Ada Criterium 2007

Happy Birthday Dad!

Tonight, Dad celebrates his 45th birthday. Happy birthday!

New Years Resolutions (Goals for the 2008 racing season)

Considered that most of you are currently blogging about how you'd like to lose weight, be a better person, and all that jazz, but a new year is in front of us. And I know what most of you are really thinking about: Fisk Knob TT, which starts in mid-March. Fisk Knob marks the start of the 2008 Michigan racing.
I have some hefty goals for 2008: first, I'd like to win the C race at the Spring Training Series (STS). At the Willow TT, I want to beat Taylor Birmann's time of 34:34 that he put up when his racing age was fourteen. Beating his time would be huge and definitively would build confidence. I want to survive rollout at the Tour of Kensington Valley (which will only be a road race this year) and drop everyone on the epic Snot Hill. I'd like to race Cat 4 at the Tour of Frankenmuth road race. Allen Park will be my first peak. In the junior race, I might help out my younger teammates, keeping my legs for the Cat 4 race, where I want to attack. I'll go easy at the Dexter Criterium, preparing to storm the state time trial championship on the next day. On the 21st of July, I look to finally compete for the win in the brutal Maillot Jaune road race.
I had to make the Ada Criterium a "B" race in order to peak for the second week of August. On the week is Nationals, and if I don't go to Nationals I can't race the Hines Park TT. I'll just try to not get dropped by the 15-18 juniors at Rockford. And of course we'll make a trip up to Ontario to take on the Canadians at the Tour de Ciocaro, and hopefully there will be much orange on the podium. By then I'll be in my third peak for Debaets/Devos, and the Priority Health Grand Cycling Classic, which will be an NRC(!) race this year.
I know that my readers will make me race 'cross, so maybe I will.
2007 is almost over, people, let's be ready for 2008!

A tribute to Teddy

New Blog

http://atentwowheels.blogspot.com/
By Chris Aten, a rising Cat 4 rider currently on South Lyon Cycle.

I rode yesterday and I felt really strong. My pedal stroke felt really smooth, and that was because of my new pedals.
And check out this late christmas present. Mom forgot to give it to me for christmas.

Beating the Drums

Video

I made a video tribute to my old bike Teddy, but I can't post the video on you-tube because the video was made with Windows Movie Maker. Apparently you-tube won't let you post Windows Movie Maker projects. So if you want to watch the video, make a comment on the post saying that you do, or e-mail me. And when everyone has responded, I'll send an e-mail with the video attached. So if you don't have a blogger/google account, e-mail me at boy underscore on underscore bike at yahoo dot com.

Frustration

You-Tube won't let me post a Windows Movie Maker project. What's up with that?

Happy Birthdays!

I wish the following riders happy birthdays: To Alexey Vermeulen, a happy thirteenth. To Rem Vermeulen, a happy eleventh. To Taylor Birmann, a happy fifteenth.

Check out these abs(kidding)

Look at what Grandma and Grandpa Scicluna got me! I'm sure Dad was at work there!
Of course these are not the only things Grandma and Grandpa Scicluna gave me, but the Voler base layer and Kool Kover cleat covers really surprised me!
And how about those lions! They've got seven wins now, and I'm content with that.

The bowls have begun

It's all leading up to Michigan's meeting with the Gators of Florida. The wolverines are going to get spanked like a bad bad boy!

More Sweet Victory

It was sweet! We came out flying right from the gun. #13 started off on the bench and we took advantage of his absence. Before long an opponent defender found herself with the ball, and a charging James Anderson headed right toward her. I blocked her pass, made a breakaway and scored.
We contained #13 and he only got two or three goals. The end score was 5-4...Hurricanes! As I looked at the scoreboard, I thought one thought: sweet victory!

Rematch

In an hour I'll be back on the artificial turf, playing the girls'+three boys' team. I'm really looking forward to it. If #13 doesn't play well (or is contained), we'll win, easily. If he plays well and isn't contained, we probably won't win. We'll try to contain him. It probably means that I'll be on defense. I'm emotionally prepared to humiliate myself. Humiliating yourself can be fun, no wait, it can't!
Stay tuned for results.

Read all about last night's extroverted exploits at http://yummyyummypizza.livejournal.com/.

Picking up the pace

I rode a very sweaty ride on the trainer last night. The computrainer wasn't hooked up, so I was staring at a blank monitor and listening to my mp3 player. I did two fifteen minute intervals, just below lactic threshold, because I'm trying to expand my aerobic capacity. Steve Macgregor supports that idea, so my dad told me to do it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...not

I don't want to seem like a Scrooge but winter doesn't excite me at all. It's not a cyclocross thing where I could potentially like winter. I don't like winter. I don't say hate much because it's a very strong word, but I strongly dislike winter. It's far too cold. There's snow everywhere. All you can do outside is sledding and snowball fights. I miss summer a lot. If only summer lasted longer than winter.
So my sisters guilted me into going outside with them. I felt obligated because I felt bad about sitting at the computer while my siblings played.
I have to finish this post now, because I need to make a trip to the bathroom. I haven't journeyed there since probably this morning.
I'm hungry.

A poem, for Doug

At Nationals we did good and bad
But I know two riders who should of had
A place on the podium, possibly first
But after their mishaps they probably cursed

Drew dropped his chain and rolled his tire
While Tony lost his balance and crashed in the mire
They were both upset
But the situation was not dire

With 'Cross Nationals over
We've finally found out
That Juniors' Nationals will be in California
And that made me shout

Because I wasn't happy

My new goofy, pizza blog

I've got a new blog. I didn't mean to make it but I did.
http://yummyyummypizza.livejournal.com/

2008 USA Cycling National Championships

2008 USA Cycling National Championships
July 4: Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships
Breckenridge, Colorado

July 17-20: Mountain Bike National Championships
Mount Snow Resort
West Dover, Vermont

August 2-3: 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships
9-Mile County Forest
Wausau, Wisconsin

August 7-11: Elite, U23 and Junior Road National Championships
Orange County, California

August 14-17: Junior Track National Championships ADT Event Center
Carson, California

August 16-17: Professional and Elite Criterium National Championships
Downers Grove, Illinois

August 30-31: USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships
Greenville, South Carolina

September 2-7: USA Cycling Master Track National Championships
Hellyer Park Velodrome
San Jose, California

September 11-13: USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships
7-Eleven Velodrome
Colorado Springs, Colorado

October 1-5: USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships
ADT Event Center
Carson, California

October 24-26: USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships
Lees-McRae College
Banner Elk, North Carolina

December 11-14: USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships
Wyandotte County Park
Kansas City, Kansas

TBA:
USA Cycling BMX National Championships
USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships
USA Cycling Master Road National Championships

More nothingness

I can't think of anything to blog of, but I felt obligated to make a post. I'm posting about nothing. Nothing in particular. But that makes nothing in particular something in particular.
I think that's ironic.

Sweet Victory

I beat the computrainer at 115 watts. I was watching Relient K music videos at the same time. My dad tried another sweatcast and still didn't get viewers. Drew placed twelfth at nationals. Tony got eighteenth!

We lost

But in the battle of psychology, we won. Although we lost by four goals, the Xtreme found out that the Hurricanes have much improved. We play them again on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it.

Defining Moment

Tonight, my team will be defined. We will find out if we can fight through adversity and win against the strongest team in the league: the Saline Xtreme. They are the Saline boy's "A" team.
We're the "B" team. To sum it up, my team is full of players that didn't make the "A" team.
If we lose this game, we'll guaranteed have a losing season. We need a win. We need to drag a colossal performance out of ourselves. We want the victory more then the Xtreme. So let's go out there and take it.

Tour of my house Part 1

For Doug. So you don't have ask any more questions about my house!

Good Ride

I rode the regular trainer for and hour and thirty-five minutes. The San Marco saddle that came with the Look was brutalizing my rear end, so Dad put his old Fizik' Arione on my bike. It worked out and I felt faster.

Are you a hardcore Lord of the Rings Fan?

Test your knowledge.

Allen Park Criterium

Alexey and I lapped Rem and Vince Pugliese, and Rem got into our slipstream, but Vince was dropped. Alexey again took me in a pure sprint.

WE DID NOT LOSE TO A GIRLS' TEAM!!!

We lost to a team composed of three boys with a bunch of girls on the team just to fill the roster.
If it hadn't of been for the other team's #13, we would have massacred them. #13 was speedy, movy, and good enough to evade our whole defense. He never passed the ball. He didn't have to! He's on another team and he must be doing this league for fun (if you can call fun mercilessly beating the living pizza out an innocent indoor soccer league).
Eight of his goals later he was made goalie. When he was on offense, my coach had to put me on defense, because I was the only defender physically able to keep up with #13's speed. I did okay on defense.
Our offense wasn't shut down, we scored seven goals! I got one near the end. Without #13, the "Sweet Stuff" was[were] [a group of]sitting ducks.
Oh well, we lost, and I have no regrets.
Besides not winning.

Dexter Crit Part 2

Alexey takes the sprint. Maria tries to interview us. Unsuccessfully, of course.

Dexter Criterium Video

Here was an interesting race.
It was the first crit that I did when they split the juniors up into 10-12, 13-14, etc. Tony and Taylor animated the 15-16 race, while Alexey and I broke away from Canadian racer Erik Lalonde.
We eventually caught 15-16 racer Myles Davis. In the 10-12 race, Rem Vermeulen strongly held the wheel of a flying Rudy Peterson.

PIZZA!

We attended the SLC end of year party at Mama Mia's. I ate five slices of pizza. The slices were very skinny though.
Dad has a very good Cat 3 team. They nearly tripled their amount, and they have very good depth. He's got Zack, Dmo, Chris (by midseason), Scott, Eric, Tony, Craig Rice, John Burrows, Dominic Zaccone, Joe Lekovish and himself, of course.
Taylor Birmann has been recruited by Priority Health, leaving Tony as SLC's only junior.

And now for the biggie: I'm keeping the Look 555...for free! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you James (Knight)!

I'm nervous. Tomorrow the Hurricanes will play a girls' team. In a real game, mind you. If my team has any dignity left, it had better win this game.

The Bonk Part 3

Ecstasy!
And then stomach cramps.

The Bonk Part 2

The Bonk

Perhaps you have heard of this. Perhaps you haven't.
I certainly have.
It was a race, titled "The BTR Criterium". The year was 2006, and I was a tiny little eleven-year old (racing age twelve).

Rudy Peterson and I were very evenly matched, making our races very fun to watch. This race was fun to watch. Not for me. Because Rudy has a sister, who is also pretty fast.
They had a great strategy going into the race: Rudy attacked and Jaclin sat on my wheel.
Rudy had a great race. I didn't.

On that day I learned that the morning of a race is not the time to carbo-load on Red Bull and doughnuts. I found out too late.

It was an epic race.

For Tony and Drew

Good luck at Cyclocross Nationals.
Show all of those other Americans how hard we Michigan/Ohio racers race.
Drop them, attack them, make them suffer! You guys could both win your categories.
Make them fear your names, make them fear you!

(All of this is metaphorical)
Kick them to the curb, make them cry, and win! Teach them the meaning of pain.
And then send me a race report.

So you guys don't think I'm extroverted? Okay, do you think I'm introverted?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how plastic are your branches!

Having a tree sit in our living room and rot doesn't really interest me that much. It interests my sisters though!
So we got a fake Christmas Tree.

Spiker hair gel is a wonderful invention.

A very very decent day

Monday was a decent day. As most of you know, it is the day of the infamous Connection of Homeschoolers, otherwise known as Homeschool Connection. But it would be a good day of connecting, because my sixth hour girl-infested Grammar and Composition Boot Camp was canceled. It's not that I don't like the class, it's just not fun because...you know.
It was also the last connecting for the semester. My debate class went very well. I'm fairly extroverted in that class but still could be more. I had prepared all week for my team debate: Resolved: Sugar is not bad for you. I was for sugar. Everyone continually doubted that my team could pull out a victory, and they were wrong.
Then came my next debate: Organic Pest Control vs. Pesticides. I was for pesticides. And my team won.
This debate class won't be happening next semester, so I'll be taking other classes.

Next on the list was Drama. In this class, you see me get nearly as charismatic as I can get. I was happy, for I asked my teacher (who is the director) if my character, Edmund, could be stabbed in the final battle scene of our play. The answer to my question: "Yes he can."
That made my day!

Lunch came next. I ate pizza, which is usually always normally probable to probably be always normally delicious, usually sometimes always.
After lunch I gathered my four fellow car-mates and we got in my dad's expedition (driven by my dad, of course) and drove to Wide World Sports Arena.
The team I was on was relatively balanced, with only one scary good player. I played goal for the first half and surrendered only one goal, while our scary good player netted a breakaway goal. In the second half I took to offense and was pleased to see that one of my fellow offenders (or forwards) was Barak Howell, another eighth grader at my youth group. From the start of the half to its end, Barak and I carved up the unfortunate defense that stood helplessly in our determined way. I got the game-winning goal, and moments later, Barak got the next.
Our next game wasn't so easy. I played goal again for the first half, and again I surrendered one goal, while our scary good player netted another goal. I switched up to offense. This time, Barak and I had difficulty. The other team's freakishly good player scored on our scary good player, who was now a scary good goaltender. But in the last minute, I found myself with the ball in the offensive end. I made a move and got separation, and then sent the ball into the box, yelling "Barak, that's you!"
It was. We tied the game 3-3 after a terrifying, catastrophical, desensitizing breakaway by the other team's freakishly good player, that fortunately did not result in a goal.
Soccer was over for the semester, and I was going home.

Part II: Flu Shots

In a vague way, I like to suffer. I sort of like to show my disdain for pain, because it's fun. I hope that wasn't the reason for having to get Flu Shots. Maria was hysterical about it but survived. Abby was shocked when the needle was injected into her shoulder, and her face of un-expectancy and betrayed-ness communicated her feelings. I was next.
It seemed like my sisters were hoping that I'd cry. I looked at the wall as the needle went in. I looked at the wall as the needle went out. Everyone laughed.

For my loyal readers

Do you like it?

Confusion

Okay, this is my fault. When I said (or rather blogged) "My mom's tired of us conversing back and forth, so I'm finishing the discussion right now", I meant that my mom was sort of looking over my shoulder as I was comment back and forth with Doug about my extroverted-ness around the opposite gender. She wanted that conversation to end because, I don't know. She's fine with all of our other conversations via my blog, your blog and whatnot. I guess it's just that subject that we had been touching on as of late that has her a bit on edge.
Doug, I need you commenting on my blog. You're definitely one of my top readers. I know that I confused a lot of people, so this is my apology.

Big Update

There's been a lot going on that I haven't blogged about. I had an echo-cardiogram on Tuesday, nothing urgent, they were just checking my heart for the sake of checking my heart. I passed.
I had my picture taken at sears on Thursday (after Home School Central) and it went well.
And now for the important news. On Thursday night, James Knight (or Mr. Knight), dropped off a Look 555 Road Bike, for ME! It's sickly cool. It's black, the same color as Alexey's, and the same frame as his! Only his is a Scott. There's a good chance that we might keep it. It's a little big, but I'll be grown into it by the time that I've grown out of my Blue. I'm excited.