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Kansas City

So i somehow got off on work Friday and traveled the 600 miles to Kansas City solo. Leaving at 5:30am let me arrive at the course in KC at 2:15pm. I arrived just in time to see the lovely Holly playing in the mud. (o.k. she was racing, but it was playing too) After meeting up with Ben, we watched Holly finish and clean up and heading to check in at our hotel, the Great Wolf Lodge. Ben and i enjoyed the nice water park while waiting for Julie to arrive from DC. After dinner, where Julie met up with us and like 90 other people we knew, we ate and relaxed for the evening, after some more water park, "yeah water park". we slept, that night i woke up every 2 hours and then would fall back to sleep.

Saturday was mainly chillen and watching cyclocross races in the snow, as it snowed Friday night. After a trip to Cabela's for some extra warm stuff and a snack, it was off to the Comfort Inn to check in before a preride. The course was nice and frozen. the ruts from the mud on Friday froze and made one hell of a hard course. Not only was it 1.9 miles only, but it had over 30 turns. After preriding until dark, we headed back to the hotel to clean up and head out with Klugs and Amy for dinner. Dinner was followed a restless night of sleep.

The next morning the alarm went off at 6:15 am. Since my race was at 8, i had to get up early. I tried to tell Ben to stay in bed, but he refused, mainly because i figured he wanted to watch me freeze my ass off. After arriving at the course around 7:15 i did my best to warm my legs up. While warming up my extra warm gloves were making my hands sweat, and i didn't want that during the race, so i opted for my thinner gloves. BAD IDEA!! i started towards the back, but made up tons of spots on the opening straightaway, while i slowly felt the blood leave my fingers. after a few crashed a head of me, i ran my bike and felt the remaining blood in my fingers leave. With no blood in my fingers/hands i had no control of my bike. Two nasty crashes later i pulled myself from the race, IE the DNS. After pulling myself from the race, i got to feel the worse pain on earth. That pain would be the blood surging back into the frozen parts of your body. i have broken 4 bones (sternum, clavicle, and 2 in the hand), requiring 3 surgeries (2 clavicle, 1 hand), 8 pieces of metal (1 plate, 5 screws, and 2 pins), 1 cadaver bone, and the pain of blood coming back is still the worst pain in the world that i have felt so far.

After warming up and chillaxing (chillen and relaxing), i helped Ben get ready for his race the best i could. Its hard to fill Julie's shoes, but i did my best. I must say Ben Kicked Ass. while he didn't win, he sure did beat a lot of people that have been said to kick his ass. Yeah, he showed them. Shortly after the final of the men's elite race, i headed home. another 600 miles later i laid my head on my pillow around 2am and slept.


Milwaukee

So Tuesday i did my first snow ride. My old school GT Aggressor with 195 tires is no match for the deep snow of the River trail in Milwaukee. O and disc brakes are a must of winter riding. 2 hours and A LOT of running later, we finished. My Lake Boots are now waiting for me at Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee.


Final notes.

1)I have a lot less hair now, i will post a picture when i can. (hair cut)
2) i think i have decided which bikes i want to get for the mountain bike season.
a) the Trek 69er 3x9
b) the Bianchi Rita 29er SS
2)dressing up for work gets you lots of attention
a)but no dates

Update soon

my update about Kansas City will be coming soon. I need to caught up on some sleep and i will post it. 1300 miles in 3 days takes a lot out of you, but i am excited to go back to Kansas City next year to do it all over again.

untitled one

That picture to the ----> direction is of me riding at the Flatlanders State Cyclocross race. Can i technically make fun of the land of Lincoln anymore?? O well that is for a whole another day and a whole different dollar. Speaking of which, WHO IS DOING DOLLAR HAND UPS AT NATIONALS???? or isn't that allowed? Any who, I left this blog 3 hours ago because i don't have a lot to say.

I am going to nationals, i am going to ride/race in the single speed race. It's not a national champ race because that already happened in Portland. But it will be one hell of a hard race no matter what. I fully expect to be pulled near the end, but I DO NOT!! expect to be last place. Maybe i set lofty goals, but i fully expect not to be last at single speed nationals. (watch i am last and someone will make me eat these words)

I am not in the mood to post much. I am watching Shooter, and drinking a TON!!! of water. (my race on sunday is 45 minutes long, and i don't want to pass out due to lack of water.) So i need to make a few decisions before bed, and then a few more days of work and its time to go to KANSAS CITY!!!

WOOT!!!

It finally came in the mail. It only took 3+ months, but I now officially have my USA Cycling license! Other than that, i am officially signed up for the Single Speed Race at Nationals, which isn't for the national title. I am waiting for an email back from Jen to find out my about trip to nationals. Anyways, i am watching Next as i surf the internet. Yeah, am bored, on a Friday.

So I am crazy

My mother came out to watch her first cyclocross race on Sunday. Sunday happened to be the Wisconsin State Championship Race. After the race she said i really was nuts, but she kinda thought so before because of how much i ride in the summer. Anyways the race went as follows; it was snowy, wet, raining, and cold. If that wasn't enough my shoes aren't water proof and i choose, for some odd reason, to wear shorts. The race started great, i some how sprinted past 40 something people into second. * my theory for the day, why not make someone else pass me, instead of making me pass them, and o did they pass me later on.* But shortly after starting i made mistake one, i didn't preride. In the 3rd or 4th turn lead to a sand pit, and if you stayed inside you were fine, but i went outside, and lost 5 spots. I had to put a lot of effort into not falling (mistake 2) and i started the blow up of Tim. After a barriers and a run up, i filled into line(mistake 3). I got passed by 3 or 4 people as the course was slick and people right in front of me were going down (mistake 4). Than came a long, not so steep, yet very slick, no well traveled yet, where i decided to power up (mistake 5). But as i powered i had to go though untraveled snow (the kind of snow that you kill your legs on) and killed my legs(mistake 6). The rest of the lap was uneventful.

My mom, later told me, I looked good during lap one, like i was going to die in lap two, and like i was going to make it during lap three. Well as you can guess my legs popped on the hill and run up on lap one, so during lap 2 i was HURTING!!!!!! But i did manage to recover somewhat, and finish 36 of 48 (if you call that recovering). O did i forget to say i also successfully called that i was only going to fall twice, and only did fall twice (mistake 7 and 8), on cold, wet, hard snow in the rain with only shorts on?

The rest of the day i spend in a nonstop cycle of getting my feet numb and wet and about to fall off, to heating and drying them off, to getting them wet again. Normally i would have left, but i had to use my "voice that echoes" those Ben's head during his race to cheer him on.

But on to the fun stuff, after talking to/with Julie and Andy, i decided, since i never shift during a cross race, why not race single speed. BY random chance... (whistle to self) this would also allow me to race in the Single Speed Nationals in less than 2 weeks. I haven't registered yet, but i really wanna go, i am just not sure where to stay, and i REALLY!!! don't want to make a 8 hour drive by myself. SO NOTICE TO ALL!!! (i should say to all 4 of you who read this) if you know a place i can stay, and someone who needs someone to drive with, we can even take my car (it has 2 internal bike mounts) LET ME KNOW SOON!!! i need to sign up by midnight Saturday. I plan on asking for Next Friday and the following Monday off. Anyways, I will be racing my semi-finished converted to single speed cross bike on Sunday at the Flatlanders (IL) State Race. There is a few things left to do on the bike, but I have all next week to get them done.

PEACE YO!!

PS here is a picture Amanda took of me Sunday.

Am offically CRAZY!!!

While i have figured I was crazy for a while now, today made it official. Today i went on a club ride (no I am not on a team, its a club of people who ride) and we hit up the Des Plains River Trail. The ride started out cold at 27 degrees. The first half of the ride to Starbucks in Libertyville, IL wasn't too bad. My EXTRA HOT!!!! cafe mocha and warm sandwich assisted in my thawing process. This is the point in time i should note that i don't have booties or shoe cover and i didn't wear any thing other than thin tights and i didn't have anything to cover my face, only my ears.

The ride back (36 miles round trip, so 13ish miles each way) started with a flurry of 2 in the air. Knowing it takes some times for my legs to warm up, i hopped out front and spun my legs up to warmth. About the time my legs where no longer numb from sitting in Starbucks but not to the point of even mildly being warm it started to snow pretty good. While most of the trail you are sheltered by woods, there are several place that you are FULLY exposed. And being my dumb self i, still being out front, had my face pelted with hard snowflakes. These were not the gently falling snowflakes you artfully and creatively dance around in a feeble attempt to caught one on your tongue, but rather the type of snowflakes that you run and hide from. Because if these snowflakes created by the devil. For when they hit you, you fear they will slowly rip the flesh off your body until you are a pill of bones. For the first o lets say 9 miles on the way back, i have very little protection from the devil created snowflakes because the group i was with wouldn't caught me. But when they did they made me go out front. CURSES!!!!!

So off the front i go again, in a somewhat half-asses attempt to speed to my car. Once i finally reached my car, i found out i didn't shut the door all the way. It was just shut enough to turn off the lights so my car would start, but just open enough to let the entire drive side door to be covered in snow. CURSES!!!!! (number 2) The drive home wasn't bad, only took an extra 30 mins because people stayed out in the summer sun to long and let the sun bake away any knowledge they had about driving in the winter.

Summary, 36 miles, 13 in snow, didn't shut the door on my car enough, need to buy booties, and warm leggings, excited for tomorrow state cross race (the next blog will explain this), and i am sleepy.

Jingle Cross Rock 2007

This past weekend while most people were eating leftovers and sitting on the couch, I along with a few hundred other people decided to travel to Iowa. Despite common belief we did not go there to eat corn, we went to race in The 2007 Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock cyclocross race. This being my first season riding (I am not good enough yet to call it racing) cyclocross, I had been debating traveling over 250 miles to go ride. But after realizing the worst I could do is die, why not go and ride. I knew a few people who would be going, namely Ben and Jen, I also knew a lot more people that I have seen ride in the Wisconsin Cyclocross Series would be there. Namely the heavy hitters of Tristan, Marko, and Brian. (I don't claim to knew these guys personally, they just ride very well, and I try to learn all I can from them.) Well I signed up 6 hours before preregistration ended, after quickly booking a hotel and telling myself I am not crazy for attempting to do this. I then started packing.

I woke up Friday, still believing I was crazy for doing what I was about to do, but I said screw it and left. Four and a half hours of uneventful driving and I was in Iowa parking at my hotel. I knew I would run into to Ben and Jen at some point in time, but I nor them expected it to be 30 seconds after getting there. (they probably passed me while I stopped to get some McDonald's (great pre-race day food huh?)) I checked in and moved all my bags and bike into the room. For those questioning why I took the bike into the room, you need to ride your bike more and you will understand. I started to settle down for what I figured would be a pretty uneventful night and my room phone rang. Ben, with Mike, Dan, Holly, and Kevin invited me to dinner. (Kevin and Holly being married to each other are both on Ben's new team Killjoy) After dinner Ben, Dan, Mike and I headed down to the pool because "The Elite Races go down the 100 foot water slide". A few hours later I poorly attempted to sleep before a ride I was still unsure I should be doing, but it was too late now to turn back.

After a quick pre-ride of the course on frozen solid ground I attempted to thaw my feet out before my race. I turned out I was the 23rd person to register for the Men's Beginner Race, so I got to line up 3rd row on the outside. To date that was my best starting spot yet. At the sound of the cow bell we were off. The outside opened up and I was able to pass a few people, but after the first set of barriers I took the corner a little wide and lost more spots than I had gained in the start. The beginner course had a shorter run up and we didn't have to climb the huge hill everyone else had too (it pays to be a crappy rider some days :=)) The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, other than a dollar hand up from Ben in the sand pit. It was just me slowly passing slower people and ending up 20th of 32. My highlight of the race was being able to out sprint Sarah Huang at the finish. She may be a junior be she has more than once out sprinted me on the track, so today the revenge was MINE!. The rest of the day was pretty much me screaming and yelling for anyone I knew. By the end of Ben's race I could barely talk. The day ended with a shower some more dinner with the same people as the night before, a dip in the hot tub, and a quick slide or 2 down the huge water slide.

That night I ended up waking up at 3:30am cough horribly bad. After coughing for 20 minutes I took a warm shower to clear my chest and finally fell back asleep around 5ish. Two hours later I was up packing to head to the course and then home. It was a earlier start on Sunday, and the grass was frozen solid making for a VERY slippery warm up, but since the course didn't change too much I did 2 laps and retreated to the car to warm up. I managed to get a 2nd row outside starting spot. The bell went off and i took off, I managed to be 5th at the first barrier and 3rd over it. But some guy decided to put his front tire between my shoulder blades and then use my calf as a way to put his bike down. I recovered and managed to be at the tail end of the first group. Down the back stretch I had ice chucks from the grass throw at me from people's back tires. The mini riding uphill was the worst part of the course for me. Lap one, some guy in the middle fell forcing everyone off the bikes, lap 2 my back tire slide out on some mud and I went down, and the 3rd and finally lap I make it over the crest when my bike decided to drop its chain. Needless to say, it wasn't a good day for me. The sand pit helped prove it. After day one the groove in the sand pit was nice, a little too nice. First lap I carried too much speed in to make the S-style type exit and had to dismount, lap 2 I thought I had the exit dialed in, only to find out I was 2 feet off. This resulted in a meeting of my hand and brake lever into a solid cement wall. (nothing is broken, just a VERY sore right wrist) Lap 3 was uneventful. With all my crashes I ended up 26th of 40. After cleaning myself up and a quick trip to the hotel to help someone, I cheer and screamed my lungs out until I had to go. Four and a half hours later I was home and ready to go again.

Overall I learned a lot, I learned the start is the key because no matter how strong you are, you can't over come a bad start. I learned I want to travel more to races, while it might be kinda costly, its a completely different animal when your away from home.
Next up the Wisconsin State Championship for Cyclocross, with new wheels (shh) and a new outlook, I might not do so bad, who knows I could ever made fifty bucks from Ben.


Photo Credit goes to http://bikeiowa.smugmug.com/


PS please forgive my grammer, its late and I don,t care to fix it

Test

This is my first blog, its a test. I really can't write a lot because i am supposed to be packing for Jingle Cross.