12 Hours of Santos Race Update

This past weekend was the 12 hours of Santos. I competed in the 6 hour elite class, and this was the opening round for my season. The adrenaline was high, and all the big dogs were here to show what work had been done on the off season. I set my goals high and met it with a 3rd place finish in a stacked 97 racer field for the 6 hour class.

The race was very tough set with a fast pace from Ryan Woodall, Victor alber and Myself. Us three stayed together for the whole race from start till the last lap where my body started shutting down after 5 hours. Victor and Ryan had a good battle till the end however Victor had a few mechanicals near the end letting Ryan slip away a little too easy. Congrats to both of them for the top 2 spots.

All in all the race was great and I hope to see some good results early in the year after this race. Many thanks to all who helped and supported me this race including: Drew "Coach" Edsall of endurancefactor.com, My girlfriend Maddie for being there for support, The Bike Route, Scott Bikes, Kent Lofton of About Bicycles, The Woodall Brothers, My family and friends, and of course Jesus Christ for keeping me safe throughout the day. Thanks to all and looking forward to the first regioanl race of the year on march 8th in my hometown!!!!

2009 Plans!!!

My plans for 2009 are up!!

First I plan to start off the racing season with a 6 hour race at the 12 hours of Santos this weekend.. I have been trainig pretty consistently, but not as steady as I would like so we will see how this goes.

After that I plan on starting the cross country up with the first SERC at Hailes Trails (GATORBACK) right here in Gainesville, Floirda. This race will be used to test my speed and see where my high end fitness is compared to other southeast pro riders for the beginning of 2009..

Just after that my main focus this year will be on the Kenda Cup East Series. This is a brand new series and will put a lot of focus on the new pro class in America. As a new pro rider myself I hope to learn a lot through this experience and have fun improving myself against the best racers in the country.

Shortly after the conclusion of the Kenda Cup I will suit up locally and try my legs again another year with The Florida State Championship Series. This year is expected to be very competitive and tough.

I really hope I can hold it all together and put all my focus into my cycling and prevail as a new pro rider. This year is going to be tough as normal, but I am really excited to see what it brings in my journey to the top..

SO here is the 2009 race schedule:

2/21- 12 hours of Santos ( 6 hour elite class)

3/8 - SERC #1 Gainesville, FL

4/26- SERC #4 Winder, GA

Kenda Cup East

5/3 - SERC #5 Ducktown, TN

5/31 - Bump and Grind. Birmingham, AL

6/6 - Massanutten Hoo-Ha. Massanutten, VA

6/21 - Cowbell Challenge. Davidson, NC

8/8-9 - Snow Shootout. Mount Snow, VT

8/15-16 - Windham Cup. Windham, NY

9/5 - 8 hours of labor

Florida State Championship Series

9/13 FSC #1 Gainesville, FL

?? FSC # 2-7 To Be Announced closer to race season

12/13 - FSC #8 Ocala, FL

Fall Series Championship Comes to an End.

Expert/Pro Class: - Victor Alber finishes the Florida Championship in 1st place with Martin Cox (BCC) finishing in 2nd followed by Kevin Hoffman in 3rd, Regan Woodall 4th (BCC) and Daniel Jimenez in 5th.

Colorado So Far!!

As most of you know I have gone out to Durango Colorado for a month of training with my coach Drew Edsall to not only do the National race in Utah on July 27th- 28th but also to go back east and try and get some good finishes in New York on July 11th- 12th and Hopefully the next weekend in Vermont for the National Championship on July 16th - 20th!!

So far I have rode every day but one to recover since the training is so hard here. It is almost impossible to find somewhere here without a minute climb that you cant help but here your head throb only half way up! Well anyways the training is killer. The trails are just amazing and the best I have ever rode, the only problem is saving some energy for the next day. I have logged in around 13 hours already in the first week being here. The biggest problem I still have is my breathing. I need a little more time to aclamate because riding at 0-130 feet above sea level back home to riding at 6500-9000 feet above sea level out here is a little harder.

However tomorrow I am going to try a practice short track the Durango Devo is putting on and see where my fitness stands against the locals out here. Then to follow that I have some more hard training to finish out the second week here.

Soon I hope to have some pictures up so I can share the beauty of this place with you all. For now though I will just keep riding and enjoying.

Bump & Grind

And CRAMP!! AAAHHH

Well we started our trip out to colorado and did the Bump and Grind national calendar race on the way out. The race took place in Pelham, AL right below Birmingham. The race is what I would say the biggest race in the southeast with the most talent around lined up on one line for a 17 mile course with a grueling climb about 1/2 way through. I went into the rce feeling pretty good and ready to post a solid finish. I started on the second row and still got a decent start. I was up in the top 10 for the beginnig with no intention of moving up until later if possible. As we can out to the climb on the first lap I simply sat up and rode my own race. Of course a few riders instantly shot out about 20 feet and just sat there. As the climb went on I felt okay. I simply reeled the other riders in at the top when they hurt the most. Coming through the first lap I was probably in around 16th or 17th which was mid pack, however I knew I put out a good lap time and just hoped I could do it again.

Beginning the second lap about 3-4 miles into my legs where really still feeling strong but starting to quiver so I knew I would have probably later. I was however still moving up in my class. So as I crested the climb for the last time I felt good and was in a solid 10th place however right before you shoot into blood rock the most technical part of the trail my friend michael viertel blew by me telling me to stay strong. Well this got me a little fired up so I paced myself an d caught up to him slowly. I was plannong on seeing how the last climb went then trying to pick up the pace however on that climb my legs started to lock up and I had to warch mike walk away from me just so i could finish the lap. I continued to ride my best through the cramps and finished a solid 11th place overall and 5th place out of the semi pro's.

Congratulations for the top spot going to RYAN WOODALL once again as he was out the blazing the course once again and won the pro field for the second time in a row. Also good job to my coach Drew Edsall for placing 6th overall and 1st out of the semi pro's. Jamie Knight was also in the house taking the win in the Junior Expert class with a fast time. And as always Regan Woodall was there to liven things up, but was unable to race so he can start up training for the East Coast nationals!! Thanks for all the help this year from everyone at this race and look for me on that podium next year with no cramps.

California National

So lets start this off by saying this was one of the best trips ever. Not only did I get to travel to California, Race a national, hang out for a few days with some of my best friends, and get a wicked sun tan from a california heat wave..haha..Oh yeah and I didnt even mention the course yet!! Lets just say an 11 mile course with climbs so grueling they make pro racers look really human..

So the flight out was pretty good and I got to fly all day with Ryan and Drew. As we arrived at the airport in Santa Babara finally my day got even better as my friend Mike had come prepared for the trip sporting this super funny haircut and shirts..Finally we all got our luggage and rental car and headed to the hotel to build bikes. Well except Drew cause they did him a huge favor and didnt get his luggage until the next day. Once all was said and done we headed to the course to look at the venue, and I took off for a real long easy lap..

The next day we headed to the course so everyone could get in a ride and check out the course. We meet up with the knights there and our crew was complete. As everyone finished up there day we went to dinner to get in some good ole pasta and sleep.

So saturday was upon us and I was feeling good for cross country. I got to line up on the front row and had a decent start with no intentions but to pace myself and finsih strong. COming throught the first lap I was in mid pack and still felt strong. I waited until the end of the second lap to start making a few moves and move up a little. I ended up getting a little screwed over at the end and not able to get two riders I could of easily beat, but at least finished strong. After checking the results I ended up in 28th place out of like 50 riders. This got me a little down but I was happy with my performance in the 106 degree weather..

Well sunday was here and we had short track, but dont let the name fool you. This is a 20 minute race where you are seeing stars the whole time or hitting a wall on a tricycle. Well lets just say I got another good start and tried to pace myself off the leaders. I was in the top 10 the first say 6-7 minutes then I absolutely crashed. I finished the race barely able to move. I was hurting worst than ever but I knew I had to finish because I never drop out and that does nothing good for you but make it easier to quit next time.

So that was all for the trip. The race was awesome and I learned a lot about big races. As I headed back to florida I could not get the good times out of my head, and knew the trip was well worth it.

UPDATE

Yeah it is time for an update. I have been unmotivated to talk about my riding more than I am motivated to just get out and ride. I have competed in the first Georgia state race and The Lakeland Urban Crit since the last post.

For the Georgia State Race it was a good time traveling up to the race and riding a great course however I was unable to put in a good ride. My body was way off for the day and I started having real bad muscular cramps on the last lap. I got in a good training day but was real mad at my result. I actually got passed near the end of the race by a woman racer yelling at me to get out of the way and I was only pedaling with one leg cause the other was cramped and locked up. This was so funny to me as soon as I was finished. The other was that they conveniently let out the beginner wave right in front of me on my last lap. Which is not good for a blown up semi pro to race with over excited unexperienced racers. Near the end a beginner fell on a climb in front of me causing me to fall into the bushes and lose a spot while having my legs lock up. So the georgia experience was good but my performance was very off.

As for the urban crit. This was an awesome event. They had a sweet trials/ speed course set up right in the road to entertain spectators which was awesome. Well and the crit course was cool for you went by a lake, down stairs, and all the way up and down a parking garage. I felt really good going into the race and confident in myself. However I did not feel comfortable on slick tires blasting through oil spills. However all that aside I went into the race with an open mind to kick some butt. Well as the race broke in I found myself up front making the right moves and staying in front. However before I noticed all in a split second Steve Bent had flatted and hit a statue hard and well I look up and Jamie and Mike were broke away. This was the worst thing that could happen. ACTUALLY NOT they were working together flawlessly and moving really well. So I tried to just stay calm and help the people around me however within a few minutes I knew my race was for third place. So it came down to me and Brent Hall riding the rest of the race together before the finish, where I squared up the last corner to beat him. This was a move I made on experience and something he will never forget. great race though Brent.

So that is about it for now. I am currently trying finish out school which is a huge stressor for me and get ready for the California national.