The Real Ale-Jet

First win of 2010

2010-05-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ended up winning the crit, and overall at the Highland Rim Classic this past weekend. I got tenth in the road race, but I was heading for a top 3 finish until I flatted with ten miles to go. Oh well I made up for it in the crit!

After I good solid first block of racing the legs are coming around. Looking forward to the next half of the season!

I MADE IT THROUGH SPEEDWEEK!

2010-05-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

So I survived the 9 days of madness, although I didn't come out completely clean. I crashed on the 3rd to last race in Spartenburg, and had to quit the race. These were some of the hardest races I've done, but I felt better throughout the week, and ended it strong. I feel like I'm finally getting fit. In other news, college is out for the summer so I'll be able to pick my training up. Hopefully soon I'll post some pictures of speedweek. Thats all I got for now,

aj

SPEEDWEEK!

2010-04-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm in the middle of speedweek. For those who don't know, speedweek is a series of seven of the fastest crits in the country against some of the fastest guys in the world. All in nine days. If someone thinks they are fast, come to speedweek and chances are you will be put in perspective! Take myself for example, my last GA cup race I was in a break-away that lapped the field. Even with a avg. speed of 28 mph this seemed easy for me. Two weeks later at athens twilight I'm hanging on for dear life at the back of the pack which was reduced from 150 riders to 30! To say these races are hard is an understatement. They are hard as hell. Its probably been the good ole junior days in Italy and Croatia since I have suffered this much on a bike. The good news is as much as I'm getting my ass kicked, I'm getting faster as well. I have managed to finish all races in the field so far (knock on wood), which is no easy task. I have also been feeling better each race. The past race I was on the front and even attacked a few times. I ended up 16th, which is my top result so far. I have three more races to go and I hope I continue to feel better. Maybe before the series is over I'll have a result worth writing about.

Belize Cross Country Classic

2010-04-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

No matter what people tell you about this race, you can never be mentally prepared until you experience it.
The day started early Saturday morning at around 4am. Me, Chris, and John awoke and ate some breakfast prepared by the locals supporting us. When then heading to the start line around 5am still in the darkness. The race begins at 6am, which may seem like an strange start time for a pro race but the fact is if you dont start that early the heat will make it down right dangerous. So we arrived at the start line and was greeted by hundreds of fans already out. After going through the bike check and signing in we lined up and prepared for the maddness to begin.
The gun sounded and we took off like it was a crit. Chris warned me that the start was crazy and dudes are killing themselves. I was not wanting to get sucked into all the attacks and hard riding so I just cruised to the back and proceded to tail gun it for the next 30 miles. There really wasnt much action the first 70 miles except for an early break, but with a few efforts the our team managed to get the break within a reasonable distance and John then bridged the gap. So as we started our journey back to Belize city we had John in the break, my legs felt good, and the race seemed easily so far.
From the turn around til around mile 90, me and Chris were covering moves, however we missed a decent size group that was bridging the gap to john, so I jumped with another dude and that was the last I saw of the main field. Me and the Mexican rider made it accross the gap quickly, and I found myseelf along with John in a lead group of ten or twelve. Many times breaks this big don't work. To mmany guys will want to sit on and get a free ride. Unfortunatly this was the case so I attacked in an attempt to restore some order. They caught me and John attacked bringing 3 dudes with him and that was it. That ended up being the winning break, and john went on the get 3rd. My race for the win was over, however my race for survival was only begining.
My half of the break continued to work together in order the stay away from the pack but we were caught by a select group of 20 with my teammate Chris who went on the get 9th. This catch occured with around ten miles to go in the race. With 135 miles already in my legs I was in no such state to mix it up with the guys in the group so I sat in the back just trying to get home. At this point our team car is up with john so no more water for me an chris. And its around 150 degrees (not really but in my mind set it seemed like it). Oh yea I forgot to mention the 30mph head wind blowing in our face since the turn around. As I said above, despite everyone's advice about the heat and wind I was not prepared. This has to be something like the very depths of hell! My advice is if you ever plan on doing this race, go to your local gym, set your trainer up in the suana, with a fan blowing right in your face, then ride 7hrs.
So I finished and all in all it was a great experince. The people are so passonate about cycling in Belize and it really creates an awesome environment. I really hope to return.

Belize

2010-04-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well I made it to Belize,

Last night I got sick from something I ate and threw up once but I am fine today. We woke up at 5am this morning and did an 80 mile ride with no breakfast and averaged nearly 22mph. Chris is an animal. It was a really cool ride, we rode the first 70 miles of the race to a town called San Ignacio and ate breakfast there and someone picked us up and drove us back. The whole country is crazy about this race to. Harkey and John always told me it was the biggest sport here but I didn't think much of it until I got off the plane and the lady at customs asked me if I was racing. Harkey is a superstar here; we will be riding through the city and random people yell his name and wish him luck for the race.........Anyways I think we can do well at this race. I'll keep everyone updated,

aj

Tour of Tuscaloosa

2010-03-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-11T20:11:00.001-08:00

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

2010-03-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-03-02T17:26:00.000-08:00

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.

A DETOUR

2010-01-19T19:36:00.000-08:00

So its been a while since I've updated........Partly because i'm lazy, and partly because i've been busy as hell. The whole detour thing is what has kept me busy. So lemme tell you about it.....

Over winter break the track coach from Piedmont called me and said he was willing to work with my cycling if i ran for them. Now at the time I was just riding, living at home , and working at Kmart. I love my house and my family, not to mention the area I train in, but I have lived in Dalton, Georgia my whole life. So it was time for me to get a way. So after a twenty minuete conversation with the track coach, I packed up and hit the road.
So here I am in Demorist, GA going to college and running a few times a week. The coach has been great working with cycling. In fact I was able to run at practice last week, and still manage 20hrs total on the bike. Demorist is like 20 miles south of Helen, so its in the heart of the North GA mountains. The terrian is stunning. It's ironic that I stayed away from running in college because I thought It would keep my pinned down and limit my cycling, but actually I feel free as ever. I'm riding and running more then I ever have, and I'm fitter then I've ever been. Oh yea that whole thing they call college isn't so bad either!
I'll keep it posted,

aj

RE-CHARGING THE BATTERIES!

2009-12-20T17:10:00.000-08:00

So its been a long season. I went from cycling to training for a freaking ironman. And that was in November! I took like 4 days off after ironman but that was it. Needless to say come December my motivation wasnt at an all time high, and my legs were dead. So in order to charge my batteries me and my brother and a few good friends went on a cruise. 5 days of soaking up the sun and getting fatter then hell! So my fitness is low but my motivation is high. Ready to kill it for 2010!

Off Season Race Season

2009-12-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

So its the good ole off season. I'm back to full time base training on the bike....But to keep things interesting through the off season I have been doing some running races. I just recentley won a 5k in my home town......It felt good to win a longer running race. I have had success on the track but not so much in the 5k distance.
Here is the article on the race from our newpaper:

Meyer, Nieto win Silver Bell titles
By Doug HawleyDaily Citizen Correspondent

Rarely do two teenage runners emerge overall winners of an area road race, but that happened Friday night in the seventh annual Silver Bell Sprint.A.J. Meyer, 18, a 2009 Northwest Whitfield High graduate, and Dalton High junior Carina Nieto, 16, claimed the primary prizes for the 5K race.Meyer covered the 3.1-mile distance, which started and ended at City Park School, in a quick 17 minutes and 8 seconds to win. Nieto winning time was 20:08.“I took the lead for good at 1 1/2 miles,” said Meyer, a Class 4A state 1,600 meter champion last spring and promising cyclist. “Tonight was the first time this week that I’ve run. I ride my bike a lot.”Manuel Ferrer, 38 of Dalton, who has won most area races entered this year, settled for the runner-up spot behind Meyer in 17:29.“I’m taking a semester off to work,” the slender 6-1, 150-pound Meyer said. “Since last year was my first year to run track, the colleges didn’t know anything about me. I still would like to run in college.”Nieto, who led the Dalton cross country girls into the Class 4A state meet, was elated with her performance.“My goal was to break 20:12, which had been my personal record,” Nieto said. “I was able to do that, though I got stomach cramps on the last mile. I tried to stay positive.”Shelley Taylor, 22, a former Northwest High state distance champion and more recently a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga stalwart, was second in 20:28.“I paced myself off Shelley,” Nieto said. “I passed her over the last 800 meters.”Rounding out the males’ top five were Adam Dodson, 17:48; Josh Stanley, 17:59; and Isaac Pacheco, 18:00.Trailing the top two females included Melissa Ortiz, 20:59; Margie Bruner, 22:37; and Julie Simmons, 22:41. From unofficial reports, the event attracted record participation.“There were between 550 and 600 people running,” said Mark Marlowe, president of sponsoring Big Brothers Big Sisters. “It’s the most that we’ve had in my five years. I think that it’s more than they had in the earliest years. This was a very successful event. I thank all of the people who came out to support this wonderful event.”

Hunter's Ironman Race Report

2009-11-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

IM Florida 2009
The long journey to completing my first Ironman began about a year and a day (Nov 2008), before the actual race. A.J. and I knew that Dad was going to sign up and we thought that it would be pretty cool to say that we have completed an Ironman also. So on that morning following the 2008 race we all sat at our laptops ready to register not really understanding what the hell we were getting in to. I graduated high school as a fairly accomplished basketball player at Northwest Whitfield High. I had scored over 1,000 points in my career and was the forth leading scorer all-time. In 2007-08 I attended the University of the South "Sewanee" to play basketball. After a year of the rigorous academic demands at Sewanee, I decided that it would be best to concentrate on my aspirations to attend medical school, so I gave up playing basketball. During my second year at Sewanee, I spent much more time in the books and less time engaging in any physical exercise. My grades were on the rise, however my lifestyle was nothing to be proud of. At this point in time, I was 5'11" about 183lbs- About the only physical activity I engaged in was weightlifting and occasionally pick-up basketball. It was at this point that I decided that I wasn't ready to grow up yet. Med school and the real world could wait. I missed competing. These thoughts and the timing of Ironman Florida registration led to the "knee-jerk" reaction to register that would ultimately change my life. As soon as we registered I started doing short rides with A.J. and Dad, maybe 2 hours maximum and mostly on the weekends. About 2 months after registration I broke my ankle while ice-skating in Boone, NC. As I lay on the ice I remember saying to A.J., "shit, there goes ironman." Luckily Dad is a physical therapist so he got me back on my feet in about 6 weeks. Needless to say, it was March and I was back where I started 180 lbs. As I picked training up and the summer rolled around, I started to watch my eating a little bit. Between the increased training and my 9-5 job in rug mill, I had lost about 20 lbs and now weighed 162lbs-(still a big guy in our household). During the late summer, the workouts really increased in distance. I was running 15 miles, cycling 80, and swimming 1 1/2 hrs at 5:30 a.m.. It was this training that I remember most. During a long ride (3hrs), I would be turning myself inside out trying to stay on A.J.'s wheel while he would be soft-pedaling and talking to Dad. There would be times at the end of rides where I would tell them "go on and get you workout in. I can find my way back home." Not once did they ever take me up on that and It's a good thing, because I didn't know where the hell we were. They would slow down and ask me questions like, "Are you sick? Are you bonking? Need something to Eat?" In their eyes there had to be a problem. It didn't occur to them that I might just be exhausted and that normal people don't ride bicycles at 25 mph for 3 hrs! Training rides like this one were absolutely miserable and sometimes I couldn't wait for IM to be over with. I was sick at waking up at 5 a.m., running and ridding 2-3 days a week, and most of all not being able to drink sweet tea! But before I knew it we were making final preparations for the trip to Panama. Equipment check, functional workouts,etc... There were a little anxiety when we got there but that was buffered by the atmosphere created by my Uncle Pat and Ben- two former IM Florida finisher, as well as other family members that came down!
The Race
As A.J., Dad, and I woke at 4:45 race morning, Dad told us that he was sick and wouldn't be racing today. A.J. and I immediately tried to talk him into racing, but as we would come to find out even the slightest of problems can be the cause for a long day. It wasn't until we were standing on the beach in our wetsuits looking into the water that it hit me, "Dad wasn't here." For the better part of a year, the old man had been in the pool most mornings, rode 3X as much as me, and ran 3X more than me and A.J. combined. In our eyes, he was most likely going to Kona, but now something as small as the cold has robbed him of all that he worked so hard for. It was definitely an emotional start, but as soon as the gun fired, I remembered Dad's most important advice, "Focus and stick to the plan." The "plan" for the swim was to survive. I wanted to avoid getting kicked or having my goggles ripped off. As all 2000+ people charged into the gulf, all hell broke loose. It felt like I was swimming in a washing machine. As soon as the swim broke up a little bit, I was able to get into a rhythm and finished it in 1:25. When I mounted on my bike, I remember that the "plan" was to get my HR down and then stay in a designated HRZ for the majority of the bike leg. I was able to control my HR for the most part, and finished with a avg of 19.8 mph. When I got off the bike and looked at the clock, all I needed was a 4 hr. marathon to finish at 11:00! So I started the run leg very conservatively. When I was approaching the 3 mile marker, I passed A.J. coming the opposite way at the 10 mile marker! I knew now that if his legs could hold up that he might go to Kona. Seeing him flying inspired me to pick it up a little bit -a huge mistake! After I jogged the majority of the first 13 miles, the second half was a majority walk with a little bit of jog. I finished the marathon in like 5 1/2 hr giving me a finishing time of 12:34. As I crossed the line It wasn't a sense of relief that I felt, instead a culmination of all the torturous, yet wonderful days that me, my brother , and my dad spent together training for this day passed though my mind. I thought about how much I enjoyed the hard days of training, the 5 a.m. wake-ups, and the adventure of the testing the limits of my mind and body. Some people look to Heaven for a life changing experience, but my life changing experience occurred along a road though a "wonderful hell" alongside my brother and Dad. An experience that I will never forget.

IRONMAN

2009-11-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

So its over.......Wow! That was one hell of an experience. I had no clue how much this event would end up meaning to me. Its very hard to put the race and its impact into words, but I guess i'll start by giving a recap of the race. The swim wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be giving that 3000 people started at once. My goal was to swim under 1:10, I was well on my way to beating that until someone knocked my chip around my ankle loose. I tried to put it back on in the water but when the didn't work i just clinched on to it and resumed swimming. Despite the hectic events I came out of the water at 1:08...Not such a bad swim considering I started swimming in August. I took the transitions very slowly since this was my first ironman and finishing was my primary goal. So once I got onto the bike I was hammering trying to make up time. I did the first 40k in less then an hr. Which was a very fast start but I knew I had to make up some time......Towards mile 80 I started to pay for such a fast start but by backing it off and getting some fuel in my body I was able to bounce back quickly. The last twenty miles I just settled into a good pace that didn't waste me for the marathon. So I got off the bike feeling decent, and set out onto the marathon. This is where I made my most crucial mistake of the day. All the excitement got to me and I ran the first mile at 6:30. Now you would think since I had a watch on that I would have backed off drastically. Nope. 2 mile split- 13 something, 5k 20 something. Even at 4miles I was still sub 7min pace. I honestly don't know what the hell I was thinking. Anyways it went downhill from there. Around mile 11 is when I resorted to a strategy off walking a min. then running 5. This continued until around the 30k mark, where I got a second wind and ran the rest of the way to finish with like a 3:55 split in the marathon. With that run I ended up finishing with a time of 10:06....I'll take it for my first ironman.

This was by far the hardest physical thing I have ever done. And as hard as it was physically it might have been more hard mentally. The feeling of finishing one of these things is incredible. But whats more, is the journey everyone went on the finish. The past three months of training where just as special to me as the event was. Especially since I had my dad and brother to train with. I could go on and on about this great event, but words really don't do it justice. I highly recommend seeing one in person. Or doing the event.

So that's my race report. My brother who has an incredible story of losing 20lbs and going from a college bball player to an ironman in one year finished with a great 1st time of like 12:40. Maybe I can get him to write up a report for the blog. Unfortunately my dad was unable to compete due to getting sick the night before.....very sad, because training with him i knew he was in the best shape of his life and would've for sure podiumed in his age group........oh yea I ended up third in my age group........Well thats all. Looking forward to some chill time now,

lata

Ironman Fl race week!

2009-11-03T12:41:00.001-08:00

heading to pcb on tomorrow......feeling good and ready!

For the power junkies

2009-10-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is a little insight as to what training for an ironman requires. Not to mention the 1hr transition run that followed it this ride. As you can see a proper training ride for this distance requires you to hammer the whole time but remain steady. The differance between my peak 2hr power and peak 4hr power was 10watts. The total avg. power for this ride was 237watts for 90 miles in 4hrs on a hilly route. I hope to have a similar avg. power during ironman, but a faster avg. speed given that the course is flatter.
Rides like this make me look forward to cycling'ss base training!

The 2010 Subaru/Gary Fisher Elite Team

2009-10-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

Team News Release:
The Hincapie/Gary Fisher/Barkley Team is pleased to announce Subaru and Gary Fisher Bikes as our new title sponsors for the 2010 race season. Both the men's and women's elite teams will compete across the Southeast as the Subaru/Gary Fisher Elite Road Team, racing the new Gary Fisher flagship carbon road bike, the Cronus.

The 2010 Subaru/Gary Fisher Elite Men's team will consist of 13 racers, including the additon of two new racers to the program for this year, AJ Meyer (Hincapie U23 Team) and Andrew Olson (DLP Pro Cycling). We have also expanded our 6 person womens roster to include 2 new strong racers, Sara Tussy and Nancy Jones for the 2010 season. Both Elite teams will be competing in Southeast road and cyclocross events as well as select national NRC races and the US National Championships (Elite, Masters and U23 Nationals).

"We are looking forward to a great year with the addition of Subaru to our program along with the contunued support of Fisher, Bontrager, SRAM and many of our other dedicated team sponsors. I forsee us having the strongest men's and women's squads that we have had for several years with the recent signing of some strong talent and the awesome tech advancements to the new Gary Fisher Cronus bike we will be using. We are also proud to continue with our team's heritage and support from Hincapie Sportwear as a presenting sponsor in 2010." Adam Little - Subaru/Gary Fisher Team Manager

Title Sponsors for the 2010 Team include Subaru and Gary Fisher. Other returning sponsors include Hincapie Sportswear, SRAM, Bontrager, VETTA, KMC Chains USA, DeFeet, ClassicCycling.com, Hall Clinic of Chiropractic, Finish Line Lubes, Qoleum, Chamois Butt'r, and Moose Pharmacy.

Additionally, new for the 2010 season is our partnership with the Carolina Bicycle Company, one of the areas top Gary Fisher/Bontrager dealers. In addition to racing with the CBC logos and team colors, our team will also be instrumental in helping mentor and grow a shop team to include 15 road category 3, 4, 5 racers to develop their skills and further promote Subaru and Gary Fisher. CBC will also have a core MTB race team of 5 racers who will also be racing the Gary Fisher Superfly and Superfly 100.

Follow us at www.twitter.com/FisherRoadTeam

Subaru / Gary Fisher Elite Men:
Adam Little
AJ Meyer
Andrew Olson
AT Stamp
Chris Knetsche
Chris Harkey
David Flynn
Darren Fuller
Geri Mewett
John Delong
Mike Kelly
Reid Beloni
Shane Martin

Subaru / Gary Fisher Elite Women:
Bridgette McClean
Lisa Preslar
Lori Harkey
Marianne Holt
Nancy Jones
Sara Tussy

Fall update

2009-10-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

So with ironman FL fast approaching I have been training hard during a time of year when I'm normally getting fat, and sitting on my ass. Although Its been a long year and I'll for sure enjoy some time off, I'm actually really enjoying training in this great fall weather.
So the whole ironman thing.........its gonna be hard as hell. I'm only a few weeks out, and finally starting to realize what I got myself into! But hey whats an accomplishment worth if you don't suffer to acheave it? Its been killer training with my brother and dad for this thing. I think we def. all motivate each other.....seriously doubt I'd wake up at 5am to swim if dad wasn't dragging me outta bed.
In other news I will be riding with the Hincapie-Gary Fisher Elite Cycling team next year....This is the same team I was riding with when I won a stage at Fitchburg and podiumed twice at nats in 2007. I'm really looking forward to returning to this team.....No doubt they are a class team.
check us out

www.hincapiecycling.com

Back in the blogging world

2009-09-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

So its been a while since I have posted anything......I totally betrayed the good ole blog during the prime of the cycling season......Well what was supposed to be the prime. Which brings me to why I quit blogging. It was a very hard year mentally for me and physically as well. For a while now I have had what I thought to be a leg length difference. So as a result I would use one leg more then the other which is very inefficient. The leg lengh difference was also causing nerves in my leg to go numb. It was a very discouraging thing to deal with....So during the Tour of Red River Gorge I couldn't take it anymore. I was done physically and emotionally. So I went home. I didn't go to Abitibi or Nationals. When I got home i went to get x-rays so i could identify exactly what was my problem.....So it turns out my legs are the same lengh....Unfortunately though I have mild scoliosis. In the picture isnt my x-ray, but something similar to what I have. Although having this condition sucks, and is a complete pain in the ass, it has giving me hope that when I get it worked out, I'll be back to being what I was before, one of the best racers in the country. So i'm doing treatment and all for that. And thats that.

So since then I have really took a step back from cycling. Thats not to say I'm training less, or a worse rider. In reality i'm training more and probably more fit then I've been in a while. I've just took all the pressure away from myself. Before I was so caught up in "making it pro" that I forgot to have fun. Now my attitude is strictly enjoying racing and training. After all that is what its all about. I'm enjoying the bike more then ever now. Some might say my season this year was a failure. Maybe on paper it was. But the way I see it is that this year taught me to really have fun and enjoy what I do. Maybe that is more important then winning any race. Besides it has been one hell of a year!
First off- I tried track for the first time and won the state championship. A priceless feat that meant more to me then any podium I got at nationals.
2nd- I had an awesome senior year in high school! Awesome spring break, prom, graduation, and all that. A year off my life ill never forget.
3rd- I have discovered triathlons! Don't laugh....they really are fun. They also combine my 2 great loves of running and riding so its a winner. I'm currently training for Ironman FL.

So all in all it really hasnt been a bad year. I'll for sure keep the blog updated.
thats all for now,

aj

Summer catchup

2009-06-22T12:35:00.001-07:00

So I graduated high school which at the time didn't mean much, but I think it's finally starting to hit me. I have decided to take some time off school and pursure cycling. So thats that as far as education.....Now on the cycling side of things I've did a few races since I last updated. I did a tough mountian race called Roan Groan. The road race didnt go so well, but it did finish on an 8mile climb which doesnt exactly suit me. A redeamed myself in the tt by getting 3rd, and went one better in the crit the next day with a 2nd place finish. Even got a bottle of beer on the podium! Unfortunatly my coach Steve Carpenter was quick to claim it as his split. No doubt he deserved it. He did a hell of a job setting me up for the sprint. After that I put in another hard 2 weeks of training then this past weekend raced Avery Trace.

Avery Trace is a race with around 5-6 1mile hard climbs. Its a really tough race and we had a pretty damn good field. I ended up 9th in the rr, which I was happy with, then 6th in the crit. No steller results, but I can tell each race I am getting stronger. Now I'm head to the cabin with some good friends to get in a hard week of riding before the important races begin.
This is what I got coming up.
Fithcburg
Tour of Red River Gorge (uci)
Le Tour de Abitibi (uci)
Junior nats
Elite crit nats

Thats should take me through mid august
ROAD TRIP!
I'll keep everyone updated,

aj

Latley................

2009-06-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

well......there really isnt much to write about.....I did world trials in Nashville but i won't waste time to write about such a poor performance. Ever since that ass whooping i receaved there i have been training like hell.....No where to go but up. I race this weekend at Roan Groan...Hard race but good training.

Bout to Graduate!

2009-05-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

So im about to graduate high school. Most kids this is thier dream day, but to be honest im kind of sad. I mean I'm not scared to move on but i had some great memories in high school. Im pretty sad to leave.. Oh well its a step we all must take............Anyways Highland rim went ok. RR couldve been better but i got some much needed racing from it. The uphill tt went good. I got 6th, so i was happy. The crit i got 9th. I felt much better then my result indicated but oh well. I got a few crits this weekend, ill post after.
lata

Going out on top

2009-05-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wow.....So I won state in the mile. I really can't describe what i felt after winning. It was such a suprise. It felt better then any time i was on the podium at nats. or anything. It really was amazing. What a year in track. I couldn't have left it in a better way. I really dont have much to say yet. Im not sure its hit me that i actually won the state meet. Runners all over the country train all high school for it and i some how won it.
Maybe i'll reflet on it later when I can put my emotions into words, but for now here its back to cycling full time!
viva la vida

whitehouse road race

2009-05-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

So sat. i did my 3rd race of the year. I really didnt expect to do much since i've been running alot latley. It was a small field but still some strong guys were there. In the first few miles Carp was in a decent move, and when that got caught i attacked and took a group of six. So from there on out we drilled it and stayed away. We were off the front for like 70miles. I was pretty sure i was the strongest in the group but by the last few miles the lack of races in my legs caught up to me. I still managed third. So im happy, but got a ways to go to get into good shape. On another note, my state track race is Thursday. I haven't been able to run much since region because of an injury to my groin, but hopefully I've gained some fitness through riding. We'll see soon enough.

Just an update

2009-04-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since i updated the blog....I've been busy lately but with nothing really worth blogging about. I went down to Panama City Beach last Sat. for spring break and it was a crazy awesome trip! I'll always remember it. Anyways training down there sucked so i really didnt do anything. Came back in time for our track meet, and won that with a 4:34 mile. Solid considering my lack of training the past week. I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things this week and take around 10 seconds of that. On the cycling side of things not much is going on. I mean im still training but track has set me back a little as far as my normal fitness level this time of year. I don't really see that as a bad thing though giving my summer scheledule.
Any ways take a look at this great sun set in PCB.

ON TRACK!

2009-04-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

No this title does not refer to my fitness or cycling results in any way!! It actually is refering to the other sport im doing now. Yea im now running track. It actually started as a fun thing to do with my friends and i had absolutly no expectations what so ever. Well it turns out im not bad at the mile. I ran a 4:34 mile this past weekend. It is the third best time in the state for my school's classification. I actually got a chance to win state as well so my plans have shifted a little and ima give state a shot. What does this mean for bike racing? Well it actually means ill be training more. You see my training for track consists of running around 2 times a week and doing just speed work on the track, then just getting fit on the bike and carrying that fitness to the running. So it works great. I still am training full on the bike, only its kind of a mental shift in motivation which i think works great.
Oh yea so after i ran that 4:34 mile i went and raced the chatt. crit. My legs were dead so i wasnt much use to my teammate carp, who was riding strong as heck! Well we missed the break, and i mixed it up for the field sprint and ended up 10th overall. The road race the next day we missed the early break. I really felt terrible the first 2 laps, but luckly Carp was doing a ton of work and the last and final lap my legs came around and i attacked like crazy and brought the break to 15 seconds, but no one really wanted to work, oh well thats bike racing, i was just glad i felt good at the end of the race. No doubt that i'll be in good cycling shape for the big races this summer.
thats all for now

aj

First race weekend

2009-03-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

So i went down with my teammate Ty to race Tuscalussa. It was a twilight crit on sat. night and a 70mile rr on sunday.The crit went decent. We missed the winning 3 man break, but i got 3rd in the field sprint with a broken cleat so i was content. I really suffered in the crit, but i guess thats expected for my 1st crit of the year. It was good prep for speedweek. The rr on sunday was hard. Just constant attacks.....Nothing got away til the last lap and we missed it again. But we came in the top half of the field. I felt better in that race. Even went on a solo flier for around 12 miles. On the one long hill in the race i felt good as well so i think my climbing has improved this year......Chatt. is next race, hopefully i can come up with a good result in that.

Back home

2009-03-25T15:38:00.001-07:00

So Im back from the dessert. The training was great, but the weather was probably better. It was good to train with some good friends as well. The coolest part had to be riding up mount Lemmon. It was like 90 degrees at the bottom but by the top there was snow! I put up some pictures.

Im racing this weekend in Alabama....I'll get an update up after that,

aj

AZ

2009-03-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

So im here training in Scottsdale. The training is great and the dessart is beautiful. Words can't describe it, ill make sure to post pictures. Its currently day 3, we have over 12 and a half hrs already. I think we plan on getting like 28hrs in. Today we did 100 miles, a ton of climbing, and it was hottter then hell. I'm def. feeling good and ready to start racing.
Ill post later with some pictures,
later,
aj

Life

2009-03-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago an event happened that made me really think about life, death, and my passion. David Meeks, a local rider, was hit by a car and was killed. This is the first person i personally knew that was killed in such a fashion. I have had family members pass away from sicknesses but I had time to prepare and accept thier fate. But this was differant. It took me by complete suprise and made me sick. I didnt know Mr. Meeks to well, but we were def. on a first name basis. He was one of those guys who has been around and riding ever since i started cycling. He was always happy and loved what he did. He would put on these epic mountian training rides that me and my dad would occasionally do. I'll def. always remember him.
RIP David

So this event really made me relize the value of everyday that we live. I think we are all guilty of getting into a daily habbit of taking everday as a giving. This made me relize how every ride, every day at school, every night with my friends, every day with my family could be the last. Life really is beautiful. Every emotion we experience is great. Even when I am down, I now relize that i'm alive, that i'm living and that every day is what i make it to be. I had a track meet this past Saturday, and before my race i was so nervous. But something came to me. As i was sitting before my race nervous as hell i took a second to relise the beuaty of competion. Sports make us feel more alive then almost anything else! I mean I went from nervous, to hurting during the race, to a high of winning the race. I often think of the meaning of life. I think one reason we are alive is to experience the great emotions of life. Love, victory, pain, joy, saddeness..........they are all great emotions that make us feel alive as ever. And I never took the time to relize it until recently. Live life to the fullest and try to enjoy everyday, every ride, every moment. I know I will enjoy them more then ever now.

1st race

2009-03-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

Wasnt much of a race for myself. Terrible conditions and a flat 15 miles in the race sums up my day.....However our team took first and third! Big man Butler finished 1st! Other news is that i got my cat. 1 upgrade.....next step is PRO!
lata

aj

So it begins......

2009-02-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Yep its that time of year again. Race time. So here i am in this all too familier setting of a random hotel room. I'm def. excited about getting back to racing, but for me the beggining of the season is always mixed emotions.....Knowing that this is the beggining of around 7 months of non-stop traveling is a little hard. But i know this is where i belong, and it won't be long before i'm back in the routine of racing, eating, traveling, and sleeping.

I'll write up a report after the race,
later

aj

A little video of the team

2009-02-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

so go to this link and check out the video.....pretty darn good i thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IaCY_NhlCA

Simple

2009-02-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Is the best way to describe my life here lately. The past three weeks i have put in a ton of hrs on the bike. So my avg. day lately is this: Get outta school at 11:30. Get on my bike by 12:30. Ride usually around 3hrs, then go to school for track practice which starts at 4:00. SO yea it seems real busy, but ironically the more busy my day is, the more simple it is. I've really gotten into a great daily routine the past 3 weeks. Unfortunately my legs are tired so this upcoming week i will be hardley riding and resting. Anyways i'll be doing my first race of the year the 28th of this month. I'm ready to get back at it.
thats all i know now.

lata

Camp was.....

2009-02-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

Cool.....Yea so our last team camp before racing starts was this past weekend. I got some good training in with the boys. We also got new Oakley's and as you can see in the picture we got new helmets, which are sweet! I'm really training hard here latley. Im looking forward to racing this year!

Kits!!!!

2009-01-29T18:31:00.001-08:00

So these are our new kits!!!!! They are totally sick!!! I'm loving them. Besides that our team camp starts tomarrow. I'll report after that. Oh yea my church leuge bball team (THE PLAYMAKERS) officially clinched the tital with our victory tonight! Yep we've been chasing the tital since i was a sophmore.....It feels good to finally bring it home.

Long Live the Playmakers!

Latley

2009-01-25T07:30:00.001-08:00

Things have been good. I'm riding a good bit, just putting in some miles. Man i can't beleave it but racing is right aroung the coner! Im really excited about this year, but im going to try to cage that excitment and do less racing early in the year so i'll have more for the big races during the summer.
We got team camp coming up here soon.....Hopefully we will get our bikes and some other stuff. Besides that there is not much to write about.....I'm hoping the years racing scheledule will be finalized here soon so i can really target some races.
But for now thats all i know,

aj

Camp

2009-01-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

So i survived my epic adventure to Boone. I returned to shitty weather and tons of riding! Yep the day after i got back it was time for the main Hincapie winter camp. It actually worked out well, i was able to kick start my training again after my 6 days of no riding. The team is def. looking good, everyone is riding strong. Off the bike everyone is great as well. I had alot of fun bonding with the boys.......

Oh yea, so my News Years resolution is to eat healthy (most of the times) and keep my weight in check. Who knows I might just morph from a sprint into a fulll on climber next year!

Boone Bound

2008-12-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

So i leave for Boone, NC towmarrow morning for a skiing trip with my senior homies and my brother. 6 days no bike! Damn training camp on the 1st will hurts, but i think i need this break. After the shittiest weather ever, ive still managed a decent base for this first half of winter. Needless to say my motavation tank is on e, so i shall go to the mountains and come back on full! (hopefully).
Lata

From Camp

2008-12-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

Team Camp

2008-12-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

Team camp was really good......The weekend kicked off Friday. We all hung out at Rich Hincapie's house and met the new teammates and caught up with the old ones. After some good food we watched a movie then got some sleep. Saturday was epic! Ok the first 2hrs were chilled....Then we stopped at a store where i procedded to grab some grub. When i walk out i see half the group rolling out. In that half i thought i saw the juniors on our team, so i dart after them. When i catch up i relize thier are no juniors in the group and that i jumped on George Hincapies group with the u23 guys and we are heading to do a 5hr ride as opposed to the 3.5hr ride i was planning on. Then i see Ty rolling up to the group. He decided to embark on this epic journey with me. Anyways to make a long story short 3hrs and 2 climbs later my legs were completley trashed! But it was really sweet because me and ty chilled at george's house after the ride. Sunday was another relaxed 3hrs. All in all a great weekend of training. I met all the new guys and thier all real cool. I think this year's team is more like a family then any other team i've been with.

Well thats all i got for now......-

In full swing

2008-12-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yep im back at it full time now......It feels like my season just ended......I can hardley remember the off season!!! But then again being back riding is nice. Even though i bitch and moan about riding alot of the times, when i take time off the bike i relize just how much riding is apart of my life.
So our first camp of the year is this weekend.....Im looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting new teammates. It should be good times...............Also my first church basketball game is 2maro. I'm fully prepared to dunk on some fools. Its been freezing cold in the durty south here lately, and if it isnt freezing then its raining like hell....Thats all i got for now,

Ill hit it up after the weekend,

aj

READY-4-WATEVA

2008-11-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

So thats me ready to whoop ass in a cross country race. NOTICE the sweet socks and huge leg muscles that i circled!!!!

And so it begins......

2008-11-21T09:04:00.001-08:00

Yea the 09 season is here. I'm pretty much riding full time now. Motavation is hard to come by this time of year but im still turning the pedals over......Its cold as hell to, that never helps. Well there really is absoulutly nothing to write about....nothing new going on in my cycling world......Someone motivate me!

Lately......

2008-11-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

Things have been good. Cross country is now over, i finished the year decent, i ran in the 17's for my last 2 races. Im honestly a little sad its over. I mean its hard to beleave how fast life goes by. It feels like yesterday when i was a freshman running, and now i've ran my last high school race ever. wow. On a lighter note, i finally rode a solid three hours on sunday. It felt good to ride despite my poor condition. I think im gonna start slowley riding again. Its almost church leauge basketball season again, in preperation for it ive been ballin at the local courts lately. well thats all i feel like rambling on about for now,
until next time,

aj

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

2008-11-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

I have signed up for the 2009 edition of FORD IRONMAN FLORIDA. I figure it will be a good way to occupy myself in the off season of bike racing.

Update on the off-season

2008-10-21T11:54:00.001-07:00

Im back from Hawaii and im to lazy to post pictures! Other then that serious training has begun. "Training for what??" your probably thinking.......I can tell you its not cycling!!! I havnt been on my bike in 2 weeks and i see no start in sight! but anyways what im training for! HOOTERS! Yea its that time again. Every Wednesday me and my buddies make the pilgrimage up to Hooters where we pour our heart and soul into eating as many wings as possible! The season began last week, and im very out of shape. Despite my poor condition i was still able to eat more then anyone at the table. Its gonna be a long hard road if i wanna break my record from last year (62) but i feel that if i work hard enough i will surpass it.
Wish me luck!

aj

p.s. I hate running!!!!!! is it possible to enjoy racing 5ks?

Hawaii..........

2008-10-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

ROCKS!!!! So yea im out here chillin lika villin in the Aloha state. Its beautiful out here. Yesterday we went to Volcano National Park. It was sweet, when i get home ill uplioad some pics. Today i went snorkling and saw some crazy colored fish and swam with some sea turtles! Im also trying to run alot. I ran 1 bloody hour today! it dam near killed me....... The big Iron Man world championships is 2maro, ill post after that,
living the life,

aj

The last race.......

2008-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

So the last race of the year was today. I def. feel like i ended it on a good note. It was the Saul Raisin Crit, in my home town Dalton, so that was def. motavating. Me and teammate Steve Carpenter got in a early move of 8 guys that included John Murphy from Health Net. Me and Carp attacked the move alot but John kept everything in check. We lapped the field then teammate Dave Talbott kept everything under control. The last lap was hectic and i tried to mark John but ended up getting gapped in the last coner, but still held a strong sprint to get 2nd in the race. It was a good result, and i ended the year with mixed emotions. In one way i feel like training alot after that good result, but all in all i'm looking forward to taking a long break. Its been one hell of a year. The season started in Feb. and ended in Oct.!
Off to Hawiaii for a much needed vacation!

aj

Almost Time For Worlds!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

No not cycling worlds.......IRONMAN worlds. Yep its in Hawaii, and me and my family will be going to cheer on my dad, whose going to compete. He won't admit it but i think if everything goes right he will be the world masters champ.
HERES A INTERVIEW SLOWTWITCH DID WITH HIM:

Andy Meyer is Kona 2008 bound
Written by: Herbert Krabel
Date: Tue Dec 04 2007

For our series "Profile of an age grouper" we talk to Andy Meyer who won his age group at Ironman Florida in 2007 after almost 2 years away from triathlon. This Cohutta, GA native raced Ironman Florida in 2004 and 2005 and then pretty much raced road bikes for the next 2 years. He was also busy supporting his cycling protégé son A.J. as a driver, masseur, cook and proud dad. In the fall of 2007 he returned to triathlon and won his age group at Ironman Florida.

Andy Meyer

Age: 45
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 143 pounds

ST: When did you first consider doing an Ironman Triathlon?

Andy: I actually have a brother, Pat and a friend, Ben Eicholtz who talked me into doing IMFL about 3 years ago. I had always toyed with the idea of doing an IM since my early twenties, but starting a career and family took precedence. I followed the sport closely and Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Scott Tinely, Mike Pigg, and Scott Molina were all idols of mine. I was in awe of the incredible effort, perseverance and fortitude these athletes exhibited. No way would I ever be able to do an Ironman. I had done the usual bike racing, running races, short course triathlons, mountain biking and adventure races. Pat, Ben and myself were looking for a new challenge and they suggested we all try an IM. I had always been one who struggled early in any kind of race and felt stronger as the event proceeded. This seemed like the natural choice as they so convincingly argued. I had reservations about the training time commitments not to mention just being able to finish an IM. We picked IMFL because it was close to home and gave us all summer to train. I completed my first IMFL in just under 11 hours and was hooked. I realized I had so much more I could improve upon. The next year I dropped another hour and again realized I could go even faster with better training, diet, and nutrition. The third time was the charm as I had a blessed day and everything came together for another 30 plus minute improvement.

ST: Prior to IMFL, what triathlons did you do in the last few years?

Andy: In the last 3 years, I'd done IMFL 2004 and 2005 but skipped 2006 to help my son, A.J. get his cycling career going, plus I also wanted to improve my running (8th overall '06 Atlanta Marathon and 2nd master). I had also done the Chattanooga Waterfront 2005, and the Cohutta Springs '04, '05 and '07 triathlons for fun. Mainly, I'd been doing masters road cycling events though.

ST: How did you build up for this year's Ironman Florida?

Andy: As a husband of 22 years with a wonderful wife, Karen, who makes training/racing at all possible, plus a dad to 3 sons and a full time job, I tried to focus on what would give me the biggest improvement for the least time investment. Nutrition and diet were the obvious choices, but so was running improvement. In the two previous IMFLs I had neglected running to work on my weaknesses, swimming and cycling. I ran in high school and college, so I just counted on my natural running ability. In both those races I swam around 1:00 and biked 5:00, which put me in, reach of a Kona spot, but suffered at the 18-20 mile mark on the run with 4:08 and 3:50 run splits. I actually began my IMFL '07 buildup with the '06 fall Atlanta Marathon. I was able to carry that over into the spring and work on swimming through the winter along with riding, racing and training with A.J. and his team up until May, and then the formal training began. In May, I began 3 months of base work, followed by 2 months of strength work, then 1 month of taper/race specific work. All the while, I was able to get back to my college racing weight with the loss of 5 pounds. Thus I was at IMFL '07 with a stronger run; a swim and ride that were equal to previous years and 5 pounds lighter.

ST: Were you actually gunning for a Hawaii slot?

Andy: Kona was a very distant dream. I actually thought that was well out of the question and I never even entertained the thought of an age group win! One thing I've learned about IM racing and training, it is not about the outside race itself, but about the race inside your mind and body. I've finally come to understand what Mark Allen was saying about racing an Ironman. I just wanted to be better prepared than in the past years and what ever happened would be fine. Kona had only faintly entered my mind, but to tell you the truth, I was going to hang up all the racing and training after this race. I've been racing/training since I was in middle school and at age 45, I wanted to travel and enjoy watching A.J. race. I also have older son, Hunter, a freshman who plays basketball for the University of the South, and I wanted to travel and watch him play too. My youngest son, Conner wants to start bike racing juniors next year, so another young cyclist needs to be managed, but most of all I wanted to spend time with my wife as she has spent our whole marriage sacrificing for my training. She deserves so much more than I could ever repay her. It is time I start repaying her! Well, when I got to the 13.1 mile mark of the run, she and A.J. told me I was leading my age group and I'd better not walk any until the race was over! Then I knew Hawaii was in the equation and she wanted to go! That night, before roll-down the next morning, we, as a family, decided maybe I could train for one more year. We all wanted to go to Kona.

ST: Rumor has it that you are constantly supporting your talented son A.J. Can you tell me more about that?

Andy: My middle son A.J. is a better cyclist at age 16 than I ever was, or will be. He's been fortunate enough to be selected to race the last 2 summers with the 15-16 year old U.S. National Team in Belgium. You can see him driving the break during a race in Belgium in the picture. (Ed. left) He also placed 4th in the road race and 2nd in the criterium at this years Junior Nationals. My father (A.J. grandfather) and I have been shuffling him around the country to races for the last few years. We play mechanic, masseur, cook, driver and on occasion proud parent. Since I'm at these events with A.J., I try to race the masters if I can, but sometimes it is more important that he has all the support needs. We are on opposite ends of the athletic development curve; he's on the way up and well let's say I've seen better days. I get him through a race, then after that, I can train or I get up early in the morning and fit in a workout. It's all about time management skills! I've been fortunate to meet so many good people that have actually helped me with A.J. and my training; Coach Brown and his son Nathan, Lynn and Bill Joslin, Chris and Lori Harkey, Steve Carpenter, Rich Hincapie, Marshall Martin, Jeff Gibson, Ron Swope, Saul Raisin and the Scenic City Velo club.

Comment on this article

Euro Trip Summary

2008-09-23T11:33:00.001-07:00

So im finally back home from my euro adventure. It feels good to be done with my season. Europe was great i'll try to some it up or else this post would be a novel. After the Giro Di Bascilicata we did this badass ride to watch the womens race. While we were there i proceed to have what i be leave to be a hallucination. But after a 2nd look i realized that this was reality and I was looking at Mario Cipolini ride up. Mario is totally my hero, so my and Boz proceeded to get our pic with him, but it only got better. it turns out Mario lives in our same town so we rode back with him, Thomas Dekkar, Jorg Jaske, and some CSC dude. It was great. So that was that. The final race we did over there was a nations cup in Croatia. Everyone was saying it was the strongest junior field outside of the world championships. Racing there was good. I had my ups and downs, but the last day i finished in the lead group, and got 26th. All in all this trip was a hell of a success, maybe not result wise, but i got to race against the best riders in the world and see what it takes to make it at the highest level. I also got to see what i believe to be some of the most beautiful sights in the world. Damn im lucky......Oh yea so my season is over but im still gonna do the Saul Raisin crit on OCT. 4th. Not training for it though. BY GOD ITS CROSS COUNTRY TIME!

AJ

1st race

2008-09-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

So our 1st race was called the giro di bascillata or something. It was def. not easy but i felt like i was able to compete good. The first day i attacked alot in the 1st part and actually got into some good moves but nothing stuck. On the finishing climb i got popped and soft peddaled it in. Jacob got a solid 4th place for us and Nate followed with a 6th place, so we actually had something to work with on GC. The next day was a bad day for the whole team. Everyone except Jacob missed the front split on this massive 20k climb, so i chased for nate with other teammates then sat up on the last climb. The last day i felt great. I was giving the field hell attacking like crazy until the first big desent. I then proceded to crash hard. It was raining and my wheels just slid out at like 35mph. So after i got myself in order the peleton had a good min, on me. But i tucked in behind our car and chased for a good 30k when i finally caught the pack. I felt good when i caught up and actually made it over the main climb with the lead group of like 20 guys along with my teammate jacob. I tried to help jacob the best i could, and with 1k to go i bonked and probably cruised in for a top 25. Jacob got 2nd! so that was great. I felt alot strong then my results showed, and had i not bonked the last day im pretty damn sure i couldve gotton a top 10, but thats that and hopefully Croatia will be better,
thats all for now,

aj

Italy

2008-09-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

Is awesome!!! Besides the fact that i have been here 2 days and my bike or luggage still hasn't came. Not to bad though, im on a team bike, and i even rocked one of nate's spare hot tubs kit for the first 2 rides! The house is awesome, and we are in an absoloutly beautiful area. Surrounded by sweet mountains, some are even snowcapped. Today we did a 4.5hrs ride and it seemed like an 2.5hrs!!! This place makes me relize how lucky i am to get the chance to come here. Even if a get my ass kicked the whole time over here i wont regret coming.
living it up,
aj

Italy Bound

2008-09-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

So I leave for Italy 2maro. It should be good times. I did some great riding this weekend with my coach Carp. We rode in the mountians and my legs felt pretty darn good. Not sure if that will mean anyhting racing against fast Italians but I guess i'll find out soon enough. My computer is totally out of commision right now so not sure how much i'll be able to update but i try......italy here i come

sat. crits

2008-09-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Sat Crit am.

I went in an early move that stayed out for about 15 mins. when we got caught the winning move of 6 riders went. After that things were really negative, finally i was able to get away with some strong guys and we never could close the gap on the leaders but we held of the peleton and i ended up finishing 9th.

sat. crit pm

I decided to be mre conserveitive in this crit, which turned out to be a bad idea. the winning break ended up being the first one. Once again it got negative when the break was formed. Finally I got away with DLP rider Tommy N. We ended up staying away and i got 7th.

So they weren't bad my legs felt good, the only prob. was that im still sick. I ended up not doing the 100k classic so i can heal up. Next race is somewhere in Italy, fun fun.

Scooting along........

2008-08-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yep just scooting right along........i was feeling really good after river gorge, hopefully that will improve going to europe. After my killer sprint workout Wens. Ive had a little cough an a sore throat. hopefully it will blow over. Im doing 2 crits down in the ATL sat, so that will tell me how im feeling.....But yea i had a killer workout wenseday, Carp forgot to give me a workout so i got creative and went back to my bmx roots! warmed up for an hr then did 5 20 second sprints starting out at 1000watts and worked my way to 1300watts by the last one. Besides that im just scooting right along with some easy rides and such......
hollar back

THE FIELD SPRINT

2008-08-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

River Gorge Weekend

2008-08-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sat. was the road race. The field was damn near the NRC level. Jittery Joes, DLP, Inferno, and Rock Racing where represented. Our plan was to set up our climbers. We started the race with like 90 guys. Unfortunartly we missed the main early move, so me and carp set hard tempo up until the main climb and pulled out. Our climbers had a bad day so the plan kinda failed but oh well....For most guys its really hard to be consistant this time of year anyways. On the bright side I felt really strong.

Crit.

So after feeling good in the road race i was really looking forward to the crit. I felt great the whole race, and raced aggressively. I missed the winning break of 4 that went almost from the gun. After that the racing got really negative. I ended up getting in great position on the last lap and taking second in the field sprint. I really thought I had it won! I was killing it the whole time, but with junior gears I just ran out of gears and 1 dude pipped me on the line.

So I was happy with my legs this weekend. I think my form is really coming around just intime for my trip to Italy. I've now come to the conclusion that im destined to be a classics rider, because I always feel great in the spring and fall.
I'll keep it updated.

aj

Cross Country Race 1

2008-08-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

So despite not going to a single practice this season my coach is gracious enough to let me run in our first race. Before the race I knew my running form was not the greatest. I hadn't ran in about 10 months. So my stratagy was to get in the early break! lol Here is the race from my mind:

Boom! the gun sounds the race starts!

I'm on the lookout for the early move. Oh! my teammate is attacking. I'll go with him.

A third runner has joined us. We have a gap!

Damn this is hard. I begin to sit on the break.

Wow this isnt the same as cycling, im about to get dropped!

I'm still hanging on! The race favorite has bridged up! Looks like im in the move.

We pass the mile mark at 4:57! Shit i've never did a mile that fast!

Im dropped, I've hit the wall.

So yea i got dropped but then recovered and hung on for 5th place, which wasnt bad considering there were like 200 runners! And i havnt ran all year. Moral of this story is cycling tactics have no effect in running races. Oh well i got till october untill I have to run again!

So it continues.........

2008-08-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, by this time of the year im normally eating anything and everything in sight, and goofing of at cross country practice. Not this year. I have been training fairly hard trying to muster up some form for my Europe trip in Sept. I'm racing River Gorge omnium this weekend so that will tell me how I am. I've been feeling good, but I've learned to never trust that. I guess i'll find out this weekend with this damned mountian race!!! Its probably the hardest race I'll do this year. We got some guys that can place well in it, if not win it so i'll gladly be doing the whole domostic thing. At least i'll have the good ole excuse, "I was working for my teammate." if i do bad. I'll update after the race if i don't die out there in the rugged southeast mountains!!!

Nationals

2008-08-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Nats. went good, but def. couldve been better. I got 8th in the crit, by winning the field sprint. My teammate Ty got 4th, which was good.....2 top 10's from one team. The rode race was on an easy course, and really crappy racing. Ty was attacking like crazy, and sometimes I would counter, but nothing got away. Finally a move got away and we missed it. I took 3rd in the field sprint for 10th. So all and all it wasnt a bad nationals, i got 2 top 10s plus im a first year in the 17-18 age group. I think i had the legs to ride better but oh well.........Time to train hard and get ready for Europe.
aj

Just when i thought nationals was it......

2008-08-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

So my next race is nationals which is in 5 days or so in Orange County , Cali.... I thought that was the end of my season, but no.....It turns out I will be going to race a stage race in Italy in September with the USA national team. After that I am doing a stage race in Croatia. So instead of taking to my usuall off season ways after nationals, i will be doing some hard training to get ready for theses to big euro stage races. I'm actually pretty motavated for them. I have learned to really appreciate my time at home though....I think I have spent a total of less then 2 weeks at home this summer. I'm starting to learn to live the life of a pro racer. No one said it would be easy. I have really took the time lately to relise how lucky i am to get to see the world. Regardless of whether i make it as a pro racer or not I'll never regret all the years of sacrifices and hard work i have put in.....I mean how many teenagers get to see the world?
Viva La Vida baby,

aj

The rest of Abitibi

2008-07-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

So my grasp on the young riders jersey lasted one stage which unfortunatly for me was a time trial. Yea I did a typical ajet time trial and finish 22nd place and lost the jersey.....hell maybe one day I will master the race of truth. The rest of the race I felt good but didn't have great luck. The crit was pretty easy for me, I launched a few flyers but nothing got away, On the last lap I got caught behind a crash so I just finished in the back of the pack. The next day i decided to race aggresive. Like 40k from the finish a got in a 3 man break and with like 15k to go our gap was 35 seconds and i thought it might work, but the group became disorganized and we were caught about 10k from the line. Overall the race was good I ended up 19th on gc, so I was happy. Next up is nats,

aj

Back in the young riders jersey!

2008-07-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

So yea i fell to 10th overall yesterday, but the guy that was one second ahead of me in the young riders jersey crashed so im in the jersey now. The stage yesterday was good, I launched an attack with 2 laps to go but it didnt really go anywhere. Ty got 9th so that was good We got the tt today and a crit at night. I'll have to ride the time trial of my life to hold position.....Hopefully I'll suprise myself,

aj

Stage 2

2008-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

So i stared the stage in the points jersey.....That was pretty cool. This is the first race i've done with so many national teams and strong guys. I think there are close to 170 riders in the race, The first hour was insane, It took me about 1 hr to adjust to this crazy racing. Guys are fearless, but hell thats euro racing, so whatever.....Anyways crashes were left and right, thankfully I didn't go down in any, one dude hit a parked semi head on and is messed up, hopefully he will be okay.....Anyways i got into a few moves, but the only one that ever amounted to anything was with like 40k left into the race. It was a really good one to, the race leader was in it along with like 6 other guys.....I really felt strong in this move, and drove it like crazy, but it never got organized so after like 10k we got caught. Coming into the finishing circuits I felt strong, and stayed top 20 the whole time on them. With one lap to go my teammate, and strong sprinter Ty Magner sprint his ass off cause he thought it was the last lap, so that screwed him. On the hill of the circuit I got swarmed and had to make a huge effort to get back in decent positon, so I managed to get like in the top 15 for the last 500meters but i was tired from the effort and ended up like 12th. Not bad but couldve been better. Im now 8th overall and 12 seconds down. Also im third in the best young rider jersey standings, but the french guy who is winning is 17 so the jersey goes to the next guy which is one second ahead of me, so with some work today i might get the jersey. I'll update later.
aj

HOLY SHIT!!!!!

2008-07-25T19:34:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the languege, but i just got 2nd place in the proluge up here in Canada. This is the best riders i have ever rode against! The current world champion from france is here, along with like 15 differant national teams......I`m currently leading the best young rider competion as well,
i`ll keep it updated,
aj

On the way to the great north

2008-07-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

So we've managed to arrive in this forign land called Canada. We are in the capital, which i do beleave is called Ottawah......Its a really badass town, maybe one of the coolest I have been too before...........Needless to say the trip up wasn't without heavy causaulties!!!! We were driving in New York close to the Canadian border when I decided I would drive for a while,,,,,,This led to the unfortunate event of getting a speeding ticket!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep the po po got me........I was giving a ticket for doing 77mph in a 65! Hopefully my racing will be more successful then my driving, 2maro we head out to Abitibi, and friday we race......I hope to keep my millions of fans updated but considering that i will be somewhere similer to Alaska i can't make any promises.

aj

For Ricco

2008-07-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

For calling out half the peleton then getting busted doping!!!!

I'm now,,,,,,,,,,,

2008-07-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the two biggest races of the year, L'abitibi and Nationals. So this friday I am leaving home until like August 11th. First i'm driving to Greenville, where I'll do 2 crits to wake the legs up, then Me, Ty, and Steve B. are heading to the great north........Canada! There me and Ty will race with team Flordia against national teams from all over the world. I'm not even sure where the hell in Canada were going. But hopefully my legs will be good enough to get some results. After that its off to Orange County, Cali, for Nationals. I'll try to update the blog while i'm on the epic crusade.

aj

A SEXY BEAST

2008-07-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Yea this is yours truely screwing around at the dorms in Fitchburg.......

Fitchburg

2008-07-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

So I went to Fitchburg with not the greatest form..........I was using this race to get ready for L'abitibi and Nats. Also our teams goals were stage wins and the green jersey, so I was hoping to contribute to those. The time trail thursday didn't go so well for the team. I lead the team with an 11th place finish, Ty who was probably the fittest rider from our team, broke his seat so his tt was screwed. I was pretty disappointed with my 11th place finish considering I got 9th in the tt last year, but when i looked at the time, i was faster this past year which just comfirmed that the compo was much tougher. The 2nd stage was a mountian stage, not being much of a climber i knew i was going to race aggresively in the pursuit of some green jersey points, I attacked from the gun and the pack let me go....I was some joined by a hottubes rider and we built up a lead of 1:40....I took the first green jersey sprint. Then a lead moto came up and told us a group of 7 was bridging and both of our teams were represented, cool i thought. Well the 7 riders came up and my great teammate Rob Bush was with them, unfortunatly Hottubes 2 best sprinters were there was well.....We dropped a few dudes in the break when we hit the feedzone climb, and going into the 2nd sprint A hottubes rider attacked and i was forced to chase with a hottubes rider on my wheel. The best I could do was 2nd for that sprint.......I was 3rd on the last sprint which put me 5 points down, but that was cool, the race offical told us at the start that there were points at the finish line. So we hit the final climb and a hottubes guy attacks with a coast to coast rider....Me and Rob just kept steady tempo up the climb, and was reeling the 2 riders in towards the top but couldn't close, going into the last 200meters Rob had about 10meters on me, so I asked him If I could take 3rd so that I would be in the green jersey...I would eventually regret this but at the time the green jersey was our main goal so this made sense. So our team took 3rd and 4th on the hardest stage. At the podium I receaved the green jersey and all was good, until the next stage were I was listed as 2nd in the points compotition, they claimed there were no points at the finish.......I was pissed, I mean they were the ones that announced it at the start, hell they even gave me a jersey at the finish, but the part that made me the most mad was that i took a podium from rob because we thought it would give me the lead, but what ever......

Circuit Race

I'm getting bored typing this so i will be quik. My main goal was the points in this race, and the points leader: Simon, was a big dude and the sprint line was uphill, so i was confident. I easily beat him on the first on, the 2nd sprint i couldnt get his wheel, and the best i could get was third, on the final sprint I once again easily took it. After this I was to drained to contest the finsih so i just cruised in with the pack, while Ty turned in a 5th place finish.

Crit

Simon had 5 points on me, I new the crit would be hard because the sprint was flat. Sure enough the 1st sprint I went as hard as I could, but Simon beat me. After this I knew this year he was the best sprinter in the race so I gave up and sat in the pack. With 1 to go a break was up the way so our team tried our best to pull it back for Ty. I drilled it into turn 3 with Ty on my wheel, I swear we hit the turn at 40 mph, then Ty took over, He got 3rd in the field and 5th on the stage.

I ended up 5th overall which i was very happy with, this is the hardest junior stage race in the country. My form wasn't all there either, so when I'm on top for nats, i think it will be a differant story,

sorry for the long post,
aj

A lil update

2008-06-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

I have took some time off since I have been home......I started to ride again yesterday, and I def. feel refreshed. Here is what the next part of the season has instore for me.
I am racing in Rome, GA like the weekend before Fitchburg. I will only be doing the ttt, and the crit, to loosen up for my next race which is Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, which is the biggest junior stage race in the country. I won a stage there last year, and finished 9th overall so hopefully I can improve from that, but the main focus for this race is to tune up the fitness, for one of my biggest races of the year. Which is L'Abitibi in Canada......It is a UCI junior stage race....There are no big mountians in this race so I feel like I can do well there. Next is nationals, and well nationals is nationals.

aj

Ky

2008-06-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

Kentucky turned out better then i thought. My legs felt a little better although not 100%. I opted not to do the tt, instead i opened my legs with the crit, which scared many racers away because it was like scary sketchy........I ended up suprising myself by winning it! The next day was the road race. I was working for my teammate Ty Magner, so part of my jobs was to cover the early moves. I ended up in a move with Alder from hottubes........We built up a led over 1 minuete. Shortly before the 2nd climb, Andrew Barker and Gavon Manion bridged up to us. At this point I started sitting on more, knowing that my current fitness was not going to hold up well against my 2 new breakaway companions.......Anyways the pack caught us on the 2nd climb and I was dropped, but caught up to the pack, and proceded to chase a whole lotta shit down.........When we hit the final climb of the day I punched my ticket and cruised on in.........Ty road strong staying with the select group untill the finish where he cramped but still managed a top 15.
I'm now resting up, getting ready for the 2nd half of the season, which includes races such as Fitchburg, L'abitibi, and Nationals.....
looking forward to getting back in shape,

aj

So..........

2008-06-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

I attempted a race this weekend......Notice I said attempted! I was DROPPED 20 miles into it.............Yea I have been training like hell and finally hit the wall....I never really new about overtraining, i always heard people talk about it but I never actually suffered from it untill now......It all started by doing 2 huge pro stage races in may....I felt shitty after those and following my coach's advice I took it easy for a while.......Well I started to feel better so against my coachs advice I hammer in the mountians last week...and I serously felt it in the race......I just couldn't respond to any hard efforts.....Im really bummed because next week is the junior world quilifier......I'm taking it easy this week and hoping to get my legs back under me, with a slight miricule i will be back for KY.........At this point all one is able to do is look at the positive side of this debacle....I learned my body's limits and after I recover I think I will be stronger then ever.....Definatly in time for nationals.......
A wise dude once told me..."You win some you lose some." Hopefully the one I lost was Roan Groan and not KY.
Another wise soul told me "Shit happens, you gotta flush it down the tolit and move on."
So I'm taking the positives, getting some masasuses, and moving forward.

AJET

Boyton World Championship!!!!!!

2008-05-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, you've heard right.....the Boyton World Championship ride is back starting this Thursday at 6:15!!!!!! This ride is in honor of North Georgia's famous mountian man Davey-Boy..... Davey Boy is stepping his game up from the mountians of GA to the mountians of Colorado.....So in honor of his departure were bringing back this famous ride.
So now for the history: This ride is were I first developed a taste and love of killing myself without any regard to the punishment of my body (in other words BIKE RACING) I would turn myself inside out for no rewards of any sort of cash value.....Nope the reward of Boyton is much more important.....Its the reward of pride and honor!!!! As a young wipper snapper I would consistantly get my ass whooped by the old legends of Chattanooga like Steve Carpenter, Ron Swope, my dad, Davey Boy, David Randolph, and everyone's arch rival's......THE TRIATHLETES!!!! They're a road racers worst nightmare.....They ride at the front hammering away for no cause except to cause pain on poor little kids like me......When I was a young boy I would be hanging on for dear life, cursing those damn triathletes and swearing revenge on them some day!!! So who were these peleton terrorist??? Well they went by the names of Marshall Martin, Jeff Gibson, and the king of all hammer heads...Keven Richerson AKA KR.....
So come witness the classic battle that will go down this Thursday......It's likely to be one that will be written in the legends along with Homer's great myths....

AJ

TOA

2008-05-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

So the tour of atlanta turned out to be the tour of toshiba.....Why you may ask........well here is why.....It consisted of 7 days, 3 crits, street sprints, flat rr, ttt, and a flat tt. Toshiba is the number 1 crit team in the country so this race was made for them. The tt was bad for me.....I think i couldve had a top 15, but Buford's finest directed me the wrong way on the course, when i got back they let me do it again but i was fried, and on the 2nd tt i rode to a average 26th place. The street sprints were ok....i got a time bonus but toshiba kicked my ass in the 2nd round. The next day was a twilight crit with a U-turn in it, so i got a shity start and half way through the race I got popped. The next stage was a ttt, our team started with 7 guys and u had to have 3 to finish. i felt strong was pulling well....Our team ended up finsihing with 3 guys and i was one of the three so i was happy....Our team was 5 seconds out of 3rd and the first ameture team so that was good.....in the rr a big break got up the road so we rode tempo at the front with rock racing and jittery joes, so that was badass....The pro guys gave us alota props....The break came back and i finished in the field.....The next day was another crit, and i tried mixing it up in the sprint but i just didnt hav my normal kick.....Ty did a hell of a job for tenth......I was really fried so the next day, and last stage i jumped in the cat 2/3 crit,....I still felt like shit, but managed to get 3rd........The real story in our man Chris Butler getting 5th overall!!!! And the first non NRC rider!!!!!! He also got 2nd in the tt behind John Murphy and right in front of Frank Traviso!

A damn good race for the team but I felt fried and did my best to help the team....I think racing like 14 times in the past 3 weeks might have something to do with it, so ima chill for a little while and hopefully come back strong as hell....Thats all i got for now,,,,,

aj

this week

2008-05-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Has been good........i got in about as good training as you can get while trying to recover from a big stage race and trying to stay fresh for another huge stage race.....Anyways I did a test up Fort Mountain and it was good.....I'm much stronger then last year, that is for sure......Tour of ATL is coming up.....I'll keep it posted.

aj

Joe Martin .....the rest

2008-05-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well to make a long story short..........I had a hell of a tt....but after that I didn't ride as well as i wanted.....The race was much harder then expected. In the 110 mile stage I was feeling strong but got popped on a 9 mile climb.....I'm really not to mad, because I don't train for 110 miles so I think it was the shere distance that got me......anyways I rolled in with the 2nd group. Nick rode strong and stayed in the lead group....The next stage was 100 miles and I felt strong making the split on the climb this time, but it all came 2gether for the final sprint which we had set up perfect with a damn good leadout train with me on Ty's wheel and Hutton on mine.. But with 400 meters left my front tire blew, and it screwed everything up....Oh well shit happens....You just gotta flush it down the tolit!!! The crit was horrible, it was more of a circuit race with a step climb....The 2 100 mile days got up with me and I blew....Nick finsihed in the lead group though placing 17th overall. On the bright side it was killer training.....Here are some stats....2nd day we average 24 mph, with a 9 miles climb in the course!!! 3rd day we avg 26 mph for 100 miles!!!! This race will pay off!

aj

Joe Martin Stage 1

2008-05-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

So I felt good went as hard as i could and got 13th.......Not bad. I'm the highest placed rider on the team and 40 seconds down on the leader.......On the bright side top 15 riders on gc gets paid. We got two 100 mile stages back to back coming up so maybe we'll make something happen.
I'll keep it updated,

aj

The Double!!!!!!!!

2008-05-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yep so this was probably one of the most successfull weekends of racing in a while.........I raced 2 crits this past weekend both being amoungst the biggest crits in the US. The first was Anniston so I'll just start my report with that one.

Anniston

Me an teammate Ben Gabardi lined up in the cat 2/3 field......We knew we had a shot at winning so from the start we were attacking like crazy.......I spent a good part of the race in multiple moves....Finally with 30min left in the race Ben got of the front with a huge gap.....I honestly thought my work was done, but with 4 laps to go Ben was reeled in.....so i positoned myself for the sprint, and with 1 to go Ben went to the front and pulled more and strung the field out....(this is after he just spent 20min solo of the front!!!!!!!) I came through thew last corner 5th wheel and just gave it hell all the way to the finsih line and gave out a total roid rage yell!!!! and crazy victory solute.........trust me though its not roids just an over due victory!!!!!

Roswell

We started this race with 5 guys......me Nick, Chris, Talbott, and Tyler...once again we attacked like crazy letting everyone know we were there........but like 20 minuetes in a 30 man pile up occured, with 4 of us being caught in it........We were all ok, but Chris's bike was screwed so he had to pull out.......When we got back into the race I was panicing cause the race was sketchy as a damn cat 5 race, but luckily teammate Tyler immedialty towed me to the front.......With one lap to go Talbott went to the front and totally killed it, when he pulled of Nick immeditlly took me to around 5th wheel through the last corner.....I once again started to sprint and started passing people.....I can remember thinking "Holy Sh**! I'm about to win again!" And so I completed the double,,,,,,actually I should re-phrase that, HINCAPIE/BARKELY DID THE DOUBLE!!!!!! Cause I wouldn't of have a snowballs chance in hell without the help of my teammates and sponsers..........

Also I wasn't the Only one to win this weekend......I was a small part of the Team's success.........Old man Carpenter pulled out the big W in the master's crit in Anniston in a field that included Frankie Andreau.....then took 2nd in the Master's crit in Roswell.......Veto also scored a top ten in that same race,,,,,,,,Ben Gabardi got a junior win in Anniston. But it doesnt stop there...........Chris Butler won the 2/3 race in Dillworth!!!!!!!!!!!! And Cinthea got 3rd in a huge women's field.............All I can say is that I am truely blessed to be on this team........

A heck of a weekend for the Hincapie/Barkley family!!!!!!!!
Hollar at everyone after Joe Martin

ps I hit a car during my warmup before the crit in anniston, but thats another story!

Athens

2008-04-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

So yea our team pretty much kicked ass.............in the morning races we put Chris in the winning move, and I got into a chase group......So everyone quilified for the nighttime race. After the pro race in the monring I decided to jump in juniors and help my teammates out.......I was pretty much wasted from the pro race but I did what I could.
So I got to the hotel and ressted up for the big show.....no not the one Bahatti from Rock Racing won, but the ameture one, which is still one of the hardest crits in the southeast......well the race got underway and we were covering all the moves, finaly Nick Housley got away with Eric Murphy.....we did a hell of a job covering moves in the field and disrupting the chase, In the end Nick got 2nd and the rest of us cruised in with the field......Great ride by Nick to put out team on the podium in one of the hardest crits in the southeast,
Next up Anniston and Roswell,
ill keep it posted,

aj

Crit Season!!!

2008-04-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

So its here.......got Athens this weekend......expect Team Hincapie Barkley to drop a bomb of whoop ass this weekend!!!!! I think we can def get a W this weekend, i feel decent so i'm hoping i'll pull something off. But anyways ima be busy here soon......here is a list of my upcoming races,
Athens
Anniston
Roswell
Joe Martin Stage Race

Ill keep it posted
aj

So here I am.............

2008-04-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Up here at my bro's college. Which is Sewannee...........riding up here couldn't be much better,,,,,,,,,,,climbs everywhere and no traffic....I love it. The food is killer as well..........Im training hard getting ready for the upcoming races, which are mostly crits, but thats cool I'm good at those anyways.
Thats all the good I knnow for now,

aj

Chatt GA Cup

2008-04-15T08:53:00.001-07:00

We started the weekend with a 5.5 mile tt Sat. morning. The conditions where great. I didn't feel great, but I rode a decent time, and got 21st. Our team road great with Chris Biutler getting 4th, and Nick Housley getting 7th. Going into the crit we weren't trying to do anything special, just mark moves, stay safe, and finish in the p-ack, it sounds like a reasonable goal, but this turned out to be a very hard feat to accomplsih. I felt great, but luck wasn't on my side. I got a flat, and got back in easily. With around 8 las to go I tried to position myself for the sprint finsih, again I had bad luck and just as I got into the top 10 my chain jumped and caused me to hit the curb breaking my dereailer. So I went to the pit, and the mechanic told me my bike was totaled but I jumped in anyways and road the last three laps stuck in my biggest gear and finsihed in the pack............Sundays 90 mile road race was one of the hardest I have done. Team Toshiba road tempo the whole race, keeping it together. On the last lap everyone was attcking and into the headwind section we were touching speeds of 40 mph!!! Many guys were dropped in thios section. We hit the climb already tired, and the pack killed it up the wall......the pack was split into many groups, our man Chris made it over in the winning break, Steve Carpenter killed hinself to put our 2nd highest placed rider, Nick, into the second group on the road. I was in the third group and we ended up catching the 2nd group- making it a select group of 25ish.... I just finished in the pack with Nick. Chris finished in the leading group.......Our team did and outstanding job, getting 2 men in the top 10. The annoucer kept saying this was the best field GA cup has ever seen. Six differant NRC teams were there, so I'm really proud to be apart of what our team did this weekend,

aj

Wow!

2008-04-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

I stole this quote from my teammate Dave Hutton's blog......

"I look up to Levi, but I don't have cycling idols," he said. "It's great to be racing with such good riders, but my idols are just normal people."
--Martin Erlandsson--

This is a great bit of words,,,,,,and i really relate to it and take it to heart.

aj

Gainsville

2008-04-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

So this was the 1st stage race of the year for me, and the 1st tt. I awoke sat. morning to rain, which lasted all day......That was cool with me i kinda like the shit weather.......but anyways, the tt went better then expected for me. I was the 1st rider off, so that sucked, but I ended up riding decent enough to finish 13th in a stacked pro field......even better was my teammate Chris Butler who finished 3rd behind John Murphy and Frank Traviaso. Nick also rode strong finishing 7th......Then the road race came an hour after the tt which was almost as crappy as the weather. Anyways it was hard for around the first 65 miles with no big moves getting away. By the last lap the field was down to around 30 riders and I made the selection and was feeling decent. Thats when the winning move got away and we didnt manage to stick a rider in it. With around 6 miles to go I flatted and since a break was up the road the wheel truck was with it....so i sat on the road in the rain until a nice soul picked my pissed off self and drove me back.......So going into the last day Chris was 4th 16 seconds outta 3rd....so we were trying to get him in a move, but the crit was probably the hardest i have done this year so we couldn't get him in one.....I tried to get in position for the sprint, but with 3 to go just as I was planning on intruding the Toshiba leadout train, big John Murphy Lunched a attack that keep the speed above 35mph the last 3 laps....I ended up getting 13th..........overall it was a good showing for the team.....hopefully we will get em in chatt town.

aj

First stage race of the year.........

2008-04-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

is coming up this weekend.........Also it will be my first tt so we'll see how it goes......The Hincapie Barkley is bringing a strong team to Gainsville so watch out....hopefully we will get a good result......training is good......i got a small issue going on with my knee but hopefully i will get over that fast. I'll update after the race,

aj

Nothing like.................

2008-03-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Riding close to 4.5hrs in the cold and pouring down rain!

Another Podium..."big thanks to Matt Winstead....lol!"

2008-03-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Me an my teammate David T. went down to Alabama on Sat. to race a circuit race held on a race track. Its a great course with many sweeping turns and three small hills, one coming 600 meters before the finish and was made difficult by a stiff headwind. So we started the race with a plan of marking all major moves, and if the peleton was still together at the end, David was gonna attack the last lap, and I was gonna do my thing in the sprint. There was a solid field, with big guys like Matt Winstead (Inferno Racing) and Micheal Olhieser (Multi world master champ). My legs felt like shit thanks to me, my brother, and my friends hike to the very debts of hell and back.......Actually it was an awesome hike, but thats another story. So the race got underway with me and Dave marking all the moves, once dave, matt, and micheal got of together and i thought that they were gone, but they were reeled in and I countered wit some other dude, and we were actually gone for a good 10 min or so.....but the other dude gave up and sat up, but me, I kept my head down and drove on into the wind like a true idiot.....soon enough I was caught, and I settled back into the field. It was really uneventful until the last lap were 2 guys were off the front, one being local Chatt. rider and good friend Jon M. from the Krystal team. I really thought these guys had it in the bag, until good ole teammate David made a strong move with a half a lap to go. All the big boys were on this move, and it ended up good for me because we caught the break, and it came to a mass sprint. The sprint was downhill, so I worked with what I had and overcame a shitty position to finish 3rd.....not bad since my legs were crappy.......Well I'm gonna try to get some good training in the next few weeks and get into shape, so that I can hopefully turn all these top 3's into wins!!!!!!! Big thanks to David for setting me up perfectly for the sprint.
holla holla holla

aj

CRAP!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

Thats what I think about the UCI and ASO.........I can't express how pissed off I am with their bitching with each other.......Its absolute shit. They say doping will tear this sport apart! Hell a bunch of guys in suits are just as close to f***ing this sport over then doping. Its even more painful to see the disagreements when this sport is my future career of choice. Politics suck.

aj

jus chillin

2008-03-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

yep........i've jus been chillin latly, trying to stay healthy and all.......I got a race this weekend.....hopefully I can do alrite, I havent been training all that hard lately, I got a little sick so I have been resting up and just spinning the legs.....I'm going to my bros college this weekend and hanging out with some friends then racing on sat......Planning on some good training this week.....thats all the good I know now,

aj

another good weekend

2008-03-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

So Friday i was sitting in Spanish class dreading the 40k tt i had on Sat. Thankfully i receaved a text from my dad asking me if its cool if we bail out of the tt and go skiing in Ohio. So I was like hell yeeee!!!!!!! But the buzz was immeditly killed by my evil teacher who scolded me for having my phone out the procedded to take it.....Damn that women!!!!!!! So now i got 2 days of ISS this week.....BOOO!!!!!!!! but anyways I went skiing sat. in a monstorous blizzard. Drove back today and stopped in Maryville for a crit. I was not expecting much since i hadnt been able to drive the past 2 days aside from a 30min cruise on the hotel bike. I started the race and former teammate Geri Mewwit went away. I knew this was a dangerous move and I tried to bridge but couldnt make it. I settled in the field hoping I could get a move off.........With around ten minuetes to go me, Dirk, Brad Spears, Kent Bowstik, and some other dude got away......Geri then lapped the field and came up with us..........With like 4 to go me an Geri attacked the break. With 2 laps to go Dirk bridged, and we were gone. It was a down hill finish so i knew i had to find away to get away from Dirk to secure my 2nd place, so on bell lap as we were lapping the field I attacked through a conner cutting off pretty much hafe the field(sorry guys) but it gave me a gap i needed to score a 2nd place finish.......my new best result in a pro race...............Thats it for now..........hollar at ya boy!
aj

btw mad props to Geri for killing us all!!!

GOOD WEEKEND!

2008-03-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

So the road race sat. was 75 miles. A rolling course was made hard with winds from hell!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah George Hincapie was there as well which made the race harder then the fierce winds. Some dude from Bissel was there as well, and this dude was the guy that was in the break with George on the stage of Cali that was cold and windy, so he was a beast. I ain't gonna lie, it was a bit intimidating lining up against 2 guys fresh of tour of cali. There were over 100 starters, and many pro teams. There was an early break that got over 2min. rather fast. George was taking monster pulls through the cross winds, splitting the pack. Thanks to my Euro experiences I was able to stay in the front an avoid the splits. Unfortunately my teammates Steve and Talbott got caught in a last lap split and got popped. With about 7 miles to go the early break was reeled in and George was up front making my life a living hell. My neck was cramping(not sure how that happens), but thankfully my legs held out through the last c cross wind section. with around 5k I positioned myself for the sprint. It was a fight though I nearly went down twice while fighting for position but held it up. Going into the last 1k I had good position sitting about 8th and George was giving a killer lead out. At like 250meters the bissel guy and Thad Dullen opened up the sprint. 2 guys in front of me popped so I went around them but couldn't quit close the gap to them so i battled it out with the field and ended up 3rd overall!!!! Def. 1 of my best results in my life. I was happy........but damn that race was hard!

Sun

I raced juniors in the early morning road race. It was a good field for an American junior race with close to 50 riders, I bridged to the break with 1 lap to go and attacked out of it to get a solid victory! My teammate Evan held of the break for 2nd place. Another Hincapie Berkley 1/2! In the pro race that afternoon I pulled out halfway through caused my legs were trashed, and its to early in the year to kill myself.......Overall a good weekend,

aj

Hincapie Berkley's 1st win of the year!!!!!!

2008-02-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Im looking at the ground for whatever reason in this photo, but yea thats me an Gabardi going 1-2.

FIRST RACE WEEKEND

2008-02-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

Sat.

This was a 56 mile rolling circuit race, nothing bad as far as terrian, but the wind made up for the lack of hills. Our team covered many of the early attacks, but the days break slipped away without anyone from the team in it. Me, Nick, and Dave went up and set tempo for 30min or so, with the Time team, we brought the gap down, but didn't have the firepower or fitness to reel them in, but hell its Feb, so i aint worried. Anyways the wind made this normally easy race, hard as crap. I was happy to just finish in the field that got reduced from around 100 riders to only about 30 main field finishers. My teammate David Talbott launched an attack around 5k out and held of the main group for an 8th place finish. All an all I accomplished what I wanted to do, and woke the legs up for Sundays race.

Sun.

Juniors
Me, Ben, and Tyler did the juniors race in the morning to wake our legs up for the latter races. Me and Ben ended up attacked with a group of 4 and dropped both riders. We came across the line together with our hands up. (may sound gay, but felt cool) Tyler controlled the field really well, and finished up 4th.

Pros
My job in this race was to stay on the attacks, and if nothing got away, be apart of Ty's lead out train. So I pretty much followed alot of moves, and rode my ass into the ground. If only a break would've worked because the team had a guy in every move. Anyways the whole leadout thing fell through because we had Chris in a move that looked like it was gonna stay away, and didnt get caught till three to go. At that time, Ty had gotten on Geri Mewett's wheel, so when I learned this I decided to wing the sprint, and see if my sprint had survived the long winter. Needless to say it survived, actually it got a hell of alot better. I finished 4th in the race, which i thought was good, considering my legs were trashed, and it was a fast sprint so junior gears totally screwed me (I think thats all my excuses!). Overall a good result for such an early race with a stacked field. Thats bout it,

aj

Killa Days!

2008-02-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

Yea the past 2 days i've logged in a total of 8.5hrs......i'm taking advantage of our week off from school. Today I did a crazy ass ride with fellow teammate and coach, steve. I even wore a helmet in honor of Hutton's scolding in the last post lol! But anyways we rode out to this climb that was hard as hell (try like 15% for the first mile, and it dosent get much easier!) Yet as bad as the climb was, the road up that god-forbidden mountain was worse. So I finally make it to the top of this mountain only to be rewarded by an 8 mile ride on some rancid dirt road. Despite all the bitching and moaning it turned out to be a fun ride. A little over 4hrs. I'm really sore, so i'll probably just take it easy and try to get my legs back under me for the races this weekend. thats all the good i know,

aj

Good Weekend

2008-02-18T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yep. Had a cool ride this weekend up near Brasstown Bald. Three big climbs, three hrs. I took the crappy picture on top of Hogpen. But anyways, first race of the year this coming weekend......its gonna hurt. I don't have school this week, so expect to see many posts and hopefully i will ride a lot, if i'm as bored as i'm thinking i'll be.

aj

TEAM CAMP

2008-02-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

Was great!!!!!! Great times, riding and exc. The Hincapie Barkley team is looking great! First off we got our new team bikes. I have rode a lot of differ bikes and this one is the BEST BY FAR! Stiff as hell and lighter then a feather! Anyways we did a good ride sat. that was around 4hrs. We did some good paceline work and a few other efforts but nothing killer.......That night we went to a HEADSTRONG presentation which was amazing......its crazy the things you can improve without ever stepping foot on a bike.....we learned all kinds off usefull mental things.....Sunday we did tts up Paris mnt........I rode decent.....felt like shit but thats expected this time of year. I actually impressed myself. It was one a my few efforts of the 08 season, and i managed to go sub 10 on the climb and avg 375 watts.....not so bad for weighing 148.....Anyways that moves me on to the next topic..........CHRIS BUTLER (i think thats how you spell his name) any how he is our newest teammate. We heard he was a strong climber, but we had no clue......The prodigy rode 9:01 up the climb!!!!!! For those how don't know how significant that time is i will enlighten your mind. George Hincapie's, yes the same George who won Plat'de something, best time is 8:56!!!!! Man its gonna be a killer year for the team..........A big thanks to Rich, Dave. both steve's, Randy, and all the other Greenville guys who made this camp and team happen!

aj

Training this week..............

2008-02-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

Has been pretty good........Last week I was sick for around 4-5 days which completely sucked....I didn't eat or anything. I'm finally starting to feel healthy again..I did a great ride today with my teammate David T.....We had to set out dreadfully early since I had some plans for the night....anyways we rolled out at 10:30 and did 4hrs, and like 3 climbs......I got some good tempo in on the climbs.....at first my legs felt dreadful but after a while they started to wake up......anyways the season is damn near here which I'm really excited for. I won't be in shape for the early races but I'm still looking forward to getting back in the peleton, and doing what i can for the fit guys on the team.......hopefully we'll pull out a W in the early season pro races....I know the cat 3 guys on the team will dominate!!! I swear they are so strong...If there was a cat. 3 tour de france we would probably win it! lol......well hope everybody is staying healthier then me.

aj