2010 December | Verizon U-25 Cycling Team

So during my break from studying for finals, I decided to write this blog post, and give a little update on what’s been going on. Way back on Halloween, we hosted our cross race on Purdue’s intramural fields, and just like last year, I borrowed a bike and slipped on my tennis shoes to line up against a field of 14 collegiate riders (about half of them were from Marian). The course was super tough with no place to rest at all, and somehow I managed to hang with Leibovitz for most of the race until I took a little spill on the last lap, and rolled in for 6th. It was brutal enough that I would probably put that race in my top 5 hardest races ever.

After our cross race, I took a couple weeks off the bike, which gave me some time to catch up on school. In terms of riding, there’s really nothing much to write about from when I started training again up until now, but I’ve been getting excited about our team for 2011. Mike Ebert and Billy Dwyer have been working hard to get things ready for next year, and a few weeks ago they took a trip to Italy to finalize our equipment sponsors, along with Ron Ruanphae who filmed the events. I shouldn’t speak on exactly what we’ll be riding next year, nor should I speak on who I’ll be riding with next year until everything’s set in stone. All I can say is I think the team is going to be stepping up to another level, and the recent signing of Mike Sherer to Kelly Benefits Strategies is great for the future of the development program Ebert had envisioned. Besides the Verizon team, our Purdue club team has been making good progress as well. I’m thankful to have a super strong rider like Joey back in school to help me out against the Marian Fleet, and we also have some promising new freshman in the club that could really do well in the spring. Speaking of Purdue, did you know that next week is something that the university calls “finals week”? Which brings me back full circle. So, until 2011, I’ve got four final exams in my way, and then it’s freedom for a month.

What a whirlwind season 2010 was. My fourth season in total, and my third in the elite category, I was hoping that it would be a break out year for me. There were some lows and highs along the way, but I think overall 2010 was my best year yet. I’m looking forward to building on our success in 2011 as our Verizon team will look to reach the top step of the podium even more.

Being a senior at Northwestern University, and having started competitive cycling in the spring of my freshman year, the collegiate season held a special place in my heart and I was hoping for success, especially at nationals, which would be held on the awesome Blue Mounds course in Madison, WI. I had done well there in the past, and was hoping to win it.

In the third week of the season, however, I injured my IT band, and this injury would linger with me for about 7-8 more weeks. This effectively ruined my chances at being competitive at nationals. On the bright side, it did keep me from ramping up my intensity so soon in the spring, and I think this kept me fresher as a result later in the summer. I was still able to salvage a 2nd at the MWCCC regionals championship, missing out on my second win in a row by a tire width.

After the collegiate season ended my USA Cycling season began and it was great to get out and kill it with my teammates. We had success from the start- from Waylon and I beating up on the field at Vernon Hills, to our near-miss at Monsters of the Midway, to my second place finishes at the Urbana-Champaign weekend and my second place (again by a tire width) to Chris Uberti at the Fat and Skinny road race in Indiana. Our Memorial day weekend did not go as well as planned, but I thought we still represented well. I was pretty fit, but burned a big match spending most of the road race in the break, but still managed to come in 3rd behind the Argentine and Ukrainian national champs.

Unfortunately, I got a job in Connecticut and had to leave the team for Dairyland and Superweek, and therefore wasn’t able to help Sherer and Freund and the rest of the gang- but their results seemed to say that they didn’t need much help. (Yellow jerseys at Dairyland, podiums at Superweek).

Thankfully, I got to return for the end of the season, and we won all three races I was in town for- with Sherer taking wins at Glencoe and both days of the Winfield weekend.

Overall, it was a successful and fun season for myself and the team. Sherer really had a breakout year, Ryan Freund scares men, women and children with his massive wattage, and Waylon, Hogie, and Danny did a nice job in their transition to the elite ranks. In addition, we had great support from Mike Ebert and Billy Dwyer at all the races. I really cannot thank these guys enough for their enduring support. Having two awesome guys like Mike and Billy to look after us meant that we only ever had to race our bikes, and judging from the percent of races we podium-ed at, I think that formula worked out well. We definitely succeeded in our first year by establishing Verizon as a top Midwest amateur team and I think by doing that we continued to represent the ABD elite team legacy well.

In addition to Mike and Billy, all of our sponsorship support was tremendous. The equipment from Prairie Path Cycles, including Treks, Serfas, Quarq Buttonhole, and Pactimo allowed us to perform the highest level, and thanks to Verizon we were always connected with our Droids and Mifis.

I hope these sponsors realize how much we appreciate being given this opportunity to race our bikes every weekend around the country, and I also hope well realize how much time and effort we put into striving to race our best to pay them back. Thanks again to everyone, and I hope that we can only improve on our successes in 2011