KC Sprints @ Buzzard Beach

4, 3, 2, 1... KC SPRINTS!

Music

• Lou Reed 'Street Hassle'

I absolutely love it when Jones, Jevon, and Zeke do there thing. KC Sprints is the bees knees. It's such a great concept. Stationary bicycle racing in a bar. How could you go wrong? Sure it's the most painful half minute you will spend on a bike, and you feel like crap for about 20 minutes afterwards, but life is short.... so go live it up.

Buzzard Beach is a great venue for the KC Sprints, they really seem to embrace the event. I overheard the doorman saying he "I love this crowd." And it was a big crowd. lot's of folks came out. Lot's of fast folks. There were prizes for the top 3 in the mens and women's tournament and i thought i had a shot. But like i said, lot's of fast folks showed up.

A friend of mine said you need 'loose legs' to excel at this 'sport.' That seems accurate. Theres practically no resistance once you start spinning so it turns into a cadence contest. I'm not sure how KC would rank on the national stage but it seems like a lot of people in this town have loose legs. I didn't win any prizes but i posted a personal PR of 21.70 seconds. Or something like that.

The KC cycling community is rolling right along, as was evident last night, I love this town.

Peace

Temporary Mountain bike trails in Loose Park

Hey Everybody,

I don't condone driving your car thru a city park, but the aftermath does make for some great mtn bike riding.

Music

• Interpol 'Untitled'

So somebody went to town in Loose Park. There are tire tracks all over the place, and you can totally rail these tracks. It's like somebody took their Chevy Blazer and carved out an entire network of trails. They're fast and fun. I suggest you go try it before it melts.

Winter Wonderland!

Hey Gang,

God bless the snow. There's something about it that makes me want to ride outside.

Music

• Atlas Sound 'Artificial Snow'

Enjoy.

This was last Saturday.

This was post ride last Wednesday, when it was coming down big time.

You never know what you're going to see on a bike ride. This was today in the Plaza.

So that's where all the snow went that was in the Plaza.

I love this pic, check out Cambridge St. in the background.

Here's a closer view of Cambridge St. It has to be the steepest street in KC, i'm guessing 25 to 30%.

Anybody ever been on the stairs behind Rosedale Middle School?

As far as stairs go, i'd say they're epic.

They are in the middle of the woods, they go on forever, and they have fallen into a state of disrepair.

It's a nice view once you get to the top. If you don't feel like riding the hill from SW Boulevard back south, take the Rosedale stairs instead.

Just in case you missed it, cycling team season recap....

2010 was an awesome year for the Toilet Ducks, read about it here.

Breaktime

Hey Gang - once again i accidentally deleted my photos from last Sunday's cross race. I think it's a sign. Time for a break. See you in the not so distant future.

Saturday afternoon in KC - Broadway Cafe

Hey Gang,

Is there anything better than sitting at a coffee shop and reading the paper? It's even better when the Chiefs are one day away from their playoff game!

Music

• Twin Shadow 'At My Heels'

Did you know it's been over 6,000 days since the Chiefs won a playoff game? Anyway, Broadway Cafe is my new favorite coffee shop. I still like Muddy's, but Broadway is much cheaper, plus it seems like a hub of the KC cycling scene. Lot's of folks who ride seem to pass thru there. It's fun.

Anybody see the photo in today's star of dude riding the tall bike? That dude's everywhere!

Anyway... after one double espresso and one cup of coffee I hooked up with Bacon'ator and we took a spin downtown, after that i took some glamor shot's of my bicycle on the plaza. then i got home and warmed up in front of the space heater. It's cold outside.

Tomorrow is the last cross race of the season and my last change to get a w. i've been in monk mode all week, we'll see if it pays off. If the Chiefs win tomorrow it wont matter what happens in my race. One thing is for sure, as soon as i cross the finish line... i'm gettin drunk.

Ciao

Somebody's road bike is up and running!

Hey Gang,

Yep, the road bike is back. Plus i got some groceries.... It's gonna be a great year.

Music

• Ty Segall 'Cesar'

The Road bike has been out of commission since my crash at a Tuesday night crit back in Sept. That crash kept me from going to Gateway Cup in St. Louis. It also kept me from lifting my right arm above my head for about a month. But it also let me rest and, i think, allowed me to kick some major a** in cross.

*Note: kicking major a** does not including winning any races.

Anyway, one cross race to go, then a little rest, then it's Road bike time!

And Mtn bike time! but that's for another post.

Ciao

Tuesday night in Kansas City - on two wheels

Hey Gang,

Just another Winter bicycle ride thru the streets of KC.

Music

• Joy Division / New Order 'Ceremony'

Tuesdays are turning into great days for me. I seem to be free to do as i please on Tuesdays. Tonight included coffee at Broadway Cafe, followed by aimless riding thru downtown KC. I knew it was going to be a good night when the music in Broadway was changed from Metal to New Order. One of my all time fav's.

Bonus Song

• Joy Division 'Atmosphere'

How exciting is it to be reading Chiefs articles leading up to a Chiefs playoff game?!?! Plus it may snow on Sunday! I also enjoyed the article about the new KU AD but how Bill Self is really the man at KU, i love Bill Self.

It was cold tonight but there were a few brave sole's out on bicycles, including that dude who drives a hurse and rides a fixed gear time trial bike everywhere, that dude is all over the place.

I bonked in the west bottoms so a quick Snickers bar stop was in order. Then I got home and a pile of bacon was sitting there waiting to be consumed and then washed down with Chocolate milk. Life is good.

Bon Appetite

Cross-NYE-Cross

Hey Gang,

It's Sunday night but there were cross races last friday and today. Plus we had NYE!!! Snap!

Music

• Kisses 'Bermuda'

With a race the day before and the day after, NYE seemed at first like an afterthought. That lasted about 2 beers into the NYE dinner, then it picked up speed pretty quickly. The Phantom's of the Opry and Bacon Shoe helped quite a bit.

Now on to the race re-cap's:

Cross off the old year, Friday afternoon, Shawnee, KS.

The course was fun. It was punctuated by a giant run up that was quickly followed by a short but sweet descent. Going down this descent was like skiing, with good lines. We had a bigger field than last week, 9. I was quick off the line but slow on the first lap. Not to fear, for eventually my superior skilz kicked in and soon i was sitting in 3rd place. I was Prefontane'ing the run up and Hermann Meaier'ing the descent. I got some mad Skilz.

I actually caught 2nd place on the very last turn of the very last lap! I was eyeing this guy the entire race and when i caught him so close to the finish it surprised me. Then he proceeded to kick my butt in the sprint. It wasn't the first time this guy had kicked my butt in a sprint, so i guess i'm lacking in sprinting skilz. Still... It was pretty exciting. To finally jump on his wheel right as we take the 180 turn onto the finishing strait, then get out of the saddle and shift into harder gears to sprinting for glory... Fun, fun, fun race with an exciting ending. As exciting as this finish was, Sundays (today) was equally anti-climatic.

*I accidently deleted the photos i took at Cross off the old year, but i found this one on the net. I think it a good one. Ouch.

Now on to today.

Today's race was Epic Cross in Parkville, MO. Parkville is the bomb. So is the venue. It's a park that's right on the river and also right next to the downtown. Very pretty. There's not any elevation change at this park so it's a very flat race. Despite that the course is fun, the ground was smooth so you could really haul a**, they had a fun / technical dirt beach section and a short and very ridable sand section. Plus the barriers were not immediately followed by a 180 turn. i liked that. Gave me the chance to show my mad barrier skilz. I told you, i got skilz.

I felt great off the line and it seemed like everybody was flying. Settled into 4th position, out of about 11. At some point 2nd place dude fell / mechanical, then 1st place dude was gone, never to be seen again, so i was left with 3rd place dude. We talked and decided to work together in an effort to catch 1st place dude, it didn't work. But we were hauling a**. At the end of the race he beat me, but (there's always a but) i had a laps in mental skilz and didn't realize we were on the last lap. Whoop's.

C'est la vie.

Despite a sudden rash of narrow late race defeats, these last few cross races have been great. I'm looking forward to taking a few months break from racing, but i'm also am going to miss it. These last few races kind of feel like a victory lap.

Now I just have to actually win something!

Maybe a skilz competition.