New Year, New Chapter

If you follow my blog on a regular schedule, you might have noticed I have not updated my experiences of life since Thursday August 16th, 2012...  that's quite a long time. I have not quite my blogging, rather, I have taken my off season hiatus from blog updates.  I take a break not only from blogging but I took a break from racing my bike and living out of a suitcase week to week.

After speaking with friends and family who love to follow my updates of racing on the road, they commonly asked me when will I publish my next blog post. I figured since it is a bit past the new year, and everyone seems to be twiddling their fingers in anticipation for the 2013 racing season to begin, it is a great time to update my "School of Life".

 I have experienced SO much change in my life in the past 3 months.  I witnessed how easily God can change my life and my plans in a matter of days.  I thought I was living for his glory, yet I was not fully submitted to His plans for me.   I listened, prayed, and studied His owner manual (the Bible) and realized that God was going to shake up my life life a salt shaker.  I have submitted to His plans for me.

To back peddle a bit, I experienced my first year of college at Mars Hill College.  It is a wonderful small school where everyone knows just about everyone (there are only about 1200 students; that's smaller than my high school).  I went to church events (youth worship) just about every night of the week.  I joined a D-group which is basically a small group of female (only) students that meet together to talk about and pray for one another.  It was great to have such accountability.  We studied the Bible, laughed a lot, and created a sisterhood.  For me, it was one of the best experiences to help me transition into my first semester of college.

The training at Mars Hill is absolutely fantastic!  I can start climbing from mile one if I want and just about every ride is classified as an "epic ride".  The area is like a pearl hidden in a lock tight clam: a rarity and secretly placed in the Blue Ridge mountains.  The ever changing weather, ambiguous routes, and the jagged ups and downs of the mountain terrain classifies Mars Hill as a heaven for cyclists.  Not to mention, on average, about five cars pass me on my rides.  The area is my giant playground!

Mars Hill is a great place to live and get an education.  The coach, Hugh Moran, is completely dedicated to the cycling team and there is a close bond between the all of the teammates.  Hugh is developing the next generation of pro cyclists.  We hang out together, train together, eat together, and a TON of laughing together.  The college provides a lot of support to the cycling team for instance, we do not have to pay for kits, or food when we go to races, or gas.  It's really nice to receive that support from a college!

I got the opportunity to race for a new team for 2013.  I honored to announce that I will be racing for a UCI team called Diadora Pasta-Zara.  The team is based out of Italy they have been developing women's cycling for over twenty years!  However, before I begin on my new opportunity  I wanted to describe how privileged I am to have previous opportunities!

 NOW Women's Professional cycling team has developed me for the past two years.  I have been given an immense opportunity and the blessing to race in the pro women's field as a junior rider.  There are not many junior women who have the same chance to race professionally and learn from experienced professional riders like I got.  I am truly grateful and very thankful for the whole NOW squad.  I got to know two wonderful people who love cycling and are passionate about developing women's cycling- Phil and Louise Keoghan.  They manage NOW Pro cycling; I was pretty nervous the first time I met them, but I immediately clicked with them and I felt like family!

 Kurt Stockton, the team director, gave me a shot to race a full season in 2011 as a pro.  It was a tough year for me.  I got dropped from almost every single race, yet each race I did, I got stronger and faster and I learned how to suffer longer. Determined to improve and progress, I trained harder, focused, and listened. Kurt has provided me with the opportunities and foundations in becoming an elite bike racer.  He gave me a second shot in 2012 and though I was not winning races, I was able to contribute to the team's successes.  He never failed to tell me what I could do to improve on my racing every single day.  That alone, my learning curve increased and I respected everything he did for me to have the patience to teach me how to race my bike.  Kurt is a dang good director!

Robin Farina has been the main person to lead me in my development in cycling.  She not only served as a coach, but a friend, a mentor, a sister, a teammate, and a boss all at the same time!  I would not be progressing without her unconditional help, support, and love.  She took me under her wing and poured out her knowledge and opportunities of racing on me.

Experienced riders like Alison Powers, Anne Samplonius, and Olivia Dillon helped me become more tactically savy and more efficient in the races.  I was well entertained by our sprinter Christina Gokey-Smith (aka Gookey).  Often times, I was to be her protector in a race; I brought her bottles and always made sure she was in good position in the field. We had a close bond on and off the bike because of the role I got to play has her domestique.  My other teammates, Beth Newell, Devon Gorry, and Ashley James each taught me separate skills of bike racing.

I was a bit upset to leave my NOW family and come to my senses that if I want to continue to progress in professional cycling, I knew that I needed to take the next step in cycling and join the new team that would take me to International racing and Europe!  I will never forget all the fun memories I had on NOW and I won't forget who developed me in my racing career.

I now get to experience all new things being on a different team.  Different languages, equipment, management, countries, and teammates!  I get to be teammates with two Amber's (Amber Neben and Amber Pierce-Rais).
Yet again, I get to start from the bottom of International racing and start working my way up the ladder again.  I am so excited to learn more and race alongside very experienced women.

I am SO privileged to be able to take on this next chapter of life! Welcome to Chapter 2 and welcome 2013 racing season!

More to come so keep following!

Huge thanks to teammate Amber Pierce Rais for including me on #ClickThruThursdays and reminding me the importance of updating my blog.




 

Chapter 2 - College

Tomorrow is the big day! I am traveling to my new home; a place where I had always dreamed of living and in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people.  Tomorrow I am, yet again, putting myself out of my comfort zone and moving in to college!

Yes! I can't believe the date is already here!  I can turn back to a new experience like this one.  At the age of 16 (last year) I joined a professional women's team (NOW) thanks to my coach Robin Farina and my director Kurt Stockton for believing in me; I put myself in a position of unfamiliarity. 

I was used to being a typical South Charlotte teenager, living in your typical South Charlotte suburb and had the typical teenager dreams of wondering where life is going to take me.  It finally hit me that my life was going to be different when signed my contract and wrote the letter "T", the last letter of my name.  I packed my bags for several weeks on the road and took on the journey of living the dream of a professional bike racer. 

I wasn't really sure what I was in for, to be honest, I didn't really think I was ready for the new experiences or the big races that I attended.  I wasn't really sure what my team mates or my director would all be like (who are all adults).  There were many times I did not have an adult chaperon with me and I had to figure things out myself (like surviving the New Zealand customs).  I had to trust in God and stay strong and know that everything would be alright.  I am pretty lucky to have a dang good set of parents too, who just let me go off and experience life and support me!

If you have been following my blog through the past couple of months, than you probably know exactly what I am writing about.... if this is your first time reading my blog, well than you have something to keep you occupied!

 To those who follow, you know that I went on a mission trip to Haiti earlier this year.  It was such a challenging week: physically, mentally, and spiritually.  I am not going to write about how life changing it was; don't get me wrong it was very life changing.  Going to Haiti put me far out of my comfort zone.  Once again, I had to stay strong in my faith.  I learned so much from that experience and I couldn't be more optimistic about searching for the next time I can go again and serve.

Some people would call my life so far 'living the dream' others might say 'you live in a fantasy land'.   However you describe it is your choice; I call it 'The School of life', thus, the name of my blog.  Today, I am ending Chapter 1 of my life.  I am beginning a new journey, a new life with new friends, and in a new town.  The life of college, or, Chapter 2.

There are so many people to thank for all the love, support, cheers, Facebook messages and status likes, Tweets, encouraging letters, phone calls and chatting over coffee! The list of people to thank goes endless, so thank you.  My life, proving the statement: it takes a village to raise a child!

A lot of people ask me  So do you think you're ready for college Addy?

My answer:  Do I think I am ready? I know.

I love challenges; the more I can mess up and learn from it, the better.  I couldn't be more ready to move out of the house and take on this new experience of being unfamiliar. Period.

Good bye Chapter 1, hello Mars Hill College!!!

Chapter 2 begins....  many more posts to come!

Mars Hill Cycling Camp Day 1 & 2

COACH ADDY!!!

 It's been a great, yet long, 2 days of MHC Cycling Camp.  We start every morning with a nice yoga session with Andy Crater, a pro cyclist and yoga instructor.  From there we head out to the parking lot for a couple hours of skills and drills with Coach Leslie Meadows.  She was the coach at a USAC camp I did a few years back, and she is still doing a great job on teaching kids skills!

Below a rider attempts to puck up a water bottle.

 The juniors focused on trying to get low and hold a straight line wile picking up a cone!

 Leslie teaching how to go through a feed zone!

 Madison (age:12) barrels through a narrow path while accelerating out of the saddle.

 Isabella Brookshire (age:12) giving her first interview to a local  news report about the cycling camp!

Corina (age: 10) practicing her skills!

 Weaving through the cones.

 Bumping and touching wheels drill.  This is one of my favorite drills, coming from a family of a lot of brothers, the boys don't notice how aggressive I can be, and it's great learning for them!

 Practice crit, working on counter steering and fast cornering.

After all the skills and drills, we went had lunch and headed out for a endurance ride.  The kids got to pre ride the road race course for the French Broad Omnium race this weekend and experienced the 3 mile finishing climb!

These kids have so much energy, it's crazy, but some don't mind the occasional push from the back to help them get up and over the climb.  I am building my arm strength this week, for sure!  Having lots of fun being 'Coach Addy'.

Stay tunned for more cycling camp updates!

Forever A Junior!

 Above is a photo of me in 2005; I was 10 years old.  I was doing a charity ride with my dad called 24 Hours of Booty, then, it was a fairly small event where the cycling community came together to raise money for cancer.  Now, it brings together the whole community of Charlotte and people from around the nation, raising money for cancer and awareness of bikes in the Charlotte area!

You might notice I have a stars and stripes jersey on, maybe someone passed down to me, and I wasn't a national champion then, but I dreamt about it.

Eight years later, I am capping off my final year as a junior.  Never did I imagine winning 5 national jerseys, obtain a national track record, and a handful of medals.  With the help of so many people like Robin Farina, Uptown Cycles, NOW Pro Cycling team and of course my parents, I am able to have achieve so much in just the start of my career.

They, among many others, have helped me achieve my dreams and now I move from the big fish in a small pond to a shrimp in the ocean!

Above is the podium for the 2k Individual Pursuit at the Junior Track National Championships last week. 

 The next day, I competed in my last National Championship event as a junior with the women's team pursuit with Alexis Ryan and Nadia Latzgo.  I pulled on my 5th jersey with excitement, and remembering all the hard I have put on and off the bike to become a National Champion.

 I stepped off the stage with joy and a bit of sadness, knowing it was my last Junior Nationals.

 Because so many people have helped me through the years, why not inspire/ mentor as many young girls as I can?  Isabella Brookshire from Asheville, NC starting her scratch race (10-12 age group).

She is a champion in the making, winning 3 bronze medals this week!

Above, keeping her calm before she starts the 500m Time Trial.

 On the last night, I decided to make and event for junior women by getting as many junior women who were competing at the championships to celebrate success by having an Ice Cream Party at a local creamery shop.  About 15-20 girls showed up and we enjoyed the night talking and sharing experiences of bike racing, school, and  much more!

 It was a great feeling to have all the competitors together making friendships, eating ice cream, and having a really good time.  I encouraged all the girls to train hard for next year and come back to T-Town, PA and have another ice cream party!

I hope to impact some one's life where they can be inspired to be a champion, not matter if they win medals or not!

My good friend and 2011 Track World Championships team mate, Jen Valente.  She won the the 2011 Junior Scratch World Championships, a true world class athlete. We chatted all night about how we can encourage young girls to race their bikes, have fun, and become champions.  We want to change junior women's cycling for the better by showing how dedicated we are to the sport, how hard we are willing to work and how we want to grow the sport for girls!

Great ideas to come! I may be leaving the junior field as a racer, but I will never leave the junior field as an ambassador!

What am I doing now?

I am currently at Mars Hill, NC for the Mars Hill junior cycling camp.  I am a camp counsellor, here, empowering kids the potential this sport gives and teaching kids how to be a great bike racer.  In the past, I have been to so many junior camps, as a camper.  Now, being a counsellor, it feels so different, but I love the role!

  Isabella Brookshire (age 12) and Sophia Brodwell (age 13)  are getting ready for the first group ride together!

Most of the juniors of the camp.  So exciting to be able to mentor the next generation of US cycling! 24 boys and 4 girls!

Stay tunned for more junior cycling camp updates! Thanks for reading!

Junior Track Nationals

Where am I?

I am in Trexlortown, PA at a GREAT track cycling center!

I am competing in the Junior Track Nationals this week and I couldn't be more excited!

I am doing the Individual pursuit on Thursday and the Team Pursuit and points race on Friday.

Last year, I won my first national championship in Frisco, TX in the individual pursuit, and won again the next day in the Team Pursuit along with Jacquline Denny and Kate Wilson.  We set the national track record together and qualified for the Jr. Track World Championships where we placed 6th and broke the national track record again by 3 seconds!

This year, I am doing the team pursuit with my partner in crime Alexis Ryan and Nadia Latzgo.  I hope to accomplish more this time around (as my last year as a junior!).  Our team name this year is the Viking VanGarderen Wonder Women (pronounced like vonder vemen). 

When you put a group 17-18 girls together, you great names like this!

Anyways, cheer me on Thursday morning and Friday night!
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More updates to come.

Gold in Augusta

A National Time Trial Champion. I am a bit speechless.  I am overcome with so much excitement, motivation and focus for this accomplishment and for punching my ticket, automatically qualifying for the 2012 Junior Road World Championships in Limburg, Holland.  

This victory was monumental for me!  Twice, I have fallen short from the top step and twice, I had to go home with a silver medal, rethinking the entire race about what I could have done differently to make up only a few seconds.  

Since last year, after getting second place, I have been thinking about how badly I wanted to win.  Not only to get a national title on the road, but to see how God can use me in the cycling world as a leader.  

This year started off by getting the opportunity to race the women's Tour of New Zealand with the US Women's National Team.  I raced alongside Olympic gold Time Trial Champion, Kristin Armstrong as well as Evelyn Stevens, the US Elite National Time Trial Champion.  I observed how they raced and what they did leading in to the time trial.  I saw how in tuned they were to every minute detail of the course.  

Next, I got to race as the youngest rider in the inaugural Exergy Tour.  "Wow! That was amazing", I thought to myself as I finished the final stage.   I got to practice my time trial skills there where I finished 49th out of the 94 starters of the time trial stage and thanks to the amazing media coverage on the Tour Tracker, I got to watch myself time trial on video.  

I pin pointed everything during my race.  My form, my position, and my pedal stroke, I wanted to perfect everything.  I  even watched how I crashed on the turn around by coming in to the wet U-turn too fast and how I can be more careful and not take so much risk next time while at the same time, not losing time by being overly cautious.

The Exergy tour was amazing prep for my National Championship race due to the similar course profile and length of the course.  I knew I had to be on top form that race.  After the racing was over, I met up with Amber Neben at the post race party.  She told me a lot about time trialing and like Evie and Kristin, I heard very similar things.

I was steadfast to listening to these time trial champions.  Like a sponge, I absorbed everything they told me and apply as much as I could to my own time trial performances.  

Two weeks before the national championships, I was very nervous about what I was about to do.  I knew I had to win.  I couldn't sleep very well because I kept thinking about the race and the possibility of winning!  I visualized myself in the race.  I visualized myself winning the race.  I saw myself ride across the finish line and having the face of leaving everything out on the road.

When the day finally came, I exploded off the start ramp, gave it my all and not missing a single beat.  I focused on nothing but my breath and the course ahead of me.  I had done possibly everything I could to have the best performance and race of my life.  I gave the rest up to God to let Him decide.  I crossed the finish line with noodle legs and I came in with the new fastest time.  For a couple minutes, I sat in the hot seat, literally, being in Augusta, until all my competitors finished. 

When my director told me I won, I was overcome with emotions.  When I found out how much I won by; I was almost in tears.

I was so happy.  I had a lot of people watching me race; my whole family, my team mates, the coach from the college I will be attending in the fall, my director, and more.  When they all came to the tent to congratulate me, I just couldn't believe it.  All the hard work I put in finally paid off!

Now I am shifting my focus for the Road World Championships in September.  Last year I got 14th place in the time trial just under one minute off from the winning time and I was very shocked to even achieve that!  This year, I have developed so much.  I have international races under my belt and more to come! Who says I couldn't get in the top 5 this year or even get on the podium?  I am ready.  I am excited to take this victory and add more to it.  I am honored to represent junior women's cycling, and being a future champion in professional cycling. 

Many thanks to all the friends, family and sponsors who have helped me get to this point in just the beginning of my career.  All the cheers and fast wishes go a long way.  And to all the professional women racers who might be reading this, your advice and words of wisdom that you give to me and other young riders are like treasure to us.  Please continue to mentor, thank you!

A Blog Worthy Weekend

Friday and Saturday, I made the short drive to Asheville, NC to change up the training scene a bit.  It was the first weekend off from racing from for a while and I was so stoked to go to my soon to be home!

The picture above is taken from Old Hwy 70 which is a 7 mile climb, closed off to cars AND it has fresh new pavement for a bike path!  The route I did (starting from my dad's house in Black Mountain) is my new favorite route.  It's so beautiful!

I went to do a charity ride with the Specialized Lululemon team for the Right to Play project.  The project is about changing children's lives in disadvantaged places through sport and showing them role models and encouraging behavior change.   To find out more, or donate to the cause click here:  http://www.righttoplay.com/usa/Pages/Home.aspx

Loren Rowney (the Aussie on the team) and I did a training ride afterwards; it was so cool!

Lululemon Asheville:

I went to visit my buddies from Beer City Cycles, which is one of the most diverse bike shops I've ever seen!  It's a pub, salsa bar, training center, and bike shop! They will be hiring me when I move to Mars Hill for college (Aug. 10th).  Jay Hirst is the main man there and who knows... maybe it will have a coffee bar when I move in :)

All the thanks to Uptown Cycles for raising me to be a bike shop kid!

If you are buying new wheels, you might as well get a jar of salsa or pickles: genius.

Hot sauce! Compliments of Beer City Cycles

My step mom's dog Rena enjoying the ride through the country!

Got some fresh beans from Crossroads Coffee House in Waxhaw,NC. I was pretty sad to leave Asheville.

This is what I feel like when I am in Asheville:
Moving to Mars Hill for college in 8 weeks!

CONGRATS to my team in Tulsa, OK at Tulsa Tough this weekend.  They KILLED it!  Gokey was 3rd on Friday, Robin wins from a break on Saturday and Alison Powers and Olivia Dillon go 1 and 2 on Cry Baby Hill (Sunday's race).  View results here:

http://www.tulsatough.com/results/

What's next for me? Junior Road Nationals in Augusta, GA.  I race June 21-24 go to this link for more information:

https://www.usacycling.org/forms/natchamps/2012/2012-Elite-U23-Juniors-Para-Road-Schedule.pdf

I am racing women's 17-18 and Elite women!