I found some time at 330 a.m. in PA to sneak in a short blog about what's going on with me.

In 20 min I hop in a shuttle to get to the airport to fly back home from another couple days away.

Downers went pretty well for me all things considered. First Downers pro crit, a little sickness, and missing a little fitness. It was great that VDV showed up to give the home town crowd something to cheer for. I was a bit surprised to see him after everything he's done this season, to put himself in a spot where crap could happen. He made the home crowd happy, and was able to walk away with his life. LOL. I ended up 11th which isn't anything to be upset with and gives me plenty of room to grow.

I was at home for 2 days before I had to head back out to the east coast for Madison Cup. Colby called me up and asked if I wanted to go it with him, how could I say no? The racing went really well, we got a lap early in the night and held on to it. I was really happy with legs since they havn't been on a track bike in a while.

Well time to get my things together to get to that shuttle.


HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Hey all I'm back in Chi town for pro crit. U23 nationals went really well for our team. 2 stars and bars and a bronze from me. I fell short =( The team road a killer road race to destroy the field and sweep the top 3 spots. My race was lack luster as I missed the split that stayed away and my group got pulled for falling more than 3min behind.

Here at Downers I'm feeling pretty good, if anything I'm nervous. This is for sure a totally different race than the elite race. The field is going to be pretty deep with speedsters. Hopefully a little luck floats my way and I can crack a respectable result.

After this I head out to PA late next week for Madison Cup. I'm excited to finally get to race with Colby, and after that I either do Tour of MIssouri or head to Europe. As this season is amazingly almost over, I'm even more excited for next year as the I will be racing a whole lot more both here and in Europe. I'm also looking forward to how my body is going to change over the winter.


Time for sleep!

Howdy!

So I am back from Chi town and in LA for U23 nats.

Elk Grove went pretty well, a great tune up for this week. Same heat same distance more motivation, should be AWESOME!

The TT at Elk Grove was not so hot, bad warm up means bad TT. The road race went much better, a totally odd race for that level. Chaos was name of the game, a fast technical circuit on neighborhood streets. Before I knew it the race was half over and the race was split on half, I was in the back with Horner and Zirbel. Starting to feel the lack of food and heat Horner cracks the whip and gets a spilt with a few guys. I knew that was my ticket it to the front group so I had to make it. After sitting on for a bit I decided to help with the chase. Not feeling great I still ticked on taking pull for pull with these two super strong guys. After it was all said and done we closed the 2min gap. Once we hit the circuit I was pretty cooked, I just hoped for the best. At the finish I ended up 7th after most of the top guys crashed out in the final corner. I barely made it home after the race. The crit was not super exciting, the course was an L shape and more neighborhood streets. An early break went early and took all the money and time bonus seconds. Wish I could have made it. The chase started early to keep the break in check so it didn't make it to teh finish. At first I was following wheels but there was so much jumping that it was getting annoying, so I decided to help with the chase a bit so I could go threw all the corners nice and smooth and then sit top 8 for a while. The plan worked and I got a nice ride tell 10 or so to go before the other teams started to fight to keep there train second in line. I went back and forth trying to fight and slot in where I fit in. The race kept getting more and more hectic so I stayed as safe as possible and still trying to give myself a good shot and getting some good money. I ended up 20th on the day and 15th overall which payed pretty well for the weekend.

Back here in Cali, the TT was today. Stetna toally killed it today to take home Stars and Bars. Calebke put in a steller for a small climber. He is my roommate for week so I totally ready for him to kill it after talking with him. My TT went okay considering a few factors, I ended up 22nd on a pretty TT/Climber specific course so I'm satisfied. The crit goes off tomorrow night and I havn't seen a team more excited and ready to roll. The course isn't the best one out there but it should do.


What's cool about being down in LA for nats is that Oakley is pretty close, so a few of us went over to get a tour by the ring leader. That place is so rad, I could spend all day there looking at everything they have there. They have glasses upon glasses in colors upon colors. Just all sorts of great stuff and super cool people, I would love to pick so many brains there about how these amazing pieces of eyewear come about. I got some pretty sick stuff too, pics tomorrow.

Hello all.






The past two week have been pretty good to me. I have been able to get some good rest in, quality time with my lovely lady and family.

Last weekend I got my head kicked in pretty good at the Watsonville crit after not riding all week, but I got some redemption on sunday winning the SLO crit. My last race as an amateur and in the stars and stripes. I'm now a Stagaire on Garmin-Chipotle. I was so stoaked to receive the opportunity this year, I really thought that if it was going to happen it would be for next year. I'm just happy with myself for putting in the hard work to get this far and I am more motivated than ever to ride hard.

I just want to give a big thank you for everyone who has helped me get this far, and all the support.

Right now I'm hanging out in Elk Grove for a big money weekend, and to tune up a little bit for U23 nats in LA next week. As far as my schedule goes I'm not quite sure whats going on after that, possibly Tour of Britain or Tour of Missouri and after that who knows.