Mutt

HEY HEY!

Last time I wrote I was riding high on some pretty solid form unfortunately a month and a bit later my fortunes have somewhat turned. After the Southern Illinois race weekend I experienced a solid patch of bad luck. I'm a firm believer that you make your own luck, but I'm not sure how else to sum up the series of events that have haunted my racing this past month.

It started at the Michigan State road race, a race I was really excited about racing as the course was very Belgian Keremesse like, which featured a 2km section of gravel and the rest being held on narrow farm roads. Knowing about the dirt section I went and sourced out a solid set of hardy tires and even put some "puncture proof" inner liners in. First lap in I was feeling great, I led over the gravel section and was sitting comfortably in the group and well positioned in the crosswind sections, but second time around on the gravel my rear tire had blown. The spare car was well behind the group (see photo below) and after a bit of chase I realized that my day was over. I was pretty annoyed as it was the first collegiate race that I hadn't finished.

Hating life in Michigan

After returning from Michigan I was eager to make up for the lack of results and trained with renewed vigor going into the last race of the regular conference season, Regional Championships. This year they were held at Purdue in Indiana, I had a good result there last year and was looking forward to the race again. On the Friday as we were just loading up the vans some sort of gnarly flu or virus hit me like a sack of proverbial shit and that was it. I spent the weekend in the hotel room in the fetal position on my bed. I didn't eat for 30 hours, just drank water and gatorade and slept. Disappointing to say the least.

Tilles Park Criterium

Having had such good early season success, my position on the team headed for Nationals was still there fortunately. The virus I got knocked a few kilos of my weight which would be good heading into the Nationals road race which was to be held over some hilly terrain in Wisconsin. The course was the same as the 1st stage of the Tour of Americas Dairyland, so I was familiar with just how hard it was. With that in mind I put down some really solid training in preparation for it and being rested I felt I was on some real good form. Again, unfortunately I had a mechanical on the major climb of the course which meant I couldn't get into my two highest gears which meant I was struggling just to turn my pedals over.
The team, as I predicted in the last post, had an awesome weekend with the evergreen Matt Brandt getting 3rd in the criterium and Tim Norris getting 18th. Nationals just topped off a great season for Lindenwood with 3 victories and a heap of top 10's. 2010 was definitely our best season by far and I can't wait to get amongst it again next year.

Havin' a go...

Well collegiate season is over and it's on to the domestic summer season of mostly crits. This year I'll be riding for the MOBRA Development team, it's a small squad with a modest budget but it's goal is to get us to as many races as possible and I'm stoked for the opportunity. More about the team at a later time though.

This weekend we are heading off to Champagne, Illinois for two days of criterium racing to kick off the summer season.

Until next time, take care.

Chev.

Sum of The Years Digits

G'day,

well spring collegiate racing season is in full swing here. We have just finished our 5th weekend of racing on the trot with 10 races notched up so far. The team has been amazing so far racking up 2 wins, 2 2nds 4 3rds and a but load of top 10's which has put us up to 3rd on the teams rankings. This is quite a feat as we are probably the only Division 1 school in the conference that has no women so to be up there speaks a lot for our male only team.

Workin' hard for the boys. It was wet, real wet!

I have had some good form this season so far which has helped me to some good results. I took 6th in the Lindsey Wilson individual time trial which was a surprise as the race against the clock really isn't my forte. The best result so far has come on home turf at the Lindenwood Road Race taking 2nd behind my super strong breakaway compatriot Chris Uberti after going clear of the main pack with a little over 70 kilometers to the finish. I was pretty devestated to loose at my home race especially after how hard the race was but Chris is a far better cyclist then I and really deserved the win. Next time I'll have it though.

I'm not the greatest sprinter at the best of times, especially after 135kms.

My purple patch continued into the following weekend at the Southern Illinois University race. The game plan was for either me or my Spanish team mate Jose to get in the early break and force a chase from other teams and to ease the pressure off Matt and Owen a bit. So being the good team player I charged off the line only to get a kilometer down the road to be sweeped up by the pack, well you know what they say "if at first it doesn't work, then try again!". So after a quick drink I went again and luckily (or unluckily) they let me have some space and wouldn't be seen by any of the group until 5kms to go. I knew I had a lot of time on the group when I saw the face of the Marian coach and was confirmed when I got my first time check that I had 6 minutes on the pack.

It got lonely out there, there weren't huge crowds in rural Southern Illinois.

So after 90 long kms off the front alone a small group of riders finally closed the gap on me with about 5kms to go. Another victory just out reach. I wasn't too bummed though, I did my job and went as hard as I could.

Coach giving me the score in the cricket.

Well we have just completed a huge week of training over spring break which should put us in good shape for Nationals which is exactly one month away. Lindenwood will be looking for a good showing this year and I think we will surprise a few teams.

Until next time, take care.

Chev.

Midnight Regulations

Well well it's been a while since my last update and I have much to report.
Since last writing I have been at home enjoying the southern hemispheres summer. It was great to get out of the cold for 6 weeks and put down some solid training for the coming season.

The top of Tawonga Gap

After a week of trying to acclimatise to the searing Australian heat I headed south to the little alpine town of Bright for a week of training in the mountains. The Bright training camp had become an annual thing for me and is definitely integral to gain early season form. It was a tough week but had the company of some great guys and the support network of some very experienced professionals made it very beneficial!

Lake on the left, mountains of the right. Love riding around the Valley!

I know I'm probably biased but I love training in the Hunter Valley! We have a bit of everything, some solid climbs and valley flats all on good roads with awesome scenery. It also helps when you can come in after a big session and enjoy home cooked meals, kick back in the pool and decimate your parents red wine collection.

Pit stop on the way back down Mt. Seaview.

Well I have left the warmth of Australia and made the trip back north-east to icy tundra of Missouri to start another year of college. Although the cold is depressing the collegiate cycling season starts in 3 weeks and I'm pretty pumped for my second season. My form is good I just have to stay healthy and finish off couple more things in training and I should be doing alright.

Flat Rock pumping. Nothing like summer swell.

This year we have 10 weekends of racing, 8 of which are back to back with the final two being conference championships and then Nationals. All the boys are looking very sharp and I'm talking shit up this season for the team!

We got caught in a snow storm. Bit different to the heat in Aus!

It's time to get going and do some training. I'll keep you posted soon on results and general going on's, so be sure to check back soon.
Stay upright!
Chev.