BUSY LIFE

Heres my schedule and the reason I have no life outside of work or riding.

Monday- Class 8-9
Math Lab 9-10:30
Ride 11-2
Work 4-10
Tuesday-Class 8-9
Math Lab 9-11
Class 11-1215
work- 1-8
Wednesday- Ride 10-1
Work-1-8
Thursday-Class 8-9
Math Lab 9-11
Class 11-1215
Ride 1-330
Friday- Class 8-9
Ride 10-1
Work 2-10
Saturday- Work or racing
Sunday- Racing or 4 hr group ride
Study ass off!!!

That may be why I am never on this blog anymore, but I will do my best to keep you informed. Later, off to work!

BOO for snow

So I just got in from a ride and the current weather is Cloudy and Windy with a 30 degree temperature rating, which feels like 18 with the wind chill. Add in the wind blowing in my face while riding 17 MPH and I will say it felt more like 3 degrees outside (which I lasted 2 and a half hours outside). Other than that not much has been going on. School started yesterday and I am going to love my math class and I will find out about my Education classes later. Other than that I have to work 30 hours this week and take a MI Teaching Certification Basic Skills Test. So things are busy and racing starts soon enough. Off to work, I bid you adieu!!!

What are you???

For the first time in my collegiate career I can proudly say I am a 4.0 student. That means all A's bitches. Now I know I may come off as an ignorant self righteous prick, but when it comes down to business I can get it done. Feel my wrath and feel my pain, as long as you feel me. Haha, maybe the blogging will get back to normal soon, but many things must be done before that can happen. Peace homies!

Ciolek

Gerald Ciolek may be the future of cycling. Lets face it Petacchi is getting up there in years, Zabel has had his time in the sun and McEwen has got to be on the down swing. At 20 this guy is the next super sprinter. It may take a few years. but I suppose he will supplant all those big names. I still have high regards for Jens Voigt, because he is a true MAN and no one can dispute this, but Ciolek is the up and coming star. On my own riding, I must say things are looking good, I did do a nice TT ride on Wednesday and Averaged over 24 MPH for 3 x 20 minute efforts, so for thsi time of the year I am pleased. Otherwise, I got a 4.0 GPA and I am totally psyched for more math. Anyways I may be intoxicated, but I will get up early to get a nice 5 hour ride in. Cheers!

J Dubya

Leelanau

Note the last event on the USA Pro Cycling Tour for 2007!!!

2007 USA Cycling Professional Tour

Feb. 18-25: AMGEN Tour of California – California (2.HC)
Apr. 7: U.S. Cycling Open – Richmond, Va. (1.1)
Apr. 16-22: Tour de Georgia – Georgia (2.HC)
June 3: Commerce Bank Lancaster Classic – Lancaster, Pa. (1.1)
June 7: Commerce Bank Reading Classic – Reading, Pa. (1.1)
June 10: Commerce Bank International Championship – Philadelphia, Pa. (1.HC)
June 17: Austin Men’s Invitational – Austin, Texas (1.1)
June 23: Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium – Rochester, N.Y. (1.2)
June 30-July 7: Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah – Utah (2.2)
Aug. 19: USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championships – Downer’s Grove, Ill.
Sept. 1: The Cliffs USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championships – Greenville, S.C.
Sept. 3: The Cliffs USA Cycling Professional Road Championships – Greenville, S.C.
Sept. 8: Univest Grand Prix – Souderton, Pa. (1.2)
Sept. 11-16: Tour of Missouri – Missouri (2.1)
Sept. 15: Tour de Leelanau – Traverse City, Mich. (1.2)

The Kill

Today, while at work I was looking for something entertaining to read. I shit you not I stumbled upon an article of the Dave Zabriske of music and acting. The lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars, Jared Leto was featured in Blender this month. He has the personality of really not giving a shit about what people think. The guy is pretty fucking awesome, not to mention he plays a good Steve Prefontaine in Prefontaine(1997). His quote is one to live buy, "I kill myself for my craft, literally". Honestly why are there not more people like this in the world, rather than those people who want you to hear all the boring bullshit going on in there lives like I am doing right now. Over and Out!!! Check out 30 Seconds to Mars if you are so inclined.

Eat some Doody!!!

A picture os me Stine and Brad drinking Beer on New Years!!! Don't really remember this night!!

OLD SHIT!!!

This was on the front page of the newspaper the day after my big WIN in HS!!!! Thanks Rod Greenwood for the nice laminated photo!!!
Running for WMU in 2000!!!
Drunken and disorderly!!!
PRE-MAC Meet in 2000!!!
Hot girl at the bar asked to see my tanlines!!!!!

Heres some old pictures of endeavors!!!!!

Time for a break.....

A break from school that is. Ah, it is going to be refreshing, but I still have to work all week. I can not even go home over Thanksgiving due to the fact that my car is in the shop. I have the pleasure of having my transmission replaced. My car has been fuct for the past few months so it is needed badly. Nothing new in Good ole Kalamazoo other than some riding, and lots of that the past fews days, and also a bachelor party this Saturday. One of my old XC and track teammates from WMU is getting married soon and we are going to hit up the town this Saturday. This means many old friends and lots of tomfoolery. Its going to be a nasty night. Ciao!!!! I can't wait until all of my old boys are back in town. T-minus 4 days and counting.

Some more Favorites!!!

Thumbs up before the Fury!!!
Ex CAT 3 Superweek overall champion defeated by ME!!!!!!
Boom, the legs are putting in WORK!!!!!
Leading with 1K to go at WMU Road Race!!!!!!!
Bombing at the Lansing Crit, with Alex looking on!!!!

Wow she is Beautiful!!!

So I met this girl...... and her name is Taryn. And I am not even kidding this girl is absolutely beautiful. It was so bad that I did have to ask our 17 year old teammate to go grease the wheels for me. HMMMM, I am a damn sissy. Once she came over and we started talking I was just like hey can I get your number???? To my surprise she said yes. My roommate and best friend Matt said it is because I exude confidence. He thinks a lot of people mistake me for being cocky, and thats why he thinks women like me. "If you act like your special then some women may believe it, no matter what you look like." Awesome though. Other than that, school, work, yada, yada, got a 24 hour flu bug. But yeah Taryn is sexy, hahahaha. Over and out!!!! Thank Nicky for the comments on my paper, Love ya!!!

renew????

So it was pretty chilly out today, though not cold enough for the winter booties yet.... I did have enough of non rain to get 2 and a half hours in and I felt really good, so I hit up some longer climbs that Kalamazoo has to offer. Other than that I have just been trying to renew my sponsorship with Maxxis, because lets face it there Courchevel tires are amazing. I think I got damn near 40 races and training on one pair of tires this past season. I already receiver confirmation that I will have my Sidi sponsorship again. So thats a good sign.
Tomorrow the big boys that WMU cycling has to offer has a nice 3-4 hour ride to do, which I look forward to with eager anticipation. I also have bowling league tomorrow night and a dreaded paper to write for Tuesday nights class. I chose to write the paper on the importance of recess in Elementary School. I mean lets face it, kids are getting fatter each year. So that is my plan of action. If any of you are reading this come out and support WMU Cycling Wednesday at the flagpoles, we have our annual ride-a-thon to try to raise some extra cash. OK back to work !!! Later Dudes

Some favorites and back at it

Jer Bear Rollin at the WMU circuit race!!!
Mike Rabe Stage race after the bee sting on the hand!
AAVC Spring series race, going solo near the end to catch remnants of the break!
Trying to FLY at Ada!!!
Josh and myself at Purdue getting ready for the ITT!

These are a few of my favorite pictures from the 2006 racing season. As I have gotten back to training I have had the pleasant surprise of great happiness lately. Not to mention the fact that I have A's in all my classes this semester thus far. I also got a 95% on my math exam today, so Giddy up. The weather is really depressing right now.....RAIN. Its calling for snow tomorrow, so I may be on the cross bike or in on the trainer, but I want to ride so will do what is needed. Other than that, I already got my Christmas present and I am typing away on my brand new laptop. Now it is a super computer, but it is much better than what I had. Thanks mom and dad, you guys are awesome. I really can't wait for some home cooking at Thanksgiving. I also have been put on Adderal for my severe ADHD. I knew something was wrong, but this has helped a lot to just focus on what I need to do. The only problem is that I took the medication too late one night and spent 42 hours without sleep.
Anyways, on to another subject, I can't believe Discovery signed Basso. I mean I am elated that he is on a PRO TOUR team, but are they taking a risk of him not riding Le Tour or Giro???? Time will tell. Let me know what you think about the Basso situation if you would like. I also want to thank Doug Gatto for his season long dedication to taking pictures of everyone while they race. I am thinking about getting a digital camera so I can get some action pictures of Doug to return the favor. I also would like to thank Kevin Vichinsky, Andrey Bucharov, and Zolton Cohen for the pictures above as well. We have to give props to those who help us relive our sporting lives through pictures and or video!!! Thanks to all who do this. I AM OUT!!!!

Busy Life

Ah, I feel like a new little boy. I actually slept in today, as I have been doing lately, and went to work for an hour, yes ONE hour, I realized it was too nice out to not ride my bike so I asked a favor of a co-worker and went for a 2 hour crusher. My fitness is still really good, but I did realize it is not as good as it was, so now the work starts. Today was the first day I wanted to ride and it felt great. I would like to thank Nicky, Jeff, Doug, MI scene man, and all of you who have encouraged me to keep plugging along. I actually took some medicine for my ADHD today and it helped tremendously. I sat down and did math for 5 hours straight. I have a quiz tomorrow so I want to get another 100%. I realized my cycling goals have also transfered over to school finally. I hate getting 90%, because that means there is room for improvement. I just can't wait for february and the first race of the year..... Schaboble Road Race. It should be a KILLER!!!! I hope to see you Nicky when you come to town this weekend, we can listen to some G-Unit, haha. Inside joke there. I am off to bed to sleep for 5 hours and go take that quiz!!! Peace and Love!!!

Want some Curry with that???

So I realized why this second degree is putting it to me..... an Indian teacher who can not teach and can not speak english coherently!!! I am not saying anything about foreigners, because I know and like a lot of them, I just wish WMU would put teachers in classes who know HOW to TEACH. This teacher teaches us one way to do equations, then I get my book open later at night and I realize they have a different way of explaining everything. So I am left to teach myself, I do have a 92% in the class as of right now, but I have done it all on my own. Fucking balls.
I have been back on the bike though and it gets a lot of anger out, even when my idiot roommate and his drunken friends are playing video games and drinking while I ride the trainer. If I didn't ride I would be about 3 days away from sticking a goddamn pair of scissors through my skull some days. Other than that, I am just looking to ride as much as possible this winter and still do the school thing. I have a lot of friends who have been telling me to keep my head up, and even one well respected State Champion who invited me to dinner, so thanks to everyone for giving me the support. Hopefullynthese posts will get more eventful very soon, cuz lets face it, my life is BORING right now. Also the Michigan scene blog author, whomever you may be, great job with the blog and thanks for the kind words. My friends are waiting for me, I am just to dumb to see it at times!!!! As Jim Rome would say I AM OUT!!!! Oh yeah Giddy up COLTS, my boys Peyton, Marvin and Reggie Wayne are tearing it up for my fantasy team!!! Gotta love that!

Seen Better Days!!!

So I know my updates have been few and far between, there are reasons for this and I am going to let my readers in on them. I have been really depressed lately and in all honesty I have taken more days off in the past 5 weeks then I have in the past 2 years combined. I just have been really down on how much debt I will be in after my second degree and really can't seem to get that off my mind. I know everything hapens for a reason and yada yada yada, but I can't help feeling lost. I have not had contact with many people lately and at this point I don't really know if I want to ride anymore! Time will tell I guess. I am OUT!!!

School, Weddings, Work and Bikes!!!

I have been away for a bit and it has been NICE!!! I have been busy with school and work, but still had time to get out a few days and put some training in. The highlight of my week was a wedding I attended, which was a childhood friend getting married, and as her parents and my parents are best friends it was only right that I attended. I went with my best girl friend Nicky Smith and she is awesome, even though we made fun of the gay 5 year old all day, HAHA!!! Thanks again Nicky, U RULE!!! It was also awesome to see mom and dad, as they have become my best friends and I can talk to them about anything and we just sit there and laugh our asses off. So Saturday was Great!
Then Sunday I woke up to say goodbye to Nicky and go for a ride. At the beginning of September we had roughly 20 people/ teammates joining us on our rides. As it has gotten a bit nippy out the numbers have taken a hit severely and today it was just our top guns out together. Myself, Josh, Dave and Alvin all went for a nice ride and I realized I get a bit giddy when I get with those guys, I kinda get the urge to HAMMER!!! It is going to be a great collegiate season and I am starting full preparations now. I enjoyed the time off and will continue to do so, but I want those guys and myself to do something special as it is our last season as teammates for WMU. We are also going to start doing the TT work on some Sundays together, because if we all put the work in together I think we could put together some decent Team Time Trial performances. Life is pretty good, so I am going to go to bed and enjoy "the warmth". OUT!!!

Reality Check

So I got a HUGE reality check today. I will not be done with my teaching degree until Spring 2010 (best case sceneario). That means I will be 28 when I get my 2nd degree, and I damn near quit today just thinking about that. Then a great person made me realize if I really want this then now is the time. I thought I should talk to my mom and dad and see what they thought, but Jeff really helped me make up my mind. Thanks Jeff. That is why I love cycling and every little aspect about it. These teammates and guys you race against are not just "guys on bikes", some of them just happen to be the best damn guys in the world.
I would also like to thank Louie for helping me get the cross bike in riding order. How was it you may ask??? I will just say I have gained so much respect for those who race cyclocross and mountain bikes. Needless to say I will not EVER talk shit to anyone who rides a bike again. Now I am positive the more I get on it and practice the dismounts the easier it will get, but its not as easy as it looks. Although I did "eyeball" my seat height and took an allen wrench with me on my ride, but I felt at home as soon as I was clipped in and I have never had that before with any bike. So thats a huge plus.
Last to mention work.....um well haven't been doing much of that lately. I have been focused on school 100% and getting advised and just making sure I am happy. Oh and napping has definitely been a priority lately. Now I have to go get ready for a math exam tomorrow and then out for a ride with the tough guys from Kzoo. PEACE!!!!

Tigers/ Cards

Could this really happen??? At the beginning of the year I was joking with a few buddies. They ask who I have got this year, and jokingly I said well you can always count on the Tigers, and in the NL I really like the Cards. I am only 1 game away from being right. Saying this I know there are many of you shaking your heads, thinking to yourself "this no talent ass clown did not really say that." I jokingly said the Tigers, hoping that someday I would get to witness my favorite team from my first real passion in life do something great. Someone was listening because they are there and they really don't have stars on their team. Other than Pudge, it is a team of role players a la the Detroit Pistons. No one is "GREAT", but everyone does their part. Thats my schpeeel on the MLB playoffs.
Now on to even better things, I got advised today and realized the hardest part of my second degree is going to be the math classes. I just have to put in the time. My Education classes look to be pretty damn easy, but nothing is ever handed to you in life.
Finally I awaited my cross bike arrival all day long and at 5:20 I had to leave for class. So I made a call to my roommates girlfriend asking nicely if she would come to our place and sign for it if it came as my roommate was at work. Well there was a communication error and she ended up not coming over as she misunderstood me. Needless to say I got home from class only to realize that there is a missed delivery note on my door. Oh well, I guess I will just have to pick it up tomorrow myself. YES A NEW BIKE!!! OK enough of this newbies sad ass blog as one guest writer put it. The sad thing is I may be a newbie, but if you are reading this and take the time to comment it must be "worth it".

HUGE P.S. Kelly Wyckoff is 26 today and it damn near slipped my mind. Happy 26th Kelly and I hope to visit you soon.

Jackass 2

So I just got home from my second viewing of Jackass 2. Louie and Josh and I went to see it and it was not as good if you know whats coming. Ah well, it was good to get out and do something. On another note i have not riden a bike in the past 5 days and I have to say it fells amazing to actually rest. I need some time to just lay back and chill, so this was a much needed break. Tomorrow I begin my preparations for next year, and as things look now, we have a very solid team for the collegiate season. I know that Josh will always be ready, but now Dave, Alvin and myself have to step up and put some points on the board. I also recently was involved in an online scam which cost me $493.00. I was bidding on a cross bike on ebay and I lost the bid, then I receive a second chance offer from the "supposed" seller. He told me I could get the bike for $450.00 if I sent the money via Western Unoin. I didn't even think about it until the day after I had sent the money. I have had to contact the FBI and the state Police to try to sort out the matter, but they say my money is probably gone and never to be seen again. So what did I do..... I bought another cross bike the day after and it should be in my possession by Tuesday. Other than that things are tremendous. I haven't shaved my legs in about 2 weeks and any bike racer will tell you that it feels somewhat awkward. Nevertheless it is also nice. School is great as I have nothing worse than a BA right now in any class. OK, I don't really wanna blog due to the fact that I have let all my emotions on my sleeve in the past, but I am trying to keep some things in. Some people can't understand it, but I have had a g/f for the past few weeks, but I just choose to take it day by day and not get to excited by one person. But thing are good and I am not worried about someone else as I have been in the past. OUT!!!!