Snow in NC!?!?

The past couple of weeks since my last post have been filled with training, Thanksgiving break with my girl friend and her family, and preparing for the end of semester.  The weather has taken a wicked turn, with snow flying and low temperatures making training very much like in the Rocky Mountains in Montana yet I’m in North Carolina!!!

Here at Lees McRae College, the cycling team is a major focus for our president as he wants to continue to bring in major companies from the cycling industry to sponsor our team and work directly with us.  A significant step was taken in that direction with the president/CEO of Sidi America, Al Budris, making a trip to North Carolina from Monterey, CA to fit the top riders on our team with new Sidi Genius 6.6 cycling shoes.   I have never worn Sidi shoes, but after spending the morning going through what was the most scientific/precise shoe fit I have ever gone through and having the opportunity to see the end result, I am very excited to break in the new shoes over winter break.  What impressed me most was not the shoe fit, but the simple fact that Al Budris himself took the time to come fit our team rather than sending a representative.  This showed me the commitment he is willing to make to the team and the relationships he wishes to establish with Lees McRae College.

In regards to training, the hours are slowly building up as I begin to get into the heart of base season and continue with my core exercises.  One training tool that I have the privilege of getting to use this year for the first time is the SRM.  After having used Power Tap for the past two seasons, I am impressed with the differences the SRM has in regards to the Power Tap in relation to accuracy with power but more so with kilojoules (amount of work completed).  Add in the convenience of not having to use the same rear wheel all the time, and you have the most dynamic training tool you can get.

That wraps up the past couple of weeks for me.  I’m looking forward to a nice long winter break and some high volume training as we begin to enter the 2012 racing season.  Thanks for following along!

–NW

 

Life of Structure and Planning

First week of training is almost done and dusted.  I have a 3hr ride scheduled tomorrow and that brings a close to the first week.  Its been a nice change getting back into the swing of things with diet, core, training, and maximizing every minute of the day.  I must admit sometimes I find myself thinking about going out with friends or staying out late but then I am quickly reminded that the season has started and October is over.  There is no room for that anymore.  However at the same time its nice to have that structure back in my life and following a schedule everyday.  Its not about whats fun anymore, its about what is best for school and the bike.  What works for me is making a schedule for the next day before I go to bed every night and every Sunday I make a rough schedule of the week.  By doing this I can hold myself accountable and make sure I am getting everything done that I need to from training to schoolwork.

Its starting to get pretty cold out here in Banner Elk, NC and I find myself taking 20 minutes just to get dressed to go ride, putting on up to 5 layers on for a ride in the 30′s and 40′s.  Now before y’all start making fun of me for that, I will just put it out there that I am a pansy when it comes to the cold, and yes I am from MT so I know it makes no sense but live with it!!!  ;)

On the school front, we are only two weeks away from Thanksgiving Break which is quickly followed by finals and that will bring a close to the first semester.  It continues to surprise me every year how fast the semesters go by.

Well I am off to study more after a 3hr ride with Jerika Hutchinson this morning and a feast of Mexican food after.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Thanks again for reading and make sure to follow along on twitter as well.

 

–NW

 

2012 Season Begins

” Common men go nowhere, you have to be uncommon.”  by Herb Brooks

This quote is more than a unique saying but a staple that I try live by everyday.  I keep this close to my heart as I enter the 2012 season which begins tomorrow with base training and core work.  I must say this October has been a long one, yet one that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  This past weekend was a highlight of my year as I traveled down for a mini team camp with my new cycling team (Team Earthfare).  However what made it so special was the fact that I got to spend time with my best friend Emily for the first time since last Christmas.  She is one of the closest people to me and someone I rely 100% on in every aspect of my life.  So needless to say it was a BIG deal getting to spend time with her this weekend as well.

As the final day of October comes to a close I reflect on the past season, its triumphs and its downfalls.  I look to improve on every aspect I feel was sub par, and increase my expectations more so than ever before.  This year will bring a lot of “firsts” for me in cycling and life such as writing out tangible goals and dictating my training to achieve those specific goals.  This seems so fundamental and basic, yet I look back and I have never sat down and written out my goals and constantly made an effort to attain them.  So this will be a major part of my upcoming season.  I also plan to open up my life to people on and off the bike through this blog, twitter, and facebook in hopes of educating people, providing an interesting story to follow, comedy, tragedy, or to help people in their own quest.  For me this is much more than just a journey to reach the top professional level of cycling, its a journey through life to love and experience what interests you and to chase your dreams knowing you can do anything you want.  This is the story I aim to tell and I hope you follow along for the next 11 months and through me, you can learn and achieve your own dreams.  Everyday is a memory, you just have to open your eyes.

I look forward to the journey ahead and I thank you for following along.  Lastly as you can see I have updated and changed the website with a new theme, new calendar (still very vague this early in season), updated bio, and new tabs of “social” and “support team” which will give you a closer look at the people who make this journey work.  Its a team effort which cant be done alone!

–NW

 

October

Me and the month of October have a love hate relationship.  Its one of the best times to be in the Carolina mountains with leaf season in full force, a relief from the heat, and the opportunity to eat all that delicious food that has been taunting me for the past 11 months.  However for that same reason is also the part I hate about October.

With October almost halfway done, I have enjoyed a couple pizzas, a few beers, and lots of rest.  I am currently on fall break and will be watching my team compete in the SECCC Mountain Bike Conference Championships this weekend here at Lees McRae.  This month also brings a lot of strategic planning for the upcoming season with personal and team goals along with the racing schedule for the upcoming season.  I can say that with everything that is going on with my new team (formerly Industry 9/Highland Brewing Co.) the upcoming season is looking to be the best yet.  I am very excited to get to be apart of this new team/family.  They have gone above and beyond with bringing me on board and treating me just like everyone else.  Couldnt ask for a better group of guys.  Look for us to be turning some heads this season on the East Coast.

But for now I am going back to my “vacationing” .  Talk to yall come November!!

–NW

 

New Team Announcement

As many of you know who have been following me over the past year you can see it’s been a learning and trying year. It’s one of those years people deem as an off year or a bad year. For me I don’t believe in that. It’s all about perspective and looking at it as a year of learning, paying your dues, and getting tougher mentally and physically. I reflect on this year as a new season is about to begin and realize this has been my most important year to date. I have matured as both a rider and a person while proving to myself I can get through the toughest times.

With that being said, this year I starting off with a bang as I am happy to announce that I will be riding for the Industry Nine Cycling Team for the 2012 season. I am am blessed and privileged to be part of such a great team/family and wll be looking forward to the upcoming year. Thanks for reading and I hope you embark on another season with me.

Thank you,

–NW

 

Georgia Tech and Breakdown

Interesting trip to Georgia Tech this weekend. Started off ok for the first three hours then a loud thumping started coming from our team bus. After pulling over in Anderson, SC for an hour or so some mechanics showed up and told us 2 of our wheels were about to fall off. Solid!!! Apparently the last people yo do the brakes didn’t put the frikin wheels on tight enough. So we ended up staying the night there and missing the short track race the following morning. After we got settled in our hotel, we went out for an evening ride ( at 11pm) where I flatted bunny hopping the curb. So the following morning I spent an hour at the bike shop getting all the shifting dialed in and tires switched from tubeless to tubes.

After finally arriving here at the Olympic mtn bike course in Conyers, GA, our gravity team got to compete in the dual slolom while our endurance guys cheered them on then we went for a recon ride of the XC course for Sundays race. On the last powerline climb at the end if the ride, somehow I snapped my derailure hanger and severely bent my rear derailure just climbing leaving me bike-less for today. So instead of racing I will be feeding the team and handing out bottles during the races. I’m just happy I get to help out my team in some way.

Hopefully we will have a solid race today and we also have our #1 rider, Kerry Werner, back from worlds which is exciting. I am anxious to watch him and the rest of the team race. Then we are back to Banner Elk, NC to wrap up our second trip to Atlanta, GA in the last 10 days.

–NW

 

Post Track Camp

What an uneventful weekend on the bike. Friday was filled with instruction regarding how to ride the track and basic drills. BORING!!!!! And thanks to my stupid mistake of not having my coffee combined with a little dehydration, I suffered from an extreme head ache by the late afternoon. It’s sad I know but only after several Cokes, multiple coffees, and water did my head ache go away.

We stayed at one of our teammates grandparents house who were gracious enough to feed us as well. I must say after months of travel and caf food, some home made meals were just the ticket.

The following day was rained out leaving me with no way of getting in 4k pursuit to qualify for nationals which was a bummer. So we went back to our host house and watched movies and did lots of homework. The following day we made the trip back to school only to be turning around in a couple days to go back to Atlanta for mountain bike racing.

I’m very excited to head back to Conyers, GA where I had success winning the SECCC Men’s B STXC conference championship and taking second in the XC. This year will obviously be much tougher as I am racing A’s and the XC race will be 2 laps longer. This is a little frightening to me as I remember last year only doing 3 laps and dying. So we will see what comes out of this weekend. I plan on mountain biking the rest of the week to work on some technical skills as well. As always, will let you know how this weekend turns out.

–NW

 

Track Camp

Well that was an uneventful weekend. Our team took advantage of an off weekend of racing and head down to Atlanta, GA to do a team track camp and some racing to determine our nationals team. After a long 4hrs the first day, our final two days were rained ou and we are currently on the bus headed back to LMC only to turn around and come straight back to Atlanta at the end of the week for mountain bike racing.

The trip was not a total bust in that we got to spend some great time together as a team and a little swim in one of our riders grandparents private lake. A big thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Rhoads for housing all 22 of us this weekend and for cooking all our meals.

Until this weekend….

–NW

 

Roadie on a Mountain Bike

Wow that hurt a lot. It’s Tuesday and yet I am still hurting from this weekends mountain bike race at ETSU. The weekend went something like this:

Saturday brought along a short and extremely painful short track race. We got there early in the morning and I got to ride the course and see where I would be digging my grave later that day. As I rode the course I found that after a downhill section there was a “big” jump (any size jump is big for a roadie). So I practiced on the 5 or 6 times about shitting myself each time I launched myself into the air. After landing it ea h time I figured I better save some of my “skillz” for the race. Then it was back to the team bus to relax before I started my warm up.

A couple hours later we were on the start line and I was starting in the very back row, which I thought was appropriate. As the gun went off for the start several things were going through my head:
- shit too big a gear
- why is everyone leaving me
- don’t wreck

I eventually got settled into the rear of the main group after having a crappy start (note: need to improve on) and spend the race trying to move up. It was a very high pace race and every lap minus the first, we were hitting the jump full on. To my surprise I didn’t have a problem with it. However about 15-20min into the 30min race a bunch of me and my teammates were pulled as the leaders were a quarter of a lap behind us. So that ended my STXC. We came back to school and I went on a 3hr ride to make sure I got a good workout in that day making it 4.5hr day on the bike with a solid 15min interval.

Sunday brought some serious pain. So much in fact that I couldn’t eat, drink, or stop throwing up for 2hrs after. It was the XC race and we had 5 laps. We started at a good high pace and I knew today would show who had fitness and who was faking it. I was riding well until I face planted 3 times in the first lap, yes 3 TIMES!!!! I quickly lost contact with the group after this extravaganza and I road my own race the rest of the day. I ended up doing 2 more face plants in the last 4 laps which was an improvement . However in between my face plants I was going above and beyond my race pace. I was giving it everything I had. So much so that after the finish I couldn’t eat or drink and I was throwing up and could hardly walk. I was not a happy camper but I know that I went as hard as my body could go and gave everything for the team. In the end I took 5th place on my team which was definitely a surprise for me with all my mountain bike skillz.

So that brings us to today where I have spent yesterday taking my first day off in 12 days and in the ice bath. This weekend we travel to Atlanta for track camp where I hope to have a great weekend on the bike. I’m now off to the ice bath again. Catch y’all later.

–NW

 

Pre-ETSU

It’s 6:00am and we are sitting on the team bus getting ready to begin another campaign for our 11th National Championship. You can tell it’s the beginning of a new season with ao many new faces, new assistant coach (former teammate), a new team trailer, and a new structure within the team.

For me this will be my 5th mountain bike race and first mens “A” mountain bike race. Last year was my first season of mountain bike racing where I started in mens “C” and moved up to mens “B” by conference where I won the South East Conference Championship STXC and placed 2nd in the XC. So needless to say they bumped me up to mens “A”. I am excited and nervous both for this race as just like with any discipline in cycling, when upgrading you enter a whole different world. So we will see what comes of this morning and then we will travel back to school where we will have team lunch and then I will go out for a 2-3hr endurance road ride.

Dare to be Uncommon

NW