Tour of Tuscaloosa

This past weekend I raced the Tour of Tuscaloosa. It started out with a twilight crit that my buddy Ty Magner from Loco's cycling team won. I must say that right now Ty is practically unbeatable in the crits. Going into the race I knew there wasn't a chance in hell that I was gonna outsprint Ty, so I knew I was gonna have to get in a break in order to have a chance at winning. Unfortunatly no moves got organized enough to stay away. With 2 laps to go I attacked with a strong rider and we got a nice gap. There was a moment where I looked back and started to think about what victory salute I was gonna do. But about halfway through the last lap the roaring wind was taking its toal on us, and Ty's team had the field strung out. We were caught with around 500 meters to go.
I came out of the crit empty handed and disappointed. I soon got over the disappointment of not getting a resullt and looked back on my ride with a good deal of satisfaction. I mean I don't have a bad sprint myself and no doubt I could've been top 5, but I find myself no longer being satisfied with a top 5. I've had multiple results this year, yet no win. To me one win beats 3 second places. And I did what I had to in the crit to win the bike race. I have no regrets, and honestly the feeling of knowing you did everything you could've to win the race is comparable, if not more fulfilling then a "top 5".
Going into the road race I was determined to make it a hard race. So right from the gun Frank Traviaso attacked. The man was on a differant planet today. He ended up taking 4 guys with him a dropped all except one who had a flat. But anyways I missed the move that he went with and then started my plan of making the race hard as hell. On the course there are two hills that are somewhat hard and for the first few laps a attacked up each one. The race was extreamly fast. Thirty miles into the race I looked at my computer and saw we had an avg. speed of 27.8 mph. With around 30 miles to go over the hardest hill of the day I found myself in a break of 5. We ended up rolling it and staying away. By this time Frank was all alone so we were racing for 2nd. Once again on the hard hill of the course I attacked with Rob from the Loco's team. Once again we were caught by the break with about 1k to go. Ty waxed our group in the sprint and I came in 3rd in the group which was 4th overall. When I looked at the results I saw that Ty was relegated from littering and I was promoted to third. Although I gladly took the 3rd place money I still considered myself as 4th, and found it ridiculous that they relegated Ty. I'm not supporting littering but c'mon. Don't take away a teenagers result, maybe give him a small fine or something.
Anyways I'm happy with how I rode. I rode to win, and I know Adam was watching and proud. I'm going to get some much needed rest monday and tuesday, then I head to race in Belize on Wednseday. I'll be there until April 6th. Hopefully I can get some photos up.
Thats all I got for now,

aj

A Blog I Never Thought I'd Write

As many already know Adam Little was killed while riding to work a week ago. I've been lucky enough to have known Adam since 2006. Adam was many things to me. He was a teammate, my team manager, but most of all he was a great friend. I'm not sure If i've ever met someone so unselfish. He was always looking to help people. He helped me become a better cyclist and person. I could talk to Adam about anything. From bike races to issues like going to college. I'll always remember Adam Little as someone who would go out of his way to help others. Adam was a role model in every way. He was a great dad, a great rider, a great friend, a great teammate, and a awesome person. He was positive about everything, even if things went awful in a race. I'll strive to be as good as a human as Adam yet i'll probably never be half the man he was.

A few days before the awful accident that claimed his life, Adam was telling me in a email how great I was doing, and just about how he was excited to see the results I would get throughout the year. Well I know he will still be watching and I'll get him those results. This year will be dedicated to one hell of a man.

aj

Albany Races

Well the Regions bank weekend in Albany, GA, is in the books. I really considered this the first big race of the year. The field wasn't huge however there certainly was not a lack of talent. Many of the southeast's best pro riders where there. The races kicked off with a short time trial of 4k. I gave it all I had but felt like shit when I finished. I just knew that I rode a terrible time trial, and I was very suprised to see that I ended up 2nd. I guess that efforts that are that intense and short hurt everyone this early in the year. Anyways Thomas Brown from Mountain Khakis pro team won it with me in 2nd and Frank Traviaso in 3rd. I was really pumped to be in between these guys on the podium. They are for sure legit pros........So later that afternoon was the crit. It started off fast and intense, but it wasn't long before I found myself in a break with 6 other guys. There where 4 pros and myself along with 2 of my good friends Ty Magner and Sebastian. Everyone in the break was super strong so I knew we were gone. So to make a long story short we stayed away but my legs were garbage when it came to the sprint and I settled for 5th. My good friend Ty mixed it up with some of the best pros to finish 2nd. Me and him have talked about being pros an such for as long as we have known each other so it was really cool to be in the break with the big boys mixing it up together. Going into the road race I knew i was one of the strongest. Apparently everyone else thought that to because I was def. a marked man. The race was 90 miles so I'll do my best to sumerize it. A strong early break got away. 2 of the guys from the break stayed away and I was able to force a break in the last 10 miles. I ended up second outta the break 2nd so i ended up 4th place.
All in all I'm very pleased with the weekend. I really feel like all the hard work this winter is paying off. I'm able to mix it up with the pro riders and feel strong while doing so. I'm looking forward to April and May where I know Ill be twice as strong as I am now. I'm finally getting a grasp on my back issues that screwed my last few seasons, and things are looking good as far as cycling goes. I think I'll be able to pull off something big this year.
Motavated as hell,
aj

Albany Races

Well the Regions bank weekend in Albany, GA, is in the books. I really considered this the first big race of the year. The field wasn't huge however there certainly was not a lack of talent. Many of the southeast's best pro riders where there. The races kicked off with a short time trial of 4k. I gave it all I had but felt like shit when I finished. I just knew that I rode a terrible time trial, and I was very surprised to see that I ended up 2nd. I guess that efforts that are that intense and short hurt everyone this early in the year. Anyways Thomas Brown from Mountain Khakis pro team won it with me in 2nd and Frank Traviaso in 3rd. I was really pumped to be in between these guys on the podium. They are for sure legit pros........So later that afternoon was the crit. It started off fast and intense, but it wasn't long before I found myself in a break with 6 other guys. There where 4 pros and myself along with 2 of my good friends Ty Magner and Sebastian. Everyone in the break was super strong so I knew we were gone. So to make a long story short we stayed away but my legs were garbage when it came to the sprint and I settled for 5th. My good friend Ty mixed it up with some of the best pros to finish 2nd. Me and him have talked about being pros an such for as long as we have known each other so it was really cool to be in the break with the big boys mixing it up together. Going into the road race I knew i was one of the strongest. Apparently everyone else thought that to because I was def. a marked man. The race was 90 miles so I'll do my best to sumerize it. A strong early break got away. 2 of the guys from the break stayed away and I was able to force a break in the last 10 miles. I ended up second outta the break 2nd so i ended up 4th place.
All in all I'm very pleased with the weekend. I really feel like all the hard work this winter is paying off. I'm able to mix it up with the pro riders and feel strong while doing so. I'm looking forward to April and May where I know Ill be twice as strong as I am now. I'm finally getting a grasp on my back issues that screwed my last few seasons, and things are looking good as far as cycling goes. I think I'll be able to pull off something big this year.
Motivated as hell,
aj

2010 race season has begun!

I realize it has been a while since I last posted. Life has been really busy lately, but I feel like i'm starting to adjust to the whole college thing. Anyways the 2010 race season has snuck up on me! I mean it really seems like just yesterday I was training for ironman in the fall. Now im racing!

So I kicked off the season with the usual races in Greenville. I really like these races. The course aren't to demanding and the fields are top notch. So its a great way to test the legs out. The first weekend went good, but I didn't really get a result. I felt good but things just didn't go my way. This past weekend things were much better though. I got 4th in the Fork Shoals road race. The field was tough and had many pro riders in it. The race was a bit harder then last weeks so I got to test my strength. I ended up bridging up to a big move on the last lap and got 2nd in the break sprint (2 dudes where up the road already). I felt like this particular ride was significant. Normally i'm not the type of rider that can bridge across the breaks. Solo efforts just aren't my thing. However I feel like I've really improved my weaknesses over this winter. I'm feeling stronger then ever, my team is rocking it, and I am very excited for the upcoming season.

Next race is Albany, I'll post an update after it!

Also check out the picture. The dude next to me is Sebastain. He is living in my hometown for a few months and is from Germany. Not to mention he is a hell of a rider! Strong as any US domestic pro. A great training partner and has become a great friend of mine.