World Cup 2&3 recap

Hi, it’s time for a May post! Before I tell you about the World Cups and Belgium in Italy I’m first going to tell you about a few things I’m thankful for regarding the trip and more. I was encouraged when I was younger to start a prayer with some things I’m thankful for rather than discussing and focusing on some needs and guidance. Thankful for the opportunity I have to erase my hand cycle. Second, even though I represented Team USA over in Europe I am beyond grateful for Loma Linda University and PossAbilities. Teamwork definitely makes the dream work. I’m thankful for the many people I have met over the years that have complimented my progress with advice in some way shape or form. I believe it’s always worth pondering and evaluating advice to see if it’s correct or how it can be implemented into our life in some way. Thankful for the housing accommodations we had over in Europe. I was lucky enough to have accessible accommodations all the way through. Being able to shower and take care of personal needs is high on the priority list as it affects performance. Grateful for people that ran up to me after I crashed in Italy and let’s just say put me back together so I could continue on in the race. I’m glad it wasn’t a bad crash and I only banged up my elbow and broke one of my grips. So happy I did not flip over. Sounds weird but thank you concrete wall. Grateful for the people I race against that share knowledge and want to communicate. It’s fun to connect with people from foreign countries. Grateful for the Bible study group that one of our Team USA teammates hosted although I only attended one session. I’m grateful, but was surprised, the Team USA director told us to not stress over results but to go out there and do our best and even take chances considering the event didn’t really count for anything regarding points towards the Paralympics. Much more to be grateful for but I’ll leave it there for now.

The first World Cup in Belgium was in a new location called the Gistel. We stayed at the same Hotel as we have over the past many years but the race was about 7 to 9 Mi away from our previous location. The course was very flat with one hill going over a highway but it was windy. I definitely found out that being very lightweight is not good when it’s windy as the heavier riders carried much more momentum into the wind. I also just came off antibiotics less than a week before our first race. I had an infection in my right elbow from slamming it into the ground. I don’t like how antibiotics make you feel with respect to fatigue and achiness which can typically last a couple weeks after discontinuing them. Regardless though, I was actually surprised I took second in the time trial. I was only 38 seconds behind the leader and 20 watts less than him. That was a surprise regarding watts as he does way a bit more than me. I was thinking maybe 10 to 15 watts difference. And then third place produced five more watts more than me and he was 34 seconds behind me. Aerodynamics, bodyweight, the power meter, can all make a difference but I think we all had the same power meter. Just stuff to geek over a bit. I took third in the road race. I felt great for the first half but then all the sudden I hit a wall. When this happens I know it’s either allergies or electrolyte balance is low affecting blood volume. I’m pretty sure it was the first because I was a bit itchy and my eyes were very red. Once I got out of the wind and got some eye drops the effect decreased quite a bit. I took third that day. I was sure I was going to get caught by the riders behind me.

Let’s start the last world cup, or the journey to the last World Cup and the races, in a new paragraph. First, they didn’t allow one of the other racers in my cell phone the airplane because Ryanair said they had too many wheelchairs already. Anyway, I’m not going to complain but we ended up going back to Brussels getting a new flight and not getting into our race destination 10 hours after we should have at around 2:30 in the morning. Note taken for next year cuz I think we will probably have the same courses or at least locations. The Italian organization that put on the race in Italy did a phenomenal job. It was a flat course and a little sketchy on the s-turns as I found out but what a great location! That saying, everything is better than Italy, I highly agree with quite often. I ended up taking fourth in a time trial as I struggled with some low blood pressure that day and then I did crash in the road race. It’s all good though as I am training to peak in September and with just things that happened in the months up to the race, including not spending a lot of training time in the red or orange, my results were fair. If I was at peak watts or close to it I would have won Belgium in the time trial and taken second in the time trial in Italy. The time trial is what counts the most with my chances going to the paralympics. The road race is a way to help point accumulation and help the team towards Los Angeles Paralympics. 

I am done with teaching for the semester and looking forward to focusing on the next three and a half months of focus training towards the world championships in Huntsville Alabama. I will add a June blog post next month and we’ll share how training is going over the first month towards the world championships. Remember, take responsibility for your actions and remember that often your lack of progress or happiness is often a result of your actions or lack thereof. It’s a hard pill to swallow but it’s true and it provides resilience, growth, and much more.