Richmond International Raceway Race

Today's race was something different. Today I had a road race in Richmond, but strangely enough, this race was held on a nascar track. The track was about a mile long (a little less) and we went around about ten times. It was super flat, yet really fun. I wasn't focusing very hard on this race, and it wasn't a big priority to me so I was able to just have fun. I stayed with the pack and we sprinted at the end. I ended up fourth in the sprint, less than a second behind the leader. The race was only thirty minutes, and it was also held in the rain sadly. Overall, I had a

super great experience and I'm planning on doing more of those short fast road races (called criteriums) in the future.

Start of the race - I'm at the very left in yellow

About half way through the race

Catting up to Varsity

A few days ago, I made a bold decision to go up a category into varsity. The crazy part about varsity is that the riders are so good, that they can stick with some pros when racing and they can compete at the national level. My decision to cat up was based on the fact that the JV races are super short and that I can get a better long term improvement by moving up early. I am expecting maybe 20th place out of 22, so my expectations are pretty low. I am very excited about moving up and I think that it'll be lots of fun. My first varsity race is the day that I am writing this post, April 19th. I will follow up with more info after the race.

Post race: Racing varsity was a great experience. I wasn't fast enough to keep up with the front group, yet I was able to race around the middle of the pack. It was very hard, and someday I hope that I will be able to ride towards the front.

First varsity race

Conquer the Hill

Another big series in Virginia is the VORS series, or the Virginia Off Road Series. These races are nearly every weekend and open to anyone. There were more than a hundred riders at the race that I went to, Conquer the Hill. The categories accepted anyone from Juniors to 75 year olds and anyone from beginners to pros. While there were lots of beginners, there were actually a good amount of pros too. The absolutely insane part about this race is that it's four hours and everyone starts at once. I was positioned towards the back since I didn't care too much about that race and when we started I settled into a nice tempo. I moved my way up the field and got into a good position towards the middle and stayed there for my first lap. After my first lap, an hour in, a disaster struck. I was flying down a hill and suddenly my back wheel hit a rock at a weird angle. The angle launched my back wheel into the air and me onto the ground. I fell on a large pile of rocks and everything hurt. I eventually got the strength to hike back up to the start finish area and I got some medical attention. They cleaned up some of my cuts and I was planning on continuing riding but as soon as my left hand touched my handlebars my hand was in lots of pain. I thought that the hand was broken or fractured, but luckily it was only a bad bruise. I was super disappointed to only get to ride for a short hour.

VAHS Mountain Bike Race #1 - Miller School

The season is well on its way, and with the start of spring also comes the start of the Virginia High School mountain bike series. The first race was on a course that I know very well, the Miller School of Albemarle trails. I wasn't very nervous before the race and I was ready to take on the short 2 laps in the JV category. I was pretty confident but wasn't sure if I'd win or not. The beginning was super fast but and I was in a bad position so I had to use energy to move up. After that, I was very out of breath but stuck in the front group. I was on the front of the race for a while but worked too hard and eventually got passed by one, and then another. I got pushed back all the way to fourth position but stayed on the wheel of the third place guy. He ended up crashing right before the finish and caught back up, but I out sprinted him. I ended up getting third. I am pretty disappointed with that result but third place isn't too bad. I didn't like the short distance but the course was pretty fun. I am third overall which is a good start to the series. I am already looking forwards to the next race.

Resources used to help me along my way

I used many resources throughout my half year of cycling. Probably the biggest resources that I used was my dad. He taught me how to plan out my basic workouts and he told me what I should be doing. He continues to help me out to this day and won't be stopping anytime soon. All of the information from my dad was told to me, so it isn't exactly considered "research." The other huge resource that I used was the internet. I read lots of articles and applied them to my project and racing. I did the majority of the reading that I did in my project of the internet.

Some of the resources used:

1. TrainingPeaks
TrainingPeaks is a program that helps you plan out your workouts. While they are most famous for their program, they also have articles and forums.

2. Bicycling.com
Bicycling has lots of forums all about training. The forums are very helpful and they can teach you lots about how to create an effective plan.

3. Active.com
Active.com is yet another website with lots of great forums. The website is focused on a vast variety of sports, but it has a healthy cycling section too.

4. Mensfitness.com
Although Mensfitness isn't as serious as a lot of the other websites, it still contains some valuable information. The majority of Mensfitness is for beginner cyclists, so I didn't use much, but other parts of the website had great information about how to become strong for cycling.

I ended up reading lots of these articles. Altogether, they equated to more reading than some rather long novels.

Jefferson Cup Road Race - My first road race

On April 3rd, I had my first ever road race. I had been super excited for this day and working hard leading up to it. The course was fairly short 10mi/lap and there were three laps, so 30mi in total. I knew that I was able to ride that distance, and I was ready to race. I had done multiple pre-rides of the course before hand and I was aware of all of the good places to make a move. On the day right before the race, I packed my bags and got a good night's sleep. On the morning of the race, I woke up at normal time and went downstairs for breakfast. I got everything in the car and we left to go to Walton Middle School, where the event registration was. I arrived, registered, and went back to the car. Once I was back, I got on all of my riding clothes and prepared to warm up. I rode over to my teammate's car, and rolled over to a nearby hill with him to warm up. We went up and down the hill a few times, and before I knew it, it was time to roll to the start. Before we started the race, the announcers told us that they had a problem with an electrical truck blocking the road. After a pretty long wait, they announced that the trucks had left, but they would need to cut the race a lap to only 20 miles. I was slightly bummed, but I didn't care all that much.
After the announcements, we had a neutral rollout to the start. After the rollout, we lined up at the start line and waited. The start whistle blew, and we were off. The beginning of the race was pretty fast, but it calmed down soon after. I got to about 3rd or 4th wheel, and drafted off of my opponents. We arrived at Blenheim road, which marked the beginning of a hill. Everyone went pretty hard up the hill, but I was able to hang on. For the rest of my race I conserved my energy and stayed out of the wind. I was able to hang on for the two laps and as we were getting towards the end of the race, things started to ramp up. When we  were about 1k out, it was getting really hard. I made sure to be in a good position at that point. At 500m until the finish, I was about 4th wheel, but someone went for it. 500m is way to early to start sprinting, but it caught me off guard. All of the sudden I had a gap to close, and I did, but it was exhausting. When I caught back up there were about 300m left and I went around the guys and sprinted. I ended up close to the leader but he was able to stay ahead for the rest of the sprint. Two other guys came around either side of me also since they stayed on my wheel getting a draft the whole time. I ended up 4th, which is a satisfying result for a first race.
Overall, I had a super fun time racing and i'm looking forward to doing it again.

A week as a bike racer (In the season)

Monday
Following the same pattern as in winter, Monday is my day off. I go to work this day and give my legs a nice rest after getting thrashed the weekend before. Sometimes, I race on Tuesdays. If I do race on Tuesdays, I usually do a pre-race ride on this day. My pre-race ride is relatively short, and it opens up your legs while not leaving you with any fatigue the day after. If I do ride on Monday for whatever reason, it's usually on the mountain bike.
Tuesday
On Tuesdays, I do one of two things. Most of the time, I go to TNW on Tuesdays. TNW is a very fast race pace group ride, which I have explained previously. Some Tuesdays, I have mountain bike races. The races that I do are Virginia High School races, a part of a state championship series. In rare cases, when the weather is bad, I ride the indoor trainer on Tuesdays. I don't like riding the trainer at all and I avoid it at all costs, but I do it when I have to.
Wednesdays
On Wednesdays, I do a long moderate paced ride. Depending on whether the next race is mountain or road, I choose between riding trails or roads on Wednesday. I usually ride for about two hours at a not easy but not hard pace. I ride about 30 miles if it's on the road bike.
Thursdays
On Thursdays, I do another fast paced ride. I can never quite get a workout as good as TNW, but I definitely try to make things hard. Sometimes, I go and ride up Carter's Mountain as hard as I can a few times. The Carter's MTN workout is super hard, and definitely helps with strength and climbing ability.
Friday
On Fridays, I do a recovery pace ride. I usually grab my mountain bike and go on a pretty easy ride with friends. I go out for about and hour and it helps me recover from the hard Tuesday and Thursday rides. Friday rides are nice for winding down and relaxing after a hard week. On some Fridays when I have the race the day after, I do a pre-race ride. The pre-race ride is the same ride as described for Mondays.
Saturday
Saturday is another hard day. I usually race on Saturday. Races are the best form of exercise, and I do them as much as possible. I also sometimes have my pre-race ride on Saturday if I'm racing Sunday. In rare cases, I have no pre-race ride or race on Saturday. In that case, I do another hard ride, such as going to Carter's Mountain for hard hill repeats.
Sunday
Sunday is either race day, race recovery day, or long and moderate day. Races are pretty common on Sundays, but if I raced the day before, then I usually do a pretty easy and fun ride on Sundays. On Sundays without a race on the weekend, I do a long and moderate paced ride, usually with my dad and friends. On Sundays I reflect on the week and prepare myself for the next.

Tuesday Night Worlds

Tuesday Night Worlds is the fastest group ride offered by my club. The "Worlds" part of Tuesday Night Worlds means world championships. While this ride isn't actually the world champs of course, it sure does feel like it. The ride is basically a race. People are trying to get to the finish first, just like they would in a race. Tuesday Night Worlds, or TNW for short, is a great way to get in shape. A local pro cyclist, Ben King, gained his initial fitness and love for riding when he was 15 and doing TNW. TNW starts in March, and goes on until daylight savings time starts. (Around November) I just started doing TNW, and it's as hard as everyone says it is. I ride in the "A" Group and it is as fast as a full blown race. I can hang on to the group for most of it, but I get dropped on the last hill pretty often. I'm already seeing improvements after going to TNW and I'm sure that I'll continue to see them as the year goes on. TNW happens every Tuesday, which makes it easy to try things out. TNW has been around for generations. My dad, when he was a racer, also used TNW to get in shape. It's a lot of fun and a great ride that super helpful for everyone.

A week as a bike racer (In winter)

Bike racing is a lot of work. Here is a quick rundown of what a regular week in Winter may look like for an average bike racer.

Monday
Resting is just as important as riding. If you ride and don't recover, then you will never progress. To recover better and faster, many cyclists take one day a week completely off. My day off is Monday. A typical Monday for me is going to school, getting home, going to work, and then relaxing until homework time. I also try to go to bed early on Mondays.
Tuesday
After a nice rest day, I work hard on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday in winter the local bike shop and local riding club get together and host a trainer session. For those that do not know, a trainer is basically a stationary bike. On the trainer, we do intervals. We work very hard for about an hour. Unluckily for me, the leader of the session is a riding buddy of mine. Since he knows me, he likes to give me extra intervals. At the time, I'm silently cursing him, but in the long run, that extra work will make me faster.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, it's time to recover again. I generally grab my mountain bike and go out for an easy hour long ride to get the lactic acid flushed out of my legs. I also do a strength workout on Wednesdays. I generally do weighted back squats, lunges, leg lifts, and some other core and leg workouts.
Thursday
On Thursday, it's time to go hard again. I do another set of intervals on Thursday, but at home this time. I use a virtual riding program that I hook up to my computer that makes the session a little more enjoyable, but it still sucks.
Friday
By Friday, I'm usually pretty worn out. My legs and arms are sore from the strength session, and my body is worn from the intervals. I am also generally pretty sick of riding inside. On Friday, it's time for another recovery trail ride. I also do another strength session of Friday.
Saturday
On Saturday, it's finally time to ride outside. I usually go out with just my dad, or both my dad and our friend Eric. We usually ride for around an hour and a half or two hours. We don't go super hard on Saturdays, we usually just do some tempo, which is basically right in between easy and hard, with some hard efforts mixed in. I have to wake up around 7 on most Saturdays, since I go to work at 12.
Sunday
On Sunday, I usually go on a long, hard ride. The key part about Sunday rides is that there all very fun. I never really get bored and we usually ride with a big group. The rides are pretty fast paced but definitely manageable.

Revisions for 2016

2016 will be very different for me. Not only have I moved up two categories, but I also have taken up road biking. I recently bought a road bike and I am planning on racing road this year as well as mountain. I've never done a road race but I've been dying to try one. This year I am also going to try to be strict about how I train. Last year, I was lucky to be able to win without a strict and structured plan but this year will be much different. I have already created my plan and I am working hard to stick to it. So far, I have been able to work hard consistently and the only thing that makes me stop is bad conditions. For example, this past week, the trails were covered in snow. The huge amount of snow caused me to ride my mountain bike on the narrow roads, which was a little sketchy at times. I could only complete half of the time that I set out for. I am hoping for some good results this year on mountain, cross, and possibly even road.

The beginning of 2016 training

It's the new year, and it's time to start training again. January 4th was my first official day of training, and I feel well recovered and ready to work hard again. This year, I'm racing JV instead of freshman, which will be considerably harder. The harder category would mean harder training, which can be a pain at times but I'm determined to do well. My goals for this year are to become a stronger rider since I don't have much power and to also to be better at starting races. In early January I'm planning on working on strength and as the year goes on and the race season comes around, I'll start working on my fitness. I also made a specific schedule that I'm going to stick to so I can make sure to be doing the right type of exercise. I also made a list of all of the races that I want to do so I have a specific schedule and also so I know when important events are coming up.

Getting a Job

Along with being really fun, cycling is also really expensive. It's almost impossible to not spend any money while cycling regularly. Things on bikes wear out pretty quickly, such as the drivetrain. A new drivetrain can cost up to 500 dollars which most people don't have lying around (especially not me.) Sometime in fall, I decided that I needed a job in order to keep up cycling, so naturally I went in to the bike shop to try to get one. I walked in my favorite bike shop (Blue Ridge Cyclery) and found one of my dad's old employees. I basically just mentioned that I needed a job and since they just opened a new store, I was wondering if I could apply. He told me to email the manager and I did. She responded a few days later and told me that she'd be happy to have me aboard to help out. I now work two days a week (not much, but a start) and I clean, build bikes, and help the occasional customer. I also get discounts on the merchandise at the shop which makes cycling much more affordable. I'm planning on keeping that job for a long time and working more hours in the summertime.

Resting for the next season

Both the mountain bike and cyclocross seasons are over, and it's time to start resting. Rest after a hard race season is very important so you are fresh and ready to go next year. The rest period is a time where you would ride only once or twice a week and only for fun. Sometimes, race season can be so hard that you forget why you're training in the first place, but the rest period is a great time to remind yourself. There is no training in rest season. All rides that are done are meant to be enjoyed. A rest period ride usually consists of grabbing any bike and going out on an adventure with no plans or worries. The rest period is also great for riding with friends and family that may not be able to go the same pace as you do. The rest period usually is between the last race of the season (November) lasting until January 1st.  You can also do things in the rest period that you wouldn't be able to otherwise such as doing other sports or eating some junk food. Despite being able to do those things, it's also really important to not get completely out of shape during the rest period.