Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Keeping Busy leaving the Badgers (WI)

Cyclocross nationals was so much fun! We tied against Brevard College for the team overall classification (the most important part of collegiate racing) and we had to settle for second place from the tie breaker of the number of wins.

I was stoked to be apart of a great team and receive my first ever cyclocross collegiate team medal! I love collegiate racing; ever riders' placing counts for points.  It equalizes the men and women and every rider is just as important as the strongest rider.  A team cannot win with one strong rider, or a men's only team.

On Saturday morning, the whistle blew and I was off for my race.  I struggled to clip into my pedal and started far in the back of the pack.  I sprinted around carnage and hit right into the mud (which was more like smooth peanut butter covered in motor oil).  I fell over maybe 3 times within the first 500 meters of racing.

On the start line I was ready I was thinking "I'm gonna win this, I'm gonna win!"  Then halfway in, I was thought, "Well, I am so far back from falling over, I will just have fun and ride hard!"  Then towards the end I was covered in mud, wet, cold, and had a bloody knee.  I thought to myself "Okay, when is this going to end? Why am I doing this?"

Nonetheless, I had so much fun racing and being apart of the team.  I have never experienced a bike race where I was covered in mud nor have ever had to run with my bike so much. I can put that one in the record books.

I am just now getting home from a very long drive from Madison, WI.  Luckily, I can keep myself pretty entertained while sitting in a small space all day.  I start off the morning of an all-day drive by sipping a hot cup of coffee flavored water from the gas station and I sit and glaze out the window in a haze to wake up.

Next, I begin reading a book and I switch back and forth from my Bible, my journal, and my 'fun' reads.  After reading for a while, it's almost time to make a pit stop at a gas station where I run around the parking lot, doing lunges, and Richard Simmons' exercise routines.

I get back in the bus and settle in back to my books and if I am lucky, I will get a solid 15 minute nap in.  After 2 hours of twiddling my fingers and talking to my collegiate teammates about their thoughts on the food in the cafeteria (a reoccurring subject of discussion) it is about time to make lunch.

I wiggle my way down the one-foot ally of our short bus and fix myself a turkey sandwich with carrots and hummus.  After savoring every bite and trying to make it last as long as possible, I sit and twiddle my fingers in the opposite direction for another 2 hours.  I continue to read my books.

After I finish my reads, I get a phone call from my boyfriend Greg and we catch up from the very busy day!  It's about 3pm and my brain is fried from reading so I tune into my Ipod and jam out to my horribly sounding Dubstep songs.  I draw a picture. I make a list of groceries I have to get when I get home. I make a list of each price that I think each item will cost.  I even make a list of the laundry I need to wash.

Now it's dark outside and my eyes become dreary and heavy.  I get another 20 minute cat nap in.  The short bus rolls over the rumble strips and I am quickly awaken.  My friend, Sarah, moves into the seat next to me and we start singing and dancing to songs flashing back to the 1990s punk music then sing the whole soundtrack to The Sound of Music, followed by the Lion King, then Wicked.  We discussed how beautiful the movie "Les Miserables" was and how we wished we could watch it now!

We gave each other rapper names for singing old school rap songs.  I am Shugar Kube, and she is Shirley Temple.  Crap.... our Ipod batteries have died and there is only 15% battery life left in our phones with enough life to tell our parents that we are almost back to campus.

We make fun of our coach Hugh Moran who is jamming out to Pink Floyd while everyone else is half asleep.

 We twiddle our fingers for another 2 hours in anticipation to get to Asheville and eat some delicious Neo Burrito (http://www.neoburrito.com/).  They were closing down for the night but were gracious enough to feed 14 hungry college kids some dinner!

It's about 9:30pm and with tummies full of burrito goodness, we make it back to school safe and sound and finally rest in our own beds! Ah it's good to be home!

Huge thanks to everyone from Mars Hill College cycling team for a great race.  Thank you to the USA Cycling staff and volunteers who spent everyday in the 15 degree weather with snow,mud, and ice.  Thank you to the MHC coach Hugh Moran for taking care of us throughout the week and all the driving.

Lastly, thank you to all the people who came out to cheer; the heckles I received kept me pushing through the race!

More blog updates to come! Thanks for following!

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