work really really sucks.
If only I could afford to take a day off and be miserable at home instead of extra miserable at work.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Collegiate MTB Nationals 2005
**Wrote this while I was in Pennsylvania because I knew if I didn't I wouldn't write anything for a while. It will be revised and prettied up later with some pictures added**
I feel pretty crappy now. Got a nice cold and feel like I've got a bunch of stuff I should be doing.
Gonna try to take 2 or 3 weeks off the bike to recharge, and then I'll be back to it again.
Thursday:
Got into 7 Springs at around 9am. Parked at the main resort and tried to get ourselves situated a bit. Went ahead and ate breakfast in a little diner in the main building. Steve got a haircut, and we peer-pressured him into dying his hair, we went to pick up our registration packets, and headed over to meet Michigan Tech at our condo (they had room to spare and didn’t mind the help in paying for it).
We got situated a bit, changed and Chad, Steve, Jon, and myself rode over to our courses to practice. Those guys practiced the mountain-cross track
and I rode further up the mountain to the short track/start of the cross-country course. Did a couple laps of the STXC course and then rode one lap of the cross-country course. Nice a painful….the course was made up of snow and mud. My toes were numb a good ¾ of the ride. It sucked…enough said.
Met up with Chad at the bottom of the hill, and we rode back to our condo. Nobody was there, door was locked, we were real happy. Eventually Brady and a couple dudes from Michigan Tech showed up and let us in. Brady made dinner, some people drank and played some games, and some just went to bed. After not sleeping but a couple hours during the drive, and driving from around midnight until around 4, I crashed around 9.
Friday:
Got up around 8. Brady made French toast like a nice housewife, then decided to run up to the Short Track Course (a good couple miles) in shorts, shoes, and a hat. It was cold outside.
The rest of us got geared up and I dropped Chad, Jon, and Steve off at the mountain-cross course and pick Brady up, and we headed up to the short track course.
I rode a whole two laps, and then about 8 of us got pulled. Some Colorado guys (CU, Fort Lewis, etc) set a crazy fast pace on the mostly uphill course and a majority of the 60 something riders were pulled fairly early into the 30 minute race.
My toes were frozen after those two laps, my face covered in mud, so Brady and I headed down the mountain and up and down back to our condo to change (brady had shorts, a shirt, hat, and shoes at this point…I was chilly in shoes, socks, a long underwear layers on bottom, with shorts and leg warmers over it, 2 shirts and a thermal jacket on top)
We changed and headed back to watch the guys qualify for mountain-cross (4 people riding down a course at a time). Only 32 guys (out of around 60) were able to qualify for the finals, and chad, who didn’t fall a single time practicing, fell twice in his qualifying run and finished 2 places out of the top 32. He was disappointed to say the least, considering a top 10 finish was basically expected. The other guys fell a bit, had some bike problems, and finished a little bit behind Chad.
Steve, Chad, and Jon
We found out they didn’t make the cut, went back to the condo so they could change, and went back to the course to watch the mountain-cross carnage.
That finished up at 3-something and we headed back to the condo, then to the bike shop down the road, the grocery store, and back to the condo for the evening. Steve and I cooked up a batch of pasta with meat sauce, green beans mixed with peas, and some Italian bread for dinner, and we ate up. Little bit of drinking, little bit of poker, and plenty of sleep.
Saturday:
Got up at the crack of 9am. Race started at 11:30. Overall it was fun. Could only use my largest chainring, and there was a couple huge climbs at the end (went from the bottom of a mountain to the top, with just a few twists) so I was doing the hike-a-bike for a good while. On my third lap I flatted about half way through and rode and hiked the bike in.
Walked the downhill course with brady…parts of it were crazy. Just before Brady and I got to the course Steve came walking towards us with his bike in three parts.
Broke the frame in two places. Then Chad and Jon did a run to see themselves for the race tomorrow.
Had an awards ceremony/all-you-can-eat buffet at 6:30, came back to the condo for a little while, then to the naked crit at 10pm.
Back side of mountain on Sunday
I feel pretty crappy now. Got a nice cold and feel like I've got a bunch of stuff I should be doing.
Gonna try to take 2 or 3 weeks off the bike to recharge, and then I'll be back to it again.
Thursday:
Got into 7 Springs at around 9am. Parked at the main resort and tried to get ourselves situated a bit. Went ahead and ate breakfast in a little diner in the main building. Steve got a haircut, and we peer-pressured him into dying his hair, we went to pick up our registration packets, and headed over to meet Michigan Tech at our condo (they had room to spare and didn’t mind the help in paying for it).
We got situated a bit, changed and Chad, Steve, Jon, and myself rode over to our courses to practice. Those guys practiced the mountain-cross track
and I rode further up the mountain to the short track/start of the cross-country course. Did a couple laps of the STXC course and then rode one lap of the cross-country course. Nice a painful….the course was made up of snow and mud. My toes were numb a good ¾ of the ride. It sucked…enough said. Met up with Chad at the bottom of the hill, and we rode back to our condo. Nobody was there, door was locked, we were real happy. Eventually Brady and a couple dudes from Michigan Tech showed up and let us in. Brady made dinner, some people drank and played some games, and some just went to bed. After not sleeping but a couple hours during the drive, and driving from around midnight until around 4, I crashed around 9.
Friday:
Got up around 8. Brady made French toast like a nice housewife, then decided to run up to the Short Track Course (a good couple miles) in shorts, shoes, and a hat. It was cold outside.
The rest of us got geared up and I dropped Chad, Jon, and Steve off at the mountain-cross course and pick Brady up, and we headed up to the short track course.
I rode a whole two laps, and then about 8 of us got pulled. Some Colorado guys (CU, Fort Lewis, etc) set a crazy fast pace on the mostly uphill course and a majority of the 60 something riders were pulled fairly early into the 30 minute race.
My toes were frozen after those two laps, my face covered in mud, so Brady and I headed down the mountain and up and down back to our condo to change (brady had shorts, a shirt, hat, and shoes at this point…I was chilly in shoes, socks, a long underwear layers on bottom, with shorts and leg warmers over it, 2 shirts and a thermal jacket on top)
We changed and headed back to watch the guys qualify for mountain-cross (4 people riding down a course at a time). Only 32 guys (out of around 60) were able to qualify for the finals, and chad, who didn’t fall a single time practicing, fell twice in his qualifying run and finished 2 places out of the top 32. He was disappointed to say the least, considering a top 10 finish was basically expected. The other guys fell a bit, had some bike problems, and finished a little bit behind Chad.
Steve, Chad, and Jon
We found out they didn’t make the cut, went back to the condo so they could change, and went back to the course to watch the mountain-cross carnage.
That finished up at 3-something and we headed back to the condo, then to the bike shop down the road, the grocery store, and back to the condo for the evening. Steve and I cooked up a batch of pasta with meat sauce, green beans mixed with peas, and some Italian bread for dinner, and we ate up. Little bit of drinking, little bit of poker, and plenty of sleep.
Saturday:
Got up at the crack of 9am. Race started at 11:30. Overall it was fun. Could only use my largest chainring, and there was a couple huge climbs at the end (went from the bottom of a mountain to the top, with just a few twists) so I was doing the hike-a-bike for a good while. On my third lap I flatted about half way through and rode and hiked the bike in.
Walked the downhill course with brady…parts of it were crazy. Just before Brady and I got to the course Steve came walking towards us with his bike in three parts.
Broke the frame in two places. Then Chad and Jon did a run to see themselves for the race tomorrow. Had an awards ceremony/all-you-can-eat buffet at 6:30, came back to the condo for a little while, then to the naked crit at 10pm.
Back side of mountain on Sunday
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Mullet time
No more shaved head. Thought about doing it one more time for this weekend, but I'll already be cold enough.
So the question is? Should I participate in the mullet movement?
Yes, sounds enticing doesn't it?
The best part....i could do it on my own!
So the question is? Should I participate in the mullet movement?
Yes, sounds enticing doesn't it?
The best part....i could do it on my own!
Rec Center
I stepped foot in the rec center for the second time all semester tonight (and the first time was just cleaning out my locker the first day of the semester). After work I decided I needed to get some exercise, so I came home, changed, grabbed Ronnell and we headed to the rec.
For not having shot a ball since sometime around June/July I played pretty well. Ronnell could have used some work :)
I also got a nice cut on the top of my head from some dude that thought his elbow belonged there. Kinda like what happened to my eye brow in high school, only in a different spot by a dude 3/4 the size.
My body will dislike me in the morning. A bunch of different muscles are used to play ball that are used while cycling. Cardio system held up very well....much more than Ronnell could say
Goodnight
For not having shot a ball since sometime around June/July I played pretty well. Ronnell could have used some work :)
I also got a nice cut on the top of my head from some dude that thought his elbow belonged there. Kinda like what happened to my eye brow in high school, only in a different spot by a dude 3/4 the size.
My body will dislike me in the morning. A bunch of different muscles are used to play ball that are used while cycling. Cardio system held up very well....much more than Ronnell could say
Goodnight
Monday, October 24, 2005
Fast fact...maybe
During our ride back onto campus last Friday Brady said William Jewell, the namesake of William Jewell College in Libery, is buried in the small graveyard right beside Providence road. There are some famous names in there, so I'll have to investigate sometime where he really is in there or not.
Don't ask me why i remembered that right now....
Don't ask me why i remembered that right now....
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Postsecret and not enough money
Click on the title to check out, and preorder the new postsecret book.
I'm definately not going to have enough money to pay rent this month. Which means I won't next month either, and the next. What to do? Hopefully I can sell my mountainbike quickly after Nationals, and get as much as I hope to for it...that'll take care of the problem for a while. Looks like working more next semester is the only other answer I'll have.
I'm definately not going to have enough money to pay rent this month. Which means I won't next month either, and the next. What to do? Hopefully I can sell my mountainbike quickly after Nationals, and get as much as I hope to for it...that'll take care of the problem for a while. Looks like working more next semester is the only other answer I'll have.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
real good
Had a real good conversation with dad a minute ago.
Why do I feel the need to post it up here? Because I don't feel like we've done much talking before. I'm not blaming this on him, nor am I putting all the blame on myself. (The answer to that is one of those questions like I mention below) So when you get around to reading this...thanks dad, it was great talking with you.
It also raises a bunch of questions in my mind. Questions I'd like an answer to, but some of them are kind tricky and the responses may be the kind that a quick answer won't really get it done. Maybe it's more of a question to get the other person to think about it themselves.
What to do...
Why do I feel the need to post it up here? Because I don't feel like we've done much talking before. I'm not blaming this on him, nor am I putting all the blame on myself. (The answer to that is one of those questions like I mention below) So when you get around to reading this...thanks dad, it was great talking with you.
It also raises a bunch of questions in my mind. Questions I'd like an answer to, but some of them are kind tricky and the responses may be the kind that a quick answer won't really get it done. Maybe it's more of a question to get the other person to think about it themselves.
What to do...
Just saw this...had to post it
Mountainbiking...about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on
Created a discussion board for the cycling team. I'm really proud of it, even though it pretty much installed itself. I just had to make changes (stayed up 'till 8am yesterday morning doing it) and get it set up.
You can check it out, but can't see a lot unless you register
(off-limits are: General Discussion, Phone List...hmm..guess that's it. So most is on-limits. Just can't post unless you register.)
http://students.missouri.edu/~murace/forum/
Created a discussion board for the cycling team. I'm really proud of it, even though it pretty much installed itself. I just had to make changes (stayed up 'till 8am yesterday morning doing it) and get it set up.
You can check it out, but can't see a lot unless you register
(off-limits are: General Discussion, Phone List...hmm..guess that's it. So most is on-limits. Just can't post unless you register.)
http://students.missouri.edu/~murace/forum/
No creative title for this one
This week went by quick. Class, work and a little bit of riding kept me busy.
Went on a nice 3 hour ride yesterday with a guy from Minnesota that might come to school here next year. Apparantly it's flat in the Minnesota, so the hills around Columbia put a beating down on him.
Went and saw Waiting last night. Ryan Reynolds is in it, it's about a restaurant. It was hilarious! Quotes will be coming out of my mouth from this movie for a while.
National Championships are coming up. I'm starting to get really excited....how many people can say there were in the National Championships of anything? That's right, not that many.
Went on a nice 3 hour ride yesterday with a guy from Minnesota that might come to school here next year. Apparantly it's flat in the Minnesota, so the hills around Columbia put a beating down on him.
Went and saw Waiting last night. Ryan Reynolds is in it, it's about a restaurant. It was hilarious! Quotes will be coming out of my mouth from this movie for a while.
National Championships are coming up. I'm starting to get really excited....how many people can say there were in the National Championships of anything? That's right, not that many.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
MTB National Championships
We'll be leaving in just over a week. Seems like thats way too quick.
There are 4 of us racing. Looks like I'm the only one suffering through the endurance races. The rest of the guys have a good shot at placing well in the gravity events. I honestly believe Chad has what it takes to be on the podium Saturday or Sunday in both gravity events.
I don't really feel like being on the bike right now either. Lately they've both seemed too small. (This doesn't mean I won't be on them...just that I won't enjoy being on them as I usually do)
I'm pretty sure I'm going to sell my mountainbike in the next month and try to find an equal that is a little bit bigger.
Will be leaving town Wednesday the 26th and getting back Sunday the 30th I believe. Then the very next week I'll be out of town part of Thursday and Friday for the MSTA State Convention in St. Louis.
Good stuff
There are 4 of us racing. Looks like I'm the only one suffering through the endurance races. The rest of the guys have a good shot at placing well in the gravity events. I honestly believe Chad has what it takes to be on the podium Saturday or Sunday in both gravity events.
I don't really feel like being on the bike right now either. Lately they've both seemed too small. (This doesn't mean I won't be on them...just that I won't enjoy being on them as I usually do)
I'm pretty sure I'm going to sell my mountainbike in the next month and try to find an equal that is a little bit bigger.
Will be leaving town Wednesday the 26th and getting back Sunday the 30th I believe. Then the very next week I'll be out of town part of Thursday and Friday for the MSTA State Convention in St. Louis.
Good stuff
Casino
5 of us from the cycling team went to the casino (in Booneville) last night. Left here about 11pm and got back into town at 3am.
It was sweet. The nickel slots were good to me, then the quarter slots slapped me in the face.
And the Long Island's were tasty
It was sweet. The nickel slots were good to me, then the quarter slots slapped me in the face.
And the Long Island's were tasty
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Michigan Tech weekend (last weekend)
So the long awaited post is here. Brace yourself...
We were extremely lucky to have Kyle's dad and Steve's parents willing to drive their RV's to the North for us. They got into Columbia (both drove from home, Liberty, MO)at about 9pm Thursday. We were also very lucky that the insurance policy Kyle's dad has with his RV covers any trailer that is attached, therefore we were able to use Walt's old Long John Silvers Cycling team bike trailer.
We got everything loaded up and headed out of Columbia sometime around 9:30pm. I believe we stopped somewhere in Illinois around midnight or 1am for the night. In between 9:30 and 1am the 21 year old RV (youngins were in the larger RV) commenced to drink (not just alcohol, but...yeah...mostly alcohol), play cards, watch a DVD, and study a bit.
We got up around 7am, having a breakfast (muffins, pastries, etc provided by Steve's parents) in the RV's. Got on the road again shortly after.
Drove a long long time, playing more card games, sleeping, watching movies, playing XBOX, studying, and so on until we got to our RV campground in Michigan around 8 or 9pm. Jim used his goverment cheese (read: Food stamps) to buy lots of snacks for the trip. So lunch during the trip was pb&j, ham sandwhiches, and other various foods.
After we got the RV's parked in their sports a few of us took the Suburban to WalMart and got a couple things. Then we attempted to find the race sites for the next day. This took a while, and when we finally got back to the camp site at 11-something pm Steve's mom had a huge thing of pasta ready for us. (In the end, turns out both race sites were not more than 5 minutes away from our campsite)
We ate, watched some tv in the big rv and people started heading to bed shortly after midnight.
( NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO TAKE A BREAK. )
Got up at 6am Saturday. Loaded up the bikes, Kyle's RV, the suburban, and headed to the ski slopes. Dual slalom qualifying started at something like 9, so we had plenty of time to take practice runs. We all qualified and soon after the ski lift started operating and we took it up to practice the downhill course.
(What is dual slalom: two people race down a course with jumps, berms, and the first one to the finish line wins.
What is qualifying: everyone goes down one time by theirself to get a place in the bracket. Later in the day the bracket is worked out and the races happen)
Ski lift was sweet. Never been on one that big before, it was kind of a bummer to look down part way up the hill and see a huge wreath and cross on a tree. I was also nursing a large gash in my right shin and a swollen left shin courtesy of the dual slalom course. (I am bad at landing jumps. Even small ones. If you look in Parker's pictures the first set in the "crashes" page is mine. My pedals madly abused both my shins.) I immediately saw the gash in my right shin, and had the medics put a wrap on it. About 15 minutes later I was waiting for them to let us jump on the ski lift when I noticed my left shin was a lot wider than my right shin, and my right shin had a wrap on it. I pulled up my leg warmer and realized that my shin had grown huge sometime in the past few minutes. Went and found another medic and we found some ice and wrapped it on there.
My ice and I then went up the ski lift and did one run of the downhill course. It was sweet, would have been even sweeter if I was using a downhill bike on it.
Put my bike back in the trailer and hopped back in the RV to lay down and ice my shin. The other guys finished up in the next hour or so and we headed across town to the XC (cross-country) race site.
Our C riders took off, followed 10 minutes later by our B riders. I kept the ice on my shin for a while until the other A riders started getting ready. We went out and rode a little bit of the course, and got ready to race.
The race was long and bumpy. I didn't cramp up like I had been lately, which was good. But I also didn't place very well. Chad did very well, and John and I finished together a bit later (which was very good for him, his first A race of the year. Had done B races all year). Lou flatted on the last lap and came in not long after John and I. Steve came in not long after Lou.
We headed back to the campsite and we grabbed our bags and the suburban headed over to Michigan Tech's rec center for a shower. They had old-school-everyone-showers-together showers, so we all got clean together. (campground turned out not to have working showers, so Foosh talked to the Michigan Tech peeps and got us the use of their showers. Actually we were in their XC skiing locker room. There was a Michigan Tech ice hockey game going on in the same building.
After the showers we headed back to the RV's and Steve's dad was working on grilling burgers for us. Had burgers, pasta from the night before, and beans, and watched My Name is Earl.
Headed to bed around midnight again I think.
Got up around 6am, and got the trailers ready. We were taking both to the ski resort so we could leave straight from their after the races were over.
Got the bikes out, and we headed up the ski lift for the start of the downhill race. I was the third racer to go, the first Mizzou. It was a huge rush, but you only get one run at it, which kind of sucks. My legs were shaking after my run for about 10 minutes because I still had the adrenaline in me.
All the downhill runs finished and they opened up the Dual Slalom course for a little bit of practice before the race.
Eventually the A's races started. Then the B's went, which consisted of 5 Mizzou riders, and 1 Michigan Tech rider. I was the one that got to race the Michigan Tech rider and I got spanked. I blame it on no jumping ability and a lack of a jumping bike :)
Lou won the B's race, Chad won the A's in high-flying fashion (he also won the Downhill even earlier in the day).
Shortly after the DS races the Short track started. C's went, then B's, then A's. Course sucked. Lots of grass climbing, then not much downhill (yeah, what goes up must come down. But if some of it is going sideways then it doesn't seem like much). A's race was brutal. Chad flatted in the first few laps (he probably reached back and cut his own wheel to relieve the pain), John and I pulled ourselves a few laps later. Steve did the same a few laps after us, and then Lou eventually did.
We got our stuff loaded up, and waited for the conference director to tally the results and hand out trophys. Due to our great showing at this race we moved into the 1st place spot among Division I teams in our conference. So we got a nice trophy and a team invitation to Nationals. Chad and John also got awards for finishing 1st and 3rd in the season in gravity events. (DS and Downhill=gravity)(XC and STXC=endurance)
We got back on the rode from the ski resort at 4pm. Many miles, lots of snacks, a hamburger and chicken sandwhich from a convenience store, and lots of water later we got back into Columbia shortly after 7am. Actually Steve's RV was about an hour and a half later than ours because they like to travel a little slower in their beast of an RV.
That's it.
Pictures are here. Not organized at all. I may organize them and re-upload later sometime. Enjoy!
We were extremely lucky to have Kyle's dad and Steve's parents willing to drive their RV's to the North for us. They got into Columbia (both drove from home, Liberty, MO)at about 9pm Thursday. We were also very lucky that the insurance policy Kyle's dad has with his RV covers any trailer that is attached, therefore we were able to use Walt's old Long John Silvers Cycling team bike trailer.
We got everything loaded up and headed out of Columbia sometime around 9:30pm. I believe we stopped somewhere in Illinois around midnight or 1am for the night. In between 9:30 and 1am the 21 year old RV (youngins were in the larger RV) commenced to drink (not just alcohol, but...yeah...mostly alcohol), play cards, watch a DVD, and study a bit.
We got up around 7am, having a breakfast (muffins, pastries, etc provided by Steve's parents) in the RV's. Got on the road again shortly after.
Drove a long long time, playing more card games, sleeping, watching movies, playing XBOX, studying, and so on until we got to our RV campground in Michigan around 8 or 9pm. Jim used his goverment cheese (read: Food stamps) to buy lots of snacks for the trip. So lunch during the trip was pb&j, ham sandwhiches, and other various foods.
After we got the RV's parked in their sports a few of us took the Suburban to WalMart and got a couple things. Then we attempted to find the race sites for the next day. This took a while, and when we finally got back to the camp site at 11-something pm Steve's mom had a huge thing of pasta ready for us. (In the end, turns out both race sites were not more than 5 minutes away from our campsite)
We ate, watched some tv in the big rv and people started heading to bed shortly after midnight.
( NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO TAKE A BREAK. )
Got up at 6am Saturday. Loaded up the bikes, Kyle's RV, the suburban, and headed to the ski slopes. Dual slalom qualifying started at something like 9, so we had plenty of time to take practice runs. We all qualified and soon after the ski lift started operating and we took it up to practice the downhill course.
(What is dual slalom: two people race down a course with jumps, berms, and the first one to the finish line wins.
What is qualifying: everyone goes down one time by theirself to get a place in the bracket. Later in the day the bracket is worked out and the races happen)
Ski lift was sweet. Never been on one that big before, it was kind of a bummer to look down part way up the hill and see a huge wreath and cross on a tree. I was also nursing a large gash in my right shin and a swollen left shin courtesy of the dual slalom course. (I am bad at landing jumps. Even small ones. If you look in Parker's pictures the first set in the "crashes" page is mine. My pedals madly abused both my shins.) I immediately saw the gash in my right shin, and had the medics put a wrap on it. About 15 minutes later I was waiting for them to let us jump on the ski lift when I noticed my left shin was a lot wider than my right shin, and my right shin had a wrap on it. I pulled up my leg warmer and realized that my shin had grown huge sometime in the past few minutes. Went and found another medic and we found some ice and wrapped it on there.
My ice and I then went up the ski lift and did one run of the downhill course. It was sweet, would have been even sweeter if I was using a downhill bike on it.
Put my bike back in the trailer and hopped back in the RV to lay down and ice my shin. The other guys finished up in the next hour or so and we headed across town to the XC (cross-country) race site.
Our C riders took off, followed 10 minutes later by our B riders. I kept the ice on my shin for a while until the other A riders started getting ready. We went out and rode a little bit of the course, and got ready to race.
The race was long and bumpy. I didn't cramp up like I had been lately, which was good. But I also didn't place very well. Chad did very well, and John and I finished together a bit later (which was very good for him, his first A race of the year. Had done B races all year). Lou flatted on the last lap and came in not long after John and I. Steve came in not long after Lou.
We headed back to the campsite and we grabbed our bags and the suburban headed over to Michigan Tech's rec center for a shower. They had old-school-everyone-showers-together showers, so we all got clean together. (campground turned out not to have working showers, so Foosh talked to the Michigan Tech peeps and got us the use of their showers. Actually we were in their XC skiing locker room. There was a Michigan Tech ice hockey game going on in the same building.
After the showers we headed back to the RV's and Steve's dad was working on grilling burgers for us. Had burgers, pasta from the night before, and beans, and watched My Name is Earl.
Headed to bed around midnight again I think.
Got up around 6am, and got the trailers ready. We were taking both to the ski resort so we could leave straight from their after the races were over.
Got the bikes out, and we headed up the ski lift for the start of the downhill race. I was the third racer to go, the first Mizzou. It was a huge rush, but you only get one run at it, which kind of sucks. My legs were shaking after my run for about 10 minutes because I still had the adrenaline in me.
All the downhill runs finished and they opened up the Dual Slalom course for a little bit of practice before the race.
Eventually the A's races started. Then the B's went, which consisted of 5 Mizzou riders, and 1 Michigan Tech rider. I was the one that got to race the Michigan Tech rider and I got spanked. I blame it on no jumping ability and a lack of a jumping bike :)
Lou won the B's race, Chad won the A's in high-flying fashion (he also won the Downhill even earlier in the day).
Shortly after the DS races the Short track started. C's went, then B's, then A's. Course sucked. Lots of grass climbing, then not much downhill (yeah, what goes up must come down. But if some of it is going sideways then it doesn't seem like much). A's race was brutal. Chad flatted in the first few laps (he probably reached back and cut his own wheel to relieve the pain), John and I pulled ourselves a few laps later. Steve did the same a few laps after us, and then Lou eventually did.
We got our stuff loaded up, and waited for the conference director to tally the results and hand out trophys. Due to our great showing at this race we moved into the 1st place spot among Division I teams in our conference. So we got a nice trophy and a team invitation to Nationals. Chad and John also got awards for finishing 1st and 3rd in the season in gravity events. (DS and Downhill=gravity)(XC and STXC=endurance)
We got back on the rode from the ski resort at 4pm. Many miles, lots of snacks, a hamburger and chicken sandwhich from a convenience store, and lots of water later we got back into Columbia shortly after 7am. Actually Steve's RV was about an hour and a half later than ours because they like to travel a little slower in their beast of an RV.
That's it.
Pictures are here. Not organized at all. I may organize them and re-upload later sometime. Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Got some money? Give it to me. Please....?
The Mizzou Cycling team took 1st place among Division 1 schools in the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference. That means we're going to Nationals in Pennsylvania.
But it's gonna cost a buttload per person. We're talking upwards of $250 each.
So if you feel like giving me any money to race against the best in the country let me know and I'll be glad to accept your charity. :)
A bigger post will come this weekend about how last weekend went and so on....
But it's gonna cost a buttload per person. We're talking upwards of $250 each.
So if you feel like giving me any money to race against the best in the country let me know and I'll be glad to accept your charity. :)
A bigger post will come this weekend about how last weekend went and so on....
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Monday, October 10, 2005
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Monday, October 03, 2005
Good weekend
This past weekend was applebutter day at Grandma's. It was great, and I'll have a bunch of pictures to put up in the next couple days, as soon as I find time.
Classes are busy. One group presentation coming up this week, another one next week. Also have a research paper due next week. I want to write it over the school funding formula but I don't know that I'll have the time to research it enough to write a decent paper...so that's got to be figured out in the next 7 hours here at work.
Went on a 2 1/2 hour ride yesterday. Was a little sore 'cause I haven't ridden in a few days. We'll see how I feel after the ride tomorrow.
The cycling team has a big 13 hour drive this weekend to the U.P. of Michigan. It's gonna be a really long weekend if my legs don't get back into the groove of cycling.
Then at the end of this month is Nationals in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. We aren't guaranteed to go yet, but its what we've been working for, and all expect to happen.
Classes are busy. One group presentation coming up this week, another one next week. Also have a research paper due next week. I want to write it over the school funding formula but I don't know that I'll have the time to research it enough to write a decent paper...so that's got to be figured out in the next 7 hours here at work.
Went on a 2 1/2 hour ride yesterday. Was a little sore 'cause I haven't ridden in a few days. We'll see how I feel after the ride tomorrow.
The cycling team has a big 13 hour drive this weekend to the U.P. of Michigan. It's gonna be a really long weekend if my legs don't get back into the groove of cycling.
Then at the end of this month is Nationals in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. We aren't guaranteed to go yet, but its what we've been working for, and all expect to happen.
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