USA Nationals
Written by Steven Cozza
Tuesday, 28 June 2005

All keep it short because I am using the only hotel computer here in UT even though I have tons to say. The Nationals had its highs and lows as always. Starting out with the 125 mile road race. I was so strong in this race and was able to do anything just about or at least I thought. I ended up messing up this race worse than I have ever messed up a race before. with like 60 miles still left in the race I road away from the 13 man break I was in and put over 3 minutes on them. With like 20 miles to go I was caught and totally destroyed from a butt cramp that was so painful I had to stand most the time to make it feel better. I got left on the first big climb back to the finish and with less than 10 miles left I lost over 18 minutes to the winner. The last 5 miles were the craziest moments of my life. I had to fight to just stay on my bike and not fall asleep. I kept swerving and almost got hit by a few cars and was commanded by one of the races officials to get in the car and in my race but I refused and commended myself to finish and just keep turning my legs over. With about 1 mile to go a buddy of my Lucas who ended his race early because of a crash he was involved in ran out onto the course and handed me a slice of pizza. I took a few bites and almost puked but the cheese and the dough was the best thing I had ever had. I saw the finish line in view and new I was going to cross that line even if I had to crawl. I crossed it and that was it I couldn't go know more and fell over to the ground and blacked out for a bit. I started to get my senses back and was brought to the hospital in an ambulance for the second time this year to receive IV's and get tests done. There's not much more I can say about this race except for dam I need to Brain to match my body. I think I can sometimes do things that are not so possible alot of the times and someday its going to get me killed. When I was away for most of the race I had decided that if I won that in the interview I would say to do what I did today it takes a heart the size of a watermelon, balls the size of a whale and a brain the size of a walnut. Well did not quite make it that far but hey I finished ha ha after getting messed up. The doctor had told me that I had entered the race already dehydrated and potassium and magnesium deprived because of a stomach bug I had a couple days prior. Well enough of that I would love to forget about that whole day and in order for me to do that I new I had to win the U-23 National Time Trial to erase it from my mind. About a minute before the start of my time trial I was rolling up to the start ramp and heard this crash I turned around in a saw my mom on the ground along with a cyclist that had just finish who I guess somehow took out my poor little mom. I raced over to her and was so sad my whole body ached. I had know time to really find out if she was okay because I was about to start in 30 seconds so I gave her a kiss and raced back up to the start ramp. At this point I just wanted to get the dam race over to see if my mom was okay. I had know clue and couldn't stop thinking about it the whole dang 34 kilometer out and back TT. Well I guess I wanted to get back soon to see if she was okay because I flew through the windy course and came across the line with the winning time. I didn't believe at first because I did not feel like I went hard enough. This means I get the National Champion jersey and is a automatic qualifier for the Worlds Team this year in Madrid Spain so I am so glad about that. I know our team over there can medal this year so I want to be apart of that.

Well that's about it. My first real big dream has come true. One down and about 100000 to go. oh great ha ha.

Next off is a little break and than I take off to the Cascade Classic in Oregon.

Thanks to all that have supported me along the way. It all means so much.

Thanks for reading!
Steven

Tour De Nez
Written by Steven Cozza
Sunday, 19 June 2005

The Tour De Nez proved to be a great success. This race staged out of Reno was a 3 day 4 stage race. For the first stage there was a short five Kilometer Prologue and I won. My first big win of the year so that was nice. The next stage was a super fast one hour crit up in Truckee. I managed to come in 15th and now standing 3rd overall in the General classification. The third stage turned out to be a super hard 108 mile road race with a 5 mile climb in it. I came in 9th place in this snowy road race and now sat 4th overall. The last and final stage was a 1.5 hour long downtown Reno Crit. I new that this was going to be a make it or break it day for me. with around 10 laps to go I made a hard attempt to bridge up to the two solo leaders. With two laps to go I was caught and managed to hang in there to sprint to a 16th place and came out with a 6th place overall. I was so stoked because I didnt even come to this race for results but simply for conditioning for the more important up and coming Nationals in Utah. If you want to check this race out it will be on OLN within the next couple weeks. They do a one hour recap and they interviewed me on so you will see me on it for sure.

well so far so good. I am knocking my goals off one by one. Trying to do my best to keep on track.

I will have a funny updated soon about how my training went up at altitude. It was one adventure thats for sure with bears and waterfalls to cross along with snowy passes.

Thanks for reading.
Steven

Struggles
Written by Steven Cozza
Thursday, 02 June 2005

The past couple months have been a black whole for my cycling and me. It seemed for a while life was going on without me and I was just stuck in this whole. I felt as though I constantly needed to keep my head above water and that I am so close to drowning some days. This is how it all came to this. I started off the year feeling incredibly strong actually racing to win. On top of all the excitement because of a new discovered form I was training like a maniac because I felt so strong and thought I could but what I was not realizing was that my body was building up a lot of fatigue that seemed to hit me all at once like a tsunami. Not only was I not resting enough but I continued to race after getting sick and put on antibiotics. This combination left me wrecked and feeling worse than ever. I kept my head up high the best I could but continued to go down hill. I started getting a bit depressed. Why me? How could I go from feeling so strong to sooo weak within a few weeks? The answer is simple. I over did it over reached and over trained. It wasn’t until just recently that I figured all of this out. I suffered through the last few races in Europe with bad fatigue in my legs. The tour of Georgia was coming up in 1 week and I had legs that could of just as well lived in a petrified forest. This was not only going to be one of the hardest stage races I have ever done but one that most of my America friends would be seeing because Lance Armstrong was in the race and everyone follows him. So I felt quite a bit of pressure. My goal was to do the best I possibly could with all that I had left because as soon as the tour was over instead of going straight back to Europe I went home to get on the recovery plan so that my whole season would not be ruined. Cycling can be a very disappointing sport but no matter what happens to you weather your sick or fatigued for who knows what reasons you must fight with all your might to keep your head high because that day of feeling unstoppable and that day when you cross the finish line first with your hands high in the air will come. They say that 90 percent of this sport is loosing and the other 10 is winning so it is the 10 percent that must keep you going. My dreams and goals have continued to change time to time and I continue to believe in myself the best I can even with the sometimes outside negative messages but what is most important is that I continue to break through any obstacles that get in my way. Since I have decided to stay home for the months of May and June from Europe I have become really motivated in getting myself back up to speed. My goal is to be in the best shape I can to have a great end of the year in August and September so that I can earn my spot on the Worlds team. My goal for the month of May is to get my legs back up to speed dusting off the cob webs so that I can have a fast June. In June I want to race strong at the Tour de Nez and Nevada City Classic in California and than win the National Championships in late June held in park City Utah. In order to prepare for the altitude in Park City I am leaving June 6 to go train at 7,000 feet for a couple of weeks. It is now June 2nd and I have hit all my middle goals right on the mark.

To conclude this, being home has reminded me why I do this sport in the first place. There is nothing better to me than to roll along up Highway 1 and see the seals playing in the kelp and have the ocean breeze hit me in the face. The smells the feelings and the sounds are what keep me motivated in becoming the best I can in the sport of cycling.

Thanks for reading,

Steven