A Half Way Review...

After a long reprieve from blogging, I am back at it again, due in part to the constant nagging of my father and grandfather. Probably more so, however, to the fact that I once again have something to write about and hopefully entertain a couple of you out there whom have requested the continuing stories. I left off about a year ago with the great news of finishing second in a stage in one of my final races in Switzerland. With this performance I finally felt that I had achieved my personal goal, and could finally take some time off the bike once I returned to the States. My season ended after over eighty race days, several victories, numerous top placing, and many lessons learned the hard way over in Europe that encompassed nearly a year of hard work. So after missing the first month of my senior year in high school, I gladly returned to my studies and my friends. My time off the bike only lasted a short three weeks and I soon returned to my usual training grounds of Breckenridge, the Bear, and of course Woody/ Glennville. By the time November came around training was in full bore. For that month I averaged over thirty thousand feet of climbing per week. By the time December came around I felt like a true climber, motivated by my suffering in the Czech Republic and Switzerland, I was focused on climbing harder and longer than ever before to ensure I would be the one inflicting the pain come next year. I soon realized the mortality of the body in way I had not yet experienced. Sickness befell me, and for two weeks I was reduced to lying in bed and making up school work. I was able to rest just enough to get on a plane to visit my mom and her husband in Qatar.
I spent the following two weeks in awe at the wealth of the Middle East. Everything there was on a different scale. Buildings were taller, the lights brighter, the streets cleaner, everything was immaculate. It seemed that money flowed easily and evenly to everyone that was willing to take it. The people were social there and never passed up a good time, and yet it seemed that they knew no hardship. Huge houses, personal drivers, in-house “nannies” to cook and clean, and new cars in every drive way (not Fords or Chevys like you see in Bakersfield, but BMWs, Mercedes, Jaguars…) was apparently the way of life. This wasn’t a place for the old, it seemed more of a place for the lively and young, people who wanted to leave their make, and make a lot of money while doing it. This was a place of the nouveau riche. I guess the only way to describe it would be by comparing it to New York City back in the ‘20s. I also went to Jordan while on my trip to explore Petra and some of the religious sites that seemed to be scattered throughout the country along with giant eroding castles from the Crusades. Jordan did not seem to be flourishing nearly as much as Qatar. Instead I found smog filled air, littered roads and fields, and many beggars. The historic sites were still fascinating; Petra is probably one of the most awe-inspiring places I have been- among the likes of Yosemite. Huge structures all carved out of the red rock of the area seemed to make the ancients appear Herculean. Walking in the footsteps of Indian Jones made it all the better. So for two more weeks I was off the bike, but I now felt healthy again and ready for some riding.
I was not sure how much endurance my legs had retained but I would soon find out. I made the twenty hour flight home, slept in my own bed for six hours, woke up to the grand smell of my father making waffles, and two hours later I was on a plane headed to Phoenix. Way back in October I found myself looking for a team to join. The past couple years I raced under my local bike shop- Team Action Sports- but I now felt I had enough experience and results to join a structured racing team. I soon found myself talking to Barney King, my team director for Europe during May. He was on board with a relatively new team called Race Lab presented by Waste Management. After discussing all the options with my father and coach, I decided to join Waste Management. Barney would be the team coach, and the manager would be Steve Cullinan. Fast forward to January and I am on the plane to Phoenix for the team camp to be held in Tucson. With no riding for a month under my legs, I basically ate my way through the training camp. I literally probably ate twice as much as everyone else on each ride. I had to, it was the only way to keep my energy up and prevent myself from bonking. The training camp went well none the less. Every guy on the team brought something a little different to the mix and the whole thing worked. Three of us were new to the team, and the others had already been together for at least a year. I knew one of the riders, Kiel Reijnen, from Europe, and I managed to get to know everyone else by the week’s end. The manager, Steve, turned out to be an great guy, never lacking in energy, and always supportive, and Barney was the same Barney from Europe and Canada- calm and cool, but ready to party when the time arose. Thus Team Waste Management was formed, each of us looking forward to the race season with our brand new race bikes and equipment.
The time period between the team training camp and the first big race of the season, Valley of the Sun Stage Race, was eventful but in the worst possible way. A training ride in late January turned into a bloody mess when I slipped on some ice while descending from Alta Sierra. The ride was going great up until that point. Just another long day in the saddle with all the hardest part of the ride complete and all that was left was the long “relative” descent back to Bakersfield. About half way through the descent from the top of Alta Sierra I was winding my way through the narrow road and was probably going a bit too fast but I felt it was justified since the road was basked in sun light. On one particularly tight right bending corner I suddenly looked down to catch a glimpse of a glistening substance beneath my tires. I was instantly reminded of my early season crash last year due to ice while descending on the back side of Lion’s Trail. I once again had the eerie feeling of my tires slipping out from underneath me and the unpleasant contact of my shoulder-elbow-hip-and knee (probably in that order) with the road. I slid into the adjacent lane and was stopped by the side of the mountain. I instantly jumped up, frustrated at myself for making such a fundamental mistake of winter training. I equally cursed the ice, and then I noticed pieces of motorcycle parts littered throughout the corner and I realized that I was not the only one to lay out on the cursed ice. By this time, after picking up my bike and quickly getting to other side of the road so as not to get hit by a car racing up the mountain for some afternoon snowboarding. I looked over my wounds- my shorts were shredded, my favorite USA long sleeve jersey was torn, and I was bleeding all along my leg and elbow. My bike was still in working condition, so I hopped on a pedaled with my left leg, my right leg hanging limply off the side of the bike, in a defeated and embarrassed state after not respecting the mountain roads. After a seemingly long ride back to Glennville, I used the rest stop’s phone to call my father for a ride home. While waiting I consoled myself with a BLT sandwich and French fries from the restaurant next door, and began to ponder how many days I would once again be kept away from my bike.
Scrubbing dirt and gravel out of your hip and knee is something that I hope never befalls anyone I know. I now had scars and both hips and knees from crashes, and I was starting to feel like my season would never take off. After two more weeks of down time I was able to start riding again. I rushed a few hard work outs to get some form back in order to prepare for my first race, Valley of the Sun (I was supposed to race in the Boulevard Road Race in San Diego, but the crash prevented my participation). So on February 13 I was back on a plane head to Phoenix once again.

(Thanks for checking back, the second half of the review to come soon)

In The Words of Benjamin Sharp....

To keep everyone back home updated as soon as possible, the following summaries were written by Benjamin Sharp during the races......

Today was the opening stage of the GP-Ruebliland in Lenzburg , Switzerland . The course this afternoon was a 99.1km circuitous route that started and finished in Roggliswil. The day started with breakfast at the hotel, a light ride, and lunch at the SportHall in Lenzburg. Next, we loaded up into the van and car for Roggliswil. 106 riders took to the road at 3 p.m. Our plan was for Nolan Froese and Taylor Kuphaldt to patrol the front of the race for the first 50km, making sure that nothing slipped up the road without a U.S. rider. Froese made it into what became the move of the race, of 18 riders. Our aggressive young riders tried several times to bridge across to the swelling break but the Belgians (5 riders) and French (4 riders) dragged the large breakaway to a maximum lead of 5 minutes before alternately attacking the bunch and splitting the group. Nolan was caught out and relegated to what became the 3rd group on the road. He continued to drive the pace of his bunch to limit the time loss to the Czech winner, Marek Benda. He managed a 14th place finish, losing 1:34 in the final 15km. Taylor Kuphaldt slipped off the front in the closing kilometers to finsih 25th (5:23). The rest of the team came in with the main field, 5:39.
Currently the team is 6th on GC with three stages to go:
A 60 km circuit race, a 6km TT, and a 94.5 km Road Stage on Sunday.

The 2nd stage proved to be challenging, even at 60km. Immediately the field split with Joe Kukolla being caught out. He fought hard though, to stay within 7 min. At the finish. Belgian Joshua Soberon and Frenchman Dimitri Le Boulch rode away from the field just 20km into the race. They were able to stay clear until the finish. Our team finished in the main bunch with Van Horn coming across the line in 8th place. Froese's 14th on gc was preserved for the time trial.The 6km tt started with a 1km climb up to a plateau. The riders then race atop the plateau for 3.5km before dropping back into the star/finish toen of Villmergen. The course was tamed by Polish strongman Matheusz Czajkowski who won by 8 seconds over Belgium's Yannick Eijssen. Taylor Kuphaldt was the highest place American in 11th. The other riders finished strong with Larry Warbasse (24th), Grant Van Horn (27th), Travis Burandt (28th), Nolan Froese (37th) representing the team well.Today was the final stage of the GP Ruebliland. The riders completes a 94.5 km stage on rolling roads in the area around the town of Schneisingen. The race was aggressive from the beginning with small groups only able to eek out gaps of about 20 seconds before being reeled in. Finally with 40km to go, Van Horn was able to slip away with one of the Swiss regional riders. They were joined by 5 others including a Norwegian, French, Belgian, and Swiss regionals, and amssing a gap of 1:15 with 5km to go. The last 5km were touch and go with riders taking turns attacking the bunch. Nevertheless the breakaway came into the 500m uphill sprint in tact. Van Horn sprinted strongly but was just pipped at the line to take 2nd on the stage. (I told him before the race to get the flowers and kiss the (podium) girl. He did just that, enjoying time on the stage with two Swiss regional teammates. GC results are forthcoming but the rest of the guys were able to stay in the bunch to maintain Froese's top-15 position.Now we are en route to Izegem.

Lucky Corners...

Five Americans in the top twenty. That’s not a bad way to start off this blog. As you can imagine, the race yesterday went fairly well. It could have gone better, but considering all the facts, it wasn’t a bad day. The course consisted of 24 5k laps in the next town over from ours. It had some aggressive turns that played into our hands very well. There was a slight downhill after the start/finish area, and a slight uphill preceding the start/finish line. I have to admit that I wasn’t paying that close attention to attacks that went off the front of the pack in the beginning of the race. Usually these attacks aren’t worth wasting any energy on because the pack brings them back. Unfortunately for me, and the rest of the team, an Avia guy (Avia is a powerful Belgian club) got off the front in a small break. I wouldn’t see him again until we crossed the finish line after our 24th lap. Between the time when the Avia rider broke away and when he won the race, several chase groups organized to attempt to bridge the gap. I stayed in the pack for the first ten or so laps trying to conserve my energy, until I found myself in position to bridge to a small breakaway forming about 100 yards of the front of the pack. On the downhill corner I took a rather aggressive line that, of course, the Belgians could not follow, opened a small gap, and motored up to the break. We stayed away for five of six laps. This break had potential to be the race winning move, but the other three riders were more concerned about looking backwards for the pack, rather than looking forwards for the leaders (not even “persuasive” yelling could not motivate these guys to commit to the effort). We were caught, and I went with the counter attack, hoping to get with a better group of guys, but nothing went away, so I retired to the middle of the pack. With about six laps to go, and beginning to realize that we were racing for second (the Avia guy attacked his companions and was soloing his way to a win), our team somehow organized to pull off a pretty sweet move. We were coming into a series of corners that could easily be pedaled through (unless your European) that led into the downhill corner. I strung it out through the corners with three of my teammates on my wheel, and then hammered the downhill corner once again, to open up a solid lead. The third rider on my wheel (American) braked as he was coming out of the corner to allow our break to roll further off the front. The three of us began a rotation and were soon joined by three other riders (another American, and two Belgians, making it 4 Americans and 2 Belgians in the break). Our rotation stayed strong and fluid and we soon caught up to a group of about eight riders that were also off the front. As soon as we got there the group split up and three Belgian riders managed to get up the road in front of the group that I was in (along with the other Americans) and then there were groups behind us. The laps dwindled down with each of us attacking one another (or Belgians attacking Americans). We came into the final lap with the Avia guy off the front and about to win the race, a group of Belgian riders, and then the Americans. I still do not know how the group of Belgians riders got away from us, but it is pretty embarrassing to have a split in the break and not have one of the four Americans in the break on the front end of the split. But it happened and we couldn’t seem to bring them back. After some futile attacking on my own part (made futile by the fact that my teammate kept following my wheel and would bring the Belgians with me- frustrating, but in actuality you are not supposed to have team tactics in kermesses, they are designed to have everyman for himself), we came into the last 2k’s of the final lap with a group of three Americans, and three Belgians. I know, and many of the people back home know, that I am not a sprinter, so with about 1.5k’s to go I attacked the group to make the Belgians chase me down which allowed my teammates to have a free ride to the line where hopefully they could out sprints the Belgians. They caught me with only a couple hundred meters left, and as soon as they caught me my teammate sprinted around them for an eighth place finish. The other American finished 12th, and I finished 13th. Our next teammate rolled through in 15th, and another guy won the field sprint for 19th. So based on the results sheet it wasn’t a bad day, but tactically and teammate-wise we probably should have done a bit better.
The legs are really starting to feel good. We leave for Switzerland tomorrow, and I expect good things to come. We are competing in a in a 3 day stage race with four stages. If the hotel we are staying at has internet, I will try to post some info and results, if not, then expect some news on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for the support/reading.

The Flat and The Fast

So I am back in Europe, and I am back to the real world of bicycle racing. I arrived in Belgium last Wednesday and to no surprise it was raining. After a lengthy delay at the airport we were on our way back to the house in Izegem. After unpacking and eating a hearty meal of horse, we were off to bed. On Thursday we competed in our first race, but we didn’t exactly race to win. Winning is always on the mind, but what can you expect after 12 hours of fly time, and only ten hours of sleep from the past forty hours of traveling. So instead we raced to get rid of the “jet lag” in our legs and too actually make us more tired so that we would sleep the entire night in order to get over the time difference. The race was a Belgian kermmese. These are local/close-to-home races that are considered to be “real races,” but in actuality they are Belgian training rides. There were about sixty guys in the field, and the course consisted of nine 7k loops. Around lap five a twenty man break went up the road, while I stayed in the pack. On lap eight, I decided to stretch my own legs and went up the road to place 21st for the day. We had one rest day before we had another race on Saturday. The Saturday race was known as an inner club race. This is an actual “race” in Belgian terms. I was joined at the line with about 120 other riders. The course consisted of twelve 9k loops. Around lap 6 a break of about twenty riders went up the road, and remembering the way the kermmese went, I quickly got to the front and made a huge effort to bridge the gap. It was everything I had to drag myself up to the leaders, averaging about 52k’s to make the jump. Once up to the leaders I got a slight rest as we entered the town and I could use the corners to my advantage. We then entered into a smooth rotation which we held until two laps to go. At this point all hell broke loose, and we started to attack each other. We went into the last couple of k’s in groups of two’s and three’s, but each group was only separated by a couple meters. I made a last ditch effort with about 800 meters to go, but the futile attempt was quickly consumed by the much faster sprints of the Belgian riders. I ended up placing seventeenth. I made some serious tactical errors upon reflection on this race. I noticed that about three teams had three riders in the break, others had two, and only a few of the break riders were solo. I should not have rotated through with the pace line, I should have hung on to the back and rotated through only once in a while. Therefore I could have conserved energy and perhaps done better at the end of the race. The teams that had three riders in the break were able to organize and execute efficient attacks that took a lot out of my legs. I am quickly regaining my knowledge of European racing. These flat races are tough, and are really not my forte, so I can’t wait to get to a course with a climb. We race again on Tuesday, another flat circuit style race that should be the fastest and hardest yet (of this trip). Then on Thursday we leave for Switzerland. For those of you that have been asking me to continue the blog, thanks for waiting, and I will try to be more on top of it as the trip progresses.

Covering the Results Page....

The prologue could not have gone worse for me, but it couldn't have gone better for Taylor Phinney. I rolled up to the start gate to have my juniors gears checked and the head official immediately began checking out my time trial bike to make sure that it would pass UCI rules. He scrutinized my handlebars, and my seat and especially my rear wheel. He said that the rear wheel was too close to the frame, I argued that it wasn't, but you don't get very far arguing with the head official. He wouldn't let me touch the bike, so our mechanic came over and pulled the wheel back in the drop outs (Cervelos have track drop outs so that you can adjust the distance between the rear wheel and the frame, however if the skewer does not rest up against the frame in the drop out than the only way the wheel stays straight and in place is by the tension of the skewer itself). Long story short, the first pedal stroke I took I torqued the wheel forward and in to the frame. I should have stopped and reset the wheel, but you don't really think about stopping in a 400 meter sprint. Eventually the tire rubbing against the frame heated up too much and finally blew. So I got off my bike and ran to the finish line, while doing so I gave high-fives to the crowds (which were fairly large). I finished 44 seconds behind the winner, my team mate Taylor Phinney. Taylor ripped the legs off of everyone and finished a second in front of the second place rider, which is a lot in a 400 meter sprint. Ben King, the winner of both the TT and the road race at nationals, broke his chain on the starting ramp and had to push his way to the finish line. So at the end of the day Ben and I were on the bottom of the results page, but Taylor was on top.

Since Taylor won the prologue he was given the leader's jersey and the best young rider jersey. We were intent to hold both of these jerseys. Carter, Joe, Ben, and I had the always lovely task of marking riders and covering breakaways. We controlled the field really well until the last 20k's. A crash happened and Taylor was involved in it, but only Danny knew, because the rest of the team was at the front getting ready to lead Taylor out for the sprint. Danny came up to me before he dropped back to pick Taylor up and told me the bad news. I drifted to the back of the pack and waited for Taylor to catch back on so that I could bring him up through the field. Taylor ended up being raced back to the pack on the bumper of our team car. We had just enough time to get him to the front of the field by the time the sprint came, where he placed fourth. Ben also placed in the top ten. However, because Taylor did not win the sprint and therefore did not get any time bonuses, he lost the leaders jersey. We weren't disappointed though, because we knew we would make up time in the team time trial.

As if in a repeat of the Switzerland TTT, it was pouring rain while we warmed up for the two 4.4k circuits we were about to do. Luckily the rain let up a little when we actually raced, but we nearly missed our start time due to the same head official as the prologue. He scrutinized every inch our bikes, and made half the team change the position of their bars and seats, even though they were in the same position from the previous weekend for nationals. This official basically wanted to make us late for the start. Once we were past the gear check we lined up at the line and waited for our start. We were not fluid at all on this course. We didn't take the corners very well in the first lap and we kept opening gaps in our line. Basically we could have done a lot better. However, we did manage to win, and we moved Taylor into easy striking distance of first. Standing on the podium, in front of two Canadian teams was really cool. This race is a pretty big deal for the city we are in and there were a lot of people in the crowds.

Today we have a 94k road race. Since we don't have the leader's jersey, my job is a lot easier. The Canadians have to do all the work today. Tomorrow is an individual TT and another road race.

The Update....

So we have arrived in Canada for the Tour de L'Abitibi. We flew in from Pennsylvania where I competed in nationlas. I got 17th in the time trial, and fifth in the road race. There is definitly room for improvement in both of the races, but overall I had a pretty good time. So now I am back on the US National Team competing in another stage race. This race is seven days long with nine stages. There are ten or so national teams, ranging from the Dutch and the French to the Americans and the Japanese, as well as quite a few regional teams from America and Canada. There is a total of thirty teams here, with six members to each team. Tonight is the prologue in down town Val d'Or. It is not much of a prologue because it is actually only a four hundred meter sprint. The main point of this prologue is to put the caravan order in place. Tomorrow we have a road race in the morning, with a team time trial in the evening. It has been raining a lot over here so hopefully the courses will stay dry long enough to let us race safely.

In Brief...

We just got back from Switzerland, and now I have to pack up all my bags for a flight to London, where I will be staying for the next week. The race started out really well with the team finishing second in the team time trial. It was awesome standing on the podium. The second day went downhill very quickly. I was sick from food poisoning and lost a lot of time on the climbs. I just felt horrible the entire day. The third day was a little better, except instead of being sick, I had horrible luck. My pedal fell off and I had to chase back on. Then our highest placed GC rider crashed, so I had to bring him back up. Then I teamed up with a couple of Spainards to chase a break away down, only to have the course marshals lead us off course. So I finished off the back of the pack again. We had a TT later that day, and it went ok. My legs were pretty smashed after the previous day's effort to just stay in the race. On the final day, I finally had good luck and good health on my side. I was able to help out the "team leader" (since I wasn't in contention for the win, I helped out Taylor Phiney as much as I could). I patrolled the front the entire day: covering breaks, and making sure nothing got away without Taylor in it. Unfortunately, taylor wasn't having a very good day, so it became even more important to keep the field together. After three climbs, the front group was reduced to about 45 riders from the 115 that started the day. It came down to a sprint, and after making sure Taylor got to the front, I crossed the line in 19th. The over all race should have gone a lot better. It is dissapointing to start in such a good spot after the prologue, and then lose it all on the next day.

I will try and write a more detailed summary of our trip in Switzerland if I can find some internet in London, but now i have to get back to packing...