Good day to all.
Just found this You Tube clip that my friend Kevin put together. It is from a race we did quite awhile ago but it shows you a bit of live footage on our team set up and how well we are treated, displayed by the cheif we had at the hotel that night!...ummmm!
So click on "video clip" title above and it should take you there! I'll figure out how to do the picture links another time...
4.27.2007
4.23.2007
Comedy and Humiliation
Saturday night comedy...at the expense of Wentworth!
Background: Wentworth (aka Went) is one of my team mates, actually one the the first members of the team i meet last year at track nationals when i was riding for OU. In any case he is a bit of a character, just ask anyone! A very nice boy, he has always been super helpful and very enthusiastic but he just gets a bit carried away at times...as we all do, but Went always finds a special way to express himself.
Hotel situation: we were staying at a Comfort Inn i think and they had a pool and hot tub, which were both seperatly fenced in. They were a ways away from each other. The pool was pretty chilly which was perfect to let out legs soak in after a long day of racing in the hot weather.
So, when we got back on Saturday many of us put our legs in the pool and dove in once or twice just to be refreshed. Most of us hadn't brought bathing suits so many of the guys were wearing their boxers...we are a pretty open group. Anyhow we were all out of the pool and some of the guys decided to spend some time in the hot tub. I never do a hot tub while racing because it seems to drain my energy more than anything else...although sometimes alternating hot and cold can have a good effect. In any case Went decided to take off his boxers and wave them around to freak the other guys out. Given Went's nature it didn't scare anyone but they grabbed the boxers, all jumped out, took his shoes and towel, threw his boxers in the pool and went to their rooms to get ready for dinner...yes, they left Went alone and naked in the hot tub. So a few minutes later while many of us were in the lobby waiting the lady from the front dest (my new friend Tiffany) came over and informed us we should check to see if we were missing any underwear because there were some floating in the pool. She was kinda laughing and not really sure how to address the issue.
At this point I had a brilliant idea and asked Tiffany if she could keep a straight face and be serious. I told her when Went came over for dinner in the lobby we would point him out to her and she was going to come escort him away and make up some story about the cops coming, etc, basically the point was to make him think he was in HUGE trouble and give him the urge to cry "mommy!!!". I could go into even further detail and i wish we had it on camera but basically she did an amazing job and in the end came out with him to inform our coach and the whole team that she had all his information and the cops would be here to take him in, the hotel would be pressing charges (the look on his face was priceless...i can't even type this without stopping to crack up!!!) & she finished by saying "on behalf of Comfort Inn, your coach and team mates YOU'VE BEEN PRANKED!!!" and everyone burst out into hystaria! It was probably one of the best pranks i've ever been a part of...you would be proud Uncle Mike!
Here is a picture of myself with Tiffany and Went
The day after...
Sunday was beautifully warm and the sun beat on us all day! It was quite refreshing after the past week and a half or so. The womens race was 55minutes + 3 laps (that mean we race for a time of 55minutes and then they hold up lap cards to count down from 3, letting us know when the sprint will be takin place). The course was a little boring but it was flat with just a slight false flat at spots, but no mountains equals good for kacey! I attacked a few times to start the race and after one of them Mo had a great counter attack and got away from the pack to eventually lap the field. After she had a good lead we sent off a few more attacks to wear the other girls down and I ended up off the front for a pretty good portion of the race while our other girls sat on the chase and just let them work themselves over. We raced very well as a team and in the end Mo gave me an amazing lead out but i was not using my head and i ended up focusing on a girl on the right and ignoring the left, only to get beat on my left at the line. It was a stupid mistake because i should have just used my go power to jump from behind Mo and kill the sprint but I was being too conservative and ended up working against myself and my team. But "that's bike racing"...i learned a lesson the hard way and got lucky i didn't do it in a more important race. We did well though taking 1st and 3rd and winning the conference overall as a team.
For anyone who is fustrated or confused by all this bike lingo, basically my racing is going very well, the team is doing amazing and we should be looking good and stong for Collegiate Nationals, which are coming up in just over a week!
Background: Wentworth (aka Went) is one of my team mates, actually one the the first members of the team i meet last year at track nationals when i was riding for OU. In any case he is a bit of a character, just ask anyone! A very nice boy, he has always been super helpful and very enthusiastic but he just gets a bit carried away at times...as we all do, but Went always finds a special way to express himself.
Hotel situation: we were staying at a Comfort Inn i think and they had a pool and hot tub, which were both seperatly fenced in. They were a ways away from each other. The pool was pretty chilly which was perfect to let out legs soak in after a long day of racing in the hot weather.
So, when we got back on Saturday many of us put our legs in the pool and dove in once or twice just to be refreshed. Most of us hadn't brought bathing suits so many of the guys were wearing their boxers...we are a pretty open group. Anyhow we were all out of the pool and some of the guys decided to spend some time in the hot tub. I never do a hot tub while racing because it seems to drain my energy more than anything else...although sometimes alternating hot and cold can have a good effect. In any case Went decided to take off his boxers and wave them around to freak the other guys out. Given Went's nature it didn't scare anyone but they grabbed the boxers, all jumped out, took his shoes and towel, threw his boxers in the pool and went to their rooms to get ready for dinner...yes, they left Went alone and naked in the hot tub. So a few minutes later while many of us were in the lobby waiting the lady from the front dest (my new friend Tiffany) came over and informed us we should check to see if we were missing any underwear because there were some floating in the pool. She was kinda laughing and not really sure how to address the issue.
At this point I had a brilliant idea and asked Tiffany if she could keep a straight face and be serious. I told her when Went came over for dinner in the lobby we would point him out to her and she was going to come escort him away and make up some story about the cops coming, etc, basically the point was to make him think he was in HUGE trouble and give him the urge to cry "mommy!!!". I could go into even further detail and i wish we had it on camera but basically she did an amazing job and in the end came out with him to inform our coach and the whole team that she had all his information and the cops would be here to take him in, the hotel would be pressing charges (the look on his face was priceless...i can't even type this without stopping to crack up!!!) & she finished by saying "on behalf of Comfort Inn, your coach and team mates YOU'VE BEEN PRANKED!!!" and everyone burst out into hystaria! It was probably one of the best pranks i've ever been a part of...you would be proud Uncle Mike!
Here is a picture of myself with Tiffany and Went
The day after...
Sunday was beautifully warm and the sun beat on us all day! It was quite refreshing after the past week and a half or so. The womens race was 55minutes + 3 laps (that mean we race for a time of 55minutes and then they hold up lap cards to count down from 3, letting us know when the sprint will be takin place). The course was a little boring but it was flat with just a slight false flat at spots, but no mountains equals good for kacey! I attacked a few times to start the race and after one of them Mo had a great counter attack and got away from the pack to eventually lap the field. After she had a good lead we sent off a few more attacks to wear the other girls down and I ended up off the front for a pretty good portion of the race while our other girls sat on the chase and just let them work themselves over. We raced very well as a team and in the end Mo gave me an amazing lead out but i was not using my head and i ended up focusing on a girl on the right and ignoring the left, only to get beat on my left at the line. It was a stupid mistake because i should have just used my go power to jump from behind Mo and kill the sprint but I was being too conservative and ended up working against myself and my team. But "that's bike racing"...i learned a lesson the hard way and got lucky i didn't do it in a more important race. We did well though taking 1st and 3rd and winning the conference overall as a team.
For anyone who is fustrated or confused by all this bike lingo, basically my racing is going very well, the team is doing amazing and we should be looking good and stong for Collegiate Nationals, which are coming up in just over a week!
Does anyone read this thing?
Hello out there!
I know my mom checks this thing but what about the rest of you?...leave a comment sometime, shake things up, make it interesting, I feel like i'm writing into a syber world of emptiness...
As much as this whole cycling and out of state college thing is glamorized, I still have time for all of you and i really enjoy hearing from everyone and getting updates on what is happening in everyone elses life! So bring it on, let me know what's up? To be truthful many time when i'm on the road just a few words from a supportive friend makes a huge difference. So never hesitate to drop me a line or give me a buzz, becuase contrary to what i hear out of some of you, I do have time for you and i really appreciat all your love and support!
I will write the promised review of Saturday night and sunday's race soon....
I know my mom checks this thing but what about the rest of you?...leave a comment sometime, shake things up, make it interesting, I feel like i'm writing into a syber world of emptiness...
As much as this whole cycling and out of state college thing is glamorized, I still have time for all of you and i really enjoy hearing from everyone and getting updates on what is happening in everyone elses life! So bring it on, let me know what's up? To be truthful many time when i'm on the road just a few words from a supportive friend makes a huge difference. So never hesitate to drop me a line or give me a buzz, becuase contrary to what i hear out of some of you, I do have time for you and i really appreciat all your love and support!
I will write the promised review of Saturday night and sunday's race soon....
4.22.2007
Past my bedtime...
I've got a lot to cover but it is way past my normal bedtime so you'll have to excuse me if non of this makes any sense!
We just got off the bus from this weekends races and here is the rundown...
First on a side note this is my living room and do you see that big blue tote? Yes, I can fit inside it!...infact for the past week Ally(on the couch) and I have been inviting people over and playing tricks on them...it involves Ally getting them to come over and look at something funny on the computer and then once the signal is given i pot out of the box and scare the life out of people! Then we laugh hystarically while the person is catching their breath and we appologize for scaring them so badly but mock their reaction! It really is quite entertaining and it has been helping keep us sane while we get down to the end of the semester.
The team left for conference finals in Nashville on Friday and we had a road race saturday morning, a team time trial saturday afternoon and a criterium sunday morning.
Saturday road race and TTT set up...we are spoiled rotten
The road race went well for the womens team. There was a pretty significant climb on the 21 mile course and in the first of three laps it was a mater of natural selection...a break of six girls was formed and we kept it for the entire race. My team mate Mo and I were able to make it up the climb with the front squad, which consisted of us (obviously), 2 georgia girls, 1 florida girl and 1 furman girl. All very strong riders. I was hurting pretty bad after the first climb and questioning my ability to hang with them in the laps that followed...you would think all my time in BE would have make we fly up hills by now, but it dosn't always work that way as I am finding out. I road very conservative and basically annoyed the patients out of all the other girls. A few got frustrated and would try to attack, so i would just sit on their wheel and look at them when they turned around to see if i was still there! There was no reason for Mo or I to worry about the break getting caught sense we had more strong girls in the main pack than anyone else and both of us can usual hold a pretty good spot in the sprint. They still weren't too pleased saying things like "common kacey, i know you can go faster than that". I did finally start pulling through so it would be a bit smoother but I spent 90% of the race in my small chain ring working on spinning and i could feel things slow down when it was my turn to come around and pull off, which i did quickly. In anycase I focused more on form in the climb in the 2nd and 3rd lap. It all stayed together in the 2nd lap although the furman girl (Ashley - she is a very strong rider) and Mo were keeping the pace up and pushing my limits. In the 3rd lap one of the georgia girls (Ann - much better at climbing than myslef) decided to turn on the extra burner and take the lead. I wasn't too worried considering she was alone and I figured we could catch back on. We dropped the other georgia girl on the climb and the remaining 4 of us were left to chase Ann, which we did for longer than I would have liked, but we did catch her with plenty of time to recover before the finish. Mo and I worked pretty darm well together in the end...o, I forgot to mention in the first lap of the race not too long after starting Mo got a rear flat and Clara and I stayed back, so the three of us had done a little time trialing back to the pack to start the race out (good thing, cause Mo ended up in the break!). So back to the finish...there were now 5 of us and we where the only team with 2 riders! We were staling out like usual and everyone was just looking at each other. Mo finally decided to lauch a bit of an attack from a ways out and string things out, which worked beautifully. At that point the furman rider dropped off a bit and I got on floridas wheel, watching for Ann to try and jump me. Mo settled back in on the side of the florida girl for a little bit as we slowed the pace a touch and then she launched a little again, forcing the florida rider to punch it and giving me a perfect lead out to pop out around and finish first. I was a bit overgeared...again..but i got it, and Mo came in 4th after getting pushed off to the side and boxed in by the florida rider. I'm not sure of the exact placings of the rest of the team but we did well and everyone finished!
On our way to Sunday's crit...it was in a big parking lot just outside of the stadium in this picture...thank Heaven finally something flat!!! Yahoo!!!
Our huge rig set up in the parking lot
Some of my entertaining and as you can imagine at times obnoxious team mates! They are great!
Chilling in the shade after sunday's crit...beautiful weather!!!
I'm not even going to try and pretend...i'm pretty tired right now and that road race write up was a bit longer than anticipated so i'm going to have to leave you in suspense on the crit until a later time...don't worry it won't be long, I'll be looking for any way possible to procrastinate (thanks for that gene dad!) on my school work (don't think about it mom, and don't even thing about calling to mention it!..I love you). I also have a rather entertaining story and picture to tell the tale of saturday night, but that will also have to wait. At the moment the shower and bed are calling my name and i'm going to give in...
We just got off the bus from this weekends races and here is the rundown...
First on a side note this is my living room and do you see that big blue tote? Yes, I can fit inside it!...infact for the past week Ally(on the couch) and I have been inviting people over and playing tricks on them...it involves Ally getting them to come over and look at something funny on the computer and then once the signal is given i pot out of the box and scare the life out of people! Then we laugh hystarically while the person is catching their breath and we appologize for scaring them so badly but mock their reaction! It really is quite entertaining and it has been helping keep us sane while we get down to the end of the semester.
The team left for conference finals in Nashville on Friday and we had a road race saturday morning, a team time trial saturday afternoon and a criterium sunday morning.
Saturday road race and TTT set up...we are spoiled rotten
The road race went well for the womens team. There was a pretty significant climb on the 21 mile course and in the first of three laps it was a mater of natural selection...a break of six girls was formed and we kept it for the entire race. My team mate Mo and I were able to make it up the climb with the front squad, which consisted of us (obviously), 2 georgia girls, 1 florida girl and 1 furman girl. All very strong riders. I was hurting pretty bad after the first climb and questioning my ability to hang with them in the laps that followed...you would think all my time in BE would have make we fly up hills by now, but it dosn't always work that way as I am finding out. I road very conservative and basically annoyed the patients out of all the other girls. A few got frustrated and would try to attack, so i would just sit on their wheel and look at them when they turned around to see if i was still there! There was no reason for Mo or I to worry about the break getting caught sense we had more strong girls in the main pack than anyone else and both of us can usual hold a pretty good spot in the sprint. They still weren't too pleased saying things like "common kacey, i know you can go faster than that". I did finally start pulling through so it would be a bit smoother but I spent 90% of the race in my small chain ring working on spinning and i could feel things slow down when it was my turn to come around and pull off, which i did quickly. In anycase I focused more on form in the climb in the 2nd and 3rd lap. It all stayed together in the 2nd lap although the furman girl (Ashley - she is a very strong rider) and Mo were keeping the pace up and pushing my limits. In the 3rd lap one of the georgia girls (Ann - much better at climbing than myslef) decided to turn on the extra burner and take the lead. I wasn't too worried considering she was alone and I figured we could catch back on. We dropped the other georgia girl on the climb and the remaining 4 of us were left to chase Ann, which we did for longer than I would have liked, but we did catch her with plenty of time to recover before the finish. Mo and I worked pretty darm well together in the end...o, I forgot to mention in the first lap of the race not too long after starting Mo got a rear flat and Clara and I stayed back, so the three of us had done a little time trialing back to the pack to start the race out (good thing, cause Mo ended up in the break!). So back to the finish...there were now 5 of us and we where the only team with 2 riders! We were staling out like usual and everyone was just looking at each other. Mo finally decided to lauch a bit of an attack from a ways out and string things out, which worked beautifully. At that point the furman rider dropped off a bit and I got on floridas wheel, watching for Ann to try and jump me. Mo settled back in on the side of the florida girl for a little bit as we slowed the pace a touch and then she launched a little again, forcing the florida rider to punch it and giving me a perfect lead out to pop out around and finish first. I was a bit overgeared...again..but i got it, and Mo came in 4th after getting pushed off to the side and boxed in by the florida rider. I'm not sure of the exact placings of the rest of the team but we did well and everyone finished!
On our way to Sunday's crit...it was in a big parking lot just outside of the stadium in this picture...thank Heaven finally something flat!!! Yahoo!!!
Our huge rig set up in the parking lot
Some of my entertaining and as you can imagine at times obnoxious team mates! They are great!
Chilling in the shade after sunday's crit...beautiful weather!!!
I'm not even going to try and pretend...i'm pretty tired right now and that road race write up was a bit longer than anticipated so i'm going to have to leave you in suspense on the crit until a later time...don't worry it won't be long, I'll be looking for any way possible to procrastinate (thanks for that gene dad!) on my school work (don't think about it mom, and don't even thing about calling to mention it!..I love you). I also have a rather entertaining story and picture to tell the tale of saturday night, but that will also have to wait. At the moment the shower and bed are calling my name and i'm going to give in...
4.20.2007
No time...
Hello to all! Not much time this week...i know i still haven't written about last sundays race. Basically it was climbing, climbing and more climbing. And sense I'm such a good climber it was pretty much the easiest race ever!...ok, i'm bending the truth a little bit, but that really is true for my team mate Ally who just killed every hill and flew threw the course finishing 7+minutes up on our next rider Mo who also did an amazing job and 11+ minutes up on the next two who came in (that was Jo and I). We pretty much dropped and got rid of the other teams, but a few of them did stick it out to the finish and get placed. It is pretty rediculous to be saying this but the weather was pretty good considering they had been calling for temperatures in the 20's and snow all week. We woke up to a balmy, breezy morning probably in the 40's or so. Everything was wet but we started without rain and didn't get dumped on until the last lap when a spitting percipitation began to slap us in the face, soaked our clothes, and made our bodies chill as we decended creating more wind than was already present. The front was coming in and we were happy to be at the end of the race, immediatly heading home for a hot shower and warm tea!
Mother nature proceeded with her plans and brought in a cold front with temps dropping and white flakes coming in that afternoon through evening. Crazy high winds managed to shake our apartment and beat on our windows all night after taking our power away and leaving the house quite cold. So, Monday I basically shivered out of bed, put on a ton of layers, packed my school bag (school was canceled) and headed to Boone for a coffee shop/homework day! Ended up going for a quick swim with Ally and then a group of us got lunch at an amazing sandwich shop in Boone called Our Daily Bread!...highly recomended if you're ever in the area.
Ok, still no pictures...i'm sorry. I think my camera will still work, i just can't see the pictures on the cracked LCD screen. So, I will try to get some shots this weekend and then hopefully send it off for fixing next week!
Looks like I might be coming back to MI next Sunday or so for about a week before leaving for Kansas so I'm pretty excited about the idea of it!
I want to wish Ally and the rest of the triathlon crew GOOD LUCK this weekend in Alabama as they will be competing at Triathlone Collegiate Nationals!
back to the books....uggg!
Mother nature proceeded with her plans and brought in a cold front with temps dropping and white flakes coming in that afternoon through evening. Crazy high winds managed to shake our apartment and beat on our windows all night after taking our power away and leaving the house quite cold. So, Monday I basically shivered out of bed, put on a ton of layers, packed my school bag (school was canceled) and headed to Boone for a coffee shop/homework day! Ended up going for a quick swim with Ally and then a group of us got lunch at an amazing sandwich shop in Boone called Our Daily Bread!...highly recomended if you're ever in the area.
Ok, still no pictures...i'm sorry. I think my camera will still work, i just can't see the pictures on the cracked LCD screen. So, I will try to get some shots this weekend and then hopefully send it off for fixing next week!
Looks like I might be coming back to MI next Sunday or so for about a week before leaving for Kansas so I'm pretty excited about the idea of it!
I want to wish Ally and the rest of the triathlon crew GOOD LUCK this weekend in Alabama as they will be competing at Triathlone Collegiate Nationals!
back to the books....uggg!
4.15.2007
Pray for the weather...
Good morning to all! Life is going well, i really need to get on top of my school work, but that time will come. Riding is good at the moment. Our home collegiate race is this weekend so it has been super nice to be at home and have the luxury of using my own shower, bed, kitchen, etc. Yesterday we did a team time trial and a crit. Our womens team won the TT but that wasn't suprising considering there was only one other team entered and they only had 2 girls to our 4. The crit also went well...i got off the front just a few laps in and at first was going for a lap on the field but my legs were tired and i started to think i better save a little becuse we have a big road race today with LOTS of climbing. I eased off to wait for a team mate who was bridging the gap and then we road together for the remainder of the race staying off the front and taking 1 & 2 for the team! Ally won the field sprint, which was a great way to come back into racing after her hard crash 2 weekends back! The remainder of the team also did well and did a great job supporting us as usuall! The mens teams also turned out some great results and all in all it was a good day! O and the weather held out to be dry all day! So for today...we will see if we are so lucky. The pavement is pretty wet as i write this but it is suprisingly a bit muggy out and the temps don't feel too cold. There is a cold front on the way but we are hoping it will hold off till after the races which start at 9AM this morining. Wish us luck and i'll retrun later to give you the latest and greatest.
Sorry about no pictures. My camera is actually broken right now...somehow i cracked the screen so i'm pretty bummed about it. But, thanks to my Uncle Ron who helped me purchase it i have some sort of warrenty on it so hopefully i'm going to find out monday that it will be covered and i can get it fixed or something of the sort...cross your fingers for me!
O, and the other eventfullness of my life includes my key deciding yesterday that it didn't want to go into my ignition??? So we unbolted the stearing area and banged on some stuff with my umbrella until Tucker (Ally's Country Man!) finally got the key to go in. It will be interesting to see if it works today?...this could make for some fustrating times, but maybe some good entertainment also!
Smile!...it might make someones day!!!
Sorry about no pictures. My camera is actually broken right now...somehow i cracked the screen so i'm pretty bummed about it. But, thanks to my Uncle Ron who helped me purchase it i have some sort of warrenty on it so hopefully i'm going to find out monday that it will be covered and i can get it fixed or something of the sort...cross your fingers for me!
O, and the other eventfullness of my life includes my key deciding yesterday that it didn't want to go into my ignition??? So we unbolted the stearing area and banged on some stuff with my umbrella until Tucker (Ally's Country Man!) finally got the key to go in. It will be interesting to see if it works today?...this could make for some fustrating times, but maybe some good entertainment also!
Smile!...it might make someones day!!!
4.08.2007
Lessons learned...
Well, I'm not too excited to write up this report but there were good times and i learned a lot so as long as i let myslef take the lessons out and put the rest behind me it will only be of benifit!
So, i was suppose to get a ride from Sheedy and his team mate Richard England but when i showed up that morning Sheedy was sick and had to bail, so it was just Richard and I. We loaded into my car and hit the road for the 6+ hour trip to Richmond, VA...
this is my new Australian friend Richard...we had a good time talking for 6 hours straight and we had some fun with the radio and our singing! We talked about everything from training to global warming and politics, etc. O and i have to say congrats to his girlfrined Kate for her recent World Champion title!
We made it safely to VA and I dropped Richard off with the team and moved on to the house I was staying at. Thank you to everyone for the efforts in finding me a place to stay...you are all amazing! Alan Smith ended up having some realtives that lived close and they were more than kind to me! We knew it was going to be cold Saturday morning and there had been talk of snow but i just kept ignoring it and thinking maybe it wouldn't happen...guess what...it did.
this is the house i stayed at and this is what i woke up to Satruday morning. I had to brush off my car...good thing i didn't take out the scraper when it was 85 degrees last week...
When i arrived in Richmond this was the licence plate on the car parked in front of me!
Downtown Richmond at about 7:30am Saturday morning....
Alright, well the short of it is they delayed the 9am race first to 10, then to 10:30, then back to 10. I didn't get in a good warm up and started pretty much off the line. The cold air wasn't agreeing too much with my lungs but we were moving. I did too much work to start, stayed too far up, helped chase a break of 2 riders and got popped on the little kicker hills...sat on the back for another lap trying to get my legs to come back...popped on the inclines again. Road a lap or so with some girls that had dropped off the back and then pulled out to watch the sprint and hopefully learn a little more other than the clear lessons i had already granted myself...DON'T DO ANY WORK WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A TEAM....Basically I I road a really uneducated race and the worst part about the whole thing was that I know better and still let myself ride it the way i did. In anycase i can't take anything back know, I can only take the lessons out of it and remember what i have learned and move on...
I was pretty whipped when i got back to Banner Elk after jumping back in the car and making the trip home by myself. Luke Cavender (a friend from MI) came into town to visit, check out the school and do some riding. Unfortunatly we got about 5-8inches of snow on the mountain yesterday, but we will make it work. We went to my coaches house shortly where we had a little bit to eat and talked for awhile. Luke brought a dirt bike from MI for Brian and I beat him onto it!
Then i just took it easy for most of the night and got a good nights sleep....
HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!!!
So, i was suppose to get a ride from Sheedy and his team mate Richard England but when i showed up that morning Sheedy was sick and had to bail, so it was just Richard and I. We loaded into my car and hit the road for the 6+ hour trip to Richmond, VA...
this is my new Australian friend Richard...we had a good time talking for 6 hours straight and we had some fun with the radio and our singing! We talked about everything from training to global warming and politics, etc. O and i have to say congrats to his girlfrined Kate for her recent World Champion title!
We made it safely to VA and I dropped Richard off with the team and moved on to the house I was staying at. Thank you to everyone for the efforts in finding me a place to stay...you are all amazing! Alan Smith ended up having some realtives that lived close and they were more than kind to me! We knew it was going to be cold Saturday morning and there had been talk of snow but i just kept ignoring it and thinking maybe it wouldn't happen...guess what...it did.
this is the house i stayed at and this is what i woke up to Satruday morning. I had to brush off my car...good thing i didn't take out the scraper when it was 85 degrees last week...
When i arrived in Richmond this was the licence plate on the car parked in front of me!
Downtown Richmond at about 7:30am Saturday morning....
Alright, well the short of it is they delayed the 9am race first to 10, then to 10:30, then back to 10. I didn't get in a good warm up and started pretty much off the line. The cold air wasn't agreeing too much with my lungs but we were moving. I did too much work to start, stayed too far up, helped chase a break of 2 riders and got popped on the little kicker hills...sat on the back for another lap trying to get my legs to come back...popped on the inclines again. Road a lap or so with some girls that had dropped off the back and then pulled out to watch the sprint and hopefully learn a little more other than the clear lessons i had already granted myself...DON'T DO ANY WORK WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A TEAM....Basically I I road a really uneducated race and the worst part about the whole thing was that I know better and still let myself ride it the way i did. In anycase i can't take anything back know, I can only take the lessons out of it and remember what i have learned and move on...
I was pretty whipped when i got back to Banner Elk after jumping back in the car and making the trip home by myself. Luke Cavender (a friend from MI) came into town to visit, check out the school and do some riding. Unfortunatly we got about 5-8inches of snow on the mountain yesterday, but we will make it work. We went to my coaches house shortly where we had a little bit to eat and talked for awhile. Luke brought a dirt bike from MI for Brian and I beat him onto it!
Then i just took it easy for most of the night and got a good nights sleep....
HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!!!
4.06.2007
I have amazing friends!!!!
Good Morning everyone!
Just wanted to say thank you soooo much to everyone who contacted me about places to stay in VA! I just about started crying when I got one email of tremendous support! I have found a place to stay with some relatives of a Wolverine member! I head out of town here in about and hour and then return sometime sunday. I will do my best to keep you posted on what happens, but i'm not sure about internet availability or if i will be taking my computer. I'm going to try really hard to take some pictures for a good report. Ok, i'm a bit scatered right now so i need to finish packing and hit the road. THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE...i don't know how I got so blessed but i'm very thankful for it! O AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!!
Just wanted to say thank you soooo much to everyone who contacted me about places to stay in VA! I just about started crying when I got one email of tremendous support! I have found a place to stay with some relatives of a Wolverine member! I head out of town here in about and hour and then return sometime sunday. I will do my best to keep you posted on what happens, but i'm not sure about internet availability or if i will be taking my computer. I'm going to try really hard to take some pictures for a good report. Ok, i'm a bit scatered right now so i need to finish packing and hit the road. THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE...i don't know how I got so blessed but i'm very thankful for it! O AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!!
4.05.2007
Aubrun Race +
I will soon get to the racing, but to start I have a few other little things in life to mention...
School is still going on and i'm still hanging on, doing well and ready for the semester to be over. Trying to figure out how i'm going to fanagle my way into being able to graduate next spring and aranging my classes for first semster next year...
more importantly (i'm kidding) i've started to develope the tanline again, it will only get worse from here on out
i recently also chopped off my hair and it's working out pretty nicely
Ok, i'll more one because i can't remember anything else sense i'm late getting all this to you...
Last weekend we had collegiate racing at Auburn University in Alabama. The run down is below!
We were only a few hours down the road and at our first rest stop when this is what could be found...yep, our engine area was steaming and there was question as to how long our bran new huge bus was going to do for the long haul
We were conveniently located right next to a great climging tree and had a lot of fun with that...
aparently Preston needed more of a challenge and decided to try and climb the pole...ummm
This was a cool tree i took a picture of while laying on a bench enjoying the beautiful weather!
Well, the good news is we got back on the bus and continued to a location where a mechanic could come check the issue. Unfortunatly I don't have any pictures but while we where at that stop we actually had a little baseball game. The guys found a peice of a branch to use as a bat to hit a tennis ball. Bases were all make up of garbage (mostly carryout containers) that were found laying around. We had quite a bit of fun and most of us had scrapes on our arm from swinging the bat!
The road race was a rolling 52 mile race and went pretty well. but in the end i didn't gear well and ran out of power to take 2nd place. The rest of the girls did really well but we had some issue in the end only having half the road and many people got stuck behind too many people to use the power they had in the end. We learned a lot though and it will help us later on!
As it turned out Auburn is only about and hour away from where the Alabama Cycling Camp is located so i called Renee and she and Aldo where able to come visit a little bit...it was so great to see her!
Renee and myself before the race
The start of the womens race
The crit went pretty well but there was rain on and off and they had just repainted the lines and crosswalks on the roads. If your a cyclist you know that that means, and for all you others it basically mean watch out and be ready to fishtail your bike! The new paint gets wet from rain and becomes like an ice rink to our little bike tires. The mens race had 5 crashes after it started to rain so we had a heads up to the most slick areas. We only had one guy go down of the men and he was sore this week but nothing too bad. The womens race was safe for the most part. My rear wheel slid out a few times and I fishtailed pretty hard core with one lap to go, giving me a little rush! Everything else was fine until the final corner of the last lap...i was in the front with a few others and ended up getting 2nd again with an uphill finish...i obviously need to work on those! In any case i could have cared less about where i or anyone else finished and i rushed back to the corner where i had heard carniage behind me as i had been starting to sprint. My team mate Ally had hit the deck...and hard, right on her face. She basically took the blow with her check bone and had a good gash above her eyebrow. Being Ally she of course wanted to just get up and keep moving. We convinced her to stay on the ground and wait for medical help. As it all turned out she went to ER and they stiched her up, made sure nothing was broken, gave her some pain killers and then we picked her up to hit the road. She is a super tough girl and her spirits, even with a severe concusion and huge black eye were more than most people can muster up on a normal day! O and i almost forgot to mention she, along with Carla and myself had also laped the field in the race.
cooling down
Ok, I think that puts me up to date...
Ally has been recoving very quickly this week and all is going well. Just got done with classes yesterday and now i'm on easter break for 5 days! Probably heading to VA this saturday for a race and then just hanging out here in BE.
Enough for now...
School is still going on and i'm still hanging on, doing well and ready for the semester to be over. Trying to figure out how i'm going to fanagle my way into being able to graduate next spring and aranging my classes for first semster next year...
more importantly (i'm kidding) i've started to develope the tanline again, it will only get worse from here on out
i recently also chopped off my hair and it's working out pretty nicely
Ok, i'll more one because i can't remember anything else sense i'm late getting all this to you...
Last weekend we had collegiate racing at Auburn University in Alabama. The run down is below!
We were only a few hours down the road and at our first rest stop when this is what could be found...yep, our engine area was steaming and there was question as to how long our bran new huge bus was going to do for the long haul
We were conveniently located right next to a great climging tree and had a lot of fun with that...
aparently Preston needed more of a challenge and decided to try and climb the pole...ummm
This was a cool tree i took a picture of while laying on a bench enjoying the beautiful weather!
Well, the good news is we got back on the bus and continued to a location where a mechanic could come check the issue. Unfortunatly I don't have any pictures but while we where at that stop we actually had a little baseball game. The guys found a peice of a branch to use as a bat to hit a tennis ball. Bases were all make up of garbage (mostly carryout containers) that were found laying around. We had quite a bit of fun and most of us had scrapes on our arm from swinging the bat!
The road race was a rolling 52 mile race and went pretty well. but in the end i didn't gear well and ran out of power to take 2nd place. The rest of the girls did really well but we had some issue in the end only having half the road and many people got stuck behind too many people to use the power they had in the end. We learned a lot though and it will help us later on!
As it turned out Auburn is only about and hour away from where the Alabama Cycling Camp is located so i called Renee and she and Aldo where able to come visit a little bit...it was so great to see her!
Renee and myself before the race
The start of the womens race
The crit went pretty well but there was rain on and off and they had just repainted the lines and crosswalks on the roads. If your a cyclist you know that that means, and for all you others it basically mean watch out and be ready to fishtail your bike! The new paint gets wet from rain and becomes like an ice rink to our little bike tires. The mens race had 5 crashes after it started to rain so we had a heads up to the most slick areas. We only had one guy go down of the men and he was sore this week but nothing too bad. The womens race was safe for the most part. My rear wheel slid out a few times and I fishtailed pretty hard core with one lap to go, giving me a little rush! Everything else was fine until the final corner of the last lap...i was in the front with a few others and ended up getting 2nd again with an uphill finish...i obviously need to work on those! In any case i could have cared less about where i or anyone else finished and i rushed back to the corner where i had heard carniage behind me as i had been starting to sprint. My team mate Ally had hit the deck...and hard, right on her face. She basically took the blow with her check bone and had a good gash above her eyebrow. Being Ally she of course wanted to just get up and keep moving. We convinced her to stay on the ground and wait for medical help. As it all turned out she went to ER and they stiched her up, made sure nothing was broken, gave her some pain killers and then we picked her up to hit the road. She is a super tough girl and her spirits, even with a severe concusion and huge black eye were more than most people can muster up on a normal day! O and i almost forgot to mention she, along with Carla and myself had also laped the field in the race.
cooling down
Ok, I think that puts me up to date...
Ally has been recoving very quickly this week and all is going well. Just got done with classes yesterday and now i'm on easter break for 5 days! Probably heading to VA this saturday for a race and then just hanging out here in BE.
Enough for now...
3/24/07 race
My appologies for not keeping up to date, but i'm back with more gab for ya if you're interested!
A few weekends back we traveled to a fairly local race rather than making the trip to Florida State where there was a collegiate race going on. The womens road race was something like 35 miles and started early in the morning (8AM), which was great becuse at 7am it was already almost 70 degrees. The womens race went well - a pack of probably 25 or so rather unexperienced riders for the most part, but people were pretty safe. I barly won the sprint and was feeling the heat by the time we got done. I took a few hours to try and refuel, hydrate a ton and rest in the shade before jumping in the mens category 3 race around noon. I could tell the heat was really gettting to me beacause I was having a hard time balancing on the rollers when i went to do a little warm up! It was a great work out and interval session but i only road 4.5 of the 6 laps they did before my body gave into the 85 degree temperatures and my quads where hardening to rocks when i tried to stand up on the pedals. Overall a good weekend for me and the team...all the other girls did very well and the men also shook things up! Plus we just raced Saturday and got to head home for a little break before hitting the books again...that was kinda nice!
this is the inside of our new HUGE bus...
Here we have Robert driving while Sheedy and Kevin direct him threw a bank drive through in a parking lot...that was interesting!
the bus is big enough itself, but we decided it would only be appropriate to complicate things a bit more and add a huge trailer with all our toys!
this is Robert and Kristy (great people!) at the amazing dinner we had at Coyote Kitchen on our way home!...Um!
great times with more to come!
A few weekends back we traveled to a fairly local race rather than making the trip to Florida State where there was a collegiate race going on. The womens road race was something like 35 miles and started early in the morning (8AM), which was great becuse at 7am it was already almost 70 degrees. The womens race went well - a pack of probably 25 or so rather unexperienced riders for the most part, but people were pretty safe. I barly won the sprint and was feeling the heat by the time we got done. I took a few hours to try and refuel, hydrate a ton and rest in the shade before jumping in the mens category 3 race around noon. I could tell the heat was really gettting to me beacause I was having a hard time balancing on the rollers when i went to do a little warm up! It was a great work out and interval session but i only road 4.5 of the 6 laps they did before my body gave into the 85 degree temperatures and my quads where hardening to rocks when i tried to stand up on the pedals. Overall a good weekend for me and the team...all the other girls did very well and the men also shook things up! Plus we just raced Saturday and got to head home for a little break before hitting the books again...that was kinda nice!
this is the inside of our new HUGE bus...
Here we have Robert driving while Sheedy and Kevin direct him threw a bank drive through in a parking lot...that was interesting!
the bus is big enough itself, but we decided it would only be appropriate to complicate things a bit more and add a huge trailer with all our toys!
this is Robert and Kristy (great people!) at the amazing dinner we had at Coyote Kitchen on our way home!...Um!
great times with more to come!
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