Spring 2004: My first season racing the collegiate scene with Virginia Tech. The NC State criterium was my first and only collegiate win that year. It came as quite a surprise to me. Mark Hardman, then teammate on the VT team, nearly won the race with a solo move in the last ten laps. He was brought back with only two laps to go. Racing was slow in the last lap. I exited the last corner quite slowly because I was bunched up. To my freshman surprise, and to the surprise of the rest of the VT team, I sprinted past Christoph Herby and a UNC rider to take the win.

Spring 2005: The course at NC State obviously suited me. But this year UVA had a very strong team. They had a very fast rider in Christoph Herby and several other very strong riders. The story of the race was trying to contain Christoph and Hatcher Rosebrock of NC State. I did this successfully and forced another field sprint. UVA used five riders in their lead-out train. Three riders pulled Christoph for the last two laps, and a crazy Mark Hardman (now of UVA) was the sweeper. After Mark made a crazy move to take Christoph’s wheel from me I shouted to them both, “Fine, I will pass both of you.” And I did. I started to dream about a three-peat, and a four-peat, that very night.

Spring 2006: This was the year of the VT team. It was now VT that had several strong riders in the A field. I had already won multiple events in 2006 with the help of a strong lead-out from my teammates. For the NC State race my teammates were fully behind me. They helped to cover moves and bring back attacks that looked threatening. In the end, it was Donny Autore who took me through the final chicane and corner faster than I ever went through it in any year. He was so strong he held on for third place. With his help, I won easily.

Spring 2007: My fourth win at NC State was the closest finish of all. The racing all season was far less predictable than I had seen in previous years. Any number of riders had the ability to win any race. I spent most of the race floating near the front and covering anything that looked threatening. Near the midpoint of the race a group of five riders gained a small advantage over my group. I put in a large effort to go across on the same lap that a large crash happened in the field. When I came around on the next lap some riders were pushed in right in front of me. Among them was John Webb, a B rider from VT who was doing his first A race. He sacrificed his race for me by pulling all out for a lap to help me close the gap to the breakaway. Upon my arrival the breakaway quickly stopped racing. Small groups began rejoining my front group as the mayhem from the crash started to settle itself out. In the end it all came together for a field sprint. The two strong riders from Navy were on the front for the final lap. On the back stretch it was Matt Howe from NC State that made an impressive move. He soared past me and entered the last set of corners well in front of me. As I exited the last corner, only 200 meters from the line, I had a 20 bike length deficit to overcome. It was only in the last 10 meters that I drew up next to Matt. Instead of lifting one arm and looking back as I had done each previous year, I threw my bike to the line in order to win the race.

In order to earn two degrees and take enough credit hours to sit for the CPA exam I will be staying in school for a fifth year. Perhaps a five-peat is in order.