College homework postcrastination means another blog entry... finally.
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This blog post has been a long time coming. So much has happenend in the last couple of weeks, it's hard to know where to start. It would've been easier if I had blogged again sooner, so the punishment is all mine.
Moving on - today, I'd like to focus on the cycling side of things. I mean it is why I'm here after all.
For those of you who've had enough cycling talk from me over the last nine months, I'll try and keep it interesting.
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My first time on a bike in the US was at Thermal Thursdays, a local criterium competition. Starting in intermediate grade with the other women and the intermediate men, I got a crash course in cornering. It might've been a better idea to put the girl who'd never raced road into the beginners race but I didn't crash and even worked out how to use the SRAM components and reversed brakes (Oh!). Yep, they do it differently here.
My second time on a bike was a coffee ride. For me, that meant dealing with US traffic for the first time. Four way stop signs (first in, first served) and yields were all new. Oh, and don't forget being on the wrong side of the road. Who knew that my neck wasn't as flexible checking for traffic over my left shoulder in comparison to my right!
Once, I got used to all of this though, I started to realise what an amazing opportunity John Murray (the bestest Aussie coach) and I had stumbled on.
I want to tell you what it feels like to be on the MSU Cycling Team.
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Arriving in the US on this cycling scholarship, it was hard to know what to expect. Despite only having been cycling for such a short period of time, I decided there must be no excuses and in many ways that's how I've approached the first few weeks on the Midwestern State Cycling Team. Sure, when they ask me if I know "such and such" (an apparently very famous cyclist) I run to my "I just started cycling" excuse, but for the most part I try to approach it with a "why the hell not" type attitude. Cycling has been so good to me since I started, and I trust in that.
There's a woman on the team here, Angela, who is also new to the team. Over my first couple of weeks we have become quite close. Whilst on the team's recent trip to Frisco, Texas to train on the velodrome, I tried my best to explain to her this feeling that had suddenly come over me as we drove through the outlying Dallas area.
It's an emotion that has seemed to creep up on me every now and then, and is the weirdest combination of disbelief, contentness and pride. Randomly, something will remind me of where I am and why I am here. I remember how lucky I am to have had this opportunity come out of seemingly nowhere. I sat in that car with my new US friends, sneaking a smile on my face.
This team means having people to go out on a ride with and grab coffee with, but it also means travelling across the US in a bus to train and compete. It means having people to rely on and it means being relied on to do your part. Such a responsibility has filled me with such an intense drive to achieve.
Will I get the best out of myself in the US? I can't see how I won't.
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Another way to explain to you all this feeling is to describe another moment that happened not too long after the recent Hotter N Hell 100 race.
The biggest participation ride in the US, there's also men's and women's road races over the three days of competition. Most of you will've kept up with my results on facebook, but in case you missed it, I was proud to report a 2nd in the Pro Cat 4. women's 1ookm road race and a 1st in the same category for the Criterium the next day. Over the weekend, Angela and I were unexpectedly able to share over $100 in prize money. Not bad, thank you - although I'm sure the boys would laugh.
What I want to tell you about though was the finish line. Over the load-speaker, everytime I came through to win a Prime or eventually the overall race on the Sunday (the criterium), I was announced as Maddie Steele, from the local MSU team. The cheer from the Wichita Falls crowd always escalated.
It didn't matter to them where I was from - I was accepted as a local. University faculty who had come out to watch the weekend's racing came over to congratulate me. Even random members of the community came up to me too. It's a nice feeling to make people proud when you are an outsider. (Sneaking another smile but I guess I better keep winning!)
But I think the pinnacle of this feeling happened at Convocation, an assembly back at MSU for all the freshmen of 2013 (plus the new randoms like me). As hundreds of students were ushered through the door, a senior faculty member (and avid cyclist) came up to me after hearing of the weekend's results. He gave me the biggest, proudest hug ever.
It was pretty cool. Thanks Dr Farrell!
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Next on the agenda is the relatively short track season. This weekend is the conference championships back in Frisco, Texas. We then have one more chance to train at this track the following weekend before heading on a week-long trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the National Collegiate Track Championships.
Shout out to the kind family who will take us in for the three weekends in Frisco. What an amazing thing to do for a bunch of college kids!
I'm nervous about the next month, but again there can't be any excuses. I'm going to take this opportunity with both hands and do with it all I can. After all, now I not only have those back in Australia riding with me, but the community of Wichita Falls and MSU.
Wish me luck!
