Spring Beak- 03/18/2009

Waking to the sound of the radio blaring out talk radio and my dad saying hey i have to go pee, what about you? I agree, and i get out of the car to see we are at a Tennessee rest stop. We go inside and nice old lady, roughly in her 60's, points to the the door behind her visitors counter, and says "It's over there." My dad and I couldn't help but chuckle that this little old lady was able to distinguish us from the other touristy type people that would like to walk in spend a little time and look at what Tennessee had to offer us. Truthfully we didn't really care, we had already been through it once earlier this week, and new that its not all that special that is besides Gaylord Opryland Hotel, is pretty neat.

Recently i have been sending emails to coach David Grigsby at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia Kentucky about their cycling program. We came to agreement that i needed to come visit and see just how great the campus was. So my dad and i drove up there to check it all out. Turns out that its a 12-13 hour drive! The drive was a long one but a not so fun one. It was al swamp lands the whole way. They had recently got some rain so it was water on both sides of the road the whole drive. When we finally arrived in Columbia it was 11 pm and time to hit the sheets. We woke up the next morning for some breakfast around 7:30 am and then off for a 4:30 hour ride with Danny Esteevez  one of the team members at Lindsey Wilson. It was an easy pace ride, 17-18, so it gave it time to talk about the program and the school in general. Danny sure does know how to sell the school thats for sure. He was saying that it is really supportive about the cycling unlike some other colleges. It was a small school but it was growing which is always good. He was talking about how the school pays for all the race fees, entries, food, lodging, and gas. They actually take a van and a trailer to all the races just like here, so you get the team feeling when traveling to the races. He was telling me that they have lots of really good mountain bike trails, and their very own dual slalom course as well! When he told me that i got really excited!

The next day we meet up with the Head of Admissions, Charles Mooney to discuss the campus and all that fun stuff. We took the tour of the campus, it sits on about 4 acres, and it has about 8 buildings for classes and the dinning hall, but some how we spent an hour and half to two hours just taking the tour. Then we sat down and just talked for a little bit about, and got to talking about track racing and Coach David was saying that the Dean and President of the school were tossing around the idea of building a concrete track in town or even on campus. 

It seems like this school has everything a cyclist needs, good food, nice riding, and nothing to do. That way you stay busy training and doing some school work. I really liked the visit and am really excited about Lindsey Wilson and what the future has in store for me there... maybe.

Belgiums Rade the House! 03/10/2008

So Christian has official moved in, and taken over the house. Haha not really but it was nice today to have some one to come home and ride with. Filling up my bottles with water about to go ride, and looking over and seeing Christian in his kit and ready to go as well, just checking his tire pressure, i think to myself wow, this is what a team is about. Every body staying together eating together, showering in the same bath, and doing every thing together. It really brings everyone together and i cant wait to see what are relationship is like in a couple of months. I just wish the team had one house to stay in. All of us just in one big house all coexisting together. It would be great.

Another day on the bike- 03/08/2009

Racing was not good at all this weekend, TT was a bad idea on a fix gear track bike with a 49x16, flatted in the crit when i finally felt good for a change, and once again made it 30 miles in the road race and popped. 

Finally a Crash!- 03/04/2009

Cleaning your wounds is always a fun job. Trying to take a shower while the water pierces your wounds like the enemies invading a front line. You try and hold it in but the steam is just so unbearable. Your bath tub filling with red. If you haven't guessed it already i went down tonight at the wednesday night ride out at Exxon. A rider was in front of me and bumped Lee which sent him in to a downward spiral right in front of me. I had no other option but to run right over his rear wheel. I hope i didn't damage it. So down i go, well really up before down but it all ended up in the same place, me curled up in a ball clinching to the ground hoping no one would hit coming around the corner. Oh yea that just added to the madness the crash took place around a 90 degree turn, with probable around 50-60 riders go through the turn and i went down in the top 15. Now i no your saying to your self that, thats impossible cause i cant ride in the top 15, haha but i was. You better look out this weekend, im ready. But anyways back to the crash, so the turn is one lane which goes into two, and we were doing i'd say 25-27 mph so as i laid on the ground all i could think about was how bad its going to hurt when i get hit, not if i get hit but when i get hit. Luckily that never happened and i survived with just a couple of scrapes, no big deal.  This is the tire burn i got from Jenn's wheel. Yes tire burn, a guy in front of me crossed over my wheel and she drove straight in to the back of my leg, no biggie though it wasn't her fault she didn't have anywhere else to go, i kinda came right into here.

The other picture is a side shot of my leg, right below my knee is a knot about the size of a 50 cent coin, right on the front of my leg, its pretty crazy. Wish me luck recovering i only have 2 days. Be ready 3's im coming!

Wax it Off- 03/01/2009

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEE- i wake to the awful sound of my alarm clock, throbing in my ears over and over again. Its 7:15 and i hear the ruckus of raccoons in the garage. Still half asleep i was for sure i had a hole pack of raccoons in our garage. I gain my composure and realize that my dad is awake rusling around in the garage for a tent to take up to Gary before he leaves for Bar-H Bash Mountain Bike Race. Where Matthew Davis of Mad Duck Cyclery got an astonishing 4th place in the CAT 1 race. Great job Matt. As i lay in bed waking up my dad walks in all buddled up in a coat and a ski mask, saying "come on boy get up. Its cold outside." So i get up, throw all my riding clothes into my metro volkswagen stewardist suitcase, grab my bike, grab some bottles, and roll it all out to the card. My dad and I rode together to save gas. See we care about the environment. We drop off the tent at Gary's and head to get something to eat at some mexican food restruant in Grapevine. It was very good, but i dont like i got my needed vitamins, protiens, and carbs for the ride, but hey it was good. When we started the ride only about 8-10 of us were there, so it made for a very cold ride. When we left the shop it was about 30-35 and windy. We made it into Flower Mound and i decided it was a little to cold for me, and headed home. I told Stuart that i was heading home so no one would be looking for me, but thank you Brad for worrying about where i was. When i got home i was so glad to be inside, and took a shower immediatly. After i got all cleaned up it was off to IHOP. The new one has openned in Highland Village and it is great. Its less than 3 miles from my house and its not really that busy all the time. After all that it was time to relax and enjoy the day. Later in the day my older sister came to me with an idea of waxing my butt and my chest, which if you ask Phil, Will, Matt, Evan, and Gonzo was pretty hairy. I originally said "Oh hell yes" but when the time came, i was curled up in the corner like a dog that just pooped on the rug and knew he was in trouble. I wasn't too sure about this is hole thing. My sister started to lay down the first layer of wax. It was very warm and as she spread it, it started to pull my hair out. she laid down the first wax paper, and i felt the tension building up inside me. OFF, it came with quick but strong sting of pain rain from my butt to the rest of my body! Over and over this pain came and went like the seconds on a clock. Over time i just got so used to it, i could have set there all day. When it was all said and done, my butt was as smooth as a babys bottom. Now Phil, Will, Evan, Matt, and Gonzo you never have to set eyes on that disgusting forest of a butt i had.