the wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

The weather has been pretty up and down here in PC. We are on about a 5 day cycle, alternating between February and July. Today snow is falling, three days ago it was 75 degrees. Regardless of the weather, motivation has been high to get out and turn the pedals. Bike racing is a lot of fun. The days and races are anything but routine, it is all so new and exciting. Competing with fresh eyes and mind is really refreshing.

Last weekend was an off weekend, no races on the calendar. Myself and four other teammates made the trek to Moab for some warmer weather and a change of scenery. The first day we road through Canyonlands out to Dead Horse Point. The ride out was mellow and enjoyable. After a short break to check out DHP we headed home, straight into the wind. Wind means paceline and paceline seems to, more often than not, mean the hammer is about to fall. and it did. We crushed the ride back for probably 40 minutes. I don't think any of us could have ridden any faster. fortunately i flatted, one of the few times in my life i will be 'fortunate' to flat. we had to stop to change tubes quickly and that meant an end to hammering. we sailed in the last 5 miles to the car, total time around 3 hours. it was awesome to ride with friends in such a sweet place.

the next day we road the famed la sal loop, an epic climb that takes close to an hour and a half to the top. again, the hammer fell when we hit the uphill. it was brutal but at the top, the sights were worth it. the snow on the mountain tops constrasting with the red sandstone of canyonlands below is really something. from the top of the loop there is a long fast decent to castle valley. the ride out from castle valley is long and rolling, and into the wind. wind=paceline=hammer down. another 45 minutes of crushing it and we were all toast but the day was still young. we rode a few short spurs out of moab and headed home for a near 5 hour ride.

the last day we started out with a few spurs and some light spinning, we met the rest of our group at the entry to Arches National Park and road in. more wind, more paceline, more hammer falling. and on a climb out of the park, the joy ride turned into a full on race. i wasn't too psyched about it but it was a good push to get the group back together and spin back home. another 5 hour day in the books.

I was super tired after the weekend so i took a couple days easy. tuesday was two rides totalling 4 hours but easy the whole time with a few accelerations. wednesday i did some uphill intervals at threshold to get my legs ready for the weekends race. i took thursday off and friday a few intervals with world wide superstar, nordic combined world champion and now cat 1 road racer, bill demong. we hammered for about 12 minutes in total to open all systems up.

Saturday, yesterday was the East Canyon Road Race. a 60 mile race for everyone. its basically 45 miles of riding to get to the where the race really happens. then a 15 minute uphill grind, a 10 minute flat in the wind and brutal 300m steep uphill sprint finish.

i felt really comfortable in the pack this time. i just chilled the whole time. i had to bring back a few breaks but it didn't require much effort, but it was neccessary to make sure we hit the big hill together. when we got there, i moved up the side quickly. got to the front and started the click down one and spin, cycle. by that, i mean i shift down one gear (harder) and work up to the point where i can spin it, spin for 10 seconds and drop one more. its a good way to build speed up a hill and not over amp it. the changing cadence is also nice on the legs. after about 30 seconds of work, i had the field down to 7 and after another 30 it was 3 of us. i had it in me to go away from the last two but with a 10 minute, wide open flat afterwards, there wasn't much incentive. at that point i just dragged us up the hill, building time over the pack and keeping the other two on my wheel. when we hit the flats we started a good paceline and kept the speed high past the lake. by the time we got to the uphill, i could tell the other two were done. i slapped it into the big ring and let it all out. i crushed myself. i haven't hurt like that in a while but it was worth the win.

this week: more riding. next weekend: more racing. rinse and repeat as neccessary.

below are some pics from moab that i took with an old school 35mm film camera and a couple from the race that my buddy Jeremy took.

note the grin on my brother. I was not grinning.
leading the charge uphill.




la sal loop road, top of the climb.
canyonlands.

team.

Tour of the Depot (Stage Race in Tooele, UT)

This past weekend I did my first ever stage race on a road bike. It was pretty exciting to give it a try and I was really looking forward to the time trial. Until this weekend I had never even ridden a time trial bike but I was anxious to give it a try.

I was lucky enough to borrow a bike from a friend that fit me pretty well. I approached the race like a ski race, pacing and all. It only took a few minutes (like two) before I caught the guy 30 seconds ahead of me, another minute or two and I passed the guy who started 1 minute ahead of me and that trend continued. I passed 5 people over the 9 mile course and finished with plenty of power left. I really had no idea how i would stack up but I felt good about the effort. It turned out to be a decent one, I won the cat 4 race by a healthy 30 second margin and would have finished mid-pack in the 1/2's. I was satisfied and now I can't wait to go train a bit on a TT bike and try to do even better.

The second stage was a circuit race, 5 laps of a 5 mile course. The finish was a very fast (45+mph) gradual downhill, not exactly my strong point but I was ready to go. My first goal was to not concede any time in the overall, second goal was to win. I road conservatively for a few laps and figured out who the faster guys in the field were. Towards the end I put myself into good position to launch a sprint. As we came near my instinct told me to go and i went, i took off from the front with about 200m to go, only to realize that I had timed it wrong again and was passed by a few racers in the last 100m. Timing a sprint on a bike is much different than a ski race, it really takes patients, and after two botched sprints in 7 days (one earlier at the RMR Criterium on Tuesday) I vowed to not do that again... I maintained a 25 second lead in the GC going into Sunday.

Sunday was a 54 mile road race. It was pretty uneventful aside from the few racers close to me in the GC, who all happened to have teammates, trying to pin me in the corner and attack off the front. Not of them worked out so it came down to a field sprint. I sat patiently at the front and waited until 100m this time. When I when for it I was gone but there was one guy who came from the far side of the field with a lot of speed and about 40 lbs on me, good for another downhill finish. He nipped me at the line but I tied down second and grabbed the overall.

It was a great weekend and I am psyched to be able to race with the Cole Sport team. Another few months of racing and I should be a Cat 2, at which point I will actually be able to race WITH the team in the same races. I'm really looking forward to that.

Lost in the Vortex.

I'm not sure what happened last weekend but in terms of this blog, nothing happened. I totally forgot to create a post. I suppose it could have had something to do with the fact that I was probably lost somewhere in San Francisco while I should have been posting something here. Regardless, sorry to those of you who follow this blog about my tardiness.

So its been a few weeks since I last raced. I've been hanging in Park City, catching up one some design projects and just generally relaxing. We had a few weeks of awesome weather with temperatures near 70 degrees. I got out on my new bike a handful of times and also did some great spring skiing at Park City Mtn Resort. This past week has been epic in regards to snowfall. Something like 140 inches have fallen in Big Cottonwood Canyon in 7 days. Wild for this time of year.

Last weekend my ladyfriend, Crystal, and I traveled to San Francisco to check out the bay area. Crystal was accepted to a graduate program at UC Berkeley and having never visited we wanted to see what it was all about. It was an awesome place. Each neighborhood seemed to have a completely different feel and charm from the next. On Monday Crystal attended an open house at UCB and I took the day to visit a few art schools that I am interested in attending at somepoint in the future. Similar to the area as a whole, each school was much different from one and other and all have their various strengths.

After returning on Tuesday I took a few days to do some more work and get ready to start training again. I got out on my bike twice during the week and was hoping for a few more but its tough to hit the road when there is six inches of snow on the ground. The writing was on the wall and if i wanted to ride it would have to be on the rollers. The first day on rollers in some time was definitely not a relaxing experience. Its tough to feel comfortable when you are constantly worried about falling over or riding off the machine. Today was day two and it was much more relaxing.

I'm planning on riding everyday this next week. I'll probably throw a few short runs in there and as well as a day in the gym. Tuesday will be a training race called the RMR Criterium in Salt Lake, also known as the Tuesday night world championship because of how serious the riders are. Next weekend may be my first real race of the season if my legs are feeling ready. Its a short stage race in Tooele, just outside of Salt Lake. It should be interesting and I am looking forward to it. So far the weather looks like it is going to cooperate. It would be nice to train outdoors again.

Congratulations to David and Amory and welcome Thea to the ITA roster. Exciting news indeed.

Below are a few photos I took of a local stadium in the snow, spring is near.

Engadin and Back.

I'm back in Park City after a fantastic trip to Switzerland.

After leaving Whistler, my buddy Tony and I flew to Zurich and drove up to Samedan. The jet lag was minimal at first and I felt great for the initial days abroad. We got a couple great skis in on the Marathon course and revisited the famed Roseg Valley, a 10k double pole up to an unbelievably cool glacier. Unfortunately this year it was snowy almost the entire time we were there so the glacier wasn't much more than a mass of white snow instead of the blue ice that makes it so spectacular.

On the third day over there I crashed a bit, the lag caught up with me. I took a day and a half off and focused on recovery. I skipped a planned interval workout and did some intervals to open up the day before the race. I had no idea how i would feel on race day but i went into it preparing to fight for the win. I showed up early in the morning and tested skis with the Rossignol international wax team. They gave me unbelievably good boards to race on and warmed up a bit longer than usual given that i had rested so much the days leading into the race.

When the race started i was super cool. i was totally comfortable in the pack and moved my way right up to the front without any effort. i think it was probably a bit too easy because around the 6k mark i got tangled with one of the italians (thank you bruno) and hit the deck. my poles and ski got run over them and one of each broke in the mess. My ski wasn't totally hosed but i was with only one pole. i got up and decided that the best thing to do was to get back in the lead pack and hope for a pole soon. I skied back to the front with one pole and to my surprise it wasn't too bad to hang in there until we went down hill. for some reason i couldnt hold my spot on the gradual downs and lost a few spots right before i got a pole, which came from a neutral pole station run by morons. it took way longer than it needed to get the pole and by the time i was back at it i was 200 people behind the front group. knowing that i had to be back at the front by the 25k point, i put my head down and skied as hard as i could. i made good time on the group but by the time we got out into the wind (25k) i was not quite in contact and i faded hard. i pushed the chase pack as long as i could and did make a dent but we just couldn't close, as no one else had the legs to help out. from there i died into the depthts of the result list. thats how it goes but i wasn't there to fight for 30th, i was there to fight to win. and thats what i tried to do.

The trip overall was great. we were joined by a few friends from xc oregon and got to spend some time hanging out with them. this trip was also made more special by the my girlfriend crystal coming over to experience st moritz and the engadin ski race. we had a fantastic time and could not have asked for anything more or anything better.

after making it home, i am ready for the season to be over. it has been a dismal one in my eyes with very few successes. i am ready to end this one and begin preparing for the next. i finally feel healthy and i want to get back to the top.

i may yet ski one more race, the gold rush, next weekend. i am waiting to hear if my team will provide support. if not, i'll likely begin a short rest period now before getting back at it.

this spring my plans include racing with a local road cycling team. i have my work cut out to get a few upgrades early on and am looking forward to racing in a sport where i can be at least somewhat anonymous. it should be interesting and i like the idea of racing more through the off season to stay sharp.

all for now. Z

birkie to engadin, via callaghan valley olympic venue

Greetings from Whistler, BC. Canada.

I'm up here training for a few days, having a look at the Callaghan Valley Ski Trails, cross country ski venue for the 2010 Olympics. I have not had the chance to ski on these after missing out on this year's world cup races due to the lovely protozoa, giardia, and also skipping the various training camps that happened up here in the past few years. I've wanted to have a look at the courses but haven't had the chance until just now.

Today we skied the majority of the trails that are here and man was it fun. It was a gorgeous day for skiing, plenty of new snow, fantastic grooming, and temperatures around 25 degrees with a hot western sun beating down on top of us. It was really cool. The courses are very fun and a bit of a departure from the latest trends in course design. Over the past decade the courses, especially at major championship venues, have increased in difficulty to the point where its less about skiing and more fitness, a point that is infinitely debatable, i know. The courses here are much more gradual allowing for greater speed and requiring a much broader set of skills than the ability to climb an incredibly steep hill for 4 minutes at a time over and over again. The downhills are also a bit different in that they are quite turny. While there is a lot of debate about these points that i'm making, i am of the opinion that this is a good change.

so i will ski the trails one more day, tomorrow, before heading out of vancouver to switzerland for another assault on the engadin marathon. last year i had a great race there, finishing only a few seconds behind the leaders. this year i will do my best to repeat that and if possible, try to put together an even better last kilometer. last year i dropped the ball a bit in the stadium area and would really like a chance to show my finishing speed in a big field like this. if i have the chance, i'll take it.

last weekend was the birkie. i didnt have a great day there. i went into the week before feeling fantastic but wound up fighting off sickness all week long. i skied the birkie sprint and though i finished ok, i didn't feel very good, i was really flat. i hoped for the best in the race and went out to try to win again but i just didnt have it. i found myself falling off the lead pack somewhere around halfway and wound up in no mans land, skiing all alone, just waddling my way to the finish. i ended up in 20th place. not what i was looking for, not even close.

after a few days home i still felt pretty beat and went to the doctor. it turns out ive been fighting a bit of a sinus infection and have been taking some drugs to rectify that for the last couple days. by the time i get to switzerland on sunday, i'll be done with the drugs and ready to sharpen up for the following sunday's event.

thats all for now. i'll try to post something from st moritz if i have the chance. thanks for reading.

Back on the Top Shelf.

a few weeks have gone by now. I went out to Minneapolis for the City of Lakes Loppet, which happens to be the second biggest event in the US in terms of participation. I flew out on a Wednesday and got a ski in on the first 10k of the 38km race course on thursday. When i arrived it was very cold and the forecast pointed to more of the same through the weekend, which I had counted on before I left. Friday came and we had a short sprint in Uptown. It was fun to ski a sprint again, a race I used to focus all of my efforts towards but as of lately have not seen much of. I skied better than I expected and was going quite fast all around. I didn't quite have what I need to beat Rossignol teammate Kevin Hochtl, who was very much in his element on the short course, but I was happy to be able to push him a bit and move as quickly as I did.

Saturday came and I was very anxious to race. It seemed to be my race to win and I was ready to make it happen. Soon after the start I felt my skis start to drag a bit but I didn't think it was enough to derail my mission. Over the next k's they really started to slow down and I had to work harder and harder to stay at the front of the pack, which became really frustrating. The flats and uphills were good as I was in control but the downhills were disastrous, with nothing to be done but watch the competition gain an easy gap and try to reel them in as soon after as possible. I made it happen for 30k. I really dug to do it and thought I still had a shot if I could keep the pack together. But a few long downhills around 6k to the finish put a stamp on it. I watched three guys ski away to fight for the W. I didn't give up, it was still training. I pushed myself as hard as I could across the lake to the finish and made the best of it. Thats how these things go. It was purely a stonegrind issue. I didn't bring some of my warmer skis and Friday, forecast for a high of 20, was 50 degrees F. The minimal structure on my skis filled with dirt and left me with more suction that I could power my way out of. the good news was that I felt really good. really good. it just took a little time for the fourth place to wear off to know it.

I flew home and arrived in salt lake city with a sore throat. great. just what i want this season is a cold... right after i have finally come into race shape, right before my biggest races... Tuesday I felt sick still so i didn't train. Wednesday, still not healthy but slightly better. Thursday we drove to Sun Valley for the Boulder Mountain Tour. Friday I felt good and did some intervals with my homeboy, world wide superstar, and now famous because of his alka selser ads, Bill Demong. I felt good and was skiing surprisingly well after not training all week. I was ready to go.

The race came and I had great skis, super important in the Boulder since its mostly downhill... I decided to sit in the pack as much as possible to conserve for the finish. I stuck my nose out in the wind at a few stratigic spots along the way to soften the other skiers a bit and resumed my position out of the wind. Near the finish the attacks started flying, including one by Bill, which I knew would be coming. Bill strung the pack out and I stayed tucked in until it seemed like everyone was starting to fade and I pounced. At the time I had no idea but I had Marshall Greene in my draft. I pulled us up to the top two positions and let the lions roar when we hit the 150 meter mark. It seemed like i had plenty of space and backed off a touch but felt some pressure coming near the line and I hit it again. At the line I threw down a great lunge and according to reports from the Jury, won by a centimeter... We actually had no idea who won until they announced it.

It felt great. I needed a win. The last few races have been really solid but winning is different. It was great to get up on the top step again, especially after all I've been through this fall. I had a feeling I could do it if I was patient and kept at it. Slow and steady wins the race.

This week I am headed back to Wisconsin for the Birkie. A race I love. A race I have won before. A race I want to win again. I've been back on the rollerski treadmill to put the final touches on my fitness. Last Friday I was going faster than I've ever gone before. This is a good sign. Monday will be another hard one and that last real interval workout before I travel. Thursday will be a short city sprint in Hayward and Friday is the Birkie. I'm looking forward to it. I leave several days after the Birkie for the Engadin Marathon in Switzerland.

Next post from St Moritz.

Answers to Matt's Questions

THE BASICS
1. What is the athletic background of your parents and family?
My Dad was a baseball player throughout most of his life. He played high school and college baseball. Later he played on in a 'professional' fast pitch softball team and was inducted in to the World Fast Pitch Softball Hall of Fame. He has been active in the outdoors his whole life but never involved in cross country ski racing until I got started in it.

My mother was active in the outdoors throughout her childhood. She ran track in high school and has completed a number of marathons and ultra-marathon events in the last decade. She was never involved in cross country ski racing.

My brother is a cross country skier and several time junior olympic champion. He skied at the university of utah and as of late, has switched to the sport of biathlon and is a member of the USBA Development Team.


2. When did you begin participating in your sport?
I began ski racing very young, probably around six years old. I recall being in the bathtub and my dad walking in and asking if I wanted to do a ski race. I was up for it. And that was that. I got involved with the local ski team and have competed ever since.

THE EXTRAS (if you have time)
1. What was your early experiences with sport like?
I liked winning early on. That was the initial draw. When it came to training and practicing, I loved being on my skis and going off jumps, playing games. Later I learned to love to train.

2. How instrumental were parents and coaches in the early part of your development as an athlete?
Very. My dad especially was very involved in helping me wax my skis and taught me the basics of skiing early on. He help a lot with finding coaches and instruction that were a huge benefit later down the road. He definitely instilled a work ethic in me that still exists today. Hard work pays off. If you don't work hard, it won't happen. I've known that from the beginning.

3. How were you introduced to your sport and how many other sports did you seriously participate in?
My dad asked if i wanted to race and I did... that was how i started racing. I started skiing earlier than six in my backyard. I was always on my skis, mostly building jumps to go off. I also participated in baseball until high school. My dad being a baseball player, it was always a huge part of my summers. I'm pretty sure that is where i developed the speed that i have now in ski racing.

4. Is your success a product of nature or nurture?
Both. The mindset that it takes to succeed is something that comes from early influences. There is always some level of natural ability that is present (or absent, whatever the case may be). A lot of 'natural' talent comes from the activities that are done early on. The best ski racers that I have been exposed to, in terms of 'natural ability', are people who participated in a wide array of sports and activities when they were young, whether is was swimming or biking or running or soccer. The more the better at a young age, as far as I am concerned.

5. Are you an expert in your field? (by your own definition)
I would say absolutely. Especially in regards to those areas in which I have direct control, tactics, training, etc. The areas in which I am not an expert are the technical sides involving waxing and more ski related areas, though I would consider myself quite proficient, there are plenty of people who know much much more- they are the experts.