School School School

Only two weeks and I will be finished with college classes forever (not graduating quite yet, but that's just a minor technicality to be fulfilled in May). I promise a few more updates once Christmas break is here. In the meantime it's all just school, work, and riding when I can.

The School Routine

So no real news here. With the LSAT coming up in exactly one week all my time is pretty much devoted to that and school. Haven't touched my bike much but it has been fun to mix up the routine with some running and whatnot. That's pretty much all I have. Hopefully something exciting worth sharing happens soon ;-).

Back To School

Well the lazy days of summer in Switzerland with endless hours to update my blog are over. School is back in full swing and with a full course load, starting my senior thesis, and the LSAT coming up right around the corner on September 26th I'm staying plenty busy. A little riding thrown in there too. My season should wrap up next weekend after 100K which will be a nice break for awhile while I focus on school. Keeping it short since blogs about school and not riding are no fun.

Swiss Racing Wrap Up

Yesterday was my last race in Switzerland. A pack finish which of course wasn't a great result but considering how I've been feeling the past couple of weeks I was just happy to finish. Now time to rest up a little bit and then finishi out the last month and a half of the season. Should be fun.

So I don't really know how to recap all my racing experiences here. I really learned so much and had such a variety of experiences that it's hard to summarize in a logical manner. The results were ok, and about what I expected. Although I never made the podium, I have to be content with a 4th, 8th, and couple of top 20s. I would've liked to end the last few races on a better note but all things considered I think it went alright. I haven't really had a break all season, and what was supposed to be my 2 week break back in June turned into the exact opposite with a couple of intense weeks of training before my hastily planned trip over to Switzerland. Add 10 weeks of racing on top of that and I suppose I can understand why my body is telling me to slow down a bit.

I also got to experience pretty much every kind of racing Switzerland has to offer which was great. Several tough circuit/road races, a couple races straight up mountains, the traditional Brugg Abendrennen kriterium every Wednesday, a few other kriteriums with sprint points thrown in for good measure, and a really hard UCI race at Tour du Jura. I think all of these experiences will really pay off in the future. I wasn't here long enough to master any of the specific races or reall get a firm feel for all the riders and hence that podium result was a bit elusive, but I think the knowledge I gained will be even more valuable to my future development as a cyclist.

I'd really like to thank everyone involved with Alchimist-Skoda that made my stay not on possible, but also successful and rewarding. All of the riders, my director Philipp Roos, and everyone else that helped out in the feedzone and with bikes and everything else really made my life easy. Thanks again for all your help.

And of course there are my gracious hosts, the Baumgartners. But I'm not quite done with them yet ha. A few days now to relax and take in the sights around Zurich will be nice before finally heading back Thursday morning and saying my final goodbyes.

Time Flies

Well one week from now I will be somewhere over the Atlantic. Time certainly does fly. Benji made his grand return yesterday, complete with Dr. Pepper :-). Yesterday also wrapped up my last Brugg race. It went ok. Not great not bad. Now just one more race Saturday in Brugg and then it's time to pack up the bike for a week. I'm definitely ready for that.

This has been such a great experience and learning opportunity both on and off the bike. Thanks again to everyone who has helped me out. A little more time for some sightseeing and such after the last race which will be nice before I get back and super busy with school and everything.

Pictures

Well my blog was lacking some color and since I don't have a bunch of touristy pictures or pictures of people in wedding dresses like some other people I know, I thought I'd put up a few of the pictures from when I checked out the TdF on the Col du Saint Bernard a couple weeks ago. These are just a few and I have a bunch more on facebook if you want to check them out.

Brugg

So finished up my second to last Brugg race last night. Decent race. Not points or results wise but I felt better on the bike than I have some other times these past couple weeks. Still no real jump which is kind of necessary in a race where there is a sprint every lap but did some time on the front just chasing stuff down and whatnot. Ended up with 4.5 hours total for the day so it was some good training. A couple chill days of training and then race Saturday in Gansingen.

Austria

So yesterday's race in Austria could have done better. I was feeling a little better than last weekend but still not 100% and stupid positioning put much put me out of the race.

The course was a really nice loop a little less than 10k that we did 17 times. It started with a short but very steep climb out out of town down this narrow like alleyway or something. You could seriously only ride 2 abreast max. It makes things interesting with a field of 180. Then a short narrow descent before a few rollers, then a longer wide open descent and then wide open flat and fast roads back into town to start the climb again.

The race was just fast from the gun and it became aparent that it would be nearly impossible for a break to get away. There would have to be a field split or something. Well 5 laps in or so I was where I shouldn't have been, toward the back of the field. Some guy dropped their chain or crashed or something stupid on the climb and so all of us behind had to stop, which is never good on a 20% climb. So a big group of us got gapped off and chased for a couple laps before getting pulled. Pretty discouraging since it was such a stupid mistake and I'm pretty sure I could have finished in the field without too many problems. I guess that's racing though.

So after a very long day yesterday I'll just take it nice and easy today and enjoy the lovely cloudy weather ha. Hopefully some nice weather tomorrow to get in a good ride before my second to last crit in Brugg on Wednesday.

A Week in Freiburg Now Off to Austria

So the mountain race last Sunday in Martigny didn't go so well. Maybe all the racing and stuff was just catching up with me a bit.

Not to worry though, because this past week was perfect to rest up before my last few races here. Whitney and I went on Monday to Freiburg. Big thanks to Christine and Christian for letting us stay. It was a really cool city with lots to check out really close to our apartment, and some great riding as well.

Now I'm back in Weiach with only 5 races left here. I head out bright and early tomorrow morning for the GP Götzis in Austria. After tomorrow I will have hit Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria on this trip. Not too bad ha.

Here's a picture from the crit in Martigny a couple weeks ago. Maybe some more pictures from Freiburg coming if Whitney sends them to me.

Busy Busy

So it’s hard to believe there are less than 4 weeks left in my Switzerland trip. If anything things are speeding up and definitely not slowing down ha. So let’s start with last Friday. I got to tag along with Martin, Siri, and Lukas to go check out the finish of the Tour de France in Colmar. That was the very wet and unpleasant stage that Heinrich Haussler soloed. We drove to somewhere in France (I’ve now officially been to France whooh) and then jumped on a train for a short trip to Colmar. Logistically it worked out perfectly as the finish was just a few hundred yards from the train station in Colmar. We walked around a bit but decided to duck out of the weather and into a pub to watch the last hour of the race. The pub was conveniently located in the same building as the hotel where Liquigas was staying so we got to check out their whole setup. Then before the finish we went outside along with the thousands of others who had braved the rain to see the finish. It was definitely exciting to check out the spectacle that is the Tour de France. We stuck around to see everyone finished, even the poor Lampre guy that finished like over 30 minutes down and technically missed time cut but was allowed to stay in the race because of the “extreme conditions.” Then a quick pizza and the rather longer journey home. A good but long day.

Saturday was 5.5 hours on the bike, 4 of which were in a nice steady rain. It was actually a really pleasant ride though as it wasn’t too cold and miserable and nice to get a long ride in. I definitely never thought I’d be wearing my thermal in July though ha. After getting home and cleaning both myself and my bike I headed to downtown Zurich for a little farewell dinner for one of Tobi’s friends. It was cool to check out the heart of Zurich and I got some super traditional Swiss meal of really good veal and mushrooms in a cream wine sauce along with rosti potatoes of course. It will definitely be fun to go back later in the trip with Whitney and do some of the more touristy stuff like check out the lake and all that.

Sunday was another long day on the bike, and although I got a little wet of course the weather mostly cooperated which was nice. I also stopped by Steinmauer toward the end of my ride and got to see Whitney for a few minutes after they had finished up riding in the Swiss TTT national championships. It sounds like it was a hard course. It would be fun to race a TTT although since I don’t have a TT bike or any of that jazz with me I’m not too bummed about not racing. Another solid day of training was nice instead. And of course dinner at the Baumgartner’s was amazing as usual with another pizza night. I’m really getting spoiled with the good cooking over here ha.

Monday it was off to Martigny. The rest day of the Tour was in town, and part of the festivities were a criterium that evening that I raced. I got there early in the afternoon though so was able to check out some of the festivities and early races as well as walk around and see some of the hotels where teams like Liquigas and Agritubel were staying.

The criterium was great that night. Thousands of drunken parties all around the course who definitely didn’t seem particularly interested in the race still made for a great atmosphere. A break of three with one BMC guy went within the first 3 or 4 laps of the 50 lap race. I rolled of the front of the peloton a couple laps later and got a gap pretty quick so decided to go for it. I spent the next 35 laps solo in no mans land between the break and the pack. Perfect situation for a time trialist to be in in a crit ;-). I was out of sight of the pack so kept trudging along and finally caught the break with about 17 laps to go. I took them a little by surprise I think and got the sprint with 15 to go and few more points as well before a really confusing finish as we were in the middle of lapping the field on our last lap. I ended up 4^th I think though and it was a good race.

That evening Stefan, a friend of one of my teammates, was kind enough to let me stay with him and then in the morning we began the long ride up to the top of the Col du Saint Bernard to check out the Tour. It was quite a spectacle, and the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Another long day but definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

Getting home a little late on Tuesday and Wednesday morning was time to relax and catch up on things a little bit. Then in the evening was the race in Brugg of course with Whitney making a special appearance. The race went well. I keep improving every week which is good. Then after the race and quick shower and food at home Marco and Bruno were kind enough to drive me back to Zollbruck with them and Whitney so I had a short visit there for a couple days again which was nice. Now it’s just the mountain race this weekend and then we will see what next week has in store for me.

Staying busy is definitely making the time fly by. It’s all been exciting and I’m loving every minute of it though.