This Labor Day weekend, ride bikes.

"I'm never gonna stop. This is awesome."

 

 http://konaworld.com/

*Blatant Shop Propaganda*
Midwest Cyclery has Kona Jake and Jake the Snake models in stock

Evil in the 816

A few Evil sighting in CX events recently

Boss Cross #2 in Riverside 10/03/10


Photo by Roger Harrison

Watch for Evil x2 at about 1:03 and the carnage begins



Cross Out Cancer 10/10/10


Photo by Laura Keithly

Results?
Typically middle of the pack or DNF
We've been racing two races per event when two races are available.
Masters 35+ & single speed

On tap for the weekend

Its finally here.
The KC Cup weekend at the Swope Park Trails
Cyclocross (Saturday) and cross country mountain bike (Sunday) action back to back over two days.
I rode the CX course last night and its a hoot. They make use of the new short track course that was installed for the Thursday Night Throwdown. So lots of single track to really please the CX roadie set.
I'll be doing the CX race this year. I'm considering racing twice.
I can do the Master's 30+ race at 11AM on my geared CX and then the single speed race @ 1PM on... well my single speed.
Hopefully I get further in than the first lap before I flat like I did last year.
I'm blowing off the MTN race on Sunday. I just haven't logged any time on my 29er this year. I was the same way last year but did the race. Ended up so frustrated that I blew my top and pitched the 29er into the woods. Not the best tactic.
I'm not much of a MTN racer anyway. I prefer to cruise along with frequent stops.
However, I should be attending the event as a spectator to cheer & heckle the racers. Maybe I'll even bring some beers.

That is of course that I'm alive after the Pub 'N Pedal 4 gets done with me Saturday night.

Straight from the FaceBook event page:
Free to all who come out and register to race!!!

Once again I should tell you that this is a free bicycle race photo scavenger hunt pub crawl. I will not ask any money from you but the final bar requires $2 per racer to be donated to the staff. This will allow you to drink from a FREE keg (as long as it has something in it).

• Registration begins at 7pm in the old OSCO Drug parking lot at Westport RD and Main St
• Race begins at 8pm
• Teams of 1-4 people
• You are not required to drink on this ride
• One digital camera per team to take photos of objects off the manifest


Need more info? Check out http://www.kcsprints.blogspot.com/ or http://www.candycranks.com/

So there is the planned weekend in a nut shell.
It fall, its gonna be a beautiful weekend, get out there and do something with it.

Goody Goody Gum Drops

Local trails ala cx from Andy Wardman on Vimeo.

I found this a while back via AHTBM and love it so much I had to post it again.

Little CX Nats preview

A video preview of the 2009 Cyclocross Nationals course in Bend,OR done by CX Magazine.



Looks cold
And if the course dries out (or at least stays frozen) it looks like it could be a speed race.
One set of barriers (unless I missed one), a 15 step run up, and several quick short climbs that in a group could easily turn into run ups.
Looks to be a fun course
Unless the temps go way up and it turns in to a mud pit
Or like the 2007 KCCX Nats, frozen one day, mud and standing water the next, then a frozen rutted nightmare...
Guess we'll see

Did I mention that Wednesday was new bike day?

Cause it was. At least for me.


2010 Giant TCX frame set
FSA headset
FSA Gossmer Cranks with Mega XO external BB
40t Surly chain ring
Salsa Chain guard
N-Gear Jump Stop chain guide
Ultegra 9 speed STI levers (set up 1x9)
Ultegra RD
Ultegra 12-27 cassette
SRAM chain
Shimano 105 rear hub laced to Mavic Open Pro rim w/DT Swiss spokes
Hutchison Bulldog tires
Specialized 30.9 seat post
Specialized Phenom saddle 143 CroMo rails
Paul touring canti rear Neo Retro canti front w/Salsa cable hangers
3T stem 110 31.8
Ritchey WCS bar 31.8
Specialized S-Wrap bar tape
Specialized Stout front hub laced to Salsa Delgado Cross rim w/DT Swiss spokes
Shimano cables
Jagwire housing

I had to modify the N-Gear a bit. The bike came with a pulley so you could run a bottom pull FD.
The bolt hole for the pulley was right were I needed to put the chain guide.
Nothing a little bit of grinding couldn't fix


Done and done.
Now its time to put some miles on it.
Don't know if I'll actually race it CX or not.
When I talked about it at the last race I got told I "wasn't allowed" by the buddies I race with. I guess they don't want me on gears since I normally run single speed in the CAT 4.
Maybe if I feel entergetic enough for two races I can use it for some Master's B 35+ races.
I doubt that but we'll see.
I'm just excited to have a new rig.
And its purdy too!

CX on my mind

All I'm thinking about lately is cyclocross.
Which although I'm not very good at it I do really enjoy racing.
Thinking about cross leads eventually to viewings of this:

Pure Sweet Hell
And possibly too much time watching CX videos on YouTube
Like this:

And this:

Page's victory slipping away at CX Worlds in 2007:

And Tim Johnson's victory at the 2007 CX Nationals in Kansas City:


Ah yes. I love cyclocross

One of the best beer commercials ever?

YouTube Skol Beer

I've never heard of Skol Beer (apparently its Brazilian or maybe Austrian)
Although I do enjoy some of their ads...
Like this one, this one, and this one(Thank you Internet!)

However with this ad we've got some of the best items for this time of year.
Cyclocross? Check
Beer? Check
Binge drinking? Check
Good times? Check

Yep. Along with this classic Miller High Life commercial its one of the best.

KC Cup weekend

The HSP KC Cup weekend is over with
It was fun but disappointing
CX race on Saturday and XC race on Sunday
Mr Joshua and I flew the Stars and Hearts of the BKB for the CX race Saturday
It was a great course but I flatted out right at the end of the 1st lap.
I was feeling good but with no pit bike or extra wheels my race was over

Mr Joshua hung on with a respectable middle of the pack finish.
Mr Joshua's little lady even did her first CX race ever
She was all smiles for the grueling 40 minutes race in her BKB t-shirt

Mr Joshua and I flew the All Blacks of Evil for Sunday's XC race

We raced in the Clydesdale class and screwed ourselves right from the start
The course started with a long pave section and instead of treating it like a CX race and putting the hammer down from the gun we slow rolled.
This put us behind the people in our class that we should have beaten to the woods
We managed to work our way up by the middle of the first lap.
I got tangled up in a technical section and watched Mr Joshua and the others ride a way
At the end of the first lap I turned it up a notch on the road section and got back in front of a small group and started a gap.
Back into the woods I spotted Mr Joshua and thought I was gonna reel him back in
But once again when I got to the technical section (8 Pins) if faltered and stepped aside to let some other racers around me.
After that I struggled to find a rhythm, I kept clipping my pedals and was getting knocked all over the trail.
It was frustrating and I let it get the best of me... ended up losing it and in a rage threw my bike off into the woods.
Not my finest moment... luckily there was no one around to witness it.
I composed myself and got back to it. Things came together a little.
I came across Mr Joshua getting up off the ground. He had flatted his front which in turn pitched him over the bars.
He was disappointed, he had crashed (swore at the start he wasn't going to), flatted (costing him precious time) and had been sitting in 2nd when it all happened.
I pushed on and once again got tangled up and lost a couple of spots.
Popped out on the road for the finial climb and put the hammer down to catch one of the two that had passed me.
Crossed the line in 4th.
Mr Joshua got back in it quick enough to pick up 6th.
Over all not a bad race for either of us with respectable finishes just not as good as we could have done.
It was the first MTB race of the year for both of us so really it was pretty good all things considered.

Next weekend we are back on the CX bikes for the Diamond BlackFan Cyclocross Challenge at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa, KS
We're racing single speed class since it starts later in the day.
Mr Joshua determined that the 4's 10am start was too early (funny since he is an early riser) and I am working the MS150 that morning (hope I make it in time).
We normally race SS in the CAT 4 race (we never win but we're never last either) but next week we'll be dragging the SS race down to our level of mediocrity.

Cross season has begun
Time to find the bugles and cowbells

Specialized Demo Friday the 11th @ BikeSource!

**Warning the following message is shop propaganda**

Wanna ride some of the best bikes on the market?
Specialized' s Central State Demo duo will be at BikeSource Friday the 11th for your oogling and riding pleasure
Both the men's and women's demo fleets will be on hand from 1 to 6
Come prepared to ride!
We'll be setting out for a group road ride after the demo
See you Friday!
www.bikesourceKC. com

Kansas City Cup Challenge

09.02.2009

KANSAS CITY, MO.

Dirt Lovin Good Times presented by The North Face

Kansas City Cup Challenge

http://www.heartlandrace.com



Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls:

Heartland Sports Promotions [HSP] is pleased to announce the inaugural cycling and trail running event at Camp Lake of the Woods in Swope Park.
Last winter the Earth Riders Trails Association [ERTA] and their board members, architects and builders of the trail Scott Capstack and Craig Stoeltzing, opened 1.5 miles of singletrack to the public, since then the trail has expanded to 3.5 miles.

The Kansas City Cup Challenge is fast approaching. This cycling event is the first of what many hope will be a continuing tradition of great trail building and showcasing through races in the Kansas City Metro area. Races will include the cyclo-cross season opener, a trail running race, kid’s race, and a traditional cross-country mountain bike race.

Saturday’s festivities begin with the trail run registration at 7:00 a.m. and the trail run start at 8:00 a.m. There will be a 5k and 10k option. Many runners have been using the trail for training and this will be an outstanding time to compare times with fellow runners.

Before the cyclo-cross race start, kids of all ages are welcome to come race their bicycles! The kids’ race will loop around the cyclo-cross course, completing their allotted number of half loops or a loop.

The cyclo-cross race will be a 1.5-mile loop with racers competing on modified road bikes that have bigger, knobby tires for the dirt. Racers will complete as many laps as possible in the allotted time for each category. Cyclo-cross registration will begin at 9:00 a.m. and continue throughout the day so racers may register for their different categories. The race flyer can be found on our website.

The traditional cross-country mountain bike race will take off on Sunday. The beginner, sport, and expert classes will be taking off at different times to accommodate the tight trail. The mountain bike course at Swope is (so far) 3.5 miles of pristine dirt. The trail has technical sections made more so by the exertion of climbing to one of the highest peaks in Swope Park.

To aid in the further completion of singletrack at Swope, many items will be raffled on Saturday and Sunday [proceeds go to ERTA and HSP trail building efforts].

Entry fees and classes can be found on our website.

Saturday Chipotle burritos will be available and Sunday ERTA will provide concessions [proceeds go to ERTA and HSP trail building efforts].

JET Chiropractic will be on hand for any adjustments.



See you on the trail September 19-20!



Heartland Sports Promotions [HSP]

3 minutes

The 2008 cross season of seat and bar cam reduced to 3 minutes of action by Colin Reuter


Best of Seat Cam Edit 2 from colin reuter on Vimeo.

'08 KCCX National Champs

It was a four day event but I only managed to make 2 days
I took some photos but nothing special, they are over at my Flickr page



















There are more photos (hundreds actually) from all 4 days over at Lanterne Rougeici's Flickr page

But if you want to see some really REALLY slick photos from CX Nats check out the photos my co-work Alex took.
Wow. Some of those don't even look real.

Mud & Blood Ball

The Mud & Blood Ball

Premiering Zero Traction

By Roll You Own Films Productions

The Mission Theatre Mission, KS

December 11, 2008 7-12 pm

Crossniacs National Syndicate and Cyclocross Magazine present the Mud and Blood Ball, the USA Cycling '08 Cyclocross National Championship kick-off party to be held on December 11, 2008 7-12 pm at the Mission Theatre in Mission, Kansas.

Zero Traction Kansas City Cross Film
This gritty movie is a Roll Your Own Films Production with additional support from Trek Bicycles and KLM Marketing. It was shot entirely in high definition in December of 2007 the real feel of hard-core cyclocross racing in extreme weather conditions, including driving snow, mud, ice and frozen mud. It includes interviews from Steve Tilford and elite men's champion Tim Johnson. With a hard-charging soundtrack, all the action is from multiple races over four days, culminating with the exciting elite women's and men's championships. Learn more about the film at: http://www.zerotractionfilm.com

The Mission Theatre
Celebrating 70 years of business, this great old movie theatre is the ideal place for this event. Located at 5903 Johnson Drive, Mission, KS 66202. Learn more about the Mission Theatre at: http://www.themissiontheatre.com

Food and Drink
Gourmet food is prepared for the race-ready, you'll be able to dine on the finest of carb-loading delights. Minneapolis star chef, Mike Phillips, is our guest chef for the evening. Learn more about this chef at: http://craftmanrestaurant.com/about.html

Crossniacs
Crossniacs are nationals racers joined together for the love of cyclocross. Syndicates are based around the country, including Portland, San Francisco, Colorado, Texas, and Minnesota. Learn more about this team at: http://crossniacs.com

Contact Information
Jared Roy
jared@mudbloodball.com
970-389-8456
www.mudbloodball.com
(Check the website for updates)

Zero Traction Trailer

Boss Cross #1... and what not

Boss Cross #1 was Saturday. The race was the preview of the course for Cross Nationals in December so I wanted to go.
But I might as well saved my entry fee $$ for as crappy as I felt and rode.
The day after Halloween was a rough morning for me after spending the evening riding around town in costume and then dancing and drinking to the sounds of The Zeros at the Brooksider
I hadn't been on the bike much all week but Halloween night I rode 35+ miles on the fixie and I was feeling it in my legs Saturday morning.
But as rough as I felt I still got up made breakfast and picked up Mr Joshua to head north to the venue.
We were a bit behind schedule and got there in just enough time to register and change before I race.
Looking at the course we both knew it was gonna be a rough one for a Single Speeder... lots of climbing.
The course felt like it was all up hill... both ways.
Right from the gun I knew I was wasting my time.
The start sprint left me in the dust and I in essence gave up right then.
We hit the grass and the first climb and I watched guys that I have beaten at races this year ride away from me.
I had no legs and no interest in killing myself to give chase, so I didn't.
I wasn't DFL but was too damn close to it.
Heck even the guy with flat pedals and tennis shoes beat me and he crashed several times.
The course was tough, even if I would have been having a good day it would have shattered me. But with no inspiration to put any power down I took it easy and soft pedaled in a way hoping to get lapped and pulled so I could have a better excuse to quit. But I wasn't and rode the entire race.

Here is a clip of the course. Not sure what race it is but its a helmet cam clip. I know that Cyclocross Magazine stuck a helmet cam to one of the Monkey Wrench (thanks for the cap Nate!)guys helmets but this isn't the clip

The 1/2/3 race was dominated by Steve Tilford. He lapped a majority of the 30 racer field before the end of the race. Personality wise I don't particularly care for the guy but he has been around and doing this thing for a long time. And at 47+-something he is still amazingly fast and fun to watch race.

Thanks to Jeremy, Boss Cross founder and rocker, and the fine people up at Cycle City for putting on the event. Oh and thanks to Jeremy for making me feel so loved, although I was sucking ass, with his heckling of me over the PA while he was announcing during the race.

Sundays Sunflower Cyclocross race at Clinton Lake Sate Park in Lawrence, Kansas was canceled at the last minute sighting difficultly with the park department.
The email that went out said:
"Late this week I was informed the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has put a hold on all special events at Clinton Lake State Park for the rest of the year, and likely into 2009. This affects the cyclo-cross race planned for Sunday. All Special Events (even those held on paved areas but excepting events on the trails) have been put on hold "to allow the park grounds to sufficiently recover from the Wakarusa Festival".
Funny how that decision has been made now although the Wakarusa Music Festival was back in the spring and we have already had a race at the park this year. Nothing against the race promoter but the side story I heard at the Boss Cross wasn't that the parks department was being a problem but that he, per the normal, waited until the last minute to get the park departments approval to even have the race.
Ah well stuff happens I guess. No one said putting on races was easy.

Made up the lack of cross action Sunday with some mountain bike action at Landhal Park. Mr Joshua and I loaded up the SSMTBs, picked up Caton and hit the trails for 3+ hours of single speeds on single track goodness.
It was a great day to be on the trail, conditions were perfect and we had tons of fun. I haven't been on my 29er much this year so it was a nice change of pace and a damn good time after spending so much time lately on a drop bar bike.

Up next on the cross schedule is Veterans Cross in Leavenworth, Kansas on the 9Th which I will be missing due to inventory for the store happening that weekend.
After that the schedule takes us to Leavenworth again on the 16Th for the Kansas Cyclocross Championships which I am on the fence about going to.
"Teammate" Mr Joshua will be out of town on beer business so maybe if I can find a ride out I will go race.

Action!

Working my way through traffic druing the first lap of the Smithville Cross Fest Day One CAT 4 race.

Photo by Dan-O

More Smithville cross video action!

This clip from "Blowpud" is of day one of the two day event.
On day one the run up was ride-able as proven by several riders in the clip.
Watching it has made me wish I would have tried it during my race but at I hadn't practiced it or seen anyone ride it before my race and didn't think during the race was the best time to attempt it.
For day two they changed the course so that you came to the run up from the other side taking out the possibility of riding it.


This video was shot by "Scott on a Scott" of the whole first lap (and then some) of the course on Day 2 of the Smithville Cross Fest, CAT4 race. I am there some where but I didn't see me in this clip.
Watch for the crashes at the beginning and the end of the clip


More photos etc with results at the De Stad site.
Great weekend, thanks for putting on the race Chris!

This weekend is another local double header featuring Boss Cross #1 in Parkville, MO Saturday and Sunflower Cross in Lawrence, KS on Sunday.
See you at the races!

Video of Smithville Cross course

Found this little video of Saturday's 1/2/3 cross race. Gives you an idea of what the course was like.


Talked to a guy named Scott on Saturday that had a camera mounted to the bars of his bike. He ran video during our CAT4 race and he got the whole first lap. Then Sunday he raced again and said that the camera got pretty much his P.O.V. of the entire race.
Still waiting for them to be loaded up on YouTube. He said they were huge files that would require a long time to get them loaded up.
From the little bit he showed me Saturday he was right behind me during Saturday's race.
I am interested to see how they turn out, and how big my skin suit wearing ass looks on film.

Smithville Cross Fest weekend

Wow... I'm beat. It was a tough weekend of racing for me.
Seemed like a long course with what felt like lots of climbing.
With all the rain we have had this last week we were all expecting a mud fest but it was far from that. Some soft ground in some spots that lead to some hard riding but a good time over all.Day one I ended up in a hard fought 23rd out of 45 racers in the CAT4's
A few photos of the action:











For day 2 they changed up the course a little bit.
Seemed to make it a bit faster.
I started in the back of the start line, per the normal.
I ended up raging through the first lap at full tilt thinking that my few "marks" we a head of me.
Turned out I was wrong.
In the confusion of the starting sprint (a few riders tangled and went down) I somehow managed to get around them before the first turn into the grass.
Thinking I was chasing made for a hard first lap but it paid off.
I ended up pulling off 16Th out of 40. My best result to date.
Action pics:

More photos can be found on my Flicker page and through links at Kansas City Cross

A big hats off to Cameron for winning the 1/2/3 race. Pretty good for a fella on a borrowed bike.
During his practice he crashed hard attempting to ride the run up and tore the head tube off his bike. OUCH!
He soldiered on planning to ride his fixed gear 29er.
I'm pretty sure he was happy some one loaned him their spare.
Nicely done sir. Nicely done!

Cyclocross is fun!!

A a few of the photos taken with my camera at Sundays Boulevard Cup Cyclocross race 10/19/08
Dig




Start line

I look like I am leading

Mr Joshua

Post race happyness

Nate can fly!!


Good race today
The normal ups and downs...
"gonnna win!"
"gonna die!"
"gonna make it!"
I think I ended up 27 out of 52?
On the par with normal form me if not a bit better
Real results will be here