Favorite Jeans

This next exert was taken from a fellow classmate of mine, Jessica Stotz. She is a brilliant writer and heads up a weekly motivational/devotional thought that she sends out to our class. This one I found particularly fitting because let's face it everyone has that favorite pair of jeans.


Favorite jeans. Everybody's got them. The pair that slides on and
practically fastens itself... a second skin, if you will. The pair that
has been to adventure and back, with the knees distressed a little, the
fabric softened. The jeans that make you comfortable: comfortable in your
surroundings, comfortable with yourself, comfortable in any situation.
Chuck Norris has a favorite pair of jeans. Chuck Norris has no place in
this note besides the fact that Chuck Norris can be wherever he wants to
be. Chuck Norris is also comfortable here, because he has his favorite
jeans on.
I don't like washing my favorite jeans. They always come out dry and
stiff, and a little tighter than they were before. It takes a few hours of
wear after the dryer cycle to get them back to normal. (Can't blame them;
if you put me on high heat for 65 minutes, I'm pretty sure I'd be stiff
and abnormal, too.)

We like comfortable. We like to wear our jeans until they become soft and
supple and non-restricting. We avoid washing them for as long as possible
- some avoid it longer than others, but we won't get into that.

We like comfortable. We like to set up our patterns and habits and stick
to them, avoiding changing and refreshing our actions, becoming relaxed
and unaware of how filthy things are becoming.

We fear vulnerability. We don't like to strip down, to allow our
comfortable exterior to be scrubbed and washed and pressed, returned
sparkling and vivid and clean... and stiff. We don't like discomfort.

Comfortable and Christian are far from synonyms. Paul wasn't exactly
comfortable in a dank, dark prison. Content, maybe, but not comfortable.
Timothy wasn't in his comfort zone when he left home to proclaim the news
of the resurrection of a presumed lunatic. I can't imagine John leaned
back and asked the guards to turn on the bubbles in his hot oil bath.
If I'm going to affiliate myself with the Man of Sorrows, I'd better get
ready to be uncomfortable.

There's nothing wrong with being comfortable in your favorite jeans. Just
remember to give them up to be washed, and let a little time outside your
comfort zone remind you what joy awaits 'way beyond the blue (denim).

Have a good week everyone. 4 more days then I'm off to Colorado; can't wait to see my mom and all my friends that ventured out to the Rockies.

Man's Best Friend

Today was a rough day at the Lusk household with longtime companion Sam, our dog of 10+ years, being put to sleep. The old man was put to rest with his best friend, my dad, holding him during his final breaths. It has been a fairly regular conversation as to when ole Sam-Bo would be finally put down as the intense summer heat and father time were bearing down on him. The family decided it was finally time to end the suffering with Sam really struggling the last couple weeks getting up due to degeneration of his hips. He gave it one hell of a fight and he will be dearly missed roaming the backyard with his joyful demeanor. He was one of the best behaved dogs I have ever seen and back in his prime could run forever and track any pheasant in the land.

Sam you will be missed buddy. Rest in peace and run like you always did with the great big smile!

Facing the inevitable

Taking it all in one last time. Rest in peace Sam-Bo

Summer Time

With the summer semester almost 50% completed and my first clinical looming in the distant months I'm trying to enjoy the summer for what its worth. And to be quite honest it isn't much. It's hard to find time away from school to hang out with friends and do the things I once had back when I was younger with buddies. Growing up sucks! Is it really so much to ask to go camping or fishing on a weekend without having to read 900 pages and studying for quizzes and exams?

For my practicum I unfortunately got placed in Lansing, MI which was less than ideal but none the less I'm still excited to get out of the classroom and get my hands wet in the clinic. The whole reason that I was drawn to PT was because the interaction that I'll be able to have with patients and now I'll get my chance to let my charming self go to work to promote better living and get people back to functioning properly.

Been trying my best to get in rides whenever possible and have ridden to school a hand full of times and with the upcoming hometown races in south bend I may be pulling a Brett Favre and coming out of retirement again. I wanted to also race in the Bloomington crit coming up in a few weeks but the fitness simply isn't there from lack of riding and also the steep entry fees with no return in prize money. These promoters are making a killing during these race weekends. I think I missed my real calling if I was a money hungry bitch. Bloomington always draws tons of racers and at $40 a pop with only 400 being paid out the the top 5? Come on now...

Other than school I've just been mowing and cutting a new path to the lake at Grandpa's house. Cutting down trees with chainsaws is always enjoyable once you get passed the fact that you're bound to get poison ivy and have ticks crawling all over you after departure from the woods. Almost done with that job though and then on to the next one. I've got to get in touch with my student loan rep here soon too to further sign my life away. Shit.

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. ~Sam Keen

Memorial Day

Once again another weekend has come and gone as I sit here tying together all the shenanigans that happened this weekend. For the first time in 4 years I didn't head to Iowa over Memorial day weekend to race in the 4 races that take place in the greater Quad Cities and Burlington areas. Bittersweet in a way but it sounds like some of the Indiana teams fared well out there. Jon Jacob suffered a pretty severe broken wrist from reading twitter updates and I feel for the guy as he's a great competitor and ambassador for the sport of cycling.

Friday night the little one came up and we hit the circuit of the Michigan City outlet mall, picked up some wings and saw "What to Expect when You're Expecting." It was pretty decent but more of a chick flick than I would have originally thought going into it from seeing previews. Then on Sunday we hit the almighty Warren Dunes in Michigan for some fun in the sun. It was packed! The one thing that really pissed me off was the sheer amount of park rangers that were directing traffic instead of taking money and allowing patrons to pass through more quickly. I literally had a ranger wave for me to pull up an extra 4 inches like it was going to make a world of difference in allowing a car into the entrance behind me. I was so close to saying, "Why don't you get your lazy ass some dollar bills and some park passes and start walking down this row of cars to help speed up the process rather than standing there with your thumb in your ass with your cute mount-me hat on." Everyone knows you're only making 9 bucks an hour and are probably the sole reason for the economic downfall of the state of Michigan.

Slept in today for a change and jacked around outside trying to delay the studying that must be done in preparation for tomorrows neurology of motor control/learning exam. If someone knows the reasoning behind the Andrews University faculty's reason for holding exams the day after a holiday weekend I'd love to know. It's almost as though they really don't want us to enjoy the freedom's of this country or have a life what so ever. Not that I'm going to study for it anymore than I should but I know this exam ruined the weekend for a lot of my classmates. Oh well back to the grind tomorrow. 2 exams and a couple quizzes this week then hoping to knock out 200 miles this coming weekend on the bike.

In spirit of the Memorial Day holiday I extend a very well-deserved thank you to all past, present, and future military personnel. Thank you for your dedication, hard work, and commitment to making and keeping America the best place in the world!

Back to the Grindstone

Since the last post on this bad boy I've been busy indulging in the new summer semester kicking off and now in full swing and also my first race in a very long time. Going into this summer semester we were told from the class above us that this semester is a cake walk and that they spent the entire summer at the beach because of all the free time they had. I don't know where they were coming from on this one or if a lot of things have changed over the course of the year but free time is few and far between. Then again it is Andrews University so their cruel intentions of wanting us to be in class for 8 hours a day during the summer semester wouldn't surprise me whatsoever. Guess I'm getting my monies worth...

Also for about the last week and a half I've been getting on the bike more and more and starting to see the legs coming back around, well at least hoping so. I did the Winona Road Race this past weekend debuting with the new team: "Hank Smash" when in reality I'm just wearing my old Scholars Inn Bakehouse kit. It was a relatively slow race even for only riding maybe 6 times. 42 miles long so it was a stretch of my endurance that's for sure but I held up well throughout the whole thing and was sitting in the top 4-5 wheels with less than 600 meters to go. Around the last turn into a somewhat uphill finish I quickly found that the ramping up of speed by Tim Nixon for the last 3 miles wasn't what my legs had in mind. I was in position to get in the money possibly but that finishing straight and my fitness had other plans. Ended up 15th so I wasn't upset about it and know that with some more riding I should be able to mix it up a bit more instead of surfing around in the back of pack for half the race.

As I was spectating Brian DePasse bringing home the "W" in his race (he also won the crit on Sunday) I was summoned to go to the medical tent to tend to an old Cutters teammate: yep you guessed it, Skeeter. He got cut off by some idiot in the final lap of his race and had some major road rash and a really deep gash on his chin. So after some manipulating of the medical staff and talking them out of calling an ambulance (in fear of him going into shock even though he clearly wasn't) we headed to the hospital to get him cleaned up. 4 hours and 14 stitches later I finally headed home. For those Cutters guys wondering: yes, I saw Skeeter's penis again in realtion to bike wrecks as he had a nasty gash down there but his member is just fine, no homo. Feel bad for the poor kid as he can honestly say that he's been through the ringer in terms of injuries. Even though he's banged up nothing is broken and looks as though he'll be racing again soon. Heal up quick buddy.

 Sitting in that ER room brought back some wild memories while we reminisced about "the wreck" a few years back but oddly enough it's kind of cool to reflect how close you become with your teammates and other little 5'ers over the years. I know those boys would have carried me to the hospital if need be and I could only pay my dues last Saturday and appreciate how this family is something that extends past graduation. That's what it means to be a Cutters rider though: You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Or dig the cinders out...

Summer Semester

Today was full of great things and not so great things. It was the official first day of classes starting my second year of PT school so that's somewhat exciting to think I've already completed a year. Classes seem like they will be fairly interesting this semester; dry, but none the less interesting. Neurology I with lab, Therapeutic Exercise with lab, and Pathophysiology II. We'll see how they turn out.

So I've decided that I've spent far too much time off and away from the bike. I was getting the itch to get back on the horse and pound out some miles around the time Little 5 was ending and still riding the high off that weekend but that was right when school decided to get all crazy. Excuses aside I had to put the priorities where they lie and ended the semester with a 3.68 bringing my cum to 3.5 so I'm happy. Considering many of my fellow peers spend countless hours studying to my mediocre amount I'm satisfied and feel like I'm learning a ton while still maintaining my sanity somewhat. So this summer and having only 5 classes instead of 9 I sat down and figured out how much time, and money, that could be saved from me riding to class. I found a decent route taking me through the winding roads of southwest Michigan ("Pure Michigan" as they say in commercials...) that comes out to be 28 miles in length so nothing unbearable by any means. With this means of transpo it always saves roughly $9.37 in gas per day. It's actually quite ridiculous.

I've ridden twice to school thus far and while sitting at lunch today cruising the Internet and feeling surly I decided to renew my racing license. Thinking that this is probably the last summer that I'll be able to actually race competitively I figured I'd jump in a few of the local races. What the heck. The first one will be this coming Saturday at the Fat/Skinny Tire Festival in Warsaw, IN. It's a 45 mile long road race but I'm a little leery only having ridden about 200 miles all spring. Should make for an interesting Saturday afternoon to say the least and I'll be taking the same approach the Delts do every year to Little 5: Suck wheels and hope to make it til the end. Maybe the finish will turn out like theirs did this year.

Not much else going on in this neck of the woods. I've got a little poison ivy on my wrist and ankle from mowing down the forest at grandpa's house but other than that things are just peachy.

Bloomington visits

Its always a blast coming down to Bloomington to visit the little one and friends and this trip down has thus far been just as great. Graduation celebrations, going to kilroys and playing Mario Kart, and reminiscing while completing old routes that used to be done weekly without much effort but now I feel like I've ridden 900 miles when in reality it's 40. Funny how father time has a different plan for you from the one you originally thought possible. I am however converting the cervelo to a time trial machine with the help from fowler and have my sites set on doing the whirlpool ironman 70.3 in August this year. Suppose I should start training... Heading to Lake Monroe and seeing what kind of trouble I can get into while out on the infamous "Party Boats" all after the completion of my first round of golf in over 7 years where there's plenty at stake with the silly little retard Caitlin. I can hit balls like no other, no pun intended. She's bitten off more than she can chew on this one as I'm a gamer and fully plan on using all sorts of psychological warfare tactics and other mind games to have her beat before we even start! Wish me luck!

First Year of PT School

Alright I know its been quite some time and I'm sure everyone is curious to what I've been up to. Well here you go; I am hoping to update this baby at least once a week starting now...

Most notably is the completion of my first year of physical therapy grad school. To say this year wasn't challenging would be a blatant lie. I pretty much cruised through my undergraduate studies without a real challenge with the exception of a few classes so this year was a punch to the gut of reality. Every single week this spring semester classmates and I stared blankly into the face of at least 2 to 3 exams every week and polished it off with 7 exams over a three day period. 10 different classes will make a man crazy in some regards. Hence, why I am writing my first post in months at 4:30 in the morning: my sleep schedule is severely off. I could go on and on about all the things that I've learned this year ranging from gross anatomy to pharmacology agents but I'll spare everyone as even I'll admit some is somewhat irrelevant.

Besides school I had the privilege this past year to coach the Collins Women's Little 500 team. It was a great experience for my personally and I think the girls showed a lot of determination to get this thing rolling, no pun intended. A small group of friends who maybe were getting a little bored or felt their college experience was getting a little stale decided, "what the heck let's restart this Collins team from the ground up?" With no equipment, bikes, clothing, or any idea of what to expect they jumped in head first and tried to float. When I thought about it and the challenge that it presented, along with a way to stay involved in the race that really shaped my own personal college experience I committed to be a coach. In the beginning I wasn't expecting much and just wanted them to enjoy the experience. With that being said I told them I was going to push them hard in workouts and I wanted them to fully commit to this endeavor. That they did! Sparing all the details there were many emails, texts, and phone calls with questions about workouts, pit selections, quals, and pretty much anything that one could possibly think of concerning this event.

Spring series weren't exactly a huge focus for us. Maybe dating back to my days with the Cutters and a little bit with the idea that they've only been riding for a month and a half I didn't think going full blow into these events would heighten spirits, etc. Nothing spectacular to speak of outright but they held their own flying under the radar and ultimately we had a great first quals run and qualified for the 25th running of the women's little 500 in the 18th position. We're in!

The day of the race I remember sitting around all day thinking about the strategy that I had in mind all the while trying to not think about the rain that was sure to come. Secretly I wanted it to pour though as I figured it would help a team of rookies that wouldn't necessarily know what to expect. Boy did that define their race more than I thought as everyone rode spectacular and finished all 100 laps and a tremendous 7th place. It was absolutely incredible to experience it from the perspective of coaching and to watch a group of individuals come so far in such a short amount of time. To think they went from not even having bikes at the end of January to placing 7th? Come on  that's awesome! Looking forward to working with the ladies in the years to come if they decide to keep me around (I've got at least one more year on my contract and received a sweet signing bonus of an Upland growler and some cookies!) We're losing Megan who will be studying abroad next year in France. Hard shoes to fill as she was voted Rookie of The Year by her riding peers but they're up for the challenge and should be fun to see if we get some new riders interested in carrying on the tradition.
 Here's a link to their blog. http://collinscycling.wordpress.com/

Labor Day Weekend

Welp another weekend is in the books and to be quite honest it was a good one! Not a whole lot of studying so it will most definitely be a long week ahead but that's alright I enjoyed myself. After class on Friday I drove up to Lansing, Michigan to take part in the weekend festivities of my dear cousin Drew's marriage. The wedding was great. Kind of hot but it didn't rain and everything turned out nicely so without a doubt an overall success! Everyone looked wonderful and I got to see a lot of cousins, family, and friends that I haven't seen in quite some time so that was awesome.

Stayed at my aunt Bunny's on Friday night and just hung out, went and got ice cream and caught up on general family gossip, etc. Wedding Saturday and then drove home early Sunday afternoon in hopes of getting some studying done. Well one thing after another with a nap sandwiched in between didn't allow for much but I did finish up my homework for the week so nothing but studying for this guy til next week's first round of exams. Should be interesting.

Most people think of labor day as one of the last holidays of the summer before the weather starts to cool and the leaves turn colors. I definitely did some laboring today: the kind where you're stuck behind a brushhog clearing out paths and what not at grandpa's house. Wasn't so bad cutting down trees and such especially since the weather was so beautiful and I got a little cash too which is always nice. Then home to celebrate my stepbrother Aaron's birthday. The big 14. Makes you feel old and sadly I'm starting to feel it as my shoulder is aching as of late and my metabolism just doesn't seem to be functioning as well either for some reason...

Have a good week everyone. Don't know about everyone else but looking forward to fall and more importantly thanksgiving break so i don't have class for a few days!

Week 2

Getting ready to start week 2 of PT school. Had a good weekend and was fairly productive so I'm feeling a whole lot better about this PT school thing. Coming to realize that there is going to be little time for fun though as most of my weekend was devoted to completing homework and studying the human body until I wanted to rip my eyes right out of my skull.

Looking forward to this weekend and heading up to Lansing, Michigan to go to my cousin Drew's wedding. Haven't seen all my cousins for a while so it will be nice to see everyone for sure. Also hoping there's an open bar because I have I feeling I'm going to be ready for a drink, or a dozen of them after week 2...

Worn Out

    As most of you probably know I started my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree quest at Andrews University this week. I knew going into the program the high expectations, excellence within the program, etc. etc. and boy did they really hammer it home this week to our class! Taking 18 credit hours at any institutional level is impressive in my mind but the degree of difficulty has definitely stepped it up a notch. The sheer volume of material that I learned, or should I say was suppose to learn this week is appalling. Honestly having class from 8-530 everyday is tiresome. Then on top of that you have anywhere from 5-10 chapters to read for various classes per week. Included in that is studying for pop quizes, trying to keep yourself sane by doing something you enjoy, but other than that absolutely nothing. The dean of the school said on the first day of class, "Kiss your social life goodbye." Sadly he was right. When I leave class at the end of the day I'm just mentally drained and need to unwind so i joined a gym in south bend and finally got back in the water. Ideally I'd rather be outside riding but let's face it 2 hour rides everyday are not going to bode with with my schedule so at the gym this week I've just been swimming and a little work on the concept 2 rowing machine. Next week I'll throw in some interval work on a bike just to give me an excuse to keep shaving my legs. Also piggybacking that is the fact that the hilly hundred is looming in the distance a little more than a month away. Have to train appropriately to hit my peak heading into that weekend.
     Well that's about all that anyone is going to read on this thing for the next 3 years: me bitching about school and possibly the 40 minute one-way commute up there. Feel free to send me any cool Cd's they'd be appreciated. Not only are my week trashed but now my weekends will be devoted to digesting all the material and sifting through it distinguishing what's worth studying for practical exams. Yay.

US Pro Criterium Championships

Ever since word got around that Eric would be racing for Bissell this summer there was controversy. Now 6 months later the kid is stirring the pot up in the higher ranks as well! It may sound stupid and you can think what you want but ever since Eric and I went to race in the Gateway Cup races last year in St. Louis I knew he had what it took to compete at the next level. Fresh off his 2010 US Pro Criterium Championship "Hollywood" Hollaway got his ass handed to him by Eric in heads up sprints two days in a row and I thought I was going to have a heart attack because the god damn announcer wouldn't give Eric the credit he deserved in those sprints. Now I don't think there will be any arguments after today's impressive showing as Eric brought home the coveted Stars and Stripes jersey.

Eric edging out Brad Huff at the line to take the win. Me cheering in the background like a mad man! I knew it before the announcers! Photo taken by Jonathan Devich


When I woke up this morning I had a weird feeling. I literally woke up 1 minute before my alarm went off, went upstairs to get some coffee and it was gone, checked the weather and looked like rain; nothing was going right. Said goodbye to my sister as she headed off to college and jumped in the car for the lonely 2.5 hour drive to Grand Rapids to watch the race. Once I got there I ran into Eric's parents at a coffee shop and while we were enjoying our less than spectacular java drinks I told his mom, "I've got a good feeling about today." She quickly responded, "I like good feelings!"

The race started and Kelley Benefit Strategies and Bissell seemed to be battling the whole time sending guys up the road with no real luck. About half way through the race the clouds started to roll in and I immediately felt the temperature drop about 10 degrees. The official cut the race by 20 laps or so and informed the riders there would only be 10 laps to go but needless to say once it hit 3 to go Mother Nature had other plans as wind gusts ripped over barriers and the stage. They postponed the race and when it finally restarted there was to be 30 laps to the finish. Now at this point everyone should be thinking, "I wonder if I should bet the farm on this Eric Young fella because from past experience he doesn't get beat much after a rainy restart?"

If you placed the wager you were right! Of course that's a very vague recap from a spectator point of view but that was a race that I will never forget as Eric charged toward the line dead even with Huff with the most intense look of desire I've ever seen. Mind you I've been riding with Eric a while so I've seen him at both his worst and his best. When he nudged in front of Huff right before the line I started jumping, screaming, crying, bleeding (I just got my wisdom teeth pulled and my sockets where the teeth used to be exploded and bled  everywhere!), hugging complete strangers, texting friends/teammates and I'm sure many other noteworthy things in celebration. It seemed as though someone just handed me a million dollars.

So here's to you Eric to a job well done today and this summer thus far. I wish you nothing but the best and I know deep down this is just the beginning. Glad to say you're part of the Cutters family and I know you ride with passion for all of us and many others. Keep it rollin Hazelbear

PS: I bet Ryan Kiel sleeps like a baby tonight

It's Been A While

For all three of you who have read this sad excuse for a blog I apologize for not writing in a very long time. In my defense though I find this blogging site somewhat ridiculous because you are not allowed to have a GMail email account associated with your blog. What happens when that's your primary email source? Anyone know any loopholes around this?

Ever since I stopped writing on this there really hasn't been much to write home about other than a giant party. Needless to say I had a great summer. Never went grocery shopping and ate out damn near every meal and partied like a rock star. Loved every minute of it but I'm definitely ready to get back to a little regularity and schedule. Starting class on Monday up at Andrews. Looking forward to making this progression into professional school.

Helped move Elliot down to Bloomington and it was bittersweet knowing that i can't go back to bloomington unfortunately. Grace is also leaving tomorrow for  Valpo so I will be the king of the castle rightfully so!

Had a great trip out to Colorado to visit mom and had a tremendous time. Went to the Royal Gorge Bridge, took the train down the Arkansas River, hiked Pike's Peak, conquered the Incline, 7 Falls, Cripple Creek, and rode a bit and most importantly had a giant bear digging through the trash.

Heading up to Grand Rapids tomorrow to watch Hazel compete in the US Pro Criterium Championship. Wishing him a safe race and hopefully he will be able to bring home a stars and bars jersey!

The Next Stage

This last week was big; in fact it was huge in terms of my future. Only weeks prior have I decided that my chances at attending graduate school this year were slim at best and I was losing faith. I decided that my best career choice during my year off would be to study for the board examination to become a personal trainer and work at a gym that I used to work out at in the summers of high school. So I ordered some study materials and started the process. Finishing up at work I headed home to study a bit before going riding later in the day with a few friends. I really wasn't feeling the whole studying process and a bit tired so I decided to take a little nap; go figure! I easily passed out within 5 minutes and low and behold was woken up by my obnoxious ring tone only 30 minutes into my nap. Now if you know my sleeping habits at all you know exactly how hard it is to wake me up so the fact that the phone ringing woke me up is a miracle in itself. I rolled over and grabbed my phone and didn't recognize the number. I throw my phone back on my nightstand and was just going to ignore the call being the screen er that I am. For some reason that I still don't know myself I reached for the phone again and answered. It was a sweet lady on the other side and I immediately thought it was one of the Red Cross people calling again asking, or better yet, begging for me to give blood even though I've repeatedly asked to be taken off the list. (Note: I support giving blood but while training for bike racing its a terrible idea that I found out the bad way) Then she introduced herself as Dixie Scott and the lights went off in my head because I recognized that name from my interview about a month ago for grad school. "Zachary, I've got some news that may be of interest. We'd like to offer you admission into the Doctoral Physical Therapy program here at Andrews University." I about hit the ceiling with excitement!
   
Now that I've got a plan in place for the final stage in my journey toward becoming a real adult I feel like my life is finally taking shape in the direction it was suppose to go. To say I wasn't worried before this phone call would be a drastic understatement. For now just trying to figure out some financials as I see lots of dollars accumulating in the red (debtcity) and enjoying the last month here in Bloomington before I leave this great town back to the grassroots before starting class on August 22nd.

Back at It

It's been a while since I've blogged or for that matter done much of anything. To put it simply, riding and exercise in general has taken a back seat the last few weeks to the finer things in life: eating fast food, hanging out with buddies, going to the bars, and hanging out with a lady. The point at which I really realized that I was horribly out of shape was when Pilling somehow talked me into competing in the Hummel Park circuit race a few weeks ago on my way home to see me baby sister graduate. Needless to say I lasted about 6 laps and that's putting it generously. I felt like death right from the start and wasn't too surprised to find that my Little 5 fitness was completely gone. Instead of getting back on the bike and doing something about it I kept the downward spiral going with the exception of a few quick runs with Caitlin and running in the Sunburst 5k back at home. That really sucked too! I finished right at 20:00 which I was pretty happy about since I've ran about 5 times in the last 3 years. Caitlin actually won the overall women's title for the 5k as her and my old man battled it out to the end with her edging out the personal victory over Big Al by mere seconds.

After riding a quick and easy ride to shake the legs back into form on Monday and see if I still remembered how to clip in and such I decided to test the waters in the Forest Time Trial. Ouch! I was actually pretty satisfied with my time (24:34) due to the severe lack of riding. Riding is making it's way back into the regular daily schedule and I also plan on jumping into a few races before the finale being the Scholars Inn Cycling Festival here in Bloomington.

Promise I'll keep this thing updated a bit more...until then keep fighting the good fight!

Summer Time

Heading into the Summer months the weather is finally starting to cooperate and the sun has actually been shining a bit which is nice so everyone isn't depressed. In other news it seems as though everyone is moving; Kristen is taking off to Arizona to teach America's youth, Clayton and Caroline are off to Colorado, and I'm still waiting to see what the hell I'm going to do next year. I'm getting to the point where it's looking like I'll be joining the work force for a short stint before re-applying to schools next year. It shouldn't be all bad getting a job but I'd like to get the ball rolling on finishing this PT stuff because that's ultimately what I want to be doing with my life. Should have applied earlier and now I'm kicking myself because of it. I guess I could always pull a Van Wilder and just be a professional student.

Went with some friends to dinner and to see The Hangover 2 last night. Pretty decent follow-up to the first movie! Even better was the 80 year old woman that sat next to me! Other than that I've been eating a lot of fast food and not riding my bike. Excited to head home for the next few weekends to celebrate my lovely sister, Grace's graduation. She'll be heading to Valparaiso University next year and I wish her nothing but the best! Proud of you Gracie!

Kentucky

Headed down to Kentucky with a slew of scholars inn riders to Frankfort, KY yesterday in the morning. To my surprise the team worked really well together controlling the pack and chasing down moves. Seeing as it was my first race of the year I was a little unsure as to how the legs were going to hold out but it ended up alright. I think SIB took 3,5,8,13,19...with a few more threw in there as well so pretty good showing especially for a first year team. Kevin went off the front with about four to go and when he did I was sitting about ninth wheel and he sort of just slides away. Before I knew it he had a pretty decent gap and I thought oh shit I better get to the front and try and slow this honky down so he can solo away. Did a halfway decent job of slowing it down with the help of patch giving a little guidance sitting second wheel. I told him I'd lead him out but wanted to keep the pack off Kevin took first priority...Kevin ended up third as that last half lap got stupid fast and I got swarmed by a slew of people able to hold on for 13th. Overall good day for scholars inn team though and even the announcer was giving us a lot of credit in not only the 3's race but all other categories as well. Give it another go today in Richmond.

One Week into Summer

I can hardly believe that it's been nearly a week since graduation already. This week the weather seems to be transitioning into the summer season as everyone waits for pools to open and to hit the lake on boats. My personal transition into the daily grind of work instead of going to class for a couple hours a day definitely took its toll on me this week as I was definitely burning the candle at both ends this week. Staying up late with friends and waking up early to complete various experiments that I'm a subject for marked for a long week.

Logged some decent riding this week finally as it was for the most part my first full week back on the bike with some regularity. It felt good to have the knees finally cooperate as they were starting to really bother me toward the end of Little 5 season. I was planning on racing this weekend up in Winona Lake but I feel like I'm not quite ready for the race scene and don't want to throw away any money just to get my ass handed to me. Looking forward to heading out to Iowa on Memorial Day weekend for 4 big races. This might mark my first races of the season so it will be fun as there are a bunch of spectators and lots of riders. I'd like to slip into the top ten for at least 2 of the races and want to really do well at Quad Cities which is the last of the 4 crits. The most famous though is the snake. A winding cobblestone crit that is easily the most terrible thing I've encountered in cycling.

A picture of the snake from last year. Perez said I don't leave much of a draft; I beg to differ...

Went to a few gatherings this week as well. Lylepalooza at Scholars Inn on Monday followed by a terrible movie that definitely was not my choice. Word of advice if you're thinking about going to see Something Borrowed you might as well stay at home and smash your fingers in the door instead. Tuesday I was feeling surly and so overwhelmed by how terrible that previous day's movie adventure went that I decided to go see the new Fast Five (Fast and the Furious) movie and was impressed. Of course its a little out there but nonetheless pretty sweet cars and fight scenes! Wednesday marked the infamous Wednesday Worlds but just as the legs were feeling good and opening up my back tire blew out so I limped it home and my night finished rather uneventful. Since then just hanging out and going to experiments and work. Today I went to lunch with my buddy Andy to Smoking Jack's Rib Shack and got the Catfish sandwich: so good!

A teammate of mine, Kevin set me up on a little date with a girl on the track team: Caitlin Engel. I was a little uneasy about it at first but figured I'd give a shot to go out and have a little fun. Turns out she's pretty cool and very competitive as we immediately started making bets about various games and low and behold I was the ultimate winner as I had to do a little research with the help of a friend in finding a hidden gem of a picture taken earlier this year...

She's a steeplechase runner and had an unfortunate turn of events on this hurdle. Ha she's going to be pissed about this but I just can't resist. And to be honest I've got a way better one of her but I'll save that one for another rainy day. In all seriousness though she's a badass and I wish her the best of luck this weekend at the Big Ten championships out in Iowa.

Looks like another rainy weekend in store for Bloomington; go figure.

Goodbye Indiana University

Walking out of my last final was absolutely surreal this afternoon. I knew it was coming but at the same time after you turn in that last exam and walk down the hollowed halls and finally progress outside of the building it hits you. It was a beautiful day in Bloomington this afternoon so upon completion of my final undergraduate endeavor I strolled to work nice and slow and took in the sights, the weather, and the smells of springs. 4 years here in Bloomington have shaped my life in ways that I will never be able to tell and I'm glad I will be here for another month or so to grant Bloomington the proper goodbye. When I was walking to work today its funny of the things I thought of that suddenly come rushing into your mind. Things such as how many times I've walked down this sidewalk, or the number of visits to the union to print off notes for class. 4 years seems like such a long time but when I look back on it I can remember many days back when I was sitting in my room at Manchester College with the big decision of whether or not to transfer to IU. Talking with family friends and finally convinced by my good friend Blosser to go look for apartments I made the choice that when I think about it more was probably the best decision I've made or probably will make.

The actual commencement ceremony was pretty cool. I wasn't sure how I was going to like it being that there was going to be so many graduates but it was nice. I think the best speech of the day was giving by a fellow graduate, very professional and light-hearted at the same time.

Partying with the McFall's at Nick's English Hut was a blast on Friday night as well. I'm really going to miss that family a lot come college football season and not being able to go to their amazing tailgates. Truly an incredible family and I owe it all to my good friend Alex.

Indiana University it's been a great 4 years; undoubtedly the best thus far in my life and I highly doubt any will top them! So many memories are swirling around my head that it seems impossible that there was enough time in that 4 years to accomplish all of them.

The old man and I prior to the ceremony

It only took 5 years but I've finished. All of that for that little red folder!

Just want to throw out a big thank you to anyone that has supported me over the years to make this dream possible. My family, friends, teammates, coaches, coworkers, and many others. Couldn't have done it without all of you!

One Final Party

Last night Lyle F, owner of Scholars Inn and the two Bakehouses here in town invited the top two teams up to the restaurant for a night of reflection and celebration. What a great time! Lyle is an awesome guy and its hard to come by someone as passionate about cycling as him. Hosting the two teams for dinner was a true pleasure and it was nice to hang out with the Phi Delt guys over a few drinks and dinner. Lyle being the party animal and great host that he is probably dished out one too many drinks but I guess you'll have that. It's always nice to relax and celebrate with friends, teammates, coaches, whoever it may be and it's even better when there's an open bar and New York Strip Steak involved. Mine was delicious! Not eating steak on the regular like at home really makes you appreciate a nice dinner.

As we were packing up to leave and saying our farewells Fowler said that this could possibly be the last time the race team from 2011 was all together and to take a look around and reflect on the memories of the year. I know this seems to be a reoccurring theme in my posts but this god damn bike team has been my life for the last 3 years so it's weird to think of things like that...

Finals are quickly approaching and I can sense the bittersweet ending drawing closer and closer with every passing day. Although I'll be in Bloomington for at least part of the upcoming summer its hard to imagine leaving this town. As of now I don't know where exactly I'll be heading as graduate school classes have seemed to fill up rather quickly so I guess only time will tell. Until then good luck on finals to my fellow classmates and let's take Bloomington for everything its worth the next couple weeks!