If you had told me about 2 months ago that I would be going to Collegiate Track Nationals this year as a sprinter doing the 200 meter time trials I would have laughed in your face. If I had told you that I would be doing them you would have just looked at my 5 foot 10, 140 pound frame and just laughed in my face and told me to get real. Now all I can think about is how pissed I will be if I miss the time cuts to get into the sprints tournament. I know that I am not the fastest guy out there but I have really learned how to read the track and pickup the extra tenths of a second that are crucial. Yesterday at track practice I knocked out 5 straight 12:04-12:15 200 meter runs. These my friends are just 92-93 inch gears that I was spinning my ass off in. At Colorado I will be loking to push a 96-98 inch gear that will allow for more of a faster sprint. I am looking to pull a 11:80 out of my ass at Colorado Springs. I dont know where that will put me in the ranks of things but knowing that I could go sub 12seconds is my first goal for Nationals.
Priority Level
D: Go sub 12 in 200 Meter event (11:80 is ultimate goal)
C: Qualify for Sprints Tournament (I think that sub 12 should do this)
B: Win at least 1 match sprint
A: Step onto the podium at Nationals (I will settle for being up there with the team if it is not as an individual)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Cat 1/2 Track Racing & Beyond the Book
I read probably one of the greatest articles in a long time on Edutopia.org this morning. Teachers in at Hinsdale Middle School are teaching students in this Illinois middle school how to look up information outside of the text book. I really have to say that these teachers actually have a great idea here. Text book information can be well outdated before it ever even hits the classroom and students today are too focused on just typing something into Google or Wikepedia to find quick answers. These teachers want to introduce new ways for students to look up information through other databases, newspaper archives online, other scholar works and other original documentations. This will allow students to not become so reliable on others opinions and dont think of your own according to James Tenbusch (superintendent of District 181 in Illinois). The example of a student doing a project on the American Revolution would allow a student to give the perspective from the British instead of only from the eyes of the Americans. This idea would be great for students to allow them better knowledge of what info is out there on the web for them to utilize that they had no idea was even out there.
This will become a weekly event posting about an article that I have read for my EDU 120 class. If you want any more info feel free to look this article up on Edutopia.org.
Cat 1/2 Track Racing.
Normally I am not too pleased with a 5th, 7th, and 12th place result on the track but in my first races as a Cat 2 on the track I can not really complain. I put everything I had into my races this weekend. I raced in my second Kerin and qualified for the final out of my heat that included Tom Hanley, Alex Wiessler, Rob Bush, Guy East and a few more. In the final I drew lane 1 but sadly was not able to grab the motor after Jeff almost ate it trying to push me off. Oh well no harm done. I still got a good spot and found my way to third behind the motor. The sprint was fast and I found myself weaving between people trying to find space. Came in 5th over the top at the line. The next race we did was the elimination race. Have not been able to race one of these in a while due to Ken being afraid of the Cat 3 field having another crash (almost happened this week in the Cat 3 race). Race started out fast. Got a decent starting spot until David decided to break off the front and got away. Spent the longest part playing the devil (sitting on the back and sprinting around the top using the track to my advantage). This tactic only works for so long before you get tired from having to sprint so many times. Sure enough it got to me and I finished around 7th. The final race of the evening was the 30 lap scratch race. Not too much to talk about here. I chased early but was not able to hang on for much at the endafter being popped off the back. At that point I rode until I got lapped and pulled off to call it a night. I still ended up about 12 out of about 20 or so that started the race. All in all I was rather pleased with my performance on the track racing with the "big boys" or the Cat 1/2's out there.
This will become a weekly event posting about an article that I have read for my EDU 120 class. If you want any more info feel free to look this article up on Edutopia.org.
Cat 1/2 Track Racing.
Normally I am not too pleased with a 5th, 7th, and 12th place result on the track but in my first races as a Cat 2 on the track I can not really complain. I put everything I had into my races this weekend. I raced in my second Kerin and qualified for the final out of my heat that included Tom Hanley, Alex Wiessler, Rob Bush, Guy East and a few more. In the final I drew lane 1 but sadly was not able to grab the motor after Jeff almost ate it trying to push me off. Oh well no harm done. I still got a good spot and found my way to third behind the motor. The sprint was fast and I found myself weaving between people trying to find space. Came in 5th over the top at the line. The next race we did was the elimination race. Have not been able to race one of these in a while due to Ken being afraid of the Cat 3 field having another crash (almost happened this week in the Cat 3 race). Race started out fast. Got a decent starting spot until David decided to break off the front and got away. Spent the longest part playing the devil (sitting on the back and sprinting around the top using the track to my advantage). This tactic only works for so long before you get tired from having to sprint so many times. Sure enough it got to me and I finished around 7th. The final race of the evening was the 30 lap scratch race. Not too much to talk about here. I chased early but was not able to hang on for much at the endafter being popped off the back. At that point I rode until I got lapped and pulled off to call it a night. I still ended up about 12 out of about 20 or so that started the race. All in all I was rather pleased with my performance on the track racing with the "big boys" or the Cat 1/2's out there.
Monday, August 18, 2008
About Jonesy
Name: Matt "Jonesy" Jones
Major: History
What do I want out of this class? To gain a better knowledge of ways to present info to students in my class.
Major: History
What do I want out of this class? To gain a better knowledge of ways to present info to students in my class.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
What a Week!
One word to describe the past week I have had, TITS! The week started out meeting the newest members that are going to help this team win its third straight track championship. Also met a new face that has introduced me to a new style of racing, Jeff Hopkins. Working with him and Dean seemed to have helped me reach down into places that I never knew I could reach.
Monday: Was probably the worst day I have ever had on a bike in a while. Coming off a very disapointing race at Marion I saw probably the worst 3K pursuit I have ever done in my life. I can also claim that about my Kilo time which was nothing to brag about.
Tuesday: Was a much better day doing some 500 meter sprints and other events that I normally suck at. I am not a sprinter and seem to struggle with those events but some how I seemed to have a pretty good day and held my own.
Wednesday: Started out with a morning track session before we hit the road for the first time all week and rode a simple easy CIBA loop. Nothing too bad.
Thursday: The week really picked up here. Started out with a slight rain delay before we did 200 meter time trials to seed ourselves for our sprint tourny. Have I mentioned I am no sprinter. Well, it seems that things have slightly changed? Went second and posted a time of 12.28. I have never posted a time like that ever. I dont recall ever going under 12.50. That was good enough for the second seed in the tourny only behind coach Curtis Tolson who posted a 12.18 200 meter. In the first round I had to face a new rider to our team Pete. After fixing a mechanical Pete put up a really good fight but I was able to hang on.
Friday: The morning should have been a sign of things to come. After posting some great results beating Zach, and Jeff (Just for fun) in the tourny and losing to Alex (eventual winner) I was able to claim third place. Not too bad for a guy that cant normally sprint. Later that night we showed back up for Friday night racing at the velodrome. Damn, I have never seen so many people at that track in so long. The night started out with 3 lap scratch heats. Took second in my heat with Zach right behind me taking third. In the 3 lap scratch final I got kind of screwed but managed to salvage 4th. In the 12 lap scratch race I covered an attack from Josh Pratter, Kind of rode away from him and managed to create a large gap form the field and soloed my way to a win in front of a large bunch of Marian athletes and fans. In the points race I managed to take the first sprint before Zach got off the front and manged to collect 25 points when he lapped the field. I managed to get away again and colleect the last sprint to secure second place.
Saturday: Mass Ave Crit was one of my better races. May have stayed on the back the entire race but managed to squeeze a 22nd place finish. Was just glad to stay witht the field and finish the race. I dont really get the chance to push myself on the road with the 1-2 fields.
Sunday: Zipp West Clay Carmel Crit. Managed to get an 8th place finish in my Cat 3-4 race as my warmup for the 1-2-3 race. I am pretty sure that I was one of only a handful of Cat3's in that field but I managed to handle myself rather well. Tried to attack went no where. After that I fell to the back and shadowed my coach's wheel before finding my way back to front of the main group which we were chasing a group up the road. Stayed up there until about 3 laps to go when the sprinters started to make their way to the front. I did not really have much left in my legs so I fell back to the back to make sure that I did not screw anything up and came in some where around top 30. This was probably the best week I have ever had on a bike. Now its time to start focusing on Collegiate and Elite Track Nationals. Not to mention classes start tomorrow.
Monday: Was probably the worst day I have ever had on a bike in a while. Coming off a very disapointing race at Marion I saw probably the worst 3K pursuit I have ever done in my life. I can also claim that about my Kilo time which was nothing to brag about.
Tuesday: Was a much better day doing some 500 meter sprints and other events that I normally suck at. I am not a sprinter and seem to struggle with those events but some how I seemed to have a pretty good day and held my own.
Wednesday: Started out with a morning track session before we hit the road for the first time all week and rode a simple easy CIBA loop. Nothing too bad.
Thursday: The week really picked up here. Started out with a slight rain delay before we did 200 meter time trials to seed ourselves for our sprint tourny. Have I mentioned I am no sprinter. Well, it seems that things have slightly changed? Went second and posted a time of 12.28. I have never posted a time like that ever. I dont recall ever going under 12.50. That was good enough for the second seed in the tourny only behind coach Curtis Tolson who posted a 12.18 200 meter. In the first round I had to face a new rider to our team Pete. After fixing a mechanical Pete put up a really good fight but I was able to hang on.
Friday: The morning should have been a sign of things to come. After posting some great results beating Zach, and Jeff (Just for fun) in the tourny and losing to Alex (eventual winner) I was able to claim third place. Not too bad for a guy that cant normally sprint. Later that night we showed back up for Friday night racing at the velodrome. Damn, I have never seen so many people at that track in so long. The night started out with 3 lap scratch heats. Took second in my heat with Zach right behind me taking third. In the 3 lap scratch final I got kind of screwed but managed to salvage 4th. In the 12 lap scratch race I covered an attack from Josh Pratter, Kind of rode away from him and managed to create a large gap form the field and soloed my way to a win in front of a large bunch of Marian athletes and fans. In the points race I managed to take the first sprint before Zach got off the front and manged to collect 25 points when he lapped the field. I managed to get away again and colleect the last sprint to secure second place.
Saturday: Mass Ave Crit was one of my better races. May have stayed on the back the entire race but managed to squeeze a 22nd place finish. Was just glad to stay witht the field and finish the race. I dont really get the chance to push myself on the road with the 1-2 fields.
Sunday: Zipp West Clay Carmel Crit. Managed to get an 8th place finish in my Cat 3-4 race as my warmup for the 1-2-3 race. I am pretty sure that I was one of only a handful of Cat3's in that field but I managed to handle myself rather well. Tried to attack went no where. After that I fell to the back and shadowed my coach's wheel before finding my way back to front of the main group which we were chasing a group up the road. Stayed up there until about 3 laps to go when the sprinters started to make their way to the front. I did not really have much left in my legs so I fell back to the back to make sure that I did not screw anything up and came in some where around top 30. This was probably the best week I have ever had on a bike. Now its time to start focusing on Collegiate and Elite Track Nationals. Not to mention classes start tomorrow.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Los Angeles Bound?
I know that if I show up at Elite Track Nationals I am just going to have my ass handed to me. With that in mind I still think that at least going would give me a major feeling of accomplishment. I dont really know that working my ass off this summer to just qualify would really mean as much to me. I would just be going for the experience and chance to race on one of the coolest velodromes in the country. It is the only indoor one (I think) and is also a wooden surfaced track compared to the concrete ones that we are used to in Indianapolis at Major Taylor Velodrome. I know that it will be rather expensive trip but when you have some one that is willing to help you out with your cost that is pretty fucking sweet. Right now I am looking to rebound from some shitty performances at the State Championships a couple of weeks ago this weekend in Marion Indiana. Cant get much worse I guess.
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