...And the Season Begins

March is typically the start of the season for most mountain bikers, UCI races begin, most local XC series start up, and with the time change those of us who have obligations outside of cycling are finally getting in some serious volume in our weekly training. I'm no exception, going from maybe 8 hour weeks to getting in some 10+ hour weeks recently and I am starting to feel it!

If you trained and didn't take
a selfie, it didn't happen

I took some advice from my cycling mentors and have started doing most of my training on the road, the logic being that it is easier to get big miles in. And ever since I have noticed a large jump in my fitness in a relatively short amount of time.

Start of the ITT

My first in-season race was a collegiate road race in Auburn, Alabama. I raced C's given the fact that I had never raced my road bike before. My performance definitely reflected that as I fell off the back on the 2nd lap of the road race, I continued to push, alone, to try to catch back up to the peloton but it wasn't meant to be. I spent the rest of the race catching and dropping riders that fell off of the back to a 27th place finish. The next race of the weekend would be the ITT and no amount of road race inexperience would matter here as its simply "ride as hard as you can and be super aero" and without other riders to worry about I felt comfortable gunning it and I did, finishing 4th! On Sunday we raced the Criterium; the event that I was most nervous about racing after hearing countless horror stories from my parents from when they raced. But I digress, I lined up towards the back and went hard finding myself in between the main field and the back of the race, doing every bit of work on my own I held a solid pace and caught and dropped a lot of racers to finish 24th.

Thankfully, I would not have another race for two weeks so I decided to come home on the weekend to get in a solid training block. Getting in some solid miles in a few short days.

The following weekend I had the second Southeastern Endurance Championship race of the year at one of my favorite trail systems; the Georgia International Horse Park. Fast, flowy, some serious climbs, and some technical sections for good measure. The course really suits my riding style so  I knew that I had to have a very goof start to be able to ride my pace and set a good gap on the first lap.

Deep South pit

I set up in the pit with my newest sponsor, Deep South Bicycle Company, which I can't thank enough for supporting me this year. I also tried some new nutrition this race, JUNK FOOD, I set up Pop-Tarts, Snickers, Mountain Dew, and Pickle Pops. Which worked better for me than my previous abuse of energy bars.

Gracing the podium in my jorts.
They weren't short enough for me to win.

I lined up at the start, made some jokes with my friends and fueled by Tupac and collegiate angst, I went all out trying to get a solid position going into the woods.  I found myself in the top 10 and even passed a few racers that had gotten in front of me. I put in a scorching 40 minute lap time and held a solid pace for the rest of the race, hanging with guys that I was unable to ride/race with previously. I just felt really good and continued to apply pressure opening up a 20 minute gap on those behind me that I would maintain the rest of the race. Going into my 7th and final lap I knew that I was comfortably in 3rd and I caught a second wind towards the end of my 6th lap; I rode as hard as I could but was unable to catch 2nd place and managed to finish in 3rd place.


The following day, I got on my road bike and raced the Georgia Tech Collegiate Criterium, I was worried about how I would feel after such a hard day the day before. But after a few laps of the course and some openers my worries were laid to rest. I lined up in the first row with my teammates and subsequently missed clipping in at the start and I fell back into the pack and tried to hang on but was dropped somewhere along the way. Once again, alone I began catching and passing riders, one of whom was my teammate but he was unable to get on my wheel to work together and move up. I eventually caught a chase group and despite attacking multiple times would come back to me and I eventually finished the race with that group. I finished 21st.

I was also featured in my school's newspaper which you can read the article here: http://ksusentinel.com/2016/03/07/kennesaw-state-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-become-accomplished-cyclist/

Looking forward to another collegiate road weekend this weekend and the prospect of racing the Austin Rattler 100k Leadville Qualifier in April!

2016 Preseason

The start to my 2016 went way better than I could have anticipated, getting the opportunity to represent Trucker Co.com and Deep South Bicycle Company for the first year and continuing my relationship with Lauf Forks and Crankbrothers. I am truly honored to be partnered with such great companies this year, thank you for  not only supporting myself but cycling in the southeast as well.

Racing started off incredibly early this year with the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial, just 9 days in to the new year. This year the organizers added a 50 mile option, but this being my first time racing the series I opted to do "just" the 34 mile. The funny thing about racing this early in the year is that you are basically paying someone to find out how our-of-shape you really are; that being said, I did not have the race that I wanted. It could have been any number of things, a late start, getting behind on my nutrition, inexperience on the terrain, or just a lack of fitness. But despite not having a great race I ended up in 6th place; and only a few minutes out of the top 5.


 After the first Snake, I wanted to get in a solid training block before my next race. As mother nature would have it, Atlanta got a few snow days; and not the "lets go ride in the snow" kind of snow days the "there's ice under this 1/4 inch of snow" kind of snow days. I took it to the trainer, which as we all know, sucks and I'm glad it did not last long. The weather warmed up in time to get a few rides before hand.


My second race of the year was to be the first race of the Chainbuster Southeastern Endurance Championship 6-hour series. I felt good going into the race and it showed, I was able to take a 3rd place spot on the Solo Pro/Expert podium alongside a national champion, who took 1st; officially inducting me into the massive "I Got Throttled by Gordon Wadsworth Club." Can we get t-shirts made? Also, a huge thank you to him for lending me a pair of knee-warmers in my time of need; instances like that are a big part of why I love mountain biking.

The following weekend I took part in the Georgia Interscholastic Cycling League (NICA) leader's summit. I took a role as an intern there this summer and this was my first leader's summit, it was a great time and I look forward to going for many years to come. In light of the leader's summit, the league also published a story on me which you can read here: http://georgiamtb.org/blog/2016/02/02/former-georgia-high-school-cyclist-triumphs-over-stroke-to-pursue-cycling-career/

The following weekend was the 2nd and final Snake Time Trial. I could definitely feel my fitness start to come around as I dropped a little more than 30 minutes from my first race; but with nothing to show for it as I still finished in 6th place, but only 2 minutes out of the top 5. It was a cold day with below-freezing temperatures the entire day, but with a dry and fast course I couldn't complain. I am looking forward to next year as I take on the 50 mile. Money Class? Maybe if I feel like getting throttled....