Another year, returning to Quad Cities once again. For Snake alley, I was returning for revenge. Last year I had a rider crash in front of me in the first corner and had mechanical issues later on. I was determined to make up for that this year... Last time I ascended the Infamous snake, I was sweating in the incredibly hot sun. This year, I woke up to the sound of thunderstorms. It was sweet music to my ears, I knew the conditions would favor handling skills, guts, and an affinity for cold weather.
As I sat on the start line, already soaking wet, I prepared myself mentally for the whirlwind of pain that would be the junior race. I'm not sure if I sat around for to long and my legs were cold, or if I just wasn't quite mentally ready, but my start was slightly lack luster. It was so wet that the traction on the Snake was considerably slippery... I think more people crashed on the UPHILL than the downhill, which, needless to say is pretty unusual. After I got out of the traffic and into the front group, the race was pretty uneventful. Each lap one or two people would get dropped from the front group until it was just seven of us on the final lap. The acceleration was made and I just couldn't quite match it, I caught back up on the downhill but not quick enough to be in contention for the sprint. My team mate David Lombardo won, I finished fifth, and Gavin Haley came in right behind me for 7th.
Later in the day I did the cat 3 race, which was (unfortunately) dry. I finished third.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful, I placed 14th and 13th in the juniors and cat 3 at melon city, and was on track for a really good junior race at rock island but was crashed out. I still finished 9th, and 11th in the 3's race later.
The next weekend was Minnesota State TT and Criterium. I had a great time trial, I was really focused for it and got my first win of the year! My friend Gavin is staying at my house for the month of June, so we did State Crit together in the 3/4s and the 1/2/3s. I finished 8th and 19th respectively.
I came into the Tour of Gila with a sort of mental expectation of difficulty. I had talked and thought about doing it pretty much since the previous year in May while the race was running. A friend from the Midwest had done it and my dad and I decided to look into it. Gila is a very, very tough stage race. In fact, the promoters claim it is the hardest stage race in North America! That's not a claim I will dispute readily either...it has mountains. Real. Mountains.
Stage one (a point to point Road Race) ends with a mountaintop finish on a Category 1 climb,
Stage two (on the right) climbs and descends over three Category 3 climbs. Pinos Altos is the first
climb of the three, then after a fast descent into a small town it pitches up again and goes up another climb! The third and final climb is closer to the finish. On the final stage of this race, (the picture off to the right) it gets even harder! The so called infamous Gila Monster Road Race. This stage has rolling hills leading into a high speed category 3 climb early on in the stage, a VERY steep (10 to 11% gradient pitches on the switch backs) Category 2 climb closer to the finish, and one smaller and less steep hill leading all the way into the finish.
Anyways, my point in showing you all of this is when my dad and I saw how hard and hilly this race was I knew I had to go out and do it because of how much I love climbing!
After driving down to Milwaukee from doing the Kenwoods memorial race in Minnesota on Saturday, we flew out of the Chicago airport down to Tuscon, Arizona on Sunday. We then drove out to Silver City, New Mexico and got comfortable in the place we would be staying for the week during the 5 days of the Tour of Gila -a lovely guest house up very close to Pinos Altos (so it was close to the course for Stage 1 and stage 3).
On Monday, I decided after looking at the elevation graphs for the three road races that I needed to pre-ride Meadow Creek, the second climb of Stage 2 and also the descent leading into the finishing climb on Stage 5. The roads were very twisty and turning!
Tuesday, I pre-rode the mountaintop finish of Stage 1, but I also wanted to ride the Time Trial course as it would play an important part in the overall. So my dad and I decided to do both. We drove to the TT course -which was very hilly- and I pre-rode that on my TT bike. I found out quickly from riding the TT course that the two downhills were steep enough I was extremely spun out in my junior gears. I knew this would make it more difficult for me to place a competitive result during the TT, so I really concentrated on working on my cadence while pre-riding the course. After I rode the TT course, my dad and I drove over to the finish of Stage 1 to pre-ride the Category 1 climb mountaintop finish. As I rode the climb, I was struck by how incredibly real it was! I felt like I was watching a ProTour mountain top finish while riding it. I was excited, I knew this would be a very difficult climb for everyone during Stage 1!
Stage 1:
On Wednesday morning I woke up, ate breakfast, and started mentally preparing for the first day of my first big mountain stage race... I was excited! My dad and I drove out to the start of the race and as we did I was going through everything in my head. "It's a hard race, and it's hot today," my dad said to me as we drove. "Make sure you stay protected, hydrated and eat a lot!" I nodded, focused and ready for the first day. We (the racers) rode out onto the the course with the Referees giving us a neutral start to this 117.6 Kilometer (73.1 mile) long road race.
The Cat 3 men were off. Throughout the stage I made sure I was up front, drinking, and eating as the weather was extremely hot at 90 degrees Fahrenheit! Remember, I live in "cold and snowy" Duluth, Minnesota where I had been training in low temperatures and snow for a few weeks leading into the Gila. Stage 1 was one of my first experiences of the year in some serious heat. The course led through a big valley that funneled a lot of wind into the pack, so despite many break-away attempts by riders (even one that had a 5:00 minute gap at one point of the race) no one could stay away from the aggressive field until we were around 30 kilometers from the mountaintop finish where an attack was launched from the field by the biggest, most well organized team in the Cat 3 race, Ziavelo Cycling. They had six riders going hard and rotating at the front when one of their riders -Marcus Toya- launched an attack that ended up staying away. He later won the stage, narrowly avoiding being caught by the shattered remnants of the Peloton. I suffered hard on the hill because of the heat, but my motivation to do well in the overall kept me going, and I moved up through the pack as we got farther and farther up the hill. My Result was 17th, 4:38 back on the stage winner, just 1:05 down on the rider who won the "sprint" from the Peloton to get third place, David Vaughn. Who is also of the Ziavelo Cycling team. To put things in perspective, my time at the finish line was Three hours and Thirty-Eight minutes!
Stage 2:
Tuesday morning was Stage 2 of the Tour of Gila. Another road race, this one with a very fast technical descent called Sapillo Creek. This descent was steep enough that (despite many hairpin bends and switchbacks) I reached a max speed of 63.2 Kilometers per hour (38.7mph) without even pedaling down most of it! I had a lot of fun ripping this 10.0 Kilometer descent down to the bottom. As scary and dangerous as it was to go so fast down such a twisty descent, with a lot of riders around me, I was just thinking about how much fun I was having. Going through the valley Ziavelo went for a time bonus sprint, and after everyone crossed the line. (For said bonus sprint) I attacked the field, unhappy with how little separation there was. Hoping to get away, and get some time. I heard some one in the field behind me shout; "He's little! Just let him go."
A minute or two into my attack, Ziavelo sent one of their men -Marcel Berger- to cover my attack. He asked me if I was a threat to his team leader in first place, to which I smiled and shouted across the wind, "No I'm not, I'm four and a half minutes down." He thought for a second as I broke the wind and he said, "Okay, let's work together!". Marcel and I continued to work together for 30.0k of the 54.5 kilometers I was off the front. He was very strong in the wind and the two of us were rotating so fast that I was spun out on the downhills in my junior gears. He dropped me at the 20km-to-go sign, wherein I got on the wheel of Matthew Rowe of Cycleton Denver- who had been trying to bridge our two minute gap to the field for about 25 minutes. Both him and I were very tired, so we worked out an agreement, "You chase down Marcel up ahead, and keep the gap down, I won't sprint you at the line." I said, through gritted teeth in between huffing breaths. Matthew nodded and said "Okay"...it was all he could say he was so focused on Marcel up ahead.
A smile of satisfaction after being in the break
I was cross eyed while I watched the kilometers tick down. 15k to go! The sign on the side of the road said, almost smugly to my tired eyes. When I saw the 10k to go sign, I thought, we're almost there! and I can see Marcel up ahead. after 54.5 brutal kilometers away in a break, Matthew and I crossed the finish line. I honored our agreement and pushed him across the line for a few extra seconds in the overall. Marcel finished 1st, 22 seconds ahead of Matthew Rowe and I. The field, whittled down to just 14 men by my aggressive attack, finished almost two minutes back on Matthew and I.
Stage 3:
Stage 3 was the Time Trial. A relatively uneventful day for me GC wise, I defended my 11th position in the Overall. It was a very interesting course for a time trail, it was difficult to not lose any time on the two big downhills in the course because of my limited junior gears (some of the riders I raced against ran a 54 front ring, I have to run a 52 by USAC ruling!). However, "What goes down, must come up!" and I was able to gain enough time on the uphills to have a decent Time Trial. It was fun to do! I love Time Trialing.
^A video Dad took of me in the TT^
Stage 4:
Stage 4 was the Criterium, there was almost zero change in the overall that affected me. I just stayed at the front, made
sure no one got any time in a break away and that I didn't crash, or
expend too much energy. I placed 19th, with the same time as the winner.
Stage 5:
I came into Stage 5 expecting it to be the hardest stage yet. The Cat 2 climb up Sapillo Creek was a very steep climb and I knew it would be a good opportunity for me move up in the overall. So when I did hit the climb, I went to the front and started to pound out a good pace. The group was whittled down to about seven riders at the top of the climb, then a few more caught on and others were dropped as Samuel Chovan attacked in a move that would later win the stage. On the downhill leading into the final climb, we rotated hard to prevent any more riders catching on and to make sure that we kept our gap to the GC leader, who had not made the selection was not in our group. Coming up the final climb, I drilled it to try and drop any riders I could, and attempt to catch Samuel. However, it came down to a sprint. I finished a great 8th place on the stage, and moved up into my final placing of 9th overall! I am happy I was able to move into the top ten!
Thanks to my parents for their ever loving support, and to our generous hostess Steph!
The season began for the IScorp Elite junior team in late March. We all met in Milwaukee and packed up the bikes of everyone who was going to camp into one of the team sprinter vans. At the crack of dawn my dad and I left for our trek across the country. We arrived in Arizona a few days later to a beautiful 80 degrees.
We ascended Mt. Lemmon many times over the course of the camp, one of the days all the way to the top where to the famous cookie cabin. The food at camp was the best I have experienced at any camp, very healthy and delicious. I can't imagine how many tens of thousands of calories the 18 kids went through over the course of camp!
Each morning I led a Yoga and strength routine
We had the fortunate opportunity of having several Pro riders at the camp who did a number of great talks over the course of camp. Greg Brandt rode with us every day,
Chad Hartley gave us a great talk on (among other things) massaging our legs out post ride,
Brian Matter talked to us about being a free lance pro,
and Gord Fraiser gave a excellent talk on sprinting and taught us about getting hand ups from the team car.
In addition to the 20+ hours of quality training we got in, we went to a ropes course! We did some great team building exercises like trying to all fit on a tiny wooden platform
and belaying for each other.
One of the biggest things I was impressed with about camp was how well all of us got along despite the wide range of ages and backgrounds.
Big shout out to our sponsors Intelligentsia coffee, Hincapie clothing, Spy glasses, Trek, and of course WCJ Pilgrim, Endavour, and IScorp for making this camp and the team possible. Thanks so much to Billy Jones for personally making this camp happen, all the pros who came and contributed advice and knowledge, and my dad for directing the camp. Being together and bonding as a team while putting in huge hours on the
bike with such great roads and temperatures was super fun!
Josey Weik describes his experience at the prestigious EuroCrossCamp.
"Please fasten your seat belts, we are approaching Brussels" said our Pilot. I looked over at my friend David and said excitedly; "We're almost there!". He grinned back at me as I looked out the tiny little plane window. The air is foggy, but I could see rows upon rows of little brick houses dotting windy streets. We're in Belgium, the motherland of CycloCross. David Lombardo and I were there for the tenth annual EuroCrossCamp. This camp takes the best of the U.S. over to Belgium to race against the best of the world and learn what it really takes to become a professional 'Cross racer. Besides World Championships, there is little higher honor than this for an aspiring Junior.
The foggy, slightly drizzling weather as we landed was a testament to the rest of our stay. Of the entire two weeks I was there, it rained everyday but three, and I only saw the sun twice. That may sound morose and depressing but it made great 'Cross weather. Out of the five races we did, all were muddy and three were the muddiest races I have ever done. As David and I worked our way through the Airport we ran into a surprising number of familiar faces. Other U.S. Juniors, fellow EuroCampers, and even Jeremy Powers himself! We met up with Jim (one of the EuroCrossCamp staff) and drove out to the facility everyone would be staying at. At the House I started to recognize faces, other Juniors I had competed with, and people I had met at races.
To open up our legs after the long plane ride we pulled on our raincoats and went on a spin. The riding was fun, consisting of close, tight, windy roads, and bike paths with interesting sights and a fair amount of traffic. After we got back and dried off we settled into the routine that would define the rest of camp. If it was a non-race day we got up at eight 'o clock and ate breakfast. Then we got dressed and went on a ride. We came back and made sure our bikes were in working order, then took a shower, and ate lunch. After that, depending on the day, you're either responsible for the breakfast chores, the afternoon chores, the dinner chores, or it's your day off. After relaxing with your legs up, hanging out, napping, and playing pool for the rest of the day we ate dinner, attended the evening meeting, and went to bed.
On our first race day, Namur, the Juniors had to wake up at 5:15 AM in order to get to the race course -which was two hours away- with time to spare for pre-riding. Thank goodness, we got the opportunity to pre-ride! I don't think I can actually explain how utterly intense and terrifying the course at Namur was! The ground was almost always either pointing up, or straight down, and the mud was thick. Drops steep and muddy with corners at the bottom, one of the hills you would run (really it was more of a crawl because it was so steep) up one side, have a few feet to remount and then go back down the other side on an equally steep downhill. In addition to all of this, the mud was so deep and wet that we had hardly any brakes.
I'll admit, when I lined up at the starting line I was pretty shaky. Between this being my first race in Belgium, not knowing how fast the compitition would be, starting last row, and wondering how fast I would have to go down the hills to keep up in the race I was pretty scared. My start suffered from this, and I was dead last off the gun. Soon however, the nerves melted away and I was just racing my bike in the mud. Once I got over how steep the downhills were I realized that if you just let go of your brakes and rode they really were not that bad. I started to really have fun as I figured out how to ride (and run) the course and moved up more and more. I ended up finishing 11th place, just a dropped chain away from the top ten. If you look at the results, Namur had the smallest field of any the races we did. Only 18 finishers, but what the results don't show is that 32 kids started the race. The race was so tough, half the people DNF'd.
Each race I did was totally different. While none of the courses quite had the fear factor of Namur, each was intense in it's own way. Beernem (15th out of 45) was tight and twisty, Loenhout (34th out of 60) was axle deep mud, Diegem (53rd out of 73) was the hilliest cross race I have ever done, and Baal (35th out of 60) was just pure brutality. I made many mistakes and learned something new each time I raced. I am very gratefull for what Geoff has done in providing American Cyclists with such a great opportunity. I had the time of my life in Belgium!
Eight years I have been waiting for this season. For eight years I have wondered. When's it gonna happen? When am I gonna make that jump? When am I gonna grow? It started like any other year but by the end, I was a different rider. A different person. I started the season with a goals list, I didn't know if I could do any of them... six inches, three category jumps, tens of thousands of miles later in the car, on my bike, and in a plane I have achieved almost every one and beyond. My goals were:
#1: To place 1st overall in the cat 4 series at ToAD, I placed second overall by five points.
I did however achieve my first Cat 4 road win at Lacrosse
#2: To win a Cat 3 Cross race
And later went on to podium in several Cat 1/2 races like here at State championships.
#3: To top five at Short and fat, I placed 7th in the group sprint for 2nd.
#4: to bunny hop barriers consistently
And #5: to Place top ten at Cross Nationals, I placed 6th, losing the sprint for 5th
I dreamed about going to EuroCamp but thought it was to big of a goal so did not put it on my list. Neverless, I was able to go to the tenth anuall EuroCrossCamp!
I also was on the Midwest team for Le Tour De Rimouski cadet race.
And attended Geoff Procter's USAC Cross Development camp.
Thanks to a ton of very generous people for making everything possible this year:
My team IScorp, HED cycling, WCJ Pilgrim, Doug Close, Scott & Angie Rake, Amy Weik-Bonebell, Trek, Enzo's Button, The Crossniacs, Ski Hut, Thirsty Pagan, people who bought t-shirts, all the generous donations, and of course my parents!
After five days being home from Belgium, I left for the last and most important race of the season, National Championships. I was nervous coming into Nationals. Not because it was a super important race, although that was contributing factor. I was nervous because I had been sick since I got home. A sinus infection, otherwise known as the Belgian crud. I had been fighting it since my second race in Belgium, barely holding it off. The long, stressful plane ride accompanied with the dry air, and low quality food in the air plane finally tipped me over. I took good care of myself while home and managed to get healthy. The thing I was nervous about was if it would affect my race. Because I was sick, I only rode twice from the time I arrived home till I left for Nationals.
In order to open up my legs, I decided to do the non-championship under 29 B race on Wednesday. The conditions were fast and slippery, the surface was a mixture of wet frozen dirt, half melted ice patches, and packed snow. As I expected my legs were blocked up and my start was lackluster, I took me most of the first lap to figure out how to ride the slippery conditions at race speed and get my legs fully opened up. Despite some shifting issues, I placed second to a Canadian u23 rider named Micheal Vandenham and my teammate Max Ackerman had a great ride to 5th place.
On the day before my race (Friday), I rode over to the course to cheer on friends that were racing and ride on the course. By then, the temp had risen above freezing and a inch of rain had fallen. The course had inches of slippery, slimy mud, and patches of ice underneath. There was no wind, it was foggy, and the temp was just barely above freezing. In short, the conditions were absolutely perfect for me!
The morning of nationals I woke up early enough to pre-ride the course before my 10:30 race. It's a good thing I did because the conditions were completely different. There was a very strong, icy cold biting wind and it was as cold as it could possibly be without freezing. The biggest change though, was the mud. Over night it had thickened into what is referred to as "peanut butter mud". Thick, power sucking stuff, requiring little technical skill. At first I was frustrated. This stuff was not bad for me but I had still lost a huge conditions advantage. However, as it got closer and closer to my race, the sun came out. The warmth began to thaw out the partially frozen thick mud and the consistency became more loose. It wasn't the slippery mud of the day before but there was now a line through the mud, right next to the tape. By riding as close as possible to the tape and spinning, you could go faster than slogging through the deep mud in the center. The technical part about it was you were running a very high risk of getting tangled up in the course tape, or worse, hooking a post and flipping.
I warmed up and rode over to the start line. It was very cold, I had a thermal Skinsuit, two base layers and Enzos Button embrocation on. I lined up second row on the left. I lined up on the very outside. The gun went off and we sped towards the first corner. Then some one slips on a ice patch on the inside and starts a massive crash! I slam on my brakes and slide to a stop just in time to avoid falling into the pile up. I stand there for a few seconds in what seems like a eternity as I try and escape the pile up. by the time I finally do, I'm forty seconds back on the top five and in the thirties.
Later my dad ask's me if I was frustrated then. To be honest, I do not remember feeling any emotion. If you look at photos of me in the race you can see my face and mind were a expressionless void focusing on one single thing:
Racing my bike as fast as I can.
I don't remember much from the first two laps of the race. A few disjointed images with little thought attached to them. After the race my dad told me I was 30th when I hit the dirt, 25th coming through the pits on the first lap, and I was 17th by the first hill. I was on fire, having the race of my life after complete disaster!
A video of thee first lap at the pits. the first rider to go through is 4th place. I appear at the end
By the end of the first lap I could hear people shouting at me: "That's top ten right there! Go! GO!". I moved into 11th. Then 8th. into 6th. 5th place ! For the first time in the race, I felt an emotion. I smiled. This was my goal, top five! I wasn't going to get it easily though. There was some one on my wheel, Anders Nystrom. The last lap was a blur of pain as I tried to drop him. He passed me right after the pits, I put in a huge acceleration and passed him back before the hill. Little by little I started to open a gap. I was concentrating everything I had on not making a mistake. Which of course, was my mistake. On the final uphill coming into the downhill into the finish, my front wheel caught something. I fell down. I got back up quickly and ran up the last bit of the hill and got back on my bike. It was a tiny mistake, but it was enough. Anders caught me, sat on my wheel and then attacked me as we hit the tar. I struggled to hold onto his wheel to try and make some last attempt to beat him at the line but I had already burned my all my matches. I crossed the line in 6th place, four seconds down on the podium.
I had a amazing Nationals. I had the ride of my life right after disaster and I did it when it counted. I was the only rider in the top ten who got suck in the crash. My ride was not without flaw but I am proud of it. Now that I have done the last race of the season it is time to rest so that I can return for road season, hungry for more.
Thanks to Roxxanne King (@CyclingRox) for the awesome photo and the Bonebell for the video!
After two weeks in Belgium, I find myself looking at things differently. Something changed while I was battling the mud in Belgium. I see things differently now. Not in a dramatic way, but subtle change is apparent. I grew in Belgium, physically, mentally, and emotionally. A seed was planted, one that will grow with time in such a way that can not be averted. I learned a lot in Belgium, but what resonates with me the most is Geoff's quoting of Aristotle;
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."
My trip to Belgium was a realization of our struggle for excellence. To me EuroCrossCamp embodied that struggle. What it takes to become a professional cyclist is really seen while over there. Adverse conditions and talented fields show how good you truly are through repeated and demoralizing defeat. If you are disciplined and tough, you see what your weaknesses are. You see who you really are. Geoffdid an excellent job of making this camp a great learning experience. The riders are cared for through the camp, but not coddled. It becomes opportunity to see the connection between dedication and results.
Despite being a race camp full of very competitive people, friendship and team work was very prevalent through out the two weeks. Riders (for the most part) from different teams and parts of the country filled the roster but while in Belgium, we were team EuroCamp. Whether preparing for a race or just doing the dishes, we had each others backs from making sure things weren't misplaced, to taking the chore load if some one was sick, and helping each other work on bikes. In that way and others, EuroCamp was the most professional camp I have been to.
I have tried to sum up what this experience was like with pictures and posts on both Twitter and Blogger. What it was like to ride around in a different world with roads tight and twisty and neat hedges. How the food tasted. What it was like to hardly ever see the sun and hear an almost constant sound of rain drumming on the rooftops. What the people sounded like when they spoke such a guttural language. How tough the races were with deep mud, sketchy descents, and brutal hills. Most importantly, what I learned. Hopefully, I have succeeded -at least to a degree- so that all the people who so generously helped me understand how grateful I am. Understand how much fun and learning a kid can have playing in the Belgium mud.
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