Coming Out

Hello. I'm Justin. I'm a 25 year old child.

Long discussion regarding finances, jobs and bike racing over dinner tonight. What was supposed to be my mom's Mother's Day dinner, turned into another realization that I'm broke, and that life might get hard after leaving my job...

Oh yea! I quit my job Monday. I put in a month+a day's notice. It was a long time coming, but it's still weird knowing that I'm leaving a company that I've been with for nearly 7 years.

My step-dad told me that it would make more sense to work this summer, save money and then leave work in the fall to race. I'm going to make more fitness improvements over the summer than during race season, and this is the only chance that Jen and I have to live together before I go to grad school. Neither one of us wants to find out that we can't stand living in each other's mess after I've changed schools, so now's the time to test the waters.

I do realize how absurd it sounds to quit a steady job, leave home for two months and only work part-time, but I also realize that I need to take this chance when it comes, and this is the only time it's coming. At dinner I said, "if I put in work this fall, and become an elite racer, then maybe a team will find me that wants to pay for my entries next year."

I know it's a long-shot, but it is a shot. Next fall, no matter what city I'm in, my hierarchy of needs isn't going to be the same as the past five years. I can't screw around once I start grad school, and paying the bills may mean taking a job that requires I work on the weekends and nights. As long as I get my studying done, working may take precedence over bike riding. This is probably my last chance to try to become an elite bike racer. It's also my last chance to move to a colonial port city to live with my girlfriend mostly worry-free before adulthood starts. I HAVE to take it. It'd be absurd not to.

Savannah Weekend

Just like most Friday nights for the past year and a half, I packed my crap and set sail for Savannah this weekend. This time was different though since the only thing I brought home was an empty bag. Everything else stayed in Georgia.

Of course, I was also heading down I-95 with a short stack of resumes and an interview lined up for Saturday morning. Not a regular occurrence when I go to visit Jen.

I met with Jeff from Full Moon Tours at a local coffee shop Saturday. We discussed the requirements for a tour guide license and my potential role with his tour group. If all goes as planned, I would be responsible for one haunted pub tour a week, herding a group of tourists around the historic district, guiding them to a few bars and throwing stories at them that they're likely not paying attention to.

I like this idea because I would work once a week for maybe 2.5 hours, leaving an abundance of time for base miles, napping and reading. Of course, it also means attempting to live off of $50+tips a week, and I don't know if I can ride 20 hours a week on ramen.

The interview went well, but I decided to drop off a few resumes around town, including at the coffee shop where we met. After discussing their training process and how they avoid college student employees who leave every few months, the owner left me under the impression that I'd need to keep looking. Despite my resume listing a home address 3 hours away, I got a text shortly after offering me a shift from 3-10pm. I didn't go in.

Following up on my morning interview, Jen and I went to Jeff's tour that evening at 7:30. I wouldn't say I believe in ghosts but I think ghost stories are fun and, at their most basic level, they're just spooky history stories. I am a history major, after all.

I have a feeling that most of the folks on the tour were just there to take advantage of Savannah's open container law but it was a good time. The decibel levels definitely rose after the third and final bar, but no one was out of hand. I'm pretty positive I can bring the necessary energy to make the ~2 hour tours fun, and not go crazy dealing with drunks and ghouls.

Since I'm not riding right now, we slept in Sunday and went down to Whole Foods for breakfast from the hot bar. I always forget how pricey that is until I pile a pound and a half of potatoes and eggs on the compostable plate.

We took advantage of having an entire day without obligations and got in the car for a trip to Statesboro to spend the afternoon in the sun. Our friend Matt will be moving away from Statesboro soon but I'm going to need to figure out an excuse to go back. I think there are more dirt roads than paved in that town.

I showed off my athletic prowess throwing the football around and climbed a tree. A solid wrap to a fun, bike-free weekend. It's nice to remember normal life every once in a while.

Just a few more weeks until "summer break". Which means that base miles, and a semi-permanent Savannah State of Mind are right around the corner. I'm looking forward to it, but not the ramen.

Want to help subsidize intentional underemployment or just buy stupid stickers? I have your answer: Phlegmish Designs

KindHuman Kampionne Review

I’ll preface this by saying- I’ve had a carbon cyclo-cross bike, I’ve had an aluminum cyclo-cross bike with carbon seat-stays, and I’ve had an aluminum road bike. I’ve ridden steel road bikes and mountain bikes, but this is my first carbon road bike. I came into this bike expecting it to feel like I was riding on a cloud, or being carried down the street by a loyal gang of servants while I sat on a plush, velvety seat woven from angel hairs. That’s not what it felt like. What I got was a bike ride, but it’s way better than anything I’ve ever had

My carbon ‘cross bike was nice. It was comfy; it was relatively fast, but ‘cross bikes and road bikes ride differently. It doesn’t matter what they’re made out of.

My Kampionne has been ridden in crits, power tests, road races and Thursday night world championships. It’s done well in all of them. It would probably ride better in these events if it had a better engine (that’s me!), but it seems to be doing well with what it was given.

I’ll start with comfort. This isn’t a full suspension bike. It’s not a minivan. It’s a road bike. You know what? It’s possible for road bikes to be comfortable, or “plush”, but they’re still road bikes. I was kind of disappointed the first time I rode this bike because when I rode over cracks in the road, I still felt them. I just assumed that because it was carbon, it would completely kill road noise. Once I understood what to expect, I understood that this bike rode awesomely.

My carbon ‘cross bike felt dead on the road. It muted road noise, but it didn’t give any feedback. My aluminum road bike gave LOTS of feedback. Have you ever ridden on chip-seal roads? I felt every chip, and they weren’t sealed very well. My Kampionne quiets road noise; it doesn’t mute it, but it controls it. If I want to charge into a corner, I understand what the bike is telling me. I know when I’ve got grip, and when that grip starts to waver. But the bike is comfortable enough that I can ride on South Carolina roads that are ignored by everyone who doesn’t own a 4x4 and still be happy. This means that when I do a hotdog criterium with a 180 turn every 500 meters, I’m not limited by my bike… just by my skills. The bike turns, and turns well. It holds a line, and is ready to accelerate out of it as soon as I catch my breath. It also means that when I want to ride 4 hours, my back doesn’t hurt nearly as much as my legs. I can ride as long as I want, as comfortably as I want.Let’s be honest: you can only be so comfortable sitting on a 145 millimeter-wide piece of plastic and faux leather, but this bike doesn’t remind you that what you’re doing hurts, it embraces it.

I’m not Mark Cavendish. I’m not Mark Renshaw. I’m not even the best sprinter on my group rides, but I know when a bike is stiff. I’ve ridden bikes that were noodly, but didn’t ride smoothly at all. The KindHuman Kampionne wants to go forward! Once you tell it to accelerate, it’s already 10 meters ahead of you. I’m almost positive that I could make this bike do a sick burnout if I want, but I don’t, I want every ounce of energy I put into pedalling to make me go forward. I have cheap medals to win, afterall. This bike does that- it goes forward, it turns, it even goes up. If I want to crank it up a hill, the bike is ready. It’s light enough to climb (sub-16lbs with SRAM Apex… APEX! Seriously!) but it’s stiff enough to sprint. If I want to shoot for town lines, it’s down. If I want to race it in a collegiate conference event, it’s waiting for the last lap bell… long after I’ve resigned to a pack finish.

The geometry is a little bit different than what I’m used to in a road bike. The head tube is a little bit taller (and it wishes it was a baller). This took a little bit of getting used to, but it’s paying off. Once I get finished with my brief road season, I typically switch to my ‘cross bike from June until February. I don’t like changing back and forth between the different geometries on my road bike and ‘cross bike. I’m planning to do a full summer base period on this bike though. Heck, I’ll probably ride this bike all year. I can get this bike into a position that resembles my ‘cross bike, while still getting the ride benefits of a road bike. Braking is better, obviously, and unlike a ‘cross bike with road tires, it still feels and rides like a road bike should (that’s probably because it IS a road bike). While I usually switch to my ‘cross bike to get into the same position I’ll be racing in all fall, I can ride this bike, be just as comfortable and still benefit from the lower bottom bracket when I’m in a road group or navigating 24 mph turns.

The only parts where this bike doesn’t quite live up to my last road bike is the bottom bracket, and cables. I love a threaded bottom bracket. They’re easy to install and maintain… and almost all of the cranks I have in my inventory are SRAM GXP cranksets. I don’t own a bottom bracket bearing press and don’t intend to get one anytime soon (I also own BB30 bikes, and have the same issue). When I got this frameset, I had to get my LBS to order and install a GXP converter for the BB86 bottom bracket shell. My only complaint about the internally routed cables (again, the shop ran my cables, so I haven’t dealt with the routing) is the lack of downtube barrel adjusters. Of course, this isn’t a new design, nor is it exclusive to the KindHuman Kampionne. It’s not so much of an issue on the rear derailleur but on the front, there’s no way to adjust shifting without loosening the anchor bolt or installing an in-line adjuster. I suffered from a new-cable-stretch induced panic attack while sitting on my trainer in the parking lot before a crit a few months ago. While warming up, I realized that I wasn’t getting into my big ring, and had to stop, get off and readjust the cable. I was less than stoked. If this happened in the middle of a long ride, instead of on a trainer, it would have been pretty annoying.

I could say something like, “it rides laterally stiff and vertically compliant” or brag about the scholarship program and how awesome it is that this bike was designed in my home town, but I’m not going to. What I’m going to tell you is that this bike does its job. It rides EXACTLY the way I want it. It’ll probably ride the way you want it to, also. Want to rail crits? Drop the stem, pedal F$#*ing hard and hope that you don’t run into a stopped moto-official. Want to climb? Skip that cookie that you’re holding, and head to Boone. Want to go ride all day? Get a decent fit, run it by your significant other and clear your schedule. You won’t have to worry about your bike, ‘cause this bike wants to do it all. It’s plush enough to ride forever, but it’s stiff enough that you can ride it in a crit and accelerate every 30 seconds over and over and over and over and over again until you’re holding your arms in the air and thanking your significant other for all the free time they gave you.

This bike can and will do it all. You’ll love riding it, and you feel good that you've contributed to youth cycling through the Take the Lead Scholarship. It’s a win/win/win. That’s a win for you, the scholarship and a race win. I promise.

Check out the Kampionne here

Second to last at the second and last

Sunday was the second race of the South Carolina State Championship Mountain Bike Series, and my second mountain bike race after a pretty long absence. Lucky for me, it's also my last race for a while, as I switch my focus to building the aerobic engine for cyclo-cross season.

I quit mountain bike racing after only doing it a few times. I hated the way we were corralled at the beginning and sent into the woods in 2 minute intervals separated into 1000 different age groups, in 3-4 different ability categories. Add in single-speeds and clydesdales, and its just a lot going on, on one course.

My problem was that I didn't spend enough time on my mountain bike, and I was slow. I really enjoyed short track racing, but cross country bummed me out. Especially after getting caught by the 30+ guys, and having to stop and pull over on the side of trail while groups of fitter, older guys went by.

I decided to give mountain biking another shot this year. I wanted to build more technical skills for cyclo-cross and I hate road racing. So off we went.

Back in March, we opened the two race state championship series at Poinsett State Park. I was a beginner... it was only my third cross country race, after all. It was also my first race after hanging up the wheels after cyclo-cross season.

I won the race that day, got stoked on mountain biking and got a license upgrade, setting my goals for a cat. 1 mountain bike upgrade and maybe even collegiate nationals this fall.

The race at Harbison State Forest wasn't quite the same though. These are my home trails, but that only meant that I knew the spots where I would be walking. The race was fast fast FAST. I went into the single track in 4th place, hoping to keep my sights on the three guys in front of me. I got passed by one more rider and the gap got bigger and bigger as we went flying through the woods, slipping and sliding over the dusty trails that could have used a little bit of moisture.

I had moved back to 6th place after the first tight, semi-technical section and trying to conserve energy on the open, power section of the course. I knew that there was a super technical trail coming and there would be lots of short steep climbs. I needed to save the energy that I could have used to close the gap to the 5th place rider, just to survive that trail.

Spider-Woman is the infamous, rocky, twisty trail that I knew would likely break my race. On top of walking the rock garden, I was routinely being passed by groups that started behind me, slowly extending the gap to the other men in my race as I stood stationary on the side of the trail. Here I settled into 6th place, second-to-last, and hoped that the 7th place rider would not catch me.

Leaving Spider-Woman, I had to open the engine up and try to make back some lost time. I rode by my friend and KindHuman teammate, Steve Noiret, and together we charged into the next section of single track.

I came through the start/finish line to sound of cheers from my parents (all three of them!), Jen, and KindHuman boss Adam Abramowicz. I swear, today was the unofficial first day of summer, and luckily I had a bottle waiting in the feedzone. In just 1:40 of racing, I went through nearly three bottles of water and Nuun.

The second lap was only 10k, and much less technical. I made it my goal to try to make up as much ground as possible. Shortly into the second lap, I caught the 5th place rider. I planned to ride with him for a while, but he pulled over to let me pass and I set out to open as much of a gap as I could.

The second lap went by with little issue. I only hoped that I would get caught from behind, as I didn't think I had anything left for a race to the finish. Luckily I rolled across solo, in 5th place. A whopping 12 minutes behind the winner, but only 4 behind the rider in front of me. Not great, but good enough for me to feel hopeful moving forward.

After the race, Jen and I waited on the state championship results. Since I upgraded mid-series, I could only take half of the points that I earned from my win in March. I thought that my 5th place at Harbison would earn my a spot on the podium and a South Carolina State Championship medal (well, for third place at least), but I was wrong. I finished a few points short, in 4th place in the overall.

Despite my disappointing result in the state championship series, it was a good day. Both Steve and Adam had good races, and afterward, we had a great cookout at Adam's house. It was great to do some team bonding and, most importantly, gain a few pounds before starting base training for cyclo-cross season.

The Plan

When I got my first bike, before I even started my first race, I dreamed of becoming a professional cyclist. I wanted to go to Europe and race Paris-Roubaix, I wanted to bang bars in the sprint at Athens Twilight, I thought that I would race cyclo-cross in Belgium, instead of drinking beers from New Belgium.

I'm going to be a professional. Except that I'm going to be a professional teacher. I realized very quickly that becoming a professional bike racer was a pipe-dream, but that I could still enjoy the sport and attempt to compete at the highest level possible.

So, going into my last semester at the University of South Carolina, I decided I didn't have much time left. I also decided that being in a long-distance relationship is a lot of work. Jen and I decided we could figure out a way to take care of both of those in one swift kick. Admittedly, the bike racing thing was more my idea, but we both benefit. I promise.

This was the plan we came up with: I'm going to finish this semester, work for a few weeks, and then leave Columbia for the rest of the summer and put in mad base miles in Savannah. I'm 27 ('cross racing age) and starting grad school in January. Time is at a premium. Racing is going to have to take a back seat when I start my Masters in Teaching program and, as my 30s rabidly approach, I'm running out of time for it to be socially acceptable to spend all of my time on my bike and in coffee shops. I'm taking advantage of it while I can.

The goal when I come home is to come flying into the cyclo-cross season, maybe win a race or two and upgrade. I've been a cat. III cyclo-cross racer for long enough. I'm planning to return to Savannah for the Savannah Super Prestige weekend as a II, finally, and get that UCI License that has seemed like a myth for so long. Am I going to win UCI races? No. Am I going to get a UCI point? Maybe. I can only hope. Am I going to get lapped out of races that I drove 10+ hours for? Probably.

The important part here is: when I start teaching, I'm going to be able to tell my students that I was an elite bike racer in a past life. I'll be able to look back and remember that summer I dropped everything to hangout with my girlfriend and chase a dream that's really silly in reality, but super important to me.

It's my punk rock dream. It's my #getinthevan world tour. It's my last grasp at irresponsible youth. I'm gonna give it a shot.