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!! :)

Marching Band 2012

I could write a book on this.  Marching band.

No, we are not "band geeks" in a "marching band cult".  Well.. most of us, anyways.  ;).  

I am the drum major of my school marching band.
We march and perform at the half time show at every home football game. Our school sadly doesn't compete (perform and get rated). However, we still do take band seriously. I think my band director said it best - "We aren't a party band but we know how to party!"


My freshman year, I played the alto saxophone in marching band.  This was only fun because of a fellow freshman named Doug.  He is a really funny guy and made marching band really fun for me, as our section was always laughing at his jokes.  However, the whole year, I really looked up to the drum line.  They are (in my eyes) the coolest section in band. From talking to people in band, I am convinced that there is a little part in everyone that secretly yearns to be in the drum line.  I left the saxophone section for the drum line.  I made the bass line and played the second biggest drum (it was pretty heavy and I definitely gained some back muscles during marching band season).

When it came to the end of my sophomore year, drum major tryouts came up.  I really thought hard about being a drum major and decided to try out.  I got the position along with one of my best friends, Joe. 


In the summer leading up to band camp this year, I got together with Maria (a senior who was drum major last year and again this year) and Joe (the other new drum major who is a sophomore) to plan out band camp.  This is when I began to realize exactly what I signed up for.  I honestly tried out for drum major thinking that it wouldn't be that difficult.  I hardly ever saw the drum majors last year and thought they had it just as hard as everyone else.  What I failed to realize until the summer leading up to band camp was how much work the drum majors actually have to do.  Over my insanely busy summer (full of biking and traveling to bike races and cycling camps), I somehow had to fit in an extra summer camp in Wisconsin (http://daniellemullis.blogspot.com/2012/08/fjm-drum-major-camp.html) (to learn how to conduct), plan out how to conduct all of the music, think of multiple games to play during band camp, create salutes to use before starting conducting, and think of fun things for each section to do to bond with each other.


Having three drum majors, I had to learn how to efficiently communicate throughout the marching band season.  Maria already had a year of experience under her belt and knew how things should be done.  However, I had to learn that my ideas aren't always the best thing to do.  All three of us drum majors had different ways of dealing with issues this year which honestly caused conflict.  With three of us, there were three different ways of solving problems that arose which I had to learn to deal with, without getting frustrated.

Conducting pep band music during the game.

Leading the band out.



We did a latin themed show this year so all the drum majors dressed up.

 

Maria, Joe and Me

This was taken at the competition we went to later in the season. It looks sunny but was really cold and windy!

Mary (one of my friends on color guard), me and Joe very late in the season at a parade.
During the season, I created new friendships and strengthed friendships with old friends.

Something else I had to do was to learn to think on my feet.  Leadership.  I've never had a real leadership position in my life.  However, being drum major presented me with many opportunities.  I am very excited to be the head drum major next year because there are many ideas I have for the band. I don't want to give too many away but I would really like the football coach (who has been an inspiration to me in the past) to talk to the band kids about how important the marching band actually is.  The football coach is really big on school spirit and I think it would be really inspirational to the band kids if they realize that what they do is important.  Although I did sometimes miss playing in the drum line, I loved being drum major this year. I've grown as a person and as a leader.

Junior Year of High School

School.  Many kids have a love-hate relationship with school.  I know that I do.  I am in the IB (international baccealuriate) diploma program, which is kinda cool.  In very simple terms, we don't memorize facts (which is what a lot of AP is), but we learn how to apply facts we are taught.  We also have to write the "extended essay" and do CAS hours (creative, active, and service hours).
Anyway, the classes I'm taking at school this year are unique but also a lot of work.
I am taking a religion class. Last year I took New Testament and this year is morality.  Basically, we learn what is right and wrong and how we know what we know is right and wrong. It is required that we take religion at my school for all 4 years.
I am taking spanish 9/10 in preparation for AP spanish my senior year. We talk, listen to, and write in all spanish.We talk and write only in Spanish. Most of the conversations we have are on general, every day topics, such as our family and friends.  We read books and watch movies in Spanish, too.
And of course, I am in marching band!  I also take jazz band as a 9th hour class (after school class). 
All my other classes are AP, or college level, classes:
AP Statistics is the class which I am doing the best in. I've always prefered math class than any other class because of how logical it is.  There are a certain number of steps you follow to do a certain number of problems.  The end. In my mind, it doesn't really require as much thinking as writing a three page essay like we do in other classes. 
IB Biology is a 2 year course in which we do many, many experiments.  It goes very deep into the many layers of biology.  It's a very intense course as we cover a lot of material in a very short amount of time.
IB English is also a 2 year course.  We study how we interract with other people through different languages and dialects. We also improve our writing skills. Apparently after this class, everyone learns how to write a drop-dead amazing college application essay.
IB Economics.  This sounded incredibly boring to me when I signed up for it last year. However, it is actually sort of interesting.  In this class we learn about how businesses work and how customers react to different things such as sales and price changes.
Theory of Knowledge. This is a course required to get the IB diploma.  It is by far the weirdest class I've ever taken.  We walked into class on the first day and the teacher (who is an elderly priest) asked us "how do you know? how do you know what you know? and how do you know what you know is true?". This sounds confusing but my answer to the first answer was "We know because of what we are taught" but then the question arose, "well how do you know what you taught is true?".  We talk about simple questions for ages.  Another question he asked was "who are you?". Simple question right? But if you really think about it, who are we really?  Do our bodies, per say, make up who we are or is it just our minds who make us who we are?  And what makes me different from anyone else?  Anyway, I am very excited for this class because it's hardly any written work but mostly just a class in which I show up with 9 other people and talk about subjects such as the meaning of life, how the mind works, and how we interract with each other.
Many people may think that school is "boring".  That is very, very true at times.  However, I think that we should make the most of it while we're there and challenge ourselves.  Afterall, "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you," (B.B King).