Hermann Cross Under the Lights

So last night, I drove out to hermann with adrienne and ian for the hermann cross under the lights race. it was the first cross race of the season, and i was signed up for the advanced race, the faster of the two races offered. The course was awesome, with a lot of twisty grassy sections and a barrier section up top, before taking about a quarter mile on pavement down the the fields that were grassy until they hit a sand pit, then turned to straight mud after the pit. From there, there was an out and back on pavement, and pavement up to the infamous stairs. The staircase is about 60 or so stairs long, but this year they cut off the bottom set or two, because we came into it kinda sideways, and already up a few stairs if that makes sense. I got a call up for 14th spot, or second row. It was pretty cool to have my name called, and ride up to your spot, so pro haha. Anyways, the race started FAST. The first turn and the s turns that followed were nuts. Everything on the first lap was chaotic. The muddy section got muddier, and harder to ride each lap. I got taken by the mud into a goal post and ate it on like lap 3. I was feeling pretty crappy about 6 laps in, and thought i was gonna puke, which i never do. I ended up lasting 8 laps, i think, before josh lapped me. I was cruising up the stairs, i guess walking up to the 4th floor everyday like 5 times helps. This race was awesome though. The course was excellent, the turnout was amazing and the fans on the stairs and around the course were pretty good too. The whole venue and atmosphere made for the best cross race i've ever done. It had a really organized and well put on grassroots feel to it. i'll post some pics when i find them.

today

So im gonna try and update this thing with daily happnin's. Went and watched some of the ToM, the finish in St. Charles and the STL stage. I met Boy Van Poppel who was super rad. I made his day showing him a pic of him winning cross worlds in 2006, and letting know that there is someone in missouri who knew who he was before he won a stage. That boy has a bright future, he is only 20. We also got to meet Mark Cavendish right before he went pee in a cup, snapped a pic with him and got his John Hancock. In STL we also got to meet some rad folk. The night before, keaton rory and I went down to BS and met the Whole liquigas team, who were supercool and supereuro. After the finish in STL, we got a pic and autograph from LARS BOOM, the current world cyclocross champ. He was here acting as a soigneur for the rabobank squad. He was pretty nice, and I actually saw one of his rainbow jerseys in a bag that he was carrying around, OMG haha. We also snapped a pic with DZ, who is as witty in person as he is on Youtube. We also got another dirty look from big George, following up last year when McT asked him if he had a nice pee, this year AA yelled at him to put a helmet on after the stage, which he responded to with a mean STANK EYE!Today after class i decided to go do a little dismount remount practice so i dont embarass myself out in hermann. I did a quick WG crit lap and ate a clif bar before heading a block over to blackburn park. I got into the park and stumbled upon a cross country running course marked with spray paint. I followed it for a bit, and found that it was an excellent 3+ Kilometer lap. It has a few long slow climbs, a few steep ones, and a lot of technical sections. There are a few bad water ruts, and some harsh path crossings, but it was an awesome trail to ride, and even a tad muddy in two sections. I did 5 laps i think, which with some water breaks took about an hour. It was cool to see in the muddy sections, where I had ridden before, seeing as i was the only set of wheels going through there. I was invaded by the WGHS xc squad halfway through, but they didnt start using the course till I was about done. Tonight I went and saw Matthew Shepard's Mom speak about hate crimes, and the tragedy that is her son's death. It was pretty amazing, and she was a great speaker. Here's a link for more info.

http://www.matthewshepard.org/site/PageServer

Fo' No'

So, yea, been a while. Anyways im at college. Third week of classes. Just got the Ok to bring my bike in my room, big thank you to Michael Staenberg for helping me out. I'm having a blast, making new friends, and...learning. Cross is here, practice tonight and Hermann Race next week. Should be sweet. The Tour of Missouri is coming this weekend, looking forward to watching Cavendish take home the last stage. Also hoping to see former junior cyclocross world champ Boy Van Poppel, and have a chat with DZ about his oakleys. Last night I went to the Vampire Weekend concert at the Pageant. Abby offered me a free ticket to go with her and Hillary, and I couldn't turn it down. The opening band, White Williams sucked. I wasnt a huge fan of Vampire Weekend before i went, simply because i wasnt exposed. I am now.
here's a taste.