Defending their number one scorer, but unfortunately it wasn't enough... they lost their first game by six points. 

Deja Vu!

Kiersten reminded me that her very first "triathlon" bike, her brother's 30 pound, steel-framed, 20-inch wheeled mountain bike with BMX tires (pictured here) which she won her first five triathlons on against girls on road bikes was also stolen. That was sad because it was the bike that started it all for her and had obvious sentimental value.

Because she was still too small for a road bike we replaced it with a real mountain bike with 24-inch wheels and put slicks on it. She won her first national championships at 8-years of age on it against girls on road bikes and set a record bike split... on a mountain bike! 

Stolen Bike!

Unfortunately Kiersten's favorite bike was stolen last night.

Two bikes were stolen but one recovered, unfortunately the still missing one is the one with the hardest to replace parts. Thankfully several friends from our family at Slowtwitch have stepped in to try and get Kiersten back on a bike before her first race of the season which is only two weeks from now!

Busy day... baseball tryouts and then a basketball game back-to-back!

So... today was tryout day for baseball. Unlike many of the other kids who have been working with coaches for the last month just for tryouts, we haven't thrown the ball since the end of last season. That's how we do it with every sport. A "hockey parent" I'm not ;-)

His first throw was on target but low, but he brought it up some and hit the first baseman on his numbers every throw after that.

I asked him afterwards if it made him nervous when that first ball went low and he said it did but he just corrected it afterwards and it went where he wanted it to.

He felt really good about his performance because usually he doesn't shine in tryouts (since we don't prepare for them). Since he's been on the all star team virtually every year the coaches all know him so truthfully even when he has a bad tryout it doesn't affect his draft because everyone knows his abilities. 

He was on a roll... snagging every ball thrown his way. 

Waiting in line for his at-bat. 

He had an awesome time at bat... the only kid who hit every ball... even this poorly-thrown one! 

He was assigned to guard Cole, who played on his team last year and is the best player in the league. Cole got his share of points on the board but Kees probably limited him to half as many as he was capable of putting a lot of pressure on him the whole game. 

Breaking away for a drive to the hoop... although he was the defensive force for the team today he got six points on the board. 

He was the king of rebound... using his size and strength to grab more balls than anyone else... here he is getting some air to get his hands on another one! 

It was a good year!

Kiersten at the USAT South Mid West Awards Banquest with President Candy Cheatum.

















She won the following rankings, awards or championships this year:

1st - USAT SMW Duathlon Ranking
2nd - USAT National Duathlon Ranking
3rd - USA Cycling Cross Country National Ranking

1st- USAT Offroad Duathlon National Champion

1st - Texas Bicycle Racing Criterium State Champ
1st - Texas Bicycle Racing Time Trial State Champ
1st - Texas Bicycle Racing Cyclocross State Champ
1st - Texas Mountain Bike Racing State Champ

2nd - USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champ DH
4th - USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champ XC

1st - NORBA National XC
1st - NORBA National DH

Kees, although racing in less races because of his age (in some cases having to race up two years), had a successful season as well:

3rd - USA Cycling Cross Country National Rank

4th - Texas Bicycle Racing Cyclocross State Champ
2nd - Texas Mountain Bike Racing State Champ

2nd - USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champ DH
5th - USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champ XC

1st - NORBA National XC
1st - NORBA National DH

Dude's on fire!

This isn't a great shot of Kees, but you can see the defender, who was on him all game long, waving his arms frantically trying to not let Kees make a shot.

Apparently it didn't affect Kees, though, because he had 21 points and shot the winning shot right before the buzzer!

And he plays basketball "just for fun" ;-) 

Technical Difficulties

Stay tuned for some cool stuff posted on Monday! 

Hit by a car!

Yep... on my traditional New Year's "triathlon" (ride 60 miles, run 3 miles, swim 2 miles) I was hit from behind by a crazy woman in a SUV.

After almost 4 hours in the emergency room I was cleared with no broken bones, but feeling a bit battered and bruised with a messed-up bike.

5 days later my neck and back feel worse, and although they said no broken bones in my foot I'm getting a second opinion because I have some pretty severe localized pain on one spot and I can't imaging what else that could be.

As a friend said "be thankful you're alive"... and I am!

(No, that's not me in the picture.)

Happy New Year - Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!