Another Spring

Wow, I can't believe it's almost springtime again. This school year has flown by - almost 1 year of grad school down! Anyway, obviously it's been a while since I last wrote something on here. Things are more or less the same - still good, still busy, BUT I am in much better shape now! I had the good fortune of accompanying the BKBs down to Florida for their winter training trip. We had an awesome place right on the beach, complete with our own dock!

BKB team picture 2012.

It was a good week of riding and I definitely got my butt kicked, but that's ok. The guys were riding well and we had a blast. The weather was pretty good and the scenery around our place was gorgeous. As evidenced by this picture:

Sunset in Florida.

For Amy's birthday we went down to 3 wineries in Southern Indiana on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail. First up was Huber Winery, which was pretty cool, but big. Next we went to Turtle Run Winery - quite the opposite, it was very small, but really cool. That was definitely our favorite. Lastly we visited Best Vineyards, which wasn't all too impressive, but cool to see nonetheless. That weekend happened to be the "roll out the barrels" tasting weekend so we got to taste wine that was still aging in the barrels and some brand new vintages. It was a blast and we definitely got to try some awesome wines!

Amy and I at Huber Winery.

I'm really looking forward to this spring and seeing what new, exciting things it brings. We've been having an unseasonably warm winter so far, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that spring will be equally nice. I'm also hoping to start collecting data for my thesis soon...we'll see how that goes!

Another sunset in Florida. Can't beat that!

Fall Update

Well it seems that I've been quite M.I.A. lately...but with good reason. I've been insanely busy adjusting to/trying to keep up with grad school. It's been really fun though, I like it a lot and it definitely beats undergrad (in terms of the school part at least, haha). Cycling however, has been difficult with my busy schedule, but I still get out and ride at least once a week, which helps me keep my sanity. The AXiD girls are looking great so far, which is a good sign for the spring. Similarly, our BKB boys are also looking pretty well - right on track for our training trip this coming winter break.

IU's historic Royer Pool where Doc Counsilman and Hobie Billingsley built a dynasty. I'm fortunate to have the chance to teach class there twice a week!

As far as school goes, I think I'm passing all my classes and I'm in the process of writing up my thesis proposal, so I think I'm right on track for now. It's definitely fun. I'd post more about my thesis, but that's boring science stuff. However, I will say if anyone wants to be a subject, let me know! It'll probably be sometime next spring/summer.

Amy and I at Hesitation Point in Brown County State Park.

In other news, I think I've made progress in refining a good pizza recipe that Amy found online. The recipe is actually quite simple and pretty quick, which is nice. I'm sure there are fancier recipes that (might) taste better, but this one's pretty good! On paper it reads:

3/4 cup warm water
1 package (1/4 oz) quick rise yeast
2-3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
Pizza sauce (as much as you want)
Cheese
Other toppings

So...I actually like using a little less water and putting some beer and/or wine in there (whatever is on hand), and this last time I used spinach as a topping as well and it turned out quite well. Just mix it all up, knead it into a dough, and roll it out, put some pizza sauce/cheese/toppings on, and grill it (originally this recipe was for grilled pizza) or bake it in the oven! Here's the finished product from the last attempt:

Pizza topped with spinach and cheese. It was very tasty.

As you might have noticed, today is the last day of Thanksgiving Break (at least for IU). It's been a great holiday - relaxing for sure. I definitely did not get as much done as I had hoped, but that was pretty predictable. Tomorrow it's back to the insanity that is school, so I'm enjoying every last second of break. We had Thanksgiving out at Dogwood Springs yesterday and true to form, it was a blast and full of delicious food. I think I'm still digesting everything this afternoon...

The cabin out at Dogwood Springs.

These next few weeks are going to be insane with school and wrapping up the semester, then we're off on winter break! Hopefully I can catch up on some work over break. BKB will be leaving Bloomington on January 1st for our annual training trip, so that should be fun. I'm looking forward to putting the guys through the paces and challenging them on the trip. It'll be nice to get away for a little bit too. The likelihood of me updating this blog before the end of the semester is very slim...but possible. Sometimes I wonder if anyone even reads this anymore, but I guess in the end I don't really care if anyone does or not. It's just nice to put pen to paper (er...fingers to keyboard) and write something every now and then. And also it's nice to share some pictures. As you can tell by looking at the history of this blog, every year I've posted progressively less times... maybe that trend will stop next year! I think it'll be an exciting year, especially with the Scholars Inn Bakehouse team, which I will again be a part of. Anyway, better get back to work!

Nothing like a smooth beer in a mason jar.

Have you been riding much? -Actually...not really...

As the title of this post suggests...I've been getting asked the question "have you been riding much" A LOT lately. And unusually enough - my answer has been "not really..." My cycling has taken somewhat of a back seat to my new graduate studies - don't get me wrong, I still love to ride and still do a couple times a week, but I'm just not up to the same frequency and duration as I normally am. And you know what? It's kind of nice. I'm sure I'll wish I was doing more riding here in a few weeks, and who knows, maybe I will be (I'm planning on it anyway). I'm still staying fit swimming and riding when I can.

One things that has been awesome though, is cooking! Amy and I just made some DELICIOUS homemade jambalaya last night (well, she did most of the work...but I helped a little!) and we could not get enough of it! I have the recipe (somewhere...) if anyone wants it!

Jambalaya a la Amy and me. Was AWESOME.

Anyway, I'm still staying involved in the cycling world what with coaching BKB and AXiD again and also with the Scholars Inn Bakehouse team - and I AM PLANNING ON RACING next year. BKB is looking awesome this year, I'm really excited to see what these guys can do. It's strange being a couple years removed from Little 500 now. I mean, I'm still in Bloomington and still cycling, still coaching, but this will be the second year since the last race I actually rode in. How strange...

Change is good though I suppose. It's good to see new riders coming up and it's good to see Jordan filling the role of IUSF Assistant Director/Little 500 Race Coordinator. I'm so glad that Jordan is still around Bloomington and so far I think he's doing an awesome job (of course, I'm quite biased).

While we're on the topic of food...

Since my last post, Amy and I visited Brian and Erin up in Chicago - what an awesome trip! We had a blast over the course of the weekend and we're so glad we got to see those two. We definitely made the most of our time with a jog up and down the Lakeshore Drive, visiting Millennium Park, and the Art Institute, hitting up a BYOB Italian joint, and getting a taste of the night life too! Brian and Erin were incredible hosts while we were up there - you'd be hard pressed to find better friends anywhere.

Farm family (Brian and me) and Thetas (Erin and Amy) in the big city at the bean in Chicago! You'd be hard pressed to find better friends than these. Photo courtesy of Erin Axley.

The future of this blog is uncertain - will I keep having time and motivation to occasionally update it? Will I update more regularly like I have done in past years? Or will this blog disappear? Who knows, but for now it's here to stay still. Maybe it'll turn into my food blog instead of my cycling blog...

Lately

Well, I've finally noticed that it's been months since I last wrote on this blog. A lot has happened since the last time I posted, but nothing earth-shattering that I know of has happened. I've raced some more (Iowa, Ohio, Bloomington, etc.), with no significant results to speak of. The Bloomington Crit was a blast as always and I thoroughly enjoyed the race and post-race with lots of friends.

Heading up the hill in Grandview. Photo courtesy of Bruce Gowdy.

The Ohio weekend (Madeira, Hyde Park, Grandview) was awesome, and Atwell was riding like a monster as a newly upgraded Cat 2. I've lost quite a bit of fitness since collegiate season, as I was hit by a significant bout of laziness and being tired all the time. So, instead of riding my bike, I only rode a few times and thus got really out of shape (as evidenced by my terrible time at the Forest TT). I'm enjoying riding though, and I've been swimming a lot, which is also very nice. Swimming in the evenings after my rides makes me feel awesome and I enjoy doing it. It's very relaxing and good to just zone out and swim for a bit.

On the flat (and fast) part of the course at Hyde Park. Photo courtesy of Bruce Gowdy.

In other news, my old teammate and good friend Jordan Bailey has been selected to replace Pam Loebig as the IUSF Assistant Director/Little 500 Race Coordinator. Jordan is pushing to change the name of the position to simple "Race Commissioner" - very appropriate for him. I'm excited that JB will be in town for a couple more years, it should be fun.

Another shot from Grandview. Photo courtesy of Bruce Gowdy.

Obviously since I didn't get the position, I've got to do something else. I've decided to start my Master's in Exercise Physiology in the fall here at IU. I'm looking forward to starting grad school in the fall, it should be a blast. Hopefully I can get through it fairly quickly and get into a career!

Collegiate Nationals

The 2011 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships have come and gone and with it the school year at IU is over too. I've officially graduated from IU (although I missed commencement for Nationals), completing a B.S. in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Social Science and Medicine as well as a B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in Coaching. See ya later, Undergraduate career! Anyway, back to the purpose of this post - Collegiate Nationals. The first race on the schedule was the road race, which covered a challenging 72 miles in Blue Mounds State Park just southwest of Madison, WI.

The scenery at Blue Mounds State Park (host of the road race) was beautiful. Photo from USA Cycling.

The race opened with a long descent and then the pack settled in for a relatively calm first lap. The run up to the feed zone (and the start of each circuit) was a long, challenging climb and shortly after the first time up it I jumped clear with a small group. We quickly came back following the descent and I somehow made it into the counter move with a University of Vermont rider. We quickly gained almost a minute on the pack and settled in.

Up front with the Marian University riders. Photo courtesy of Jamie Young.

Unfortunately for me, my mechanic (i.e. myself) neglected to install a chain watcher and my chain dropped on one of the climbs, and got stuck between my inner ring and frame. After wrenching it out, I chased back to the caravan and subsequently the pack, but fried my legs in the process. Instead of conserving and riding in the pack I went back to the front and proceeded to ride stupidly hard and dropped myself on the 4th of 5 circuits. Big fat D-N-F for the road race for me.

Off the front with Weston (Marian) right after the feed zone. Photo courtesy of Jeffrie Leibovitz.

Out of our 4 IU guys we only had one finish with the pack in the points, so that was slightly disappointing. On the women's side Melinda and Kristen both had stellar rides, both getting in the top 50. The following day was the TTT, a 19.2-mile affair on a rolling, but windy course. Our women slotted in 11th right as the men left the starting gate. We rolled in 8th place with a pretty smooth run. All in all not bad for us, although it would have been nice to sneak into the top 5 (we were 50+ seconds too slow for that).

IU Men's Team Time Trial. Photo courtesy of Casey Gibson/USA Cycling.

The last event of the weekend was the criterium, which we thought we had the best chance of doing well in, since we have a pro sprinter. I tried to get in some early moves, but nothing went, and Scott was up front as well. The winning move went when I was sitting ~70th wheel, however, and with the way my legs were feeling I had no choice but to watch it go. After some chasing efforts, I was toast and Eric failed to get up solo. With 3 laps to go I picked him up from mid-pack and took him to the front, dropping him off accidentally at 1st wheel. By tapping his brakes, Eric inadvertently made me take a solo flyer with 2 to go...which of course, failed. I wound up towards the back of the pack and Eric took 3rd in the field sprint, good for 7th.

Me during the criterium. Photo courtesy of Jeffrie Leibovitz.

Our team wound up 13th in the omnium, which we were satisfied with. It would've been nice to be higher, but given the hodge-podge nature of our team this year, it was probably a better result than some expected. Marian University (from our own MWCCC) dominated the overall with wins in both the Men's and Women's TTT as well as both the Men's and Women's crits. I knew there was a reason they kicked our butts so badly during the regular season... Anyway, it was a fun weekend of racing and I think everyone on our team who went enjoyed the company and the racing. I hope IU can have more success next year and wish the riders next year the best. Go Hoosiers!

Little 500 Wrap-Up

It's hard to believe, but the Little 500 has come and gone yet again. This year brought excitement and heartbreak all together. First up we had the Women's race. The weather was predicted to be terrible, with mildly cold temperatures, rain, wind, and potential for thunderstorms and tornadoes. Luckily, the weather-people were wrong and it was just overcast and somewhat chilly, but not too bad. Scott and I were very excited for our girls and we felt they were the most prepared they had been for year. Likewise, the girls felt confident and were excited to show off their hard work.

The whole Alpha Xi Delta team, coaches, and mechanic. Photo courtesy of Kelsey Wright.

We started out the race great, riding up front in a good position and even trading a few pulls at the front. Steph was riding a great first set for us when disaster struck. A large pile-up in turn 3 took her down (video footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VwHzizf71I), luckily she was ok and the wreck was right in front of our pit, allowing us to react quickly. The field was blown up from that point on though, and a subsequent wreck involving our team took us down to 3 riders.

Clowning around a little before the Women's Race. Photo courtesy of Caitlin Coar

In the end we just ran out of steam and kept dropping places until the conclusion of the race. We were all sorely disappointed in the result and there's not much else to say. The girls did all that they could, but we just didn't execute our plan. Our team wound up 19th on the day, further down than any of us imagined we would finish.

Next up was the Men's race. Again, we went in very confident and excited. The guys were riding as strong as I've ever seen them and we felt our preparation had been the best out of the six years Black Key Bulls has existed. The weather was cold and it started to rain right when the parade laps were going on, but our guys were adequately dressed and prepared for the inclement weather. We rode a great first half of the race, staying out of wrecks and up front. At one point, we found ourselves (along with Phi Delta Theta) lapping the Cutters, Sigma Chi, Delta Tau Delta, and some other pre-race favorites, and we thought it was down to a two-team race.

Pre-race BKB team picture. Photo courtesy of Dion at VeloVivid Cycling Photography.

The other teams showed their strength by un-lapping themselves while us and Phi Delt kept the pace as high we could. In the end our guys were cooked from the effort and it was again "too much too soon" like last year, and we dropped to a disappointing 6th place. I'm very proud of how our guys rode and in the end we just ran out of "stuff."

I could not be more proud of have that name on the back of my shirt. Photo courtesy of Dion at VeloVivid Cycling Photography.

We did what we had to in order to put ourselves in a position to win (hammer with Phi Delt), but the cost of the effort was more than we anticipated and we just came up short. The guys are pretty disappointed, but the good news for us is that we will return a very strong team and they are hungry for a victory.

All in all, the Little 500 was just as mystical and exciting as it ever has been and I enjoyed every second of it. I can't wait until next year. Looking ahead, IU has qualified for Collegiate Road Nationals again, so I will be traveling to Madison, WI to compete in the National Championships along with some other Hoosiers. I'm excited to see what our team can do and I'm glad I can finally return to Nationals. It's been too long!

Marian/Purdue Weekend

This past weekend I ventured up to Indianapolis and West Lafayette to jump in some collegiate and non-collegiate races. I was sad that I missed Miss 'N Out, but it was good to get some racing in. Saturday was the Marian Crit up in Indy on and around the Marian University campus and the Major Taylor Velodrome. To nobody's surprise, Marian took the top 7 placings with 5 riders off the front in two groups. I hung in for 14th, nothing to brag about, but I just was in all of the wrong moves and then overcooked the legs. After a short break I hopped into the 1/2/3 race at Marian for a second race on the day. Again, was in the wrong moves and missed the winning break and wound up 10th.

In the headwind section at the Purdue Road Race. Photo courtesy of Andy Jessop.

After a delicious dinner at the Scholars Inn on Saturday night, it was off to Purdue early Sunday morning for the second collegiate event of the weekend. Both the Men's A and Women's A team time trial teams came in 3rd at Purdue, and after a long break, we finally suited up for the road race. The wind was incredibly strong on Sunday and only got worse throughout the day. The men's A field splintered and I missed the split because I was too far back. This wound up being the story of my day, as I sat at the tail end of the pack all day with my legs groaning in protest.

Going up the finishing climb (which we did 10x) in the Purdue Road Race. Photo courtesy of Andy Jessop.

I managed to finish, but just out of the points in 23rd place. All in all it was a good weekend of racing, but without any results to speak of. Yesterday I went out on a nice easy ride with Matt Ewing and my legs were definitely still feeling the effort of this past weekend. Hopefully all that work will help boost my fitness in the coming weeks...and also hopefully I'll be able to get some results.

On a separate note, Jordan Bailey from BKB rode a solid Miss 'N Out to place 3rd. Solid work by him and the rest of our team at MNO. The girls from AXiD all moved out of the first round except for one girl and had the 8th best team score for the event-surely a good sign for race day! Up next on the L5 circuit is Team Pursuit, then it's race week already! I can't wait!