20th: 3 hours road
21st: 3 hours Stony w/6 mile X.C. t.t. in 27:48
22nd: recovery day
23rd: 3 hours, middle 1/2 hour hard big ring mashing
24th: 1 hour easy, immune system down
25th: 3 laps PLRA 40:22, ~41 (sabotaged by stupid ass hunter) 39:42
26th: 2 hours indoors (rain)
27th: 1 hour easy indoors (rain)
28th: 1 hour indoors (rain)
29th: 3 laps PLRA 40:49, 39:56 hard, 43:25
30th: 3:15 road
31st: 2 hours easy

Conference finals at Clemson

2007-10-14T18:29:00.001-07:00

This weekend we headed down to South Carolina for the conference finals. It went fairly well. Clemson had some sweet trails that made for some really fun racing. The trails were a lot like trails back home in southern Michigan, so I felt very comfortable on the race courses.

First day was the short track. While there was a nice little loop marked out, there was no really good place to start, so we were all crammed into this little twenty-foot-wide area of fire road for the start. I was in the second row. I started hard, but I felt like I couldn't ride in the gear I wanted to once everyone got a little spread out - I wanted to make some moves around people, but just wasn't strong enough to push the necessary gears and get up front. So I sat in and really got slowed down when the course turned into the single track. Rumor has it I'm not such a good bike handler, but these dudes were going slow through the tight stuff. So while I was stuck in the pack the leaders broke away. Eventually I got out and rode off. I got around some people and finished 7th. It wasn't really an exciting race from my perspective.

Anyway, when I was doing my cool down, my chain fell off my chain rings so I put it back on. When I did, I spun the crank with my hand and found that the crank arms were spinning only half as freely as they should. I had replaced my bottom bracket a few days earlier and apparently I over-tightened it. Hmm... so later I took apart the crank assembly, relubed it, and put it back together. Now my bike was working like it should.

On Sunday I was feeling excellent. There was no residue in my legs from the short course race. Again, the start was poorly designed. Essentially there was about 200 meters of fireroad before turning sharply right into a single track wide enough for only one bike. I was lined up next to Mike (for the last time ever) who on the start immediately cut across the field, cutting me and several people off. I had to slow down because of this and got buried pretty quickly. Then when I saw an open spot I started sprinting out of the saddle, sawing on the bars. Well, when my bike rocked to one direction, I felt someones front wheel hit my rear tire. The rider fell and caused several people to crash, like when you see one of those peleton crashes in a big road race.

Oh well. So I was off, buried in the pack again. I was the last Lees McRae person on the team, maybe in 25th place. On the first lap, I had to go really slow because of the people I was stuck behind. The course offered few chances for passing, so when there was one I took it. Still, the first lap was all very slow. So one by one I picked off dying racers. Eventually I sifted through all the slow guys and got to the fast guys. I would catch up to my team mates, work with them for a while, then move on. By the 3rd lap, I was riding alone with this dude from Brevard College. He allegedly went to junior worlds for x.c. or something. Anyway, he was pretty tough. On the last big climb of the third of five laps, I attacked. He was gone. But then maybe a quarter way into the fourth lap, he was back again. As the Hermitman would say, dang. So I pretended like I was tired and let him go by. He was riding well and didn't seem to mind pulling me along. I let him do it for most of lap four and most of lap five. But by the final lap I could see that he was starting to get sloppy. So when the opportunity arose, I surged by him to make sure I would get to the last climb first. I did, and he was toast. As I was powering up the climb, I saw Mike who was leading the race. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough race left to catch him and finished 2nd about 10 seconds down.

The race was a lot of fun and ranked high on my list of memorable races. Even though I didn't know what, I knew something was wrong on Saturday during the short track, because I was feeling really sharp the day before on my training ride. I probably didn't notice my bottom bracket at that time because I was running higher tired pressure than normal which caused me to roll faster despite friction at the cranks.

I can feel my fitness improving rapidly. My recovery is excellent and I think my good form is because of all the hard training I did in September. It was so hard that when the week of our home race came around, I was feeling over-trained. But now I feel good. In the coming weeks, I will taper my training volume and include shorter and faster repetitions which should further improve my form and bring me to a great fitness peak.

Two races left: Division 1 Collegiate National Championships and the Iceman Cometh Challenge, for which my entry goes in the mail tomorrow. It's hammer time.

No race at Vanderbilt

2007-10-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

The team administrators decided to cancel the race at Vanderbilt in favor of training and working on our home course to prepare it for nationals. We have decided to have a hard training session on our short track course and our cross country trail. The training format should be similar to a race, and it will surely not be easy for on this small campus exists an incredible concentration of talent. Even though we have not yet had competition from other teams, racing here is to me as hard as racing in Michigan because of the immense talent pool.

My next race will now be the conference championships. This race is very important because it will be my last test before I go to nationals, one of two key races remaining for this season, and so I will want to have a solid performance.