Sunday, October 25, 2009

Compression Fracture

In case you haven't heard I recently had a jet skiing accident that resulted in me getting a compression fracture in my L2 and L3 vertebra. I'm not too sure about how it happened because it all happened so quickly. All I remember was a huge wave crashing into me which threw me off of the jet ski. I either hit the jet ski going into the water, or the wave carried it into me. As a result from all of this I am completely resting in my a back brace for the next 6 weeks. I've been to multiple doctors and they all say that I can ride on the trainer inside only if I am completely vertical the entire time and have my back brace on. My coach, David Wenger of Durata Training, suggested flipping my handlebars upside down so I wouldn't be bending over as far. After six weeks I'm planning on going back into the doctor's office for some more x-rays and CT scans to see if it is completely healed. Hopefully it will be and it shouldn't affect my performance next year.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

State Championships RR

This past weekend was the P 1/2 State Championship Road Race. The race was three laps of 33 miles each to equal out at 99 miles. I only decided to do this race about four days before, and went into it with very little training. My advice from my coach, Dave Wenger at Durata Training was to sit in for the first three hours of the race, and then give it my best shot. An early break of about six got away right from the gun, and that was pretty much the last we saw of them. They got a maximum of about 5 and a half minutes before teams went to the front to try and bring it back. I was content to watch everyone else use their energy to try and pull back the break. Going into the last lap I talked to Dave to see what I should do, and he told me to take it easy for about another 8 miles before we hit the second and hardest climb of the race. Right at the base of the 750 climb, I jumped out of the pack and immediatly opened up a big gap. By the top, Pat McCarty (OUCH!-Maxxis) was the only one who bridged up to me. Unfortunately over the next two kilometers of downhill we were swallowed up by the pack. That was pretty much the only match I had left and I spent the rest of the race trying to keep up with the pack. It was up until about 5 kilometers to go when my legs cramped too much and I got shelled off of the back. JT Cody (Solar Eclipse) won the race out of the break over Christian Helmig (Metro VW) and Collin Davis (Matrix). Although I didn't do as well as I hoped, I have still had an incredible season and wouldn't change it for a single thing!!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

David Wenger for USCF Athlete Trustee

Hey guys, just wanted to ask you all to vote for David Wenger in the USCF Athlete Trustee. The Athlete Trustee position works in a wide range of developing code; clarifying existing rules, adapting UCI rules for USCF competition, and arbitrating disciplinary actions. Knowing Dave as a coach, friend, and fellow cyclist I really think that he would be great at this position. To vote, you must be a USA Cycling license holder. Go to www.usacycling.org and go to your "My USA Cycling" page and vote from there. Thanks!