Colavita Website

Colavita Florida now has it's own website! It is still under construction but it is up on the web. Hopefully soon it will be full of all of our team's information, calender, racer bios, etc. There is also some talk of a Colavita Racing Blog but I don't think it has been made yet.
http://www.colavitaracing.com/

Happy Holidays

I was having a little too much fun with paint. Anyways, Merry Christmas! And please don't kill me for this!

P.S. If you're reading this on facebook, you probably can't see the picture to go along with this post. Go to my blog to see it or I might up load it to my photos.

Addition:
So you peoples won't be to mad it me, I made one for myself. To make ether bigger, just click on them.

B3

Man, I have been meaning to do this for like months and now someone's beaten me to it. But there's no such thing as too much support and publicity.
Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux is a small, local restaurant in Orlando and a great place to eat. Their menu consists all of healthy sandwiches (examples: the "Lance-wich" or the "Tour de Tuna) , salads, soups, etc, that taste even better after a long ride. The atmosphere is very friendly and they don't care if you come in wearing sweaty ride clothes. Besides the menu, there are a few other subtle hints relating to cycling, but I'm sure even you non-cycling friends would enjoy dinning there.
It was e-mailed to me, a link to the team armada site which had a video posted about Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux. (the reason why I am finally writing this...) Here is a link to the Team Armada site with the post I got the video from.
http://team-armada.blogspot.com/
I've also added to this post a couple photos of my own that I took.
The B3 Café is located at 3022 Corrine Drive, Orlando. For a map and directions, click here.

Bikes Beans and Bordeaux from Chad Taylor on Vimeo.

Tallahassee Cyclocross

I can't really come up with any interesting way to explain the weekend so I guess it's just going to be a summary.
Saturday:

• The course was around a high school campus and consisted of a ton of steep run ups and downhills (which were also very steep). Each lap you went over two barriers, around a running track, and down both long jumps and through the sand pits at each end.
  
• I got 1st place in womens B, out of a pack of 1. Also, I won a nice pair of sunglasses with 4 different pairs of lenses. Casey and James also did well, 1st and 2nd in the 10-14 field
  
• My camera caught a great video of Jos crashing into the barriers on one lap and it is already on youtube.
• I did not crash at all during the race but managed to go over the handle bars while playing around afterward. Luckily, nobody saw it ☺.

Sunday:

• The course was about the same as saturday, just going in the opposite direction. All of the down hills of the day before were now excruciating run ups and vice versa. They did add in a voodoo spiral ( or death spiral, everyone had different names for it). Basically, you went around in circles, getting closer and closer and then all of a sudden, you do this quick little turn in the middle and ride out, not once crossing your path. It's really weird at first but cool.
  
• On sunday I actually had some competition but I still beat her by a good distance at the end of the race and won myself a nice Rudy Project (pronounced Pro-jé in my world) helmet. There was also another junior 10-14 who got second, Casey won 1st and James in 3rd.
  
• Brent did an amazing crash, landed on his head and cracked his helmet. He said he was somewhat dizzy but shaped right up when we told him that JP could drive him home.
  
• That night we went to the Dixie Grill for a great dinner, consisting mostly of their famous fried chicken. Jos made everything complicated by asking for an extra chicken tender so the waitress said that he could look off the kiddie menu instead and she even brought him one of the those playschool toys that you get with a happy meal. He was ecstatic.

It was a pretty fun weekend, we didn't fall down too much and even got some more people hooked on the sport of cyclocross.

Horrible 100

The ride start

Burma-shave signs started before you even got to the parking lot. It's intolerable, this much we know is true, but our bike club has heart, and we're doing our part, at the party we're having for you.

Today was the wonderful Horrible 100. Last year was the first year I rode it and I did the 100 miler. This year though, I didn't feel like going that far, and why do the 75, when with just 25 more miles, you reach 100! (but wait! If you call now...) So I decided to ride the 37 with some other people, including Brianna, a new rider on our team. It was a pretty nice ride, rather cold, or should I say, very cold when we started, complete with a convent headwind most of the way. I rode up the front side of sugarloaf even though it wasn't on the course, and hit 44 mph going down. The rest stop we stopped at had some good chocolates (and nutella). Just for future reference I did multiple tests to make sure that it was good. There were a couple stories I heard about people going out of their way to get to the formerly known as: OZ rest stop to get my mom's brownies and peanut butter balls only to find out that she didn't make any and wasn't even at the rest stop. Can't wait until next year!

The mighty warriors after their long, slogging, winding, hilly, cold, terrible...I mean great 100 mile ride

Dictionary

I was doing my science vocabulary words and got bored so I decided to write this:

Boredom: n. the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest

Wow, what a great definition. I think you could just cut it down to the lack of interest part. In my words: Boredom: n. doing nothing for the absolute fun of it.

Random: n. a haphazard course; adj. lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern b: made, done, or chosen at random.

I though there was some rule that you can't use the word in the definition... Mine: Random: n. something that makes no sense; example: homework.

Bicycle: n. a vehicle with two wheels tandem, handlebars for steering, a saddle seat, and pedals by which it is propelled ; also : a stationary exercise machine that resembles such a vehicle

Um...how about my definition: Bicycle: n. The best invention ever, (maybe tied with indoor plumbing) keeps you far below the average weight of someone at McDonalds, great way to get around town, especially when the first car your mom whats to get you is diesel, volvo, station wagon that probably does weigh as much as the average person at McDonalds, and the bicycle can help save the world! (thank you sven![inside joke])

Is this post sad or what?

Photo Album 2008- Cyclo-cross

The road racing season is over till next year and we don't have any cyclo-cross races until November. So, I'm going to spend some time putting together a collection of posts with photos and a paragraph about each race this year. First off is cyclo-cross which began in late November 2007 and went through to the end of January. It was kind of a nice change, after racing on roads all year long, cyclo-cross was what we needed. The courses really varied, from sugar-sand-land in Stuart's Johnathan Dickinson, a muddy retention pond in Largo, single track and open fields in Sarasota, and an old rock quarry in Miami. The races also were different in many ways because of the courses and there were a couple of memorable crashes as well. One weekend in Sarasota, nearly everyone on the team crashed and spent the rest of the day icing parts of their bodies. (Unlucky for me, it was one of the few weekends I actually did well and everyone else is too busy talking about what they hurt to tell me "good job" :P) Speaking of crashing, you might remember the photo below: Mud Man. I'm not sure if I should consider this one of my best photos or not. He was already there and I just took the picture. But either way, it's just great. Too bad I don't know who he is because it would be wonderful for blackmailing :)


P.S. Tell me what your think of this. Am I wasting my time with this "photo album" or do you actually find it kind of interesting?

Next: Tour of the Bahamas

Last Race of the Season

I don't know where to start when telling about all of the events of this weekend, I think it would take a novel to write everything that happened in those two days.
Saturday:
There is something poetic about waking up at 4:30am, getting to the race course while it's still dark, and not being able to tell whether what you just stepped in was a cow pie or an ant hill.
It was a slightly rolling road race course that day. There was only a small group of juniors, as always. Our group stayed together for most of the race with the exception of Nick rolling off the front a couple of times. With about 3 miles to go Lucas and Jeff attacked and got off the front. Everyone chased and I ended up at the back of our separated groups. I rode into the finish alone and got 5th place.
After the road race we had 5 hours to spend before the time trial. I wasted every minute of it.
Fast Forward....
The time trial start list had me going off 23rd, at 3:11:03, and the last in my category. The course was part of the road race that morning: A rolling ,2.5 mile out and back from the finish line. Basically I went hard out and went hard back. On the last hill my 30 second man (started 30 seconds before me) was 20 seconds ahead of me. I really wanted to make podium and jammed it up the hill. By the time I was at the top, he was only a few yards before me and I beat him at the line. The results said I had a time of 12:40 in 3rd place. Not too bad...
That evening was the award presentations at the Appleton Museum of Art. I got a trophy in the junior 13-14 and women 4s Florida Point Series, as well at $25 in womens. Colavita also got the team points plaques in junior 10-12 and 13-14. I have to say that we did dominate the categories. They last thing on the agenda that night was the special awards including the E.J. Rogut award. It's wasn't much of a surprise, to me at least, that my mom won it. She has done so much at every race this year. From setting up, to junior roll out, to fixing broken bikes. The Blanchard family had also noticed this during the year and decided to have a trophy made for her. It's a laser cut of everyone on the team, placed like we're riding in a pack following my mom. It's really cool and I think she deserved it.
Sunday:
Well, I fell asleep 2 times on the way to the race...
The course on Sunday was a flat, lollipop shaped, out and back. The juniors only did one lap, 15 miles, and I was hoping that it would be just a fun race. I dream way too much. I will admit that it was me who kind of kicked the pace up in the very beginning but it didn't last very long. Nick got off the front a couple of times and after one time, the others didn't chase so I sprinted up to him to maybe work together to get off the front. They didn't follow us very quickly but after a while they developed a chase. A quick glance back told me a couple of things at once. Lucas was on the front pulling them up to us, and when he caught us, we better stand up and match the group's pace because they weren't slowing down. Our group consisted entirely of 13-14s and after a couple attacks it became a staring contest. I couldn't get to the back of the group like I wanted, so I simply went off the front. I don't think it really counted as an attack but after I had a good gap, they all stood up and chased me down. I did the same thing a few times and finally they just didn't chase me. I stayed off the front for a while, a mile at least, picking up the pace more and more as I went. There was no warning they were coming by me until someone shifted their gears and I turned to see the four boys shooting past me. I tried my best to catch on to their train but couldn't. After a while I let the 10-12 juniors catch me and rode with them. They had decided that they had nothing to lose and wanted James to win. With a few miles to go I became his lead out and Justin and Anselm dropped back. As we rounded the corner I sprinted him to the finish and then went to roll out. I got 5th place in the road race and 3rd in the overall omnium.
It was a really fun weekend (especially the awards ceremony and watching the cat 4-5 race from the wheel truck) but I can't believe the racing season is already over! I feels like it just started! :( I guess I will see a lot of people at cyclocross but I still can't wait until 2009!

Of course...

Everyone in the world knows my mom;
example:

From: http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/

Because that’s how it is.

I just picked up my new Surly at Retro City Cycles. It’s BEAUTIFUL! And Diane Blake said, “It’s going to rain now, because you’re on a new bike.” That’s how it is. And the sky opened up the minute I rolled out of the parking lot. And I was wearing my office clothes (such as they are). And I only had a mile to ride. And I got drenched. And wet jeans weigh more than steel bike frames.

And I sure do love fenders!

Posted by: Keri on September 22nd, 2008

(speaking of surlys, my mom just got a pugsley, it' so cool!)

Riding around in Circles

I can now truly say I have tried every form of bicycle racing there is. Road, Mountain, BMX, Cyclo-cross, (Highwheels too if you want to count that) and now track racing. I've only ridden on a velodrome 3 times before and now I was trying my hand at the Florida State Junior Track Championships at Brian Piccolo Velodrome. Luckily, there was no one else in my category and I won by default. I was still really fun though, and I wish that more people had shown up.
The races consisted of a 500m TT, 2000m scratch, and a 5000m scratch. The time trial was a 1 1/2 lap aerobic sprint and I got a time of 45 seconds. The next two races were 6 and 9 laps long where I basically just rode around (now if someone else in my category had shown up it would have been a different story... hint, hint... to my friends: next year) All four of the juniors were in different categories so we all got gold, it was a bit crowded on the top step.

Finally!

How long has it been since the last Florida Point Series race? I'll give you a hint, it's longer than I can count on my hands and toes, even if I had extra ones... Anyways, after nothing but training rides, last weekend's race was something I had been really looking forward to.
The Saturday race was at Pinellas Park, a circuit course. My first race of the day, in the heat of the afternoon, was the junior race. There was nothing extremely interesting that happened but there were a couple of new riders in our small pack. The finish came down to a group sprint and I came in 5th place in 13-14. It's a satisfying result because one of my goals was to get some more points to keep me in second place in the Florida Point Series. The highlight of my weekend though, was during the women's race a bit later on. While warming up, I'll admit I wasn't too excited about racing with the women 1,2,3 and masters +55, along with the pack of 4s. A friend [and multiple national champion ;)], Jackie Crowell was racing with the 1-3 women and I decided that I would do my best to stick on her wheel (for reasons stated above...) Turned out to be a really good idea on my part. Throughout the race there were good attacks by both categories, but I stayed right in the pack, nearly always in a good position. (One of those exceptions was when I ate my jell and then remembered that I was wearing a skin suit with no pockets to put the empty packet in) Every few laps I repeatedly surprised myself with how long I was staying in the pack during the 40 minute race and pretty soon the cowbell rang. Amazed that I was still with the large group I started moving up in preparation for the finish. But as the end got nearer, the adrenaline higher, the riders got squirrely-er. I got rather shaken by the number of near crashes in the last 500 meters. I crossed the line placing 5th, 2.5 seconds behind Jackie Crowell and just before my friend Ashlyn. The excitement of doing so well was great, I wanted to jump up and down but decided against it. (Later on I learned that our average speed was 28 mph, for 40 minutes...)
So now that I've written a novel about my amazing womens race, I'm going to counter with writing very little about Sunday. Actually, there's nothing really to tell except for was happened in the first and last mile of the race.
First Mile: It was more like the first 100 yards from the start was our first turn, a right. I don't know who fault it was (though I have my suspicions), but someone at the front turned left and half the pack followed. We quickly realized the mistake by all the shouting and did a quick 180. Just to make me feel bad, the only ones who turned right like we were supposed to were the 10-12's.
Middle: Riding
Last Mile: Christian and I were on the front of the group when our teammate Nick did a quick "sprint?" ahead of the pack and got a bit of a gap. A couple seconds later Jay, Lucas and another junior came flying around us and got a large gap, going straight into a bullet train of four. Casey, Christian and I quickly followed suit but could not catch the break who kept throwing nervous glances back at us. I guess you could say we ran out of steam and they got away going up the last hill. I rode in by myself and after dodging a couple of cars, came in 7th place. Lucky 7.
It was a long and hard but fun weekend, and it's finally over. Can't wait till Lakeland!

Election 2008

Watch the entire thing... It's not what you think

Tropical Storm, Depression, Hurricane, Who-Really-Cares... Fay

I was planning on writing something on Fay and then I noticed that Jackie beat me to it. But I can't think of anything else to write about besides the Olympic boxing match I'm watching right now, so...
As many of you know, school started Monday; Same day that Fay was bombarding the keys. That afternoon, as I watched the storm move up the state on the news, I learned that school on Tuesday was canceled. It was like summer had started again. But I've got to laugh at the school board, because it only rained about once that day. Of course, when we went back on Wednesday and Thursday it rained all day and nearly ever student in the school could been seen huddling under an umbrella or rain coat going classes. Because of the rain our Thursday ride was canceled so I rode my trainer in the garage. I thought I heard a transformer blow and my mom came out to tell me that school was canceled again Friday because some of the schools in the county were flooded or didn't have power. What a great first week of school, only three days of class and we still haven't learned a thing!

Sunlight!

Nationals

Day 1, Aug. 4th
I don't know where to start... We left OIA at 10:00 AM, had a layover in Albuquerque, changed planes in Phoenix, waited for a delayed flight, and finally made it to Orange County, California at around 3:00 western pacific time(6:00 Florida time). The first thing I noticed when we landed was that everything is brown, there's no green!!!
With the time zone change, even though it was the middle of the afternoon, it was really evening in Florida so I went to bed pretty early.

Day 2, Aug. 5th
The racing didn't start until Wednesday so my mom and I decided to do a bit of sightseeing and drive down the Angeles Crest Highway. It was really pretty, and when we got up to Mount Wilson, we got a beautiful view of Los Angeles. After the long drive back down, we went over the to race hotel to the packet pickup and then drove part of the time trial course before going back to our hotel.

Day 3, Aug. 6th Time Trial
I woke up rather early and lounged around the room because my start time wasn't until 2:15. When we arrived at the time trial start there wasn't a bit of shade to be seen, so my mom went in search of a tent. My warm-up consisted of a few laps of a road near the parking lot and around 2:05 I headed to the start. This year's time trial course consisted of an all-up-hill bike trail and then a long, grinding hill, a blazing downhill, and then an uphill finish. Why they chose to put juniors through that is beyond me (something about CA wouldn't give them the permits to hold the race on a flat road? `:| ) Anyways... While I was racing, I just kept pedaling and trying not to fall over. When I finally finished, only one person passed me, and I passed two, I could hardly stand at roll out. It was very hot and dry so I had horrible cotton mouth, and no water bottle (on a time trial bike?) And with the way the course was set up, I still had a six mile ride back to get to the car, something I didn't plan on doing (and ended up not doing) Later on, they posted the results and I got 11th in 13-14 with a time of 27:17. Not too bad...

Day 4, Aug. 7th Criterium
Now crits are my thing. I was really looking forward to this race, and hoping to do well. We got there around 9:00 and my race was at 11:00. I warmed up riding around Angels Stadium watching the other races going on until it was time for mine. We lined up, a group of about 25 or so riders and were soon off. Starting on the second lap they rang three consecutive primes, and I won every one. I was felt really good and had a really good chance of getting podium when... SOME KLUTZY, SQUIRRELLY GIRL CRASHED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!! And to make it worse, in the chaos of everyone crashing around me, I forgot to take a free lap... stupid, stupid, stupid... I didn't remember until a few laps later when it was too late. But I still finished and got 15th. I was planning to do better but I guess it's acceptable.

Day 5, Aug. 8th Road Race
From my disappointing race the day before, I decided that I was going to do my bestest best in the Road Race. Let me tell you now, my brain had not talked with my legs that morning... I hung with the pack fairly well on the first lap, I was rather happy actually. It was when we entered the second lap that the attacking began. One after another, they just attacked until I couldn't hang on any longer, and they rode away from me. I then spent the last lap of the race chasing two girls who dropped just in front of me. My legs were just empty of energy, but I somehow I caught up to and beat one of them, placing 14th out of 24 girls.

Day 6-7, Aug. 9th-10th Home
On Saturday we went back out to the road course to watch Jackie Crowell race... and then later went and drove the pacific coast highway for a bit more sightseeing.
On Sunday we left the airport at around 1:00pm, had to change planes in Las Vegas (I am NEVER going to go there again unless it's to change planes, they had slot machines in the terminal!!!) and then had a four hour flight back to Orlando, arriving at 12:00 (midnight, he, he, as in this morning...Yawn...)

3 Things I could have done better

• Remembered to take a free lap
• Maybe pushed a bit harder going up the hill in the Time Trial
• Relaxed more after the Criterium in preparation for the Road Race the next day.
  

I don't really know what I think of my results this year but I'm planning on training harder, and doing much better next year.

My Photos

Last year there was a photo contest on Florida Cycling and if there is one again this year, I plan on sending in some photos. The only question is which photo(s). So I'm going to have a photo "contest." I have chosen a few shots I really like and you guys can vote by using the poll in the side bar or commenting (if you like more than one). And please only vote once... :)

1. Webster Roubaix (a big favorite)














2. Gainesville; Crash in the masters race















3. Taken at the State Road Race Championships...














4. Lucas at the Herbalife Race Weekend
















5.Field Sprint, Pro 1,2 State Crit














These aren't the only photos I like, I just got bored of uploading them...

Gwinnett Race Weekend

I'm still writing this race summary, doubt I'll ever finish it (I'm too lazy), I just wanted to post what I've written so far

Weekend Results:
Friday

• Juniors: 4th, 3rd in LAJORS

Saturday

• Juniors: 4th in LAJORS (I do not know what I got overall)

Sunday

• Juniors: 3rd in LAJORS (Again, I forgot what I got overall)

Summary
Ok, So there is a really good chance that I won't get around to writing a full summary of the Gwinnett Race Weekend, so here is a quick run down about what happened in the races.
My mom and I drove up Thursday and after a hour searching, we found our hotel. My first race was on Friday but it wasn't until 2:00 so we had some time to kill, and decided to go to stone mountian. It was really cool but we didn't have time to climb to the top because we had to get to the race. They were just setting up when we arrived so I got on my uniform and rode the course. It was a rolling course, the flyer said flat (Georgia flat) but other than that, wasn't too back. There was a large pothole on the back side and a screaming fast downhill with a right turn at the bottom. But what really got me about that race wasn't the course, it was the number of Frazer Cycling Team kids on the start line. There was like 30 of them (not very much of an exaggeration) and 3 of us on Colavita, with a few others.

Race

Photos and summary from Gwinett coming tomorrow. I'm tired.

Wheelmen Videos

I have finally found some videos from this year's wheelmen meet. Yay! One of them is of us doing the formation riding and the other is riding on "the monster mile"
Dover Speedway
Formation Riding

What's Next?

The racing scene has been kind of quiet lately, but in one week, it will be "starting up again." This next weekend I'm planning on doing the Gwinnett race weekend in GA. It's a four day race weekend but I'm only racing three of the days, juniors each day. Race Flyer. Then for August 4th-10th we're flying to California for Nationals. Last year I got 3rd in the Time Trial and Crit, and I'm hoping to do even better this year. I really can't wait. I'll try to write some reports/summarys of these races, but until then, I guess I've got nothing to type about.

The Wheelmen

So lets play where in the USA am I this week?
Answer: Dover, Delaware. Riding antique highwheel bicycles, during the 41st annual Wheelmen Meet.

It's been a really fun and exciting week. We left Monday afternoon and drove up I-95, stopping in North Carolina for the night and arriving Tuesday afternoon. We had no trouble finding Wesley College, where we were staying, because downtown Dover was much smaller than I expected. As my mom unpacked the bicycles, I roamed around the college, discovering where everything was. I found the Rec-Room, Amphitheater, and most important of all, the dinning hall. That night we walked into town for dinner and then went to a talk by Joff Summerfield about his on-going trip around the world on a highwheel bicycle. It was really interesting to hear all about his experiences and where he is going next. To read his around-the-world journal, click here (P.S. many of the photos here were taken by Joff Summerfield(because I was too lazy to carry my camera around a lot))
Wednesday morning we left the college on our highwheels to ride over to Museum Square. We visited the Johnson Victrola, Small Town Life, and Archeology museums. I think the most interesting was the Johnson Victrola museum, because it contained a large collection of antique music players and radios. We even got to hear an old record of Stars and Stripes Forever played on one of them. After lunch we took a bus to go visit Dover Air Force Base. It was unbelievable seeing the size of some of those airplanes. They seemed so huge compared to my mom's Luscombe. After we returned to the college there was the Youth Formation Riding practice, dinner, and then to bed. I wanted to get a good night's sleep because the century was the next day.
I got up at 5:00 and went down to the century rider's breakfast and then was out on the road. We were to do two laps of a 50 mile course that meandered through the countryside and was flatter that flat. The roads were beautiful, occasionally tree lined and the weather wasn't extremely hot, but I still got a major sunburn. The only problem I had was that highwheel seats aren't the most comfortable to sit on. But my mom and I made it, arriving back from our first lap at around 11:00. It was all I could do not to just leave it at 50 miles. But I did go back out on the road and did much better than the first lap. We had to stop for an Amish homemade pie at the second rest stop and it tasted soooo good. We finished around 4:45 and went to dinner at Olive Garden. I can definitely say that I slept well that night.
The next morning, Friday, I woke up refreshed but still a little sore. After a quick breakfast, I ran back up to the dorm room, I forgot to mention that our room was on the top floor (why are we always at the top) and got into my Wheelmen uniform/costume for the OHWT (Official High Wheel Tour). This year we had the privilege to ride on the Dover International Speedway, A.K.A. The Monster Mile. You never really understand the size of the track on TV, the stands themselves were huge, enough to hold 135,000 people. The thing that really got me was that the banking of the turns was much less that I would think. Only 24 degrees while Brian Piccolo Velodrome is nearly 30 degrees. After riding the track, we went out to take a picture in front of the Monster (photo coming soon) and then rode back to the college. We had another Formation Riding Practice and then on to the games! This year there were only three competitions, the slow race, thread the needle race, and a team race. I got disqualified in the slow race because I went out the side but absolutely flew in the thread the needle race getting first in my category. In the team race, they wouldn't tell us what it was beforehand but we got a team together anyways. Ryan, TJ, Andrew and I made a team and named ourselves the fast and the furious (for lack of a better name). In short, it was a crazy race, involving taking off both pedals to run around the bike and put them back on, pinning on a number with tiny safety pins, and the rider eating 5 saltine crackers (do not try this...). Like I said, crazy. After dinner, there were two seminars but I just spent the hour in the rec room playing (and losing) games of pool.
There was basically nothing for me to do Saturday morning so I went back to the rec room to wait until lunch. We again dressed up in our uniforms to take the meet photo and then rode downtown for the parade. The parade ended at the Legislative Mall where a large group of people had gathered to watch the formation riding and demonstration. First off was the youth formation riding which we had been practicing all week for. After that was the demonstration on mounting, dismounting, and riding the highwheel bicycle. The history of the bicycle followed, from the hobbyhorse to the geared safety, and then it was time for my favorite part, the trick riding. I had fun showing off some of my best tricks and trying a few new ones. Videos from the 2006 meet: Formation Riding or Races and Tricks. We then rode back to the college and got ready for the Victorian Tea. This year they had a costume contest so my friends and I all decided to enter. You had to tell a panel of judges about your dress and why you thought it was Victorian. It was rather hard standing up there talking about the dress I got from the Salvation Army but I ended up getting 3rd in the under 18 category. After the tea was the banquet in Dulany Hall. I won't go into any detail but it was really fun. The next day after an early breakfast we left Delaware and made it back home at midnight. It's been a long week but I can't wait until next year!

Side Story: My mom has this singing flamingo and we brought it with us to the meet and put it outside our dorm room. Of course the next day it disappears. We heard all off these reports of which floor, 1st, 3rd, 2rd... We never really knew where it was. And in it's travels it acquired a entourage of objects: Two neck ties, a cup of water with a quarter in it, an empty bottle, a crouton, a burnt cookie, a ribbon, two fake flowers, and a sticker. The batteries had also died from it singing every time someone went past. On the last day we had to go on a search for it to take it home, but I know this is just the beginning of the traveling flamingo.

Must See!

It's a total time waster but really funny!

Click Here

Hills, Heat, and the Last State Championship Race of 2008

This weekend was the State Championship Road Race in hot and hilly, Ocala, FL. Thinking about last year, I remember the uneven terrain, rough roads and mile long sprints. I also remember that races never happen the same way twice.
I warmed up on the first hill a couple of times to get those muscles moving. I also did a couple of sprints and lined up for the start. When they said go, Justin sprinted off the line but I didn't chase him because he isn't in my category. Why should I? We turned the first corner and went up the hill. Lucas jumped after Justin followed by Felipe. Ricardo also chased them but couldn't catch up. As we got to the top of the hill we went into a unspoken rotating pace line with Christian, Nick, Jay, Anselm, Justin, and I. Ricardo was a ways up the road from us and Lucas and Felipe even farther. It seemed that everyone set a goal to catch Ricardo and half way through the lap, we did. He jumped into our pace line and we just kept going, now trying to catch the break too. Suffering up the last hill on the first lap, we heard a whistling sound and knew someone had a flat. I turn my head and saw Jay sprinting up the left and knew the sound was coming from him. From previous "playing around" I knew that it's not to hard to make a fake "flat sound", so I went after him until I could see his tire was wobbling around. Our group went around him and didn't see him for the rest of the race. Skipping to the middle part of the second (the last) lap; My teammate Christian wanted me to try to get off the front, but I knew it would be to far to time trial to the finish. We nearly sprinted up the last hill and the pace quickened as the finish neared. Before we could even see the finish line we were flying. It was Ricardo and I side by side, followed by Anselm and Justin. Our sprint broke out a bit too early and I just blew right before the line. In the end, I finished fourth in 13-14 and spent the rest of the day taking photos and relaxing.
I'm happy with my finish this weekend but here is a list of what I could have done better:

• Practice more on hills. I can tell I'm doing better, but not good enough, especially for nationals this year.
• Stay in the draft a bit more to save energy.
• Gone harder and longer in the sprint.

Toyota of Stuart Race Weekend

June 7
Camp Murphy
I warmed up on the rolling, Johnathan Dickinson, race course. There was a race there last year so I was familiar with the road but I see it differently from last time. The "hill" is just a speed bump but the finish straight seems longer. The junior race had a fast start with Justin going right from the gun. I had a good feeling and my legs felt great. A couple laps in my teammate Nick attacked and the pack picked up some speed. I tried an attack on the back straight and got a bit of a gap. It didn't last very long when Lucas and Felipe sprinted up to me, followed by the rest of the field. We came back together for a bit until Nick attacked again. And then again. By the time Nick cooled down, we had about two laps to go in the race. On the last lap I found myself on the front of the pack with my teammate Christian behind me. I motion him to not chase me and I attacked. It was on the back side and a ways from the finish. Just before the last turn Lucas, Felipe and Christian came around me. I tried my best to pass them but couldn't. I finished fourth across the line and headed to roll out and then to warm down. Someone told me after words that the junior who won did not past roll out, bumping me up to 3rd place. Because of my performance last year in the womens race I didn't want to do it this year and I'm glad I choose not to. The race was in the heat of the day with the sun directly overhead and the heat waves making the cement look like water.

June 8
Stuart Criterium
This is my fourth year racing the Stuart criterium and I was really excited about it. In the junior race, Lucas and the other kid got off the front and just disappeared for the rest of the race. It was Christian, Anselm, Justin, Ricardo, and Me in a group. We pretty much just road around for most of the race until the last lap. I wanted to try to block Ricardo but he got ahead and I ended up sprinting Christian to line and having him beat me by .001 seconds.
Right after my 13-14 race I went to roll out and then jumped into the 15-16 race. I signed up for 15-16 because it was a LAJORS race (Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series) which means they split girls and boys for the results and I might be able to get into camp next year because of it. It wasn't a very exciting race, they dropped me in the first lap and I basically road around by myself for most of the time. Since I was the only girl in the race I won by default so I didn't care what everyone else did.
At the start of the womens race later on, I was feeling pretty good, a little tired, but not too bad. In the first lap I was near the front when a Herbalife rider passed me on the right. I automatically pulled in behind her and she sped up a bit. The next thing I knew, the pack was 40 feet behind us and making no attempt to chase. As we came around the last conner on the first lap we had about a 100 yard gap. It was a little strange for me to be off the front but I still kept on going. I knew that the 1,2,3 wouldn't chase us so we might have a chance. On the second lap Jennie sprinted up to us and we let her into our "pace line". She complained about pulling, saying that they were going to catch us any ways. Then why did she waste energy sprinting up to us? I don't really understand her train of thought. As we came around for the third lap the pack sprinted for a prime and they caught up to our group. On the second straight someone attacked and the whole pack speed up. I was starting to feel the affects from my previous races but I wasn't giving up. There was a gap in the pace line that I was about to pull into when someone yelled "don't let her in", I went over anyways and they yelled something else I didn't quite hear. I've been racing with most of they for quite a while so they know I can ride and I've even beaten some of them so I don't know why whoever it was, was that way. Anyways, on the next lap I did get dropped but I did do a good sprint in an attempt to stay with them. For the next few laps I rode around with a women from citrus cycling until the leaders, a break away of four women, lapped us and I jumped on. I stayed with them until the finish where I ended up getting 8th in womens 4.
What I could have done better:

• Chased after Lucas and Felipe longer on Sunday rather than giving up
• Been in front of Ricardo through the last turn
• Not let other riders get on my nerves, I need my attention for other things
• Work with other riders
  

I'm very happy with my performance this weekend and can't wait until next weekend.

First entry

I've gotten tired of typing up summaries of my races in WordPad on my computer so thats why I'm starting this blog. Now I can share my life with the world! Or at least with the few people who decide to read it. Like I said, it's going to be for my race summaries or reports or whatever you want to call it. Feel free to comment on them. You can also leave comments about some of my latest photo albums if you don't have a Google account (to get to my photos, see links, and my photo page). Thats all I have to say for now.

-Bottle Rocket