Photo Dump: Kansas City - bike heavy

Enjoy.

Music

• LCD Soundsystem - 'All I Want'

Ciao

Race weekend: Tour of St. Louis... w/ tornado sirens

Hey Everybody.

It was a great weekend. In the words of Zach Galifianakis i might even say... 'That was so ravin.'

First, music

• Crystal Castles - 'Celestica'

So... Went to St. Louis to race bicycles / got hooked up with a free place to stay (thanks!) / the racing started Saturday morning / it was on like Donkey Kong.

Saturday we had both a circuit race and a time trial. First off i got to watch X race in the women's open. She did well in the sprint finish and even won a little cash. Next it was my turn... the race started out great, i was in the group with about 3 laps to go, then suddenly two guys in front of me tangled and both went down. i slammed both brakes and skidded to almost a complete stop before i hit 'em, then i fell over. No damage done. i was immediately back up and on my bike chasing after the pack. i never came close to catching them. So i finished in pretty much last place... but i was having fun and feeling good before that crash.



Later that day was the time trial. Let me tell you something, weather can change dramatically over the course of a day. it was finE in the morning but that was not the case in the afternoon. Was the weather for the time trial epic... Ill just say this, they had to halt the tt mid race due to lightning, hail, and tornado warnings. the riders said they could hear tornado sirens while out on the course. And I'm sure for part of it they had an incredible tail wind. Me? i wouldn't know, we got there and i took one look at the weather and said 'f that.' i spectated. it was awesome. Thousands of people in St Louis ended up losing power due to that storm. Mother nature is a bad mama jamma,

Bodie was the dog, he was cool. You know what else was cool? The Tomtom GPS unit. i'd never used a GPS gizmo before but after that trip i cant imagine going anywhere without one. First spell check, now the Tomtom, soon we won't even have to leave our home's.

Sunday (today)... today we had a crit near downtown St. Louis. Once again X raced first, she was going well but couldn't overcome the race tactics after a 3 woman break went up the road. After that i did a quick warm up and then it was go time... my race was fun. No crashing and i finished in the second group, not too far from the first group. We even had a nice bunch sprint for the line which i participated in. i was pretty much the last of that bunch to cross the line but it was great that at the end i still had enough juice to get out of the saddle and give it one last hard effort.

This whole bike racing thing is becoming more and more fun.

Ciao

Phoenix at the Uptown

Greetings,

So last night i went to see Phoenix at the Uptown Theater. It... was.... awesome. Honestly, i was surprised at how much i liked it. And that was despite the fact that it was sold out, crowded, hot, and we ended up standing next to a group of really wasted people for the first 25 minutes.

Luckily they moved on, probably to collectively vomit in a trash can, and made it much easier for us to enjoy the music. At one point before they left i made eye contact with one of the girls, this was after she knocked the glasses off my face with her best swirling noodle arm dancing hippy imitation, *and please watch that entire clip, it's amazing* and i was immediately transported back to my younger days. Too much to drink, a band you love, riding the great drunken wave right before that feeling sets in when you realize your about to get horribly, vomit coming out the nose sick. Ahhh the good old days.

I'm sure the wave crashed hard for that crew.

But it happens to the best of us. They had good energy and i guess that comes with the territory when you push your way to the front of a jam packed concert. Especially one where the hipster dufas meter is off the charts.

My only real complaint is that it was so crowded and we had such a great spot near the stage that going to buy beer was just too big of a pain in the a*s. i didn't even get drunk.

C'est la vie

I guess i could have written more about the music and less about the drunks at the show but i'm not in the mood to describe music, it's much easier to describe hammered morons. I'll leave it at this... If Phoenix comes to your town i highly recommend you check 'em out.

Music, who else...

• Phoenix - 'Fences'
• Phoenix - 'If I Ever Feel Better'
• Phoenix - 'Rally'

Tomorrow i'm off to St. Louis to race my bicycle, stay tuned for a full report, or at least some pictures.

Ciao

Text message of the week x 2, and more biking

Aloha,

i missed last week so tonight we have two text messages. Or to be more accurate we have a picture message plus a text message. i think they pretty much both speak for themselves.

Normally i do music at this poing, but not tonight. Tonight you get the Green men...

• Green Men

Besides that we rode bikes. I told you, bike's have taken over the somethingclassic blog. Oh and how could i forget, the little baby came along too! They grow up so fast.


Adios

Bike's have taken over the Blog... plus Bone Bender

Hey Everybody,

i'm gonna keep this simple tonight.

But you still get music.

• Paul Mcartney - 'Coming Up'

Lot's of pollin in the air lately.



Mountain biking at Swope Park.



Flags are nice.


This is why i should always have my camera on me, for the time i spot a guy in a suit carrying a 30 pack of Natural Light down Broadway.



Today i did a big Mountain Bike race called Bone Bender. Located in Smithville, MO this was the 2nd annual running of the race and the turnout was great. Hopefully it becomes a staple of the local racing scene as i think everyone enjoyed it. It was also very hard. The longest i've raced up to this point was probaly about 1 hr but the Bone Bender took me 3 hours and twenty five minutes, which is about all the mountain biking i care to do. i had a few minor spills, was cramping for the last hr, and came away with my share of cuts and bruses, but... can't wait for next year!


After a hard day like that it's important to kick back and relax.

Good night

Plethora...

Hello

We got a lot to cover tonight. Just ask El Guapo. As far as i can tell we got six days worth of photo's here. Since we have so many days to cover i'm gonna change the format of the somethingclassic blog. Get ready for a short recap of each day. Lucky you.

Let's do music first

• These guys were just in town, i missed it - Delorean, 'Stay Close'
• Feeling down? Take James Brown's advice - James Brown, 'Get Up Offa that Thing'
• And always remember... Journey, 'Dont Stop Believing'

On this day... we had a lovely sunset.



On this day... we got some good riding in. Downtown airport style.

On this day... nice little friday really. Home-brewed beer at Volker Bicycles, tall bike sighting, then some good night riding thanks to the free air at Quicktrip. i love Quicktrip.

On this day... big day today. Mtn bike race in Lawrence, which is always nice. I went Mad Max all over that course. After the race i stayed in Lawrence to soak up the good vibes. Toilet Ducks style. i love that town.

But the day was just warming up... Once back in KC we attended a fried party. That means everyone brings a dish and it gets fried, in a deep fryer, like your french fries at McDolands, which i went to last night by the way, the fried party was lovely, Ocra , marshmallows, apples, pb&j, butter, chicken... everything was an option. That's a fried banana in the photo.

Then we pedaled home, re-charged the batteries, and then pedaled to Buzzard Beach, aka the place where dreams come true, for KC Sprints. Have you heard of this? it's indoor, stationary bike racing, and they do it in a bar. Oh it's a scene, man. it's the most intense 20 something seconds i've experienced in a long time. My stomach hurt for a half hour after i finished. Other people threw up, chugging beer likely contributed to that, all in all it was a nice day.

On this day... We drank cold beer.

On this day... this is tonight. That's Dave, we met on the road, he was kicking my a*s. The weather has been spectacular lately.

Hasta La Vista