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

Training with Pow...T.A.L.

Christmas has past and I now am taking training a bit more seriously. I just got off the ole fluid 2 after putting on a lil less than an hour. Although it was not as boring as some of the other sessions I have had. I was thinking of a hundred things that would be more interesting. This American Life has been a great companion since it is usually interesting and keeps my attention. Most of the shows are an hour give or take a couple minutes, which is perfect for acheveing litespeed while standing still. I am pretty drained and lazy so it will be short. I hope everyone has a happy new year.

P.S. To shawny smalls I am holding the ditched breakfast date against you!

P.P.S. That's right, I am too lazy to post pictures.

Hopping on the Training Train

It has been over a month since I last updated the ole blog and not a lot has happened. I made a safe recovery from my case of mono and currently feel great. During that time I watched the state race which was pretty exciting. I had never wanted to race so bad as I did when I was watching the Cat. 3s. Team Pegasus had pulled out all of the stops and rolled in with two tents with windows, a heater that was designed by N.A.S.A., Grill and lots of other goodies. Then Jason and I helped tear down the course, which was about as enjoyable as setting it up at 7 a.m.

Last time I had up dated this thing was also the last time I had ridden my bike. Since it is almost half way through December I have decided to start putting in some base miles on the trainer and rollers. I noticed last year that at the end of my races I was a little too exhausted so until late January it is going to be an endurance based training. This is over a solid month and I hope to make some real progress. Also it will help me lose the 7-10 lbs. of weight I have put on since I had gotten mono. Ideally I plan to get a heart rate monitor, but my funding is running low and I have been going out more than I should have. Is there ever really an off season when you are a cyclist? I will answer that one myself with "kind of". The month I decided to slack off, blow money, and gain weight was a break from the bicycle, but I am now going to have to work twice as hard to get back on to where I was. Then I have to account for the effort of getting back into the groove of training. So yes there is an off season, but should you regulate what you are doing in that time, yes. So the "kind of" answer kind of makes sense.

Now all it will take is motivation which I already have plenty of. If anyone out there ever feels a lack of it I suggest you check out some you tube clips of Jens Voigt. That guys is arguable the ideal teammate and cyclist. After watching it I felt guilty that I had not worked on a winter training program yet or had touched any of my bikes in over a month. Now I just have to see the actual movie about team CSC.

Don't drop the ball or you won't be dropping the hammer come Spring.