Race Day!

So, today was my first road race of the season.  It was also Daniel's first bike race!  The race was the Great Forest Park Bicycle Race.  It was a beautiful day to be in the park, with the temperature in the 70's and low 80's. 

Daniel and I at his first race!

As for the race, I actually felt really good.  My goals today were #1, not to get dropped and #2, make it through the race without crashing.  Early season criteriums are notorious for sketchy riding and lots of crashes. 

Our team strategy today was to have a couple of us up front attacking and keeping the pace high.  More than anything, we are feeling out working together and taking control of the race from the other teams.  I think that we executed it pretty well.  Brady, Barrett, and I were all at the front for most of the race.  I had a few good digs off the front and we forced some of the other teams to burn their cards and chase us down.  I actually had really good legs today.  This was encouraging, because one of my goals for this road season is to win a race by attacking off the front.  I marked an attack with two laps to go and tried to put something together with the other guys up there.  Ultimately, we got caught and I sat up in the last lap.  I wasn't about to risk it sprinting for 20th place... 

Like I said earlier, early season crits are notorious for crashes.  Unfortunately, two of my teammates went down hard today.  Chris got pushed into the curb and thankfully, landed on soft dirt that broke most of his fall.  Jim was not that lucky.  He got taken out by someone coming across the field and crashed horribly.  He ended up breaking his collarbone and has a partially collapsed lung.  To make matters even worse, he was just coming back from breaking his OTHER collarbone during the first cyclocross race of the season.  Jim is a good friend and a heck of a bike racer when he's healthy, so I feel really bad for him.   Today was a grim reminder that cycling can be a very dangerous sport.

My next race is two weeks away.  It's the dreaded Hillsboro-Roubaix road race.  This is the most popular race in the region and takes place on lots of rugged, crappy farm roads around Hillsboro, IL.  There are also a couple of killer climbs and some cobblestones thrown in for good measure.  I'm predicting a 3 hour sufferfest...  

D.J.

Wow, twice in the same week???

First, I've got to post one of my new favorite pictures of  the little man...

He got this hat as a hand me down from our friends the Smiths in Portland and it cracks me up whenever he wears it.  He looks like some kind of gold prospector or Siberian fur trader or something. 


 In other news, I'm trying to get back into shape for road racing season.  My first race is coming up this Sunday and I've been trying to accumulate some base mileage and transfer my fitness from the high intensity, short efforts of cyclocross to the longer burn/suffering of road racing.  We've got a new sponsorship deal, new team structure, and lots of new racers this year and I'm really excited about what we'll be able to do.  Here is a picture of our new kits.  I can't wait for them to come in.

Last night was the last session of one of my classes for school.  Now I only have 3 more classes until I graduate! I'll be able to walk in May and will have to finish up one class independent study over the summer because SLU canceled it due to lack of enrollment.  I'm so close to finally being done, yet it seems like it's still really far away!


Random post, I know. That's it for now, adios...

D.J.

So, I just remembered that I have a blog...

Wow, lots of things have gone on since I posted my first (and only) blog post. Most importantly, Margo and I were blessed with Daniel, our beautiful son. He was born on November 22nd and weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds! He's changed our life so much (in a positive way) and I love spending time with him. My favorite times with him are early in the morning when he wakes up and it's just the two of us. He's very responsive when we interact with him and we get lots of smiles and laughs when we talk to him and make funny faces. I like to call him my "little muchacho".

Here are a few pictures of the little man...It's amazing how much you can love someone!

Keepin' it real with his mini hipster hat

Sweet little muchacho, at 2 weeks old

Best nap ever...

Other big thing since my last post is that cyclocross season came and went. This is my favorite kind of bike racing and I actually had a pretty good year. This year, I decided to man up and try to race in a tougher class than I did last year. Racing with faster guys paid off and I had some decent results. I also had the opportunity to travel to Louisville to race on the future world championships course, which was a cool experience. Here are some of my favorite cyclocross pics...

The g-ride

Jumping the barriers with my teammate Brady, right before he dropped me like a bad habit...









Probably my best result of the year, I came in 10th in the second day of a 2-day race weekend @ Creve Coeur Park in St. Louis.









Racing the single-speed event at the US Grand Prix event in Louisville. I was reminded why they invented bikes with multiple gears...








This is probably the best cyclocross picture I have. I actually emailed the photographer and had him send me a print. Basically, 'cross is an excuse for grown men to go out and play in the mud, and this picture perfectly captures the essence of the sport.

That's all for now folks. Hopefully it won't be another 8 months before my next post. Of course, now that Margo has her own blog, I'll have to stay on top of it so that I can one-up her...

D.J.