Mmmm.... Bacon

My house smells like bacon.
I'm not complaining.
I'm just trying to make you jealous.
Are you jealous?

More rain is happening.
Itching to get on some more dirt.
Guess I'll eat some bacon instead.
And listen to the rain while laying in bed and dreaming about riding Swope Trails.

Nighty night.

R.I.M. and S2R weekend

Its a big event weekend for us here at the BikeSource
Two big events this weekend we are sponsoring.


Heartland Sports Promotions presents
the 10th annual Rapture in Misery 6/12 endurance mountain bike race on Saturday (August 14th) at Crowder State Part in Trenton, MO.


Then the LiveStrong Army of Kansas City presents Sunflower to Roses ride on Sunday (August 15th) to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Cancer Action, and KU Cancer Center.

Both are great events worth your attention if you are looking for a great ride on the dirt or on the road.
Visit the linked sites for both events to get all the details

Its gonna be a great weekend.
Get out there and ride!

Day off dirt

I had Thursday off so after doing nothing all morning I pulled the trusty 29er single speed off the rack, knocked off the dust (been a bit since I've been on it), aired up the tires, lubed the chain and headed east to the Swope Park Trails.
I didn't realize until right before I headed out that a chuck of Phase 3 was now open.
After a roughly 30 minute spin of the road (the 29er is geared for off road not on so its cadence practice to get there)I dove into the trails.
I wasnt sure where the entrance to Phase 3 was exactly but it was easy to find.
I did a couple of laps. The first one was kinda rough but its hard to carry any speed when you aren't sure what is coming up around the next bend.
Over all a great ride. The HSP & ERTA gang have done a great job building some sweet single track.
The Swope Trails even made the front page of the KC Star recently, check it out & then get out to ride some best dirt in KCMO.

A little taste:

Regular Maintenance...

*This is a repost of what I put up at 4 The Ride of Your Life

Its important to the life of your ride.
Even more so when you run higher dollar parts.
Not because higher dollar parts need more maintenance, they just cost more to replace when you don't maintain them.

Don't let this happen to you:

A Campagnolo Ultra Torque BB/crankset should not look like this
These bearings need replacement, frame cups too
We had to take a mallet to the cranks to get them out of the Serotta Legend Ti frame

Cleaning should be part of your regular maintenance routine.
Don't expect your LBS to do it all for you (at least not for free)
A clean bike is a happy bike.

Miles and miles of sweat, dirt and rain created the corrosion which ate through this Chris King headset resulting in its failure:


Sweat eats parts.
If you are one of the sweaty types, don't forget to clean you bike.
Its relatively easy and can be somewhat enjoyable.
The time you spend on it is rewarded by a better running bike that will last longer

Now go ride.

Dirt Burger - Taste the Trails

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.