Early Season Success

Hey all,

Ryan here. I think its about time we start posting on this thing a bit more regularly and letting you all know how things are going. While our goal is to race on the famed cobbles of Belgium, we've been racing a bunch already in California to get in shape, test out the legs, and seek our fifteen minutes of fame.

I'm happy to report that I've been lucky enough to nab some good results before a hellish finals week left me a broken shell of a man. Through a combination of good legs and soft fields I managed wins at both the CVC Tower District Criterium and the Sequoia Classic Criterium. For those of you who might not know what a criterium is, its a short race, usually around an hour, where cyclist do numerous laps of a short course (generally under a mile). I like this kind of riding because its fast and technical and lends itself to big guy such as myself. I have a sweet picture of the win at CVC, but I'll have to check with the photographer before I post it here(last thing I need is to get sued over copyright infringement:) Until then heres a link: http://kellyshimamoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4493548_KkbV9#P-12-12. In a rare bit of luck, some company actually filmed the Sequoia Classic and you can watch video of the sprint. Its at this address: http://www.ibnsports.com/cycling.asp Click on the link for Men Cat 2. The race itself is a bit tedious if you're not in it, so I suggest fast-forwarding to the end.

I managed a few other top ten finishes, but things really have been a bit slow since finals week. Theres something about working non-stop for two weeks, barely sleeping, barely riding and eating everything in sight that tends to hurt one's cycling performance. Thats the life of a collegiate bike racer I guess. I did jettison that ridiculous mustache that I had... but, and I hope this is just coincidence, I haven't gotten top 5 in a race since I shaved it. I really hope theres no correlation or who knows what I might start growing. Incidentally I knew it was time to shave it when my cousin looked at me, made an icky face and told me I looked French. It was not a compliment, and kids don't lie.

So, it looks like the challenges facing me right now are, in no particular order ;)
1) getting back into race shape in time for the Collegiate National Championships
2) spreading the word about the Race To Belgium, and
3) graduating from college.


Thanks so much for all your support!
-Ryan