UPDATE!

Spring break has started! For updates about what we are doing follow us on ThetaChiCycling twitter!

Happy New Year!

Most competitive teams are now off on their winter training trips in places like Florida and So Cal, however we are still battling it out here in the midwest. Everyone had been up to their own thing whether it is Ryan battling boredom on the rollers, turner battling the slopes (lucky guy was just in Colorado) or me battling the cold midwest winds day in and day out. The good news is we are all working and working hard.

Tomorrow I will be returning to Bloomington to put the final base miles on my legs, while the rest of the guys will trickle in throughout the week. Once everyone is back we plan on running a mini-camp of sorts to test everyones post winter break fitness and get back to being a team. Everyone is ready to work and be apart of this team. I'm excited especially considering good weather is on the way and how ready everyone is to get starting training as a team again.

To see the high level we need to preform at come April I went and watch some of the nation elite cyclocrossers this weekend at Chicago NYE cross. To say the least it was pretty amazing, theses guys are so good its crazy. So a special thanks to the Rapha-Focus team and Jeremy Powers for coming to Chicago it was so freaking cool/inspiring to watch you guys race. Here are a couple pictures from it.

Welcome Back

The Little 500 season (spring semester) is right around the corner so I figured there would be no better time to update the long dormant Theta Chi Cycling blog. My goal with this blog is to recount all of the weekly happenings of the team and relay what we are doing to Alumni, brothers and really anyone else who is interest.

This year we are returning all four riders from the race and have two new rookies. Ryan Granholm, Turner Duncan, Jake Shields and myself made up the race team while John Becker and Will Burke are the two rookies. These 6 men make up the current Theta Chi Racing team and are all competing to make the final four on race day.

Throughout the fall semester we have been training more than we ever had but in a fun casual way that makes it not seem like work. We have met and exceeded my expectations for the fall. They not only completed the Hilly 100 and the Nashville 90 but showed outstanding form and I truly believe we have 6 outstanding guys who deserve to be on the track race day. They have proven that they are ready to work and compete at the highest level possible.

Little 5 Season!

So much has happened since the last time I updated! First off the whole team has been on a great work out schedule, 830am practices 4 mornings during the week and then road work on the weekends. Everyone is showing a lot of improvement from just December. The guys have been putting in some really hard work on the trainers, which has been tough on all of us...rollers get boring quick!

The whole team got to go out saturday for a solid ride up beam blossom, everyone looked good including Granholm who was riding a Fuji that weight about 40 pounds, apparently the ride quality is great on the 1970's steel frame... haha. The Theta riders we ran into were definitely loving his ride. Everyone is attacking and treating every hill like the Tourmalet. On Sunday Chuck and I got out to do a little Captain Coach 50 miler while everyone else did their own thing. Overall a great weekend of riding on the road. Chuck, our coach of course is still a beast I'm pretty sure he went out during the ice storm...But now we are in the Iceage and all I can see in the future is rollers and more rollers.

Now its February and that means the track is opening soon. Also that means rookie week is upon us! This year we have 5 rookies which is by far the most rookies theta chi has every had. They are all hungry to get over to the track and see what they are made of. I have a feeling that all of them are going to excel on the track and being really competitive.

Ill Update more soon but I have an Important physics test tomorrow!

Team Kits!

Our team kit designs have been approved and it looks like the team is getting a Jersey, some bibs and a rain jacket.

-4

Since the last update there has been a lot of progress! 630am practice became a regular thing for the remainder of the semester, it was rough some morning but the whole team participated. These really helped the guys keep their fitness up and also it built a nice little sense of team which will be important come april. A special thanks to our treasurer who alloted some $$ so I could purchase the rollers allowing us to move from the SRSC to the Rec room to work out.

Now that everyone is on break and we are not going somewhere warm for a camp, All of the guys took home trainers and little 5 bikes to work out over break. Hopefully when we all get back to bloomington everyone will have maintained some form of shape...we will see. Otherwise there isn't much to report. Its just been a cold winter so far so that means many painful hours sitting inside on the trainer!

Also I created a tumblr for just some random blogging and to post cool cycling stuff on!! Newkirkbike.tumblr.com

Ride Fast Turn Left

Well its been about 6 months since the last update so I figure all 8 of my followers are desperately in need of an update:

This year the Theta Chi Little 5 team has 2 returning members with the possibility of a third. The riders returning this year are well myself as team captain and Jake Shields...resident beast. Also rumor has been going around that Tudi might be taking a victory lap...to finish up some class work (or just to hang around Nicks and Kilroys for another year). It's great to have returning riders and even better to have solid ones like Jake and Jake. The bike team has two new rookies Ryan and Turner (both gingers). I liken Ryan to a cross between Andy Schleck and a tank. Simply put this guy is gonna be great come April. Not to leave out turner, but he is by far the hardest worker on the team and I cannot wait to see him out on the track, he is gonna tear it up.

So far this semester as a team we have rode the Hilly 100. It was a great team building experience and it was great to have everyone there on the first day and almost everyone there on the second!

In more recent news the team has decided to start holding early morning practice to make sure when these cold winter months hit we are all getting in the work we need to be ready by april. To facilitate these practices I hope to have a couple of new sets of rollers purchased by the end of this week but until then SRSC will be our new home for the next couple days!