Crash

A lot has changed since I last posted. I moved back to Blacksburg, VA. I have a full-time internship with dish-network in Christiansburg. But I don't answer phones. Racing wise, I did the second rainy roanoke crit and got dropped. Mostly because I couldn't corner well after I few close calls with some back wheel slippage. I got tired of chasing back on after every turn, so I got dropped after about 15 minutes.

Today I finished up an omnium in TN/VA. There were only 12-13 guys in each race, which was kind of weird. In the RR, I started a break with one other 10 minutes in, and Timmy C. quickly bridged up. We worked together well putting in over 3 minutes on the field. I wasn't feeling well, and my pulls turned into no watts, so I opted to drop out of the break instead of sitting on after about 40 miles. Tim and the other guy, Jason, made it until the last lap before getting reeled in. I finished in the back of the pack, 11th.

The crit was supposed to be downtown, but they changed the course at the last second. So instead, we had a 1 km course with 4 u-turns. Living hell. Watching all the day's races before mine, I figure I should just be in the top 3 the entire time or I was going to get gapped out of the corners. I did that right from the gun, and by the end of the first lap I was off the front with one other. On the third lap I messed up a turn and crashed, mostly because I was trying to match the speed of my breakaway companion, who can corner like crazy. He went on to lap everybody, I jumped back into the race and finished in the field.

Congrats to Andrew Olson for winning the Category 1 Omnium. All in the TT.

This was all a test to see if I can type for work tomorrow.

-JZ

Living at Home

I am in Michigan living with my parents over the summer. It was nice for about two days, then it started to feel a little bit like high school. I would move out, but I don't have a car. My mom is giving me a car for my last semester of college, or whenever I get a job, so I have to wait until then. Living at home does have its perks, however. Unlimited amounts of food at the house with a blank check to go get more at the grocery store. Lots of free time to ride and to work on personal blogosphere like websites that I will try to be done with by the end of the summer. Free transportation to races plus entry fees when my dad races with me and all the bike parts I can find in the house are fair game. (We have more than 17 bikes + parts in the house, so I never have to go to the bike store) All of this for doing some household chores and cooking dinner two nights a week is a pretty good deal.

Our family has a new dog, his name is Bear.

His nickname is the "automatic peeing machine." It is exactly what it sounds like. He spends most of his time in his cage, but when he comes out, better not touch him, because he'll pee all over you. He is only 9 months old, so hopefully he'll grow out of it.

Here's one of him licking my crotch.


In other news, we are camping this weekend on Lake Higgins, up near West Branch for this weekends race. It should be a lot of fun, hopefully not too much fun the night before the race, I want to do well.

Oh, and sorry for that last video, it was really stupid. But I got another one to make up for it.

Worst Video on YouTube

Tour Das Frankenmuth

Le tour de F is a flat course. 20 ish mile laps, 5 laps, just under 80 miles. I developed a chest cold the night before, which I felt did not affect my race at all. The race started off raining making it kind of miserable. The goal for today was to watch the big teams, mainly Bissell, to make sure I was in any break that looked good. Out of all the teams there, Bissell was the team that wasn't going to miss the break, so I based my efforts on that.

The 3rd lap I got in a break of about 10 riders that slipped away from the field. Even though the break was big, we rotated fairly well, with only one rider sitting in (Bissell had only one rider in the break.) I was OK with racing for second place. Another group of 10 bridged up and we started attacking from the break. Eventually everything got back together by the next lap.

When we got brought back, I fell to the back of the field, while the winning break with both Williams brothers rolls away with 4 others. I hear Bissell talking about how they wanted to bridge, they only had one rider in the break, and I looked for the next move to go up the road.

By the last lap, nothing has escaped from the field yet, and there was still attack after attack, but people were losing their snap. Finally one Bissell and green team rider (named the green team, because I don't know who they are,) had a small gap on the field, with a wolverine bridging. I jumped across with a Dayton rider and we had a group of 5 that the field let go.

We worked together the last 5 miles or so to the finish, I had myself pegged for second out of the break. The one Bissell rider was a great sprinter, and a couple of the other riders were having trouble pulling through. We rolled into the final k and took the left turn onto the finishing straight with a good gap on the field. I see the people lined on the side of the road cheering us on and I jump. I went for about 5 seconds when I realized the finish line was waaaaay too far away. I looked back and the Bissell rider has a big smile on his face as we both realized my mistake at the same time. He jumps around me, taking 7th by a long shot. The other three riders competed in the sprint and I tried to jump on their wheels, but alas, I am an idiot. So last out of the break, 11th for the day, just inside the money.

Shout out to David Williams who took the win.

Next week is West Branch. There is some climbing so hopefully it will be more exciting than the flat race we had today.

JZ

Summer Vacation

I just got done with a monster 5 hour ride. My legs hurt.

Yesterday was Kensington, and I was very disappointed. I was riding with the front group, still feeling fresh, when others started popping off the back because of the distance. I had a mechanical (only slightly my fault), and I had to stop and fix it. I started to chase back on, and got a good look at the race when I approached the turn-around and saw the field(s) coming from the other direction. The group split into two, with a 3 man break still up the road, and many riders were dangling off the back. I never got back on. I think I could have placed 8th or higher.

Summer vacation is finally here. Yesterday after the race Derek came down from Lansing and me Alex, Derek, Elisa, Zack and co. spent a night on the town in Ann Arbor. Stories have been shared, camping trips have been planned. The next month is "Road Race" season in Michigan. One of the only places to have one. Coming up in the next few weekends we have two road races and one stage race. The next criterium is June 20th.

Colligate nationals was last week, and it was probably the most fun out of the last three years I have been. The trip was full of inside jokes, and new nicknames. The bff's and I will reflect on these memories everytime we get together. Results wise, we didn't do so well. The altitude makes it much harder for us to compete. Tim had our best result for both days like 64th place.

Family movie time, stay tuned for a recap of my next race, tour de frankenmuth.

-JZ

ACCCCCCCCC Crit

I lapped the field with 8 others in the crit. It started as 4, then I bridged up solo over a half lap. Then over the next 20 minutes 4 others joined our group making it 9.

Joey and Winck made the break strong.

We lapped the field with 1 lap to go. Here is a picture of us right when we caught the field.

The breakaway just joined on the back-left side of the photo.

When we caught the field BW tried to get me through to the front, but I couldn't hold his wheel. I started my seated sprint from the back of the field, went as fast as a I could, and watched as the back of the field rode away from me. I was 8th, second to last of the break. I should have done better, I was very disappointed with myself. It was one of those races where you swear really loudly on the backside of the course during your cool-down lap.

Yet again Joey laps the field, then goes on to beat everybody in the field sprint. I have no idea how he does it.

After the race we had the award ceremonies for the conference. The VT team did well, winning the Men's A, Women's A and Men's C overall, and second in the team competition to Navy.

Up next is collegiate nationals. My training for conferences was to taper for 4 weeks, and I did not have the legs in the end. I think this time I will train hard for the next 2 weeks, then take an easy week before nationals.

F*&KING CONFERENCES

Two words: BW is the man. BW is like a mechanical pencil. You use him for awhile, but then you run out of lead, so you put him in your backpack. Then, the day of your final exam, when you don't have any other writing utensils, you pull out Ben and desperately try to get more lead. Turns out there was one piece left, and you get an 'A-' on the test.

Ben Warren was third for the day, but not before going off the front solo for 3 out of the 6 laps.


2 words, bad luck. Webb flatted the second lap. Eoin fell and hit his head, got back into the group, then flatted on the last lap. Tim broke a spoke. Still 3rd and 4th (Ben and Reid respectively) with the only two teammates left in the field is pretty good.

Kudos to the Men's B squad for setting the fastest time on the course in the TTT (including the men's A), with a time of 56 plus change. Over 26 mph average.



Kudos to the Men's D, Andy wants it. He deserves if for speed walking the crit course on a full stomach after the banquet with J Frink.



Good Luck in the crit tomorrow. Thanks, I need it.

JZ