Somethingclassicinkc

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

2012-02-08T15:48:00.002-06:00

Hey Everybody,

Just checking in.

2012 has been crazy hectic with work going into hyper drive since Jan 1... but the last 7 days in particular have been off the charts busy.

We moved.

After a non stop weekend of boxing, lifting, recruiting, u-hauling, lifting and un-boxing, we're finally halfway settled in the new pad.

After looking at the great pic's from Street Cred stage 1 i was kicking myself for not going, i actually had a small window between moving duties but i just didn't have it in me plus X probably would have stared a hole right thru my skull if i rode off to participate. Not that i would blame her. i was however comforted knowing all you corncobs were huffing and puffing up the 'lord of the rings stairs' off Broadway Blvd. You like those? I do. Thats why i got 'em included in the race. Yep, i'm taking credit for that.

I'm awesome.

So.... the candle burning continues tonight with the Wednesday night urban mountain bike ride.

We leave Latte Land on the west side of the Plaza at 630. Not the Latte Land by the North Face store. Ride for 1.5 to 2 hrs at a medium pace. It's fun.

After that you can come over and help me unload more boxs.

p.s. the new pad is the bomb.

(no photos, too busy!)

Street Cred Starts Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-04T08:57:00.002-06:00

So i broke my promise and didn't do a post every night leading up to today. But Street Cred isn't about following the rules. It's about putting a brick thru the other guys window. It's about taking it out, and choppin it up.

See you today!

(More details here.)

4 Days to Street Cred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-31T22:34:00.003-06:00

You're cool, so you probably already knew this... but just in case you didn't...

(i think i'll do a post every night leading up to this, you know, get they hype going)

This is the first of 4 stages, so come on out, ride with your friends and have a great time.

Like this...

(more info here.)

(i heard they got a keg of Tall Grass)

1 gear w/ bull horns

2012-01-24T22:38:00.003-06:00

The Volker man (cousin to the Omega Man) recently put the original handlebars back on my single speed bike.

I love it.

For a while i had flat bars but now i'm back to the bull horns. I like them much better. Tonight was the first ride with the new bars and i'd forgotten how great this bike is. I bought it from Volker Bicycles back in (i think) the winter of 2009. That was probably the first time id ever set foot in the shop.

Little did i know that purchasing this bike would be the first step towards joining the Colavita / Parisi Coffee cycling team and becoming totally obsessed with Bicycles.

Thanks single speed.

($10 if you can tell what movie i'm watching as i drank white wine out of a bicycle glass)

Apocalypto!!!

2012-01-22T17:58:00.002-06:00

I got my Apocalypto on today.

have you guys seen Apocalypto?

The road bike is getting back into the swing. Did maybe 30 miles today. Breathing hard for a lot of it. I did a good job of falling out of shape over the last 3 weeks. I trained hard at it. Now it's time to put in the miles and see if i can actually get some descent results on the road bike.

Mountain biking (weather permitting) will be in full swing too. I took the new rig to swope yesterday and it was pretty sweet. So sweet that i didn't stop and take pictures.

Next time out i'll rock the Apocalypto jersey and snap a few pic's.

New Mountain Bike (it's totally kick a**)

2012-01-15T22:54:00.004-06:00

53 degrees at 930pm on Sunday, January 15... and i have a brand new mountain bike to play with.

Pow!

Traveling back in time... yesterday

2012-01-08T17:54:00.003-06:00

Today is Sunday but yesterday was Saturday.

The Colavita crew has a new meeting spot for the 9am Saturday ride. It's the Parisi Cafe inside Union Station. Pretty awesome. Honestly, how cool is it to roll your bike inside Union Station and then chill at the coffee shop while you wait for your pals roll in. Plus everyone gets a free shot of espresso and then 25% of anything else. Parisi Coffee rules! Tip them well, please.

The ride was much longer than i had planned on so a YJ's breakfast was required before i could ride back home.

Later that evening it was time for Roller Skaging... X is turning 30 so we had to get our birthday party on!

Editors note - the sc blog will be slient for a bit (a week?) as i'm planning a big 2011 recap post and it'll take a while. Or ill get lazy and not do it at all.

Stay Tuned.

Wednesday Night Urban Mountain Bike Ride

2012-01-04T22:16:00.003-06:00

Tonight was the inaugural Wednesday Night Urban Mountain Bike Ride.

You should come with!

If your reading this you should come out and join us next Wednesday. We depart from the Latte Land on the Plaza (the latte land on the west end of the plaza, near anthropology) at 6:30 pm and ride for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. It's a slow to medium pace no drop ride. Yes it's called urban mountain biking but really we mostly ride on city streets while trying our hardest to find anything 'off road.' Alleys, hills, stairs, sidewalks, bike paths.

The short single track section thru Gillham park is nice.

So next Wednesday jump on that sturdy mountain bike and come ride with your friends. Hopefully we'll get some snow here in the near future. Then it's really on.

The ride happens every Wednesday thru February.

Hope to see you there.

Cross off the Old Year... The Last Race of the Season.

2012-01-02T22:31:00.004-06:00

Whew!

Man, what a long season. Maybe i'll do another post reminiscing about the past year (it was awesome) but for now i'll just stick with the final cross race of the year.

Cross off the old year race re-cap:

Going into this race i was winning the 360 series and was a very close second in the KBARCX overall. My teamate David was winning the KBAR but i had been gaining on him over the last few races and still had a chance to win it on the last day.

The weather was beautiful and i wore shorts a short sleeve jersey and no gloves! Unbelievable.

I remember this race being snow covered in years past, not today.

We had 24 starters in the 3/4 race. A good size. It seemed like most of the 3/4 races we did this year were a good size. I got to the start first and hung out while everyone else drifted in. People seemed to be in good spirits. Less pressure since it was the last local race of the year, i guess. Plus the A+ weather was making everyone a little giddy.

All the usual suspects were on the front row, Boulevard Jason, Teamate David, Boulevard Carl, Coppage Copperfield. Only James was missing, but It was going to be another good race none the less. The whistle blew and i almost took out Jason when i swerved while clipping in, whoops. It was basically the same course as Wednesday's race. My memory is fuzzy but after a lap or two it was the same old faces at the front. I was feeling a little tired and was riding at the back of the group. There were attacks and seperations but the brutal winds helped keep it together. I believe there were 5 of us together at the front. Dave, Jason, Carl, Coppage, me.

With 3 to go i was starting to think about riding for my teamate Dave instead of for myself. There were a few reasons for this but chief among them was that i was feeling tired. Also I won on Wednesday and then theres the fact that Dave is the bomb. So without knowing exactly what it entailed i decided to ride for him. Really this decision came when i noticed nobody wanted to pull on the pavement section. Jason had been leading but started looking around for help. People hesitated and i could see that Dave was about to pull thru and start working. So instead i rode up past him and said "ill take a pull".

Everyone slotted in behind me and i pulled as hard as i could for a lap and half. During this time i would glance back to see that we were all still together and Dave sitting 2nd wheel. I liked this. I was starting to get tired when i heard a small commotion behind me. I think someone went into the tape and held a few people up for a split second. I used this opportunity and pulled off the front and told David to go. At this point i think there was 1.5 laps to go. As soon as David pulled thru i swung back in line and went slow thus opening up a gap to Dave. I think Jason snuck thru before i got back in line to block.

He was on Davids wheel pretty quickly but then David quickly pulled clear again and was riding solo. Coppage came around me (yes i was blocking but i was trying to do it in a cool way, no swerving or anything like that) and made contact with Jason but by that time David had already pulled clear so they became a two man chase group. The course was constantly rubbing up against itself so when david and i crossed paths and i saw he had a gap of 2 or 3 seconds i said "go, you got a gap". My play was working! I'm a genius!

Now, Britton was making fun of me afterwards, saying my claim of 'team tactics' was a bunch of bs, but this is exactly what i was hoping would happen. When i glanced back during my pull and saw that David was on my wheel i was hoping i could sling shot him off the front... and that's what happened. I knew he was really strong and that if he could just get a little daylight he might be able to take it home.

As David's gap increased i gave one more big yell of encouragement, this was fun. We were riding as a team.

Anyway...

So lets re-cap, David is off the front with 1.5 laps to go. Jason and Brett are together maybe 5 seconds back, then there's me and Carl. Both of us soft pedaled for maybe 30 seconds. I didn't want to help him get up to David and maybe he didn't want to help me get back up to Jason, his teammate. So essentially it went from a 5 man race to a 3 man race. The question is would Brett and Jason catch up to David? At this point I was much more interested in this than my own race. I kept glancing around to check it out. Then I saw Brett wipe out pretty hard on the gravel and right then i knew Davids chances just went up big time. Instead of 2 chasers it was down to 1.

Long story short.... it worked, Dave won!

Pow!

I was totally psyched for him.

I finished 4th behind Carl.

So did our 'team tactics' make the difference? Whose to say. It was waaay fun though. Obviously Dave still have won without my help but he also could have lost. This cross season has been a blast and a big reason why is the fact that for the last half of the season there have been 5 or 6 guys who were all evenly matched. When thats the case then any advantage you get can be a game changer. Sometimes all you need is a tiny gap and if someone can help you get that gap then you're already a step up on the competition.

Of course none of this would have worked if Dave didn't have the legs, but he did and therefore i'm a genius.

I cant think of a better end to the season.

Grotji Prijs 2011 = Totally and Completely BAD A**!

2011-12-30T16:03:00.007-06:00

"3,000 years of beautiful history from Moses to Sandy Koufax, you bet i'm f*cking living in the past!"

That's a Big Lebowski quote, this post is a few days late, i'm living in the past. The Dude abides.

Anyway... Wow!

Wednesday night I participated in one of the most exciting races of my life! If i never do another race again (not going to happen) i can retire with a smile on my face. Grotji Prijs was that awesome.

Grotji Prijs race re-cap...

It was a night race, so cool. Even cooler was the weather, a balmy 45 degrees in late December at 745 pm, amazing. The course was tons of fun and so was the vibe. Music playing, free beer, people having fun, this is what cross can be.... a time and place where you can feel that theres no place else youd rather be. Of course all this nostalgia and romance really bubbles up when you win the race... and i won!

After checking the results i realized there were 26 starters, wow... and two of them were KCCX guys. Alex and Chris, theyre young and used to be (still are?) bad ass, Alex won the 2/3 race at Jinglecross a few years ago and Chris has been to Junior Worlds, so yeah, they've got some skill. i assumed they hadnt been racing much since i havent seen them at all for a year or two but figured they would be flying anyway. They were definately the x factor.

I showed up late to the start but luckily there was a spot on the front row. Not sure how i got so lucky. The whistle blew and my start was good. It was a pavement start, which i love, and it was followed by a long uphill, also paved. I dropped onto the grass in around 6th. The KCCX duo started very fast but we caught them and were rolling about 7 deep at the front during the first lap. I was immediatley in heavy breathing mode. It felt like the starts at Jingle Cross, intense. We were going fast. Plus our race was only 30 minutes instead of the usual 45 so im sure everyone was laying it all out there immediately. It was waaay fun.

I think one of the KCCX guys, Alex, dropped out early so we were down to a lead group of 6. I actually spent the first half of the race joining and then getting dropped from this front group multiple times a lap. Basically I was hanging on for dear life. But i never broke.

i would struggled thru the turns but make up ground on the strait sections. The race conditions were great. on top of great weather the ground was soft, a bit muddy, and slippery. You had to be on your toes. On top of the slick grass there were also several 90 degree gravel turns, this course had it all.... and it was fast too! Very little room for error. I almost lost it a few times and almost got taken out a few times. The racing was intense and awesome.

The lead group was made up of....

David, my teamate

Boulevard Jason

Trek Summers
Coppage Copperfield
KCCX Chris
Me

Chris and Jason and David led early on. Then David started to pull away but i think Chris drug everyone back up and we were all together again. We were drafting each other the entire race. At some point Chris drifted back and i came around him, he slotted in right behind me but just the fact that he seemed to be struggling, even if it was just a tiny bit, gave me a confidence boost.

We all rode together but constantly dished out little attacks for the entire race, even if it was just to gain a position or two. Remember, the race is only 30 minutes long so it was like a big sprint, even more so than a usual cross race. Despite the frantic nature of the race, at least from my perspective, nobody ever really got away and we were still all together with 1 to go. Now, this is where it gets a little suspect. Several in our leading group later said they didn't know we were on the last lap. The only time i remembered to look at the lap counter was when it said 1 to go, so i lucked out, but a few other dudes thought there were two to go. And it turns out that David didn't even know where the finish was. Whoops. He was pretty mad at himself after the race.

This might explain how, when headed up the paved hill on the final lap, i was able to move up rather easily and then follow James attack onto the grass. It really worked out perfectly. The group was slowing so i started gradually moving up from the very back, as im doing this i see James make his move, i spotted it immediately and was out of the saddle and on his wheel as we rolled onto the grass. All the sudden, after getting my a** kicked all race i was suddenly sitting second with less than a lap to go and a pretty tight (aka - hard to pass) course in front of me. Sweet!

James lost some steem as we rounded the basketball court and i took the lead as we approached the gravel section on the back side. This was shaping up nicely. Sure i was slow thru the corners but since i was first it meant everyone had to go at my speed. Pow! Did i mention how X was the ultimate motivator during the race. She was everywhere all the time and constantly yelling at me to "catch back up", "pedal thru the corner", "dont be a wuss!" It helped.

With about a half lap to go i remembered that the barriers were right before the finish. Pow again!

I love the barriers and these were great ones. You could come in really fast and they were pretty spread out so you could run fast once you dismounted. The way they were set up meant that if you were good at barriers then you could really use it to your advantage. I like that. It makes them more important. I figured if i could get to 'em first and get over 'em fast and clean then i would have a great shot at winning. I poured my life into the pedals leading up to the barriers and nobody ever came around me, which was a little surprising, but I knew they were still right on my wheel. I gave one last kick on the strait before the barriers and then started the dismount. I was coming in so fast i had to tap the breaks right before i was about to unclip my last foot (probably normal for a lot of folks but i usually dont have to do that.) i made it over like a gazell on steriods and remounted for the final 20 seconds to the finish line.

GO TIME!

i gritted the teeth and kicked it in the guts. So much so that i almost overshot the left hand sweeper leading to the finishing strait. I think i'm a poor sprinter so i was nervous that someone would come around. And someone almost did, thru the dark i saw a wheel in my left prepherial. It was getting closer, but so was the finish line. I seemed to be in a good gear and then i let out a grunt / yell, first time thats happened. Anyway, the line came before the phantom wheel could pass me... first place, baby!

I can still barely believe it. I was struggling pratically all night but i payed attention to where we were at in the race and it paid off. Funny, usually im the guy who isn't paying attention. It pays to pay attention.

So that was Grotj Prijs 2011. A night i'll never forget.

*I have to echo what Tillford said on his blog and give a huge thanks to Mark Thomas and everyone else who promotes Bicycle races. Steve T pretty much summed it up, it's a thankless job done with passion.

Thanks everyone, you make our lives so much more exciting!

Catching Up

2011-12-27T21:23:00.008-06:00

Hey Gang,

It's been a while. A long while. Let's have some fun and do a quick run down of what we missed.

The story starts on Saturday, December 17th.

Saturday, December 17th:

X and i hosted a Holiday party. It was packed and things started getting weird around 10:30pm. And weird means awesome. Realized how good LCD Soundsystem is. No riding today.

Sunday, December 18th:

X had to fly out to the East coast so i was on my own. I had grand plans of riding bright and early but the party the previous night put the clamp down on said plans. Instead i pretended to be 24 again and sat around on the couch all day being hung over and watching TV. Actually it was great. I needed the chill time and there was A+ quality TV to be watched. I finally managed to motivate and get on the bicycle around 4pm. It was one of the best rides of the year. I felt really good and just hammered it. Slobber hanging out the mouth hammering. I felt like i could go forever. Or for 2 hours, whichever came first. Realized how good Lonley Boy by The Black Keys is.

Monday, December 19th.

X was still out of town, clean up the house from the party on Saturday and did some last minute X-mas shopping. Realize how good Omamori by Elite Gymnastics is. No riding today.

Tuesday, December 20th.

X gets back at 7pm. Fit in more last minute X-mas shopping and make sure the house is tidy. It is. Realize how good Hey Moon by John Maus is. No riding today.

Wednesday, December 21st.

Feel a little under the weather and leave work early because of it. Throw up a few times in the evening. Today sucked. No music and no riding.

Thursday, December 22nd.

Called in sick to work, legitimately. No more puking today but also no appetite and no energy. Manage to rally and pack for Springfield, MO. We hit the road at 5pm for a 2 night stay with Aub's family. I made her drive. On the way down i remember how much i love King of Spain by The Tallest Man on Earth. Watch the Jayhawks take care of USC. No riding today.

Friday, December 23rd.

More Springfield, MO action. You know it's the home of Cashew Chicken. No riding today.

Saturday, December 24th.

Drive back to KC and manage to get on the bike around 5pm. We hit up some good Christmas lights and pass a couple doing the same thing only they have christmas lights on their bikes. Well played. The best christmas song ever?
Oh, and X got me a BRAND NEW CARBON FIBER MOUNTAIN BIKE FRAME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pow!

Sunday, December 25h. Christmas.

I puked around 2:30am. Damn, i thought i was getting better. Let's call it an isolated incident and move on. We had planned on riding today, it was a beautiful day, but i was still feeling a little weak from the sickness so we chilled before the family stuff and watched Garden State. Remembered how amazing Nick Drake is. Christmas was great, the only thing i felt like eating was mashed potatoes, but they were really good mashed potatoes.
Did i mention that X got me a BRAND NEW CARBON FIBER MOUNTAIN BIKE FRAME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, December 26th.

Race day! There was a cross race today. Boxing Day cross. The start of KC's "Christmas week" and the grand finale of the local cross calendar. I love it. Three races in a week. Belgium smellgium this is KC cross, baby! But, i was worried, i'd been under the weather since Wednesday and hadn't eaten that much at all. Racing seemed like a bad idea. But X did a great job of motivating me, plus I'm a close second in the overall for KBAR and also the 360 series so i've just got to be gunning hard for these final races. I had a big breakfast to try and pack in some energy. Bagel with cream cheese, bacon, egg casserol. Cholesterol.
Pow!
Boxing Day Croaa Race Re-cap: I did this race last year but this year was about 20 degrees warmer and the course was a lot better. Bigger and more dynamic, plus the ground was soft and a little muddy... which is nice. I was plesently surprised to see 16 starters. Last year there were 5. The race started and i could quickly tell it was going to go better than i thought. I was worried i'd have no energy but it was exactly the opposite. I was pushing a big gear pretty easily and getting out of the saddle at will. 7 days of no riding meant the legs were fresh, the lungs however were hurting big time. I rode into third half a lap in but 1 and 2 were gone immediately. David was 2nd, hes the guy i'm trailing in KBAR. 1st place was a dude from St. Louis and he dominated everyone. We talked, he seemed cool. David said he felt good but couldnt hold this guys wheel for more than a few seconds. So i finished 3rd! Totally pleased with that. Even won some cool Sox.
Remember how good Sussudio by Phil Collins is.

Tuesday, December 27th. Today!

Took today and tomorrow off work, using up the remaining vacation days. Pretty nice little tuesday. Played Folf for the first time in about a year, Winsteads for lunch, solid ride thru the city on Mountain bikes, chilling at the crib drinking light beer and watching movies. Life is good.

Tomorrow is the Grote Prijs night race!!!!!

So thats that.

Dark Chocolate with Jif Peanut Butter is Awesome!

2011-12-14T15:02:00.002-06:00

That's all.

Now get back to work you slackers!

Topeka Cross Weekend... it's the 'Days of Thunder' of the local cross scene

2011-12-13T18:42:00.010-06:00

Wow, those courses were awesome. Seriously, both Saturday and Sunday in Topeka were a total blast. I got my Cole Trickle on, all that was missing was a Mellow Yellow jersey.

Day 1

The course was awesome. Fast, fast and fast. I did this race last year and had an idea of what to expect but it was faster this year and more fun than i remember.

I took Tilfords advise and hit up the new Topeka Coffee shop before the race started, good but the double espresso was way to expensive.

There were about 15 of us on the start line of the 3/4 race, it was a pavement start (lots of pavement at this course) and my start was horrible. I think i've turned into a diesel engine over the last few weeks.

I was probably 8th at the hole shot. I stayed calm and rode along, hoping to feel better in a bit. I glanced towards the front to see who all was up there and was a little worried when i saw it was Carl. Carl is fast. Anyway... everyone was moving fast but when we hit the run up i found my running legs and passed a few people. Pretty soon it was Me and Bill from Trek chasing Carl. It took us a while but we caught him and the three of us rode together for a few laps. It was fun being in a group of 3 on a fast course, drafting, racing.

Eventually it was just Carl and I. Carl was stong. I pulled my share but i dont think he would have minded to pull the whole time. He just kept chugging, it was tiring. I was on his wheel for the last half lap or so, kind of thinking about the finish but more thinking about trying to hang on. It was looking like a sprint finish, which would be really fun, especially on the pavement, but like a bonehead i let a gap open up right before we hit the pavement and i didnt' come close to cathing him in the sprint. He won by about 50 feet. i took second.

It was a really fun course and a really fun race.

Day 2

the course was similiar to yeasterday, only reversed plus with a new section. This was the KS State Champs race.

Around 10 starters. My start was maybe better than yesterday although i think it took me longer to warm up. Jason K from Ethos went flying by me off the line and then 30 seconds later i saw him way up on everyone, i had a strong feeling he was never going to be seen again. He wasent. I rode in the group until eventually it was James and Bill from Trek, plus my teamate David and myelf chasing Jason F from Blvd, who was chasing Jason K from Ethos. David pulled early on but i think his late night re-living his college days caught up to him, he still hung on for 5th. James and i took some hard pulls and with about 3 to go we caught Boulevard Jason. So now it was 4 of us chasing Ethos Jason. For a second i thought the 4 of us might catch him, but im pretty sure he destroyed us.

James, Boulevard Jason and i kept pulling, Bill was sitting on. Then Fife started attacking us. It always seemed to be when i was pulling, James would give me a heads up and we would always closed it down... with a lot of effort. Boulevard Jason was rolling good. Eventually Bill got gapped so it was down to 3. on the last lap James got caught in the tape on the back side of the course when he was sitting 3rd. Boulevard Jaon must have heard this because he accelerated hard. It took me a minute or two to catch him, on the run up, but then he immediately pulled away again going down the hill. over the course of the year i've discovered i'm slow on downhills where you have to pedal. i'm a total skinny weakling.

So at this point there is about 1/2 lap to go and the chase is on. I gave it everything. I didn't like that he was beating me but it was fun to dig deep and find something there. i was closing on him, slowely. There's something exciting about pushign yourself to the limit and at the same time trying to negotiate a cross course. It's like gleaming the cube, and yes, when i say that i mean smoking crack. So i narrowed the gap, but not enough. he hit the pavementfinish a few seconds before me and that was that, i still got the drops and gave it my al, but he beat me by about thee same amount that carl beat me the day before.

It stinks to get beat like that, but still, both days were FUN! i spent most of the races in big groups, rotating, attacking, chasing, being active. That dosent happen to often to me. Usually it's riding solo, self motivating, suffering in silence. Not my weekend in Topeka, these races were action packed!

Muddy weekend at Boss Cross and MO State Champs

2011-12-08T22:08:00.008-06:00

Hey Gang,

The races continue but it's starting to feel like a grind. It's been a long cross season and an even longer everything season.

When 2011 started there were 4 races i was really looking forward to, now, with the conclusion of Jingle Cross they are all behind me. So everything else is just for fun, in a grinding kind of way.

This post-it note has been on my printer at work all year.

Bone Bender went okay

Tulsa Tough went well

Tour of Lawrence kind of sucked

Jingle Cross went well

Now i got a new post it note to look at for a while.

So Boss Cross...

Racing Saturday was a last minute decision. I knew it would be muddy and that scared me. X and i just spent $350 total to fix our bikes after Jingle Cross. Insane. But, i felt that experience made me a little smarter about dealing with a dirty bike and preventing major wear and tear (note to self, learn to do this stuff yourself) so i saddled up and drove to Raytown.

My competitive juices started to flow and i was smiling while getting ready. This was going to be awesome! Sloppy mud everywhere, light rain and temp's around 45.

Pow!

I think there were 9 of us in the 3/4 race, i took a close 2nd behind Wichita Bob. The two of us rode together for the first half and then he opened up a small gap which i could never close. He seemed to be getting better traction than me. It was a really fun race. I won $50! I think that's the most i've ever won at a bike race.

Saturday was colder but sunny.

The mud was awful. Very sticky.

The field was more than twice the size today but I broke my deraillure on lap 2 so that was it for me. I felt bad because in the 3/4 race KC got totally waxed by the St Louis (or at least not KC) crew. It was pretty bad. We stunk. I really feel bad that i couldn't represent the home town, i do love it so. That being said, even if my bike had not broke i'm not sure how well i would have done. the mud was totally brutal. I thought it was much worse than Sunday at Jingle Cross.

So now i have a broken Deraillure which has to be replaced, plus i still haven't paid for my new shifter that was required after Jingle Cross (Britton at Volker took pity and hooked me up so i could race this weekend, i haven't paid him yet) so that previous bill of $350 is going up. Racing in the mud can be a lot of fun, some of the most fun ever actually, but spending this much coin is crazy.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff...

The highlight of the day was Travis Donn finishing a close second in the Open race. Josh Johnson was first, i think he's from Columbia, so we had a KC / Not KC battle going. I'm pretty sure both guys were using pit bikes. I know Travis was. The Brocket crew was hard at work every lap cleaning his bike. I've never seen a local race that had this kind of pit activity. It was exciting.

So that was that.

p.s.... I WON THE BOSS CROSS OVERALL FOR CAT 3!!!

"Virgil quick come and see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"

That's a reference to the General Lee Jersey that i won. For a guy who always compare his mountain bike wheels to Mad Max's V8 Interceptor the fact that i now have a hard earned Jersey inspired by the General Lee Dodge Charger from Dukes of Hazard is totally and completely bad ass. I'm psyched. This jersey is so cool.

Jeremy and Joe seem like really good guys and they put on great events with great prizes. No wonder Boss Cross is the longest running Cross series in KC. Those guys are good!

Jingle Cross Post

2011-12-05T08:25:00.005-06:00

whoops,

technical difficulties.

See below for actual post.

Jingle Cross Rock, 2011... there will be mud.

2011-11-28T21:19:00.022-06:00

(Sorry this is so late, just pretend it's the monday after Jingle Cross as you read this.)

Wow, that just happened!

The Cyclo Cross whirlwind that is Jingle Cross Rock was last weekend. Three days of intense racing on an intense course in intense conditions.

It was intense.

My bike is in need of a major overhaul. It was brutal out there. I absolutely loved it but it's hard not to cringe when i think of all the bike work thats going to be required to be up and running at full speed again.

anyway...

Jingle Cross is probably the race i look forward to more than any other. Cross is my favorite type of bicycle racing and when i heard about this big cross race in Iowa City back in 2009 i told myself i was going. Period. That first year was an eye opener. Britton, David and I headed out with no clue of what to expect. Now here we are three years later and I feel like a pro when it comes to the Jingle Cross craziness. I don't ride like a pro, but i handle the craziness in a very professional manor. Superior attitude?

Anyway...

One thing i like about this event is racing against so many people. You really find out what you're made of. This year the fields (mine at least) were MASSIVE!!! It was insane. We had 82 starters on Friday night! Three years of doing this race has given me a nice sample size to see if im getting faster at this bike racing thing. I think i am. Here are my results from the past 3 years.

2009 (cat 4)

day 1... 7 out of 44
day 2... 15 out of 59
day 3... 10 out of 53

2010 (cat 3)

day 1... 16 out of 44
day 2... 22 out of 50
day 3... 13 out of 44

2011 (cat 3)

day 1... 18 out of 82
day 2... 18 out of 72
day 3... 10 out of 39

I had no specific goals in 2009, just race. In 2010 i wanted a top 10, didn't happen. This year i thought i could do top 5. Then i saw how many people were racing. Even though i never reached my goal it was totally awesome to race against so many people and i had a blast... having a first or second row starting position everyday helped a lot.

Now, on to the juicy details:

Day 1

This was the most disappointing day of the weekend because i think i had it in me to do much better than 18th. The legs were there but the composure was not. The first half of the race i was in total scampering hamster mode. No rhythm. Maybe it was racing at night, maybe it was too much pressure in the tires, maybe it was just a mental thing, but i had no flow. I seemed to take a bad line around every turn, probably because i was riding with my head down. After a few laps of s*it riding i took I told myself to breathe, focus and look up... i started riding better.

The weather for day 1 was good, no gloves necessary.... which is nice.

The deciding factor in most Jingle Cross races is Mt Krumpet and every day they change the way you go up and down.

Tonights course included the big run up followed by the easy descent. What sucked about the big run up is that it came right after the flyover, which came right after another technical / muddy running section. So by the time you got to the run up you were breathing hard. i pushed my bike on the first pass thru the run up then realized shouldering is easier, so i shouldered. It was the first time all year i shouldered my bike. Jingle Cross usually is. I've been a little slack in my stair running of late (i try to run some stairs once a week) and i could feel it. The run up didn't really hurt my position but it didn't really help it either. Well, maybe with the exception of the last lap. I found a little something extra, took bigger strides, and passed a few guys. One of them was the dude who beat me at Saturdays Lincoln, NE race. he finished 20th. Nice to know he was 'struggling' too.

So im disappointed about this race. I had no problem digging deep and pedaling hard but i wasted the first half of the race. Never the less I was totally spent when i crossed the line. Racing cross at night is hard but fun.

My traveling companions were once again X and Crunchy Spice. X had a great weekend and Crunchy really thrived at Jingle Cross and took 3rd place tonight in the Womens 2/3 race!

Podium!

Day 2

Rain = mud.

Worthy of the word 'epic', Saturdays race was easily the muddiest cross race i've ever done. It was everywhere! X raced first so i got a great preview of what was waiting for me.

The mud made it a crazy race. I really had no idea what was going on in the race, i was just trying to stay upright. People were slipping and sliding everywhere. I almost lost it on a long strait away for crying out loud! Today we climbed up what we rode down yesterday and then descended a new section. The descent was insanely slippery. i walked / ran practically all of it, as did almost everybody else.

See for yourself. The cat 2's come thru first then the 3's. Im at 1:57 but look for Peck at 5:03. He own's the hill.

The climb up Mt Krumpet was equally brutal. It seemed to go on forever. Take the worst Manions climb (from the first year, not this year which was much easier) and multiply it by 4, that's what it was like. The first part was ridable, provided you got on the good line. Remember, everything is a complete muddy mess. Then the climb got harder and i dismounted and ran the rest, which probably took another 45 seconds. Once at the top you would dismount and have about 5 seconds to catch your breath before the crazy descent. Running the last few meters of this climb on the last two laps was the most tired i've been all year. It took every bit of strength and concentration i could muster just to keep moving forward. Usually i'm pretty self conscious about spit or snot hanging off my face, not on Mt Krumpet. No time to worry about appearances, it's all about survival up there. Besides, there are 50 some dudes behind me ready to eat my lunch. Got to keep moving forward.

It was hard to read what was happening around me, this was a theme for most of the weekend, but in the end i rolled thru in 18 place, just like the day before.

My turning abilty was much better today compared to yesterday but i didn't have as much energy. It would have been nice to take the enegy level from day 1 and combine it with the turning ability from day 2... wait, that's what makes Jingle Cross so great... it's three days ofracing! Maybe I can put it all together for day 3!

X had her best result of the weekend, 16th of 34 women in the womens 2/3. Maybe she's a mudder!

Day 3

I'm not quite sure what to make of this day. I felt great but only finished 10th out of 39. I really felt like i was having my best race of the weekend. i was focused, having fun, pedaling hard, getting out of the saddle at will. the course was still very muddy but the mud was thicker than yesterday. Plus we did a brand new descent down Mt. Krumpet and it was covered in long grass / hay so while that made it easier to ride it also meant all that grass got stuck to the mud that was covering your bike. My bike probably weighed 5 more pounds at the end of the race. At least it kept rolling. Not everybody could say that.

The previous two days i had a second row start but Sundays race had so many no shows that i got to start front row. Sweet!!! It was my best start of the weekend and i was around 7th when we hit the run up. Maybe it was the culumative effects of the weekend but the run-up was brutal. I was moving at a snales pace. The good news is that most everybody else was too. After the run up was a climb that was totally ridable.

One of my favorite moments of the weekend took place riding up this portion of the climb. Now, be advised, this is not a paricularly noteworthy moment but for some reason i like it.

So somewhere in the middle of the race i found myself with two other dudes on the run up. We re-mounted and started the rest of the climb. We were climbing sloooooow (as im sure most of the cat 3's were). i climed out of the saddle, the guy to my left sat, im not sure what the guy behind did, but we're all right on top of each other. it was a race after all, but it was a slow motion race. A particularly enthuastic spectator noticed us and ran over with his cow bell. He followed us all the way to the descent, running / walking besides us, ringing the cow bell and offering words of encouragement. It helped. He was right in my ear but i never once glanced over. I was in the pain cave. He wasn't yelling like a mad man but instead was almost like some sort of inspirational speaker. He knew what we were going thru and he was down with it. For about 30 seconds he was part of our group. As we neered the descent he turned off but not before offering up a final comment. 'have a good trip down guys'. i think i forced a smile at that one, at least i did in my head.

Like i said, not a particularly earth shattering moment, but for some reason it really stuck with me. It's one of those moments that you take with you from an event like that.

anyway....

I had no trouble on the descent and rode it every time. Lots of fun. Honestly, i think i was a little too conservative (i must be getting older) because people were struggling and it would have been a good place for me to make some time. The course also had more long strait sections then the previous two days so you could really get up to speed, and i had the legs to do it too which is why im confused about the 10 place. i'm trying not to overthink it but i felt i was riding better than 10th.

So, that was jingle cross.

Highlights of the weekend...

Walking up and down the runup during the elite mens race on Friday night and taking a sip of Peck's beer every time i passed by. He didn't need all that beer.

Spontainously grabbing a tree on a 180 turn and holding onto it to whip around the turn, perfectly executed, just like i see in the you tube videos of the big guns overseas.

Watching the elite riders struggle with Saturdays descent down Mt Krumpet

Watching Barry Wicks (and ocassionally Brian Fawley) dominate steep hills, on their bikes, one after another.

Watching X dominate the descent on Sundays race while so many others faltered.

Cheering for and being cheered on by the folks from Lincoln, NE. I feel a connection with these people.

Room Service.

Flatwater Cyclocross Weekend... Lincoln, Nebraska

2011-11-22T19:30:00.006-06:00

X, Crunchy Spice and I ventured up to Lincoln, NE over the weekend for two days of cross racing. It was the Flatwater Cyclocross Weekend.

I've never been to Lincoln, it was bigger and cooler than i thought. Plus with he exception of Jinglecross this was the first non-local cross race i've ever done. It was nice change of pace to race in a different venue against some fresh faces.

When we left KC at 8am it was about 50 degrees and getting warmer. By the time we arrived in Lincoln at noon it was about 30 degrees with 20 mile winds. Fu*king freezing! Like seriously unbearable to even be standing outside. I'm cold just thinking about it.

Aub and Crunchy raced first, Crunchy's race lasted about 3 seconds before someone came into her on the paved start and she crashed hard on her knee, race over. I'm pretty sure she had the worst weekend ever. She caught a cold before day 2 and spent most of the day, including her race, sleeping in the car. She never complained though, a real trooper.

So... back to Saturday. X had a great race and her fifth place finish is a little deceiving. She was hot on the heels of everyone in front of her. The course was compact but fun. At first i thought it was just okay but then i realized it had great flow and was a lot of fun to ride. One set of barriers at the bottom of a run up hill, then besides that it was smooth and fast with a few small hills thrown in.

Now, i need to go back again to how cold it was. I'm standing on the line, doing the final prep. Usually for extreme cold i wear two sets of gloves. Im putting on the second set and X, whose standing next to me, says i wont need them. 'yeah' i say, and throw them on the groung. BIG mistake. I'm not sure what she was thinking when she said that, but i should have known better. After the race i heard the wind chill was 19.

There are only 15 of us and i get a good start, near the very front for the first two laps. My memory is fuzzy but around the 2nd lap i move into second but first is already a ways up. hes really cruising. Now.... lets back up to one minute after the start. My fingers are FREEZING!!! Every chance i get im riding one handed and blowing into the other hand. it was bad. I kept riding by the start finish and seeing my other gloves on the ground. I thought about stopping to put them on, but i was in 2nd. i thought about quitting, but i was in 2nd. I carried on. Eventually the pain subsided, probably because the fingers went completely numb.

I kept 1st place at the same gap, maybe trimmed it a little, but he won by around 35 seconds. i finished by myself in 2nd. I thought i was pretty well warmed up and i think i could have stayed with that guy if i had been more attentive.

It was so cold i barely took any pictures, i wonder how the folks at occupy Lincoln slept?

Day two was a much more exciting race. X started off hot, second at the first turn (and missing the $25 hole shot prize by 1 place.... come on X!) but blew up and then started taking vodka - redbull shots on hooligan hill. Seems like a good choice to me.

I started on the front row again and was glad to see a few more racers, 20 total. My start was bad and i think i was in 11th at the first turn. The course was the same except the barriers had been moved making the run up ridable, although i never even tried. i run like a gazelle on steroids!

The run-up is called hooligan hill and Sundays warmer weather meant more hooligans were in attendance. They had an ass slapping contest going. After a while i made sure to run close to the spectators, ass slaps are the equilivant of whipping a horse, it makes you go faster. Hooligan hill was a lot of fun.

I was feeling good and it didn't take long to move up. I never really had to attack, just passed guys who were fading. The first few laps were really fun. I was with a few guys and we all had different strengths so we kept re-passing each other. Soon i was right behind the leader, the same guy who won yesterday. He seemed to be laboring so I put in a slight dig to come around him and take the lead. Yeah baby! This is what i'm talking about! I pulled pretty hard for two laps and pretty soon it was just him and me. We kind of worked together but he seemed tired. The start / finish was a long uphill paved section and with about 4 to go we were joined by a third dude. I was thinking 'sweet, this is getting more fun'. The three of us rode together for the rest of the race. I would dominate both of them on the run up, new addition was the strongest on the pavement, and yesterdays winner just seemed to be along for the ride.

With one to go i was sitting third wheel. Not the ideal spot. i toyed with the idea of attacking on the run up, but didn't. I was pretty passive (im going to change that for Jingle Cross) and it became apparent a sprint finish was on tap. My poor positioning probably meant that the sprint was over before it began. We did the 180 turn off the grass onto the pavement finish and i was third. The finish was pretty close, i had plenty of juice, came around into second place, but got easily beat by the guy who hit the pavement first. He was the guy who joined us mid race. Great race by him. Of the three of us he was the only Nebraskan so since this race was their state champs he is the cat 3 state champ. People were yelling for him the entire race, pretty cool.

I dont possess a killer instinct so im not too disappointed with my result, but i really think i could have won that race.

All in all a fun weekend. Lincoln people are cool and they put on a great event.

Check out this great video by Keith Walberg, including lots of face time for yours truly, including my sprint finish!

Lincoln Flatwater Cyclocross-2011 from Keith Walberg on Vimeo.

HPT Grand Prix

2011-11-14T20:50:00.006-06:00

Hey Gang,

Last Saturday i raced cross in Topeka, it was at night, it was pretty cool.

The 3/4 field was a decent size (25) but in general the turnout seemed small. People missed out.

I started front row thanks to my 360 series points. When we hit the track i was probably sitting 6th. Passed a few guys but then got passed by Nick V, he encouraged me to jump on his wheel and help him catch the lead group, i was all about it, but couldn't hold his wheel. I was laboring. Maybe Joe Fashions wicked fast start winded me. Pretty soon i was riding in no mans land. Nick V was always pretty close and i kept riding as hard as i could hoping to catch him. He was a good carrot. I got pretty dang close on the last lap but never made contact. Finished 5th.

For the first time all year the ground was soft, not muddy, but soft. That's a step in the right direction!

For whatever reason i had a pretty casual attitude towards this race, so im not upset with that result. The course is really fun and i cant wait to go back next year. Now it's time to get ready for the next two weekends. They're going to be big. Were going to Lincoln this weekend for the Saturday / Sunday races. They're supposed to be waaay fun. Live music and everything.

Then the next weekend is Jingle Cross, the one event Ive been looking forward to the most for 2011.

Pow!

p.s.

The Kansas City Roller Warriors had a great tournament... but didn't' make the finals. They won their first game, which i told you about, then won their second game (both upsets!) and were playing for a change to go to the finals but lost a close game to Oly City (Olympia, WA). Personally i think they got hosed because Oly City seems to be a team of mercenaries from around the country while KC is entirely home grown, but cest la vie. It was a close game so KC can hold their heads high.

And... Remember me telling you about Snot Rocket? Well, Snot Rocket, who actually now goes by hear real name, Kelly Young (because she's cool like that), won MVP for the tournament!!! More info here.

How about that!!!!

I love derby girls.

Xcelerator

2011-11-11T21:17:00.000-06:00

So it turns out that my girlfriend is a total bad ass.

(I promised this post a while back and im finally getting to it.)

You may know that i refer to my girlfriend as 'X'. This stands for Xcelerator. Why Xcelerator?Because she used to play Roller Derby and that was her Roller Derby name. Are you familiar with Roller Derby? Were you aware that Kansas City has a Roller Derby league? Were you aware that America has a roller derby league and that every year there is a National Championship?

Well its time for you to get in the know.

Kansas City Roller Warriors!!!

So the inspiration for this post happened a few weeks ago when X and i attended the Roller Derby regionals which were being held at Municipal Hall in downtown KC. X doesn't play anymore, she's too busy riding her bicycle i guess, but she loves to go back and cheer on her old teammates. P.S. If you haven't been to a game i highly suggest you go. Lots of fun.

So i've been to several games with X but it wasent until this regional match that i fully realized just how good she used to be. Were standing there watcing and people are coming up to her just to say how awesome they think she is. It's crazy! I'd witnessed a little of this before. My favorite moment was after a game last year, we were standing outside Municipal and an older couple, in their 60's and total hippies, walk up to us. "Excuse me" says the guy, "are you Xcelerator?"

Holy moly!

My girlfriend is a celebrity!

So like i said i knew she was kind of a big deal, but it really hit home at this regional match. People have a lot of respect for her. When strangers find out she used to skate and she tells them her derby name was Xcelerator, well, peoples eyes get a little wider. It's wild and really fun to be standing next to her during all this.

Let's do a quick history of Xcelerator on roller skates.

She was a rink rat growing up in Springfield, MO. That means she hung out at the roller skating rink a lot. Soon she got into speed skating. Not on ice skates but on roller skates. She's a competitive person so she took this seriously, flying around the country to participate in events and trying to be the best she could be. Quick side note, there are some pretty fast cyclists who used to be speed skaters. The guy who won Snake alley this year, Chad Burdsilaukas, and local fast man Adam Miller were both speedskaters who skated with X.

So, she did the speed skating thing for about 12 years and got really good at it, but not great like she wanted. She never won any national championships. Now that fact that im even mentioning national championships should tell you how seriously she took it.

She trained hard.

Then college started and she stopped skating competitively. After college she moved to Kansas City and found out about Roller Derby. The KC league was going in to it's fourth year so she decided to go and try out. Before she even skated a tryout she mentioned that she had over 10 years experience as a competative speed skater, the other girls ears perked up. Specifically Snot Rocket. Shot is a bad ass and realized what she had on her hands, she pulled some strings to get X on the team. Apparently X showed up after official tryouts were over and therefore technically couldn't join the team till next year (Derby seems to have a lot of red tape), but Snot knew they needed this girl and Snot had the clout to get her on the team so she made it happen. This was the beginning of the Snot Rocket / Xcelerator one two punch.

So X makes the team and quickly became a big contributor.

The way roller derby works is that each participating city has their own small league. KC has 4 teams. These 4 teams play each other throughout the season but then the best players from those 4 teams form one All Star team and then all the All Star teams from around the country play each other and ultimately compete for the National Championship.

So the local games are fun but the All Star games are really where it's at.

X makes the all-star team.

Which brings us to the Roller Derby National Championship, 2007. Xcelerators first year and the pinnacle of her short but outstanding Roller Derby Career.

Now keep in mind that i didnt know X during all this but in the almost two years that we've been together i've slowly learned about all the awesomeness that is the history Kansas City roller derby. Like the fact that KC was the 4th team in the country and now there are over 500. These girls were way ahead of the curve. KC represent!

Anyway, back to 2007 and the Roller Derby National Championship...

So it's 2007 and The Kansas City roller warriors have made the playoffs but are major underdogs. But, they do have Xcelerator and Snot Rocket, which means they're dangerous. Xcelerator, who is new on the scene and flying under the radar, is about to come out of nowhere and show these derby girls what 15 years of competitive speed skating can do. Snot Rocket is already well established and a major force to be reckoned with. If Xcelerator is Lou Gherig then Snot Rocket is the Babe Ruth of Roller Derby. Even X would admit this. Snot Rocket is a legend in the derby world.

With these two weapons, plus and entire team thats hungry and has nothing to lose, the team goes on and somehow, against all odds, makes the finals. They play Rat City (Seattle) for the Championship. It's a back and forth game that comes down to the final jam, and amazingly, KC wins it!

Here's an article.

I've looked at pictures and talked to X and her derby friends about it, it was an amazing moment. Like winning the superbowl. To this day that National Championship game between The Kansas City Roller Warriors and Rat City is remembered as one of the most exciting championship games ever! I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about it. If you've been to a game than you know how seriouisly these girls take it. they're sweating and yelling the whole time, shoot, they practice like 4 times a week for at least 2 hours. These girls are for real.

So to put in that kind of work, and then win it all, well, i'm sure it was a powerful moment that none of them will ever forget.

And to top it off, Xcelerator is named MVP of the tournament!

POW!

So, no wonder people remember her.

She only played one more season after that and then she got into cycling. Honestly, I think she regrets retiring when she did. There is a real comradery between the girls and i know she misses that. As well as the thrill of competition. It's a little like amateur bicycle racing in that sense. Actually, there are a lot of parallels between the two.

Both are niche sports, both are filled with characters that are looking for a little something more out of life, and both seem to have an underlying goodness to them. Cycling, like derby, takes people with passion to make it happen. Not just riding and racing, but putting on races and events and bringing people together. Not for money or recognition (although both are available) but because they love to do it. Derby girls who just finished a bout are staying after to clean up the venue, bike racers who just finished are staying after to clean up a venue. People are donating their time, making things happen.

I dont want to get to cheesy here, but people are doing this because they believe in it. Because the want to create something. Because they want to be a part of something. Because they love it. Thats a great foundation, for anything.

*The timing of this post is perfect (on purpose) because the 2011 National Championship final tournament actually started tonight, and about 30 minutes ago KC won it's first game... they're advancing! The Championship game is on Sunday, Let's go KC!!!

Click here to follow the action this weekend.

So how about it Xcelerator, time for a comeback?

My Helmet Cam Video from 360 cup

2011-11-10T20:04:00.004-06:00

Technically the camera is mounted on my stem.

360 Cup was a great course which i thought would really suit me, and i did okay, but it really wasn't my day. Chuong hooked me up with his video camera right before the race and i think the footage is pretty good. It was fortunate that i lined up in the very back because it makes for a much more exciting perspective.

Enjoy the show!!!

(i'm not sure why only half of it is showing, click the 'full screen' buttom on the bottom to go full screen.)

View on ExposureRoom

Boulevard Cup

2011-11-08T18:39:00.007-06:00

i had so much fun at the Boulevard Cup on Sunday it's been hard to think about anything else since. The weather was amazing, the course was great, the crowds were big and the racing was hot.

Lets relive the glorious day that was last Sunday.

the 3/4 race (my race) had 48 starters! That's equal to the fields at Jinglecross last year. At Saturdays 360 cup i started last row so i was determined not to let that happen again. ps, i had a video camera strapped to my stem for the 360 cup, hopefully i get the footage and can post it soon, it should be pretty entertaining.

Anyway...

With 25 minutes to go i was lingering near the start. With 17 minutes to go i was lined up on the second row and very happy about that. Right beside me was J Doug. I believe he said his racing philosophy was 'fly and die', meaning pacing yourself is for wimps. I have a friend who has the same philosophy when it comes to drinking, but thats another story.

The whistle blows and J Doug is true to his word and takes off fast. I'm sitting about 8th after a few turns. Then we hit a tight s turn and the field is basically stopped. Dave can sense everyone coming in too hot and says 'were bottled up guys'. He said it so casually but people seemed to listen, like he was the boss, Dave is the bomb.

Anyway...

Dave and i get thru pretty quickly but we were the lucky few. I'm sure this helped open a gap to a lot of folks behind us. By the end of the first lap Wichita Bob is riding off into the sunset never to be seen again, but i'm in the first chase group. There are 4 of us. The course was totally awesome and had lots of long fast sections so it was conducive to working together and drafting. Dave pulled most of the first lap or two so i eventually moved to the front to do my part. I was feeling good. Pretty soon we lost Dave. He had a great race the day before, taking 3rd to Wichita Bob despite several crahes, and the day before that he did some sort of threshold test so he was pretty pooped come Sunday.

Soon after that Carl was yo-yo'ing off the back. Carl is strong but he would run the sand while we would ride it, so i think that's what hurt him. It was quickly down to James and I. All these names have become pretty familiar over the past month or so. It's been a lot of fun.

James and i were in cruse control and worked well together for the rest of the race. It was awesome. One thing that was not awesome was my less then stellar performance on the technical stuff (minus the sand, which we both rocked), maybe i had too much air in my tires or maybe i just suck at tech, it was disappointing but it was never a game changer.

Anyway...

I was completely focused on what was going on but i also couldn't stop thinking to myself, "this is awesome, this is awesome, this is awesome." I mean, im in a two man chase, fighting for 2nd place at one of the biggest local races of the year. Maybe the biggest. There's an announcer calling out the race action. The course is packed with spectators drunk on free boulevard been and cheering wildly. I was living my dream. When i first started to read about Cyclocross and guys like Ryan Trebon and Sven Nys, well, i was fascinated. Now here i was, having my own little moment.

Getty up!

Anyway...

The race goes on and even though James makes several comments about trying to catch Wichita Bob i know we are riding for 2nd. We keep the pace high and work together till the very end. This one was going to come down to a sprint finish and this course was set up to have a great sprint. The final stretch was about 100 yards of pavement followed by about 20 yards of grass, then the finish line. It was all relatively strait so you could totally haul a**. I lead into the pavement but kept the speed medium. I'm not sure if this was the right strategy (ive done very few sprint finishes that counted for anything significant) but i didn't want to be to tired when he made his eventual move to try and come around me. So i rode medium and tried to spot his move. I looked underneath, listened, tried to anticipatet. Nothing came. He was still right behind me.

So with about 20 yards of pavement left i down shifted and poured my life into the pedals. It was liberating. it felt like i was going fast. We hit the grass and i started to feel over-geared. i glance back (X was quick to point that out after the finish, i guess looking back is bad) i can tell it's going to be close. He moving up my right side. Keep mashing, keep mashing, keep mashing. The finish line is close, but so is James, he's basically even with me now. Here comes the line! BIKE THROW!!!........ he beat me.

I knew it immediately.

I'd love to see a picture of the finish because i think i had a great bike throw and i think he did to, but i knew he beat me. Couldn't have been by more than 6 inches.

Cest la vie.

Despite losing the sprint i was all smiles. I just took 3rd out of about 48 dudes!!! and on top of that it was a ridiculously fun race to be a part of and hopefully a lot of fun to watch as well.

After that we hung out, watched the open race, drank lots of great beer, played some Dungeons and Dragons and enjoyed the awesomeness that is Boulevard Cup. Seriously, Boulevard Cup, bad ass.

Boss Cross 3... BMX style

2011-10-31T19:32:00.007-05:00

Yo,

First of all, im sitting on the couch getting ready to watch Chiefs / Chargers Monday night game, it's Halloween, pumpkins are carved, Beer is near by, so is the candy... life is good.

Now, on to Yesterdays boss cross race...

The location was the Raytown BMX course and a portion of the course was actually on the bmxtrack. So cool. The carnage that followed, not so cool.

I got there early with X, she rocked the open race and had an exciting 3rd place finish after riding in 4th for most of the race. Even won a little money. there was still a few hours until my race so i was enjoying checking out the venue and snapping some pics when i see my good friend and teammate Brett being carried thru the parking lot. he's favoring his ankle. Apparently he was warming up, crashed, and rolled his ankle something awful. It quickly became obvious he was in major pain. Now, Brett is a tough guy, mountain biker, rides a ton, has been known to live is places without basic utilities. Plus he's had a tough hand dealt to him growing up. So seeing him react the way he did told me it was bad. After 20-30 minutes of filling out forms, changing positions, assessing the situation, it's decided he needs to go to the hospital. It was probably obvious all along but i guess nobody wanted to accept how bad it was. At least i didnt.

i was prepared to drive him to the hospital but X stepped up big time and said she would do it, allowing me to stay and race. She rocks.

After some x-rays it turned out he broke his ankle and i think he needs surgery. Major bummer.

Keep your head up brother, you'll be back soon!

At this point i still have about 2 hours till my race so im on the bmx track watching the racing. I pick a spot which should allow for some great photos. Right beside all the 'waves'. i call them waves, it was a series of close little humps. The next race is the Singlespeed / mens cat 4. The race starts and, predictably, Kent Woermann is the first singlespeeder to come thru (this dude is unstoppable) followed closely by Britton. Next up are two more Colavita dudes, Andrew and Michael. But neither of them make it to far. Andrew comes into the 'waves' to fast, loses control, and crashes hard, real hard, right on his head. he basically slammed the hard pack dirt surface of the bmx track with his face and helmet. This happened right in front of me and it was immediately clear it was a bad crash.

Micheal did basically the exact same thing but must have done a better job of falling because he was up and racing again before i even noticed. Andrew was not getting up so quickly.

Luckily Mark Horn was also standing right there so we both rushed over to him. At this point the tail end of the ss race is rolling thru followed closely by the entire cat 4 field. Andrew is still lying on the course but hidden behind the waves so we had to make sure he didn't get run over. Mark and i try to attend to him while also waving riders around us. We tell Andrew to stay on the ground and catch his breath. It looks iffy for a bit but after a few minutes he sits up and does not appear to have any major damage. Thank god for helmets. I saw first hand how important they are.

In the end he had a gash in his chin that required a few stitches and got his bell rung big time, but appears to be fine besides that. It's a good thing hes young and strong. I'd hate to see the result of that crash on an older dude.

So after attending to a second teammate and getting him all squared away i look at the watch and my race starts in 45 minutes. racing is kind of an afterthought at this point but im already registered so it's time to roll.

This post is already really long so lets make it even longer with a detailed race report.

The cat 3 race has about 20 starters and im on the front row. They say go and i feel good. probably 5th after about 30 seconds. caution is my key word over the bmx sections but it doesn't really hurt my position. Then, After the first lap or so, that familiar scenarios begins where people in front of you start riding away. They're right there, but 'right there' keeps getting farther and farther away. After about 3 0r 4 laps a lead group of 4 is established. Carl, who finished 2nd to me last weekend, James, whose been getting faster and faster, some dude i dont recognize, and my teammate David are all there. David was behind me for the first lap, then passed me and rode right into the lead.

I find myself about 15 seconds behind the lead 4. Scott from trek is with me and maybe somebody else.

i get a gap on them and am chasing solo. then, very unlike me, i trip on the barriers and fall to the ground. i get up, re-tighten the real wheel, scott catches back up, and off we go. We kind of work together but i also kind of attack him, we probably should have worked together because the course lent itself to drafting, but i'm an scatter-brain and couldn't think strait.

Its funny, i won last week and didn't feel nearly as fatigued during that race as i did yesterday. i dug deep yesterday but it just wasn't getting me that far. Plus yesterday i was in scampering hamster mode almost the entire race. Meaning i never got in a grove. Constantly shifting, changing positions on the bike, looking around, no flow.

In the end Scott opened up a gap on me and i finished 6th. Not happy but not mad either. I think the power and fitness is there, just need to put it all together.

After crossing the line i found out David won, very cool.

okay, time to end this novel, the chiefs are up 10 but the second half just started.

Halloween Party's

2011-10-30T01:14:00.007-05:00

What a great holiday.

Getting dressed up and hanging out with your friends is great but hitting up McDonalds at 1am and having the teenage gal whose working the drive thru take one look at us and, without hesitating say, 'zombie nurese'... well, thats awesome.

Yes, we are zombie nurses!

Critical Mass.... Halloween Version

2011-10-28T22:45:00.006-05:00

Being that Halloween is on Monday i had to stop by and check out the critical mass ride tonight since i knew would be a festive one.

There was a short period of my life where i was a regular at Critical Mass but i haven't been for a while, actually, the last one may have been Halloween last year. It was good to go back. Plus negotiating a slow moving peloton of casual drunken cyclists on bikes in various stages of fully operational is great practice. People are weaving, ducking and diving everywhere!

Enjoy the photos.

I won! Shawnee Rescue Radcross

2011-10-23T21:52:00.007-05:00

That's right, I won the 3/4 at the cross race today!

POW!!!

Not counting the beginners Mountain Bike i won three years ago (I totally sandbagged that thing, pre teens and old dudes didnt' have a chance) this is the first bike race i have ever won. It feels good, and surreal. I've done tons of races since i stepped out of my comfort zone in 2009 and joined the Colavita / Parisi Coffee cycling team, road, mountain, cross... and finally, after countless hours, miles, espressos, flat tires, dropped chains, big fields, small fields, fast fields, faster fields, frozen toes and salty helmet straps... i crossed the line first. Joining this team and this sport was one of the best decisions i ever made.

Everything clicked today. I worked my ass off but still felt good the whole time. When i passed the leader at the beginning of the second lap i barely had to attack, it just seemed like he was fading and I wasent. After that i kept cruising. Truth be told i was nervous, this was uncharted territory for me. 10 minutes into a 45 min race and i'm in the lead with a gap of around 10 seconds. I was worried about blowing up. Albert Pujos was flashing thru my mind. He hit 3 homers in game 3 of the world series the night before and people were talking about how great he is at focusing. So that's what i tried to do. Focus.

I've imagined my finish line celebration numerous times (i like the Chris Horner solute) but in the end i simple rolled across, no celebration, just happy to win.

X was spectating and cheering me on the whole time. It was kind of a magical moment.

Now, lets be honest. Lot's of the people who usually beat me were not there today so the end result might have been different. Might. They'll be back though and i cant wait to line up next to 'em.

Juan Pablo Dotti the Doper

2011-10-22T00:38:00.004-05:00

Damn you Juan Pablo, you were my boy when i wrote this.

Now i read this.

I fine it odd that the one time i single out some random rider it turns out he was on drugs. He has performance enhancing drugs coursing thru his veins in the pictures i took. I snapped pictures of a doper, while doping, who later got caught. That's like getting a picture of big foot.

What more can i say besides... F*ck it dude, lets go bowling.

Tuesday Night Universe - Hyde Park

2011-10-18T20:38:00.002-05:00

I have seen the light and it is Hyde Park.

Did the TNU cross race and the course out there is totally awesome. One of the best courses i've done all year, sanctioned or un-sanctioned. Props to Ricky Skaggs (Brett) for making it happen. Hyde has a lot going on and he uses all of it. Very creative on his part. I've heard several times that there used to be show and go races there years ago (late 90's?), before the scene in KC was what it is now, i see why. What a great park.

More info here.

Come out next tuesday, you'll be glad you did!

Last weekend (Marathon relay and Joules Cross)

2011-10-17T21:45:00.004-05:00

Last weekend was full of exercise.

Saturday was the team relay for the Kansas City Marathon. This is the 4th year i've done this, lots of fun. It's a five person relay, i ran the final leg, 6.4 miles. The Kansas City Marathon is a pretty big deal, i think 11,000 people participated this year. My leg started down by UMKC then zigzagged over to the paseo and then north to about 18th st before finishing at crown center. Out team, Frank Reynolds' Little Beauties finished 5th overall. A great day.

Here i am streaking to the finish, in yellow.

Sunday was Joule's Cross in Lawrence, KS.

This was an awesome event. Food, beer, payouts, fun course. Pow!

I did the 3/4 race. It paid out to 5 spots so i thought i would win money, i didn't.

I'm too tired to do a recap, but i finished 8th. Not what i was hoping for but better than a kick in the head. I came away from this race thinking two things, attack and believe in yourself... Okay three things, attack, believe in yourself, and pizza and beer is a great combo.

Joe, i'm coming for you.

Enjoy the photos

I... had... the time of my life. Swayze Cross.

2011-10-12T22:26:00.005-05:00

This is basically a bunch of pictures of my wrist as i made my way north to Swayze Cross. It was a beautiful day, it's a beautiful wrist, it's a beautiful life.

Be there next week. Swayze Cross. I love you all.

Ciao

Cross out Cancer

2011-10-09T17:36:00.005-05:00

Yo,

Raced cyclocross today. Cat 3 race at Cross off Cancer in Shawnee Mission Park.

Actually lined up on the first row, was a little nervous about that, turned out to be fine. I was maybe second wheel after 15 seconds but then found myself around 6th. The fast start winded me. Then i crashed on a 180 before the barriers and was sitting around 8th. Ultimately i rode up to 4th but couldn't close the gap to 3rd. Then 5th joined me and we were attached at the hip for the next 2 or 3 laps. The race quickly shrank to the two of us and we played a few games, at least i did. It was windy so there was no way i was going to pull the rest of the race, i would slow to force him to come around but sometimes he would just go slower. Then I would think how someone might catch up to us if we kept this up, and how our chances of catching 3rd were growing slimmer and slimmer. Although honestly i was tired and wasen't too motivated to try and catch 3rd.

But nobody caught up to us, and we never caught 3rd, so we had our own little race.

I was taking the barriers faster than he was so as we approached the final barriers on the last lap i attacked and got a gap. It worked, i got over 'em pretty quick and then hammered it the last 30 seconds to the finish. I glanced back to see he had sat up and i coasted across the line.

4th!

Best finish of the year, also one of the smaller fields. Funny how that works.

BK took 3rd in the open race! I guess not racing ss earlier in the day makes a big difference.

Blogging has hit ludacris speed!

2011-10-08T18:40:00.002-05:00

I'm on a roll, but it cant last forever. Today was a pretty nice little Saturday, although we didn't have time for Bed Bath and Beyond.

Maybe next weekend.

Yesterday in photos...

2011-10-06T17:55:00.002-05:00

... and a few words.

Swope
Midtown
Volker Bicycles
Swayze Cross x 2

Too bad i didn't get photos of the TWO coffee shops i visited. Broadway Cafe and a new one, for me, Mud Pie on 39th st. Both were lovely. This was all made possible by my boss telling me the weather was so nice that i should take the rest of the day off.

Pow!

Big Weekend... Boss Cross x 2 and a Roller Derby teaser

2011-10-04T21:38:00.008-05:00

Today is Tuesday but last weekend X and i raced Cyclocross on Saturday and Sunday. Boss Cross, baby!

One thing i love about Boss Cross is that the men cat 3's race for one hour. Pow. It's intense and a great workout. I feel like i'm close to, if not living in, the best cycling fitness of my life... so cyclocross has been really fun lately.

The nutshell version of Saturdays race...

The starts of cross races are the bomb, for the first minute or two it's like being in a video game. I think i have a quick start but i usually show up to the line late and slot in behind people. Saturdays start was descent and after a lap or two i was riding in 4th, 4th!!! Then i got too cute on a couple sections and dropped my chain a few times, the last of which was the worst. It fell underneath my K-Edge chain catcher so i spent maybe 30 seconds getting it out. That was enough to put me into 6th at the finish. It would have been 7th but Boulevard dude rolled his tire with about 100 meters to go. I hate the fact that i dropped my chain but i love that i'm getting faster and there is less room for error during these races

. It's exciting.

Once i got home i adjusted the K-Edge chain catcher... spoiler alert, i did not drop my chain once on Sunday!!!

We raced for one hour and 8 minutes on Saturday. Pow!

X doubled up on Saturday. Pow!

Sunday

Once again i got there plenty early since X raced way before me. I like doing this. I get to chill out and check out the course, no pressure, move at your own speed.

The start of the race was totally awesome, i lined up at the very back after a poorly timed pee stop. Then noticed some space and moved up a little before the whistle blew. then, when it did blow, the seas parted and i had a perfect hole to ride thru. The race was not even 10 seconds old and i had gone from dead last to 6th!

Things stayed good the whole race, well, expect for the fact that i could not ride that rooty / slanting up-hill. I was so disappointed in myself. I actually rode it once, but barely made it to the top, then i botched it two more times, then i just accepted my ineptitude and ran it from then on out.

Once again i was sitting in 4th for much of the race, then Brett, whose turning out to be my arch enemy (in terms of fitness, not friendship, he's a good guy) comes flying by me with about 3 to go. As soon as this happened i told myself i would stay on his wheel, but that lasted 1 second and he was gone.

In hindsight i should have tried harder to hang on. I think when someone passes you fast late in a race it means they're really punching it and can only hold that pace for a bit, if you can survive the initial onslaught then things should calm down a little. But i really dont know what i'm talking about.

So... I finished 5th. One spot away from the money!

Something else i thought about after the race, when pre-riding it's beneficial to ride it fast. It took me three laps on Sunday to realize you could totally rail some of those corners.

Anyway.... great weekend.

But wait... It's not over. Sunday evening we headed downtown to watch Roller Derby!!!

*Editors note: it's 11:08 pm and i've just decided that the roller derby section of this post will have to wait till later this week. It's so good it deserves it's own post. Be prepared for a love fest. bye for now.

Destroy yourself

2011-09-28T20:41:00.002-05:00

That was my plan for tonights ride, destroy myself.

I was sitting at work earlier today, feeling good, knowing i had done a true recovery ride on Monday, a short but intense workout yesterday after i dropped out of the Tuesday night universe practice early due to a still soar groin, so all that meant today would be prime for a long hard ride. p.s... long for this time of the year, on a weeknight, is 1.5 hrs.

So that's what i did, kind of. It started hard but then i kind of got tired of destroying myself, plus X wasn't that into destroying myself, or herself, so we slowed to a more reasonable pace. We still kept it brisk but we were done destroying. Future destroy yourself evenings may have to be solo if the ride is truly going to live up to it's name.

On another note the tour de BBQ must be coming up because we saw spray painted signs everywhere.

Besides that i'm totally pumped about boss cross on Saturday and Sunday. the cat 3's do 1 hour! That's a great workout. A message to the boss cross promoters, if your reading this, is this the course with all the sand? Are you going to make us run all that sand? Please have mercy. I have a ginger groin and running in sand sounds painful.

Did everyone see the Manions recap on CXMagazine.com?

Ciao

Manions weekend

2011-09-25T21:16:00.007-05:00

Road season is over, dude.

This weekend our cycling team hosted a Saturday / Sunday cross race, Manions Cross. It was totally and completely bad ass. The team pitched in big time and I think we designed a killer course and put on great event. Big thanks to Dan-O the team prez for doing the bulk of the work. Well done sir.

Manions is hilly and this year it was also curvey. The bone dry ground made it even more difficult as the course turned into an extremely dusty and slippery surface after just a few laps. Saturday went one direction and Sunday went the other. I did the 3/4 race both days.

Saturday i started towards the back and had a really hard time passing on the curvey course. I bided my time and watched as the leaders rode away from me. Eventually i rode up to 5th and 4th was close but i bobbled twice after mr. stitches (a huge ditch that was hard to even jump over) and finished 5th. I'm not sure if i would of caught him but it would have been fun to try. Dam those bobbles, they make a world of difference. Ether way I'll take it.

Are my race recap's getting a little stale? They're starting to feel like bland regurgitations.

The rest of the team did great with Mark the Brit making a fine return to racing by finishing 4th in the cat 4 race as well as several folks participating in their first ever cyclo-cross race. I think they liked it.

Got there Sunday (today) and was a little nervous because i pulled a groin muscle during saturdays race. After some warming up and stretching i realized it wasn't as bad as i thought so we were all systems go. My starting spot was much better and i was probably sitting 8th with half a lap gone by. I made my way up to 5th and then very briefly 4th, but he passed me almost immediately and was faster than me thru all the turney stuff so once again i settled for 5th on the day, out of about 30. I'm stoked about these results!

I'm pretty sure i'm way stronger now than at this time last year, i just hope i can keep going up and then peak at Jinglecross. I'm going to peak all over Iowa City. I'm going to peek so hard.

The 'man among men' award for the weekend has to go to Andrew Lyles who did two races Saturday and three races Sunday... and the Sunday races were basically back to back to back. Nice work dude but be sure to rest up after that. You deserve it.

Final thoughts on the weekend...

Bikes are fun and people are cool!

1 day to Manions Cross!!!

2011-09-23T19:08:00.003-05:00

Cross has arrived in KC!

We were out at Manions today getting her ready for tomorrows big show. The course is awesome and the weather is going to be beautiful. If you like hills your going to love it. If you hate hills your going to love it. If you love it your going to love it. If you hate it your going to love it. It's a win win! It's cross. It's totally radical. So bring your bikes and your friends and then combine them with a little Tall Grass and have your selves a nice little Saturday. Then repeat on Sunday because this is a double header weekend!

See y'all tomorrow.

Address of the venue...

4411 North 67th St Kansas City, KS 66104

MS150

2011-09-20T21:58:00.007-05:00

Sure we only rode a total of 74 miles all weekend and it rained a lot of the time, but the MS150, or MS ride as I think they now call it, was pretty awesome.

This was my maiden voyage and the prep took a little getting used to. We had to pre-pack our bags since they truck them up to Lawrence and have them waiting for you and we were camping so we had a lot to pack. Plus the start was a little nutz, but I guess that's to be expected when there are 2,500 people getting ready to ride.

Once the ride started it was a blast. X works for Quintles so I rode with her and the rest of the Team Quintiles crew, they were good people and really cool. Luckily we managed to miss the two rain showers that came thru, the first while we waited for X's spoke to get fixed and again while we had lunch. Unfortunately we missed the time cut and couldn't do the long route of 109 so settled for 74 miles. Pretty much all of it was new roads to me so it was quite enjoyable.

Camping in Lawrence was an experience. I thought i had the perfect spot for our tent, but it turned out to be right under a lamp as well as right next to the park's swing set... so when the bars closed at 2am on saturday night all the drunk students wandered thru the camping area acting like, well, drunk college students and then several of them proceeded to swing. Totally annoying... but i could see the humor in it. X wasn't quite as amused.

We woke up the next day to rain, then shortly there after the ride was cancelled. Boo! So we got a ride back to KC and that was that. What should of been 180 miles in two days turned into 74 miles in one day. Cest la vie.

Things i learned:

Old guys in tennis shoes can be fast.

Putting time trial bars on a mtn bike is awesome.

Pickle juice is awesome.

The live band they had in Lawrence, Sellout, is awesome.

Investing in a jacked that's water "proof" is necessary.

I will totally do this ride next year. It was fun but it also feels good to help others. I'm usually a lame curmudgeon when it comes to that type of thing, too cynical to have an open mind, but maybe i'm changing. If you can help then you should.

Big thanks to everyone who donated. I personally raised about $400 and the Quintiles team raised over $7,000!

See y'all on down the trail.

Swope... and 10 years later

2011-09-11T21:39:00.005-05:00

I tried to make the Colavita group ride but missed it by a few minutes, so we returned to base camp, re-grouped, and I headed for swope. With a coffee stop on the way. Spoke pony was the last time i rode my mtn bike so the going was a bit rusty, but it felt great.

Plus i'm getting the cross bike ready, which is nice.

It doesn't feel like 10 years since the attacks against America. I was at KU, in class, and didn't hear about any of it until both the towers were already down. The phone rang at my apartment and it was my roommates mom, i answered with a cheery "hello?" i think she could immediately tell i didn't know what had happened. I called my mom at work, the tv footage i had just turned on showed the towers still standing (must of been some sort of re-cap) so she had to tell me that they had both collapsed. Surreal. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I don't know what to say about the whole thing but thinking about it makes me want to be a better person.

It really doesn't feel like it's been 10 years.

Gatweay Cup... no wins, no crashes, never got dropped, i'll take it.

2011-09-09T11:27:00.010-05:00

Last weekend i did 4 days or racing in St. Louis. Gateway Cup. Crits. It went well.

I've been hoping for a great performance in a race on my road bike, this weekend was the last opportunity of the year, it almost delivered.

Day 1

Big square course with wide roads, basically flat. Around 120 starters. I made one attempt to move up but besides that I rode in the back all day. This proved to be good since there was a big crash in front of me at the finish. We all had to slam the breaks and pick our way across the finish line and around the carnage. It was bad. One dude didn't get up for 15 minutes. Kind of a surreal way to start the weekend. But i was fine and ready for the next three days. The beer hand-up on the cool down lap helped to calm the nerves.

While watching the pro 1 2 race i noticed this guy in the very back on almost every lap, then i realized it was Ivan Dominguez, recently back from retirement, then all the sudden he was in the front and sprinting for the win. That's my style. He never got a 'W' but he always spent the first half of the race at the very back and then all the sudden would be at the front mixing it up. I love this guy. Plus we snapped pic of him on the drive home, he got a kick out of that.

Day 2

Big square with wide roads, mostly flat. About 109 starters. I was more aggressive today and found myself at the front halfway thru, two guys were off the front about 100 yards so i attempted to bridge. It wasn't a thought out move, just happened, it was awesome. It was also short lived. After about 15 seconds i realized i was going to blow up if i kept chasing so i signaled to the lone rider who had joined me to come around and take a pull... he wasn't interested... the peloton caught us and i hung on for a few laps and caught my breath.

After that i just chilled in the middle and when the wind-up for the sprint started i said 'peace out' and coasted in for a casual finish. There had already been a fair amount of crashing so i didn't' feel like risking anything. Cross is coming up and i want my body to be functioning properly.

The most exciting part of the day had to be watching KC local Cameron Rex take a nail biting win in the cat 3 field. He was off solo with 15 seconds on the last lap and ended up winning by about 3 bike lengths. Check out the three photos of him below. The podium of the cat 3 race were all 17 year olds.

Day 3

Rectangular course with a big climb and much narrower roads than the first two days. 106 starters and my favorite course of the weekend.

After two days of racing i could feel that my body was warming up so my hopes were high. On paper a climbing course should favor me since i'm a pretty light dude. The race started and i was surprised at how fast we were going up. I never looked at my computer but we seemed to be flying up the hill. We did have a tail wind. I should also mention that the crowds for the weekend were great, lots of folks came out. Today was particularly good as the local community really embraced the event. It was in the italian neighborhood and this was the 27th running of the race. Awesome stuff. When you ask some locals where's a good spot to get pizza and they tell you 'Guidos' you know your in good hands.

So, back to the race, most passes up the hill i would make up some spots. Wether from actively trying to move up or just going around folks who were struggling with the pace. With about 5 laps to go i got really aggressive, found myself behind El Baggero, and moved up even more. I didn't think to far ahead because i was focused on the task at hand but in the back of my mind i thought i might finally have a good result in a race on my road bike.

As the final lap started i was sitting around 30th, not great, but i was on the outside which i thought would give me a fast line around the corner leading to the hill. Thats where I (and lots of other folks) would make my move. Unfortunately this outside line was suddenly occupied by the slowest dude to take a corner ever. Seriously, this guy went so slow! So i had to scrub all this speed, then re-accelerate up the hill, then finish an anonymous 40th place.

Oh well, the dude abides.

Cameron Rex almost won solo again, dude's on fire.

Later that night we went to a pig roast and drank Budweiser. I'll take it.

Day 4

The most intricate course of the weekend. 12 turns, mostly flat, cool setting. I felt better on day 3 but today was actually my best result. 33rd out of about 100. Perhaps it's because we were racing in the shadow of the Budweiser brewery. I did a good job of moving up a little bit here and there and was able to avoid the splits that were caused by all the turns.

Cameron Rex won the cat 3 race.

So that's it, road season is over for me. I'm don't feel like analyzing it except to say that it was fun, disappointing, illuminating, and i still love riding my bike.

See you at the cross races.

Gateway Cup Here we Come!

2011-09-02T13:10:00.002-05:00

Im off to St. Louis for the Gateway Cup. 4 days of crit racing. Strait up cat 4 races each day.

Stay Tuned.

Sedalia Crit & Otterville Road Race... big posts are back!

2011-08-28T21:15:00.006-05:00

Hey Gang,

Status update: Totally stoked after a great weekend of bike racing in central Missouri.

This was my first year at these races but i already cant wait to go back... and i didn't even do that well.

Saturday evening was the Sedalia Crit. For a rectangle course it was really fun and the long steady uphill finish made it that much harder. Being located in the historic downtown area put it over the top. I thought this was a really well organized and top notch local event.

I entered the 3/4 instead of the 4/5 and was feeling confident on the start line. Then i looked over to see Erik Finks lined up and thought to myself "oh, this could be hard". Then i realized i haven't raced my road bike since the Tour of Lawrence (not even the tuesday night crits... they were cancelled) and thought to myself "oh, this could be hard". Then 20 minutes later i was drifting off the back of the pack and thought to myself "that was hard".

But i wasent that disappointed. I basically have no talent what so ever so i cant just show up to a 3/4 crit and expect to do well. I need to be racing somewhat frequently so that my body is used to it. Still, even with getting dropped i still had a blast. The first 15 minutes were good, then i started to yo-yo but for 3 laps was able to use the corners to catch back on. I'd get gapped on a long strait-away but then hall a** around the corner and catch back on, then repeat. Eventually i couldn't catch back on anymore and rode a few laps solo, then was pulled.

Sitting in my lawn chair watching the rest of the races on a perfect late summer night was a little slice of heaven.

The Otterville road race is located in Otterville, MO (population 476) about 15 miles east of Sedalia. 48 miles over rolling hills. I thought the course was totally awesome.

After my all to brief appearance in the previous nights 3/4 race i opted for the 4/5 race at Otterville. I think it was the right decision.

The nutshell version of this race is that i was feeling great but got horrible cramps with about 5 miles to go and even though I reached the bottom of the final hill with the peleton I was already toast. I gave it everything I had on this final climb but halfway up i came to almost a complete stop, my legs would just not work. It's a shame because i really think i would have crushed that hill. Seriously.

The good news is that i'm feeling strong. I took some pulls during the race, helped chase down an earlier break, and was at or near the front for a large portion of the race. The highlight has to be when my teammate Kenny had a mechanical (apparently his front derailleur fell off) and came to a stop right in front of me. I managed to swerve into the grass at the last second and then back onto the road, narrowly avoiding him and somehow barely losing any speed. it was king of like a scene from that movie Days of Thunder where Tom Cruise (me, or course. Scientology rocks by the way) is hauling a** and then all the sudden from out of the pack in front him emerges a car rolling side ways into his lane. Thankfully he possesses amazing skillz and avoids disaster while living to fight another day.

I'm a bad ass.

So the results from the weekend suck but I throughly enjoyed all my time on the bike and am very excited to see what will happen in the next few months.

Like my friend said after the Otterville race, "that was the first cross race of the year"

Bike MS... I'm riding for Kate

2011-08-22T10:04:00.007-05:00

Hey everybody,

The Bike MS (aka the MS150) is coming up and yours truly will be taking part. It should be fun and I'm looking forward to finally riding a 100 miles in one push. That will be quite the accomplishment for this former couch potato. However all the personal goals and accomplishments were recently put into perspective when my teammate and friend, James Taylor, told me that his wife, Kate Taylor, had been diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. James is a great guy and while I've only met Kate a few times, she seems wonderful, even more so now that she's a brand new mom! So I'm riding for Kate. Lots of folks in this world have a tough road to travel, I only hope that my small gesture can help make a difference. Please take a quick moment to read Kate's message and if you're feeling generous click here to donate.

And smile, life is precious.

Thanks,

My name is Kate Taylor. I'm 35 and a brand new mom. I also have multiple sclerosis. After several years of vague symptoms, I was finally diagnosed through an MRI in the fall of 2009. I immediately started injections which I was told later would not help my particular brand of MS which is primary progressive. This means that I will have an accumulation of disability with no remission periods. On the bright side however, it could happen very slowly. The most frightening part of MS is the uncertainty...all the "what ifs". Right now, there is no cure and those of us with this disease are in a constant battle to simply manage the symptoms and desperately try to slow the progression with treatments available.

My baby is almost 4 months old now and I can't deny that I am afraid what effect my MS will have on her life. Finding a cure for MS isn't for just the patients. It's for our kids, our families and all the people that love us. Your donation, however large or small, puts us one step closer to a cure.

To donate, click here.

Spoke Pony at Swope... Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves

2011-08-15T16:38:00.011-05:00

I raced the Spoke Pony 3/6 at Swope on Saturday, it was a lot of fun.

I hadn't raced in forever and i hadn't raced mountian bikes in really forever so it was nice to get back out there.

For the past two weeks i've been riding swope as much as possible, especially when i learned the race loop went the opposite direction than i'm used to... all that riding helped.

Recap:

Lap 1

Holy sh*t these rocks are slippery, i guess thats what happens when it rains the day before. I'm glad i skipped the pre-riding because it might of pshcyed me out. Im also glad i slotted into the seemingly perfect spot after the short uphill paved road start. I barely got held up in traffic but someone right behing me must of held everyone up because after 5 minutes on the singletrack there was nobody behind me. Eat a clif shot and some beef jerky.

Lap 2

Holy sh*t these rocks are still slippery. Be cautious and know you've got the V8 Interceptor Mad Max wheels to carry you thru to the finish. You'll be fine. Whoops, bad line = endo down a hill. Even Max crashes occasionally. Am i okay, yes, i think, on we go. Man, that was probably an awesome crash to witness. I wish i was Jdoug. He saw it, plus his 6 hr pace seems to be faster than my 3 hr pace. Eat a Clif shot and some beef jerky.

Lap 3

Starting to cramp, ass starting to hurt, but at least the rocks are less slippery. Man, my ass hurts, and i better stop and stretch. Thank god i've got this camel-back, all roadies should wear camelbacks during mountain bike races, i crashed twice at the Warsaw race just fiddling with my bottle. Max would totally use a camel-back. These sections are drying out so maybe i can ride them, oh wait, fatigue is setting in so maybe not. Eat a Clif shot and some beef jerky.

Lap 4

My ass is killing me, i can barely sit down. Maybe that's adding to the extremem cramping in my legs becasue im having to using them double time just to lift my butt off the seat. Where did i hide that coke, by the tree near the start / finish, there it is... ahhhhh, sweet relief. Maybe i can make this my fastest lap yet... ha, who am i kidding... i'm dying. But i should be dying, i'm about to ride 4 laps at swope when the most i've ever done is two. And really, dying is too strong of a word, i have some power left but not being able to sit is killing me. I'll just stay out of the saddle as much as possible. ohhh, Here comes 8 pin, dismount, walk it, survive, continue. The finish is close now, i just passed the dead hooker, wait, is that Ricky Skaggs with a beer hand up? It is! I'm crossing the line triumphantly with a cold beer in hand, wow!

And to top things off i finished 2nd in the 30-39 category!!!

Now, let's keep this in perspective. At least two guys who would have beat me had mechanicals and didn't finish (i had no mechanicals, maybe my bike has more life in it than i think) plus the turnout was not huge, but still... my age group had 18 starters and i beat all but one. I'll take it.

Then i went home and put all sorts of creams and ointments on my ass, next time i'll be sure to use more shammy butter and a better saddle. No matter though, i turned on the tube to find Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome on AMC.

Life is good.

*Thanks to Justin and Bike Source at 95th and Mission for the tune up on Friday afternoon. Like usual i waited till the last minute but they totally accommodated me and it made a huge difference. Britton from Volker was tending to his new born baby boy so i decided to give him the day off.

*Thanks to everyone who made the race happen, i had a great time and it was because of your hard work.

Ricky Skaggs

2011-08-11T23:32:00.001-05:00

Ricky Skaggs was at Swope tonight, did you catch him? He showed me some good lines.

X at Swope

2011-08-10T11:37:00.002-05:00

X, the gf, was thinking about doing the Spoke Pony mtn bike race at Swope this Saturday so we headed out there yesterday afternoon to do some pre-riding. She's never ridden any of the hard sections of Swope... so i was a littler nervous. Plus she's only ridden her mtn bike on mtn bike trails about 8 times... so i was a little nervous.

Swope is hard, i think.

I figured that after riding it she wouldn't want to race. I was wrong, kind of.

Long story short, she was doing great and we were almost thru all the hard stuff when she fell and thought her elbow was broken. I quick trip to the ER concluded that nothing was broken, thank god, and she could get back to kicking ass on a regular basis. Well, maybe she needs to baby her sore elbow for a bit so i seriously doubt she'll be racing at swope on Saturday, but she'll be kicking ass again very soon.

With a little more practice she could handle a race at swope no problem. I was surprised at how quickly she picked it up. Maybe she's got the natural skills required to be a good mtn biker, maybe her 29'r makes it easier to get around at swope, maybe it's awesome.

She does have some trouble shifting, which i find hilarious, but i guess if your brand new to mtn bikes and never use those type of shifters it would take some getting used to.

Mountain bikes rule, see y'all Saturday. I feel confident enough out there... but three hours of racing the swope trails is going to kick my a**. If i can clear 8 pin just once without putting a foot down i'll be a thrilled, but i'm fully prepared not to be thrilled.

Big mountain bike day today

2011-08-06T21:31:00.006-05:00

Broadway cafe, Volker bicycles, swope park trails, Blue river trails, Sonic Spectrum on the radio. Good day today.

I finally got in a big mtn bike ride, although only about 35% of it was on a mtn bike trail. I'll have to do something about that. My new thing is timing myself at Swope. I can't describe exactly what my loop is, but it's pretty much all of it. Today was something like 53 minutes, but i was riding "casual" and know i can go much faster. We'll see what happens at the spoke pony race this weekend. I have a feeling spoke pony could be the swan song for my mtn bike. She's dying. It's sad.

I also rode the 'highline' trail at Blue River. I love it, but it's a little overgrown. Blue river seems to be more of a winter trail.

You cant beat passing thru the Mad Max apocalypse zone on Blue River road between Swope and the Blue River trails, it's weird in there.

I put in close to 4 hours of riding today... my ass was killing me! Seriously, it was like never before. Maybe my next bike should be a full suspension. Nah, that sounds too easy. I like to make it as hard as possible to go fast. Which is probably why im not that bothered by the fact that my back disc break is constantly rubbing. It's not bad, but it's there. If i ever get a mtn bike that functions properly it's going to be like pedaling a cloud dipped in olive oil.

Swope... FINALLY!

2011-07-28T22:55:00.001-05:00

Finally got the mtn bike up and running and made it out to Swope. Plus i pedaled there and back! Can life get any better? It can if you add ice cream.

I'm dreaming of long rides on my mountain bike

2011-07-24T18:16:00.006-05:00

For the past week or so i've really been jonsin to ride the mtn bike.

Swope and Blue River are at the top of the list. It seems like Blue River is the forgotten trail. I dont really travel in the local Mtn bike circles so that's an outsiders opinion, but i don't hear many folks talk about it. Personally, i love riding out there, plus it's close to swope so you can ride both. And they're connected by Blue River Parkway... so there's a great road connecting the two. You can pedal to all of it.

I have this thing against loading my bike in my car... i hate to do it. If it's not a race then i avoid it like the plague. Sometimes it's necessary, but Lately, i've been doing too much of it. So these big mountain bike rides i'm envisioning involve pedaling right from my front door.

I've been dreaming of these since last year, but so far they haven't happened. This entire year has been full of start and stop. Get it a good spell of riding, then real life interrupts it, then repeat.

I may be seeing a light at the end of the interruption tunnel.

Time to get the Mtn bike going!

I read that Cadel started today on a special yellow bike, but then switched to his standard bike because he wanted to finish on the bike that got him there. Bad ass.

Somethingclassicin... San Francisco, CA

2011-07-23T10:59:00.005-05:00

Love this town.

Rode the wiggle. Ate a burrito in the Mission. Sat on the Alcatraz steps. Drank 7 and 7's... and lots of good coffee. Saw what was apparently George Lucas's inspiration for the AT AT Walkers in Star Wars Episode IV, The Empire Strikes Back. Gave money to buskers. Gave money to homeless folks. Drank more good coffee. Wore pants and jackets at night.

Great town.

Tuesday night in KC... the 75th St Brewery ride

2011-07-12T20:16:00.003-05:00

Have you done this ride? It's fun.

Have you heard this song? It's good.

X and i opted for the Brewery ride over out typical Tuesday night crit, and i'm glad we did. The brewery ride is hard, but it's shorter (which was nice due to the extreme heat KC is experiencing right now) plus were going on vacation on Thursday and i didn't feel like having a crazy B racer knock me on my a** before the big trip. Nothing against crazy B racers, unless they knock me on my a**.

This is my view as the front group rides away down Lee blvd, i got tired, they didn't.

I'm still riding the cross bike, did you guys know theres a special washer in the brakes that makes adjustments a snap? As in if the correct part of the pad is not touching the rim. the brakes were squealing something awful but Joe Fashion dropped the knowledge, i had the alan wrench, problem solved. Learning is fun, when its easy.

I'm feeling stronger and am still looking for that one great race on the road bike. Michelob Ultra and hip indie music will get me there.

Ciao

8am Saturday Colavita Ride

2011-07-09T11:12:00.007-05:00

I love this ride. It leaves at 8, sometimes 9, from the 18th and Wyandotte st. Volker Bicycles location.

Just riding to the ride is great. I take Ward Parkway to the plaze and then jump on Broadway or Main and take take that all the way to the shop. Life is peaceful at 8am on a saturday.

X came along, she thinks were a bunch of goofballs, she's mostly right. I love it.

Apparently one of the newb's on the team, quite Brian, whose gone from a 5 to a 3 in his first season, was asking about how to do pace lines, ect. X was telling me about this and then she enlightened me on some paceline details, i learned some new stuff. I cant wait to put it into practice at a race, with the other folks who get dropped.

I had to ride my cross bike today since my road bike is in bad shape after the wet crit at last Sundays Tour of Lawrence. A quick note on last weekends Tour of Lawrence crit... i had the best warm up ever. It consisted of riding 1 minute to the Bourgeois Pig, drinking and espresso, riding 1 practice lap, and then racing. I felt fine. I think my new goal is to be in good enough shape so that i can skip the warm up and still race descent.

(Me at the tour of lawrence, it was waaay fun.)

I havent ridden the cross bike since January, it got me excited, but i still have unfinished business on the road. it's fun to go fast, you go fast on the road, it's fun on the road. I've improved on a road bike but so far none of my races have been great, so i've got my eye on Gateway cup, one great race and i'll be satisfied.

Chocolate milk and awesome 80's videos will get me there.

Not much time for blogging....

2011-07-06T22:22:00.003-05:00

It seems like i've been going 100 mph for the last few months. Except when i'm in a race, then I move much slower. (that's a joke, but seriously.)

Racing, riding, working.

That leaves little time for blogging. Working 40 hours a week is hard enough. Trying to ride 10 hours a week on top of that and then throw in a life outside bicycles... man, i'm tired just thinking about it. But then I have a decent race, like Tulsa Tough, and i realize Im doing exactly what i want to be doing.

At some point i'll get back in the blog groove because i really do enjoy it, but i've got to feel it. It cant be forced.

You want an update on my cycling progress: Last year i would have been tickled pink with a pack finish in a cat 4 road bike race, this year i can do that pretty consistantly, which im happy about, but it's starting to get old. Now I want to go faster... but if i stick my nose in the wind too much i blow up. So I've got more work to do, which is good because i like pedaling my Bicycle.

Now here's a blast from the past, Alberto Contador at the 2007 (i think) Tour of Missouri...

Tulsa Tough - my sunday race

2011-06-24T21:36:00.003-05:00

The Sunday race at Tulsa Tough is pretty hard.

The Hill is fairly steep and comes pretty quickly due to the short loop. Last year i lasted maybe 5 laps, this year was considerably better but a mechanical ended my day early.

On the first pass up the climb i broke my chain. First time thats happened to me. My reaction was somewhere between panic and calm. I knew i had time to get to the pit, but i was still a little frazzled. So instead of just coasting around the course to get to the pit i decided to cut thru the middle and between peoples back yards and down some funky steps. it was very cross like. Naturally i dominated this portion of the race.

I hustled to the pit only to be told by an official that i should have taken my time. 'Watch the pro's' he said, 'they walk'. He said it's a time to gather yourself. Noted.

So i get the new chain and i'm off and feeling good. I have plenty of power on the hill and on the flats. Racing is fun when your not constantly at your limit and just waiting for the inevitable blow up. Then with 8 laps to go i have my race ending mechanical, a mis-shift (or something like that) in the front derailleur. It was totally locked up so i couldn't simply down shift and pedal out of it. Just like at last years MO state road race, just like this years Sheehan race. Son of a. Im pretty sure i could have gone to the pit again. But honestly, i was a little embarrassed. Plus i was pissed. So that was it. i didn't finish.

The race finished in basically a bunch sprint and i'm pretty sure i would have been there at the end.

When i told this story to Britton he said 'What were you doing in the small ring?'

Shit!

Here's to better luck next time.

And big thanks to Britton at Volker Bicycles for taking it upon himself to give me a better front derailleur plus a chain guard. I think he took pity on me after my Tulsa troubles.

Final answer, i had an awesome time in Tulsa.

Tour of KC Tomorrow!!!!

power

Britton gets in the zone before his race while Boy George fills up on fluids

party time on the hill

Bam!

A dude from the 1 / 2 race cools down

Crybaby hill w/ Brad Huff, Jonathan Cantwell, and Boy George lurking in the background

Tillford

Crash on the tight right hander

Stefan Rothe checks his gap in the Pro 1 race

It's not very big

Rahsaan Bahati

Crybaby Hill

Britton rides thru the crowd after all the races are done

Tulsa Tough - My Saturday Race

2011-06-20T17:48:00.004-05:00

The Saturday race at Tulsa Tough was good.

I still haven't mastered the art of getting a good starting spot so on the start line i was 3/4 of the way back of an 88 rider field. I'd been preaching to the newer guys how important it is to line up near the front, but it's easier said than done.

My race was good but uneventful, having said that i'd say it was my best race ever on a road bike. After 51 minutes at a 23.9 mph average speed in hot conditions... i had a pack finish. Bam! I did this race last year and was dropped after 15 minutes. Not this year, baby.

During the race i pretty much stayed in the back, played it safe, and tried to enjoy the ride. I would move up a little here and there, but nothing much. I was just trying to stay ahead of any riders who might get dropped. Hopefully i've learned that lesson, don't ride behind people who are going to get dropped.

The course was hillier than i remember, which was fine. the down hill was fun. long and strait with a wide 90 degree left at the bottom. Tuckin in and trying to see the turn thru the crowd of other racers was exciting, then you swoop left at god knows what speed and then hammer thru and repeat. Speed is fun, i also like turning. Put the two together and i'm a happy man.

I heard two crashed during the race and apparently both involved teammates. Ha! I'm not trying to laugh at their misfortune but out team has (fairly or unfairly) gained a reputation for crashing. Unfortunately the Tulsa trip only added more fuel to that fire. At least now we only crash ourselves. Kenny apparently put his brother into the curb at the top of the hill (a common trouble spot on this course, so you're not alone on this one guys) while Andrew and Brian somehow went down close to the downhill. I didn't know it was them until the next lap when i glanced over to see them standing in the grass. "Great" i thought, they were two of our fastest guys. But no time to dwell, if i didn't concentrate on the task at hand i might of ended up like them. It was around this time i noticed the dude in front of me had on a house arrest anklet. Funny.

Anyway, with a half lap to go a basically stopped racing and just coasted in. I had already completed my goal of finishing with the pack so i didn't feel like risking anything to improve an already anonymous placing. Plus i was really tired and really hot.

I finished 43rd and was basically the very back of the peloton. So about 45 more guys either got dropped or didn't finish. That makes me feel pretty good about my performance.

Tulsa Tough is a lot of fun.

Volker in the house

i love post race chocolate milk

that's a big flag

Tulsa does it right, no debris on this course

X marks the spot

The women's open field pass by the Soundpony and crest the hill. You can see how the road narrows, be careful if you're on the outside

Ramshackle drum kit outside Soundpony, he had a few other drummers and they were pretty damn good

Men's room at Soundpony

Successful beer hand-up

Unsuccessful beer hand-up

The men's pro / 1 race

Juan Pablo Dotti @ Tulsa Tough

2011-06-19T21:15:00.003-05:00

I took tons of photos at the Sunday Tulsa Tough race. The scene on cry baby hill is such that you could take a photo with your eyes closed and probably get a keeper. I intend to post small bunches of these photos over the course of the week. Doing it all at once is too overwhelming.

Plus i'm trying to find a middle ground between full blow blogging and full blown hiatus.

Juan Pablo Dotti got second in the Pro / 1 race. I happened to be at the pit when he was getting his pit bike, then i snapped several good photos of him as he was in the winning two man break for the last 10 or so laps.

A wikipedia search says he's 28 and from Argentina.

(Jose the sram dude hooks Juan Pablo up with a pit bike.)

(They had one police officer to keep order on cry baby hill. He was cool. This is him signaling one lap to go.)

(The roar of the crowd was amazing as they came around for the last time.)

So Juan Pablo took second on a pit bike. The guy who took first is also from Argentina.

Tulsa Tough Teaser (temporary hiatus lift)

2011-06-13T22:29:00.004-05:00

More to come...

Hiatus

2011-06-03T11:36:00.001-05:00

I'm taking a hiatus from the blog. See you out on the road or in the dirt.

Kisses

Snake Alley and the Memorial day weekend races... no Dogma's for you!

2011-06-02T20:48:00.009-05:00

Riding bikes is fun.

I just got back from a great ride. Nothing special, although i did ride the single speed for the first time in a while, just a fast spin around town accompanied by great weather and great music.

Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed from James Munro on Vimeo.

It's a good thing i like the simple act of riding a bicycle, otherwise this recent string of crappy results on my road bike might lead me to abandon it all together. But i like it too much for that to ever happen.

Yes, this past weekend was crappy. Actually let me rephrase that, the bicycle racing portion of the weekend was crappy, everything else was great. I enjoyed the drive, got to explore some fun new cities and met some good people along the way. If it hadn't been for those pesky bike races the weekend would have been fantastic. So how crappy were the races? well...

I did three races, paid $35 each, and raced a grand total of 1 hr and 5 minutes. yep.

I'm not fast right now.

Day 1

Snake Alley Criterium

Burlington, Iowa

Nutshell version: Got pulled after 4 laps. Taking 10 seconds to clip in and running the first pass up Snake Alley was not a good way to start the race.

Everything leading up to the race went fine, got in a good warm up, did a few practice laps, became acquainted with my surroundings... then it quickly turned to s*it. First i missed my pre registered call up so started one row back of what i should have, no big deal though, still on row 3. then it got really bad. I must have been nervous because i started with my right foot clipped in. I never do that. When the whistle blew it took me forever to get my left foot clipped in. 10 seconds may be an exaggeration but i bet 25 people passed me while i was trying to clip in. It took forever. So there went any chance at a descent result. If ever there were a race where it's absolutely crucial to get clipped in immediately it's Snake Alley. Im such a boner.

Then, one minute later, were approaching the snake where the road bottlenecks and theres a crash in front of me, im forced to dismount and run the entire climb along with about 20 other poor fools. I'm positive that i would have avoided that crash had i clipped in immediately, but instead there i was, running awkwardly up a slippery brick road. It's possible i could have remounted and rode the hill, but you can only clip into one side of my pedals and the steepness of the hill makes it hard to clip in and get momentum. Plus i was feeling pretty frantic and was in what Steve Lavin would refer to as scampering hamster mode. Once at the top i had a sweet cyclo-cross style remount, but that was a minor positive on a day filled with negatives.

I quickly lost motivation and energy and pretended for a few more laps. The climb was killing me every time. When they pulled me i didn't complain.

This race is crazy. Crazy hard, crazy fast, crazy slow... and despite everything that happened to me, crazy fun. Or at least i see the potential for crazy fun. I really hope i can go back next year.

Day 2

Melon City Criterium

Muscatine, Iowa

Nutshell version: Dropped on the 3rd or 4th time up the hill, pulled myself after two more laps. Pissed off.

I was ready for redemption and liked what i saw upon arriving at this course. A fast circuit thru a park with a long steady hill. The race started fast, i sucked, end of story.

no pictures of this race, instead the pictures are from the best part of the day. Post race we went to the country for a pre memorial day celebration. I've spent very little time in the country, but this was great. The house was on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and there was no noise except the sounds of nature... and occasional gun fire.

But really, it was incredibly peaceful and a great experience.

Day 3

Quad Cities Criterium

Rock Island, IL

Nutshell version: Was feeling fine but got caught in a crash with 4 to go, no more free laps, nuts.

I felt pretty relaxed before the start. The prior two days had been shi**y so i had no place left to go but up. Plus this was a flat figure 8 course, no hills. I used to think hills favored me, but im starting to rethink that. As soon as the whistle blew i was feeling good. Halfway thru the first lap we seemed to be going slow and i easily moved up into the top 10. From that moment on i was in the zone. Totally focused and having fun.

The first crash happened close but didn't effect me. I stayed focused. The second crash was closer, but i was still fine and totally in the zone. Hearing the crashes made the race seem more immediate and serious. As in, 'dont fu*k up or you could wind up in a lot of pain.' Nothing else mattered but the moment. I like the simplicity of that. All the other bs of life is put on hold while you focus entirely on the task at hand.

The third crash happened right in front of me and there was no avoiding it. Around 10 guys went down on the long strait section over the start finish. I had time to slam the brakes and come to almost a complete stop before falling onto somebody. No injuries. I was up and pedaling relatively quickly but the free laps were gone and so was any shot at a decent result.

It's a shame, i was even thinking about taking a flyer. I probably wouldn't have, but just the fact that i was thinking about that was a major change from the first two days. I'm pretty sure i would have at least had a pack finish and sprinted at the end. I've only done that a few times.

Soon grasshopper.

Snake Alley this Saturday!

2011-05-26T09:40:00.002-05:00

Plus i'll be racing crits on Sunday and Monday as well!

Tune in next week to find out how badly i get my ass kicked... or maybe i'll end up winning all three days?

If that happens i'll buy you all Pinarello Dogma's from Volker Bicycles.

SC vs Summit Street

2011-05-22T22:04:00.002-05:00

Decided to take some friends advice and climb Summit St instead of Cambridge. Summit (located in the westside neighborhood, just west of downtown) is not nearly as steep as Cambridge, but still very hard. Plus it was hot today, which made it harder.

I planned on 5 laps, only did 3. Once i reached the top of each lap i would go as hard as possible for another 50 yards or so, to the stop light by Blue Bird Bistro. After the 3rd lap i was pooped, but i rode for another hr plus and felt pretty good. We'll see what this all means come snake alley time.

I'll be back to Cambridge St, but maybe not till after Snake Alley.

I got in 11 hours of riding this week. That's really good for me.

After the ride X and i had a lazy Sunday on the Plaza.

The Dude abides.

My thoughts on the recent Lance Armstrong news...

2011-05-21T20:40:00.002-05:00

Fuck it, dude. Lets go bowling.