Published on
October 30, 2007 in
Life.
Today is our 6 month anniversary. So on Sunday we went all out and had dinner at the Harvest Room in the Hotel MacDonald. We got all dressed up and prepared for a very extravagant evening.
The service was really good and we were treated very well. We started with a lobster risotto, which was a bit of an adventure for Brittani. But it was very tasty: rich and creamy. We were then served a sample of pureed potatoes topped with lamb and pickle. Oooweee! It was very tasty, not even a spoonful and it was amazing! Then I had lamb and osso buco. The lamb was unreal! Oh man! It was so good! I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it’s the best meal I’ve ever had. Brittani had the roast chicken breast and said it was very good. I didn’t actually steal any off her plate… We finished with a cherry cheesecake for her and creme brulee for me. They were both quite delicious!
By this time, we were stuffed. So we went to go walk around the hotel. It was beautiful. Very extravagant, but absolutely gorgeous! We followed that with a little trip down the legislature; I presented her with her gift. She seemed excited and surprised and to really like it. And then she gave me a slideshow of almost all of the pictures we’ve ever taken together! Wow!
It was just a great night and an absolutely amazing meal!
::SA
Published on
October 27, 2007 in
Biking.
I had quite the thought process in the last week. And in that time I barely rode my bike at all. I just had a huge lack of motivation after nationals. But I did come down to Calgary to race this weekend. I wasn’t even super motivated to race in the morning. But once I jumped on my bike and started riding around, I was pretty much good to go.
I had a good start and was sitting in fourth wheel behind Tim, Aaron, and Chris. Coming around the third corner into the off-camber section, Bunnin chopped me out of my line and I went down and landed in the bush away from my bike. I ended up at the back of the field…
I was giv’n'er real hard after that to catch back on. I had just made it back onto the Mike, Dave, and Brian group when I crashed again. At least this one was my lack of skill. At the end of the third lap I almost rode off the course and had to put a foot down to get myself back. I had lost a lot of motivation by this point. After a lap I had pulled my brain around and started bringing people back. I caught Dave and was chasing Cyrus and Mike. I thought I kept gaining, but I didn’t quite get them.
After I got my motivation back I was just having a lot of fun riding my bike. It was a great course. Thanks Terrascape. I felt like I was riding well and I loved the off-camber and the corners and stuff. It was good. And I have to say thanks a ton to all the cheerers out there. It was great and I love you all!
Now it’s time for a little break and then I’ll kick it old-school. USGP 5 and 6 in Portland on Dec 1-2. Europe Dec 17 or so! Woohoo!
::SA
Published on
October 26, 2007 in
Biking.
Woohoo! Shaun Adamson is ranked 75th in the world for cyclocross!
Ok, ok. It is a very biased ranking, since it is early in the season and we are the only ones who have had our National Championships… but still, it’s cool!
::SA
Published on
October 25, 2007 in
Thoughts.
Thanks to all of you, my fantastic readers, my blog has been viewed 15 000 times since I started it on January 9, 2007. It began with my adventures racing cross in Europe, expanded to my thoughts on life and more about racing and riding my bike. Thanks for reading, and I hope you come back soon!
::SA
I talked to Bruce on the phone last night, and we came to a conclusion. I am
happy with the way I rode at nationals and I had my race; I didn’t have a good result or the one I wanted. But there were 5 guys that were faster than me on Sunday. Hands down.
So I can’t be upset about anything other than the fact that I didn’t win the race I’ve wanted to for 3 years. Life goes on…
We came to a few conclusions. The main one being, that ultimately, racing and riding your bike must be fun and you must enjoy it.
This didn’t really solve anything, but I came up with a bunch of questions today.
- Is racing cyclocross in Europe just a life experience? Or is it a preparation to race pro?
- Do I want to be a pro? Do I want this to be my job?
- Is it possible for me?
- How does that fit into the rest of my life?
So that’s what I’ve got. Now I just need to answer them…
::SA
I put down the best ride I could. My legs felt great. The bike was working great. My mental game was on. I did everything I could.
And I didn’t have it. I just didn’t have it.
I ended up 6tb at Nationals this year. Kind of a disappointment considering I was confident for a win. But I had a good start. A perfect start actually…. I was on Kyle and Mike’s wheels. I stayed there for a while. Mark came around me and Kyle got a gap. I stayed on Mike and Mark for a while, with small gaps opening. Then Ian and Brian came around me. Then they gapped me. It pretty much stayed like that. It broke up really fast and almost everybody was riding by themselves. I guess that means the course was good and the best guy on the day won!
I probably could have changed a few things on the course to suit me better, but a good rider is good on every course. I had the best day of racing, mentally, that I have had all year. That is positive. But I don’t know what’s next. I have had huge sways of emotion in the last 18 hours or so and I don’t know what to do. But today is another day and I’m going to live the next 12 hours to the fullest! Stick around for more…
::SA
I have said multiple times that I don’t ever want to dope as an athlete. I don’t want to dope in general, but you know what I mean. My mom asked me, very seriously, if I ever would. I said no. But who knows what happens when it comes down to it. I hope I don’t, but there may be huge pressure.
These thoughts are provoked by an article I just read on Velonews.com about Jonathan Page. Here is what I took as key from the article:
“The silver medal effort [at world's] resulted in a contract with Sunweb and a tripling of his salary. Besides the increase in income and all the gear and parts he could ask for, Page also now has a small motorhome at his disposal.
“‘It’s definitely a big deal,’ he said of the new ride that has a bed, shower, small kitchen and enough storage area for three bikes.
“All those perks don’t come without a price. The team’s sponsors expect a lot from riders both on and off the bike. Page said the demands on his time have been far greater than he expected, and his past routine of riding into form during the early season hasn’t gone over well with team management. He’s yet to crack the top 5 in any of this year’s tune-up races, and he was 18th at the first Superprestige race of the season on October 14 in Ruddervoorde, Belgium.
“‘They have already said, “You know what, you better get your stuff together,”‘ revealed Page. ‘They don’t want to hear excuses. They want me to perform. They are having a hard time being patient.’”
Interesting… do athletes really have a choice to dope or not? Or is it forced on them?
::SA
I’m here in Kamloops. Just chillin’ after preriding the course. We had a good drive out last night and lounged around in the morning. Then we went to go check out what’s in store for Sunday.
The course is only about a ten minute ride from our hotel, so that’s good. It was mostly unmarked, but we kind of figured it out as we went. The juniors seemed to know most of what was going on. As we were riding it, changes were being made. But it was a really really fast and straight course. Not a lot of interesting stuff.
I was riding around with Greg and we were thinking of ways to make it better. We managed to evoke a few changes and gave a few more ideas. I hate to be the whiny kid who complains all the time, but I was just trying to make it the best course possible. I don’t even want to make it suit my skills, just to make it really good and interesting.
And I know that I can critique every course I ride, but I probably couldn’t make my own course from scratch, even with the perfect venue.
So I’ll do everything I can do be as good as possible on Sunday. That’s all I ask. To do the best that I possibly can. It’s going to be good though. I know that much.
Oh yeah, and I also know that no matter what, I am going to look really friggin’ hot with my new wheels!!!!
::SA
Published on
October 16, 2007 in
Biking.
So there’s been 5 cross races this season. I would stretch to count 2 of them as good. I can’t figure it out.
But at provincials I had a good and a good first 2 laps or so. I was just getting gapped on the back of the front group, behind Mike. That was pretty much where I wanted to be. But I
started losing a little bit of time to that group. Then I crashed and rattled myself. Then I realized I had a front flat. I think that’s actually my first flat in a cross race in 3 years. Whoa!
I just kept going backwards and didn’t feel like I could ride my bike. I could NOT put the power down over the rough stuff and I just wanted to pull over and cry.
But I finished and some people told me not to worry. So I’m not. And I am EXCITED for nationals in 5 days!!!! It’ll be good and I’m really looking forward to it!
::SA
Published on
October 7, 2007 in
Thoughts.
I finally finished reading NT Wright’s Simply Christian. Finally…
But he made some really good statements:
“God welcomes non-Jews as non-Jews, and doesn’t require them to become Jewish. At the same time, Jews themselves couldn’t rely on their birth and ancestral status to assure themselves that they were automatically members in the renewed family which God was creating through the Messiah…. Nor does a person belong to the Messiah and his people simply because of being born into a Christian family or household.”
Wright went on to talk about society and and the idea of sex being a “toy” and not a the “sacrament” that God meant it to be. Now here’s about for all the non-Christians (well, sort of). Why do you think that there are so many negatives related to having sex with lots of people (STI’s, unwanted pregnancy, etc.)? Maybe “God” put these things there to deter people from having sex in the way it wasn’t meant to be had.
And when I thought about writing something for non-Christians, I thought of something else. C.S. Lewis said about Jesus, He is either:
- The Devil Incarnate
- Insane, or
- True
I think that can be extrapolated to Christian faith (since that is basically what Jesus is anyway…). You pick, either Christianity is some terrible cult, it’s crazy or just wrong, or it’s the right way to live…
Hmmm…
::SA
