Fort Custer Stampede

First mountain bike race about went as well as expected. I started in the front but I wasn't in the front enough. That's fine. I know I'm not going to be able to hang with these guys once we get on the technical parts. I was able to fly on anything that was straight and flat, but I was losing so much time on the singletrack it didn't do me much good to try and get back to the leaders on the two-track. Not much to say about this race, I'm feeling pretty fast-ish on the trails, just need to learn a bit more about mountain bike racing. Only thing is; I'm not that interested to want to learn anymore (: It is kinda fun, but not really.

                                              *I might have been the Easter Bunny at Easter

I'll be participating in the WAM 300 at the end of July. WAM stands for Wish-a-Mile, and it is a benefit ride for the Make-a-wish foundation, something I'm sure most everyone knows is very dear to my heart. The 300 stands for miles, starting in Traverse City on Friday, the 3 day ride ends at the EATON proving grounds in Galesburg on Sunday. That's crazy, right? No. Some of the kids I've read briefly about, it absolutely breaks my heart. No fault of their own, some of these wonderful children are faced with the battle of a lifetime, sometimes before they are even in high school. I can't even begin to imagine. My goal is to raise $1,200 before the 300 mile ride at the end of July, and I hope you'll consider donating here. More about this in the upcoming months. I was extremely fortunate to never require the services of this organization 5 years ago, but a lot of kids need our help.

Next weekend starts a couple months of driving around the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio area for racing. I'd really like to do this, but to say I'm overwhelmed with everything would be an understatement (: For those keeping score, I'm taking 4 online classes this summer, coupled with buying a home (I hope to close this week or next) and a little extra workload at the office, I'm not expecting a whole lot of success on the bike. I've already kind of designated this year as one of some more learning, seeing what my body is capable of and trying to hold on in races and see what happens. I know next summer, I'll be done with school, but I just realized I hope to be in full-swing of taking CPA exams, so even that will slow me down next summer. Ugh. I'm hopeful I can rest up and get some solid miles in this week, now that the weather is scorching hot. I can already feel the sun-burn.

I rode my first ever Wednesday night 'hammer-fest' ride last week! As the name implies, this ride is fast and long. Fantastic. Just what the doctor ordered (I've actually strained my hamstring and the doctor ordered rest, but what do they know). It went fantastic. I was able to hang with the front group the entire time, we ended up having 4 flat tires between the 12 of us in the group, super fantastic. Of course, this brings a lot of confidence that I'm fast enough to hang with some of the fastest guys in kzoo. I think my days of going out for 3 hour long rides are behind me, I've built up enough base. For this summer, my focus is working on my speed and some interval work (super hard, super easy, super hard, super easy) and this will bring me the results I'm looking for in a few months time.

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) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI 11th Overall 4/5 (48)
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain!!) 7th AG (13)
6/1 The Waterford Races, Clarkston, MI
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/14 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI
6/15 Ada Crit, Ada, MI
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
7/20 Whiskey City Twilight Challenge, Lawrenceburg, IN
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

As far as an 'A' race for the rest of the year, or a race I'm really looking to do well at, nothing stands out. Of course I'd love to do well at the Detroit cycling weekend on the 13th, but that is a huge race and might be coming a year too soon based on my current fitness (good not great) and my injury woes (as mentioned above). For those concerned, I can't take 3 weeks off a bike to let my leg heal, I'd lose too much fitness. I can stretch and ice and compress which will put a band-aid on the problem, but I'm able to ride and ride fast so I'm happy.

Hammond, IN sounds like a long way away, but my best-bud Nate Timmons is driving a 1950's (?) VW van around the entire country, so maybe it isn't too far. Check out The Dad Book here.

I have two classes starting tomorrow..........

Cheers! CE

Home Ownership

Good evening!

Not having any classes for a couple weeks is strange. There is this gap for a couple hours everyday where I wonder, 'shouldn't I be working on something?'  It is fantastic, but I can't help but wonder what happens to this feeling after I graduate? I lost my 4.0 gpa this semester, but I was taking some tough classes and it was my first tax season, so I get some slack. Also, grades were still pretty darn solid, so no issues there. I won't be going to grad school, so as long as I get a C, I'm good, right?Further, I've talked with my bosses and adviser at Davenport and we've come up with a pretty good plan for my next 2 years. I want to purchase the Becker CPA prep exam course online thing by the end of this summer. It's expensive, but it is all-encompassing and I get it for 18 months; meaning it is critical that I pass the 4 CPA exams in that 18 months, not too bad.

If I start preparing for the exams by the end of summer, I plan on taking the most difficult of the four exams in December before tax season kicks off. This will give me a solid 4 months to prepare for the most difficult test, and I think that will be fabulous. After I pass the first, I want another 4 months to prepare for the second test, meaning I'll take that around April or May. Assuming I pass the two most difficult exams, I'll take another 2 or 3 months to prepare for the final 2 exams, which I would then plan on taking next summer. And there you have it, Charlie Eaton CPA! Very loose, and a lot needs to happen of course (I've got all my classes scheduled to be able to graduate next Spring), but we are excited for this little chapter. Further, I'm taking 4 online classes this summer, so if I'm not riding bikes or at work, chances are I'm at Starbucks pretending to do homework.

Everyone knows I think, but I bought a house! I don't close for another couple of weeks, but based on what I know, everything is going super smoothly and it looks like things will be finalized without much hassle. A lot of the older men in my life (again, no offence) have asked questions about this decision and I won't go into the details here, but I am super super super excited to begin building some equity in a fantastic little house in the Westnedge Hill neighborhood, and I'll hope everyone I know will stop by at some point to have some drinks with me and chat! Ethel has been fantastic, I texted her last Tuesday morning and we made an offer Wednesday and it was accepted that evening! I was able to get pre-approved for a mortgage without any co-signers (if you haven't started building credit yet, lets chat - Betsy and Em) I've got big plans for this little place, I figure it's a 5-10 year house, I'll sell it, and it'll be a down-payment on another house for me, fantastic!

I know you all came here for the bike stuff. I've strained my hamstring. I don't exactly know what that means but it hurts. I rode a couple weeks ago out to Gobles and back and ever since there has been this pain on the back of my knee. I've been able to ride through it and still be pretty fast, but it has been there for a while. After enough concern from my parents, I went to the Borgess walk-in something and they took some x-rays and felt around and decided my hamstring was strained. Word on the street is, I don't ever stretch so that is why this happened, but goodness it isn't super comfortable and it is slowing me down enough where I need to give it some attention. So, we are going to stretch, drink a lot of water, and eat healthy. I've said this before? (: Best Pedal Thursday night ride of my life last Thursday though with the problem hamstring. I was able to go as fast as everyone else up all the hills, which I'm never able to do. I know it is all mental, but I think this may be a turning point for me. Let's hope I can do it again next Thursday.

I raced today over in Ann Arbor after having skipped the Yankee Springs Time Trial on Saturday for a couple reasons: 1) I waited too long and couldn't pre-register online 2) weather was questionable 3) my mountain biking skills are laughable. Anyway, this was my first road-race since I crashed hard in Detroit last July (really?) and it went well. Not great, but well enough to be excited about next week. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but some guy took off by himself at the very beginning. I then got up to the chase group of about 6 of us. A couple laps later, I saw a couple guys from our group take off in an effort to get up to the solo leader. I saw them leave, but didn't do anything. So that leaves 4 of us in this chase group behind 3 guys in front of us (the leader had waited for these other 2 to catch up) and our group never really worked together. We ended up lapping the field but at the end of the race, the 3 leaders also lapped us. So it was a crazy finish, as the leaders come around our group at the finish while we are coming around the rest of the field, everyone was done. I didn't realize this, but once the leaders finish the race with the correct number of laps, everyone else is done too. So I didn't really have a go at the 4 other guys I was with because I was under the impression we still had another lap to go. Looking back at this race, I think I need to do whatever it takes to make the break-away. I for sure have the fitness, especially after I can get my health back to 100%. We'll get them next week.

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) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI 8th Overall 4/5 (35)
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain) / AA STS
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

Good stuff this week, right? Super exciting times for everyone's favorite Associate Accountant, as always, get a hold of me if you are having any issues with the IRS or other taxing agencies (: I'd love to help. There is so much more I could add, but I'll leave it alone. I was planning on doing two races this morning, but my leg had other ideas (: probably, shouldn't have done the one, but it'll be fine, right?

I can't believe it is already Monday.

Cheers! CE

Barry Roubaix

First time racing BRX; a learning experience.

The race lined up super early. I was out riding my warm-up and found Elliot riding around so joined him. My wave was set to start at 10:08, and by 9:30 the start chute was filled. No worries, I thought, as this race is timed as sort of a time trial. So it isn't necessarily what place you finish in, but the time from when you cross the start line until you cross the finish line.

Before I knew it, the front of my wave was quite a ways in front of me. So I'm in a strange position. I start in wave 3, but all the contenders for the race I'm riding are starting in wave 7, which starts 8 minutes behind my wave. For the first 20 minutes of the race, coming up the 'three sisters' - three large hills at the beginning - I was just trying to catch the front of my wave. The fastest guys in the 36 mile race still start in wave 7 - and all my teammates - but I still knew that all the guys in my age group, 19-24 started with me in wave 3. Up the big hills I was able to catch up with a few tandems that started in my wave, which are very good allies to have during the race. As I experienced with Tim last year at Melting Mann, tandems are very fast when the racing is flat, just very slow climbing. So for about 5 or so miles, it was a constant passing the tandems up hills, and then they would catch me up on the flats and I would get behind the group of 3 tandems and ride behind them for a while.

I don't think I ever caught the very front of wave 3, as I finished 6th in my age group (which all started in wave 3), one spot off the podium, darn. The top guys in my age group were in front of me the whole race. I was constantly passing people the entire time. The 22 mile route merged with my 36 mile route during the race, so the road was constantly filled with riders much slower than I was going. It was a constant cycle of riding as hard as I could to get on the group in front of me, realizing quickly they were going much slower and then coming around and chasing down the next group on the road. I was doing very well at this until we got to Sager Road, the renowned two-track, which was full of rocks and sand, it was bad. I was behind a large group coming into Sager, so I was behind a lot of people walking their bikes, with not any room to get around. With all the sand, I didn't have anything, and my race blew up. I walked pretty much the entire road and while doing so got a lot of sand in my cleats.

For the next 10 or so miles after Sager, I couldn't get my right foot clipped into my pedal. For all those concerned, I have shoes and pedals that fit together, and not being able to clip in my right foot really messed with me. I was mad about it for a while, letting a lot of people pass me and not really worried about putting in the effort to make up some ground on the riders ahead of me. I eventually got over this after a while, and just used my right pedal as a sort of platform, which was dangerous as my foot kept slipping off, causing me to go slower and not really able to hold onto any wheels ahead of me. This was a large part of the race where I lot of people came by me, and I'm disappointed with this as my fitness was good yesterday, I was really putting in some power when I could, and I was able to out-climb anyone around me. That being said, I was never really with anyone I was directly competing with. I didn't know who was in my age group so I couldn't mark anyone to make sure I stay with them.

Eventually, I hit a large pothole fast enough and the hole was large enough that it forced my shoe to be able to clip back into my pedal, and I was off. The last 10 miles I was with a group of about 5 people, and we cruised back into Hastings. Probably averaging upwards of 22 mph, we passed a lot of people. Unfortunately, most of these people we passed probably weren't in our race, as the 36 mile course was now the same as the 22 mile course. Basically, all these people are in the way, and no benefit to me.

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) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
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

This years Barry Roubaix was one of learning. Get to the start early. Stay on wheels. Try and survive Sager Rd. without stepping off or walking too much in the sand. It was too bad so many people were in the way. It is too bad that the people I was competing with started 8 minutes after me. I wish this race was organized differently, but it is what it is. I'm happy with my fitness, I'm looking forward to more races. I'm thinking about going down to Indy next weekend to race, we will see. It might be of greater benefit to train hard this week, this weekend, and next week; just to get some more solid base behind my training. I don't really have any races on my A list until July in Detroit, so now might be a good time to really work on my fitness some more and work on some smart, structured training now that tax season is over, and school is about done.

A fantastic race from all the TCL guys and ladies, a ton of podiums. Well done!

Not too many photos this week, but lots of information; enjoy (:

Cheers! CE

Lowell 50

So the Lowell 50 was amazing on Saturday! Super beautiful area and course, and the event was very well run. From the parking to the registration and the awards, I was impressed. I'm always looking for free stuff, and I got a new PINK water bottle holder out of the race, already a winner in my book. Further, it was a beautiful day; the first real 'summer' like weather we've had, and that seemed to raise my confidence even more than it was already.

*first row, fifth from left

I think I should mention how pro I felt at Lowell yesterday, but when don't I feel pro, right? We started with a neutral lead-out for maybe the first mile or so. That means there was a car in front of all the racers, and no one can pass the car until it pulls off. So the car is leading this group of around 250 riders through a beautiful area, we are all just going nice and easy, about 15mph, through a covered bridge, and then the car pulls off. The racing started immediately. Some guy took off right at the start but he wasn't strong enough and came back as soon as he left.

We then took a right I believe, I was still sitting about 5th wheel, and a big, rocky, uphill in sight. Of course, I'm all into it and I'm fine for about 20 seconds then people start coming around me and I can't hang at all. Ugh. Who would have thought. BUT, another group came around me once it started getting flat again. It's a bigger group, maybe 10 guys, and with everything I had in me I was able to grab the last wheel in the group and hang on. This is really all it takes to get with a group, but it still takes that 10 seconds of all out effort when you're already struggling to hang.

The entire race, I was with this 'chase' group. I'd say by the end there were about 15 of us, as we were really making up some time on the lead group and we kept picking people up and they would be able to hold on and join us. Now, something to note is that a bigger team out of BC I think, Athletic Mentors, had 3 or 4 guys in this group. It was a game of trusting that this team would want to catch the lead group, so they would be setting the pace the entire time, and they pretty much did. I had to trust that these guys would want to get back up to the front so they would be making sure our group was going fast, which was very well done.

Towards the end of the race, maybe 2 miles to go, I found myself in the front of this big group. I'm not quite sure how I got up to the very front, and I didn't really have any idea how many people we still had with the group, but I decided to lay down the hammer a little bit. I could feel everyone getting pretty tired, I was too, and I thought lifting the pace might crack a couple guys and get our group smaller. This didn't work; I brought the pace up to about 22mph but it seemed everyone was able to sit in the draft and match the speed. Then we got into a few little rolling hills and I found myself at the back of the pack with maybe 1.5 miles to go; not where I want to be.

Fortunately, there was a big down hill into the finish and I was able to take my own line on the outside and work my way back up well enough to have some sort of good position coming into the sprint. There was a big left turn, I was maybe about 6th in the group, and I could tell people were starting to wind up. I was just so happy I was still with this group at the end of the race, I didn't really make a move. I was exhausted, I had done a lot of work to stay with this group and I didn't have much left. I was able to hold my position but I couldn't pass anyone, so I finished probably around 6th in the 'chase' group, only about 5 minutes off the leader. I'm super happy.

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) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
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

Yes! Would you look at that. I'm very happy with 27th overall. I wasn't able to hang with the front group, but I did hop on the second big group to come around me and I was able to stay with them most of the race! YES! I have a feeling Barry may be coming a little too soon for me. I've been training well and I'm super stoked with how much I've been riding, but I need some more time. I rode with Tim, Ryan and Ben up at Yankee today, and it was rad. First time on my new mountain bike and it was the best! My mountain bike skills have much to be desired, but my fitness is good and I was flying. I went out for a second loop with Ben and Ryan and they just destroyed me. They were gone before I was even able to see where they were, ugh. But, I'm just starting out with a mountain bike and there is a lot of technique involved, none of which I have.

We've got one more week of tax season, just about another week or two of school (I think??) and then things will calm down a little bit. For all those concerned, I'm taking 3 classes this summer so I can graduate next Spring! Yes, an end is in sight. I have a feeling this week is going to be one with little sleep. I have about a million things I need to do for school, and don't tell any of my professors but I haven't really started anything yet, ugh.

I'm super excited for the rest of this year, I'm pretty fast, I'm figuring out what works for me, and I am having a super good time doing it; the most important thing. I should probably be doing some homework. Big race next week, my plan is to just hang with whoever I get with, stay relaxed and calm, and hope to do well, let's do it!

Ha, oh. Today at Yankee Springs Tim and I passed some people, and of course trying to be as courteous as possible Tim said something along the lines of, 'oh no hurry, we're fine' to which she replied, you must be in a hurry if you're riding a pink bike. LOL Of course Tim and I both have the same bright super PINK mountain bike, that was hilarious, you had to be there.

Cheers! CE

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