Friday, May 22, 2009

TT prep and other random stuff...

So I will be competing in the NJ Individual TT championships next Sunday. Since the end of my collegiate season I have been able to get in some very good training with my club team. I feel very good going into the race of truth as I finally have found the form I was lacking all spring. Last weekend, my clubs Saturday morning ride through the 'swamp' turned into a 35+ hammer fest led by Herb Jimenez of JVS. Even though our Saturday is usually Montclair only, we all consider Herb and his guys honarary team members as we often train and race together. I felt great the whole ride and was able to hang on as Herb and his boys cranked the paceline to well over 28mph; my form was even better the next day I trainined my coach Earn and road up the mean macopin rd(5 miles of fun) and was able to hold his wheel for the better part of 4 miles.

Going into next Sunday's race I'm feeling very good, I have gotten in some good workouts this week. Lucky for me I will be borrowing a team mates Orbea Ordu for the race; to add to my good fortune he's running an 808 rear and 404 front. I think I smell a sub hour 40km :)

Other than getting ready for my time trial, I have just been hanging out over the past two weeks. I finished up my finals and started working at school. My job isn't anything special, working in an office is pretty boring. On the upside it has given me a chance to catch up some reading(blogs, forums, tweets, and the like). I was looking forward to watching Terminator Salvation tonight but then was dissapointed to find the ending on wikipedia. Stuff like that really annoys me, I would like to see the movie and then be dissapointed. Not dissapointed before I even step foot in the theater. Maybe I'll go rent something like mama mia or the notebook instead...ehhh maybe not..

I have been watching sportcenter alot lately, mainly b/c I really like much on T.V. For me the two main sports highlight of the past two weeks are the Orlando Magic upsetting the Celtics and then two nights later upsetting the Cavs. Well to balance out this underdog winning, Rachel Alexandra won the preakness last weekend giving women more reason to get into sports. That's not really a bad thing, more women = more dates :) Also to please my current TT rival, if you haven't checked out velovanity radio, head over to their twitter site to check them. I personally haven't done so yet b/c I simply don't understand the point twitter, but that shouldn't deter you from checking them out anyway...

Well heres a clip of last weekend's preakness with Rachel Alexandrea winning, personally I'll be rooting for Mine that Bird at the Belmont Stakes. Maybe I can get some cash out of it...

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Easterns Recap

Basically this weekend was a crashfest for us at Stevens. Saturday my teammates went down in the TT, resulting in a trip to the hospital(at least we got some vicodin out of it, more on that later) followed by another nasty crash by me on the so called chicane of carnage that resulted in me finishing my collegiate season in a sling. Other than that, I guess it went pretty well...

Saturday's TT saw our Stevens C1 team battling it out w/ RIT TT team. Our guys got caught on the later part of the course which was followed by a nasty crash on gravel. My teammate needed medical attention and could not do the road race, which was an A race for him. I feel bad as he trained hard for the soul crushing climb up Black Mo., on the upside he got some free vicodin. The rest of our team competed in the road race with less than steller results, basically we got pwnd on that climb. I am definitely not the climber I was last year, but that's what happens when you train for the crit central that is the NJBA.

Sunday was the fast and furious Frat row crit, which the now infamous chicane of carnage. There were several crashes, including myself. I left the race in a sling from a banged up shoulder. Luckily my teammate gave me some of his vicodin, and yes it was awesome I felt nothing for several hours. On a side note, my teammate learned that beer and meds don't mix as he quickly felt the effects of the meds after his beer at dinner. The rest of our guys did well, including a 4th place finish for our Men's D team. I didn't have a great collegiate season, but I truly enjoyed myself. Between hosting a race, helping develop the new riders on our team, and recruiting more women I have been very busy. We have already picked up some new riders for next season, and we're already looking forward to our summer season of racing. I will be looking to redeem myself later this month at the NJ State TT, 40km of joy...as always here are some pics from the weekend(disclaimer, my teamate Orlando has informed that he will no longer allow my to 'borrow' his photos for my blog posts)




this last one is my favorite, as it basiclly sums up riding in Hoboken...