Specialized D4W demo June 10th

Specialized Demo Day April 25th

I'll be out there all day. Come out, say hi, demo a bike, ride some trails, have some fun.
Shawnee Mission Park Marina trail head parking lot.

Dirt Burger - Taste the Trails

Swope Park Trails - Short but oh so Sweet!

Last weekend was the official opening of some sweet new dirt in Kansas City, Swope Park Trails
http://www.swopetrails.com/

Thanks to a super boss I got the day off to go check out the loop on a beautiful 60 degree day

The loop is only phase one and there is more planned.

Its short but super sweet.
Some of the best single track I have ever ridden.
An added bonus is that I could easily ride there from my house.
I rode 4 laps (2 each direction) and was surprised to discover that I had only ridden a little over an hour.
There seems to be quite of bit of climbing at first since the trail head is at the bottom of the hill.
But its well worth it.

I had been told that it wasn't overly single speed friendly but I didn't seem to have much problem once I got in the groove.


In the coming years this will be another destination mountain bike location in the KC area.


Here is a link to a few photos I took on my afternoon ride.
http://flickr.com/photos/1eyedz/sets/72157609470079089/






















*The official thumbs up from the One Eyed z*

Swope Park Trails grand opening press release

*SPREAD THE DIRT*

Swope Park opens an urban hiking and mountain biking trail system
11.10.2008
Kansas City, MO

Swope Park opens an urban hiking and mountain biking trail system.

Kansas City Parks and Recreation in partnership with the Earth Riders Trails Association (ERTA) will host the grand opening of the planned 16 mile primitive, recreational trail system within Sowpe Park. The Formal dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled at 10:00am Saturday November 15 followed immediately by the official opening of the trail. The celebration is free and open to anyone who wishes to attend.

The first phase of the trail, designed and built entirely by volunteers labor, is in the historic Camp Lake of the Woods section of Swope Park. The 1.35 mile trail features many rock outcroppings, spectacular views of the surrounding parkland and two small waterfall sections. Marci Jones, South Regional Director of KCMO Parks and Recreations, says "We are so excited to have ERTA in association with Heartland Sports Promotions building such a world class hiking and biking trails. The trails will be a real treasure."

The Swope Park Trail system is managed by Scott Capstack and Craig Stoeltzing, co-owners of Heartland Sports Promotions and ERTA Board of Advisior members, who bring over 22 years of trail design and construction experience to the project. Since January, 40 volunteers have invested over 600 hours designing and construction Phase One. Phase Two will commence in December, with 3-4 miles of additional trail scheduled for completion over the next six months.

ERTA maintains and manages over 100 miles of trails throughout the Midwest, working with over 10 Land Managers. To learn more about how you can volunteer and assist with Sowpe Park trails or any of the other trail systems in the area, go to htt://swopetrails.com or www.earthriders.org and click on Get Involved!

Event Location:
Camp Lake of the Woods
Swope Park
Kansas City, MO

For a map of the trailhead please go to http://swopeparktrails.com/ and click on the Camp Lake of the Woods map (upper right side of the page). Parking is available at multiple locations along Oldham Road.

Tentative plans call for hikers to be the first to venture onto the trails with the riders rolling out around 10:30/11am.

Worked...

Just finished up a 25 mile "training" cross loop on the 1x9 Cross Check (see post below)
Good times
I felt good, I rode good, things went off with out a hitch
Well OK one hitch
As I was finishing up the last little stretch to home on the Trolley Trail the front tire went flat
Damn
Oh well time for more Cyclocross practice... I hopped off and did a couple running intervals with the bike the last few blocks home
Over all a successful ride
I got some single track action in BuRP which admittedly was a bit wet.
But I was checking behind me and I wasn't leaving a track or bogging up my tires so I figured it was OK
The ground was hard and just the top couple MM were slick in spots
Rode a new connector that I hadn't seen before which I really liked
Its a fun little loop with today's cooler temps (I was in arm and knee warmers) and the geared bike it was good times
Nice change of pace
Plus it was really the first ride on the "new" Cross Check in its 1x9 form
It will make a nice back up bike for race days
I mapped the loop before and posted it. It was a bit different today but this will give you the general idea:


Time to do some stretching and then round up some dinner

Speaking of the Spring Sale...

I just put in to stock Friday!
The new IMBA / BikeSource trail advocacy jersey!
We currently have Medium, Large, XL and XXL versions in stock.
These run slightly small so be sure to try them on before buying
We plan to do a second run based of sales and interest - the second run will include different sizes and women's specific sizes based off requests.
While you are checking out these jerseys don't forget to browse the store for other great deals during our annual spring sale going on now through April 13th!

Swope Park Trails

[ Spread the Dirt ]

www.swopetrails.com




Swope Park…wanna come and see the terrain that’s a little bit the Ouachita Trail, the Womble, Landahl, Crowder, Perry and BuRP. Yea, that’s not an exaggeration…but before the tour begins, the park needs you to earn a little dirt first.



Call this a preview and earn your dirt day all rolled into one. For years, ATV’s have been playing (trespassing) in the Phase One portion of Swope Park and have created quite an extensive trail thru the property. In fact, they are still very active. We need your help with a little trail closure before any tool can be put into the ground. We’ll be closing several access points and a bulk of the trail they have laid.



the dirt specifics:



When: This Saturday, November 24th at 8:30am – 11:30amish

Where: Swope Park. Soccer fields off of 63rd Street. See the attached map for where to park/meet.

What to bring: Work gloves, pulaski’s, chain and/or hand saws and a friend.



Earn Your Dirt

www.earnyourdirt.org