EPIC Part 1

The definition of epic may be different across cultures and contexts. To me Epic is an adjective used to describe something so incredible that I will remember it for the rest of my life. I've had a lot epic moments in my life, ranging from huge surf days, magnificent vacations, amazing dates, and unbelievable races. This past weekend of travel and racing for the Rutgers University Cycling Team definitely qualified as an EPIC weekend.

The trip began late Friday afternoon as Rich, Joe, Eric, Andy, and myself crammed all of our bikes and equipment into the van for the long drive up to Northampton, Massachusetts. The ride was filled with interesting conversations, plenty of laughs, and a ton of traffic. Along the way we stopped in White Plains, New York to pick up Andy's girlfriend Amanda. The rest of the drive went off without any problems and we arrived sometime around 10:30.

We arrived around the same time as Don, Cristian, and Matt. I really wanted to spin my legs out, knowing that they would thank me the next day. Fortunately, no one brought a trainer and so we were forced to come up with a new and radical idea. Eric, Rich, Joe, Matt, and myself managed to convince Don to drive behind us in his car to light us up and keep us safe. So the five of us rolled out in flyest Rutgers gear, looking very Euro pro, and acting the part. Talk about team bonding, this was truly an awesome experience.

After the ride, we all pretty much just crashed. The next day was going to be a long and punishing day...

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Royal Weekend

The Big Dance went well overall. Granogue was a crazy day. I arrive at the venue to learn that my Mom was hit by an off-course rider at the start of the Men's C race. Once my Dad finished his race, he took her to the hospital where she would be diagnosed with a concussion, a broken hand, and would later be diagnosed with a broken rib. However, she made it back in time to watch me take off in my first UCI C1 competition. I was impressed, she is one tough woman.

Photo: Kevin Dillard
I had a good start and sitting two wheels behind Tim Johnson when we hit the dirt. Everything was going well until we hit the run/ride up for the first time. At the bottom a rider in front of me fell, I hit him and went down too. No big deal, I get up and start running up the steep. My front wheel was not moving, my wheel had come dislodged from the dropouts. I stopped to fix it and lost a solid 15-20 seconds and all of my momentum. The next 3 laps were awful for me. My head was out of it and I made a few more stupid mistakes. I would end up getting lapped with one to go.
Photo: Kevin Dillard
I was bummed with my performance. I know I can ride better. I would have my chance at redemption the following day at Wissahickon.

My first pre-ride lap I felt a thousand times more confident than I did the previous day. I was running my Challenge Grifo tubulars, and they felt great. My legs felt a little sore, but still strong. I proceeded to get a good warm-up and made my way to the start with plenty of time. The start was crazy. For those that have never raced Wissahickon, the start begins on a gravel road with lots of holes and bumps and goes straight into a 180 degree swooping turn. The rider in front of me slipped his tires at the start and caused me to have to unclip and slow down. Not what I wanted out of my start. I took off and took an aggressive inside line on the 180, I made up all the ground I lost at the start and more in one turn. My goal for the day was to find a group stronger than myself and settle in for as long as I could. I ended up riding most of the race in a group with Bill Elliston from Fuji bikes, Tyler Wren of Colavita, and Kyle Hammaker from Scott bikes. These guys were pushing the pace hard, but I felt good.


Photo: Rich Kassan

I rode strong all race and with two laps left I was feeling very good. I had found my way into a group with two other U23 riders and a chance at a top 25 finish. However, I made one stupid mistake. I took a turn too hot and slid out. My front wheel was then rubbing on the frame and causing me problems. I pitted and discovered my rear wheel on the pit bike to be too low. I pitted again and lost big chunks of time. I lost around 8 spots because of this mistake. However even with all the problems I did not get lapped and finished 33rd.


Photo: Rich Kassan

All in all I was very pleased with my result on Sunday. I cannot focus on that one mistake, but I will learn from it. In the big picture, I was riding much better. Wissahickon has provided me with a greater confidence in my abilities and my choice to race with the Elite Men. I also retained my lead in the MAC U23 standings as well as my 19th place overall for the series. Also my brand new Specialized S-works mountain shoes felt great, as did my new Verge skinsuits. However, satisfaction is the death of progression. I am not satisfied, I want to win.

This upcoming weekend will be my first trip up to New England for the year. The Rutgers University Cycle Team is taking the trip up to the Cycle-Smart International race weekend in Northamton, Massachusetts. This is also the first weekend for ECCC competition. I am optimistic about the weekend, I have been feeling good on the bike and off the bike. My last race was a good race and if not for one stupid mistake I would have done a lot better.

My goals for the weekend are to be relaxed and comfortable before the race, to work my way into a good group, and minimize the stupid mistakes.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

The Big Dance

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream.” -Paulo Coelho

It's Thursday night, well really it's Friday morning, and I'm sitting at my computer finishing up some homework when I get the feeling that something big is coming. I know what it is. I have been anticipating this event for nearly a year. Still I find myself getting nervous.

Saturday at 2:30 P.M. the gun will go off and the turbines will begin to spin. I can't make any promises as to how well those turbines will hold up. It is likely that they will be strong and give me all that I can ask of them, and perhaps more. Still, this is not just another bike race, it is the "Queen" of the Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series, Granogue. Things won't get any easier as the weekend progresses. The following day is the "King" of the MAC, Wissahickon.

In previous years Granogue has always been a great race for me. I have never finished below 3rd place. I have never thought that the course suited me particularly well, however, I have always managed to ride well there. Wissahickon is a course that, like Granogue, I enjoy and have done pretty well there. The first year at Wiss. I finished 2nd and last year despite breaking my front wheel in three places I managed to pull off a 21st place. Last year, despite the bad placing, was probably one of my absolute best rides.

The 2008 "Royal" MAC weekend will be far different from the previous two years. This year is my first time not being a favorite for the podium. Moving up to the Elite field was a difficult decision. I like winning, I like winning a lot. Racing in the Elite field yields a very slim chance that I will walk away with a win. However, I will be racing against the best cyclocross racers in the country. These riders will force me to dig deeper, and go harder than I have ever thought possible. Being pushed to a new level is what drove me to move up this season.

I will not find glory racing in UCI Elite Men's fields. My finish will likely mean nothing to my non-cycling friends, it's nothing to brag about, show off with, or pick-up girls with. (Like cycling results get girls?) So far this season I have had the attitude that I can be satisfied with doing okay at a race. My placing does not matter, I'm racing myself. I should be satisfied with my placing if it is the best that I could to do. To be completely honest I really do care about my placing. I want to do well and I want to win. I have to be realistic and understand that it is going to a difficult season. But today I make a resolution. I will no longer be satisfied with anything less than a win. I will be happy if I do well and finish respectably, but I will not be satisfied with anything but the top step on the podium. I will no longer compare my finish in the manor of "I was racing against the top guys nationally, --th place is a great finish." Through the act of upgrading to UCI Elite cyclocross racer, I put myself on the same level as Trebon, Johnson, Powers, Wicks, Anthony, Driscoll, and more. From this moment forward I will not stand to be starstruck, or allow myself to be nervous about racing these guys. I earned my spot on the start line, and my finish is entirely in my hands.

Bring on the weekend. I will not fear the suffering that is coming, but rather I will embrace it. I am pursuing my dream.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

First MAC Weekend

This past weekend was the first weekend of back to back Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series events. It was also my first weekend racing in the Elite Men's category.

Saturday was Nittany Lion Cross which was a UCI level race. This would be my first true "International" Elite race. I went to bad pretty early the night before which is not easy to do in a college dorm. My mom came to pick me up at 9:00 on Saturday morning to drive me out to the race. Once at the venue I signed in and started to try and get ready. As I'm rolling around the course I'm seeing riders that I idolized all over the place, and today I'm racing against them. I was definitely feeling a bit nervous as I tried to get warmed up and get a feel for the course. I was not feeling overly confident with the course though. Either way it was game time.

I make my way to the start and take my place in the back. My hands were shaking, my heart was thumping, this was for real. The whistle blows and off we go. I had a solid start quickly moving my way up. After the scrum of the start I found myself sitting on Bobby Lea's wheel. I'm sitting on the wheel of a 2008 Olympian. I think I was a bit starstruck. I tried to settle into an even pace and was doing pretty well, sitting in and around the top 20. However things took a turn for the worse on the third lap. I dove into a corner perhaps a bit too fast and went down hard. I pop up and my bike would not move; I had rolled my tubular tire. Great, so I begin a nice long run to the pits that were at least half a mile away.

I swap bikes and find I have a new problem, my tire pressure on the spare was way too low. I had around 10 pounds in the front tire. Basically my race was over. Very disappointing. After the race my mom drove me back home and I would get to sleep in my nice big comfy bed. (School bed is a bit smaller, and not quite as comfy) Tomorrow would be a new day.

Sunday was Charm City Cross, which was not a UCI event and some of the real big guns did not show up to race. Never the less the field was still very talented. After arriving to the race I learn my teammates from Cape Atlantic Racing/Team Beacon had a great day of racing including a win in the Masters 3/4 race by Mike Lynch.

My first pre-ride lap went well, I really was feeling the course. The conditions were dry, dusty, and hot. Just like the year before at Charm City. I did not warm up for my race today nearly as much as the day before which I think really helped. I was also a lot more relaxed at the start than the day before. The start was very fast but I was able to stay calm and just settle into my rhythm. I knew it was a long race and I would need to be conservative. I worked hard and began to pick riders off one-by-one. I was riding strong up until 3 laps to go. At this point I began to crack a little and had to let off the gas some. However I was still saving some for the last lap which I knew could be a difference maker. During my "bad lap" I was passed a another U23 rider from Haymarket Cycles. He jumped on the opportunity and got a gap on me. The bell lap finally came and as we hit the dirt the U23 rider flatted. I put in a huge effort to make catch back up to him and try and put some time in knowing that after he pitted he would be chasing hard. That effort brought me within around 20-25 seconds of Matt Kraus from RGM/Richard Sachs Bicycles. I had my last lap reserve left and so I put in down. Heading into the natural barrier section Kraus still had around 10 seconds on me. I floored it up the hill and into the barrier, my dismount was quick as was my remount. I had closed the gap down to around 20 yards. We hit the next set of barriers and again I make quick work of it. However this time coming out of the barriers I ended up on his wheel. Into the narrow 90 degree right turn at the bottom of the hill at 200 meters to go, Kraus pinched in the corner and jumped me out of it. I knew what he was doing and was able to respond. I came around the last corner at 100 meters to go and punched it through the outside. I won the sprint for 10th place. I was stoked!

All in all it was an awesome weekend of racing. Major Props go out to my teammates from Cape Atlantic Racing/Team Beacon for their efforts this weekend and for cheering me on. My coach Wade Hess from Hightidetrainingsystems.com for all his help and advice this weekend. Last but not least my Mom who drove me all over the place on Saturday and was with me all day Sunday at the race and also my Dad who drove me back up to school last night at 10:30. I really appreciate all the support I had this weekend.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Being a Beach Bum

The sun is shining and the surf is rising. Today is a great day at the beach, even though there is no such thing as a bad day at the beach. I'm currently taking a nice long break from riding and racing. It has been a long time since I've been off the bike this long, and honestly it is nice. I'm getting the opportunity to spend some quality time with sand between my toes, a board beneath my feet, and my butt off a saddle. Taking a break is a great thing.

However the more time I spend off the bike the more time I start thinking about it. When I was up home this week I spent a little bit of time assessing what my cross bikes need and how to put them together. My original plan was to buy a new 09' Specialized Tricross frameset and build it up with the parts from my 08' (Campy Centaur) and then take the parts of my Strong (Shimano Tiagra) and put those on my 08' Tricross frame. After stripping the bikes down I realized that all I would need to make the 08' bike campy was shifters and a rear derailleur. So I justified it by saying it means less crap to have in my tiny little dorm room.(Sort of true) The parts will be in next Wednesday and then hopefully built up before the weekend. The 09' frameset won't be in until August though.

All the thoughts about cross have me really excited for the upcoming season and even the training that I'm going to start in a few weeks. So that is what taking a break gets me...excited to ride again. (I've only been off the bike for one week out of three weeks off.) It's going to be hard to stay clear from the bike but hopefully I'll be doing some strength training and cross training to keep me busy.

Well as I said the surf is up and it's time for me to get my wetsuit on and paddle out. I love cross training.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Iron Hill Twilight Crit, My first "PRO" race

Yesterday was the Iron Hill Twilight Crit. The course was one kilometer long, four corners, and lined almost completely around the course with people. The start/finish was a narrow straight one lane wide, which lead into the first turn which was covered in bricks. Out of the second corner the course opened up into a two lane road through the second corner into a four lane road. The backstretch of the course was downhill and very fast. The third corner made things narrow up again as the turn took us into another one lane stretch into the fourth and final corner.

I was racing in the Pro-1-2 race, only my second race as a Cat 2. There was to be 10,000 bones on the line. With that kind of prize money, there were sure to be some big teams. I was not to be disappointed, Toshiba-Santo had 6 guys, Inferno Racing had 6 guys, Time Pro Cycling had 6 guys, and several more.

Once at the race I walked around and tried to find to find registration, it was crowded and that took a bit of time. I picked up my number and then went back to my car to get dressed and get moving. I got my stuff together and started riding. Everything was progressing normally as possible for a big crit. When I rode past some kids would get all wide eyed like "Wow a PRO biker!" I got a kick out of that. Around 25 minutes before the race I was riding through a parking lot when I hit a patch of slick tar, sure enough my bike went right out from under me. I didn't get hurt too badly just a few scrapes and a nice little bump on my hip. My bike made it through that little mishap just fine and off I went. I made my way over to the start finish and get in line for staging. Once they let us on the course I had made my way around halfway up through the group. Then came the call-ups, Nationals Champions, World Champions, and previous winners. I was nervous and just wanted to get underway. Then they announced a $250 first lap prime. "Shit, that's only going make things a little nuttier for the start"

A few moments later the horn sounded and we were off. The speed was incredible, and the first lap was definitely a shock to the system. After that I began to settle in as much as one can settle in at 35+ mph. Lap times were averaging around 1:10 seconds a lap. Just under 60 kph. I was giving it a lot to try and stay up in my position. The race was becoming just a complete blur of speed and pain. Perhaps the only thing that kept me going was hearing "GO PAT" around almost every corner. Without that I don't even think I would've finished the first ten laps. Needless to say it wasn't slowing down and the speed was taking its toll. Riders were blowing up and gaps were opening. Pro riders were dropping out, it was that tough. With around 35 laps to go of the original 60. Four riders in front of me blew up and let a huge gap open, I simply could not close it down. My race was over.

Toshiba-Santo would go on to have a rider lap the field solo, then they would take 2 more spots in the top 4. It was a great race, an eye opening experience but one that was encouraging. I have a ways to go for sure, but I guess time will tell. I would encourage everyone who likes a good crit to do this race, great course, great town, great people. I know I will be going back next year. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos soon.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

State RR Report

Well long time, no racing. Today was my first race since the Watermelon Crit, and it would be my first race since upgrading to a Cat 2. The race was to be around 90 miles long and we started with 57 riders. The course is a long circuit of 18-19 miles, that consists of mostly long flat roads. However there is one little section of climbs on the far edge of the course. The finishing straight is around 2-3 miles long without any turns. The important part is downhill heading into the last 300-400 meters where it kicks up into a sweet uphill finish. I have always liked this course and have always done well here(2nd last year, 13th but 1st in field sprint the year before that). However I was figuring on a different story this time around. It was brutally hot outside, temperatures were hovering around 90 degrees by the end of our first lap. The race followed a typical road race format. A breakaway was allowed to go on the first lap and quickly got out of sight. All the big teams were represented aside from NorthEastern. After the break rolled away the rest of the field was just chillin. I was content if for no other reason than I really wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I was not feeling up to a breakaway and since it was only myself and Wade representing the Beacon squad we really didn't have the man power to do anything about it.

  The next 60 or so miles would be spent at a very relaxed and comfortable pace. So I rolled up my sleeves and attempted to even out my tan lines a bit. During our relaxation there was one crash that happened right in front of me that I managed to avoid. Relaxing was enjoyable but in this time that we spent relaxing would be passed by the Cat 3 field not once but twice. After the second time they were on their last lap so we were told not to pass them. The field seemed to be getting a little more eager, people actually appeared like they wanted the pace to go up. We were biting on the heels of the Cat 3's all the way to the finish. They finished and we got our bell lap. 

Having rolled through the finishing straight four times already I was nervous about the sprint because the downhill leading into the sprint was really fast. I was figuring on not being worth much in the sprint but still I would give it my best. The elevated pace had brought back two members of the break, a Van Dessel rider and Mike Lynch from Mambo Kings, this left just a few more riders up the road but gave us two more teams that would give chase. The pace was intense over the two climbs which opened gaps and shelled some riders. I managed to stay up in the front group, but I was hurting. We caught the break as we came onto the finishing straight. Now it was my turn to try and find a good wheel for the sprint. I saw a Van Dessel train forming on the left hand side of the road and jumped onto the back of it. This is where the real fun begins. Van Dessel had a sweeper that wanted the wheel I wanted. (A Sweeper is a rider that sits on the sprinters wheel and sits up as the sprinter takes off, thus opening a nice gap on everyone else.) At first he tried to gently move in and take the wheel from me; I puffed out my elbows and made it clear that I wasn't budging. Well that surely wouldn't stop him, so he started to get more forceful, and again I resisted. At around 800-900 meters the train began to take off, the sweeper then hit me so hard that my bike was at 40-45 degree angle off the ground. I got gapped as people shouted at him to knock it off, I chased down the gap as quickly as possible but I was really under-geared at this point. I lost that wheel and jumped to another, I cant remember who. The sprint opened up and at this point my legs are screaming at me, I stand up and turn my gear over as fast as I could. Once the gear was turned over I sat down and just spun it out, again as fast as I could. I was gaining as we crested the hill but it was too late. However I ended up finishing 6th.

My first race as a Cat 2, 90 miles, 3:33 min and a 6th place finish.(With Jr. gearing) I was really pleased with the way my race went. I picked up 4 points towards my Cat 1 upgrade and ultimately it was an awesome race. 

Til Next time,

        Patrick

Watermelon Crit

It's been awhile since my last real race. Last weekend I decided to race the NJ State Individual Time Trial. Not my favorite event. I really don't like time trials. I have two reasons why; the first being that time trials are very boring, and the second being that I don't have any of the equipment. Oh well I finished 4th in the Jr. 17-18 event. I'm alright with that, still my power outputs were not the greatest and for that I was definitely disappointed. Life rolls on.

Today I took the short trip up to Rutgers for the Watermelon Crit. The only event that I could race was the Jr. 17-18 race. However it would be fun because my teammate Ross would be in the same race, just scored separately for his age division. Our plan for the race was to make it fast. I wanted to get a little cyclo-cross practice in so I planned on jumping off the front from the whistle. After that we were going to trade attacks.

The whistle blew and I was off. I got the holeshot. On the backstretch a Colavita rider bridged up to me, and so I eased off through the second corner. Once out of the corner I quickly gave it another go, this time I got a gap. I pushed the gap out over the next few laps until I was out of sight. I wanted to keep it up and hopefully be able to help Ross out in the field sprint. Sure enough with around 10 minutes left in the crit I had bridged all the way back up to the main group.(Which was only around 8 riders strong.) Shortly after I bridged up we were given 4 laps to go. There were a few attacks before this which Ross had covered perfectly. Things were all together, so I got Ross on my wheel and went to the front. I knew that if I could set a false tempo that it would discourage attacks, and ultimately make things easier. The laps ticked off with no attacks until we were coming through the finishing striaght to get the bell. A CRCA rider attacked out of the last corner, but Ross did an excellent job of letting me know what was going on and I covered the move. Shortly after that a Colavita rider started to move past me on the left. I knew it was now time to set a real tempo and string things out. I took it up to 26-27 mph on the backstretch and through the second corner. I jumped out of the corner and kept the pace high. Finally right before the final corner I started my final effort. We flew through the last corner and gave it about another 75-100m and dropped Ross off with around 200m left. Ross kicked out a nice sprint to take the victory in the field sprint and in his field. I took the overall victory as well as the victory in my field.

All in all it was a great race, Ross rode excellently and our tactics worked perfectly. We made the race and did exactly what we aimed to do.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Prom, Racing, and NOT Sleeping...

Well this past Friday was the all anticipated Senior Prom 2008. It all got underway around 12:00 when I got to leave school early. (Had to get my hair did...or sleep) So I went got gas and picked up my dates flowers and then headed home for a nap that would be crucial to my survival of the night and the next day. I woke up around 4:30 and got a shower/cleaned the car/got dressed and went to pick up my date at 5:30. We took some pictures and some more pictures and some more pictures and then went to the school for pre-prom and more pictures. Finally it was time to actually go to the prom.
The prom was at the Renaissance Room in Washington Twp. which was really nice. The whole prom thing was a blast as it should be. After prom we headed back to school to board some buses and head over to Project prom at Dave and Busters. This was definitely an awesome time. We played games and bowled and did not sleep at all. The bus ride home we all slept a little but not very much. Once back at school I took my date home as well as my friend and her date. I got home around 7-7:30 am and immediately fell asleep...for an hour. Once I got up I ate and had my mom drive me down to the Wilmington Grand Prix race. This was going to be fun. The Crit was a big one, 92 starters with $1500 total prize list on line. I got a good warm up pre-riding the course. It featured to long straights with two short ends. The finishing straight was long and slightly uphill with brick street crossings, the backstretch was a slight downhill with a strong headwind into a tight third corner. I rolled around with Woody from Philly Ciclismo, we talked about how I thought the race would end in a field sprint, and that if we got in a break together we would really try an stick it out. We line up, the whistle blows and we were off. I worked hard to maintain a position in the top 15 riders. The pace was very fast, and was not letting up at all. Attacks were going but nothing really promising went. I gave it go with around 27 laps left. It didn't work, I just spent a lap in the wind. The race was fairly uneventful for awhile, just solidly fast. Around 12 laps to go I was sitting around 10-15th place when two riders in front of me collided and went down. One fell into my front wheel breaking 3 spokes, and nearly taking me down. I stuck my foot down and managed to kick off the ground rather than slide my body across it. However my front wheel was trashed. I made my way into the SRAM neutral service pit where my old heavy 32 spoke front wheel was traded for a nice light-weight Zipp 404. I took my free lap and jumped right back into the race. I was sitting on Woody's wheel when we got our 8 to go lap card. On the back stretch he attacked and I followed. We got a gap, not just any gap either a good gap. We started to work together and the pain began to set in. After four laps our lead had been extended to around 25 seconds. Then Woody attacked me into a corner, I just couldn't follow. However I did not give up. I kept giving it what little bit I had. I spent another three laps off the front by myself before having another rider bridge up to me with one lap remaining. He started to play games when he bridge on, I told him "Let's not screw around, let's just get to the finish, I won't even sprint." So he took the lead, I pulled once more on the backstretch and then we entered the final stretch, shook hands and started to sprint, I had nothing left. He took it with ease but I rolled in just behind him and 7 seconds ahead of the field. 3rd place is something that I can be quite happy with. After the race the announcer interviewed having heard about my prom night and me not sleeping at all. "Where's your dedication kid!" he said. I laughed and replied its my senior prom, I had to go. Besides I think I just proved my dedication on the last 8 laps. It was a great event. It was a great course, it was run smoothly, and was hard enough that 52 riders were pulled from the race. However that was to be my last race as a Cat 3, I upgraded later that day. Now its time to start on the next quest, doing well in Cat 2 events.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Diggin Deep

Today was the Memorial Hall Crit in Philly. I signed up to race the Cat 3/4 race. The weather was perfect, a little breezy but nice and warm. The course was short only around .6-.7 miles long and it was flat as a pancake. My field was very large with 72 riders finishing the race. Due to the large field and the nature of the course I anticipated a very fast race. I would not be wronged, the race started off fast and never really let off. It wasn't a terribly long race with only 42 laps, but they would all be pretty fast. The finishing straight was a tailwind section that was very fast every lap. The backstretch was a pretty sturdy headwind. Around 10 laps into the race I countered a move on the back stretch and found myself alone off the front. I would spend two laps off the front. No one would bridge by themselves and I was shut down. I took another flyer with around 11-12 laps to go, only to have a similar result. This was a little discouraging because I knew I wouldn't be worth anything in a field sprint with a tailwind. A few laps pass and more attacks get no where. We get 5 to go and on the back stretch Woody from Philly Ciclismo takes a flyer and gets clear. He was off the front solo and was looking strong. At one point his lead was all the way out to 23 seconds. I really thought that he could get the win. However we hit 2 laps to go and we're catching up fast. The catch was made on the back stretch. I knew this was my one shot. I attacked hard from the right side of the road over to the left and started to drive it. I managed to get a decent gap. I rail the third corner and the fourth and make my way onto the finishing straight with the tailwind. I stay as aero as possible and just try and stay comfortable and save a little for the backstretch in the wind. As I'm flying down the stretch the words of a wise MAMBO kings rider float into my ears, "Don't Look Back! You have gap! Give it EVERYTHING!" These words stayed with me through the finish line where I got the bell signifying one more lap. I dove into the first corner trying to keep as much speed as possible and the same for the second corner. I knew the field was close, I stood up and jumped hard out of turn two. This is where pain and suffering took over my body. My brain was off with the simple words "GIVE IT EVERYTHING" floating around inside my head. I finally make it to turn three and dive into it and power over to turn four. I hit the last tailwind stretch. I sprint out of the corner and really dig deep. I'm sitting down trying to get every last bit of power out of my legs. People are yelling and screaming for me, and for those that are just behind me. I can't see the line yet, I know it is coming but it seems like it was still miles away. I can now hear the carbon wheels echoing on the pavement just behind me, I see the wheels enter my peripherals...and then I see the most glorious sight. A line of black tape across the ground. I throw for the line and see that I am the first person across, but barely. I won be about 6 inches or so. I throw my arms up. It was an incredible victory. Junior gears and everything. It is funny, and while this surely does not justify the rule, it has forced me to learn a new style of racing. I would like to thank everyone out there who was cheering for me, especially my parents whose support allows me to do what I do. What a day. That race brings me up to a 50% win ratio for road races this year. I feel great and I am really enjoying it all.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Senior Trip, another crit, and my feeble attempt at Mountain Biking

Senior Trip was amazing! Flat out one of the best times of my life. We left early on Tuesday morning like April 15th? By early I mean 2 a.m. Our flight didn't leave until almost 8 a.m. I didn't sleep much at the school, however I slept the whole bus ride to the Airport. We get to the airport and check in, and get moving through security. This first trip through security was one of the worst experiences of the whole trip. While in line I check for my cell phone in my pocket, it isn't there. Shit. It must have fallen out of my pocket on the bus ride. I inform a teacher, and long story short I would eventually get my phone back. (When I got home from the trip.) So we hang out in the airport for awhile and wait for our flight time. Luckily they had a pretty cool playground. Finally we board the plane and wait
some more. We take off, and with a big cheer from my classmates we were off on Senior Trip officially. The plane ride was smooth and quick.
The first day we hit up Epcot before checking into our rooms at the All-Star Music Resort. Epcot sucked, it's really pretty lame. There are like four attractions and loads of people, and the attractions are nothing special in my mind. (For the record I don't really like amusement parks, I'm just generally not amused.) After Epcot and checking in we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. It ended up being just Brian Anderson (My Asian travel companion) and me for the first hour or so. We went on some alright rides, and then met up with the girls for dinner. Dinner was nothing special, just more Disney fast food. After dinner we head over to the Thunder Mountain railroad. Waiting in line had to be the best part about this ride. Our whole group was just being crazy. Our group was Brian, Myself, and like 8 girls. After Thunder Mountain Railroad we headed over to Splash Mountain because there was no wait. We got soaked and it was 55 degrees out. We froze but it was awesome. As soon as we get off the ride the fireworks display began; I must admit it was a pretty awesome display. After the fireworks we headed back to the hotel...cold and tired. The next day was Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. I had never been there before so it was kind of neat to see something new. Other than that, Universal was kind of lame. There were some cool roller coasters and the Mummy ride was also pretty cool but other than that it wasn't anything special. We left Universal around 4 p.m. and drove back to hit up the Animal Kingdom for a special after hours thing. We get in the park and run to Expedition Everest, only to find out that it is closed due to a mechanical problem. Then it was back to the front of the park to see if we could go back to our hotel early. Of course of teachers were not allowing that, but that didn't stop us from trying to find a way out. As seen here: Plotting our escape.
After around a half hour of messing around at the front of the park we were finally allowed to leave. We hustled back to our rooms, got changed and then play Ultimate Frisbee in the pool. It was pretty cool because we got some other kids that were swimming to play and I don't know it was just cool. So after about an hour of that it was off to bed as the next day would be another long adventure.
The next morning after breakfast my room jetted over to Animal Kingdom to try and get on Everest. We got lucky and had to wait like 10 minutes, and even luckier because Brian Anderson and myself got front row seats. Everest was definitely a cool ride. Once we finished up on Everest we left the park and went over to Disney's Hollywood Studios a.k.a. MGM. We went on a bunch of rides and hung out with some cool people. A must see for anyone going to Disney is the car stunt show. I also got selected to be a volunteer in the back lot studios tour. That was cool I got to pretend to be a PT boat captain.
All in all MGM was pretty cool, and remains my favorite park. That night we loaded up on the buses and headed over to Sea World for the Luoa. That was a fun little show with a short little dance afterwards. Friday was our day at the water park. Brian and I decided to make it a relaxing day at Typhon Lagoon. We got there as soon as it opened and went straight over to the Water Coasters. Brian and I went tandem style and on our third trip down we were getting pretty aggressive. We were just railing the corners, really leaning into them, really getting some speed. Until one corner where we got a little too aggressive, and flipped it. We both fell around 5-6 feet in the air and slammed into the slide. It hurt, it hurt a lot. However we were both cracking up. The rest of the day was pretty awesome, we played some volleyball, I got fried and we swam some more. It was awesome. That night we all went to MGM again to see the Fantasmic show. Which again was pretty surprising and I think is a must see. The next day, our last day would be spent in the Magic Kingdom. It was a lot of fun and then it was time to leave. Everything went well on the way home and I got in around 11 p.m. What an awesome trip, I really am glad I decided to go.
Sunday morning and it's back to normal, I headed over to the Lower Providence Crit to do the 3/4 race. Not riding for a week definitely hurt me. I didn't have the high end endurance I normally would. A break managed to get away late in the race with two guys in it. They would stay away, I turned in a decent field sprint for an 6th place overall. I had also picked up a prime earlier in the race. Not too bad for not riding, though I definitely would need to get that speed back.
Sunday April 27th. My attempt at Mt. Biking, I signed up to race the Jr. Expert class at the Norba race in Maryland. All I have to say is mechanicals and mud. Thats about it, I didn't finish.

Oh well life rolls on, it makes me appreciate my road bike soo much more.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Rollin On

Today was the Trofeo de Evesham crit. The course if the same as the Thursday night training ride. I signed up to race the Pro/1/2/3, now most races the "Pro" part of that really means nothing. Today was not most races. Before I signed up for the race I could already see the Tyler Wren and Davide Frattini from Colavita/Sutter Homes Professional Cycling team would be showing up. Alright cool I can deal with that. I've been riding strong, so let's see what I can do. I have a pretty easy morning as I did leave until 9:30 am. I arrive and head down to sign in and get my number. On my way I run into Mike Jenks and Ryan Pettit and we start talking about racing against Pro's. Well It turns out not only are the Colavita guys going to be racing but Francois Parisien of Symmetrics Pro Cycling team and Dominique Rollin of Toyota-United Pro Cycling team were also going to be racing. Now for those of you who do not follow professional cycling Rollin is a 6 time Canadian National Time Trial Champion. Also in February at the Amgen Tour of California he won Stage 4 in a long breakaway, beating out George Hincapie for the win. http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/feb08/california08/?id=results/california084 is where you can go to read about that. So now I'm a little more nervous. Also as I am still considered a Junior rider (Under 19 years old) I have to race with junior specific gearing that doesn't allow me to go as fast as those that are older than myself even when we are racing in the same race. I had to deal with junior gearing and I am not going to complain about it anymore. It is a fact of life, a hard fact to face but a fact all the same. The race starts off pretty quickly as we descend down the small rise on the backstretch a crash happens behind me. Just glad I wasn't involved. Still it was racing time. I take a pull on the front and try to open a gap and it didn't work. Still I stayed up near the front and made my way over to Rollin's wheel. I figure if he goes I want to go with him. Sure enough out of the next corner he went. I had the power to stay with him, just not gearing. I spun out and could not keep his wheel. Francois Parisien and Steve Blackman of Human Zoom also went with Rollin. I got back into the field and could only hope for a chase to develop. Sure enough one did, with around 7 or 8 riders including both Colavita riders. I bridged over solo and prepared to do some work. I started pulling through, however there were two Human Zoom riders in the mix and they would not help or do any work. Which is smart, I love doing that when I'm in their position. After about two laps I take a pull and we had shed a good portion of the large group, when I looked back for someone to pull through there was only one guy left, Frattini. He pulls through and now it's just the two of us. We trade pulls for around 3-4 laps, we started to pull the break back about 2 laps in. The gap came down to around 15-20 seconds, however it went right back out and 2 laps later we were caught. I was pretty pumped about working with Frattini, even if it was only for 4 laps. Once back in the field I drifted towards the back to recover. I knew it was only a matter of time before we would be lapped. Sure enough with 17 of 33 laps remaining we were caught be the leading trio. Once they caught us I moved back towards the front in hopes that I might be able to try and get away. With around 13 laps to go I jump hard and get a quick gap. No one joined me... at first. I keep on the gas up the hill and onto the descent. I'm about to give up when I look back and see Tyler Wren coming across the gap solo, as he gets close he gives me a shout to get on. I accelerate and catch onto his wheel. I'm feeling it now my legs are spinning fast and were moving. I take a pull onto the main stretch, and then Tyler takes back over. I look back and Parisien had bridge up. However he did not pull through and my legs were shot and the field was charging. I sat up. Tyler gave it another go and went off solo and would stay off to the finish. I fell back into the field and would have to focus my efforts on sprinting. I moved up and had decent positioning for the sprint, until I ended up too far to the front. It wouldn't matter. The last lap was fast, I tried to keep up as best I could. I was spinning like mad and the sprint didn't really go well. I ended up 16th. I'm alright with that. Rollin won the race, big surprise there! I was not planning on sprinting today, I knew my sprint would be worthless with a downhill finish. I'm happy with the way I rode today, I went toe-to-toe with some very strong professional riders, and not only did I survive but I mixed things up a bit. I traded pulls with two pro riders. It's a confidence booster and I learned a lot today. It was also neat to talk with the pros after the race and get some of their input, and I would like to thank them for making it a very interesting race today. All in all it was a good day.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Pinecone Road Race

First race of the year! Weather Forecast three days out, Sunny with a high of 62 degrees. Day of weather, Pouring rain and a high of 45 degrees. Oh well, I'm racing anyway. I was racing in the Cat 3 field at the Pinecone Road Race in Hammonton, NJ. The course is a typical Hammonton course of flat roads, 4 turns, and long straights. The loop was 6.3 miles long and the Cat 3 field would be doing a total of 7 laps. The field is slim at only 35 +/- riders. Bruce and Dan also lined up with me. We start and take a gentle pace for the first lap, just feeling things out a bit. The second lap featured more of the same, until someone decided to liven things up a bit with a slight attack. Naturally he didn't get far as with most attacks from a slow peleton don't. As we reeled him in I countered and got a gap. I pushed it out and was hoping that someone would come and join me. After a few minutes and with no one even attempting to chase and still having a long way to go I sat up. That took care of the second lap. The third lap I countered an attack on the finishing straight and again found myself all alone with a decent gap on the field. Still I'm a long way off and I really don't feel like being out there all alone. So I set a decent tempo pace and just cruise. It took the field around an entire lap to pull me back. The next lap went by fairly uneventful. On the 5th lap Bruce took a flyer into the finishing straight, no one went with him. People started to chase and I would just sit on every single persons wheel. No one really aggressively fought me to stop messing things up. Bruce stayed away for half of that lap until we made the catch into the second corner on the course. Coming out of the corner Bruce was about 15 yards of the front still but had sat up. I punched it out of the corner, this time I took another rider with me. We started working together immediately, the field had a little more motivation to chase now. We stayed away through that entire stretch, coming out of the next corner we were joined by a Keswick Cycles (Temple University) rider. It was a nice addition to the break. For the remainder of that lap we worked together pretty well. The field was definitely a little more interested in racing now though. We got one to go and headed onto the first straight away. As we came around the second corner a group of 5 chasers caught on. There were two more collegiate riders, Toby from Johns Hopkins who used to race with Beacon and another rider who races for Drexel. They join up and at first some of them start looking around. My thoughts are great you bridge up here, congratulate yourself later before we get caught by the field. I'm still good with doing work even if some people are not working entirely. There were about two riders who were not doing their fair share, one because he physically could not and was only slowing things down when he tried to work, and the other was deliberately not working. Oh well thats racing. We hit the final straight with around 30 seconds gap on the field. Then disaster almost strikes, Toby and I touched wheels, his front to my back. Luckily neither one of us goes down, unfortunately I broke a spoke. My wheel is rubbing on the brake a little and the spoke is ticking on my frame every revolution. Toby faired a little worse as his wheel was rubbing a little harder on his brake. While all this was happening one of the other riders had launched an attack. He was dangling around 15 meters of the front. We hit around 800m to go and the I'm coming to my turn in the rotation, this is where I am forced to make a tough decision. Pull through and I might get stuck leading things out, or go now and try and get away. I have a good sprint but I also have junior gears as well. I decide not to leave it to chance, I attack. I punch it from the center line over to the right side of the road and then full steam ahead. I quickly catch and pass the rider who was already away, and I just keep on as much power as I can. I established a solid gap from the initial burst. On my way to the line I took a few glances back just to keep tabs on the other riders. One rider was coming on strong but I had timed it right and would finish with about 5 bike lengths lead. I was so pumped, what a way to start the season.



I was able to grab another 10 points towards my Cat 2 upgrade. A huge thanks goes out to my teammates for blocking back in the field, and also for my mom for driving me there and taking some cool video.
Dan and I post race.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

18 at last

Well I did not wake up this morning feeling any different than I did on yesterday. I don't know I guess it's pretty cool. Still I had to get up and go to school. Today would be better than the rest right? Of course it would be, it's my birthday. I get to homeroom and am delighted that my friend Alycia has decided to hook me up with a sweet little birthday breakfast, Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Belgian Waffle. Sweet. So I leave for first period already stoked that I've got food, on the way I am greeted by my friend Krista who gave me a huge plate of cookies. Wow I guess I'm looking thin today? Off to German class where I was treated to a Chocolate cake with vanilla icing from Christine. I left first period feeling a little glutenous. I ended up giving away just about all of my cookies in my English class. It's cool I didn't need to eat anymore than 7 or 8. Not a bad start to the day I have to admit. After lunch I was treated to my favorite birthday treat in the whole world, double-period AP chem test. Which would be followed up with a delicious serving of an Anatomy and Physiology test. The tests went as well as tests can go for their respective subjects. After my Anatomy test I was treated to a plateful of brownies, however these were no ordinary brownies. These brownies were made my the black widow. Yes she has received that nickname due to her "Putting" my and her now boyfriend in the hospital. When she "put" me in the hospital it was exactly one year to the day, and with similar circumstances...

It was my 17th birthday and she had made me a nice big brownie cake. I ate it and two days later found my self near death, and would have to have emergency surgery as well as spend a week in the hospital recovering. (Now honestly her brownies had nothing to do with it however I would always play with that a bit.) So this year I'm of course a little nervous about taking the brownies but I do anyway. I give a ton away as like the rest of the food today. I take my seat in my final class of the day Calculus and I dig in. So I'm breaking a brownie apart and munching away when I come across the second attempt on my life by the black widow, I find a Hairpin baked into the brownie. Wow is all I have to say. So I meet her after class and joked about it a bit. Happy Eighteenth to me! All in all not too bad a day.

After school I decided to take a drive up to Greentree. I was feeling a little tired after all the days events and really was having a tough time getting motivated. I get dressed and start rolling around, my legs still not feeling snappy as Tuesday night. The ride starts and I'm staying near the front and pushing myself a bit. Long story short, no breaks would stick. Five laps to go and I start thinking about sprinting. I follow some wheels and get myself the best seat in the house. with two laps to go I'm sitting on Hudson's wheel and Mambo's has control of the leadout. One lap to go and the pace is high. Coming through the chicane on the backstretch of the course a Human zoom rider tries to take a flyer. He blows up on the second to last corner, Hudson and his leadout man break left of the Human zoom rider and I was forced to break right. I managed to pull back into Hudson's draft and into the final corner. I start sprinting, I get closer than I ever have (Up about halfway overlapping his rear wheel) I couldn't get any closer but I finished 2nd.

I drive home feeling accomplished and stoked about a pretty solid ride. I walk in the door to a nice big stack of cards and boxes. Nice! Raisonets, and a box of Pitman Cream donuts. Underneath those was a heavier box, which contained a little itty-bitty digital camera. My parents are great with stuff like that, I really did not expect anything when I got home and that really put the cap on a great day. Here's to 18 great years!

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Waking up after a long-winters nap

It's been exactly three months since my last post. Honestly it hasn't been all the exciting. However I guess I'll give a recap.

January:

I started my training again, only with a bit of a twist this year. I would be spending far more time in the gym. For the next 8 weeks I spent every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after work in the gym. I began to see some results which was pretty cool. However during this time period I was not riding nearly as much. I did however start to mountain bike again, with intentions of racing this year. I borrowed a mountain bike from Jr., it is his old converted rigid-single speed.

February:

More gym time. Riding still not exciting. School getting worse all the time. That pretty much sums up February.

March:

March featured the end of the gym and the beginning of far more riding. The first weeks were a little more difficult to transition from gym to bike, but I did get used to it. On the second weekend I took a visit to Rutgers. I sat in on a few classes and then went out on the town with my friend. All in all it was awesome. So I enrolled the next day for the Fall 2008 semester. Once that happened my schoolwork took another dive as I now really no longer care about grades and such. (aside from failing) The last two weeks have featured an solid increase in my riding. I have been feeling surprisingly good. For example last week at Greentree I slipped into a breakaway on the second lap, felt great the whole time, and on the last lap as I was sitting in 5th wheel for the sprint we lapped the field. I broke my 30 min peak power value and my 60 min peak power value. This past Sunday I went to Wissahickon park in Philadelphia for a 3 hour+ mountain bike ride. On the rigid single speed. Felt awesome was making a lot of climbs and just riding pretty fast overall. Though the rigid part of the bike definitely made my shoulders sore for the next few days.

Today: Well now that you are back up to speed we can move on. Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday, hooray. I guess that is kind of cool but I'm not really too worried about it. More importantly my racing season starts this Sunday. I'm racing in the Cat 3 and the 1/2/3 race at the Pinecone RR. All in all I signed up for 101 miles of racing. I've been feeling good so far this year so hopefully I'll finish both. I guess we'll see.

Peace and Love,
Patrick

Catching Up

So long time no see and such. Anyway I sit down this evening to finally bring you, the reader, back up to speed with my life. So starting off with post- USGP win. The weekend after the USGP was not only Thanksgiving but also happened to be the New Jersey State Cyclocross Championships. I would race the junior event and the Men's "A" event. The junior race featured a nice first lap pile up and then a flat. This put me considerably further back than I would have liked but no matter it was racing time. I managed to pull all of my fellow junior racers back, and would open a gap of around 90 seconds. Not-too shabby. The 'A' race did not go that well as I was still not feeling well and I decided not to over do it and pulled out.

The next weekend was the trip out to Carlisle, Pa. and Reston, Va. This was going to be the last MAC weekend, I wanted to do well and ultimately bring myself higher in the standings. Carlisle was an interesting course that featured some strong power hills, a fast decent, and a very very very long road section/finish. I managed to squeak into the front row and would hope to have a good race despite the frigid conditions. Right from the gun its fast, like a road race only people were not slowing down for tactics at the start. I did make the lead group, which turned out to be Eric Linder, John Brewer, Ethan Townsend, Kevin Kralik, Jeff Bahnson and myself. I did not however have the power I would have liked. I was not able to stay up with the lead group which would be Linder, Townsend, Kralik and Bahnson. I did manage to hang in and try and stick it out. I dropped to about 20 seconds back. I would have to work hard if I wanted back in this race. I caught a second wind around two laps to go. This could have been because Linder was dropped from the leaders. I caught him and passed him going into the barriers towards the end of the second to last lap. I did not see it happen but that lap he tripped up on the barriers and went down hard. I hit the road section and drill it. I pulled the gap all the way back and even passed Bahnson to move into third position. The rest of the race became a cat and mouse struggle for sprinting position. Bahnson would try to get the jump early on in the road section, it did not work. Ethan opened up the sprint following that with Brewer and myself hot on his tail. E-Town faded but Brewer did not. He would take the win by about a bike length.
So close, so close. It really was a great race. My new found patience came in handy and I can see how that can improve racing. I am a little bummed I messed my sprint up. However John is a really cool guy and I was stoked he got a win. Oh well life goes on.

To the final MAC season race Capital Cross Classic. Due to my stupidity of not pre-reging I would be stuck three rows back. Well that's life. The course had some technical stuff as well as some good power sections. The start went well for me, I moved up into the top ten by the time we hit the dirt.(Being a good field sprinter helps with that) I did not move much the first lap and neither did anyone else. Heading into the second lap the lead group was made up of ten racers. This was not what I expected at all. I move up in the group and begin to try and see what I can make of the race. I moved up and int0 4th position behind Linder, Townsend, and Brewer, with Bahson right on my wheel. Linder would attack and get a gap. Brewer was stuck chasing, and Townsend refused to pull through. I tried to get up to help for a while but could not find the chance to pass. Finally I did right before a corner. However once on the front I hit the gas hard out of that corner and opened up a gap of my own. I did not intend to, but in the MAC when you get a gap you run with it. I would continue to open my gap until the final lap. All the time closing in on Linder. However it was not meant to be, I finished 2nd around 5 seconds behind Linder. Brewer made a valiant effort to almost catch me at the line, he finished just a mere two seconds of my pace. Not too bad, I was pleased to be consistent for the first time in a MAC weekend. I was definitely sad to see the MAC season end. Now the focus was solely on Nationals.

Jump ahead a few weeks, time for Nats. I packed up the bags and the bikes and flew out to the frozen tundra of Kansas City, Kansas. I had never been so far from the ocean before. As our place dropped below the clouds I could make out nothing aside from ice. Hooray this should be fun. I get off the place and head to the baggage claim. Around five minutes later Richard Fries appears from another plane. He walks over and we chat about expectations, the race, etc. Wow that was pretty cool. Afterwards my mom and I head to our hotel. I get the bikes together and then we head over to race Headquarters and dinner. I pick up my race packet and check my start position. This is where I was dealt a serious blow to my Nationals campaign. For Some reason and we will never know, I was put dead last. WTF!!! I flipped. I called Wade and immediately he got to work on trying to contact anyone and everyone who could possibly help me. In the mean time I decided that I would just have to try and do my best no matter what.

The next morning was the Men's B U29 race. I would get to see the course and try and plan an attack for the following day. I had a sweet second row start, but I had not ridden the course and really had no expectations. I would end up finishing 8th. Not terrible I could deal with that. Friday morning, I get to the race early and ride the course. The muddy ruts from the day before had frozen and the course was extremely bumpy and very challenging. This would be interesting. I warmed up in the Specialized tent, those guys hooked me up. I'm definitely stoked they let me warm-up in their tent. I went to the start and was praying for a mistake and was hoping to get moved up. I would not get moved up, dead last. Hooray! Some how all the other top juniors were in the front two rows. I would make the best of it. The gun went off and right away another rider who couldn't get clipped in slips and knocks me to the side. I had to unclip me starting foot and then get going again. I was 5th wheel from the back hitting the dirt. This is where the carnage started. Bikes, bodies, mud, everywhere. I was dodging crashes left and right and though I was easily already 45 seconds to a minute down on the leaders, I would press on. By the end of the first lap I had settled into 10th place. Sweet I was making progress. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. I ended up in a group of three towards the end of the race, we were racing for 8th, 9th and 10th place. I was sitting third wheel going into the double run-ups. I did not feel like a sprint finish. I turned on the gas on the stairs and opened a good gap. I would finish 8th, not bad. Especially considering the start position. Well that was cool. Another positive of the weekend was that I finally conceded that I actually think I want to go to Rutgers. So we'll see how that works out.

So that's it pretty much.
Peace and love,
Patrick