Ohio State Race

Well the weekend sort of sucked. After snow and sleet came down all day on Friday the Ohio State Cycling team decided to cancel Saturdays crit. More then likely it was a very smart choice because I do not think that we wanted to have another Depauw situation on our hands from last year.

So instead of deciding to stay in a hotel Saturday night we decided to pack up the bus and head out of Indianapolis Sunday morning at 5am. After about a 3-4 hour drive we arrived to the race with some faces/eye stares with expressions. The ladies raced first in the morning and we decided to walk to the course from the parking lot. Mistake number 1. They told us it was not far. Well 20 minuet walk later we started to regret not riding.

After watching the girls ride by a few times it was time to start getting ready. After a quick warm up we went over race plans with Dean and rode over to the start to find that we would be starting in the rear of the pack. Not the ideal place but oh well, it was better then a ditch I guess. The race was rather fast with attacks one after the other. After about 3 and a half laps I ran into some serious breathing problems. Hills and cold air just dont match when it comes to just getting over the flu. To the orders of Dean I kept riding off the back of the pack with an IU/Pista rider Matt Kain. After a few laps of solo riding at effort I had just had enough and decided to pull my self out of the race. I know that I did not finish the race but at the same time I am looking at this as a step forward. Knowing that I can at least hold with the field for a good 50 minuets right now should give me a good boost of confidence going into the first crit of the season at Depauw next weekend.

Day of reckoning

One day left. Training is over. It is now time to hop onto the bus loaded with bikes, wheels, etc and head out to Columbus Ohio to start the season. For anyone that has no clue what I am talking about knows nothing at all i guess. With the weather looking shitty I can only think that this is the Midwest and I dont think that too many of would have it any other way. Well as long as we dont have any 25+ crash races again this year.

Good luck to all of those racing this weekend when the MWCCC kicks off the collegiate season.

Getting closer.

It has been a very long off season. One that included a time trial and a cross race. It also included the opening of the brand new cycling center at Marian College that has allowed the team to train inside in a cycling friendly complex on campus, and a brand new bike. Sadly it has also included a major crash, broken wheel, road rash and a 2 week stint with the flu and respiratory virus. Now that that has all passed it is time to start counting down the days until the start of the 2008 collegiate road season. With a new team this year I think that Marian College can contend for not only the Conference Title but also our first National Championship on the road to go with 10 National Titles on the track. All I know is that I can not wait to hop onto the bus Saturday morning and arrive at Ohio State University and start racing my bike again. With a solid force of 6 guys and 4 girls racing A's this year I think that the other schools in the Midwest better watch out.

OSU
Depauw
Mizzou/Lindenwood
Pitt/CMU
Michigan State/Michigan
Marian/Purdue
Wisconsin

Only 5 more days!