Who Am I?

Name

Karl Nelson

Age
23

Occupation

Student

Senior

Mechanical Engineering

SDSM&T

Location

School: Rapid City, South Dakota

Summer: Minneapolis Minnesota

Next Year: TBD

About me
I've been riding a bike most of my life, racing for the last three years. I've worked in four different shops, run a club at school and coached a few athletes.

This year I'm trying to get into road racing. I've been mostly mountain bike racing the last few years, and I'd like something different. Its not like I'm a top racer, so I don't have any team or sponsor commitments and all the mountain biking has been getting old, especially in Minnesota.

This year will be especially challenging because I'm recovering from a broken leg. I broke the fibula just above the ankle in late September. I spent 2 and a half months on crutches, which basically means I spent all fall getting out of shape. I've spent the last three years getting progressively stronger on the bike, so this is new for me. Hopefully I'll bounce back well.

In order to find a practical use of all this education, I've been on my schools human powered vehicle team the last couple years. Yes, HPV as in recumbent racing. Its pretty fun, once you get past the nerds on bikes aspect of it. Plus, Freddy Markham is my hero!

Hopefully this blog will be an outlet for my various thoughts on cycling, as well as a training journal. I've got reams of paper from the last few years that I never look at. Maybe if I keep a bit of a journal online, I'll be more likely to look at my progress.