Let's bring in the New Year!

I am currently sitting on my couch watching 'The Today Show' and they are showing a year in review, so I thought I would try to do the same thing....with less pizzaz. (I don't have a TV show)

January: Plans were made to go to California

February: Got to spend a week out in California chasing the Tour of California, met Armstrong, Leipheimer, Hincapie, Basso, Danielson, Cancellara, Voigt, Rassmusen, Roll, Bruyneel, Ligget, Sherwin, Ekimov, Riis, and Zabriskie. Also got to ride my bike in the mountains.

March: Purchased aerobars for my bike. Racing season starts at the end of the month with the 'Fisk Knob Time Trial' where i managed my highest placing...2nd place.

April: Spring Break! Didn't go anywhere. Due to California, I did not go anywhere. I spent alot of time around here preparing for Graduation, and my brothers Wedding. Racing season picks up with the AAVC STS, and Willow TT where I took 4 min off my time from last year.

May: A busy busy month. Prom. That required alot of work because I was on the setup commitee. A few weeks later, Graduation. Spent alot of time with freinds making bonds before going away at the end of the summer. As far as racing goes, the big race of Kensington, which was a blast and maybe it can go to a stage race again. I was taken down in the crit part of the race and had a decent amount of road rash.

June: The month of Camp and State Championships. Cedar Creek was almost amazing. Had a fun road trip with Scott and David, which i hope to do again. We sprinted about 10 seconds early, otherwise we might have swept State Road Champs. Then I raced a hard Allen Park Crit, managed to make some money with a 5th place finish in a strong feild. Then it was off to La Crosse, Wisconsin with Colton and Caleb, packed up the Element and went to camp. I was 7th overall out of 32 riders at camp, with a 20k TT 2 min faster than my Willow time. Drove back the day before Dexter, slept in my car at the truck stop on Baker Road woke up and went on to a 12th place finish at Dexter after crashing and getting a flat tire.

July: A wonderful month. My birthday on the 10th was fun, just hung out with my freinds. Raced the 'Common Crit' with the mixed 3/4 feild. This was Kurt's first race, and I think he did alright for the first time.I managed to drop my chain and drop behind the feild. I never caught up to the feild, but i never gave up. I gave everything I had to not get lapped, but I as a single person am not as fast as 50 people. A week later I was in Houghton, Michigan for my oldest brothers wedding. (That is why I missed the Maillot Jaune RR) It was a wonderful wedding, perfect weather, ceremony held on the shores of Lake Superior. I got in some quality training, climbed 780ft in 4 miles. Fun stuff.

Augest: The month of racing. Ada, BTR, Hines, and Rockford. Ada was a fun, dangerous race. Scott and I raced hard, and I managed 11th, while Scott got 6th(?). This was the race where some of you may remember I was threatened durring the last lap by our crash causing, trouble making Cat 4 freind. (Most of you know who I'm talking about) I skipped out on BTR, so I could be prepared for Hines. Despite getting passed by David, because he is just insane in time trials, i still put in a reputable time, catching Doug at the line. I placed 4th in the 4 feild with a time 2 min faster than my Camp time, 4 min faster than Willow. Rockford was an amazing race. Eric crashed early on, but got back in the race. I spent a lot of time on the front of the feild, working for Scott. With 2 laps left, I took off on the hill. When i came across the line the bell rang, one lap to go, less than a mile, I had 10 seconds on the feild. This was it, I was going to get my first win! When I hit the hill again, my calv cramped, and I ended up 10th at the line.

September: 2 races, and the start of a new era.....College. The races were Debaets-Devos Crit, and the Priority Health Grand Classic. Debaets was a hard race, our goal was to get Scott a high placing so he could win the Michigan Challenge Series. David, Dan and I hammered that race. We litteraly rode ourselves into the ground, but on the last corner, the guy in front of Scott crashed leaving Scott with a gap, making him the leadout man for the feild. He got second in the series. Priority Health was an awesome race! I can't wait for it again! SRAM neutral support, pro racers, just an amazing race.
College...well I started college. Went for a ride one day and broke my bike.

October: A full month of nothing. Studying, testing, writing, and reading. Halloween was a drag, freezing rain, mid week = no parties. :'-(

November: Thanksgiving in Seattle. Wow I just might move out there, it was beautiful. Rode up a monster of a hill with my brother, ended up falling on my knee. It climbed 1800ft in 2 miles or something like that.

December: Finished up my first semester of college, survived. Came home to spend break with family and freinds. Went to my first SLC team meeting, its going to be a fun season with a strong tem. Got a new bike for Christmas, and I love it. Thank you James Knight. Now I am sitting here on New Years Eve writing about my year. It was a fun year, and I guess I had a tough luck with racing, but it was still fun.

If I happened to miss something, and im sure I did, feel free to tell me. I hope everone else had a good year too. Next year is going to be better, next year is going go be more fun, next year is going to be more succesful.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

At last...the new bike!

So yesterday morning i jumped into the Element and drove over to Panera on Jackson St. in AA to meet up with James Knight. I walk inside and James is sitting right at the entrance, so we head outside to his car.(ALSO a blue Honda Element) He opened the back of his car and pulled out my new shiny black LOOK 555, with full Ultegra components and Ksyrium Equipe wheels. Yes, as some of you know i was suppose to get a LOOK 585 with Dura Ace, but the 555/Ultegra was a lot cheaper for roughly the same performance. Yes James, you and I have the same bike, were almost twins! haha. So yesterday i spent 2-3 hours working on the bike, I changed the handle bar/stem combination to my favored 120mm stem and my flat top, ergo bend handle bars. I adjusted the saddle height and bar rotation, and I exchanged my pedals from the 'LOOK Keo Sprints' to my 'Speedplay X-Series'. I also zip-tied the wireless cyclecomputer and transmitter to the bike, and fastened the bottle cages to the frame. Now it is ready for riding! I will make the 'First Dozen Ride' weather permitting. Here, Enjoy some pictures...

Resolution?

There are four days untill 2008. Monday night im going to be out late partying with freinds to bring in the new year. A year of change, a year where im going to accomplish more. On Tuesday i plan on doing the 'First Dozen' ride with the SLC team, but i still dont have a functional bike, and I am not doing that ride on my dads bike, which is way to big for me. Anyways.... the point of this post. I have a few New Years Resolutions. First, i would like to change my look. I usualy wear wind pants or shorts with some type of cycling t-shirt, now im going with the American Eagle polos. pants, and sweaters. Next, I would like to be more active. Granted im a cyclist, but i want to spend more time in the gym, more time on the bike, and more time outdoors running, swimming, and playing frisbee. Finaly i want to do well in school. My first semester was hard, but now i understand and i think i can do A LOT better.

I am curious to know, what is YOUR New Years Resolution?

I want that...

I dont know if anyone saw this. But according to Trek, Lance Armstong has been spending alot of time in New York and so he asked Trek for a breand new Madone specifically for NYC. I understand her won Le Tour 7 consecutive times, and is the greatest Tour rider to ever live, but i really really wish i had that kind of power. "Hey Trek, give me a new bike with a custom paint job, because i said so..." That would be really cool. I should call up Trek and see if I can pull it off too. "I would like a new Madone 6.9 with Aeolus wheels, painted in SLC colors.......what?.....no?.....alright."

New Bike Trail

Here in Jackson, after i left for Eastern the city paved a bike trail from downtown Jackson all the way to Concord. Its about 15 miles long, only crosses 7-8 streets, 2 of which are busy. Today in Mid-Michigan, it was beautiful out. Temperature in the 40s sunny, clear blue skies. If only i had a bike. I decided to take my dads bike out for a spin, which is a 56cm frame, and i ride a 51cm. As it turns out, i shouldnt have spent two hours on that bike. Due to the bike geometry, i couldn't get any power to the pedals, so it was a slow ride. I hope it was the bike, and not me. Ive spent about a month off the bike, but im talking to my Dad and we are going to talk to James Knight tomarrow about that bike. I need something that fits me, especially if i want to ride with the team on New Years. I cant ride like this with the team, i would probably get dropped. So...in short, ride a bike that is the right size, it works alot better. And if anyone cares to know the stats off my HRM, here they are...
Time - 1:59'06
Avg HR - 138
Max HR - 183
Calorie Burn - 1235

X-mas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoys their day. My dad had to go to work this morning, so we celebrated christmas last night. I didnt get much last night, but i didnt expect to, seeing as i am getting a new bike this week. But i got some clothes, a frisbee, and a long needed frame pump. I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

PS: Doug, dont shoot down Santa next year.

Ahhhh....Le Tour

Details Later: I may potentially be on L'alpe D'huez on July 23, 2008. Yes! That is the day the tour finishes there.

We found a little christmas...

So i have two young cousins, ages 4 and 5.5. All they want for christmas is a go-cart. But we know they are too young for one. So my mom was out shopping, went by TSC (tractor supply company) and found these really nice, steel tubed pedal go-carts with a hand break. Well my mom and i took my trusty Honda Element down there this morning and bought two of them. THEY ACTUALLY FIT in the element. So my young cousins don't know about this. Tonight after they go to sleep, me and one of my brothers are going to drive over there and place the cars on the deck. When they wake up and see their christmas wish came true.....its just going to be cool. The parents only thing we got one. So they too will be surprised. Its fun to be an elf and make christmas happen.

Break

So i dont really have much to report. I am home for the holidays. So ive been hanging out with freinds. The first night back about 8 of my freinds came over and we watched Shrek 3 in the basement and played pool. I went bowling with two of my freinds, and had some of the worst games of my life. In 4 games, i only broke 100 in 2 of them. My average over the summer was like 123 or soemthing. O well. My brother got in town from Seattle last night, and my parents went to pick him up in the Element, so i got to drive the Mini Cooper, i love that car. Cat and I made Chex Muddy Buddies (aka. Puppy Chow) last night after recycling some stuff. Yeah, its been pretty layed back. My brother set up a weight room on our sun porch, so im going to hit the weights later today. Im also going to fix up Pats mountain bike and go hit the snowy trails later. Yeah, thats pretty much it. I will let you know i am working on a brand new road bike, way cooler than the one i had last season (which is now my TT bike) and i should have it by next week. But i will make you all wonder for now. Happy Holidays!

DONE!

I am finished with my first semester of college! And i survived! I cannot tell you what my GPA is because i dont know yet. But it deffinitly wont be as high as it was in high school. I have learned alot this semester, and the major one is...study. And even if you do study, you might not get the grade you want. I was that student in high school that would pass tests and be ranked pretty high in the class, but i never did any work, or studied. This semester i have studied like no other, and i still didnt do great on tests. But hey, this is college, i guess thats what its suppose to do to ya. Sop anyway, ive just been rambling. I just got back from my (what seemed easy, not a good sign) chem exam and thought i would blog and say that i am finished! I hope everyone has a good holiday!

Not so good day

Ever have a day that starts out great but as it progresses, it gets worse. Then you are left to your thoughts for a few hours, and it just makes things worse? Yeah, thats how my day went today. I woke up after going to bed very late. Went over to the Exercise Physiology lab to meet up with some graduate students and Dr. McGregor. There we went over procedures and protocol for the testing to take place in January-February. After that i met up with some of my freinds who had made sketti, and it was pretty tasty. Then i came back here and talked online to people for a while. Thats where it all went south. I wont say what the conversations entailed, but i will say that i really dont like dishonesty. Anyways, i have sat here watching 'The Bourne Ultimatum' and thinking. Now im more upset than i was earlier. Oh well. I just thought i would blog, now im going to study for my only exam and my final exam this semseter....Chemistry

Hope everone else had a better day then i did!

Guess what!......It snowed

So it was snowing last night when i went to sleep at like 1am. But i could still see the grass. That wasn't the case when i woke up this morning. 8 inches - 1 foot of snow blanketed the city of J-Town. I started shoveling the driveway, and i dug the Mini Copper out and moved it into the garage. My brother called his freind who came and plowed the rest of the driveway, so that was cool. Then i got in my Honda Element and drove to the hardware store because my father needed an extension cord. I LOVE MY CAR! My car is AMAZING in under these conditions. (i bet Dougs amazing cavalier can drive right through this stuff) My car is all wheel drive and can just drive right over/through snow banks, its pretty cool. Anyways, my brother was going skiing today at Mt. Brighton and needed my car. So him and Ross packed their stuff in the Element and drove me back to school, then went skiing. On the drive doen I-94 from Jackson to Ypsilanti (about 43 miles) i counted 7 cars and 1 bus off the side of the road. One of the cars was completely on its side, there was a firetruck and an ambulance. The highway was trecherous. The commission cannot keep up with the snowfall. You could not see the lines on the road, so cars were driving everywhere. But i made it back safe.

DOUG!!! HELP!!!

So i was sitting here in my dorm last night, talking online and studying for exams. Then i went to open firfox on my 3 month old laptop, and i got the blue screen o' death. And i had to shut it down. Then i coudnt get it to reboot. So i called my brother eric who works for Microsoft and we worked on the problem untill 2:30am this morning. I gave up and went to bed. My brother will be home in a week and will work on it. So i ask thee, computer master doug, what do you think i should do?

Day Off

So far this week, mon-wed, i have had 6 tests and turned in one submission draft packet. Its good to have a day off, my brain is fried. Tomarrow I have my Biology and Math finals, then Saturday will be a good day, Sunday i have to study, Monday i don't have testing, but i do have to meet in the Ex. Phys. Lab to go over procedure for collecting and storing data for the cycling research. Then comes Tuesday, and i have my Chemistry final, and i should be home by noon. I will return to school on the 6th of January, for classes to start the 7th.

I almost want to cry

Exam week is Finaly here :'-(

Monday: Chem Lab Practical, Math Exam

Tuesday: Chem Exam, English Portfolio Due

Wednesday: Math Exam, Bio Exam, Sports Medicine Final

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Math Final, Bio Final

Tuesday 18th - Chem Final

Party over here, party over there!

So yesterday i made a trip to Livonia for the Midwest Cycling Group end of the year party. This is where we celebrate our season, and meet the new guys (me being one of them) It was pretty cool to see everyone again, seeing as the last time we were all together was the Priority Health Grand Classic in September. We got pizza (BBs favorite) breadsticks and salad, then took our places at tabels and listened to a presentation about the SLC Team. We talked about races, sponsors, and commitment. Its interesting to got from a 4-6 man Cat 4 team for the AAVC, to a 14-18man elite cat 3 team. After the presentation there was a raffle where i won a shirt and i got a pair of socks from someone who didnt want them. After the raffle we tried on uniforms and purchased extra stuff from last year. I believe i can now ride in any type of weather and still be fully outfitted in sponsors logos. After the raffle, i headed home. It was really just a gathering to see what our team will look like next year, and it looks strong.

YOUR Chrustmas List

Just leave a comment, on what you would like for Christmas. Im curious to know. I am in with the 'Big Man' so i could put in a good word for you......maybe not Doug. haha kidding.

Christmas List

So for christmas i have a list of things i would like. Ace, BB, Doug, and Colton...you guys talk amongst yourselves and decide who is going to get me what.... thanks! haha

- 2008 Madone 6.9 with Aeolus 5.0 Tubular Wheels
- Cervelo P3 Carbon with Zipp 999 Wheelset (race bend bars)
- Garmin Edge 305 GPS with cadence sensor
- Giro Ionos Helmet (Small)
- A Skoda Octavia Combi 4x4 detailed in South Lyon colors and sponsor with one of those cool Pro Tour bike racks (to be the official SLC Team car)

I think if you all work together, you could accomplish my list. Especially you Doug, you could be the benefactor.

Next Semester

Well when i return from winter break for the start of my second semster here at EMU, i will have a new class scheduel. And here it is....

Music 107 - Music Appreciation
Math 107 - Plane Geometry (i took it in 8th grade, but its required)
English 121 - Researching the Public Experience
Sports Medicine 201 - Human Anatomy for Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine 202 - Human Physiology for Sports Medicine

Mon, Wed, and Fri i have class from 8-12 then i am done
Tues Thurs class from 2-3:30pm

Its going to be fun!

Exam/Finals

So i figured out my last week of school for this semester...and it sucks. I have 3 exams and 4 finals in one week! Not fun.

What you've all been waiting for!

So im sorry for the wait, i got lazy out in Seattle and didn't feel like writing alot. Then ive been busy here with school since i got back, but now i have some free time and i will fill you in on the rest of my trip. Where did i leave off..............Oh yeah!

Day 3: The Dinner
Thanksgiving morning i woke up and went for a morning ride after haveing two pieces of sausage and a cappacino (as i discovered later, not enough food). Where we were in Tacoma wasn't far from Point Defiance Park. I mean literaly down the road about a mile. So i rode down there around for a little bit, along the water and back to the house. I will probably move out there several years down the road, because its amazing there. Not to mention they have more elevation in 3 blocks than we do in the entire state haha. After my ride i sat around the house, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and some football. Then it was time for dinner. This table we used only sat 8 comfortably, there were 10 of us. We fit. Thanksgiving dinner was the usual, haveing the family together is fun because there are lots of good stories and lots of laughs. After dinner we watched...something....oh, Greys Anatomy and then i went to bed. I was going to bed early because i didnt want to get too used to the time change.

Day 4: The first real ride
So after thanksgiving, i refused to go downtown one of the biggest cities in the country on the busiest shopping day of the year. So my dad and i went to my brothers appartment. My brother and i kitted up and went for a nice ride. It was about an hour and 15 min long. Climbed a bit, but my brother told me it was nothing. We hit 42mph on one of the decents. When we got done my brothers and i went to eat and drove around a bit. Went to a few stores, then went back to the house. I fell asleep eventually.

Day 5: The Dusk Ride
I didnt get to my brothers house untill later that day, because we spent the morning at the Museum of Glass, which was pretty cool. Then we went to my brothers house, and my dad fell asleep on the couch, my mom, her friend, and my sister-in-law took a drive around Bellview, while my brother and i went riding. We started at about 3 o clock, and it gets dark there around 5. So after doing two decently long climbs and 2 pretty fast decents we wound our way along a bike trail that followed a river in the vally, with mountains all around.....yeah pretty cool. By this time i didnt have my sunglasses on because i wouldnt have been able to see. We werent far from the house, but by the time we got there my mom was worried that we had gotten lost because it was so dark. My dad was still asleep. Im pretty sure we went back to the house and i again fell asleep.

Day6: The Climb
So first off, pictures and data to this climb will be posted as soon as my dad and brother send them to me. But it maxes out at 30% and avereages like 9% for 2.2 miles, there isnt any flat part. So we drove to Issiquah (i dont know how to spell it) becasue my dad was suppose to borrow a bike from the shop and go do a light ride while we did this climb, but the guy we know wasnt there. So my brother and i headed off twords the hill with my dad and brother john in the van behind us taking pictures. After 5-6 miles we got to the base of the climb. I took off my wind vest, and considered taking off my LS jersey, but didnt. My brother has a Garmin GPS for his bike (same one Tony has i believe) and he slipped that in my pocket becasue he knew i would be faster. So i cant really describe it other than it looked like Brasstown Bald from the Tour de Georgia. Thats just what it looked like to me. It was STEEP. After i got through the first half, which was the steepest, it straightened out and decreased in grade. But now we are high enough and in the shade that there was ice on the road. I stood to get out of my saddle and didnt know i was on black ice. The bike went right out form under me. I landed on my left knee and thigh. Its the slow falls that hurt the most. I didnt continue because i didnt want to make it worse, its the off season anyway. After i got home i showered and packed up for the flight home.

Day 7: Homeward Bound
Flight out of Sea-Tac airport was at 1:20pm (4:20pm local time) It was a 3 hour flight to Milwaukee. Had a two hour layover untill out little puddle hopper of a plane to Grand Rapids took off. It was delayed. Due to the weather some planes were delayed and this was the last flight out for the night, so we had to wait for the others. We finaly got to Grand Rapids and it was like 1am local time. I rested in the car on the way to Jackson, then drove from Jackson to Ypsilanti, because i had school later that day. i got to my dorm at about 4:30am Tuesday morning. Woke up at 8:30 for class. Went to bed at 11pm that day.

Thanksgiving...TBA

The final three days of my trip out here to Seattle will be up Wednesday I'm thinking. Ive been busy out here, and i will have to do some college work when i get back to school on Tuesday. But it WILL be posted with pictures. A story to look forward to..... i took a spill today.

Thanksgiving Break Day 2 - My best friend, the passengers seat

It was another long day, spending much of it in the car. Being the holiday season, there are a lot of people on the road, meaning a lot of traffic, so it takes a while to get from one point to another. I woke up this morning and made myself a cup of cappuccino and had a bowl of cereal. Then my dad and i headed off to meet my brother Eric so we could pick up my bike. It was a very nice shop, Veloce Velo, and for the next week i will be on a gold Colnago ARTE. If you find yourself in the Seattle area, I highly suggest renting a bike from this shop, they will take car of you! After we picked up the bike we drove by the hill that my brother wants me to ride up. Pictures will be up when i ride it in a few days. The short spec list.... 1500ft of climbing in 2.2 miles. Yeah....its going to suck.

After we had lunch and dropped my brother back at his job at Microsoft, my dad and I went downtown Seattle. We walked through Pike's Place Market. That was pretty cool, lots of people, but still cool. We walked by the original Starbucks, and then to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Co. and got fudge. When we were finished we got in the car and made our way back to the house, 27-30 miles. It took us over 2 hours. Now i am back at the house, the bike is inside, and i am blogging. I hope everyone has made it home safe for thanksgiving, and enjoy your holiday!

Thanksgiving Break Day 1 - First Timer

At 5am Eastern Standard Time, the alarm clock in the hotel room in Grand Rapids went off. It was the start to a long day of traveling. It is now 9:51 here in Seattle, so its 12:51am back in Michigan, I've been up for about 20 hours, I've been on three planes, in two cars, and touched four states.

We got to the Grand Rapids airport at 5:45am, for our 7:15am flight. After checking in and getting through security we got to the terminal in time to chat for a bit, then we got on our puddle jumping plane, (holds about 30 people) and jumped over to Milwaukee, Wi. From there we made a quick change to a larger plane that took us to Kansas City, Mo. From there it was another short transfer to another plane with larger seats, that took us to the Sea-Tac Airport. (Seattle-Tacoma) I was lucky enough to be in the Exit row with my brother, which meant more leg room for us. I took a few pictures out of the window as we crossed the Rockies.

Once we were in Seattle, my parents went and got the car while my brothers John Pat and I got the baggage. Our parents picked us up and we headed to our rental house, where my oldest brother Greg was waiting with his wife Mari. The house is NICE, as the bottom of a steep hill, overlooking the "Tacoma Narrows Bridge". It's quite a site. I have my computer and the rest of my electrical equipment set up on the desk in my room, I'm actually not there right now, I'm upstairs watching 'House'. There are 8 of us staying in this house, seeing as my last brother, Eric the second oldest, and his wife Catie live here in Seattle. So its going to be a little cramped.

Once we got situated here at the house, we left to go have dinner in Belleview at 'The Cheesecake Factory'. Eric and Catie met us there, Eric was at work until then. This was the first time since my brothers wedding in July that the entire family, all 9 of us, were in the same room.

Tomorrow i go and pick out a bike to use for the week. I believe I'll be using a Pinerello.

Be sure to check back tomarrow for more.

Seattle

Today after i get out of Math at 3, i am stopping by my professer's office, then i am comming back to my dorm, turn off my computer, grab my bag, and then im in the car and out! I have to drop by j-Town and pick up my brother, then we are off the the WEST COAST...of michigan. My family is spending the night in a hotel in Grand Rapids. At 7:15 tomarrow morning, i will be on a flight to the WEST COAST!...OF AMERICA! So 24 hours from now i will be in Washington State. Every member of my immediate family will be out there for the next week for Thanksgiving, its going to be fun haveing Mom Dad, Greg, Mari, Eric, Catie, John, Pat, and me all together for the first time since my brothers wedding. And the greatest part, i get to ride. My brother has hooked me up with a bike out there, i dont know what kind, but you can be sure you will know when i do. So while some of you are here riding in the freezing rain and wind, you can think about how much fun im having in Seattle (Tacoma actually) riding in the freezing rain and the wind. The upside for me.....look at that picture....yup! :-D

Slipstream

So whos exited to follow Slipstream Chipotle this next season? I think it is going to be interesting.
http://www.slipstreamsports.com/

The Flying Scotsman

Whos seen "The Flying Scotsman" starring Jonny Lee Miller? I just got done watching it for the frist time. Great movie. Anyone who is a cyclist should see this movie.

Coolest fricken race ever!

Hey all,
I was wondering around BBs blog and came across this. I think it would be a ton of fun. Anyone who reads this blog should go to that link, and voice your opinion. If we can get enough people to support it, maybe we can resurrect this race and have a ton of fun.

Happy Birthday Bike Boy!

Umm....yeah. Happy Birthday Bike Boy!

Cyclocross

Now this is a sport you will see me in next year. I showed up today at Vets Park, on the West side of ann arbor for the CX race. It was pretty intense. It was a lengthy course, with some wicked hills. DMO lent me his bike and shoes, so i went and rode around a little, up some of those hills, and down them. Wow it was cool. I will deffinitly try to get a bike and race cross next season. I think i would benefit my road abilities emencely. Then insted of having 6 months rest, i would only have 3. Collegiate from end of February - April, then i have the regular road season from end of March (fisk knob) - September, then CX from September- December. I was just amazed by some of these peoples ability to suffer. I cant wait to be out there with them next year! I think Ace, Scott, and BB should get into it with me. It would be fun. I am a little disapointed though, my good freind Pothole (Doug) wasn't at the CX race today.

VeloNews Debut

Hey, im sure alot of people already found this, but Tony and Roger Bowser made their debut on the VeloNews website. Look here http://www.velonews.com/photo/html/photo1587.html

Tony is just awesome

I mean come on, is anyone going to argue with me? On the second day in Louiville he did awesome again! And i quote Joe "The US Grand Prix of Cyclocross series are the biggest cyclocross events outside of the national championships". Tony got 3rd on sunday! 2nd on saturday! Thats just cool

Grand Prix of CX

Congrats to SLC teamate Tony Wieczorek, he got 2nd in his category in Louisville this weekend at the Grand Prix of CX! Awesome!

The most important 20 min of my life!

So for my sports med class we had to write a 'plan of study' a list of all the classes we will take over the next 4-5 years in college. Once we had it written out we needed to have it signed by our advisor. So i went to my advisor and he asked what i wanted to do with this career. I told him that i would like to get a graduate or PhD and work with cycling, research or soemthing. He said that he was reassigning me to Dr. McGreggor. Dr. M is a compeditive cyclist here in Michigan and does a ton of research all year round all based on cycling. My advisor told me that i should talk to him and get into the Lab and start doing undergrad reesearch paper, because it would help me into the graduate program and with my career.

In short.....i pretty much just set myself up for success in a career involving cycling. I am stoked!

oh COME ON!

So i got up this morning grabbed my bowl, poured some cereal, poured ome milk, sat down on our couch, and turned on the TV. Most mornings, if i have time, i watch the TODAY show. You will never believe what they had on there today...

CHRISTMAS GIFTS! ITS FRICKEN OCTOBER 18TH, WE STILL HAVE OVER 2 MONTHS TO CHRISTMAS, WHY DO THEY HAVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS! LET US GET THROUGH HALLOWEEN AT LEAST!

Taking to Coaching

So D and I had talked at one point about me getting my coaching license. The idea is that i get my license, help coach the juniors, just have fun. So today i got on USA Cycling and ordered my Level 3 Coaching pack. So probably starting in January, i will be a USCF Level 3 coach.

I am also debaiting going to a confrance and becomming an ACSM certified Personal Trainer to supplement my coaching status. To top all of this off, im in college majoring in exercise science, and i discovered today that i can (and will) double-minor in business and management.

To make this all even cooler for me. My advisor for the Exercise Science program.... is a licensed cyclist and a Level 2 coach for USCF.

Everyones thoughts?

MSU

Yeah, im juat hanging out at MSU today with Melinda. Came up this morning after we went bowling last night.

Went to the bike shop today, they said there is no decent solution to my frame problem. There are things they could do to make it work, but nothing would be permenant, and they dont know how long anything would hold. So in short, im in need of a new frame. Like i said, i would like a cervelo. But i also need to see what deals i can get through the South Lyon Team. BUT if anyone knows somewhere i can buy the Cervelo Soloist Carbon for a secent price, let me know.

New Frame?

Yo all,
So last week i was out riding around St. Joes Hospital on the bike path. I hit what i BELIEVE to be a stick. It got caught in my spokes, ripping off my rear derallier and pulling it into the spokes causing my wheel to lock up. I bent a spoke, broke my chain, broke the adjusting barrell off the derallier, and the hanger. When i got back to my dorm for further investigation i found that when i went to replace my hanger with a spare (which you should always carry with you), one of the screws wouldn't stay in. The actual screw housing INSIDE the frame is severely stripped. I am going to TWT tomarrow to see what they say about it. But it appears i will probably have a single speed bike now. And ideas on frames? I would like to get it as cheap as possible, but i dont want a crappy frame. Im thinking a Cervelo P2. It needs to be carbon, and ive always loved that bike. But i dont think ill find it under $3000.

EMU Vitory over U of M!!! (kinda)

So Eastern Michigan University didnt beat U of M today in football. But we did get destroyed like i thought we would. FInaly score, 33-22. We count it as a victory! haha.

Anyways, i wasnt here for the game, i spend the day at Cedar Point, on the roller coasters with 5 freinds, one of them being my superhott supermodel girlfriend, Melinda.

Chem Exam Part 2

Got a 90% on the Chem Exam

Chem Exam

So yesterday i had a Bio Exam. Yeah that was pretty hard. 50 questions, 50 minuets. I was done in 23. There were only about 5 questions i couldnt answer immediatly. But i think i did pretty well.

Today i had a Chem Exam. We were allowed an hour and a half. It started 50 min ago, and im here typing this after leaving class 20 min ago. Needless to say, it was easy. Thanks to my AP Chem teacher, chemistry is going great.

Revelation

So i realized that my blog IS about my college life as well. SO! here i sit in my dorm room, at my computer at Eastern Michigan. My bike is behind me, on the trainer. My helmet and showes are on the wall to my left. And Jens Voigt is looking at me from the backround on my laptop. (where i am studying my bio notes) Anyways, the college life is fun. My classes are hard, but thats the way its suppose to be. I have class starting between 8am-noon, and ending, the latest, at 3. I also joined a dodgeball team and an ultimate frisbee team.

I have three exams this week, Bio tomarrow, Chem on tuesday, and Math on wednesday. Wow this stuff is hard.

So, there really isnt much to talk about in the college life. But i did have my meeting with Coach Anderson....Darrell. Yeah that sounds better haha. But we set up my goals for the next season and its going to be a fun year. I feel that im really going to bloom this season and achieve way more than i have before. So look out for me in the CAT 3 feild racing for the SOUTH LYON CYCLE TEAM!

Rob Pulcipher

Rob Pulcipher is one of my fellow AAVC riders. He had a massive heart attack the other day. I just wanted to say that i hope you get better, and we are all pulling for you. Mark Lovejoy is posting updates regularly here, at http://aavc.org/forum/

The Season Finale

Well the "Priority Health Grand Classic" in downtown Grand Rapids was the last road race of the season. (excluding leelanau) And so we decided to go out on top. We didnt win, but we raced, thats for sure. At the line representing the AAVC, we had Me, Scott, Ben, Eric, Chris and James.

This is a beautiful race. You almost feel as if you are a pro when you are out there racing. The last 150m were barricaded, every 25-50m of the last 200m are marked with signs like the tour. There were TV crews set up, photographers at every corner, a lead and a follow car, a local TV helicopter getting some footage, but the coolest thing definitely had to be the Neutral Support. We had one of the SRAM Neutral Support vehicles on course. It came stock with Orbea bikes, and Zipp Carbon Wheels...Nice. I was ready to go and flat before the race started.

Scott James and I all lined up at the front, and MAN! were there a lot of riders. We raced in a combined 4/5 field, so i estimate about 70 riders in our group. From the start i was at the front, and thats pretty much where i would be for half the race. I led the first lap, so i was the first rider to complete the first lap, of this brand new, awesome race. After that, i went back to the middle of the group and sat for the first half of the race.

This course is technical. There are a lot of turns, one particularly rough corner, and two sections of "cobble" (rough brick) which made for an interesting race. Everyone seemed to slow down on the back brick section, which is where i would speed up, move up the peloton and make my attacks when it went ever-so-slightly uphill.

This race had WONDERFUL sponsors, i believe it was a $20000 purse. It seemed that ever other lap they were telling us "prime to the first two riders across the line on the next lap" and let me tell you, our team, the AAVC wanted those primes. There were 12 given out in our race, and we ended up with 8 of them, me getting one of them, if not the most expensive one. Every prime i saw one of our guys at or off the front going across the line. It was awesome.

I put in a few attacks. When i saw that they were slowing down, i didn't want the dropped riders to catch us, so i would go to the front and life the pace. This usually resulted in stringing out the peloton, and/or me getting a gap an forming my own breakaway. At one point when i went to the front, i heard a flurry of shouting and the sound of cracking carbon. There was a crash, and it was cause by our favorite rider, who ended up flatting, getting a ZIPP wheel, and finishing top 10....undeserved if you ask me. (if you read this enough, you know who I'm talking about.

ANYWAYS...somewhere in the race a made a move, this was my #1 move of the day. I got a large gap on the peloton, 10 seconds if i heard correctly, and i got myself a $100 'Priority health' jersey.

Coming down to the final 3 laps, i decided that i did not want to be in the field sprint. It was rough brick, and the peloton was sketchy as is. So with two laps to go, i went to the front....and i made them HURT! The guys behind me, i believe, thought that i would pull off soon, but i didn't. I kept the pace high for a lap and a half. Then with about 400 meters to go, i pulled off and let the peloton go by. It almost worked. Eric got 5th, and Scott got 14th after getting pinched out on a corner. Doug "Grand Master 'B'" and James "Bike Boy" Anderson, both passed me with about 200m to go. I was wiped.

Afterwards, i had a lot of people come up to me and say that i rode really well and that i looked strong out there. Thanks, that was my goal this season.....to be recognized. One Saturn guy came up to Scott and asked him if Scott was the guy who did the final 2 lap lead out, Scott said "No, that was my teammate" The Saturn guy said " I need to find him to say thanks." HA HA. Thats made my day.

I want to say CONGRATS...yet again to James Anderson. A young junior hanging tough in the Cat 4 field, finishing with the peloton on one of the more difficult courses this year. Mark my words.... "James Anderson is going to be a force to be reckoned with in a few years"

And with that i bring the season to a close....wait. I still need to do Labor Day race don't I? Give me a day.

This was a wonderful race and i am definitely coming back next year. And i encourage anyone reading this who didn't come, or doesn't race...to come to this race next year.

It will be up soon, i swear

Sorry all, just started college, havent had time to write. it will be up shortly....probly with the priority race. Sorry.

Belgian Beer? Yes Please!

Well that was the final Crit Practice of the season, and man am i going to miss it. I started off this season getting dropped on every race, and tonight i managed to win one! (thats accualy my first win as a cyclist, too bad it doesnt accualy count :-/ )

So anyway, I show up at Runway at about 5:40, Tony and his Dad came in about two minuets after me. This was the first or second one they made this year. Then Scott showed up, and Doug came at some point. Darrell couldnt make it, so Jeanne brought James and his camera.

Once we got underway, we had about 30 people, thats an estimate. So i was told i could ride hard today, so i did. The first two races i tried breaks, and got dropped. The third race i was a corner marshall. Now it was time to race. The following race i positioned myself just right at the end of the race. Before the last corner, Rob jumped, and i jumped with him. I managed to sprint around him up the hill and i won! Thats my first win. In the following two races i managed to finish 4th and 2nd. Im getting stronger. I hope i race like this on Monday, becasue Scott will need me. He sits second in the Michigan Challenge Series, and needs to finish 5th or better to win. So were going to help him.

A funny thing happened when we were finsihed tonight. I stole Dougs bike. James wanted to do an interview with him and he kept refusing, so i stole his bike, and locked it in my car. Well in the end he was leacing and i didnt want to get charged with theft, so i gave it back, and James interviewed me, so im thinking that will show up soon on his blog. So look for it.

Well im off to see if my parents like the beer.....yeeeah.

Rockford Crit Recap

So close, yet so far! This is a fun course, from the start you go out for a block, left hander, little hill, right-left, up the hill, it kicks up at the end, left hander crset the hill, left…right….left, long straight away, sketchy left, into the two block long finishing straight.
The obvious hard part of the course is the hill. It hurts the sprinters and it helps the strong little guys….like me. The three turn downhill section too is interesting. If you have a gap, you can keep your gap. Its fast enough that everyone has to go single file and, if you’re really good, you could actually gain a second or two through he turns. But the long three or four block straight away is just enough that the peloton can close a small gap, go around the sketchy left hander, and end up in a field sprint.
At the line, there were a lot of the usual people, Me, Scott, Doug, Dominick, Other Doug, Brent, you know, the Ann Arbor gang. From “go” I clipped in and went to the front. I wanted to make the first pull up the hill to get a feel for it, and to put others in a little bit of pain, because in the words of Darrell Anderson, “It’s fun to make people suffer”. The race started pretty tame, the pace picked up, but every time we hit that hill, the pace slowed, and riders like me could move up easily. Early on, coming around the last corner, I took it too wide, and ended up a half inch from the curb. I didn’t make that mistake again. A few minutes after that close call, Eric and Scott’s friend (I didn’t catch his name) went down in that corner. Scott and I avoided them, but called out to make sure they were alright, they were. A little road rash, but nothing more….that we know of. That was the extent of crashing, that I know of. The rest of the race was pretty typical, the hill hurt, the downhill was fast, people went for primes and then came back to the group, and others tried to get off the front and were pulled back in. With 30 seconds (plus two laps) to go, a Wolverine rider went off the front. When we came to the hill, with two laps to go, I made my move, passed and dropped the Wolverine rider. I was now free to fly, solo. I flew through the corners and into the finishing straight, everyone I knew, and anyone who knows the Velo Club was going crazy, with one lap left, the bell lap, I was 7-10 seconds off the front, with a hill that I am capable of flying up, left. When I hit that hill I dug as deep as I could and then it happened, my calves cramped for a second. That hurt, and I lost momentum. By the time I got back up to speed, the peloton was right on top of me, and they caught me on the top of the hill left turn. From there it was a mad dash to the line, I got in at 4th wheel, but in the long straight I got pushed back to 7th. In the sprint, I got passed by 3 people, putting me at 10th.
Man was I mad. Had I waited until the last lap, on the hill to make my move, I could have potentially won the race. Oh well.
I would like to thank Scott, Dan, and Eric. I could not have gotten the gap I had, without your guys help. As soon as I was off the front, you were there to block the group. So thank you, very much.
Next I would like to question Pothole’s warm up theory. Doug, wouldn’t it be cheaper if you didn’t pay to warm up. I mean, $25 to complete 3 laps seems like a waste. Ha-ha, but I’m sure you have your reasons.
James, nice save. You almost lost it in that first corner, but you stayed upright and finished the race strong. Good job out there, I hope you got your position figured out
Well that’s what I have for Rockford. I’m a little disappointed, but I will live.

Hines Drive TT

WOW! PAINFUL! Thats the one word i can use to describe this race. We had a decent turnout, i thought. But apparently numbers a WAY down compared to last year. My goal today was to go under 30 min. I was shooting for 29min, which i would be amazed if i got.

Well anyways, my good friend Melinda went with me today, we stopped and picked up David on our way through Ann Arbor. When we got there, there were already a good amount of people. David and I broke out the trainers and set up the bikes. I jumped on immediatly and started warming up. Melinda pinned on my numbers while i spun. I was happy to see such a good turnout from Ann Arbor, Mark Lovejoy, Dawn, Joe and Steven Christy, Doug, Dominick and Tony Wieczorek, The Anderson Family, The Vermulen Family, David and I.

Well the start came alot faster then i had anticipated, so i wasnt as warmed up as i could have been, but i had been spinning for a good 40 min. Before i went to the start i found James and asked if i could borrow his TT helmet (seeing as mine STILL isnt in yet). Im so glad he said yes, im sure it made a hige difference in my time. Well it was time to start. I line up, clip in, get a quick "good luck" from David, and im off. I hit 31mph in my sprint from the start, then i settled into a good rythem. I made smooth lines through all the turns, apexing them as much as possible. When i got to the barrell, the turnaround point, David had already passed me (he started 30 seconds back) and i had Doug ("pothole") and Doug (wolverine) in my sight. They started 1min30sec, and 1min ahead of me, respectively. Doug knew i was close too, because as he got back up to speed at the barrel and saw David and I, he started mumbling to himself. I knew i was moving, because at the turn around my time was 14:30, thats 29min on the dot! I kept the Dougs in my sight, but i just couldnt close the gap. The finish line came up quickly. I came around a bend and there was the timing tent. Grandmaster B was still about 100m ahead of me, so i started sprinting and just missed taking him at the line. I gave him a nice pat on the shoulder and he turned, saw me, and wasnt too pleased with his ride. I ended up finishing 4th in the Cat 4 feild with a time of 28:32! 28 seconds faster than i thought i was capable of.

Now it was time to recover. It was only an hour and a half until we started the 2-man TT. There were 10 2-man groups. The groups were interesting, david and i, James and Alexy, Tony, and Dominick, Darrell and ???, and then Doug and ???.

David and I started off strong. We wanted to break 28 min. But it was soon evident that David was feeling better than I was, because he kept getting little gaps on me. This resulted in him pulling for longer periods of time. Which made me feel bad, so David, im sorry. We were making really good time on the way out, that was for sure. But we didn't realize we had a tailwind the entire way out. When we got to the barrel, i went through first, and carried more speed through it because David found about a 30m gap between us when he lined himself up again. He quickly closed it and we were on our way back. THe way back was brutal, headwinds the whole time. For the last 2 miles, i had to of been anerobic. I hurt, i hurt bad. But i stayed with David, and we crossed the line together to get a time of 28:01! Two seconds off our goal! But it was good enough for 3rd place, 20-30 seconds behind D. Anderson and his partner.

A very memorable moment of the 2-man TT was when Douglas "the cat""Pothole""grandmaster B" Gatto came across the line. There was a loud "AHHHHHH!" deffinitly a scream of pain, that got us all laughing. Thanks Doug, we enjoy your agony.

Kudos to James Anderson. Your doing strong, you will do well in the Cat 4s (when your dad lets you race again). I believe your time was 32:08 or something close. That was faster than my 20k time at the beginning of the year. So good job!

All in all, it was a good day. 4th and 3rd. That adds a few more points for michigan challenge, and $10 for getting 3rd in the TTT.

2-Man TT

Last night was a taxing ride. But i accualy feel really good today. David and i are going to do the 2-Man TT at Hines, as well as out own individual TT. Last night i drove over to Barton Park to meet up with David, so we could practice. Stephen Christy got there around the same time that i did, so he warmed up with David and I. We rode to Dexter and then turned around, because there is less traffic on HRD. Stephen let David and I go so we could practice, and then came riding in a little later. David and I have always worked well together, and last night was no different. We kept a fast pace, along with smooth exchanges.

On the way back to Barton, we passed Mark Lovejoy, who was out for an evening spin with a small groupetto of cyclists. When we got to the park, we turned around, yet again, but this time we didnt go full blast. We just set a nice tempo and worked on keeping a really tight paceline. We discussed the start, and the turn around. At the start, we will have to see who is feeling better to see who will do the first pull. When we get to the turn around, i am going through first. Then we will have to battle it out to see who goes across the line first. haha!

All in all, if was a good ride. I set two new PRs. #1) Fastest training ride - Av. 23mph #2)Highest calorie consumtion in an hour - 720 Calories.

Ada Recap

Hey all, sorry i havent been updating. I've been busy getting ready for college. You know, student loans, scholorships, books, supplies, food, etc. Well ANYWAYS.... Saturday was the Delta Imports/Ada Crit, and a fun race it was.

First off, i felt like crap durring the race. I was fine warming up and everything, but when they said "go!" my legs were dead. Any little gap that formed, forced me to dig to close it.

This is a fun course, thats for sure....a little sketchy, but fun. The finishing straight is just that, a long straight semi-downhill road. Then the first left hander, nice and wide plenty of room to dive to the inside if you miss the pole on the corner. Then the road narrows, it goes from about 3 lanes, to 1, and there is another 90 degree left hander. So if you werent at the front, you had to slow way down to get around this corner. Then it was flat as the road gradualy turned left again, only on this part of the course, there was no curb, and the shoulder was messy. Then came the most dreaded part of the course. The chicane. It was a sharp left-right sequence. It wasnt that bad if you were at the very front, or the very back, but anywhere in between, if was dangerous. The turn was bad enough, without the manhole covers, and the pothole and the riders not holding their line. After that it kicks up slightly, a right hander, then your in the finishing straight.

Our race started off nicely, considering i was doing tempo for the first lap. From the gun, i went to the front to try and controll the peloton, and it seemed to work...at least for one lap. Then i pulled off and jsut sat in the group, because, like i said, i didn't feel very good. There were a few breakaways, but they all got pulled in, and there were three primes, all of no interest to me. With 3 laps to go, i started moving myself up to the front. And going into the last lap, i was sitting about 9th. I don't know exactly what all happened in the race, but i know there were some tense people out there. I know this, and the riders around me at the time know this, because i was threatened.

On the last lap, on the back straight, some guy decides to get out of the saddle and strech his legs, and his handle bars start swaying side to side. Now i know im reletively new to the sport....but last time i checked, when your in the MIDDLE of the peloton, and its tight, you dont get out of the saddle and move your bars around. Well his bars ended up hitting me in the thigh. Now im used to things like this, its the norm...but it almost knocked me off my bike. So i turned and looked at him and yelled "what are you doing!?" and his response was a little less...kind. Youngins, please skip forword to the next paragraph. His favorite word appears to start with an F, and end with a K. Because he yelled back at me "I got ____ pushed! You little ____er! Want me to ____ing push you for real!?"

So as we approached the chicane for the last time, i looked down at my computer, and it said 31mph. I then looked at Scott, who was directly to my right and said "we are going too fast." Well i can honestly say, i dont think ive ever been that close to the ground, and still on my bike. We were so low, that Scott was accualy towering over me. He was lucky thought. His wheel skipped out, but he managed to keep it upright. Doug lost about 10 spots when the rider in front of him flatted and went off into the grass. The little hill after the chicane took out anything i had left in me. When we got to the straight, i just rode with whatever i had. Scott managed to jump up to the front and get 7th, while i settled for 11th. I then came home and slept a grand total of 14 hours.

I would like to congradulate James, and Alexy. From what i hear, you two rode a superp race. Managing not to get lapped by the peloton, and finishing with some adults in your wake. Great job you two! Don't worry, you guys will be up there winning cat 4 races soon.

I would next like to thank the Andersons for being our personal cheering section. I dont know about Scott, but i know it helped me and kept me going.

I see that James Bird stayed in the Cat 3 peloton. I dont know James that well, but i thought that i would share that he went to camp with me in June, and he raced the Tour de l'avanier. With Taylor Birman.

And to close...Ada deffinitly had the BEST PRIME ever! An ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH! Yes thats right, they gave away an electric toothbrush. Too bad it wasnt Joe announcing, i think he would have just gone insane if he got to give that out as a prime.

Oh yeah, almost forgot....the guy that yelled at me....some riders came up to me after the race....yeah he didnt get pushed at all. He just didnt know how to ride.

Common Crit ..... I've had better days

Well yesterday was the race around the capital, the Common Criterium. It was a combined feild race, so i was in with the Cat 3s. This was good for me though, because im going to upgrade soon and i wanted to see if i belong. It was a fast race. I sat at the back for a while and moved up through the peloton when i was too clost to the back. Some of those PartyNet guys need to learn to ride, they were diving to the inside at the last second, which was causing all kind of pandamonium. Eventialy after a prime, Darrell got off the front. That was good because it gave Scott, Roger and I a break. But i saw a WCMR moving up the right side, so i stuck to his wheel and eventualy we were in the break too. Just the 5 of us. No one really seemed to want to work exept D and I. Well inevitably the group caught us, and lukily for me...my chain dropped. I lost about 15 seconds getting it back on, which was bad. There was only about 15 min left in the race. I never caught the peloton, though they caught me. I TTd the rest of the race at a HR of about 197 bpm. As i came around for my last lap, i saw about 6 guys on the ground in the second corner, i guess someone didnt hold their line. I finished behind the group, on my own, pissed off. But hey, thats racing. I would like to thank Joe Lekovich for making us all laugh before and durring the race. So, yeah. Here are some pictures...

I hate wind

I hate wind. It really sucks to try and ride in.

Its my birthday!

Im 19!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Wow, it was HOT out today! As im sittting here, the weather icon on my desktop is saying that its 95 degrees out there. Not an ideal day to ride, but none the less, i rode. I accualy rode for an hour and forty five minuets. I went through 5 bottles of water. (2 of them over the body) It was nice to get back in the saddle for a little bit. Its been a week now with very little riding after i went down at Dexter. So anyways, you guys are watching Le Tour, correct? Anyone else think that Robbie McEwen is insane? He has always been one of my favorite rider, and after todays stage, crashing with 12 miles to go, then winning the sprint by a bike length.....wow. Thats all i can say.

Tomarrow is suppose to be hotter, and im still going to go ride. Hopefully i will see you all at the Common Crit. I wont be at tuesday night crit practice because tuesday is my 19 BIRTHDAY! So i have plans here.

Feeling better, and so is the bike.

Well i just came in from the garage. FINALY my bike is reasembled. It took me about an hour to take off the broken parts, and replace them, re-ajust all the cables, and redo the bartape. Also, i am feeling alot better. I have complete range of motion with very little pain, wel not so much pain as stiffness. So im going to call Kurt and see if he wants to go ride.

Oh yeah, i was approved yesterday for a $4000 student loan, and we didnt even talk about college. The gentleman interviewing me was a cyclist. So we talked about Le Tour for 15 minuets, and he gave me approval.

X-Ray

Well i went down to th eHospital the other day and had an X-Ray of my shoulder taken. My dad looked at it, and it appears that there is no fracutre in either my collar bone or scapula. My doctor (aka my dad) said its probly just a really deep bruise. I believe that, because depsite it still hurts, i have more rang of motion today. So, in short. No its not broken, yes it still really hurts.

Dexter Crit

To start...I will post about camp when i have a little more time.

So anyways, Saturday was Le Tour de Dexter, State Criterium Championship. After a week of hard riding, i drove all day and just slept in my car in Dexter, because i wasnt going to want to drive from J-town. I felt pretty good warming up for the race. I was a little skeptical from the start due to the fact i was on my spare wheelset (i flatted my good set on the last day of camp) and my rerar shifter was acting up.

When i got there, i signed in at registration, put my number on, and found Scott and Ben. The three of us went out to Huron River Drive to warm up durring the Cat 5 race. We got back just in time to take off our LS Jerseys and Scott to get his spare wheelset in the pit. Then it was time to line up.

I took a spot along the right curb in the front of the pack. The whistle blew, and we all clipped in and went right into the 180 degree turn, then it was a slow rise to a right hander then the short one block hill that lasted around the next right hander. Then a fast decent with a right-left-right dangerous turn series. On the first downhill right hander, somone in the back hit the deck and took out two or three people. The race stayed together for a while, then on the hill Brent Del Rosario from the Wolverines took off. He finished 3rd at Allen Park, so i knew he was a strong rider. I quickly bridged the gap and was with him by the top of the hill. We already had a gap on the peloton and we agreed to work together. Well, it was short lived, because as soon as we hit the 180 degree turn, my bike went out from under me. I went a little too low in the corner. i quickly got up, grabbed my bike and moved to the side of the road so the peleton could get by without too much hassle. I jumped back on my bike and rode back to the start and asked for a 5mm allen wrench, my stem and wheel werent alligned. Once the peleton came back, i jumped back in and moved to the front. Then as fate would have it, around the right hander at the top of the low rise, i flatted. I then proceeded to cut back accross the course to the wheel pit and grabbed one of Scotts wheels. I jumped back in the peloton and sat in the middle for a little bit to recover. With only a few laps to go, two guys went off the front. I did my best to chase them down, i was on the front for a while, but i didn't catch them. On the last lap, they still had a gap. And i was sitting near the front. If memory serves, they beat us to the line. I held on for top 15 i think. Im really not sure. The officials might have me as DNF. We will find out when results come.

I talked to Brent after the race, after i touched base with the team and the paramedics. Brent said when he heard me go down "his heart sank". He was sure we would stay out for a while.

Despite feeling strong, it wasnt a good race for me. Sitting here now my shoulder is throbing in pain. I had Xrays taken yesterday and my Dad went down to the hospital to read them today. He thinks it could be a possible collar bone fracture. We will have to see. Well there is always next year. Right now, im going to go ice my shoulder.

La Crosse, here i come!

Its now 6:53am on Sunday June 24th. I am off to Caleb's house to pick up Caleb and Colton, then we are headed west and stopping in La Crosse for a week of awesome riding. GOOD LUCK to all those going to the State TT!

I will be back friday, hope to see you at dexter!

This past week was long, this next week is longer

Sorry i havent written anything, ive been up in Pentwater the past week. I went with 5 of my freinds and camped. Kurt took his bike, so him and i did some riding...and man was it wonderful scenery. Anyways, we grilled everyday for dinner, layed out on the beach, build sand structures (they werent really castles) and played frisbee. At night i would build a nice big fire, and we would just sit around and talk. It was a fun week. I got back Thursday afternoon. I had a few days here to get my bike tuned up, and find everything i need to leave tomarrow for camp.

Tomarrow im off to La Crosse, Wisconsin. It is on the Mississippi River. I have to pick up Caleb, and Colton, then its off across the midwest (and through Chicago). This is a fun camp, its called the Midwest Regional Road Camp. Its a non-compeditive camp where we will put in 450-500 miles in six days, riding with some of the best juniors in the midwest. I am going as a collegiate rider. It will be fun, and ill let you know how it goes after i get home from the Dexter Crit. (oh yeah, im comming back friday at like 10pm, to wake up at race at 9:45am after riding 450 miles durring the week.) Well good luck to those doing Dexter. Im off to Walmart and the local shop to grab a few last minuet things, then packing, hitting some open houses, then comming home and sleeping. PEACE!

Allen Park Recap

First off....THE CAT 4 FEILD FINISHED WITHOUT A CRASH!!! Its rare. Anyways... Got up at 7am, made some breakfast, put my gear in the van then headed out to pick up the peeps. Its not very often that i have friends attend my races, but when they do...i am elated. I picked up my freind Kurt, who is going to get into racing in the next month or so (i hope), then Cat, then Melinda.

On the way there, they slept while i focused on the race. We got to the industrial park, and my first thought was...."darn, they did away with the huge inflatable arch :-(" O well. Then i went and registered, found Scott and Roger, then we warmed up. It wasnt the turnout we had hoped for on our team. Jeff said he was going to show, but never did.

Anyways...the race. They shortened out race from 45 minuets to 40 minuets, i dont think any of us were complaning. It started off fast, and there were alot of strong riders out there, Marco was here from Windsor, along with the guy in the "Jack's" jersey, and about 8 (ish) Wolverine guys. Before the race started Scott said he heard Marco saying he would help the Wolverine guys. So from the start we knew the Wolverines would attack constantly. And that they did. For the first part of the race i was near the front, then i rode at the back to recover and conserve. I was surprised people were riding smarter than usual. It was smooth and crash-free.

There were several primes and i think everyone there heard the line "The next rider across the line gets a 4 pack of Full Throttle" about 90 times haha! Thanks Joe! Somewhere near the end of the race, or at least in the last quarter, Dominick Wieczorek and another rider went off the front and stayed out for a while. We finaly brought them back and the feild was all together for the finale. With two laps left, a Wolverine guy attacked, he got a gap and the peloton had a hard time chasing. We almost had him as we rounded the finaly corner, i was right where i wanted to be when the sprint started. The flyer made it to the finish and won, with Macro picking up second and i nipped some people before the line for 5th place overall. Scott had 10th, and Roger took 14th.

It was a good race, tiring, but good. I was happy with the outcome. I felt like i could have gone a little harder in the sprint and picked up 4th, maybe the podium...but i didn't. Scott was happy with my finish, and Mark Lovejoy (who did well in the masters race) said he was proud...well accualy he said "It's about time!" haha! Well like i said, im happy....and look, i got $20 for 5th place.

Dave Z is the man!

How about the American pro cyclist David Zabriskie? He has the potential of being a grand tour contender. Exept he had never been able to climb very well. But look at his results today! 11th on Mount Ventoux! Ive always liked Dave Z, and he can be a nice guy. (i met him at interbike in september) I hope he can get some good results in Le Tour.

Finaly, some rest!

After four days of reletively heavy riding, i finaly got a rest ish day in. I did and hour and 45 minuets with an average HR of like 127. My freind Kurt, the one who just bought a bike, has been on his bike constantly the past four days. And so we went out into some country roads today. It was fairly flat, and he sat in my draft most of the time. He did a few sprints, because he was feeling good, but i told him not to over do it. So that was my light morning ride.

When we got back to my house, we changed into our swim suits. I ran to the local bike shop (On Two Wheels) and picked up another bike try and two wheel holders for my car.(Im getting ready for La Crosse) then came home and washed my bike for Allen Park.

It was unbelievaly hot today! So i called a few freinds and they came over to swim. I did alot of lounging and just sitting out in the sun. My freinds had all of their horseplay fun. After they left i took a short nap, then i went to Quizno's and then to my freinds house to watch the NBA finals. I really dont care about basketball, so we played Euchre and i came home. Now Im sitting here writing this, contemplating going to sleep, because i have to be at MIS at 6:30 tomarrow morning for work. Well, again, i hope to see y'all at Allen Park on Saturday!

Peace!

Nascar Weekend

Well its almost Fathers Day, and anyone from Battle Creek to Ann Arbor knows what that means.....NASCAR! Im not a fan of it myself, but i guess watching cars go in circles can be entertaining (sarcasim). Accualy i enjoy the three race weekends we have a year at Michigan International Speedway. Because it means i make money. My dad is the medical director out at MIS and he got my a job out there being a "gopher". Essentialy i get paid $8/hr to drive around in a golf cart with the highest level credentials. No accualy i drive patients back to their cars or camper, i also transport paper and medicine. Its accualy quite alot of fun. Ive met most of the drivers, and its seen some pretty drunk people. (someone came in one night to the care center and blew a .38 on the breathalizer. A .38! .08 is the legal limit!)

Well anyway, thats what i will be doing friday and sunday. Saturday, obviously...is the Allen Park Criterium. Hope to see you there.

Tuesday Night Crit Practice

First off...i know this is out of order.

So this was the second time ever being to a Crit Prcatice, and the first time ive ever raced in it. My freind Kurt, who just purchased a road bike, and is interested in racing, came up with me. He stayed on for two laps in one of the races, but kept getting dropped. I told him he would do fine in a few weeks if he sticks with it. So we did a 7 lap race first, and i wasnt supposed to go all out, so i rode at the back. Then durring the second race, i was a corner marshall.

Somewhere in there, we did a 5 lapper, and Jeff and I attacked right from the start. We stayed out for 2 laps, then David comes flying by doing his TT form. Jeff was having trouble closing on David, and finaly cracked. So i chased down David. On the hill of the 4th lap, David cracked. By Now the peloton was right on me, and as they closed on me, the guy at the front yelled "come on zack! lets go!" so i cranked down and pulled the group another half lap then pulled off and rode easily to the finish. So 4.5 laps of a 5 lap race i was out front...not bad.

After that we were doing a 10 lap race, and Kurt had to be getting home, so i only did 5 laps. Again, right from the start i attaked again. Yeah, i know i know, i wasnt suppose to go hard....but in my defense...i didnt contest any sprints. This time i could only stay out fot about 2 laps, i was getting tired, so i pulled off and let the peloton go around me. On the next lap there was a group of 3 guys who made a break, i jumped on them for 2 laps. This whole time, Mrs. Anderson, and Mr. Vermulen are sitting at the Start/Finish line. Everytime i came around off the front they just laughed and shook their heads. i was detrmined to make the breakaway work.

Well i located Kurt, then put the bikes on the roof and headed home. After i dropped him off, i went home, took my stuff inside. Then went out untill 1am hanging out with my freinds.

TT Practice

Last night was the AAVC monthly time trial practice. After sitting through traffic backed up from Ford Lake to Huron St. on I-94, i got to Willow Metropark at around 6:20. There were 3 juniors there awaiting the arrival of a coach, but there was no coach comming. Mark Lovejoy emailed people to ask if they could help out with timing, because him, Mr. Christy, and Darrell weren't going to be there. So i took the liberty of getting thr juniors warmed up. As we left the parking lot, Joe Christy pulls in. So he got set up for the TT while i did a few laps, pacelining with the juniors.

Mark Lovejoy emailed us saying it was suppose to be a 5 lap TT, where as the juniors were just going to do a 3 lap TT. But with the State TT comming up (which i will have to miss, i am going to camp in La Crosse, WI), we decided that a 40K practice would be nice...thats 12 laps.

Talk about painful! Man, at 6 laps i was ready to quit! But i thought about what Dave Z. Would do, so i stuck it out. Luckily my friend Cat went with me, and she kept my lap times, took pictures, and gave me water bottles as i asked for them. (it was HOT) So i stayed hydrated, and i had a couple of GU packets.

I started my TT 2 minuets later than i was suppose to. I had forgotten to ajust my seat and change my gearing for the start. So i started 3 minuets after Colton. I did this without my aero bars, because i wasnt going to have much time to change back to road bars for Allen Park. Well 12 laps is 26.5 miles, so it was accualy longer than 40K. I did it in a time of 1:08'12 which is 23.3mph. My average HR was 178 bpm, max 196 bpm, and burned about 1100 calories. Time trials aren't really that interesting, so there isn't much i can write about. The only cool thing that happened (for me) was that i passed Colton with 2 laps to go. Yeah. So anyways....Doug, where were you last night? And where was everyone else? This really is a great workout, and more people need to come to them.

Who reads this?

Hey All,
Sorry that i havent been keeping this updated. I didnt know anyone really read it. But i recieved a few complaints, so now ill try my best to keep it up.

If you could be so kind as to leave a comment saying "Hey Zack i read this" if would give me a good idea of how many people accualy look at it. Thanks