Incheon MCT Race Report: 2nd Place! 인천 MCT대회 후기

Last Sunday was the 4th round of the Korean Cycling Federations Amateur Cycling series (MCT) and it was held on Ganghwa Island north of Incheon.  Having pre ridden the course the week before with my team I was excited for the race which consisted of 5 18km laps and contained 2 intermediate climbs per lap.  The rest of the course was up and down rolling and was sure to produce some fast fun racing.  The finish was at the top of a 1.5km long gradual(3%) climb which I thought I could do well in if it came down to a bunch sprint.
The race started off pretty fast with lots of small attacks but nothing was sticking until the start of the 3rd lap.  Hyung Mo Lee, my teammate Hwan Geol and a rider from the Scott team were off in a small breakaway and I had a feeling it would stick since it had most of the major players in the race represented.  I attacked going into a corner and bridged up and we were then shortly joined by some more riders bringing the group to 10 with my team having 2 and our rival in the series Scott having 2.  After this we worked together smoothly to gain a pretty good advantage on the pack.  Going into the last lap I was expecting our group to be attacked a bit but luckily we worked together pretty well until the last 2 climbs.  Hyung Mo attacked and was quickly joined by the 2 Scott riders while Hwan Geol and I struggled to catch up.  With 2km to go they were about 5 riders were about 10 seconds in front of us but we couldn't close the gap.  I finished 6th overall and HwanGeol 7th good enough for 2nd and 3rd in our age group.  Not a bad finish but both of us were hoping to place a little bit better.  Hyung Mo ended up winning and the 2 Scott riders got 2nd and 3rd. 
After the race our team went out for lunch with Arnold Kim, the Hed Wheels rep in Korea and he treated us to some super nice Korean Beef.  The whole day was going pretty well until I got home Sunday night and came down with the Flu which I've been slowly recovering from all week. 
I should be ready for this weekend's mountain bike race in Gapyoung though!

지난일요일나MCT 4차 인천 투어 탔어요.  이대회코스 마음들었어요 언덕 조금었었고 완전 크라이밍코스 아니얐어요.  원래 이코스 브레이크어워에이 할수없을거같았지만 생각보다 좀어려웠어요.  경기 시작하고 첫2바귀그냥팩이랑탔어요.  3번재 랲시작할때 땡모형, 환걸형, 스캇님1명 좀앞에있어서 나 갔어요.  3번재박위부터 10명이랑 같인 븦에이크어웨이탔어요.  우리 그룹중에 땡모형있었고 나랑 환걸형, 스캇팀2명있어서 팩에서 체이싱 한사람 별로 없었어요.  3바귀동안같이탔도 마지막 5키로에 땡모형 어텍했어요.  나다다해봤지만 힘이 없었어요. 앞에 5명있었지만 1명도 못잡았어요  그냥 나 6등환걸형 7등으로 왔어요 하지만 우리 종목에 2등3등했어요. 

경기끝나고 우리 팀 티에스 스포츠 Arnold Kim 사장님이랑 맛있는한우먹으로 갔어요!  너무 맛있었어요!  하로동안 좋아했지만 나 집에올때  몸이아팠어요!오늘 까지 플루 거렸어요!!  하지만 이번주 일요일있는 가평 시합 탈수있을거같아요! 

Naju MCT Race Report: 2nd again! 나주 마스터즈 후기

Last Saturday I participated in the 3rd race of the Masters Cycling Tour(MCT).  This is the national series that is being put on by the Korean cycling federation for amateur racers.  I was excited for the race because the course was fairly easy meaning there was a high likely hood for a sprint finish.  I was also a bit worried though because the race had 300 people in it and unlike in Gapyoung there wouldn't be any hills to split the field up making the possibility for crashes high. 
My team had a good group for the race though with 9 riders and my teammate HwanGeol currently sitting in second place for the series.  The weather for the race was great with sunny skies and just a little bit of wind.  The pace was pretty fast but like I predicted the course was too easy to break up the pack or allow a breakaway to go very far.  There were multiple crashes each lap but I was lucky to be in a good position for most of the race and avoid them.  I decided after the first lap that I would sit in the whole race and wait for the field sprint.  The next few laps were pretty uneventful and with 3km or so I moved my way to the front with my teammates Hwan Geol and Yeon Deok.  All 3 of us are good sprinters and if we played it right we had a good chance to sweep the top 3 spots.  The finishing straight was pretty straight and I decided to start sprinting first with about 250m to go.  I got a good gap and thought I had it but with about 30m left another rider just edged past me as I was running out of steam.  I started the sprint just a bit too early but I was still pleased with second overall and first in my age group.  Just behind me were Hwan Geol and Yeon Deok too meaning we swept the podium in our age group.  The guy who won is a former professional Keirin racer named Jong Chul Kang, who now owns a bike shop in the south part of Korea.  He definitely had a good sprint and I'm hoping for a rematch in 2 weeks at the MCT race in Incheon. 
The race wasn't all great for my team unfortunately though.  My teammate and our team's only female rider Myo Jin crashed hard and has a small fracture in her spine now.  It looks like she will make a full recovery but she won't be able to bike for a while.  I'm sure she will recover soon though!

지난주토요일에 나주 MCT 대회다녀왔습니다.  금요일 팀들이랑 내려가고  우리 리트칼턴 모텔에서잤어요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ.  토요일 아침에 대회준비하고 시작.  나주 코스가 내마음들었어요.  큰언덕없어서 라스트사움 될거같았어요.  하지만 300명이렇게 쉬운코스 에서 대회하면  너무지는사람많알거예요.  나 조심히타고 마지막5키로 까지 기다렸어요.  3키로남을때 나 환걸형이랑 연덕형이랑 앞에있었어요.  우리 다 스프린트 잘하니까 1,2,3등 할수있을거같았어요.  250m 남을때 나 스프린트시작햇어요.  1등할거같았지만 30m남을때 누구 내옆에 왔어요.  일찍시작했어서 힘이 없었어요 2등했어요 그리고 내뒤에 환걸형이랑 연덕형있었어요.  우리 cat 1종목에서 1,2,3등!  하지만 우리 팀 다좋은결과안나왓어요ㅠㅠ.  우리 묘진누나 넘어졌어요 그리고 허리 많이 아파졌어요ㅠㅠ.   누나 빨리나면 좋겠어요! 
이번경기에서 너무잘탔어서 다음주있는인천대회기대해요!  다시 라스트사움하면 1등해볼게요! 

Trek Race Report: 2nd Place 트렉 레이스데이 후기: 2등했어요!

Last Saturday I participated in the Trek race which was held in Tae An on the west coast of Korea.  Tae An is one of my favorite places to race and I have a pretty good record of racing there.  In 2010 in my first race there I won and then last year I finished second.  I was hoping to step back up to the top of the podium this time. 
It was a super windy day and I was racing in the Men's Senior (age 20-30) MTB road division.  On the start list there were nearly 100 riders listed but there were a lot less who actually showed up and due to the wind the pack broke apart really quickly.  After just a few miles it was just me, MunSu Jin (a really fast rider in just his 3rd year racing) and Yujin Jeong (a rider from the Giant team who I am usually close to in races).  I thought I had the best sprint of our group so my goal was just to maintain my energy to the finish but Munsu had other plans.  There are 2 hills on the course and going up the second one he attacked hard.  Yujin and I were unable to follow and he opened a gap up.  We continued to chase on the flats and finally caught him with about 10km of flat windy road to go.  Also at this point my old teammate Ji Haeng who was racing in the veteran category had caught up to my group and began pulling us at a pretty high pace.  With one K to go he told us to start sprinting for the win in our group and backed off the gas.  I sat back and then Munsu attacked.  I waited for Yujin to chase but he couldn't get on MunSu's wheel.  At this point he had a few meters on us and then I went.  I had let the gap get too big however and couldn't close it.  I sat up and got back in Yujin's draft then passed him again right at the line.  I was happy with second place but disappointed that I didn't immediately follow MunSu when he attacked since I think I maybe could have gotten him on the line.  Second was still a great result though considering I'm not in as a good of shape as I was this time last year.  This weekend I have a break from racing since I have final tests next week and in 2 weeks I have a flat road race which is the next stop in the Korea Cycling Federation's Amateur race series. 

지난주토요일 태안에있는 트렉레이스데이 다녀왔어요.  저 태안에있는대회 좋아요왜냐하면 나거기서 좋으결과 나왔어요.  2010년TDK 프리테스트에서 일등하고 장년 2등했어요.  이번에다니 일등으로 올로가고싶었어요.  나 이번에 남자시니어 MTB타로왔어요 그로기 이거 내새캐논대일산악자전거 첫경기이얐어요.
토요일에 바람너무 열심히 불렀지만 날씨좋았어요.  스타트하고 5분타고 내그릅에 3명 남고있었어요!  나 진문수랑 정유진형이랑 같이피니쉬까지 타면 나 라스트치고 할거예요 햇어요.  하지만 문수가 다른계획있었어요!  두번째언덕에서 문수 어택하고  나갔어요.  나 유진이랑 잡아봤지만 차이있었어요.  하지만  평지 나오고 우리 10키로 정도 남을때 잡았어요.  그리고 지행형 우리 3명 잡았어요.  지행형 앞에타고 너무 빨리뒤였어요.  1키로 남을때 형이 안녕하고 우리 3명 스프린트시작!  나 뒤에 다다하고 먼저 문수갔어요.  유진형 잡아봤지만 못잡고 나 좀다다하고 나갔어요 하지만 나도 못잡았어요그래서 다시 유진형 다다하고 마지막 50미터에 갔어요 2등하고. 아쉽지만 2등 하고했어서 좋았어요.  문수 스프린트 시작 할때 꼭 가야했는데 기다렸어서 못잡았어요.  문수 이번시즌 너무 잘탈거같아요!! 
대회 타고 다시 만리포 혼자 자전거타고갔어요 그리고 주형형이랑 승용이랑 낙지복음먹고 집으로갔어요! 

Gapyoung and New 29er 가평이랑 첫 29인치라이딩 더보기

I had my first race of the season last weekend.  It was a 60kmish road race in Gapyoung north or Seoul.  The pack was 300 riders but luckily the course had a pretty big climb that we did 4 times that thinned out the pack pretty quick.  The race also finished with a 3kmish climb meaning I didn't have much confidence for a good finish since I'm normally more of a sprinter than a climber.  My goal was to hit the final climb with the lead pack and then just ride steady to the finish.  I also wanted to help one of my teammates Hwan Geol who had won the first race of the 6 race series this was a part of.  Unfortunately though he was suffering from a cold and didn't have great legs. 
I acheived my goal of making it to the final climb with the lead pack and finished 39th.  Hyung Mo Lee, a super strong rider who consistently beat me when we were in break aways together last year, broke away solo and finished more than a minute up on the pack.  But the best finish of the day came from my two teammates Myo Jin and Sang Jun who both won their age categories.  Sangjun is a high school student who joined my team last year and is a really good climber but doesn't have much power for the flats yet.  He was riding well and stormed the final climb to win the under 30 age group and finish 6th overall.  It was a pretty amazing result considering he is only 16!  Myo Jin is our star girl rider and it wasn't a big surprise that she won the women's category.
This past weekend I finally got to take my new Cannondale 29er off road.  I went down to Yongin near where I used to teach to ride some fire roads and was very impressed.  I climbed a hill that I never cleared in 3 years of living in Yongin.  I think the big wheels help keep traction better when climbing steep stuff.  I'm looking forward to taking it out for some mountain bike races soon.  This weekend I'm doing a 50km road race on it which should be pretty fun. 

지난주못썼지만 나 가평 마스터즈 대회 갔다왔어요.  가평 코스 너무 어려워서 내 하고싶은거그냥 마지막 언덕까지 앞그룹이랑타고싶었어요.  환걸형도 도와주고싶었는데 코스 너무 힘들었어서 잘못도와졌어요. 나 39등하고탔어요! 첫대회이야서괜찮아요.  내결과별로이얐지만 우리팀 막내 상준이 너무 잘탔어요.  상준이 원래 언덕잘타니까 이코스 너무 잘탈수있었는거이얐어요.  마지막언덕에서 상준이 너무 빨리타고 전체6등하고 시니어 1등했어요!! 묘진누나도 여자부1등했어요! 
이번주 나 두디어 새 캐논데일 29인치 오프로드 코스 타로갔어요.  용인에 친구 파티있어서 자전거 가지가고  묵리 임도코스 탔어요.  29인치 바귀 찐자 생각 보다 좋아요.  원래 못타는언덕 잘올로갈수잇어요!  큰바귀 grip 너무새요!  첫 어프로드대회 기대해요 하지만 이번주말에  트랙대회 엠티비로드로 나가요!  아마도 가평이나 무주 첫  찐자 엠티비대회이얄거같아요. 

Riding with the Korean Pro Team LX Systems 엘엑스 선수단과함게라이딩후기

Last Sunday my team got a pretty cool opportunity.  We went for a ride with one of the Korean professional road teams and then went out for lunch and coffee with them.  The team consists of just 6 riders but they were all really nice guys.  It was a really great opportunity for me to ask some questions about how pro cycling in Korea works.  The team Captain Seon Jae Jang was really good at English and helped answer a lot of my questions.  Pro racing in Korea is much different than the US. 
First all the distinction between pro and amateur in Korea is very strong.  The pros have a completely seperate set of races they do and amateurs are not allowed to participate.  There are about 100 registered pro riders in Korea so they still have ok size fields at most of their races.  Also they only have pro racing about once a month which is usually a road stage race or a set of track competitions.  Most of the pro riders do both road and track as a result of this.  Finally the biggest difference is that even though most of the teams aren't registered as UCI continental teams all of the riders get paid a decent livable salary and as a result can focus on nothing but training and racing.  Also their races don't give prize money but if they do well they will get a higher salary the next year.  Definitely a big difference between many of the continental pro racers in the US.  Also basically every pro rider started biking in middle or high school at a sports high school and were basically brought up through the Korean pro development system.  There aren't many riders who are pros who didn't participate in an organized high school racing team.  It was interesting to finally get a lot of my questions answered about how pro racing works!
Overall it was a really fun and informative day and a nice ride with some great guys.  The pros are doing a 3 day stage race that starts tomorrow in Gapyoung north of Seoul.  Following this race there is a one day race for amateurs that I will be riding in.  I can't wait to get my season started! 
I didn't take many pictures but my teammate Myo Jin did so I'm putting a link to her blog here if your interested in seeing them.  She writes really nice detailed blogs about every team ride and race.  Click the picture with the rider in the red jersey to see the blog about our ride. 

http://blog.naver.com/miao333

지난주 일요일 너무 특별한라이딩있었어요!  우리팀 LX 시스템 선수단이랑 같이달렸어요!  나 한국 프로선수들에게 물어보고싶은거 너무많있어서 신났어요! 장년 투르두코리아에서 장찬재선수 한번만났지만 이번에  찬재선수형 장선재선수만났어요.  선재선수 영어너무 잘할수있어서 얘기 많이했어요.  한국 선수 생활은 미국 프로 선수 보다 많이 달라요! 
우리 자전거 40키로 정도 타고 칼국수 먹으로 갔어요!  너무 맛있는 가평 칼국수 먹고 유명한커피샵왔어요!  이커피샵바리스타 몇년전에 월드바리스타 대회 일등했어요!!!  선수들이랑 우리팀과함게 너무 재미있는하루보냈어요. 
이번주  토요일  내 올해시작이다.  가평에서 열심히타고 환걸형 일등다시하기위에서 좀 도와지봐야해요! 
나 이번에 사진 많이 안찍었지만 묘진 누나 브로그 보면 좋은사진이너무많아요. 

Getting back in shape 자전거 몸 좀좀 좋아지고있어요.

첫 라이딩 보다 여즘 몸이너무 많이 좋아졌어요!  2월마지막주 부터 훈련 조금했어요.   매주 월수금 나 학교에있는 헬스장에서 웨이트트레이닝 하고 다는 날 시간있으면 자전거 탔어요.  이번주는 나 내친구 어익선 우리 동내로 라이딩 하로 왔어요.  익선 1년동안 호주에있어서 오랜만에 만났어요.  우리 화요일 오후에 성대에서 송추, 장흥관광지로 탔어요 그리고 마지막에 부각스카이웨이 올로갔어요!  자전거 타고 우리 내 같이 공부하는 외국인친구들이랑 밥먹었어요. 익선 호주가기전에 보다 영어 많이 늘었어요! 
다음주 내시즌 시작이에요 그래서 좀 탈거에요! 가평 부터 대회 많이 나갈거같아요! 
그리고 저 지난주 모델링 했어요!  바이크온 자전거 옷회사 여름 옷 입고 4시간동안 사진 찍었어요!  재미있었지만 너무추웠어요!!  밑에있는사진은 나익선이랑 일영리에서 찍었어요, 내새로 받는헬멧입고있어요! 

I'm in much better shape than I was for my last post!  I've been lifting weights 3 times and week and riding when ever I have time.  I had a really great ride on Tuesday since Ik Son, a Korean friend of mine from Suwon, came to visit me up at my school.  He was the first Korean bike friend I made who was my age.  I met him at the first club I rode with in Suwon.  He just spent the last year in Australia working as a bike mechanic and traveling and his English has gotten way better.  We did a nice 3.5 hour ride north of Seoul on some new roads I discovered that have some nice long gradual climbs.
 The first race of my season is next week.  Its in Gapyoung north east of Seoul and the course is pretty hard. Its a 20km loop with a 4km ish climb each lap and a finishing climb of about 3km.  There are going to be over 300 riders in the race though so having a pack that big will make the climbs seem a lot smaller.  I need to get out and do some more climbing this weekend to get ready for it.

Also, last week I got to be a model for a Korean bike clothing company.  Its called Bike On.  We did a 4 hour photo shoot in a park north of Seoul.  It was for their summer line and it was only about 45 degrees so was freezing.  Once I get some picks back I will post them on here.  The pic below shows me and Ik Son plus the new helmet I got from Bike On. 

Back to Training! 이제 훈련 다시 시작이다!

Sorry I haven’t updated the blog in a while.  I had a long and eventful winter but it did not involve much training.  School was really tough for the past 7 weeks and I had an awesome trip to China 10 days too.  I also spent a lot of time skiing and organized a ski trip for my classmates in January.  Its time for a new semester at school though and I’ve arranged a pretty good schedule for training.  Also the snow that has stuck around most of the winter has finally melted making it a lot easier to train outside. 

The first race of the season was actually last week but since I haven’t been training I decided to skip it.  My teammates Hwan Geol Lee and Myo Jin Kim won the race though for the men and women overall though so for the team it was a big success.  The race was the first in a 6 race series that is being promoted by the Korean Cycling Federation.  Other than the Tour de Korea this is their first foray into organizing amateur races.  Basically they have pro stage races in Korea about once a month and along with every pro stage race they are going to have an amateur road race now.  These races are a points series and serve as the qualifying process for the Tour de Korea which is being moved to October for the amateurs this year.  The courses all look pretty tough and there is another race at the end of the month, which I will do.  Its exciting to see amateur racing in Korea progress like this. 

April has a lot of races too.  There is either a road or mtb race every weekend for the whole month.  I’m hoping to get a lot of good training in for the next few weeks to be in shape for the April racing. 

오랜만에 브로그 쓰고있어요!  이번겨울  자전거 안타고 너무빠브고 안썼어요.  하지만 재미있는거 많이했어요.  설날때 중국 갔다왔어요그리고 스타힐리조트에서 스키랑 보드 많이탔어요.  하지만 3월부터 자전거 훈련시작햇어요.  이번 학기는 일정 너무 잘됐어요.  화목금 자전거 타는시간 너무 많아서 훈련 많이 해볼거예요. 

지난 주 올해첫대회있었지만 훈련안했어서 안나갔어요.  가평대회 부텨 열심히 달릴거예요.  나 안갔지만 우리 팀 너무 잘탔어요.  환걸형, 묘진 누나 둘이 일등하고왔어요!  대한싸이클 연맹 마스터즈 시리즈 만들었어서 올해신난다!  그리고 4월에 대회 너무 많아요.  그래서 3월동안 너무 열심히 탈거에요!  매주 산악이나 싸이클대회있어요.  훈련 잘하고 4월달 대회 잘타면 좋겠어요!