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Hey I am a thr33 now on road.



Just in time for the road season to be over.



This is good so I have some prep before I get smoked next year.

Race sick.

Two weeks with out a race and I am suffering from withdrawal. Although the 4th of July race was missed because of complete failure in planning on my part. I am still in need of a dose of racing, preferable road.

I just want a chance to redeem my confidence.

Not to mention the Tour has given me a case of cycling fever on top of everything else.

Funk.

My training has not been as consistent as I'd like.

My tactics have been incredibly stupid.

My stress level has risen dramatically.

Results are not where they should be.

Correlation?
Most definitely!

I need to start stepping/pedaling up to the plate/top
and
stop the complaining.

Watertown is next followed by Downer.

Lets see what will happen.

Prep

Broken car 10 min from race, running away from the start because I forgot to pin myself, cassette that made the chain skip on the big climbs. All of these factors kept me away from the state race, but I still participated. 6th overall even though I was looking for podium. Then again aren't we all? State Crit championship on Saturday. This time there will be a little for preparation.

I am moving on

My last post I mixed up the weekends and the 2 crits are this weekend. I am still doing both and am extremely stoked. Yesterday I actually finished up with my base mileage and am planning to throw some intervals in the mix. I would start today, but work and moving has me in a head lock. That is right I am moving to Fran......Bayview. This will add a few good miles to my rides north, but maybe I can use it as a cool down.

Either way it doesn't matter as long as I am on the bike. I think there might be a mountain bike in my horizon too.

2 Crits are better than 1.

This weekend Cafe Hollander criterium followed by Chiropractic Criterium. Thursday marks the start of Summer vacation and if I put in another 150-200 next week I will be in line for starting intervals. I have a feeling these next couple of days may be longer than expected. Damn you chemistry and Anatomy & Phyisicology, see you both in hell!

40 Miles to Baraboo Crit

Well if you were at the Baraboo race on Saturday you knew that it was diffenetly not a criterium after viewing the course lay out. I left with teammates/friends Jon L and Pete A at 5:30 am after going to bed a little after midnight. I had a feeling when I woke up that I was going to have a poor race due to my lack of sleep. I had put in 40 miles on friday with friend Patty Diamond under the impression that the crit would only be 30 min. Although my knowledge of the race was not spot on I had a feeling that I was not going to be as strong as I usually am due to the lack of sleep, but I was only planning on racing for 30min so I was not too concerned.

When Pete and Jon picked me up I was told that the race was ranked top 10 in a cycling magazine for best road races in the country. After this brief conversation everything began to sink in. I wasn't going to let it bog me down because I knew that most of it was psychological anyways or so I told myself.

The race was ranked top ten for a good reason. The course was beutiful with lots of hills and a field of 61 it made the riding a bit more enjoyable. It was the type of race that separated the people that had aquired their base and those of us who were not quite there yet or maybe just not as serious. The field split on the second hill of the first lap. Luckily I stayed with them and then people began to fall of quite fast. On the first climb of the second and last lap I hit the wall. I was contemplating on walking up the hill knowing that my 9-23 was an extremely poor choice for this course. I put on the hussle after finally making it to the top cacthing two other riders. One was having technical difficulty and the other admitted that he was bad at climbing. Judging by his body type I figured half as much. We all worked together and ended up picking up 4 or 5 other people including Jon L. We all worked together and put the hammer down until the last climb came and I bonked once again. I soon lost them to the horizon but once I was over the crest they soon began to reappear. I ended catching two that were in the group who fell off and then strolled in for a disheartening solo finsh.

Excuses aside I now realize how important race preparation is. I know where my faults were and most of them were made the day prior. Next time I can assure you I will be getting to bed much earlier, double checking the race length and gear my bike accordingly, and last but not least be sure to not over due it on the bike the day before.

H.C.C. race is next weekend and I will be working it, which is usually a lot of fun. I am not sure if I will be able to ride since my race starts at 4 and I am not sure if I have to work or not. Either way I think it will be a good time.

Stoked to be Soaked

Saturday was the Muskego Crit, which was put on by wheaton/Team Wisc. As I drove up the rain was crazy intense. I thought about not doing the race, but wanted to since I wasn't sure if I would be racing next weekend. The start of the race seemed to lead me to believe that the rain could be over, but with 3 laps in it started up again. My plan for this race was to sit in and not jump on anything. The spray from other rider tires had my eyes bruning and mouth drooling(gross). There were a couple of breaks and I chased one of them down then realized that it was a complete waste because we would have probably eaten them back up regardless. With about 4 to go a strong break went off at the top of the hill which left me in the peleoton. A guy went to bridge it and I figured I might as well too. The breakaway had about 6 riders which would leave me with a sprint finish for 7th. So I was all like Hells naw and followed the guy. We both made it and the group stayed out for about 3min after we both caught up but due to a lack of oganization we were soon consumed by the peloton. Then final sprint was odd. People lined up five cross with over 200 meters to go and started to put on the heat. I knew I would have died if I started this early so just kicked it for a bit. Luckly I would say around 5 riders blew up in the middle of the hill so I had to weasle my way past. As I started to increase my cadence I realized I could push past a rider right at the finish. As I attempted this teammate and friend J. Lang crushed past me as well as a guy with a Whitewater kit on.

I was wasn't happy with my performance, but is anyone ever(happy that is)? Just kidding, I was indifferent since it was the first crit of the season. I learned that some of my old habits have come back to haunt me. Such as not being aggressive enough and yo-yoing. I had a good time, although it rained 95% of the race and I had to go straght to work after. I Never realized how much grit can get on you from racing in the rain.

Uses for Excuses !

My blog has been lacking up dates like my week has been lacking rides. School and work often get in the way but others manage to do it so why can't I? I am pleased to report that the blog has suffered a lot more than my actual mileage, but am no way am I pleased at what I have put in. with most my rides being over the 40 mile mark I feel that my base is starting to build. After talking a number of people the main thing is that you just get out and ride.

More updates will start to surface and since school will be out soon my time will be filled with organic foods(Outpost) and cycling. I do plan to take a summer school course, but I will still have enough time to do some serious riding.

My first race of the season is this Saturday at Muskego Park. I am planning on riding a lot smarter this season as opposed to the last where I liked to sit at the front and pull. So if you are going to be there get ready to see me do some serious sitting in and not so serious pulling. Updates will start to come more frequently as will my rides.

The reason why the wit in this post is not there is because I have just woken up and have a chem exam at 10 a.m. that is on my mind.

I'm not a runner!

I am not a fan of running, but I went for a run regardless today. I was short on time and shorter on clean laundry. It felt fairly good and I know I ran further than usual, which I found very surprising. I am sure all of you are thinking how could that be, Matt has been slacking on training. The truth is I have.

Although over winter break my friend Lauren Kleppin came home from Forth Collins where she is a proud part of the sport that I have such a passionate dislike for, running. She gave me a tip about breathing both out of my nose and my mouth. She told me she had taught herself this and It improved her performance. I know she could kick my ass in any kind of race, so I knew her creditability was there.

If anyone has ever been in a 30 foot radius of me while I am riding or doing anything that involves labored breathing they know I breath out of my mouth loud enough to wake the dead. Today I finally applied the technique and got fantastic results, although I was not on the bike which will probably be a little different I am confident a little improvement will come of it. Hopefully this warm weather stays and I get motivated enough to do some laundry so the longer weekly rides can once again commence.

These Shoes are a FEW years old and look brand new because they are never used.

Oh Concordia, How I've missed you.

I woke up today and hoped on the bus and went to school. About 15 min before my last class had ended I had received a call from Ben Folsom informing about a Cafe Hollander ride leaving tomorrow at 11, which coincidentally is the time I start work tomorrow.

Since it was so warm out I just decided to go for the ride today. I got home detached my trainer that I rarely use and headed out the door in a outfit that was insufficient for the weather. As I headed down Locust to Lake to go north I began to remember why I hate the cold so much. I contemplated about going back to get warmer cloths, but decided to tough it out instead. After arriving at Concordia I realized that I needed booties and booty, so I picked up the pace to going home. My hands began to go numb around Doctor's Park and my toes had been numb since the first pass.

At about Bayshore my lack of winter training really caught up to me. I was struggling keep a simple pace, but at the same was so happy to get that feeling back. Hopefully it stays like this for the whole weekend if not warmer so I can sneak out for a quick ride on Sunday, but I will keep in mind it is still February.

My toes felt like they were frozen in ice and to go along with this I could barley move them. It was so bad I was walking funny too. Totally worth it!

My hands were swollen and when they started to get warm again it was an extremely odd feeling, but the ride was still worth it.

I really wanted booties at this point!

The snow made it seem a lot colder than it probably was.

The Proof!

I skip when i want to stay up late.

So it is New Years and I have given no thought to my actual resolution. I think I am going to go with the same from last year and stick to a training regiment. I figure that snapping into it 100% would be unlikely, but I am making room for surprise. I skipped my session today so I would have some extra energy for work, which I had more than enough of. I am still wide awake because of the god damn caffeine in mixed drinks and a missed work out. If you can get past my jumpy ideas I have realized that I should have no excuses to not be on the trainer. I will repost when I am somewhat sober and able to proof read without being disrupted by my own thoughts. Until 24 hours...

matthew povlich