This winter I’ve started getting coached by the UMCT team president, Logan Grace. We’ve had a casual relationship so far, and he pushes me to work harder than I might if I was self coached. I started training pretty late this year, but I’ve found a bit of form this year and am enthused by the first several results of the season.
In other news, I will no longer be racing for Donkey Label this season. I’m disappointed to not be racing with them, but now I recognize that a team that doesn’t honor the commitments and dedication of their riders is a team that I don’t want to be a part of. So I’m exploring my options and considering riding unattached/doing some guest riding this year.
That’s a life update, but lets get into spring break. Every year the team goes on an extended training camp over spring break, and this year we woke up at 4 am to drive the 14 hours to the beautiful city of Boulder. We raced across the Nebraskan country side in a Ford Transit 10 passenger van and arrived the early evening.
The next days were a blur of training, gravel, snow, ice, rain, heat. Boulder is 10 minutes by bike away from the start of the mountains and because of that, each day, we biked west into the mountains for thousands and thousands of feet of climbing. I won’t get too detailed but below are a few pictures of the highlights of the trip.
Bouldering at sunrise
Looked at a lot of butts-namely Chase’s and Logan’s
The ‘A’ Squad of Chase, Logan, Calder, and I
A lot of very gnarly gravel-so much fun.
‘Thank you and goodbye”
Boulder from Flagstaff Mountain
Boulder was great. Beautiful people, good food, Guy Fieri endorsed restaurants, an awesome downtown, beer scene, and cool college campus. I want to move there but I checked Craigslist for apartments and it’s not cheap.
Friday we packed up and drove to Fort Collins for a 67 mile road race. It was an intense, windy Kermesse style race with a 2k gravel section that was won by way of gradual attrition. We didn’t make the break but all made the chase group, with me and Logan making the final selection-Logan ended up 6th, I think, 2nd behind the break, and I rolled in last in the chase group for 11th.
The legs are good. The weather is looking up. I don’t have a job lined up, unlike most people I go to school with, but I have faith it’ll work out. I’m still deciding on my bike racing priorities but I know one thing-I want to be fast. And I want to do a lot of things this summer.
Jack
Jack Niewold 