Taking a Bow

This week I raced 2 races, the first race I did was race #3 of a 5 race series in Provo Utah. As I was warming up I knew that today wasn’t my day and that the course didn’t suit my style/skill of racing very well. The race started and I immediately realized that we were playing for keeps as I got cut off and shoved into a tree. The course was full of switchbacks and hard U-turns (no exactly what a roadie wants to see). Within 2 laps the leaders broke away from the rest of the field. When I saw leaders I mean the 3 full time professional cross racers, the state champ, and the national champ. Once they were out of sight I tried and tried again to get into the groove of this course but failed…miserably. While passing through the start finish line I tried to ride on my pedal to long before unclipping to jump over a few barriers. All I’m going to say is that I learned my lesson it is better to have to take an extra step or two rather than coast and hit the barrier. When I hit the grass I realized that not only had I destroyed my gap on the 4 guys that were chasing me, but that I had done this in front of all of the spectators and my family. I jumped to my feet, took a bow, laughed it off and started to pedal for my life once again. This experience taught me that even when we have made a mess of our lead in life that we need not hesitate to get back on our bikes, because laying on the floor will only set you back longer. I was able to finish the race and managed to take 10^th place overall, I was able to hold off 2 guys from passing me but due to a bell lap cramp I knew my chances of finishing higher were over.

On Saturday I race Moose Cross in Victor Idaho, this was the first cross race that I had ever competed in and it also marked my one-year anniversary of racing CX. In the past year I have managed to stand on the podium over a dozen times which is an accomplishment in itself. However this race has always appealed to me because it is one of the closest races to where I go to school and I’m good friends with most of the event organizers. Going into the race I knew I was a marked man because 3 of my opponents were buddies of mine from the road season. This year I managed to win all of the races in Idaho Falls against these guys and knew that they were planning on giving me a run for my money! As soon as the gun went off the chaos began, although I didn’t have to “take a bow” this course was full of its own demons like a 20+ foot run-up with steps in it that were 2-3 feet in height, lose dry berms, and a set of 3 barriers in a row. My bike is light but after racing this course for 60 minutes every time I had to carry my bike I felt like my arms were going to fall off. On the last lap I was able to catch 2 racers that were in front of me, and somehow ride myself into 8^th place overall. But the stat that I’m most proud of is that I rode the fast lap time of the entire day 4:30 flat and it was on my last lap (the next close lap time was 4:43). This week has taught me many things about life and racing such as the fact the tire pressure really does matter, and that you are never actually warmed up for a race. I know that I have a ton of room for improvement and feel like this will come with experience. After all I have only been racing for a year!

Here are a few photos from the P-town race in Provo and Moose Cross in Victor, Idaho

Enjoy and please remember to let me live them down!

Common People

 In our family we have a phrase that we use to describe those people that are obviously better than the rest of us common people, we call them “the beautiful people”. Today I was thinking about the idea that someone can become better than someone else because of his or her clothes, or heritage. While I was thinking about how backwards this notion is, I realized that the only think that separates myself from being a so-called “beautiful person” is my own opinion. I take pride in the fact that I’m not star material and that I probably never will be. While reflecting on this idea I remembered a song from the band Pulp entitled “Common People”. I found the lyrics and official music video to be extremely funny; the girl in the song is obviously an uptown girl who thought it would be an adventure to test out the lifestyles of the lower class.

When I think of “beautiful people” the palace of Versailles in France comes to mind. While we were visiting the palace grounds we stopped by a “small” house that Marie Antoinette had built so that she could live like a common person and escape the fame and stardom that she must of experienced while living at the main palace. Marie called this small cottage “Hameau de la Reine” which translates to The Queens Hamlet. This cottage was very different from the type of life that she must have lived while within the walls of Versailles. When the Queen sought refuge at her peasant life she did everything in her power to make the experience more realistic. She would dress in “common people” clothes and preformed many daily tasks that most would considered unfit for a person of royalty especially the Queen. She would clean along side her servants, and even helped milk cows and collect fresh eggs. Unfortunately the people in the surrounding village didn’t think to highly of Marie’s second life, and in the end she was executed for lavish lifestyle and total disregard for all people.

Marie Antoinette's Hameau de la Reine

 There's nothing wrong with being a common person!

The TDF and ERC Crit Series

Well July is just around the corner which means only one thing too me the TOUR DE FRANCE. This year I’m placing all my money on the young Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp). Although many people don’t think is yellow jersey material I cant help but want to see a Canadian on the highest level of the podium in Paris. As for teams I would love to see team Radioshack save there season but I’m rooting for Team Sky. I can’t wait to see the battle between Cav and Saagan. Its going to be a battle for blood on everyday of the this years tour.

Here is Team Sky’s pre tour training video!

On another note I have been doing a lot of racing over the last few week, I have done over 20 races this season and my body is starting to feel it. I recently upgraded to cat 3 and have been taking my body to the limits of pain and suffering. I just won our Tuesday Night crit series in Idaho Falls and am getting ready to race the Allen Butler Crit and RR next weekend. Hopefully my form is there because last year I took second and I’m looking to take my revenge on this course. Its fast and technical and favors my style of racing. Here are a few pictures that Allison snapped over the last few weeks. 

Sugar House Crit

This last weekend I had the privilege of doing my COTBR kit a great honor by winning the Sugar House crit in downtown Salt Lake City. The course was a fast, smooth, windy circuit through a small park in the city of Sugar House (relatively close to Wheeler Farm where I’ve done several cross races). The course had two decent power hills in it that weren’t crazy step but were more than capable of causing some damage to the peloton. The race started off at a blistering pace from the get go, teams were launching attacks constantly and we were no exception. I tried to get into an early break away but that failed quickly. The other teams weren’t letting anyone stay away for too long for fear of having them stay away. 


When the last lap bell was rung the pace jumped up from at 26 mph pace to a 30+ mph pace. My teammate Cadman knew that this was going to come down to mass sprint unless he did something. Before the base of the first hill I saw he move to the front and knew that an attack was coming so I moved up and got into a good position. When we hit the hill Cadman dropped the hammer and shattered the field with a massive attack, I somehow managed to grab 6^th position and stay with the main group. Cadman lead the remaining members of the peloton up until the base of the final hill. The finish line was at the top of this hill and I was feeling great and my positioning couldn’t have been better. A window opened up at the base of the hill when Cadman pulled off and I knew that I had to go. I shifted down got out of the saddle and gave it my all. It came down to a 2 man sprint between Dom and myself we battled it out for over 100 meters at close to 40 mph, when we reached the line I threw the bike forward and my wheel crossed just a few inches before his did. Ty and Allison told me that it was so close that they didn’t know who won until the announcers reviewed the camera footage and announced it over the loud speakers. For some reason I knew that I had won, while I was doing my warm down lap I received several congratulations from fellow racers as well as Cadman. I know that my win is because of Cadman’s early attack. All I can say is I love riding for the big ring, and having teammates who are willing to sacrifice their race for the well being of a teammate. I look forward to repaying the favor to my fellow teammates and especially Cadman. I know that winning races is a rarity so I plan on riding on this cloud for as long as I can!

Cheers 53:11

P.S. Two days later Cadman raced the Utah State TT Championship and won by over a minute! 
Sugar House Crit by tatelitchfield at Garmin Connect - Details

Racing my bike

A Racers Dream

So it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything and a lot has happened. In the past 4 weeks I have done 5 races and I’m starting to feel like I’ve got the hang of the racer lifestyle. It involves sleepless nights in the back of your car, changing in public bathrooms, eating lots of fast food, and getting gas. My most recent racing was in Bear Lake Utah. We had a short 3.5-mile hill climb on Friday night (which I took 2^nd in) and then a road race on Saturday morning around the perimeter of Bear Lake. The road race was really interesting there were over 60 racers in my category. The first half of the race was very slow and uneventful. However, once we hit the East side of the lake where the rollers began so did the attacks. At the base of the first hill 2 buddies and myself attempted to get away from the peloton but we were unsuccessful. One thing that I’ve noticed about cat 4 is that the peloton will chase down every little move making a breakaway almost impossible. After I recovered I noticed a small kid working his way to the front I thought to myself this kid is going to go and I’m going to stick his wheel and help him out. Sure enough I was right and found myself pedaling as fast as I could to make this break stick. We stayed away for nearly 7 miles just the 2 of us. But it 50+ angry racers destroyed our dreams of a breakaway victory. Once we were caught it came down to a massive sprint to the finish I picked the most perfect guy to lead me out.  I started the sprint in about 22^nd position and ended up in 6^th. Overall it was a brutal weekend of near vomiting experiences cheap food and good times. Plus I now have all the points I need to get my upgrade its just a matter of me getting the confidence to do so. 

Here are a few random pictures and my garmin reports from the road race that Allison and myself  took over the last few weekends.

Home for the night...thank you church parking lot

Bear Lake

All these numbers are gonna look good in the garage

Bear Lake RR by tatelitchfield at Garmin Connect - Details

Las Vegas Gran Fondo

Yesterday I finished one of the hardest races of my life! It was called the Las Vegas Gran Fondo it consisted of 8000 feet of climbing and nearly 100 miles of pure unadulterated pain and suffering. My Dad signed me up for it about 2 months ago because he was somehow talking into it by Tanner (one of the guys that we ride with here in Vegas). We got to the start line just before 7am and started to prepare ourselves more mentally that physically for what was in store for us. The first part of the ride went through red rock, then we had to climb Mt. Potosi (which is often refered to as the last great giant of souther spring mountains of Southern Nevada) then climb Lovell Canyon. Once we reached the summit of the canyon which consisted of 22 mile of pave and had 2 dirt sections we had to turn around and then re-climb the back side of Mt. Potosi then ride through blue diamond and then back into the valley. I rode extremely well and was able to get into a break of 3 guys at the base of Mt. Potosi we worked together the entire race and were able to put about 6 minutes into the chase group when we reached the turn around point which was Lovell canyon. I was the first rider to reach the summit and when I got there the guys at the aid station said "what are you doing here so early?". It was kind of funny because they were completely unprepared and didn't have anything set up for us. The ride back down Lovell canyon was some of the roughest most shaky road I have ever experienced in my life and Im from Idaho where we take our bike on dirt fire roads. The roads were so bad that my water bottle cage fell off my bike! After suffering the heinous winds of the backside of the last great giant we started the long decent back into town. With about 8 miles to go I realized that the chances of me putting up a sub 5.5 hour ride were very likely however, in order to achieve that goal I knew I was going to have to drop the hammer. I conversed with the 2 other guys that were in the break with me and we decided that we were going to give it our all even though one of the guys wasn't looking to hot. After my first pull one of the guys fell off the back and then there were only two. We raced through the city at top speed throwing caution to the wind. I finished first with a time of 5:23:30. Not only did I win the race but I was able to set a new course record.

Here are a few pictures from my race along with my gamin info.

Enjoy

53:11

Props to Tanner and my old man for putting up great times!

UVU Road Race

This last Saturday March 24, I raced the UVU road race. It was my first time wearing my new teams jersey so I wanted to do my best and prove to these guys that I was worth of being called a member of the "Church of the Big Ring". The team set up a nice plan pre-race in which I would attack on the climb and those who had the energy after leading me out on the climb would attempt to stay with the break way. Riding with a team was a whole lot more enjoyable that having to ride unattached like I have done in previous years and races. Plus the COTBR has a very respectable reputation and is know for consisting of a team of hard workers who aren't afraid to take their turn on the front. The peloton stayed together until we hit the base of the climb it was at that moment that everyone got into position and the hammer was dropped. My teammates launched several hard attacks on the peloton breaking it up a bit. Once all of my team members had done all they could to get a gap on the peloton it was my turn to climb like a mad man. It was a grueling climb that seemed like it would never end. I went so hard that at the top of the mountain I honestly felt like I was going to throw up. However, even after summating I knew that there was no time to lose or waste recovering because 30+ riders were aching to get back in the race. We started what turned out to be one of the most intense descent's of my life it was 9 miles of pure adrenaline. My gears were completely spun out and all I could do to stay with the break way was remain in the aero position. We then proceeded to play cat and mouse for the remaining 20 miles of the race were one person would launch a big attack and then everyone would react. I launched 2 attacks in an effort to try and wear out the 3 sprinters that caught us on the decent because I knew that there was no chance of beating them with 300 meters to go. When we finally saw the 1 mile to go sign things started to get tense and pushy. The speed increased and so did the stakes we were all exhausted and knew that this was still anyones race. With 1/4 mile remaining I got into a big gear and prepared myself for the pain that was soon to come. When I went to sprint I felt two Charlie horse of the worst kind start in each of my calves and work there way into the backs of my knees. Just when I thought I couldn't take the pain any longer I cross the finish line. I finished 3rd in my category and 7th overall. Aside from the gnarly sunburn, I think I made my team proud and feel like I rode a solid race. It was a great event and I look forward to riding it next year.

Cheers, Tate
53:11

This is my garmin info from the race and a few pictures that I snapped off my iphone.