Putting our feet up

We are approaching weekend two of no racing. Our schedule is about to get a little crazy so I took this opportunity to take it while we could. Plus, it's my baby boy's 15th Birthday (Oct 30th) and I wanted him to be a teenager and relax for his birthday! I am in a slight state of sadness this week. 15 years I have been a mom. 15 years I have been responsible for this living, breathing, pantry clearing, refrigerator raiding child. It's been an awesome journey and I can't wait to see where else he takes me. I have been cleaning out my computer photos and I come across so many and I just can't help but share the chunkiness. Like this one when he was 2

Or this one, I think he was 5 here

Look at those chubby cheeks!! Or this one running cross country in 6th grade. Still he has the chubby cheeks.

 Now we have lost the chubby cheeks and he's growing into a young man. A fine young man if I say so myself. I am proud of him and his accomplishments so far for his 15 years he has been on this earth. Watch out world he's getting his driver's permit soon~! 

Sitting In

We are a few races into the season and are taking the next few weekends off to rest up. Jordan has had a few bad races and what looks like a few great races. This past weekend was 1 MSG Race on Saturday and the final AVL CX race on Sunday. Saturday was not a good day for him. Jordan had consistently placed 3rd the past few races and this race seemed to bring in a few bigger riders. Needless to say, Jordan's nerves were getting to him. He had a great start and on the first lap he hit the barriers at what seemed to be full speed! It mangled his handlebars and he already had to pit. He continued for a few more laps but quickly realized he had hurt his back and decided to call it. He was mad. Mad at himself? mad at the bike? or even mad at the barrier that he smacked so hard. It was time for that go get in the car and let's have a mom/son talk. In my head I had to remind myself he's only 14. After a pep talk of " there will be many more races just like this" and "the most important thing is you are ok",( you know all the mom stuff ) he came out of the sulking state of mind. Tomorrow was a new day and new race! Rest up, chin up and go cheer for your fellow cyclists.
Sunday morning he was in a new state of mind. He had a race to race and he wanted to redeem Saturday's race. Boy did he ever! I can say that J-man raced the smartest, best race I have ever seen him race. I can see how much he learns each and every race and he has the power, it's the skill set and tactic he still needs to improve on. He always makes me proud, win, lose or DNF. I had to look around and just soak it in for a few moments. People we didn't even know were pulling for him. He tells me people cheering and even heckling fuel him so he was in pure heaven! He ended up with a 4th place finish behind some very strong pro's. I don't care if he would've placed 45th, he raced his heart out and that is exactly what its all about.
I cannot even begin to explain the support we have from everyone that surrounds us. He is a young racer and still has alot to learn, but when I hear people telling him he races his heart out and still keeps a humble attitude... that makes me realize I am doing my job as mom.

And so it begins……

Cyclocross is slowly creeping back around our house. Even though it actually has never left. 2 weeks ago J raced a North Carolina race just to see where he was from last season. He did well with a 3rd place finish on a tough course with some tough competition. The first place guy was on a MTB and was on a good course for that. J was pleased with his results and learned a few things needed to be corrected here and their but all in all it was a good day.

This past weekend was full of cycling events. Friday evening we went over to AVL for our Team Meeting. Saturday was a day of marking the course for the Hilly Hellacious (AYC benefit ride) and a afternoon CX Race at Carrier Park. It was so great to see the kids and parents we haven’t seen in a few months. It was a blast! Lot’s of team fellowship and fun. It poured the rain on Saturday so it definitely was a CX race. Mud everywhere. It was also great to have a lot of J’s teammates racing cx and all of them there to watch. That’s something we have not been able to do so it worked out well. The boy’s did great!

On Sunday the entire AYC Team rode The Hilly Hellacious. An event that helps to support the AYC Jr Development Team. It was such a fun event and I think everyone that attended had a blast.  We had Brent Bookwalter show up to preview the course for his own Gran Fondo. Very exciting day for the kids and our sponsors that help us out so much.

We even found a bear on the course that wanted to join in the fun.

We had a very exciting weekend and I think we are ready for Cyclocross Season to begin. Next weekend the first race of MSG Series will begin at Domtar Park in Kingsport, TN! Pics and updates to follow….

Great video of USAC CX DEVELOPMENT CAMP

Here is the link to the camp J-man got the pleasure of attending. So much awesomeness in this video it’s not funny! Great group of boys with great coaching.


http://vimeo.com/72116895

Christmas in July? No, just CX Camp

J-man is home and recovering from a week of training. His excitement and motivation are contagious! I think we are all counting down the days until Cyclo-Cross. He had such a great week learning and meeting new people who share his passion for the sport. Road season is finished for us and now it’s time to train, recover and prepare for High School. Here are a few neat articles that Geoff Proctor shared with CX Magazine and Cycling News.

http://www.cxmagazine.com/usa-cycling-cyclocross-development-camp-juniors-takes-place-montana

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gallery-junior-crossers-learn-skills-at-development-camp

Tom Robertson also took a great gallery of photos! You must check this guy out, he knows what he’s doing.

http://portfolio.tomrobertsonphoto.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=16&a=0&at=0

Big Thanks to Geoff Proctor and his staff for a week of intense training for these boys!

CX Mania

Jordan is in Montana right this minute doing CX skills and drills. He landed on Sunday after a long day of travel and I haven’t heard much from him since… I guess that’s a good sign. He’s having fun and learning tons. It’s 7:30 am there and thanks to some Twitter stalking I have found a few peeps there that are tweeting pics and updates! Thank goodness for Social Media for this Momma!
I snagged this pic of a water break from yesterday on their 3 hour training ride.

Hopefully more updates will follow as I get them. I know he is gonna be a tired little boy when he get’s home but it will be well worth it.
P.S. Is it CX season yet??

Fun things ahead...

Jordan is counting down the days until USAC CX Development Camp! We are pretty happy with such a great opportunity! Here's an article released with  the 2013 Roster http://www.cxhairs.com/2013/06/07/young-guns-get-call-up-for-usac-cx-devo-camp.

Tour of Dairyland is under wraps and he's in recovery mode at home after a tough week of racing. I didn't attend so I don't have many photos to post other than those I stole from facebook.
Here is the start of the first Jr Road Race of the week. Jordan had competed in a few 2/3 races and said they were fast!

 Here is a great pic of he and his teammates on the last day of ToAD.

What a good experience it was for him and he was in the care of some great Sponsors from AYC. Time to rest up and prepare for the weeks ahead! 

Summer Cross

Last night we had the pleasure of going over the Mountain to Asheville Cyclocross’ annual Summer CX race, which is part of the Mountain Sports Festival. Jordan picked up his new CX bike earlier this week and didn’t get his new tires glued until Thursday. He rode his bike for the first time about an hour before the race started. Keep in mind he went from Shimano to SRAM. Big difference in shifting so he had a little mishap at the first of the race and went from starting at the front to being last. In usual Jordan fashion he put the pedal down and quickly made his way up the field passing 20+ riders to gain the 6th position for quite some time. He has had a little bit of an upset stomach for the past few days and he said all of the jarring of the course just hit him hard. Just two laps to go Jordan came off the course hurling his bike… and what was in his stomach! That was a little disappointing to see him have to quit the race but he was happy with how quickly he moved up and his legs were feeling great, just his stomach didn’t agree with how hard he was going. I am so proud of him and last night showed how much strength he has gained since last season of CX. Road racing is going great and I really think it’s clicked with him. I am so excited to see what the remaining Road season and upcoming CX Season is going to be for him.

Our race schedule is slowing down for a week or so until J-man leaves for Tour of Dairyland in June. Time to enjoy his summer!

Two Words: Athens Twilight

Athens Twilight is an awesome event that we have been to for the past 4 years in a row to watch. I think Jordan has been even more with his Dad. They would race the Ft. Yargo Mtn Bike event and then head over to Athens to watch the Pro Race. There is nothing else like it in my opinion. A few years ago we started doing the daytime criterium. This year Jordan had a goal to qualify for the Amateur Finals Race. It’s a neat race they put on before the Pro Race. It was a crazy day for the day racing. Lot’s of flat tires and a few crashes here and there. Jordan flatted in the Cat 4’s and was bummed about his opportunity to qualify so we rushed to fix a flat and he raced Jrs for qualification.

                    SRAM neutral support had to change a lot of flats, thanks to some glass on the course.

It was so fun to see him and his teammates all lined up in a Big Boy Race. They looked so tiny….

J-man got a Prime! You would’ve thought the kid one a million dollars, even though it was just $40! Adrenaline was already pumping with the crowd and being out there with some of his teammates so this was the icing on the cake.

                                                                 That is one happy kid!

Since Athens we have chilled a little with the races but did have the chance to go support our Team at the Meals on Wheels ride in Asheville last week. Great cause and it was neat to see the AYC kids come together for this event.

Racing in Raleigh this weekend for Jordan’s first Cat 3 Race and he had great results in the Road Race. Crit this morning and I am patiently waiting around for the results. I stayed home this weekend and he’s with his AWESOME team sponsors. The next few months are going to be pretty exciting, lots of things coming up. Stay tuned…….

Looking Back…

I have been sickly this week and I made myself stay inside all day yesterday so I had some time to think about stuff… just all kinds of stuff. Last week J had a History project due. “My Family Tree" and of course Jordan style he procrastinated until 2 days before it was due to actually start. We spent Saturday afternoon at my grandparents house (J’s great grandparents) looking through old pictures. I’m not sure who had more fun, us or them. It was so sweet listening to my grandparents who have been married 57 years this year tell us about the photos of them when they were young. Each photo had a story and they would talk like it was just yesterday that these events took place. How many of you can say that you at age 14 got to sit down with your GREAT grandparents and listen to stories and look at photos? I think and hope Jordan appreciated the opportunity and will remember this for years to come. I know I will.
In our efforts to look for old family photos of J I found several of him when he first starting riding his bike and couldn’t help but look at how far he’s come….

This was his first ever bike purchase. He rode the creeper trail with his Nanna on it and was hooked from there. He actually raced on this bike for awhile, even after his first Cross Bike purchase and his first Mtn bike he still rode the green bike all over the place.

                  Here he is about to do a Mtn Bike Race at Fontana Village. He placed 3rd!

In 2010 he tried Cyclocross for the first time. He was not happy about it at first. His green bike was so heavy and hard to lift over barriers. I will never forget the first practice he was almost in tears because he didn’t want to stay. Below he and Garrett Smith his long time cycling buddy are lining up for Jordan’s first CX race. He got first place and CX was his newfound love.

In the 2011 Season his love grew for cycling and we had met some great people along the way that helped J learn the ropes of the sport. 

The friendships he has built and the people he looks up to, is worth more than the ribbons or medals he has. To watch the kids he began his cycling with make accomplishments is so exciting.

I had fun looking back at our photos and I can’t wait to see what’s next…

Update

It’s been a month since I have posted anything on races.This is our first weekend free in a few weeks so now I can sit down for a few race reports.
Blythewood Omnium was a AYC throw down! We had such a presence at this race it was awesome. It was a great beginning to the Road Season. Our kids went home with some major accessories. Here is a link to the Asheville Youth Cycling Windup Newsletter http://www.icontact-archive.com/aQ28mr_Hb-JDpbr2Xc9c2egYzqjAbCPt?w=2




They also showed some love to Coach Joey!

Next up St. Patty’s Day Crit which was a little more local and was to benefit Mars Hill Cycling. These kids were up at the crack of dawn it seemed to race the Jr. race early.

The jr. race was such a fast pace race with Nolan T leading the group. We did well and then our boys did the Category races with some great finishes. J-man got 4th in Cat 4, Ladson 7th and both our Andrew’s finishes strong. Devin did awesome in his first Pro1/2/3 race with a finish of 18th! Not too shabby for such a FAST race.

This past weekend Jordan and I traveled to Charlotte for the Dilworth Crit and NoDA Crit. We have never been to these events and heard from several it’s not a weekend to miss. The evening event was watching the Presby Crit! Fast Pro race in downtown Charlotte. We had such a fun weekend with our AYC Crew. Jordan to 2nd in the Jr’s Race and in Cat 4’s he got pushed off the course and just couldn’t get back up to the front group. Ladson had a great finish after being top 10 basically the entire race.

The following day was the NoDA Crit. In a cute little artsy district of Charlotte, this race was so much fun. This was one of the largest Jr. fields I have seen in a Crit. I think they said 58 junior riders! That makes my heart warm that cycling is growing so much for young people. I think our boys got the feel of racing a 1/2 field! Nolan T & Charlie H were leading the race and the pace was FAST! It was so much fun to watch. We had a great finish for our boys. Below is a pic of the Jr. Lineup!

We stayed home this weekend but several of our Jr’s traveled to Sunny King Crit and Charleston! I hate we missed the fun but, next week is Athens Twilight! It’s always a great race and tons of fun.

The dreaded pinning of the numbers....

Every race which happens often I hear " Mom, will you pin my numbers?" or " Ms. Lewis, will you pin my numbers?" and even though I feel like it's my mom of a cyclist duty I absolutely despise it! I guess the first step is admitting it, My name is Autumn Lewis and I hate pinning race numbers. I am not the best at this little task either so I almost go into panic mode when asked the dreaded question... especially when it's not just my cyclist but another jr cyclist who is depending on me to pin their numbers on the side just right so the Officials can read them as they go flying by. I have even used YouTube to watch how to pin numbers. Pretty sad I know. I hopefully make up for my lack of number pinning skills by bringing enough peanut butter and jelly to feed a team or taking a few hundred action shots with my camera.
We had a great weekend in Blythewood for the Omnium, Race Report soon!

The answer to the question....

    "How do you do it?" and "Why do you do it?" Two questions I get often and just got the other day. My response is always the same "Why wouldn't I?" The travel, the time and of course the money that I spend on my son's Cycling passion is often misunderstood by those who.... just don't understand. My question to them, how is it different from 10 basketball games in a week? "Oh but that's different." Is it? Not really.
    My son is 14 years old and he gets on his bicycle every single day to train. When he's not racing or training you can usually find him on his mountain bike riding around doing wheelies or stoppies because he enjoys it. In talking with another Mom of a cyclist (actually she has two) we were referring how our son's have such good relationship's with their cycling friends. It's something they don't really have with their friends at school who don't ride a bicycle daily. I guess cyclist's are thought to be strange, or different. They go outside in spandex and ride in 90 degree weather or they go outside in 10 degree weather to get their fix. To us it's a normal way of life. Does that make us better than anyone? Gosh no, but that does make a bond with our group of cycling friends that much stronger. Cycling parents are even worse, you can go to any bicycle race and 4 out of 5 of the cycling mom's are feeding, pinning numbers or taking pics of someone else's kid. We don't even think twice about it. The dad's are the same except they are exchanging tool's or part's or advice on gluing a tire or fixing a derailleur hanger. I know that if I am not there and Jordan is racing, there will be a Parent who will keep me updated and if God forbid anything were to happen they would take care of him like he was their own. Are baseball or basketball families any different? I don't know, we haven't been in that world in about 4 years. I hope it is because I hope that every parent and child that plays sports can experience the same happy feeling that we do when we race. We are very lucky to have these people surrounding us and our children. If you don't believe me, I dare you to come watch a cycling event and soak it all in. Go to your local bicycle shop and I can bet they will do what they can to help out a Junior Cyclist.
    So, to answer the question: I do it because my son is happiest when he's on a bicycle. As a parent how could you hinder that happiness? The added bonus, maybe it will pay for college one day. The real added bonus, I get to see these kid's smiling faces and know that they are putting their heart and soul into something they love.

   

AYC Representing

Wow, getting back in the groove of Road vs Cyclocross is tricky. J-man raced with his new team this past weekend and AYC made an impact for sure! I believe I read that in two days we Toed the Line 40 times. We had a great turnout and the guys worked well together. Red, Orange and White covered the Junior field and Category races also. It was so neat watching the kids get their game plan together and put it into action on the course. I think we are going to make our presence known this season! Saturdays results, out of 48 riders in the Junior Race we had 9 kids in the top 25 and on Sunday and 8 in the top 25. Not to mention the Category races. J is SO excited for this season and I think everyone else is as well. Facebook was covered in posts from these kids about how great everyone did. I love seeing this and I know the team parents and sponsors do as well. Of course I took a few pics, here are a few of the 2013 AYC DIY Jr Development Team.

J-man did great, 4th finish on Saturday and 6th on Sunday. This Junior field was crazy fast and strong! I can’t wait to see what these boys have in store for them.

New Year, New Team and New Awesome

I've been meaning to post this all week but a mom of a cyclist never rests. So I'm blogging in the truck on our way to our first Road Race for Greenville Spring Training Series, a four weekend event with Jordan's new team. We are so stoked! ABRC/AYC Jr. Development DIY Music is the official team name. Check them out at http://ashevilleyouthcycling.org Last weekend J had camp to meet all of his new teammates even though he has known several for awhile now. It was a great weekend and really got the kids excited for Road/Track Season. He used his handy dandy GoPro he got from Granny & Papaw for Christmas and of course made a sweet video. Check it out
http://youtu.be/1CUqdRmosfI
We are ready to get a little racing back in our lives... I mean it's only been 4 weeks since CX Nationals! Seems like so far away...
Race Report and Pics to follow

CX Nats 2013

  I have been thinking about my post since we returned from Wisconsin. My mind just hasn’t stopped long enough….

  We are in the process of putting together a video of the whole trip and I think that is the best way possible to tell you all about it. When I get my editing skills down I will post asap. I do want to add how very proud of J-man I am. His results were not what he wanted or what he expected. There is nothing more painful as a parent to see your child work so hard for something and be so dedicated and the outcome not be what you want. As a parent you want your child to succeed regardless of what they may be doing. School, sports, relationships and life in general. J-man has had one long journey this CX Season and we have watched him succeed at so much. After a season that took us all by surprise we were building up the excitement for CX Nats. With the intent to boost his confidence and of course because I am a proud momma. Not to brag or boast about my son just to build-up he and the other kids from our team. What kid doesn’t like their very own pep squad? 

 Here are a few pics from the trip to hold you over until I conquer iMovie.