Dirty Thirty

ALL EYES ON BARRY! ALL EYES ON BARRY!

It is important to remember, the races I've been doing are just practice for Barry in April. There aren't a lot of gravel roads I know of around Kzoo, so these races are what I have to practice on. I'm looking for a big result in the biggest gravel road race in the country up in Hastings. WE will see how everything goes, but these races won't define the year; at all.

Ugh. Yesterdays race in Saranac (?) was by the far the most muddy and most wet race I've done yet. This clearly did not play to my advantage. Not only was I super caught off by the climbs in the first mile in the race, but the ground was very loose and I don't think there is too much I can take from today. I have a fleeting suspicion that I don't have any brake pads left and my brakes are metal on metal, but I'll confirm that tomorrow.

*If you haven't noticed, my favorite face to make when I'm trying to jump on groups ahead of me is that of desperation

I don't really understand how it is happening, and no offence to anyone, but these 50+ year-old men are coming around me and just riding me right off their wheels. I can't really tell what I'm doing wrong or what I'm not doing right, but I certainly need to be a little more efficient with just about everything. I've been able to just about stay on top of homework, but it's been tight. I don't know how other people are so good at time management, tips would be appreciated. I always find myself wasting a lot of time either playing solitaire on my phone, watching Netflix, or writing blogs, and I need to be more intentional with my time.

I really think I need to add some sort of stretching routine to my day. For being a 22 year old young man, I'm very inflexible. I often come off the bike pretty sore in places you wouldn't expect - back, thighs, neck, things like that. It's annoying and it slows me down, I think I learn how to stretch and maybe do some yoga.

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel) 81st Overall (215) / 9th AG (24)
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel)
4/7 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel)
4/14 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/20 Marian Cycling Classic, Indianapolis, IN
4/27 Yankee Springs TT, Gun Lake, MI (Mountain !!)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain)
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/10 Rose City Crit, Jackson, MI
8/18 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI

Ah, so not a fantastic result. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but again not great. We must all remember, it is still early, this is my first year taking my cycling more seriously, and the results will come. I'm really looking for that top-10 finish in one of these gravel races. I know the results don't really point towards that, but it is a lot closer than it may seem. I know the bike fits well, I've had good races before. I'm a little suspicious of my fitness, but I know what I need to focus on, which is important.

I'm super excited to race on the pavement next weekend. My road bike is dialed, and I feel very quick on the road. My plan is one of attack. I want to stay towards the front and get back any attack that goes off the front. If anyone is strong enough, it'd be great to make a move and hold until the end.

It is the final two weeks of tax season and we are all super excited about that. I've got a solid grasp on all my classes I think. I'm not sure the 4.0 is going to make it through this semester, but that is OK. I'm hoping today is the last of the real cold weather, and we will have a big week of riding. I refuse to take Thursday and Friday off before a race; that is too much time not doing anything, and I think that hurt my race this weekend. We'll get them next weekend with some nicer weather, I'm expecting a couple podium pictures.

Cheers! CE

Melting Mann

Disclaimer: I am having a fantastic Spring. I know sometimes my posts can come off as a little negative, but that is just me being hard on myself and having huge expectations. I'm super happy with how my Spring training and racing has been going. It is early, this will lead to a big year.

Ah, Melting Mann. There's nothing like ringing in the first weekend of Spring with a gravel race down in Vandalia; the air is chilly, the wind howling, expectation fills the baseball field where the race kicks off. I came into this race with about the same expectation and strategy as any race this time of year; hold the first group until I get shelled, pick people off one at a time and finish pretty alright.

This is exactly what happened. Started the race in a solid position, a lot of people in front of me but only about 4 rows back. In the future, may even want to start a little closer to the front. While I was with the front group for about the first 20-ish miles, I was never really at the front. I was about mid-pack, maybe a little further back, just hanging on. I was popped at one of the bigger hills, no surprise there.

I was very impressed with my positioning today. While maybe not positioned towards the front where I would have liked to have been, I wasn't giving up position easily, I wasn't falling further back every time the group bunches together; which in the past I have been guilty of getting a little complacent and letting riders come around me as the race slows (bad). Today I was a little more brave. I would follow wheels that I could tell were moving up, a very good thing. Only being able to see out of one eye slows me down in instances like this, I'm hesitant to change lines quickly because its pretty hard for me to tell if anything or anybody is on my right side. Ugh. Today though, I was following wheels and not losing position, something that will probably translate to future races well. This is a huge positive, and I'm excited to be learning about races since I've been doing so many.

Another positive, my body feels great after racing today. Last week, I really couldn't bend too much for at least a few hours. I'm not sure why I wasn't sore after today, I think it may be a combination of better pedaling form, better conditioning, getting used to riding at a fast-pace, etc. It's hard to tell, but I feel super fresh, ready for a nice long ride tomorrow with friends.

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel)
3/31 Autobahn Spring Criterium, Joliet, IL
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel)
4/7 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel)
4/14 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/20 Marian Cycling Classic, Indianapolis, IN
4/27 Yankee Springs TT, Gun Lake, MI (Mountain !!)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain)
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/18 Weekend at WLSR, Muskegon, MI
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/10 Rose City Crit, Jackson, MI
8/18 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI

Further, another positive, once I got popped, boy I was cruising. I'm a huge fan of riding my own race when it comes to this gravel nonsense. After losing the front group, all that happens is I'm going close to the same speed as them, and I'm just picking up one group at a time, sitting on their wheel for a moment to get some rest, and moving to the next group, it is wonderful. Occasionally someone will hop on my wheel and I'll drag them along for a while, but I'm pretty quick when my heart-rate is under control, so I'm able to leave most people.

I did notice today while I was cruising by myself towards the end of the race, a large group, maybe 10 to 15 riders came past me, and I didn't grab their wheels, this was a mistake. I think I get a little distracted when I'm coming into a finish after a long race, and they just stayed about 30 seconds ahead of me the last 3 miles of the race. In the future, when I'm riding by myself in these races, I want to be grabbing every wheel that comes past me. Like Ryan says, 'that 15 seconds of all-out pain to grab a wheel will lead to an easy 5 minutes of drafting'.

Good day in the saddle. Another learning experience. Probably didn't ride enough this last week, between questionable weather, a weird stomach bug last Sunday, and mountains of homework, I didn't get out as much as I should have done.

It's a new week, I'll ride a bunch, and hit them again next Saturday up in GR!

Cheers! CE

Waterloo Grit and Gravel

Good afternoon everyone!

Guess whose hopes just got a little bit higher after the first race of the year? You're right, it's me! The legs are feeling super fine, the mental aptitude for suffering is present, I'm having a lot of fun, and I feel very Belgian. The perfect mix for a Spring full of racing!

'How on earth do you make a huge mistake before the race even starts, Charlie?' Well let me tell you how. So of course I'm just wandering around the start area, talking to friends and wasting time (my specialty), and the 100k racers go off. Great, that is fantastic. Little do I know that as soon as the 100k racers are off (the longer of the two races today) the 50k racers immediately push up into the start area to line up for our race. I mean kind of obvious OK? Of course that is what is going to happen. I saw a bunch of TCL racers chatting before the 100k went off and instead of joining them I just kept riding laps around the parking lot to warm up. I make no exaggeration that as soon as the first race went off everyone in the second race began to line up. Darn. Now I am stuck in the very back of the massive pack of people racing the 50k and I have no option but to stay there.

As we all know, I'm not usually one for too much confrontation, like I'll be happy to talk to people but I'm certainly not one who is going to go out of my way to cause issues. So of course I just sit there, thinking, 'I'll just make a quick move as soon as the road widens out and I'll be fine'. Well that didn't happen. The front of the massive group took off very quickly and I was so far behind I would never touch the front racers. I figured this out pretty quickly as we took a corner and I could see pretty well ahead that the front of the group was probably a mile and a half off. That's a total exaggeration but I wasn't going to make up all that ground. So I decided pretty early that my race was going to be a series of catching people ahead of me, passing them, and moving onto the next group ahead and it worked very well!

As I mentioned, the legs felt very nice! There is still some work to be done and that is expected as it is still so early in the season, but the signs are pointing to a good Spring for me! Throughout the entire race and because I started so far in the back, no one ever passed me during the entire ride. I'll take that as a solid positive and look ahead to next week in Vandalia.

I should probably mention the insane mud today. Before the race everyone was talking about, 'Cassidy road' and how bad it is going to be and that hopefully everything is frozen. LOL, it wasn't frozen. I don't really know where 'Cassidy road' is, the entire race was just one big mud pit, ruts in the dirt roads were massive and very quick to catch a wheel and throw you off a nervy bike. Speaking of which, I DIDN'T CRASH TODAY! Another huge positive to take from today is that we stayed on both wheel the entire time! Now let me be clear, there were multiple times where I would have to put a foot down to keep me from falling, but I think this could be a sign of more confidence to come. Overall, I'm very happy with today and I'm very much looking forward to races for the rest of the year! We will look to get a little quicker, I need to stretch and ride. It looks like the weather might be turning for the better this week and I hope that trend sticks for a while (:

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel)
3/31 Autobahn Spring Criterium, Joliet, IL
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel)
4/7 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel)
4/14 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/20 Marian Cycling Classic, Indianapolis, IN
4/27 Yankee Springs TT, Gun Lake, MI (Mountain !!)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain)
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/18 Weekend at WLSR, Muskegon, MI
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/10 Rose City Crit, Jackson, MI
8/18 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI

Tax season is almost becoming a little fun! I'm getting good at preparing returns, the people I work with are super awesome, and I'm really enjoying things! School is weighing on me, but I'll get through it! I have a lot of papers and projects coming due pretty soon that I haven't started, but I'll get everything done I'm sure!

Cheers! CE

2019 Season Preview

Good evening!

All I can think about recently is taxes, and I'm starting to memorize form numbers and I'm becoming a little bit of that kind of guy; it's all a good thing I think.

School has been going great. It really helps quite a bit that all the classes I am taking have a lot to do with the stuff I'm doing at work. There is a lot of overlap which helps me learn things quickly and completely. I'm always impressed when people are able to discuss something without having to pause to think about what they want to say, and I'm getting to that point with accounting and taxes (:

I bought another new bike! "Charlie, what in the world, do you spend all your money on bikes?" Well no. I do buy a lot of bikes but I live at my parents house, I'm super passionate about cycling, and I suppose it is a lot better than spending all my money on drugs (; For all concerned, I bought a Specialized Epic, full suspension, carbon, hot pink (: Others have asked, "Charlie, isn't buying a pink-bike kind of 'far out there?'" To this I respond, when I show up at races and we are about to start and I'm looking around at who I am racing against, anything that catches my eye immediately throws warning signs in my brain. Two years ago at BTR this cat was on a steel single-speed and I thought to myself, 'wow, if that guy can race with that bike, he must be ultra strong.' I was on his wheel the entire race; he got second, I got third. My point is, having a bike that stands out is going to make others think I'm dangerously fast (which I hope to be anyway). So I have my reasons for the pink (: I've been really going hard at the indoor training, I really think I'll come out strong in early season races, which will translate to a good rest of the season as well.

Further, I can't stop drinking Starbucks. We are beginning to have a problem at the office. Grande Iced Americano, double, two pumps of mocha sauce, heavy cream, please and thank you (:

I bought a new car in the last month or so. It is a '17 Chevy Cruze HATCHBACK and I love her very much. The Focus always seemed to be super cheap. It didn't have a lot of horsepower, it was bright red, I had a big bike rack on the roof; it wasn't super professional, at least in my line of work. This last weekend I  put a hitch on the Cruze (with help of course, I don't know much about vehicles) and my great friends at Pedal sold me a Thule hitch rack, which is super cool! It almost seems I'm living my best life and it is fabulous! For those keeping score, I got $5k for the Focus, so I got a super killer deal on the new Cruze!

As we all know, I'll be racing with Team Clark Logic this Spring and I am still so so excited about it! While riding on the trainer, I often day dream about how I'm going to help the team in races. It is going to be fabulous and I can't wait to get started. Speaking of which, I've begun to put together a rough race schedule for the next couple months:

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel)
3/31 Autobahn Spring Criterium, Joliet, IL
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel)
4/7 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel)
4/14 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/20 Marian Cycling Classic, Indianapolis, IN
4/27 Yankee Springs TT, Gun Lake, MI (Mountain !!)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain)
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/19 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI

*Subject to change

Please note: this is rough, I'm missing quite a few races in here. On my calendar is the Dirty Donut (look it up) and the racing weekend over in Detroit. I mainly do this so I have something to look at for the year and add to or take races away, but interesting stuff, right? (;

Last thing, I made a new checking account named 'Bike Races' and put $429.78 in it. I want to see if my bike racing can support itself. Of course, this is rough too, as I am only tracking registration costs from this account. When in fact, there are many more costs associated with bike racing (maintenance, gas, other things) but this is a start and it would be super cool if I could win some money this season and pay for registration costs. I'll keep everyone posted!

That's all I've got. I have my first exam tomorrow in my Intermediate Accounting II class, I feel kinda prepared, but you all know what they say about exams, right? I'm also going to talk to my advisor at Davenport so we can nail down this graduation date. My thinking: finish this semester, two more semesters and I'll have a Bachelors in Accounting from Davenport, start in on the CPA exams; Charlie Eaton, CPA in around 2 years (:

Cheers! CE

A Year In Review: 2018

Happy New Year!

I've really embraced the whole professional-cyclist persona this last year, racing just about every weekend from April-July, plus some more thrown in. I've learned a lot - not only about racing, but about myself as a cyclist and endurance athlete, but more importantly as a person. I've developed my racing skills ten-fold when looking at previous years, and of course I'm very much looking forward to a very successful 2019!

I've made this particularly clear to anyone that has so much mentioned a bike in my presence, but I'll be racing with Team Clark Logic starting this Spring! I'm super stoked about this, TCL is exactly where I should be to develop my racing skills even more in this critical point in my cycling career. I've raced with most of the TCL boys already, just not working together; being on the team and having solid plans for each race will not only benefit myself very much, but TCL will be just as successful with more strong riders working together; I'm super excited for this opportunity, and extremely grateful this was able to happen!

As for 2019 racing plans, I've already started to fill up my calendar (: Most everyone has seen pictures of my hot pink bike, but I'm super stoked to race gravel every weekend this Spring! USA Cycling hasn't released the road schedule for the summer yet (as far as I know) so I haven't really put too many of those on my radar, but I plan on doing all races within a 3-hour ?? radius (: Seeing as I don't work on Saturday's anymore (more on that later) I'll be free to roam the upper midwest in search of cycling glory!

The first race on my calendar is the Waterloo G&G on March 16th. It's a gravel race in Waterloo (?) and I'm hoping for a quick and successful start to the racing season. Shortly following are Melting Mann and Barry-Roubaix !!!!!

Goals for 2019 include:

- Getting some solid results and winning more money than I spend on bike races, gas, registration, licenses, etc.
- Moving from Cat 4 to Cat 3, = more money, pro races, feeling like I belong in the TdF
- Contributing to the success of TCL by helping myself and teammates cat up, hoping to be able to stick together as a team through categories of racing! (care to learn more?)
- Sticking to my plan throughout the year (including offseason training) (I've been running recently), coming out in early races strong and finishing the season in a good way
- Continuing my pursuit of a 4.0 GPA at Davenport (more on that later)
- Growing at work and continuing to learn (more on that later (: )

- I love my parents and I love living (ha!) with them, but I'm thinking I might want to move out on my own later this year (stay tuned)

Work has been going wonderfully. I started with Tibble & Wesler CPA in August of this year (does everyone already know this?) When I first started, I was working a lot with tax returns and such as the extension deadline Oct. 15th (did you know you can file your taxes late? with a penalty from our friends at the IRS of course) was fast approaching. I haven't touched too many tax returns since then so it'll be interesting this fast-approaching tax season, especially with the new Tax Cut and Jobs Act (if you have any tax questions, please reach out, I'd love to do my best to help, charlie@tibblecpa.com ) I've been processing payrolls, sales tax returns, unemployment, and quickbooks for quite a few clients, I've made numerous Starbucks runs, I've gone to a few conferences, I've met a lot of cool people, and I'm super stoked for this next year with T&W!

(Let me try to explain the new standard deductions to you, I have some good talking points)

Through KVCC and Davenport, I'll be able to finish my Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Davenport, but never have to leave KVCC's campus (isn't that wonderful?) Not going to a community college anymore has been and continues to be astronomically more expensive (thank you Capitalism), but I'm learning an enormous amount of new things, I finished my first semester with a 4.0 !!!!!!!!! and I've finally got a plan in place to finish my degree in 3 more semesters! After which, I'll begin taking CPA exams, and I'm hoping to have my CPA certification shortly after I graduate with my Bachelor's degree. Exciting times for Kalamazoo's favorite little associate accountant! After college and CPA certification, I'm not quite sure what I want to do (open for suggestions). I hear Manchester United has been having quite a bit of management turnover in recent years, so I'll be open to phone calls from Ed Woodward (;

That's all I've got, please stay tuned for more posts once racing begins in March (: Like I've mentioned, I'm super primed for a super fantastic year ahead, I'm exactly in the right place and things are falling just how they should be.

Now that I don't live with my sisters, I miss them constantly and always look forward to seeing them. We can usually make it at least 24 hours before we are sick of each other now (: Same goes with all my friends, I have a fantastic time whenever I go out with them all now, and I'm super blessed to have all that!

Happy New Year to you and yours! (my new year's resolution list is growing by the hour)

Cheers! CE

Uncle John's 'Dirty' Ride

Guess who crashed again?

P.S. this picture makes it seem like the road rash isn't that bad, but wow it hurts

Of course it was me, but I have a bag of doughnuts next to me so not all is lost.

I mean I really don't know what to do. It seems like every time I am racing recently I'm going down, and today I went down pretty hard. I managed to crack my pink helmet, so I can't wear that one anymore which is too bad. Head is still all intact, no issues, no worries!

It was my first race today since crashing back in July over in Detroit. I honestly had some pretty high hopes; Pedal always does well at this race, I've been feeling very fit lately, and I felt like this would be a pretty good opportunity to get back on my feet (for those counting, it'd really be wheels). The entire race was really sketchy, a lot of people that didn't seem to know how to race, moving back and forth erratically across the dirt roads of Lansing (?) county.

What I can take from this race is a lot of confidence. I was doing very well, feeling very strong, in a position that was good, it just happened again; I crashed. It happens, it needs to stop happening to me so much but it happens and it doesn't hurt that bad and it is a part of racing; not worried about it.

A couple guys I was racing with from Pedal actually stopped and waited for me to get back up and we rode in together. There were a couple times when we thought about trying to bridge back up to the main group, but it wasn't happening. The wind was brutal, the race was fast, and we were hurting.

P.S. bike is super fast, super light, and super pink

Next week begins CX season at Markin-Glen aka local race aka no driving. Pretty excited, pretty don't-know-how-it-will-go, but excited. I don't expect anything, just to get better at dealing with pain and pushing through it and maybe something fantastic will happen and I'll be able to hang. I think I'm at the point where I should probably be racing in the A race now so; less people, more time, more pain.

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 'heat'
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 'rain'
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 4th Cat 4/5 (11)
7/9 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (7)
7/14 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI DNF 'crash'
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI DNS
9/9 Uncle John's Dirty Ride 30th 24 Mile (90) 'crash'

Almost forgot to mention how PRO I felt riding to the finish after having crashed. Everyone told me when I got back in they were surprised I was able to ride back, the crash looked bad. To be honest, I didn't think it was that bad, and I was ready for some more!

New job is swell for all those keeping score, soccer is going well (although I haven't been as involved as I'd like to be thanks to work, school, bikes, etc.), school is going smoothly, I really have no complaints besides crashing on my bike every other week.

I feel strong. I feel tired. I feel like I should be doing something else. I feel happy.

Cheers! CE

Best Summer Ever!

As I sit in my room hectically trying to get ready for the first day of class tomorrow, I can't help but look back at a fabulous summer. I've raced bikes close to every weekend these last 5 months or so, and I feel much better for it. I've gone on a few trips, made many new friends, started a new job, and matured in so many great ways.

Let's talk about bike races first (: It was a solid road season, I never really got that super great result I was looking for at the beginning of the year, but I did win some money. I learned a ton and I feel like I have a really good grasp on how to win crit races now, I'm hoping that will pay off next year! I have a pretty full Fall season of cyclocross races, the first two: next Saturday in Alma and Sunday in St. John's, both of which I'm very much looking forward to. I think my fitness is at a pretty good point, what will hurt me is my mental game. Will I be able to fight through the pain or will I crack as soon as the pace gets high? Ryan told me last week I need to find 'the eye of the tiger', I'm not sure if I have yet, but it can be something good to work on (:

I've been through my first crash that I can remember (haha) and I feel better for it. I now know that crashes can (and will) happen, they hurt pretty bad but it is not the end of the world. Sometimes nothing can be done to avoid crashes, they just come out of nowhere, but it is a part of racing and something I can recover from. I have a whole cabinet drawer full of first aid supplies now, so I'm very well prepared to go down again. I think cyclocross races this Fall will be even better to help me get over crashing since I haven't raced since I went down in Detroit in July, and cyclocross racing is more or less just one big crash after another (;

I've gone on a couple trips down to Ohio to see Betsy and friends and it has been a great time every time. I am so glad Betsy moved away (not because I was sick of her or anything but she has made a whole new best friend group), met a wonderful guy (Mason for King), and it has opened up many new experiences for my family and myself. It is wonderful having a place to go a few hours away and a nice little vacation (party) spot just a short drive away (long enough to get bored while driving and go through a few playlists).

I went down to Tennessee at the beginning of summer and saw some great friends and did some new things, which was totally rad (always looking for a reason to go down to TN).

Most everyone must know by now; I left Advia around the beginning of August (thanks for everything, I miss everyone so dearly) and started a new job with Tibble & Wesler, CPA on August 27. I've worked full-time now for a week and I absolutely love it. I've prepared a few tax returns, worked on some bankruptcy stuff, and have done some bookkeeping; I don't think I'll ever get enough. I love having my own desk and my own phone extension, I've decorated my desk with some of my favorite things (Manchester United, bikes, and family, not necessarily in that order (; ), and I really enjoy the new people I work with/for. It is life changing having two computer monitors to work with, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to just one.

I feel very happy with myself. Coaching the boy's soccer team at Parchment has been amazing, Jerod and I are working very well together with the boys and I feel as if we will start to turn a corner just as conference play starts. I am very much looking forward to the rest of the season, even though I will take more of a back seat role now that school is starting and work has already started. I feel very motivated to have a strict schedule and get all my shit (stuff) done, still have a social life, and be able to be fast on a bike as well as my other extra curricular activities.

P.S. have you seen my new bike? (it's acid pink) (go see my friends down at Pedal)

I am figuring out what I want in life, what I want in a relationship (still don't know), and what fills my cup (it's not always alcohol). It'll be a very crazy next few months, I'll write when I can (hopefully after most race weekends), and I'll continue to make myself happy. Let's hope for a fantastic cross and gravel season, a successful first semester at Davenport, learning more at work and becoming a tax pro, continued fun with friends and potential suitors (suitors? what is this, the 1700's), and forever more reasons to put off doing homework (;

P.P.S. (I think that's right) It has been four years since I knocked my head and almost didn't make it, extremely blessed/thankful/fortunate/lucky/grateful to be able to live my life however I want it to be and not feel as if anything is holding me back (I wish people would stop coming up to me on my right side (; )

I better start reading some syllabi.

Cheers! CE