SNOW IS COMING!!!

While most cyclists aren't normally excited about a huge snow storm I am usually the exception. It is supposed to snow 6-10 inches here tonight and I couldn't be happier about it. I love it when it snows so that everyone at Purdue can go sledding on Slater hill together. I promise to put up some pictures this weekend of some crazy sledding action. I also like cross country skiing and the only time I get to do that is when we get a big snow storm here. I used to do xc ski racing in high school and feel that it provides a great alternative to riding in the freezing cold. We have lots of places to ski here at Purdue although none of them have official ski trails it is still fun. We have 2 full golf courses and 2 large wooded areas right on campus that are great for skiing. Today I got up early and lifted with a freshman on the bike team. I have a good feeling about the Purdue cycling team this season. I think we are gonna kick some serious but overall as a team. I am hoping we can move into the top 3 for teams this season. I hope everyone gets out and enjoys the snow this weekend.

Wow!

The weather switched really quickly yesterday. I think they said the temp dropped 40 degrees in 3 hours here in West Lafayette. It was about 20 degrees outside so Chris and I decided to go mountain biking. It was warm and fun. There were some pretty icy creek crossings though and i did a pretty spectacular crash that involved doing a somersault over my bike on one of them. Normally I am pretty good at riding over ice but I got a little cocky and started pedaling before I was off of the ice. I feel with mountain biking you didn't ride hard enough unless you crash at least once. Tomorrow I am gonna lift and friday I am gonna take a rest day for the first time in about 3 weeks which should feel pretty good. I am going down to Indianapolis to watch the Pacers vs the houston rockets on friday too. I am really tired right now and it is only 9:30. I am gonna go to bed and hopefully I will recover well this week because I have less than 1 month before the first race. Next week is gonna get serious again.

Inspiration from today's ride

Today was the first day of my recovery week. Basically I am planning on only training about 8-10 hours this week and taking at least 1 or 2 days with no biking or structured training. Today it was warm outside but it was raining and very windy. I figured it might be the best weather for a while so I went out on the Purdue group ride. It was fun. there are 2 new riders that were also there and both of them have really impressed me so far. We did a 2 hour loop with a really steep climb in it. One of the guys is on a 1980s race bike that doesn't have a very small gear and on the hill I turned around and saw him walking so I waited at the top but didn't see him. I went back down only to see him back at the bottom sprinting at the hill and then rocking up it. I was very impressed with his determination. Working hard and proving to yourself that you can do it is what bike racing is all about. So next time you feel like you can't do it remember you an always turn around and try it again. As I always say "Step Up to the Challenge!!"

I have a blog now!

Welcom to my blog. I am gonna write about my racing and training for bike racing here. I am gonna try to update it every few days about my training and write race reports every weekend.