Greatest Lie in Sports History

In 2009 in a mountain somewhere in France, a girl stood waiting on the side of the road.  She was waiting for her hero, the man who gave her hope, strength, and courage.  She wasn't the only one waiting for this man.  Thousands of other people would wait on the side of the road for him to come racing by, even if they waited for hours and only saw him for a few seconds.  Everywhere in France, there were signs saying "Viva Lance!"  This famous phrase was chalked onto sidewalks, written on banners in coffee shops and on the sides of buses, and imprinted on wrist bands and bracelets.  Along with her Livestrong bracelet, this particular girl held a camera, desperately trying to snap a picture of Lance that she would cherish for exactly three years.  Then she would not care for him anymore, as well as the rest of humanity.  This girl was me.

I was lucky enough to go to the Tour de France in 2009, the same year that I won the track cycling national championships.  I'd just read It's Not About the Bike and Every Second Counts - two books written by Lance Armstrong.  These books made me feel like Lance was a really strong, honest man. I mean, how could he possibly dope??  How could this amazing man lie to millions of people including all of his fans and supporters?!  In 2012, when he announced that he wouldn't fight another case that accused him of doping, I almost completely lost faith in him.  As technology advanced, it became easier and easier to prove that he doped.

Now, he was done an interview on the Oprah Winfrey show (which will premiere on the 17th of January) in which he finally came clean and admitted that he doped (according to Oprah).
My first reaction was shock but a minute later, I realized that this wasn't really that surprising. Lance did what he felt was the right thing to do at the time - to lie to everyone.

Lance has done a lot for cycling. I do not think that he will ever be forgotten for his impact on cycling.  However, what I worry about is the reverse effect happening now that he has admitted to doping.  This is probably the greatest lie in sports history.  Lance represented cycling.  Lance=cycling.  He brought glory and popularity to cycling.  If one thing is for certain, he will not be forgotten.  I am worried about these recent events of Lance being stripped of his titles and then him now finally coming clean to have a negative affect on cycling. I am sad to tell you that I have been asked by FRIENDS if I dope.  Maybe this is a case of teenage ignorance... Of COURSE I don't dope!! I am not a cheat and I don't even know anyone who does dope!   By the look of things, cycling has really taken a turn for the best in it is becoming a very clean sport. However, I think that people need to remember that there are cheats in almost EVERY sport!

I hope people in power in cycling, including coaches, directors, officials, and professionals learn from this and help start a new generation of cycling. One in which cycling is a clean sport.  One in which people are cheering for men and women who are purely made of power and strength.

Cyclocross National Championships 2013

In the week before nationals, some of the guys from my team and I
went to a local high school and practiced our bike handling on the snow.
This really prepared me for riding in all the mud at nationals.

I started school after winter break on Tuesday.  Cyclocross nationals were Friday and I was leaving school early on Thursday to drive down there.  Needless to say, I could hardly wait!

We left Thursday during school so that we could get to Madison, Wisconsin at a reasonable time and get a good night sleep before my race the next day.  

Friday morning, we arrived at the course to do a pre-ride. If there's something I love about big races, it's definitely the atmosphere.  The tents, the team buses, the cool bikes, and the intense look in every racer's eyes... 

About three quarters through the course, my chain got caught in between the wheel and the cassette. I asked multiple people who were also pre-riding the course to help me but none of them could get the trapped chain out. I walked back to where all the main tents were.  Luckily, there was a Trek tent and because I have a Cronus, one of the men there fixed my bike.  Not only did they fix my chain, but they also replaced my derailleur hanger and made sure my gears were working.  Trek- you guys are awesome!

After that, we registered, went back to the hotel to change, and got back to the course in time to warm up.  When we got there, I warmed up on my trainer.

After my warm up, I headed up to the start line.

The 17-18 year olds started 1 minute in front of us.  I was seeded 13th in the 15-16s so I'm pretty far back.

During my pre-ride, I was very observant of each turn and made sure to take note of the conditions of each section of the course.  Some of the course had very icy sections.  However, a few hours later when I was racing, these icy sections were gone. It was all mud. 

This course was very technical because there were certain sections where if you were going too fast, using too much power, you would fall flat on your face. 

This race was the funnest and most epic cyclocross race I've ever done. There was an insane amount of mud and I only fell once (something I'm proud of since most people fell way more than once lol).  I had a great race and really enjoyed the race. 

I ended up in 10th place which I am very happy with.  I was a little confused when I heard tenth because I passed quite a few people but figured out that they were 17-18s (time wise, I would have ended up 7th!).

Yes, there is mud in my teeth...

My bike is just slightly dirty.. lol

My brother had a very tough race.  He is 15 in the 15-16 age category, where there was a field of 46.  He got 38th in a very grueling race. 

There were many people in his race!

My brother jumping over the barriers. 

I would just like to thank everyone who has helped me end the cyclocross season on a really high note including Matt, Kelly, Jay, and Jeff for all the coaching, my grandparents for my amazing new Trek Cronus!, everyone who cheered me on during the race and everyone who has given me encouragement this year, and especially, my parents for the countless things that they do for me.
I am very excited and enthusiastic to start training for my main events now - road and track cycling.  

Cyclocross 2012

After finishing off an amazing road and track season, I started my cyclocross season.  Last year, I raced C (cat 3 and 4) women the whole year.  This year, I started out as a cat 4 racing the C women until I won the Tailwind series for the C women, then I upgraded to a cat 3 so I could race the Elite Women (cat 1,2,3).  I didn't want to upgrade to a cat 2 because I could race the elite women or C women.  I finished my road/track season actually on the same day that I did my first cyclocross race.  I participated in the Track Team Pursuit Championships and (on the same day), did my first cross race of the season. 

My first race was the Ithaca Grand Prix and got 2nd place.  I started out leading the race but was eventually caught and passed by another woman. 


Going over the barriers.  Thanks to Matt Baroli and Jay Moncel, I really improved my form.

The next race I did was Columbus Park.  I won the B/C women!  I was in a constant battle the whole time. I was caught and passed, and then I caught the lady who passed me, etc., but I continued my effort and managed a 1st.  Feeling great, I also decided to race the 15-18 year old junior race. I came in 3rd behind two junior guys. 

Me and the other lady, Cheryl Hill in a very close battle.  

My next race was Kensington, which was a two day event. I had a very close race the first day but ended up winning.  The next day, I got second place to Cheryl Hill (the lady in the picture above from the Columbus Park race).  

I did multilple races after this and started winning multiple womens B/C races. 

Lake Orion High School Race

:)

Photo cred: my dad. this is an awesome picture! Me in mid jump :)

This race came down to a sprint finish.

Lake Orion race

Lake Orion race

I upgraded to a cat 3 just in time to race the Kentucky USGP race in the cat 2/3 category.  The USGP series is like THE series to do for cyclocross.  People come from all over the nation to participate in the USGP races.  It was a 2 day event.  The first day, I got 21st and the second day I got 22nd.  I had so much fun and learned a lot.  The course was wayyyyyyyy more technical than I've ever ridden before.  There were big sections of sand, barriers, a flyover, three stair sections, and a very tricky reverse camber section.  Most importantly, I learned tons!

There were many, many women in my race!

I was trying pretty hard (hence the weird facial expression).

You can see from the photo how long this sand section was!  The first day,
we ran it downhill and the second day, we ran it uphill which was sooo
incredibly tough!

I'm at the very left at the back. The lady at the front is a fellow racer from Michigan! :)

It was great seeing my friends here too! This is Ian, my teammate from
the international race I did this past summer! 

My teammate Jeff AKA Pony won his race!

After Kentucky, I rode 3 more races in Michigan before nationals.  However, I now rode the Elite Women (cat 1,2,3) race.
I raced Waterford (which was a two day race) and then I raced the state championship race.

The first day at Waterford, I got 2nd place! :)

The second day at Waterford, I got 3rd place.  My teammate Kelly won the race!! She did really well to win!

My teammate Kelly

It was really icy and I fell multiple times as I was riding tires with hardly any tread lol!

The state championship race sadly didn't go as planned.  I fell twice on the first lap.  The second crash (not pictured), buckled my wheel which made my brakes rub incredibly badly.  On the bright side, my teammate Kelly won!

Kelly in the middle and me on the right

Great picture of my first crash (not the one that buckled my wheel).   ;D

I won the Tailwind Series for the B/C women for 2012.

For winning the Tailwind Series for the B/C women!

The state championship race didn't go well at all for me. However, I managed to end the cross season on a very high note when I went to cyclocross nationals.  See my next blog for more on the 2013 cyclocross national championships!! :)