Fail the Press

Anyone catch this? It was on "Meet the Press" when they went to Waterloo Iowa to interview John McCain. They showed a map of the battleground states for this election. Apparently Virginia is a huge battleground state! haha



(If you are geographically challeneged, that is not Virginia, thats North Carolina)

Its Alive, ITS ALIVE!

Guess what! As of 11:43pm I have a fully functioning, raceable cyclocross bike. I am going to the AAVC Cross Practice at Vets Park tonight to get a taste of this side of the sport. Wish me luck. Enjoy the pics.

Cross Pictures

For the sake of making another post, here are some random pictures.

Lower Huron Masters

So here is the video I shot of the masters. This pretty much showcases Joe L, Mark L, and Rob P.

Lower Huron Mens B

I decided not to edit the video at all. I just threw it together in order, no music, no transitions or credits. The video pretty much features Chris Aten and Roger Bowser with an interview with Chris at the end. There is not much dialogue, Im sure many of you will get annoyed with me saying "come on" and "get up there" a lot. I also have clips from the Masters race, so look for that tomorrow evening. Enjoy!

Half Built

So I spent some time today assembling what I had. I have a chain, a 46t chainring, cleats and pedals too, but without a crankset and bottom bracket I cant do much. So this is what I have. I know its really pretty isn't it. Remember I have been buying as cheap as possible. Its not amazing, but its not the bike that makes the rider.

Almost...

So as of 11:36pm last night, ALL of the parts for my cyclocross bike have been ordered. That means that I should have a completely built and functioning CX bike by the middle of next week.

Downside...I wont be able to race Lower Huron this weekend. But I will be there with my cameras getting some footage for the team.

College and Cyclocross (or lack there of)

Hello Hello Hello,

So lately I have been spending hours in front of the computer burying myself in work. Physics, Pharmacology, Math, Speech and Listening Behavior keep me pretty busy with the homework. When I am not doing homework or in class, I am riding, in the gym or building up a cross bike.

I am almost done with the build. I lack a crankset and shoes. Other than that I have all the other stuff for the bike. I have been having trouble getting the components from my source lately, so I might just get on Nashbar and get a cheap crankset and shoes. I doubt I will be at the race on the 19th to race. I will be there with my cameras, but I probably wont have the bike (and deffinitly not the form) to race.

In other news, this past weekend I went home Saturday to hang out with my friend Mark. But before that I went to the AAVC Junior picnic. I took the road bike because there was a little racing going on. Mark Lovejoy had set up a short "cross" course for the juniors. After a few warm up laps we had a 5 lap race. Darrell and I waited a lap or two before going around the Juniors. Once I got a gap on Ace, he couldnt close it. I eventually ended up winning, even after running into a pole. The juniors seemed to enjoy themselves (though BB didnt take part in the race) and I think we might have inspired a new generation of cross racers. After the race, I went to
Jackson.



Mark goes to school in Illinois and was home for a few days so I met up with him. After lunch we met up with my brother out in the country and shot some rifles. This is only the 3rd time I have shot a rifle and it was fun. I was shooting about 80% taking my time to make sure the shot counted.




I am back to training 5 days a week now after a long break to rest. It feels good to get back on the bike to ride. I have missed it. I am very weak right now only being able to sustain 22-23mph for a couple of miles.

I had a meeting with Ace and we discussed my year ahead. It looks like I will be doing some early season racing in the south durring March and April to get some Cat2 upgrade points. My goal is to upgrade the Cat2 by the end of June. If you want to travel with me this season south to race, let me know. There is always room.

2009 Race Info:
Cone-Azalia - CANCELLED unless picked up by another group
Gaslight - CANCELLED
Rose City Crit - Back for 09'
Maillot Jaune - Becoming "Tour of Mount Pleasent" 2 days
Priority Health - Adding a 3rd day of racing (Friday)

So it looks like we have a full calender for the 2009 season. I hope you all will be ready to race and assemble strong teams. If you do not have a team, or are thinking you want to switch teams...the former South Lyon Cycle Racing Team is looking for talented Cat3 and Cat4 bicycle racers who fit in with our team atmosphere. Interested riders can contact Darrell Anderson (darrell@velospeedtraining.com)or Scott Gifford(on facebook)for more information.