Louisville

A great weekend in Louisville!

Chris Wallace and I reached our destination in Louisville after a long 8 hour drive. Upon reaching our hotel we checked in with no problems and moved all of our gear up to our room. After our drive we wanted to get out and spin our legs.

We made our way along the narrow windy roads and eventually ended up at the bluffs surrounding the city. The climb was on one of the coolest roads that I have ever ridden. The climb started out with a long straight away and then the road pitched upwards and we entered a densely forested road. With all the leaves a beautiful shade of yellow it made for an awesome ride. Chris and I made it to the top of the hill after a solid 10 minutes of climbing and we were rewarded with a great view of the surrounding area. The ride was a great end to a long car ride.

After meeting up with the Schmalz's for dinner, Chris and I headed back up to our room and we were both asleep by 9:30 (8:30 our time). The morning of Saturday's race we went down for some breakfast and quickly prepared for the days race. The race course was only a short 10 minute drive from our hotel so we did not have to spend too much more time in the car. I picked up my number for my race and I started getting my tires pumped up, number pinned and my bike set up in the trainer. After a nice long warmup I was ready to race. Because of my late registration in the Cat 2/3 race my starting position was number 82 out of 110 starters. I had my work cut out for me in the race. At the sound of the whistle we all took off down the road and upon reaching the first mud section the real race had started. I was able to do a lot of passing the first two laps of the race and I quickly found myself in the top 10. I was able to maintain my position throughout my race and at the end I finished 8th. I was very happy with that result. Chris and Tom's race began shortly after mine and they both battled the same muddy conditions. After Chris finished up his race and the podium presentation we headed back to our room to grab some food before the elite mens race. Joe Schmalz had another great ride in the UCI Mens Elite race and finished 3rd in the U23 race.

After a muddy day Tom, Joe, Jerry, Chris and I traveled to a laundry mat to get our clothes washed. This was a unique first experience for me. I got to take in the nice scenery of the establishment, which included a scary looking man, and an odd assortment of trees and plants lining the top of some of the washers. How a cacti survives in an environment like that is beyond me.

Sunday was another early morning with the same routine as the previous one. We got to the cross course, got registered for the race, receiving number 79 (three spots closer to the front than the day before) and I again jumped on the trainer for a long warm up. One major difference between the course Sunday and the Course Saturday was the amount of mud we had to ride in. Although we still spent some time in the mud, it wasn't as bad as the previous day. The race started off fast and by the time I reached the mud people had begun falling. I dismounted my bike, stood for about 10 seconds and after the fallen had picked them selves back up, I began running the first portion of mud. I reached the long straight away, remounted, and started my chase towards the front of the race. I made my way into 10th place and on the last lap I was able to catch and pass 9th just before the end. I was again very happy with how I finished with such a large field racing.

Chris, and Tom both had very good races, Chris finishing 3rd for a second day, and Tom finished 5th.

Chris and I headed back to the hotel to load up our bags, and again we were back on the highway. I took over driving just past STL and I had the pleasure of driving 4 hours at night in the rain on I-70. That's a drive I never want to experience again. We made it back to Shawnee around 8:30, unpacked Chris' car and I headed home.

I arrived home safely and I look back at the weekend as one of the best I'll ever have. I hope the legs I had in Louisville will stay with me until nationals.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

The Stories of I-70

Country music- Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, George Strait,

Jason Aldean. We are only 3 hours into our ride and Chris Wallace and I have had the honor of listening to these great AMERICAN performers.

Chris is loving it...

Im trying not to pull my hair out...

So far on our trip, we have Skyped with my dad, and and enjoyed Starbucks coffee. Chris is successfully navigating the trucks on our way to STL.

More to come this weekend from "The Wallace-Edwards Duo"

Addicted to Cross

Cyclocross season is in full swing and I am loving every minute of it. I have raced every weekend for the past month and one of my observations is that the Cat. 1/2/3 race is totally different from the 3/4s. So far I have gotten a few top tens including a 10th place at Herman Under the Lights. Herman is by far my favorite race this season, and I hope to have more performances like that night.

Today was the Boulevard Cyclocross race at Wyandotte County Park. Unlike the last two weeks the weather today was awesome. It was in the low 60s but compared to the last few cross weekends it felt like a heat wave. It was a fast start and the race broke into a few groups pretty quickly. Joe Schmalz is riding very well and won todays race. KCCX/Verge had a very good ride and placed 3 in the top 5. I ended up 9th today and I hope to have another good ride next weekend in KY.

I will update again after next weekends race,

Alex

Busy Time of the Year

Wow. Between school, riding, yearbook, and marching band, my first two weeks of school have been crazy.

I love all of my classes this semester. This year I only have one new teacher, Mr. Messier. Mr. Messier is my Comp. and Reading teacher and he is one of the funniest teachers I have ever had. I am looking forward to him teaching me for the rest of the year.

Tomorrow is our first half time show for marching band. Our band has done a very good job preparing for our show. I hope that all goes well tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

A New Cross Season

Where did the summer go? Tomorrow starts the first day of school. I can not believe I am entering my senior year. It seemed only months ago I started high school wondering when I would finally be done.

This is the start of regular updates on my blog. I know I have said that before but I am going to stay dedicated to updating.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

New Year, New Classes, More training.

A lot has gone on sense the last time I have updated.

New classes this semester with a new start is always a good thing. I am really looking forward to the last semester of my junior year taking some classes that I really enjoy. Yearbook is going to be my favorite class this semester because of more responsibilitys along with staying after school for editors meetings. A new responsibilty for this semester is my assignment as co-assistant photo editor with a friend of mine. So far my Language Arts class is incredibly easy due to us reading stories and answering questions during the class.

With only a little over month until the start of this years road season, training is kicking into gear. Riding on the weekends with some of the guys down south I have been getting in some good mileage. Lifting weights during the week has a nice change from riding almost every day during the summer and fall. I hope to be riding well for the first race of the year in Columbia MO.

Clarice and I vistited Union Station this weekend and here are a few pictures I wanted to share.

Alex

Cyclocross Nationals

Cross nats went very well for me this year. I felt like I was on pretty good form leading up to the race. With snow that had melted on the course, everything started to get very muddy which for me, the muddier the better. I felt really good the morning of the race while warming up and was very happy and surprised to see Clarice and Brandon (girlfriend and good friend) at the race. My third row starting spot for the race was a good position to be in. The race started and it was a very fast start with everyone trying to stay upright after hitting the first muddy turn. It was a very fun race however very difficult to ride some of the offcamber turns. I had several people working the pit for me so I was able to get a new clean bike every lap. I finished the race to find Brian Harrdy waiting just after the finish line with my jacket, an awesome thing to see after finishing the race. I ended up 20th place which I was very thrilled about because the field this year was incredibly fast. Chris Wallace got 5th place so that was a great ride for him especialy because he left Friday for Europe. With Nationals over it is very nice to have a few weeks to rest before starting all over again next spring.

Thanks to everybody that helped me out at Nationals,

Alex

Crunch Time

With cyclo-cross nationals this weekend and finals next Thursday and Friday it is going to be a very busy two weeks fortunately, after that there will be a nice break. It snowed about 1 inch yesterday so I am hoping for a muddy cross course on Friday.

Hopefully all will go well on Friday,

Alex

Finally Updating

Its been a while since I updated last so I will cover several events.

I attended the National Journalism Convention with the school Yearbook and Newspaper. It was a lot of fun and we were able to miss two days of school. The first day we stopped by the zoo, and checked into our hotel. I roomed with Peter Krause and we had an awesome view of the football stadium. On Friday we went to our first classes which most of the classes were very boring. That afternoon we went and ate at Union Station. That evening we took part in competitions where both Peter and Emily received honorable mentions. On Saturday we finished up going to three more classes and I was picked up early for a team cycling camp.

I raced two weekends ago with Chris Wallace and Garrick Valverde in Lincoln NE where Chris won the Cat 1/2/3 race, Garrick got seventh in the 3/4s and I got fourth in the 3/4s. On the way back we had a great meal at Chipotle.

Last week I heard that Chris Wallace is going to Belgium to race with some of the best cross racers in the world. Chris should have some good races and hopefully make the worlds team.

Thanksgiving weekend was a lot of fun with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins traveling to Atchison KS for dinner at my Grandparents house. I went out and took pictures with my Uncle at the Abbey and got a few cool shots. My mom and I headed up to Iowa City IA at 5:30 am for a the UCI Jingle Cross Rock. I raced the men's 2/3 race with Chris Wallace and Logan Van Bokel. The first day's course was mostly dry with a very long run up. Chris won the race, unfortunately Logan broke his chain, and I finished 27th out of 58. Sundays race was VERY muddy and cold which I really liked. I had a fairly good start and was able to stay upright for the large majority of the race. Chris got second and I was able to get 18th out of 45ish. It was a very good weekend and my mom and I headed back home after a long weekend.

I hope to update more often.

Alex

Vet Cross and good mexican food

A cold day at Leavenworth High School. It's finally starting to feel like cross season! I really enjoyed the course today, there were lots of straight aways but not very technical. The course had two dismount sections and one steep uphill but it was rideable. Not very much running on the course which I liked. The 3/4 race started with 36 people and I had a front row spot. There were a few crashes on the first lap but thankfully I was able to avoid them and make it up to the front group of 6. From there our group would split up and come back together the entire race until a Freestate rider attacked (sorry i don't know your name). At the time I was not able to go with the move and he ended up riding away from the group finishing with a pretty large gap on the rest of the group. On the last lap of the race I was able to get around a lapped rider in a tight section of the course and because of the lapped rider I was able to get a gap on the other guys and I ended up holding them off for second place.

After my race was over I was able to walk around the course with Clarice and take pictures of the 1/2/3 race where I got some pretty decent pictures.

After the race my family, along with Clarice and the Wallace's, ate at the new Mexican resturant in Parkville called Agave. It's a really great place and plus it's smoke free.

All and all it was a great day.

WWBMD

Welcome...

Raced the Vet. Cross in Leavenworth KS. Will write more later.