Skinny #1 Racing

So today I went to the Red Rocks Community College cross race. I raced Cat 4s, so I was expecting to do pretty good. The course was pretty mountain bike-esque, and probably would have been faster on a nice light hardtail. I didn't get a good start and ended up about mid pack after the first lap (31 starters). In this situation I usually would have freaked out and tried to push it super hard to get to the front of the pack, but the new improved Tim Halliday showed up to race today, boys! I was just like, "I'm faster than almost all these guys, and we're only 5 minutes into the race...so I'm just gonna pick up the pace a little bit and see how many of these people I can pick off." This strategy worked pretty well because I ended up in 3rd place...not too bad considering the start that I had. The running has definitely helped. Tomorrow I'm doing the Foothills cross race, except I'm racing Cat 3s, which should be a little bit more challenging. I wond a 6 pack of beer, which I so generously gave to the driver. What a nice passenger I am.

So now that I don't have a coach, I've been reading lots and lots about training. For cross season, I've been going off the book "Cyclo-cross: Training and Technique" by Simon Burney. It's really helpul and I'm following workouts that they have right now. For the first time in my life I'm training twice per day. On Tuesday, I went for a 25 minute run in the morning, and a 1 hour zone 2 ride in the afternoon. Today, I already rode the trainer for 2o minutes (with 5 30 second intervals), and I'm going out for 1 hour easy tonight. Even though it doesn't seem like a ton of training, I'm definitely tired. When I got off the trainer this morning I felt super dizzy when I was in the shower. So I figured the only way to fix that was to drink some more Gatorade and have some of my madre's homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It seems to be hitting the spot. My legs still feel a little crappy though.

I still don't know where I'm going to be racing this weekend. Hopefully it'll be on Sunday, becaue I just like Sunday races way more than those on Saturday. This past weekend, I did the race in Boulder and absolutely sucked (it's OK though...I think I'll do better this weekend). Danny Summerhill destroyed the Cat. 3 field, I think he beat Colin Cares by about a minute. The best race though, was definitely the Pros. T Brown got second on a single speed mountain bike, it was insane. Alan Obye won, good for him. The crowd favorite was definitely Adam McGrat though. I'm pretty sure everyone there knew him. Plus, he was riding a set of barriers, and the run up after them. The crowd went crazy every time he did it. That kid has mad skills, and from what I understand he's a pretty good mechanic (I'm sure Kaboom could attest to that). I think I'm gonna work on riding barriers, because they can definitely save time in some situations...

So I just decided (at 8 am today) that I should definitely be racing Semi Pro next year and not Expert Senior I. So you know what I did? I logged back into my USA Cycling and gave them a resume (with explanations this time) that they should be unable to deny. Let me know if you would upgrade me to Semi Pro:

Here are a few races in particular where I would have finished and placed in the Semi-Pro category:

2005 Hopbrook Dam (Pro/Semi-Pro)
Salem Mazzawy 178 02:08:45
Justin Finn 180 02:21:36
Brian Wolff 176 02:40:44
Mike Jous 183 DNF DNF
Brett Racine 181 DNF DNF
Roland Meunier 179 DNF DNF
Bill Barrows 182 DNF DNF

(Expert 01-18)Greg Carpenter 738 02:32:16
Timothy Halliday 741 02:35:12
Colt McElwaine 737 02:43:29
Jerome Townsend 735 02:48:49
David Scherp 740 03:02:31
Nicholas Leigh 736 03:03:22
Worth Wolcott 739 03:03:23
Brendan Rogers 742 DNF DNF

As you can see, I would have finished 3rd in the Pro/Semi-Pro category out of 8 riders. The conditions were super tough and it forced 4 out of 7 starters to DNF, while I stayed strong the entire race and finished well.

2005 Fat Tire Classic
There were 19 starters in the Pro/Semi-Pro field. In four laps, my average lap times were 19.5 minutes, while 11th place in the Pro/Semi-Pro field averaged 19.6 minute laps for five laps. That pace at one more lap would have put me at 11th place in a 20 man field.

2005 Hodges Village Dam
The times for this race ranged from 1 hour 28 minutes to 1 hour 39 minutes for the Pro/Semi-Pro men (along with 2 DNF's). My time on this same course was 1 hour 43 minutes, and I flatted. To put this into perspective, Troy Wells who is a Pro finished this course in 1 hour 37 minutes.

2005 All Out in Moody Park
In the EFTA circuit I raced Expert 18-26 and there is no Pro/Semi-Pro category. At this race I finished 6th, and 4 of the people in front of me race Pro or Semi Pro. The rider who got 4th, Justin Finn, placed 5th at the Mount Snow Norba National in XC, and I was only 6 minutes off his pace at All Out in Moody Park.

2005 Brian Head Norba National
At this race, the Junior X field and the Semi Pro field started at the same time and did the exact race. There were 35 starters in the Semi Pro field, and my time (in Junior X) would have given me 26th place, which is pretty good for a Norba National.

Now that you have seen particular cases for my upgrade, I will suppy the rest of my resume.

2005 Mountain Bike Results:
4th- Root 66 Northeast Regional Cross Country Championship Series (Expert 1-18)

2nd- NORBA Root 66 #1- Hopbrook Dam
2nd- NORBA Root 66- Channel 3 Short Track (Expert 19-34)
3rd- NORBA Root 66 #2- Fat Tire Classic
3rd- NORBA Root 66 #8- Nutmeg State Games
3rd- NORBA Root 66 #4- Coyote Hill Classic
3rd- NORBA Root 66#10- Hodges Village Dam
4th- NORBA Root 66 #5- Channel 3 Mountain Bike Challenge
4th- EFTA NECS #4- The Pinnacle (Expert Senior 18-26)
6th- NORBA Root 66 #9- Tyler Mill
6th- EFTA NECS #4- All out in Moody Park (Expert Senior 18-26)
7th- NORBA Root 66 #3- Belltown Classic
9th- Quebec Cup (Expert 12-18)
14th- NORBA NMBS #6- Brian Head (Junior Expert)
18th- NORBA NMBS #2- Nova Stage Race (Junior Expert)
18th- NORBA NMBS #4- Schweitzer Mountain (Junior Expert)

2004 Mountain Bike Results:
1st- Smart Cycles Connecticut Point Series (SCCPS) (Expert 1-18)
1st- Smart Cycles New England Point Series (SCNEPS) (Expert 1-18)
3rd- Root 66 Race Series (RT66) (Expert 1-18)
6th- EFTA New England Championship Series (NECS) (Expert 12-17)

1st- NH State Championships
1st- 24 Hours of Pat’s Peak- 4 Man Expert Team
1st- SCCPS #5- Laurel City Loop
1st- SCCPS #8- Fat Tire Classic
2nd- MA State Championships
2nd- SCCPS #7 and SCNEPS #6- Lime Rock N Roll
2nd- NECS #7- Horror at Harding Hill
2nd- RT66 #8- Brialee
3rd- SCCPS #1 and SCNEPS #1- Fat Tire Classic
3rd- SCNEPS #3- Thunder and Lightning
3rd- SCNEPS #5- Beauty and the Beast
4th- SCCPS #4- Winsted Woods
4th- NECS #6- Landmine Mountain
5th- SCCPS #2- Cockaponsette Rock Garden Ramble
5th- RT66 #6- Hodges Village Dam6th- SCPPS #6- Tyler Mill
6th- NECS #1- Watershed Wahoo
6th- NECS #5- All Out in Moody Park
7th- SCCPS #3 and SCNEPS #2- Meadow Muffin Madness
7th- RT66 #3- Channel 3

As you may be able to see from these results, I had a slightly better year in 2004. This is due in part because I had a coach that year and the introduction of structured training helped me improve a lot. In 2005 however, I felt that I was not training hard enough, so for the 2006 season I am going to coach myself. I have read numerous books and am well on my way to planning a successful season for 2006 in the Semi Pro category.

*Now if that won't convince them, then I don't know what will. Plus, I didn't even let them know how good I look in a skinsuit.

I took Wednesday off because I was way too tired from my run on Tuesday. Thursday wasn't much better, because I cramped up 25 minutes into the run and had to walk the rest of it. Today, however, was pretty good. I ran a little easier (Zone 2) and I was able to easily run for 30 minutes. Tomorrow I'm back on the bike to see how my legs are doing for the cross race in Boulder on Sunday. I have to race Cat. 4 though, because out here they haven't heard of A's, B's, and C's. Sometimes I hate how they do things in Colorado. Oh well, hopefully I'll win this weekend or do really well, otherwise I defintely won't be racing A's at the Gearwork's cross race.

I got another care package this week which included a sleeping bag, more Gatorade mix, more food, and The Mountain Biker's Training Bible. I've already read a lot of the stuff about periodization and all that good structured stuff. It'll be interesting to see how I ride next year being self-coached. I'm really interested in training, so I think this will be a great learning experience.

I hope Brumble does come to the race on Sunday so I have somebody to hang out with while I'm watching the Elite Women race...

So how awesome is it that I'm training for what was going to be my biggest race of the year, and I end up not going to it? I started building for this race 2 months ago, and now all that work has gone for nothing. It's super cool when your coach talks to you at the beginning of the year and talks about nationals and how you'll be a great help to the team, but doesn't choose you to be on the team. Instead we have a fat senior who can't climb a hill, a kid who can't finish a race if his life depended on it, a kid who uses up all the Gu 20 leaving me with none (who also can't race a short track), and another kid who would rather beat his own teammates than try to catch the group in front of him. Oh, how I love collegiate cycling. So pretty much I've dropped $100+ dollars each weekend to race, $200 on dues, and 2 months of training for absolutely nothing.

Thus begins two weeks off the bike, so I can try to recover and have a half way decent cross season. I went running for a half hour today, and man am I tired. I think the only thing I can do now is drink some gatorade, elevate my feet ,stretch, and study for a test that I have tomorrow.

Well I had a pretty good weekend down in D-town. We got in around 9 pm and I met up with Jon (Brumble, Birdman) at around 10. We got to bed at 11 and woke up to some good oatmeal and a fun day of short track racing. He won the B's, and I, of course, suffered in the A's. It's hard to have a good race when you're in the very back right of the starting field...but I made the most of it. I ended up 20th on the day, which isn't too bad for me. I would've liked to have done better but oh well. I finally got to take a bath after a race, which I haven't done in about 2 months. It felt so good and definitely showed in the cross country on Sunday. To make up for my terrible starting position the day before I backed my bike into the front row in between some fast kids from Fort Louie. I got a good start and was able to push a pretty good pace and finish pretty well (for me at least). On the first lap, my tube got ripped out of my back pocket, so I just took my jersey off and went straight up skinsuit; no tools or anything. It was risky, but I guess it paid off.

This morning I got my care package from my madre which included cross levers (flippin sweet), a couple cycling books, gatorade mix, cowboy cookies, peanut butter crackers, a couple of jackets, and a sweater. I'm definitely going to be able to put all that stuff to use. I already put the cross levers on my bike and she's running great now. I think I'm going to be racing in Boulder this weekend against the Birdman.

I didn't get my semi-pro upgrade, which I was pretty sure I was gonna get. Oh well, looks like I'm going to be racing expert 19-24 next year, Winkleman style. I kinda think it will be a good experience because I'll be fast for that category rather than getting killed in semi-pro.

In case none of you have noticed, Noah Taylor (one of my two heroes) has been killing it back on the east coast in cross. He's riding for Richard Sachs this year and let's just say Sachs made a great decision having him on the team.

So the past two days have been pretty intense on the cross bike. I've been training on the cross bike even though my biggest mountain bike races of the year are coming up (you can see where my priorities are). I still don't know whether or not i'm going to put my cross levers on it though...i've been riding pretty well in the hoods. I just want to see what it's like doing barriers without the cross levers before I make my decision.

I should be getting a care package from home on Monday (hopefully before) that will include food, a warm winter jacket, gloves, and some other necessities. I can't wait to go home and eat a real Thanksgiving dinner and have pie that tastes good. My Boston creme pie today was a little sub par. (Aside: I have never understood the phrase sub par. In golf you want to be sub- or under- par. So why in the phrase sub par is it deemed as negative...maybe I can get a follow up to this on Colt's thinking website.) For the most part though, the food is really good. It is just so important to get a good sandwich maker at lunch. There are two girls that make really good sandwiches and the guys that just kinda throw the meat on the bread...I hate it. Someone needs to teach them how to make one.

This weekend we're heading down to D-town for the collegiate regionals. I need to give Jesse a call to see if Evan and I can still sleep at his place instead of spending more money or camping. After all, Evan and I aren't savages, we don't camp. I'm gonna bring my cross bike with me too, because from what I hear the short track course is pretty flat. Apparently my hero ran a cross bike at this same course last year, and if he can pull it off I'd like to think that I can, too.

Who wouldn't want those legs?
Leading Aaron (my teammate) and some kid from Fort Louie into a corner. Too bad I lost both positions by the end of the race.
Trying to get it done on the one hill on the course. That thing was brutal though.
It's no THSJ skinsuit, but it's good enough for me!

So the races in Boulder didn't go as well as I would have liked them to. I had a terrible time trial, even though the person behind me didn't catch me. They were from Fort Louie so I don't know how I pulled that one off. The cross country was a little bit better though. We had a short loop (basically the time trial course backwards) and I was probably right in the middle of the pack after that before I turned it on in the first big lap. I managed to reel in 3-5 riders on this enormous climb, and only got passed by one teammate on the downhill, which was really intense. I felt like a champion on the downhills that day, it was like an out of body experience in which I was just nailing every line and keeping the rubber down. I kinda died in the last lap though, and lost 2 positions. I'm sure that those 5 Accel Gels I downed really helped a lot...it really is surprising but I think they make a huge difference. Maybe there will be an ad for me "Tim Halliday is Acceleraded" just like they made one for Ryder back in the day when he knew what a mountain bike was.

I was all pumped about doing a cross race yesterday but I just couldn't get ahold of anyone for a ride. Oh well...life goes on. I requested my Semi-Pro upgrade (which I should get) and my Cat. 3 upgrade which I figured I'd just take a stab at. I mean, maybe they'll be like "Hey this kid went through the trouble of requesting an upgrade, we'll just give it to him." Haha, that would be great.

Hopefully I can get my hands on some Icy Hot, so I can try to get rid of that super tight muscle behind my knee. Where's Shaq when you need him?

I rode the cross bike again last night, even though coach said something about riding our mountain bikes and doing some skillbuilding. Oh well, I guess I need to have skills on the cross bike so I can get all the chicks, after all I don't have computer hacking skills, nunchuck skills, etc. Although this one gang wans me cause I'm pretty good with a bowstaff.

It's a good thing it's Friday, cause I can't wait to race in Boulder tomorrow. We have a time trial, followed immediately by a cross country race. I hope all the other schools don't have some guys do the time trial and save the rest for the cross country, because that wouldn't be cool. Who knows though...I wonder if Brumble will make it to the race this weekend? I heard he was real sick last weekend so he couldn't race in New Mexico.

So today I went on that team cross ride, that three people (including myself) showed up to. It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed being out there on my cross bike practicing dismounts and running up hills, and bunnyhopping stuff. After about 15 mins of riding the course I decided I'd step it up a little...you know, try to go a little bit faster over the obstacles. Bad idea. The first set of barriers I came to was a log followed by a PVC barrier we had made. So here I come flying into this log (way too fast) and I'm like I'll dismount in just a second. That ended up being one second too late as I went flying into the log and crashed over it. I had gone forever without crashing, and I guess I was due for one...but it was on the cross bike, how wierd is that. I broke the housing on my rear derailleur, too. That was the worst part.

Today at dinner we had some cowboy buffet. We had ribs and steak fries and other suff that cowboys eat. Evan janked a ton of stuff from the cafeteria that night, including cowboy style salt and pepper shakers. I think he took a ton of handkercheifs, too.

We have a race in Boulder this Saturday, and the janking process has already begun. We're gonna have to step it up though if we want to be able to make it through all day Saturday without dorm food. That probably inlcudes ziploc bags of cereal and whole bags of bagels. How curious is it that Evan has his bag with him every time we enter the dining hall?

This blog thing seems to be going all right so far. Now all I need is a camera so I can start taking tons of sweet pictures. My mom says that with all the traveling I've been doing I really should have a camera (Translation: She'll buy me a camera when you come home for Thanksgiving). Let's hope Colt can have some guy he knows make me a sweet picture thing on top like the one that he has.

We (CSU) raced in New Mexico this weekend. It was a lot of fun, besides the 9+ hour drive and tons of detours and pee stops. I had a great ST race. I think I took 7th in the Men's A's, which I was pretty pleased with. I started at the way back of the pack when I slipped out of my pedals at the start, but was able to fight my way back up through the ranks. I don't think Aaron was too happy that I beat him though, he doesn't like losing to teammates. The XC was a different story though. I'm not too good at these 2+ hour races, I'm used to the 1.5 hour races that are so junior-esque. My time was 2:1oish, which was about 20 mins off the lead...not too bad considering my average heart rate was 164 and I felt like I couldn't get it going the entire race. Let's hope my decent showing this weekend convinced the coach to put me on the team for nats (Andy, I hope you're reading this).

I just mounted my cross tires yesterday on my RD-400 wheelset. The Fuji is looking pretty sweet nowadays. I think I'm gonna do a team cross ride on Wednesday night and practice doing some barriers and stuff. I need to get ready for the BRC and Gearworks cross races that I'm going to be doing over Thanksgiving break. I'm gonna try racing A's, my goal is to stay on the lead lap. I don't know if that's possible though when I'll be racing guys like the one and only T-O double D.