Saturday, September 1, 2012

Éte

Summer was long. I mean really, really long. Nothing went according to plan, but in all honesty I learned a lot from the experience.

Coming off of Little 500 I was not in good road shape. I rode 70 laps of the race, and in all honesty I came off of the race and the spring season mentally and physically drained. I was not at all ready to go into the road season. Last year I had a really heavy Collegiate season, and had carried that into the summer, but this year that just was not the case.

After a short trip working down in the Dominican Republic I returned to the states with a serious stomach bug that stopped me from any serious riding for about 3 weeks, and just as I was getting back I was hit by heat stroke on one of my rides. It was an uphill battle just to get back into shape, let alone do well at races.

This brings us to early August. I was finally back on the road, feeling pretty good and had gotten some long rides in. I was fortunate enough to attend a USA Cycling Development Camp down in Sewanee, Tennessee. Honestly it was one of the best decisions I have made for my cycling career, it re-inspired me and I found myself committing to goals and coming back with a fresh perspective. The coaches, Mark, Kim, and Ryan "Bibs" were some of the most supportive people I have met in cycling and genuinely wanted to see every member of the camp succeed. The week in the mountains really was amazing, and really put me back on track.

Unfortunately it wasn't all kittens and gumdrops, on the second to last day of camp, while descending the mountain our group had a fairly scary wreck. The bad combination of a right handed turn, gravel, and a car caused a wreck in which I flipped over someone into a ditch and hit my head pretty hard. I was done for the week, and was pretty disappointed not to be able to participate in the long TT that day. Such is life, and I am thankful that there was no serious damage to my bike. This was the Thursday of that week.

Friday I drove myself from Sewanee, back to Bloomington, all the while dealing with some pretty bad headaches, and massive amounts of whiplash damage through my back and shoulders. Saturday I moved into my new apartment and then my Dad and I drove up to Ft. Wayne Indiana for the Indiana State Road Race Championships. Three days after my wreck I found myself back on the bike doing everything I could just to hang onto the lead pack, and try to support my teammate Emma.

I finished with the lead pack, and I can honestly say it was the most painful experience of my life. The two hours of racing really showed me what my limits were as far as pain tolerance, and how much I can achieve through pure determination.

That was the end of my season. It's currently four weeks since my wreck and I am no longer suffering from migraines as a result of the wreck. My focus has been completely changed and I am really looking forward to the coming Collegiate Season. In the next couple weeks I will be making the jump to a power tap system, and over Fall Break from the university my Dad and I will be heading back down south to get some long rides in the mountains. Going forward I have two goals for the coming season: Collegiate Nationals, and Indiana State Championships.


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