Rest Weekend

Yo!

I had this weekend off from racing and its been very relaxing! I raced last Monday and it went super well! 1st place! There were 3 of us on the lead lap of the 'B' race and I felt very confident coming through on the last lap, I feel very fast in a sprint and it will only get better now. I went early just about at the start of the final turn at Martin and I won by a good amount. I think one of my big strengths is going early in sprints because it seems like I am able to hold a sprint for a long time, which is a very good thing.

I met Mike Jones and we rode together for about an hour and it was the most informative ride of my life. Mike taught me about his '4 T's of sprinting' and I'm really hoping to implement them in my racing. The races I have been doing will benefit greatly from a much better sprint so learning so much from Mike is probably the best thing to ever happen in my cycling career. It feels very good for someone so seasoned as Mike to believe in me and tell me that I can still do big things with my cycling career.

We went over 3 new workouts that I'm going to incorporate into my training, I believe some structured training will help very much with my development. My hopes for the rest of this year are to get some solid results in Cat 4 and be a Cat 3 racer by the end of the year so I can spend the entire next year in Cat 3, where I feel I need to be. I'm going to start going on the Wednesday night ride as long as work doesn't get in the way, which I feel like it will be better once I get a full time job, which I feel is very close. I'm super excited for the rest of this racing season, I feel very confident and on top of things after talking with Mike.

4/14 Eagle Creek Crit, Indianapolis, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/22 Notre Dame Crit, South Bend, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/29 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series Ann Arbor, MI 22nd Cat 4/5 (40)
5/6 Kalamazoo Half Marathon Kalamazoo, MI 13th (27) AG (M 19-24) / 249th (1392) Overall
5/7 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (9)
5/12 Tiger Lane Crit, Memphis, TN DNF Cat 3/4
5/20 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series Ann Arbor, MI 6th Cat 4/5 (25)
5/28 Waterford Hills Circuit Race, Clarkston, MI 13th Cat 4/5 (38)
6/3 Cobb Park Crit, Kankakee, IL 18th Cat 4/5 (36)
6/4 131 Racing Series, Matin, MI 2nd 'B race' (6)
6/9 BTR Crit, Kalamazoo, MI 8th Cat 4 (16) 20th Cat 3/4 (32) $30
6/10 Race for Wishes, Lawton, MI DNS
6/15 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI 26th Cat 3/4 (43)
6/18 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (9)
6/24 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (10)
7/1 Great Lakes State Classic, Marne, MI
7/8 Ashland Crit, Ashland, OH
7/14 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/21 Whiskey City Twilight Challenge, Lawrenceburg, IN
7/22 Tour of Port Sheldon, West Olive, MI
7/29 Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/19 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/26 54th Annual Debaets-Devos Pro-Am, Detroit, MI

I think I need to take some time to show some appreciation to my roommates, especially Nate and Madi who I have spent a lot of time with recently. Nate is doing big things this coming year and driving a damn van across the country, I'm super excited for him and I'm sure this will be a fantastic adventure! Madi is the best, we rode bikes on the KRVT today and stopped at Genos and Twisters then we went to Applebees and it was super fun! Madi is doing big things too and I'm super excited for her to see how much she does this next year!

Bianca and Phil got married Saturday night at our cousins Stephanie's house! It was a beautiful wedding and we had the most fun we have ever had together. Betsy's boyfriend Mason is super cool, we love Mrs. Lacy, and we all danced the night away and had to be driven home, always the best of nights! Congratulations Bianca and Phil, you two are the best and super perfect for each other!

My writing is going downhill, but it is pretty late at night and today was a big day for me! I'm hoping the results start to turn for the rest of this year, and I think they will get a lot better.

Cheers! CE