9/13/07

Well the road season has almost ended and now it is time to start getting ready for the upcoming winter track season. Last weekend I raced the Univest GP and had a mixed experience with all of it. The race itself was fantastic. The course has a very European feel with all the small roads, constant ups and downs, and the downtown finishing circuits. On the other hand, I just had knee surgery on August 1st. The surgery goes back to a bad accident I had in 2005 when I was hit by a car when out training. The pain and inconsistent riding/racing that the injury brought on was finally too much and I decided to bite the bullet and get my knee taken care of. I ended up having my plica removed along with some cartilage repair. The knee feels great but when it came time for the KOMs at Univest my knee is still a little weak to really give them a go. Frankly, I really gutted myself to get over those hills with the group at all. How about the second KOM! It must have been at least 20 percent. I felt like I was going to fall over from going so slow and I was in a 39×25. In the end, though, it didn’t really matter as the main peloton wasn’t allowed to race the circuits anyway. That was a bit frustrating but rules are rules and we were outside the 8 minute time limit.

Now that the road season has ended I am in full-on track mode. Currently my madison partner, Jackie Simes, and myself are out in Colorado Springs for the next two and a half weeks getting some high altitude training (over 6000ft out here!) and then heading to LA for track nationals on October 1st. I am hoping to podium in several events but Jackie and I really have our eyes set on the madison. Hopefully, we can at least be in the top three but with Bobby Lea, Colby Pearce, Mike Friedman, and Brad Huff it is going to be a super competitive event.

Nationals are a big goal but the biggest and most important part of the track season starts for Jackie and I when we move to Ghent, Belgium following track nationals. We’ll be racing the U25 Elite Six Days starting in Amsterdam on October 22. The season runs from Amsterdam through the Copenhagen six day in early February. The entire winter six day season compromises of ten six days. We are hoping for some big results with the ultimate goal of getting a professional Six Day contract by the end of the winter. The competition is really, really hard over there but I really believe we can do this. Coming in as the foreigners is tough but if we post some good results early on, and really assert ourselves out on the track, we’ll gain the respect and get in with the top teams.

As of right now, we have racing tonight at the velodrome here in Colorado and are heading to Parker for a twilight criterium on Saturday. I’m a little apprehensive about it all – the altitude is taking a bit of a toll. It feels like I’m breathing through a straw more or less. We had a tough 20+ minute climb on our road ride this morning and I thought I was going to pass out. So if I make it through tonight I’ll write in tomorrow with results and some pictures of the area. Hope this are going well in the NYC area.

David Wiswell

www.echappeonline.com

P.S. Congratulations to Sakonnet this past weekend at Univest. Awesome riding.