Universal Religion Chapter 5!

As you may know I listen to a lot of dance music. I first started listening to trance, and its still my favorite. Anyways one compilation that I have always loved was the Universal Religion series by Armin Van Buuren. Its always so captivating and uplifting, while catchy and exciting. You can always feel the crowds because they are in the background of the live recordings. Anyways, in honor of the new chapter, I made a little mix of my favorite songs from the previous 4. Hope you enjoy!

Track List:
1.As the Rush Comes (Armin van Buuren's Universal Religion Remix) - Motorcycle
2.The Timelord - Signum
3. Daydream - Markus Schulz Vs. Andy Moor
4. This Moment (Prog Mix) - Nic Chagall feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn
5. Tuvan (Gareth Emery Mix) - Gaia

Awesome results, but it's just the beginning.

This past weekend I had a difficult choice to make. I could drive down to Mizzou and race collegiate on some pretty awesome trails and get some collegiate racing in or I could race the WORS Wigwam race in Sheboygan. It was a tough choice, made even more difficult by the fun that was to be had in Mizzou. On the flip side the competition at WORS is so much better and I stood to gain about 160 points in the overall which could move me up considerably. In the end between competition, points, and the amazing Wigwam fans and course, I decided to race in Sheboygan.

It wasn’t all bad either. Saturday night I went out with some friends from high school and had a really awesome time. I got back a little later than I wanted to, but no big deal. I’d rather go to bed in a good mood than super early. That’s not to say I wasn’t really tired in them morning though. My dad woke me up 30 minutes before we were going to leave. Luckily everything was already in the car from when I drove home from Madison the night before.

I got to course in time for my dad’s sport race and the weather couldn’t have been any better. Seriously anyone who was there would agree. The fall colors were amazing, but it was almost warm for summer time, let alone fall. The course was also in amazing shape too. Some spots were a little dry and dusty, but I’m not complaining. Things got even warmer during my dad’s race too. But it was a lot of fun to watch him race. He has been putting more time into racing and riding this year and it’s fun to watch it pay off for him. As he was finishing up, I got ready and started my warm up. It was just a few 30 second sprints with about 20 minutes of spinning, but it was just right. Then I headed to the start line.

 

I got super lucky on the start. Everyone had a call up who was in front of me so I actually ended up on the 3^rd row right in the middle. I knew that the inside of the first turn would get crowded so when the race started I took it fast and got to the outside. It worked really well and I went through to hole shot banner like 15^th wheel. I was able to make a few passes before the single track started, but everyone in front of me was plenty fast enough. I did make a few passes in the second section as Scott Cole was behind me pushing me to go faster. I made those passes and actually left him behind and caught his Adventure 212 teammates Chris Peariso and Ryan Krayer. I filed in third wheel and started looking for passing lanes. I tried to pass on this off camber downhill, not the best idea I admit, and Ryan made sure I knew as he put me into the bushes a little bit. I was able to get him later in the lap, but only after Chris got away. I broke away from Ryan and ended up catching Dalas Fowler, a good friend, Kuhl Midwest rider and UW Alumni.

We battled back and forth on lap 2, 3 and 4. One lap he would attack and I was on the rivet, and the opposite would happen the next lap. But I was pretty content because we were riding well inside the top 10. I decided to take it a little easy on lap 4 because I knew I wasn’t going to just ride away from him, he’s just too strong. I saved my energy for the last lap and attacked him going into the single track. I got a very small gap, but most importantly had control of the pace. I started to really put the hammer down and push it. I stretched the gap out to about 5 seconds. I tried to snap the elastic but he was just a little too strong. I finally was able to get out of his sight on the climb after the river crossing and continued to push the pace until I went across the road into the riverside single track.

I was pretty confident I had him at this point. I ended up getting caught behind a comp rider in the single track. This made me nervous because I had the big advantage in this section. I admittedly was being a little bit of a dick trying to pass in this section, but all I could think of was Dalas catching me. I got just a little too close to the rider in front and crossed wheels, getting thrown over the bars. Without even thinking I grabbed my bike before the guy even knew I crashed and he let me by. I lost some time and Dalas could see me now. I just laid it all out there. Two big climbs and some single track left. Dalas had the advantage in the climbs, but I was faster in the technical stuff. I gave it everything I had on the first climb and found the strength to demolish the equalizer on my final lap. I continued pushing it. On my way down towards the lake I felt my heart rate spike and I knew I was going deep into the red. But I kept pushing. Finished up the lake section and got a little caught up in the sand. Coming into the final section, I took a look back as Dalas wasn't there. I took a deep breath and rolled in for 7^th place. HELL YEA!

This was a huge confidence booster going into collegiate regionals. Not only was it my best finish all season, but it was on a tough course with a stacked field. I also felt like I really laid it all out there, nothing left at the end. I played the tactics game just enough to give me an edge and gauged my effort perfectly. Overall it was an amazing race. I got to thank my Dad for being there, love to hear him cheering for me. Also Claire Cannon form the Trek Store of Madison and Team WORS. She works so hard and still offered to give me a hand up, which on lap 4 I really needed big time.

That was an awesome way to end the WORS season and good way to feel heading into two important races. Next up is collegiate regionals. Then there is a weekend of cross races in preparation for collegiate MTB nationals. The next month is going to be crazy, but I can’t wait!

Thanks for reading!

Songs to train to

So I am going to start posting song that I hear while training and working on HW. One of my favorite things to do is discover new music. I at one point had a thought of being a Dj, but now that is gone. This is close enough for me. Hopefully you enjoy the songs and if you really like one of them feel free to comment. If you have other song suggestions, stuff I should listen to, let me know as well. I will try to have one song from each day, or at least let you know which day I couldn't stop listening to it.

::::Wednesday:::

A very uplifting track, and a great remix. Admittedly the lyrics are incredibly catchy, so much so that its hard not to sing along. I love the line "So much pressure, so much heat. So much hustle, they want me."

:::Thursday:::

This is kind of a sad song. The original is really slow and sad though. Kaskade has been known for his amazing ability with vocals. This remix is no exception. Beyond that Skylar has an amazing voice and the tune is incredibly catchy.

This song is also actually kinda sad if you listen to the lyrics. I usually don't though. The song is just damn catchy, and the beat and melody just groove. It has electro, house, and trance vibes all up in there. This mixing of multiple genres has really been catching my eye lately. But saying that makes me sound like a hipster or something.

:::Friday:::

Uplifting, always from Above & Beyond. Their new album has a few similar tracks and they are all good. This one definitely has a good message too. When things get busy and you feel a little like you're going under, don't forget about a thing called love. Always puts me in a good mood.

Finally something (relatively) new from Tiesto. It's been a busy week. Training, working making that money, homework and class plus actually trying to sleep once in a while. I'm on this shit all week. This beats for all my freak, so line the shots up!

Have a good weekend!

Stuck in my head!

Cannot get this out of my head, I just had to put it up. The Artist who did the remix is one fire right now too. His self titled album came out a while ago and I've been playing that on repeat, plus he has a few other slamming remixes. People are saying he is the king of drum and bass. That's a bold statement, but I tend to agree.

Enjoy!

Possibly the Most Fun I Have Had...Ever

This past weekend was possibly the most fun time I have ever had, but certainly in a long time. Skip and I went to Purdue to race the collegiate event being held there. Plus there was a Purdue home game that Saturday. Things were bound to get out of control.

I got some good sleep on Friday night, with the exception of waking up once to some drunk people coming into the host house. This was not only expected, but welcomed as I then knew they knew how to have a good time. Saturday’s XC course wasn’t very good; it was bad to be honest. It was completely flat, kind of short, and too technical to really make or lose time unless you made a mistake. It was seriously just 4 miles of hairpin turns. Of course I made a mistake on the first lap and lost my lead after getting the hole shot into the woods. I lost something like 30 seconds and fell back to 3^rd. Eric smith from Ripon flatted again but I couldn’t quite catch the leader Josh, so I got a 2^nd for the day. I would have liked for things to have gone better, but I think either way Josh, the guy who won, was the strongest.

So we headed back to the host house at the Purdue Cycling club house and cleaned up for the awesome night ahead. While getting some dinner at a local Qdoba, we saw this guy across the street. He was completely messed up, curled up and shaking in his chair. It looked like he was just wrecked from a long morning of drinking or something. His friend was just sitting there eating, and watching him. Take your friend to de-tox dude! Some guy that was sitting by us decided it might be funny to get a picture of him. Thought that was kind of funny, but seriously that guy was in bad shape. Anyways, a crazy night was defiantly on the way.

We started out by tailgating with some friends of the host. Good time, and free food and beer. Got a little buzzed and headed back to the house to start the party off for real. The guys at the house were selling parking spots, so I helped out. I drank while I was doing so, which made it so much fun. Yelling at people, telling them to paaarrrk (parking pirate), and making some money while doing so. We then started just hanging out on the porch yelling at people which turned into cheering for the Badgers. Between skip and I, I think we had everyone cheering for the Badger, and also a little confused as to why. Either way, go Badgers! We also learned that everyone will give you a high five if you say f-Nebraska; Universal truth right there. There was even this one guy, in his late 30, early 40s. He insisted we shotgun some beers. He lost both times, but the second he spilled all of it on his shirt. Anyways, he did the Iggy shuffle and threw his can down, absolutely hilarious. Then we headed inside for some music and beer pong. Skip and I took 4 games in a row until we lost. It took 4 games, two schools, and a sober girl to beat us; and that was a close game. After some more stories and dancing; we headed out to the bars.

We hit up a few bars and had a ton of fun. After the first bar, we headed to another one across the street where things started to get crazy. We eventually found a table after getting a few drinks. We then started talking to these two older guys. I started heckling them and got them all excited. I then convinced them to buy us a pitcher and a few rounds of shot. I was always jealous of how girls could get free drinks. Well, now I know that guys can get them too, in a completely hetero way. After we finished the pitcher and a few Irish car bombs, we went to the dance club. It was a really good time too. The music was insane and the people were going crazy! On a side note: it’s really awesome how house and electronic music is everywhere now. I’ve liked it for quite a long time now and it seems that it is just getting popular. But we danced the night away and then some, and had an amazing time. We finally returned to the house and told a few more stories before hitting the sack. Totally awesome time and I remember all of it too, which is good because I loved every minute of it.

Woke up on Sunday morning: no hang over! I must have danced out all the booze, because besides begin hungry and smelling like the bars, I felt awesome. Must have been the water, I mean light beer. Anyways, the race was fun too. It was an exciting course to watch, and very demanding. I had a good start but my insides were kind of pissed at me from the night before and I just couldn’t hold the pace. I got passed and slotted into 4^th. Alder Martz from Marian was able to catch me after a few laps and we battle very hard for the 4^th spot. Elbows up the finish hill every time. A little bit of dirty racing, but nothing too bad. I ended up getting him after a few solid attacks and some well-placed passes into technical sections where I had a big advantage. It was good to really have to earn that spot. It was a 4^th spot, so nothing too big, but the fact that I earned it made me feel really good. Josh got the win again after some really hard racing up front. That kid will be hard to beat come regionals. The race will be on a course where he has already beaten me once before this year. Hopefully I feel good on the day; because I know that I’ll be in really good shape.

That was the weekend. Now it’s a lot of work to get done in the next few weeks before regionals and finally nationals where I’ll be gone. These next couple of weeks will be important to make sure I keep up in school, train hard, and rest well. Total focus will be important. Having said that, I think I’ll be in Sheboygan for the Wigwam WORS race, I absolutely love the course and the competition will be tougher so I think I’ll get in a better workout. Plus if I race I will move up in the overall a little.

Thanks for reading!