Labor Intensive Monday

So I woke up today, knowing I had work to do.

It is springtime, which means its that time of the year at the Maino household where cleaning and various projects happen. Today we cleaned out the garage and I started on creating a new path from the driveway to the pool.

I spent most of the day, 9am-3pm outside cleaning the garage or shoveling dirt. Sounds easy. It really isnt. If anyone has ever dug out a decent sized area and had to move the dirt they know it is heavy. Anyways, I am about halfway done with the digging part. Then I have to lay the sand, pea gravel, and walking stones.

I guess next week we are going to start re roofing the house. Fun!

I talked to a local bike shop owner. He said he was looking for another part-time employee, so I should be getting a job there.

Here is a picture of my house, in case people wondered. I grew up the youngest of 5 boys, which meant there were 7 of us and pets.

Here is a line I painted across the road last year. I use it as my finish line on training rides and when riding with Kurt when he feels like sprinting.

It is a 1/4 mile from the turn to this line.

Registration

Ok, I am registered for
-Cone Azalia
-Kensington
-Frankenmuth
and Gaslight.

Are you?

Willow Time Trial

A sky full of clouds and somewhat cool temperatures greeted me as I arrived at Willow Metropark at 7:20am. My start time was not untill 10:04:30, but I was supposed to be Darrell today.

Darrell could not be at the time trial due to a work conflict taking him around the world. He asked me to make sure James had everything he needed. So when I showed up I helped him set up his trainer and his bike. He is a pretty self sufficient kid, there was not much I had to do, just talk to him mostly.

David, Chris and I stood on the side of the roac near the start line to watch James and the other Velo Club juniors. I was on standby with a spare wheelset in case James flatted, and yes it did have a junior cassette. James was riding his rear disc wheel, which was a sail in the wind. That slowed him down and he finished with a time of 34:01 not too far off his goal of 34:34. Alexy put in a nice ride finishing 27 seconds ahead of James with a time of 34:34. However, the Cat I/II best rider was two minutes slower than last year. That just shows how hard the course was this year. Good job James and Alexy!

As James cooled off, I warmed up on my trainer. My college roomate Ryan showed up and helped me pin my numbers on. I got everthing finalized, closed the car, handed ryan my spare wheels and I rode around with DMO.

I talked to James and he gave me a tip on wind direction. The north and east parts of the course were fast. But as you turn onto the south portion, you are just slammed with a 20+mph wind. Yay.

As I rolled up to the start line, Cat and my mom drove in. Cat jumped out of the car as the official said "30 seconds" So she was a little stressed by cutting it so close. I started 30 seconds behind Eric, 30 seconds ahead of DMO and a minute ahead of Tony. Other SLC riders included Chris Aten, John Burrows and Dominick Zaccone. Thats 7 riders in a feild of 14 riders! We had HALF the feild. We were represented greatly and we came out to win.

As I jumped from the start to begin my TT I was feeling pretty good. I had Ryan at the start finish line yelling out lap times. I was off my goal pace, but I was still moving faster than last year. The wind really took a lot out of me. Durring our race it started gusting even strong, making riding harder. I have been behind in my training due to school and so I have plenty of endurance, but no strength right now. To make me feel worse, DMO passed me on the first corner of my second lap. Tony passed me too, on my 5th lap.

In the end my goal was 31:00 but I was well off that pace with a final time of 31:52. That was good enough for 7th place. I was really upset as I crossed the line, but I realized that there was not much I could do about it. I went as hard as I could and I was faster than last year so I am happy. But the awesome thing...

SOUTH LYON CYCLING TEAM cleaned up! We took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th. David, Chris and Tony were our podium riders (in that order.) If you would like to see a picture of those three please see Bikeboy's page. Awesome job by SOUTH LYON on Saturday! We are already off to a nice start in the Michigan Challenge Series.

The History of Cat

Most of us know Catherine Diana Jeanne Schlenker simply as Cat. Other nicknames include Kit, Cate, Schlenky and Catness. However...she hates being called Kathy (Doug.)

I first met Cat in August durring the summer between my freshman and sophmore year of high school. We were in Albion at the annual Jackson High School Band Camp. She was an incomming freshman that year. It was either Tuesday or Wednesday of that week and durring out two hour break in the middle of the day, I was napping in the air conditioned chappel (which is where rehearsal was held, so I didn't have to go somewhere else) when two young girls walked in. I knew one of them already, Kaitlyn, but I had not met her freind Cat.

They were practicing their sets (pictures formed on the feild by the band) in the isles of the chappel and needed some help. I was one of the few people that had a folder that showed every members position on the feild, so I offered to help them after they asked. For the rest of the week and part of the summer I spent my time hanging out with Cat and Kaitlyn.

Over the next several months I hung out with Cat a bit and built a friendship with her. In March(?) of that school year I realized how I felt about her. I wanted to ask her out. We had a half day and I planned to ask her when I saw her later after I went out to lunch with some friends. Well...while I was at lunch, my good freind Mark asked her out.

For the next four months they were together, but I did see and hang out with them often. They broke up in June and Cat and I started dating after that.

Since then, it has pretty much been us together. There were a few breaks in there but we always remained freinds. Most recently I dated Melinda. Cat was my freind through it, though I treated her like crap because I was blinded by Melinda. (Cat and Melinda don't get along) But that is over and Cat and I are better freinds than we have ever been. But that is all we are...just friends. We will let nature take its course and if we decide to go out again, it will be fore a very very long time. But we aren't rushing anything. Just living life as it comes.

Now we spend most of our time together. Running erronds for parents, hanging out with freinds, going to the beach or the lake, getting ice cream and just walking around the park at dusk to watch the sun set.

She is the only friend I have that has been there for me through everything. The good times and the bad times, she is always there next to me, even when I am mean to her. No other friend has been as faithful.


I take her on family trips, and we have a list of places we are going to go when we get older and have money. She is a very smart, talentes young woman. She is a great photagrapher and an excellent musician (Trumpet.) She is decent at sports (Soccer, Frisbee, Running) but I can't get her on a bike haha.


If you ask me: What is the greatest thing to ever to me? I would have to answer: Being born. Next to my life, I would say becomming freinds with Cat. Over the years we have developed a connection that is just amazing. She is my favorite person in the world and I would do anything for her. She supports me unconditionaly in my sport. She will wake up at 5:30am to drive across the state to stand around the top of a hill in freezing weather only to watch me on my bike for a grand total of 20 seconds (Fisk Knob.) There is nothing more I could ever ask for in a person than in Cat. To me, she is the prettiest and most perfect person I have met.


And that is the history of Cat through my eyes. I left out a TON of information because I didn't want this post to be four pages long, but if you are curious about certain things, just ask. And Cat, if you want me to add something let me know. I'm sure I missed something important.

Finals

Sorry everyone,
It's finals week here at EMU. All of my free time is spent studying. I have a lot to report on, but no time to do it. So later this week, maybe not even untill the weekend, look for posts on "The History of Cat", Prom, testing with Darrell, Willow (after Saturday) and a recap of my freshman year of college.

Off to my music exam!

Belgian Racing

Hey everyone,It's the last week of classes here and finals are next week so I have been studying and doing a bunch of work, hence the no posting.

So last Sunday was the 3rd STS, and it was horrid. I woke up to freezing temperatures and snow on the ground. I still packed up the Element and headed to the course. Sure enough we were racing. A decent number of people showed up too! I coached the C race, which took a lot out of me because I was in the strong winds trying to assist riders. After that I decided to enter the A race. We only had about 10-12 riders. I only had half a bagel for breakfast, so I didn't last the whole race. I took a couple of free laps too. But while I WAS racing, I was doing a pretty good job at it. I was marking Larry Warbasse's wheel while I could, and stayed with him. I also did a lot of bridging, hoping Chris or DMO would go with me. Eventually I pulled out and the feild split, with Chris and DMO on the wrong side. O well.

After that, I went home to Jackson for a little bit and hung out with Cat. We sat in the hottub for a few minutes so I could rest my legs. After I dropped her off I headed back to Eastern to spend my week studying. Surprisingly, we have had great weather and I have gotten in some decent rides. I am on a rest and recovery week, so I did not ride today or yesterday. But Monday and Tuesday I got in 2 and 3 hour rides out in the sun. Man it was nice.....exept for the wind. This is one thing that annoyes me, I hate the Weather Channel. They are never 100%(or even 60%) correct. Based on solid scientific documented evidence....they are right about wind SPEED AND DIRECTION 10% of the time, correct about wind SPEED 20% of the time and correct about wind DIRECTION 15% of the time. The other 45% of the time its just numbers out of a hat. I only complain because it sucks to have a 20mph headwind for an hour comming back rather than the anticipated 13mph crosswind. O well, you cant change it, so live with it.

Tomorrow I turn in my English portfolio and I am done with that class for the year. Next week i have finals in Music(Tuesday), Anatomy(Wednesday), Trigonometry(Friday) and Physiology(Friday). Then I am finished and will spend my summer in Jackson.

After I turn in my portfolio, I am off to Jackson. This weekend is Jackson High School's Prom, and Cat asked me to go with her. As well as going with her on Saturday, I offered Mr. Hunt (JHS Senior advisor and teacher who had the biggest impact on my high school life) my assistance in setting up. So I get to spend Friday rigging decorations and such (also need to find time to ride.)

More on Prom on Sunday. Tomorrow or Saturday I will have a new post: "The History of Cat" Which is where I will imform everyone about, quite possibly, my favorite person on the planet. Thats all for now, Ciao!

PS: How about Boonen's Roubaix win!? Nice!

Dopers SUCK!

At the request of our good friend DMO, I am puttin this picture on here. I like them! I think everyone in the cycling world should get a pair and that they should be the official SLC Team Socks! haha

Done Reading

Finished "Roadie" yesterday before dinner. Great book, quite funny.

After dinner I did 3x15 minute intervals on the trainer becuase I had been in the lab all morning and couldn't ride before it started raining. It wasn't too bad though. Deffinitly feeling it this morning.

Going back to Jackson today to hang out with CAT and grab my TT bike. I have a workout at Willow tomorrow morning, so I would like to do some more workouts on the bike and adjust my position with Darrell's help.

A race on Sunday. Going to be fun!

CAT

Doug Darrell and all those interested. CAT is the girl that will be attending my races this season. I put that in here becasue she wanted her name mentioned in my blog. Thats CAT. Short for Catherine.

Quota

James and Colton. Are you happy? Have I met my Quota for the week? This should keep you guys entertained for a little while.

Cool Crash

Ok, so I am not sure if he didn't see the guy waving the flag warning him that the curb he was standing on was there. I mean the flag wavy guy MOVED for the rider. Looks painfull anyhow. Watch how far his bike goes, and that wheel is totalled!

Riders Ready

So I am sure by now everyone knows what the book looks like. But if not, here is another picture.

My copy came today and I picked it up from the desk after lunch. I immediatly opened it and started reading. Its really good and really funny. I am sure I will enjoy it.
Here is a picture of the author, Jamie Smith after the STS A race this weekend.

STS #2

So after my poor Saturday performance, Darrell informed me that I should not be racing the STS, it would hurt my training. So I took his advice, saved myself some $$$ and did not race. That did not stop me from being there though. I am a vital member to the AAVC Junior Development Program, so I was one of the first to the course and one of the last to leave.

I arrived early to assist Joe in course set up. As he put out the cones, I swept the corners of debris. After that, I switched the wheels on my bike from the aluminum clinchers to my carbon tubulars. I had only ridden them once and wanted to give them a good test. Once i switched the wheels, I kitted up and met the other coaches behind the C race staging. It was our goal to teach riders how to ride and to help them if they were in trouble. It was fun and fast. I worked pretty hard beacasue I was off the back a lot helping riders get back on. I also spent time in the wind demonstraiting the draft to riders. While I was riding I knew it was a good idea to not do the A race, because I was not feeling strong at all.

James Anderson was in the C race contending for the finish. On the final lap going into the first corner at the bottom of the hill he overcooked the turn. This resulted in slamming into the curb and sprawling out on the grass. He ended up being fine, but I thought Darrell might have a heart attack.

A pleseant surprise came durring the B race. I was sitting on the curb watching and learning as a framiliar face walked up. It was Rune Duke. I raced a little with him last year when he was on South Lyon. At the end of the season he took off to Alabama for the Army. He was back for a few days before taking off to Korea(?) It was nice to see him again, we will sure miss him in the peloton.

Chris Aten, fresh off a solo win in on the collegiate circuit, contended the B race and provided some spectacular entertainment. He made a few breaks and worked at the front of the feild. I don't know how this race ended because I was meeting with the other South Lyon guys that were prepping for the A race. I warmed up with DMO Scott and Joe for a bit, then we met and had a quick team meeting. Then they had to race.

Watching the As I was happy I was not there. Scott said he was at lactate threshold for 50 minutes of a 55 minute race. The team did quite well though. Vince got off in a break with Bissel Pro Team's Sven Howard. Then a second group of about 12 guys formed a chase group. Both the lead and chase group caught and lapped the feild. This resulted in Paul Alman finishing the peloton two laps early and letting the final group of 14 battle it out. I do not remember who won, but Vince sprinted to a 3rd place and Scott managed to be near the front when to pack sprinted for......15th.

A funny story of the race was one of the primes. A rider had gone solo and was way ahead of the pack comming up to the line. He sat up and rode lightly. From nowhere a peloton rider came sprinting up as fast as he could and took the prime literally ON THE LINE! No one could really tell who won it exept for Paul. The original guy that went solo turned around and yelled "Man that SUCKS!" it was hilarious.

It was a fun day in the sun. The weather was beautiful both days and I ended up sunburned. But it was worth it.

Waterford

Alright alright alright. Here is my long overdue update from this weekend. Now James and Colton can stop leaving sarcastic comments haha.

So anyways....this weekend marked my return to the Michigan peloton. Last weekend I raced collegiatly and rode a time trial, so this was the first time I met up with the old faces or freinds and foes.

Saturday morning Darrell arrived on campus to take me up to the Waterford Raceway with himself and James for the second 2008 Flying Rhinoes Training Series race. Today I would be trying my luck in my first ever A race with some of the best guys in the state.

After we got the bikes down, James warmed up and lined up for the C race. I had videography duties (as seen here) and Darrell was on picture/coaching duties. Tony's father was in the C race too (sandbagger) so Tony was standing with us on the raceway as we spectated. The race started off pretty well, the pace seemed somewhat easy with only three guys doing any work on the front. James sat near the front, but protected from the wind. On the last lap as they came into the finishing straight I watched through the lens as Mr. Wiezoreck won the race....but James never finished. Some husky rider in a yellow jersey flew up one side, taking out James' handlebars which resulted in him doing a faceplant into the asphalt. (No I didn't get it on video) But being the strong, driven rider young Anderson is, he got up and finished the race.

After we patched James up, I kitted up and started warming up. If you look at the picture, you will see how fanatical Darrell is about having his pre-race espresso Haha. The South Lyon Team had a nice showing of riders with me, Darrell, Tony, John, Joe, Vince, Rob, Eric and Mark. I warmed up a little with Rob and Mark. Then it was off to the start line. Tony and I were both nervous having never done an A race. The pace started pretty fast, there were several attacks but none stuck for more than 3 laps. I spent most of my time in the middle or the back of the pack. I know that is not where I am SUPPOSE to be, but I did not want to disrupt or upset the more experienced riders. Waterford has a little hill, but it can deffinitly hurt. I usually flew right up it, moving up a few spots. The downhill was fast and because the wind was comming out of the east the peloton was riding the far edge of the road, several riders ended up in the grass trying to jump back in. I got lucky and held my spot never going off the road.

After about 50 minutes, I was just exausted. This race was suppose to go for an hour and a half. I ended up pulling out of the race at the 52 minute mark becasue I was about a half lap behind the peloton. I was really upset at first, but Darrell Joe and John gave me encouragement and support. Darrell also pointed out I was low on blood.

It was interesting to watch the race from the finish line. Tony was looking strong, he pulled Vince up to a breakaway from the peloton and managed to sprint to 12th at the end of the race! He was the third placed rider from our team behind John and Darrell. Eric also showed a nice effort getting into a break that stayed away quite a while. All in all it was an alright race for us. I was disapointed in myself, but whatever. I will bounce back.

Give Blood

So today was exactly 8 weeks since I had last donated blood. That meant it was time to give another pint. A cool thing that Easter does is that it holds a blood drive every 8 weeks, so the same people can come and donate over and over.

This is the longest I have ever had to wait to donate. Usualy it is held in the lobby of my dorm and I can be in and out in a half hour or so. Today's drive was held in the Student Center, so there were more people. I signed in and waited an hour before being called to screening. As usual, screening went quickly and before I knew it, I was laying on a cot with a needle in my arm.

I know a lot of people are afraid or nervous of needles, some people are so bad that they cant get their finger pricked and their temperature taken simotaneously (true story), but finger pricks and needles dont bother me.

Anyways, It was pretty quick for me to pump out a pint today, my record actually...9 minutes. The other two times this year were 13 and 24 minutes. I say the two other times, because when I got to school this fall was the first time I ever donated because it was close and easy. But now I do it because it is important.

I encourage all of my readers (providing you are at least 18 and over 120 lbs) to go out an donate. I wont get into the facts, but people are always going to need blood transfusions, so you should donate and save a life. You never know, in our sport, you may end up needing blood someday. (But I really really hope not)

Besides, you get a sticker and sometimes a cool shirt. (though it may be 8 times too big)

New Shoes

So I have been holding off on posting this so I had something to fill empty space with.

Anyways....this past weekend when I was home, getting ready for races, my mom decided that I needed new shoes. She looked at my old ones and said "Throw those in the trash." So I did.

While we were out running erronds, we stopped by Dunhams because my mom needed an exercise ball and we were going to see what they had for shoes. While in the back of the store looking at the huge rack of shoes I was having difficulty deciding on what type of show I wanted. As I was searching I was overcome with joy. My eye had caught a section of 5 shoes that put a huge grin on my face. I had heard about them, I had seen the prototypes, but I had not been able to locate them for two years. GIRO SHOES. Yes the helmet and glasses company.

At Interbike last year I saw the original models for the shoes. I had looked for them in stores for a while, but then i forgot about them. I take it the idea fell through because both pairs that I got were $30 marked down from $110. But it IS Dunhams, so it IS a clearing house for the things other store dont want.

Anyways, I was happy to find those and now this year you will see me sporting my new GIRO orange and brown shoes around.