CAT 2 Upgrade!

Well, my upgrade went through!  I am officially a category 2 racer.  All I know is that is a big step up and I am excited to race with the professionals and other 1's and 2's.  I managed to upgrade from 4's to 2's in one season, and I upgraded over winter because I wanted to start the season like everyone else, not feeling behind or anything like some transfer type of rider.  I feel like I earned this upgrade and I have been dreaming of getting here.  This is by no means a destination, but just one step closer to my goal!  It's been a blast this far and I feel like it's only going to get better.  I am also excited that the approval came today because my fall semester is done and I can seriously focus on cycling from here on out for the 2011 season.  It's going to be awesome! I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has supported me from the start.  My team has been amazing, I have learned so much and always felt welcomed.  I appreciate the love and support from my family, coming to races and getting me up early for those long drives, helping in many ways. I'd like to thank all my friends who have helped support me too, and especially Kayla for all the support (and learning all about cycling) and being able to share the excitement with me since the first race years ago.. Thanks everyone! 2011 I have high hopes. I am looking forward to it!

Cars and photos..

Today was a fantastic day.  Why? Because for one, I was early to my class (2nd time this semester), and also today was the last "real" day of school before finals.  AND, to top it off, AJ and I hit up In N' Out for lunch.  Jess joined us, and since I had taken photos of AJ's ride on the way to Chico I decided that in order to get a great photo it would be pretty awesome if we drove somewhere and took some shots.  We were all down for the adventure, and since I wanted some good shots I volunteered Jess to drive my car for me.  She wasn't half bad, didn't get us killed and I ended up getting some sick shots of AJ's car!  I went for the blurred effect which was tricky getting the shutter speeds right.  But, when I did this is what we ended up with!

I was extremely pleased with the photos, and I'll post a few more.  My day was just totally awesome from start to finish!! I need to hangout with more people, get out more.  This spur of the moment idea was the best thing yet.  I photoshopped a sweet Subaru poster (it was supposed to be a movie poster) for my last Photoshop project.  Check it out!

There are wayyy too many things you can do in Photoshop.  I need to buy a version of Photoshop or something.  Yea, so my day was awesome, and I am so stoked that after tomorrow's class I will be ready for the weekend! (Unfortunately studying for my 3 finals on Monday).  But, it's all good! 

More photos!

AJ himself!

AJ's slappin bass.. haha good stuff!

Success breeds success

Today, Wednesday was a home dual meet against Gridley for the Oroville wrestling team.  I decided to pay them a visit and shoot some photos.  Good thing I did! They stomped on the Bulldogs like 72 to 12.. All teams have their highs and lows, but Oroville came out on top by a long shot.  It's nice to see so many kids out there and see them have success.  As my grandpa taught me, "Success breeds success."  Speaking of grandpa, he called me up and wanted to tell me something about my classes and never to indicate what political views I have to the teacher.  Okay, and also not to take anything you hear as the truth, but to find out on your own whether or not it's the truth or not.  Thanks grandpa!

Enough said, lets see some photos!

Jon Jon with the throw

Fighting for the pin

A solid take down by Matt Johnson

Gridley's Conner Anderson with the take down

With the pin!

Sam putting the hurt on at 103's..

Overall, a great night, and I'm looking forward to Christmas break! Half way though this week, I am feeling closer and closer as the days go on.  My bike will be happy, because I plan to hit the training hard once I'm done with school. 

Dead Week

We did not get dead week, but this would in my mind be dead week.  I could use some time to study for the upcoming finals, but NO they have to squeeze every last bit of grade-able information out of you.  Essays galore, homework assignments left and right!  Oh well, I know it will all end soon.  The week is almost half way done.  I have been extremely busy and have way too much on my mind.  Facebook has been pretty dead lately, and I can sense everyone cramming in whatever last efforts they have to pull off the grade.  No photos today, the CF card is sitting on my desk and I have no energy to find a photo worth posting. I'll make it up over break with plenty of time to ooh and ahh over my photos.. I would love to zone out to photos right now, but sleep is needed. More math tests tomorrow, and I just finished my "media control" essay. (Another fine quality b.s. job.) It has been ridiculous in my English class, an essay due each class period, I am SICK OF ESSAYS.

okay, ahh, goodnight!
and a photo for the heck of it. (an old one)..

Boy do I miss racing..

Highlight of my season: Nevada City Classic, June 20th 2010

I am really looking forward to racing as a CAT 2 in 2011, and I cannot wait for the increased participation in NCNCA races this coming season, joining the existing 2's and 1's on Chico Corsa. It's going to be amazing to have this chance to increase my love for cycling while attending a final semester at Butte.  I can't wait till break, then training and all that fun stuff!

Dance Dance 2!

I had the opportunity to chill with Sydney and friends Friday night.  That was fun, and I was pretty stoked to have the chance to chill with friends.  It's been a while since I've gotten out, so it was nice to see old friends..
(and fortunately they put up with my photo taking obsession..) Shoot, Terra even tried taking a few photos of her own!  I don't usually let others use my camera, because A) it's expensive, and B) I shoot on manual and don't feel like teaching them how to adjust each and every setting.. haha

We ended up playing Dance Dance 2 on the Wii (I never play games on the Wii or any of that stuff, let alone DANCING games.. that is so not me).  But I gave it a whirl and I actually had fun! What a shocker..

Oh, and now I remember why I was initially invited over to hangout with Syd! haha to take some sweet pics of her Christmas decor.  This is what I came up with (and for the rest of the night).

Syd's house from the outside!

Terra helping me enjoy the Christmas Spirit! (Egg Nog! the best stuff ever!!)

And now, Terra's awesome photography! 

Sam! Always full of energy, in a great way. She works at Dutch Bros, which totally makes sense to me. And apparently people tip well at that place! That's so cool.. She told me that she applied to Davis too! How awesome would that be if she went to Davis with me next fall! We could join all the other awesome Orovillian's who are currently attending UC Davis! 

She forced a hug out of me, seriously. I don't often hug people, but it's all good.. haha 

Terra making use of the camera again haha nice eyes Sam.

yea, I don't know.. but yep. haha

I've never seen my camera used for the Facebook profile shot... haha classic

Me chillin on the couch! haha

All in all, a great night. Glad I had the chance to get out and see old friends!

A different kind of Friday

This is a bit late, but to me it's worth writing about.
First off, I was a bit risky with my picture taking yesterday.  I felt the need to test my limits, taking photos of people/things that are just regular everyday things.  The things that nobody in their right mind take photos of, which naturally throws people off (and often times prompts the classic "are you in a photo class?" question).

And by the way, I am in a photoshop class, and that does NOT count.
I take photos for fun, and I (as you can see through my blog) take photos of my life, and life as I see it on a daily basis.  That includes the bums on the street, the friends I hangout with, etc.

I learned this: Do not take photos of druggies.  They don't like that.
And, when in doubt, tell people you ARE in a photo class. That solves everything..
Also, if you have the urge to take a candid photo, do it and explain only if you have to. The less words the better, and always smile.  Don't feel obligated to have a conversation either..
Here are my people related candid shots of the day!

Not bad eh?

Oh, and for the record I asked for this one, and the guy on the right told the guy on the left that it was for a photo class (which I did not say that at all), but he kept telling his buddy (and other store employee) something about photo class and waved me on to take the photo. haha 

Then my candid shot.. haha Coca-Cola delivery in action.

As you can see my shutter speed was low, but I blame that on the indoor lighting, and I didn't have time to jack up the ISO and shutter speeds. I am getting faster at guessing the ballparks on the settings before going into the situation.  (this shot isn't the type you can say "hey buddy, my lighting was bad, can I bother you by asking you to reload those cases of soda?")

A friend I saw in the parking lot.

Testing out the tricylce! so classic :)

So, this photo was risky, but I wanted it (and got it).  I was promptly asked not to take photos, and at that point I jumped into the nearest vehicle (which was fortunately Terra's mom's SUV.. I had to hide or else!)

I didn't want to get jumped or something

Again, one of those one shot deals.. and, another poor lighting shutter speed combo.  I will master these photos one day! Practice makes perfect. haha 

Greenhouses!

This morning I did not get the chance to work due to the poor weather.  What a shame, because I really need the money.  I ended up connecting up with Christians to get my battery charger for my camera (a big deal, trust me!).  We chatted it up like old times and ended up discussing some deep stuff.  Always enjoy that kind of conversation and despite the fact we may view things differently it's great to get a different view on life and bounce ideas off each other.  He showed me his garden and his handmade greenhouses.

Christian leading me to see his greenhouses that he built. 

I've got one word to describe his work!

PROFESSIONAL

I'm tellin you, these greenhouses were absolutely amazing!  I was so impressed by the quality and design of these structures it made me fall right back in love with gardening!  I would totally have one of these things in my garden if I had the time to grow things!  Those greenhouses can extend your gardening season by months!  It was so creatively done that the plastic cover could be taken off, raised up for ventilation and so much more!  They were huge.  I believe the dimensions were 8 by 10 feet, and tall too! You could stand up and it felt so spacious.  He told me he was selling them too for only $800.  These are legit and I was very impressed with the quality!

Okay, now that you've heard everything about me oohing and ahhing over them, here are more pictures!!

Christian with his work of art!

View from the doorway.

So much space in here!

Here Christian is showing me how the sides can come up for ventilation.

View from the outside. Looks awesome!

I was glad I got to see Christian before I headed off to math class.  After math class we went job searching.. that was interesting to say the least.