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Home! And another semester ends

Needless to say, the aforementioned Tour de Franzia was a complete success:

And with that out the way, the conclusion of the spring semester flew by.  I'm home in NY already, whilst most are still in Blacksburg taking exams and celebrating graduation.  Every time I make the drive, I never want to do it again.  But it's good to be home.

The night I got home, my Mom told me that she's found a 5k on Saturday, and a bike race on Sunday for me to do! So I need to start training apparently, and today I went for a bike ride and a trail run.  I went and rode the steepest hills I could find, to prepare for the bike race which goes up the steepest road I've ever ridden.

As I turned onto Pleasant Valley Rd, there was a huge sign saying "Road Closed 2 Miles" and I assumed it was construction so I didn't even hesitate.  Riding along the "disappearing lake" in the valley, it was higher than I've ever seen it, all the way right up to the road.  Apparently, last month Syracuse had the wettest month on record, and that was visible there.

After a couple miles, there were some cars pulled over, backing up the wrong side of the road, and it was like wth is going on here.  As I crested a small hill, I saw why:

Pleasant Valley Rd

I rolled down to the edge of the water, passing all of the suburbans that were turning around.  A lady driving one told me that she had seen some big trucks just go through, and it was up to their doors.  She was basically telling me that I better turn around on my skinny tired road bike, considering she wasn't even going to try in her unnecessarily large vehicle.  I thought "weak" and pedaled into the lake.  My only concern was drowning my powertap wheel, but it's supposed to be water resistant.  As I rode further in, it got deeper, and my entire drivetrain was underwater, my feet only emerging from the water at the top of my pedalstroke.  As I neared the end and the water, shallowed, I stood up and sprinted out of it. Chyeah!

Later on Pleasant Valley Rd, I felt pretty accomplished by cruising by a tractor with three huge tillers in tow, but that's probably not too impressive, his top speed is like 15MPH.  After that, I cruised up the 13 curves, rode around the high school, up Falls from the very bottom (super steep climb) and beat a lift truck to the top!

Only two weeks of school left!

It's been awhile since I posted, my b.

The good news is that I've been too busy riding bikes, having lots of fun, and working hard.

First, check out the Men's C crit from the Conference Championship weekend that happened here the weekend before last, it was awesome.  You can read the backstory at http://www.cycling.org.vt.edu and here's the vid:

Other happenings have included finishing my application to grad school, which I applied for in the spring of 2012, and will be hopefully in the accelerated ugrad/grad program in the fall.

And I gave a presentation on the research that I have been doing for the past two semesters, watch here:

A lot of work, and four finals crammed into two days, before I come home. But that's in less than two weeks! Time to keep gettin at it.

Ciao!

Summer Plans and Pictures

Just thought I'd share some pics:

Last Thursday's perfect ice cream cone

My competition brews I left at Ben's house last Friday

Pizza at Pies and Pints on Friday, on the way to WV. Delicious pizza, and the beer wasn't too bad, although Rogue's Chateau was too roasted IMO

Gettin ready for course ride this Wednesday

Wyatt gettin his wheel on

My improved drying rack Thurs AM! Not including all of my cycling clothes strung over both rafters. This was after a record 6 very full washers.

Long shaggy hair, pre-haircut

Lookin like a young professional now, no beard and trimmed hair

Had the vid cam I rented from Innovation Space set up on the gorilla pod for my presentation. They have 12 hd cameras and 4 standard, but only had the standard available. I bought film for it, so I plan on shooting the remaining 60 minutes at the race this weekend, footage to come on Monday!

And I guess that's all for the moment. It wouldn't let me upload videos from my phone, unfortunately.  I'm looking foward to the pre-race get together tonight, and our last weekend racing for the season this weekend at home.  I'll be home in NY in less than a month!

Oh almost forgot the summer plans part.  Mom, Dad, you guys should be able to get a feel for who I'm living with this summer in the house down here with this PDF I made: 523_Jackson.