Time for a Change?

Time is sure passing quickly here in Kansas City. I have been here since 1999 and it just seems like a couple of years....I've been concentrating on cycling and triathlons ever since I quit racing motocross. Lately I have had the "itch" to get another motorcycle. I said that I would never race again soon after my brother John got seriously injured (Quadriplegic - c2/c3) racing a motorcycle, but some of the things I do on a mountain and on a road bike for that reason are just as dangerous. Heck, on my commute home yesterday I almost got ran over by an irate driver that was just not happy that I was on the road....I borrowed Carolynn's brother CRF 150 and Christopher and I headed over to Perry Lake to ride. We had a lot of fun. Check out my old gear. 20 years later and it still fits :-)

Our good friends Anita and Damian lifes will be changing soon also. Anita is expecting in October. What was she thinking? That is Cyclo-cross season....this past weekend Anita had her baby shower. Some Cow Town team members were on hand along with Anita's and Damian's family. Some pics are below.

Rapure In Misery 07'

Well, I have survived another Rapture in Misery. Actually had a great race and put in some good lap times (5th fastest time of the day with a 50:32) for the the team. I am happy with my event and plan to take a couple of weeks off and really see what I want to do next.

We had a lot of competition in the Super Fast division. Our main competition was the DRJ Racing team from St. Louis. There team was made up of Chris Ploch, Wes Biermann and Bob Arnold. Another great team was made up of Camron Chambers (Former 24 Hour national Champion), Matt Brown, and Aaron Elwell. It was going to be a long day for sure....

Tige Lamb started off the event for the Six Rocky Mountain Oysters. As he did last year, he led from the get go. I was second up this year due to Damian's recent calve injury. I had been doing a lot training in the heat this past month and was ready to put in a fast lap. I had to go up against Ploch and Syllamo's Revenge winner Matt Brown, but I was ready for the challenge put in a very solid lap of 50:32 to keep our lead.

Recovery was going to be important today and as soon as I finished I was chilling out under our tent. I had brought a whole selection of recovery drinks and some solid food to eat throughout the day. Since it was so hot, all I could handle was some of Accelerades Endurox R4 which did an awesome job of getting me ready for the 2nd lap.

The first person back for the 3rd lap was Aarron of the Two Geared and One Weird team. He put in the fastest lap of the day with a smoken' sub 48 min lap. Damian came in several minutes later to keep us in 2nd place overall. Still a great showing for us.

As the day wore on we kept in 2nd place until the night laps came. This is when the DJR team stepped it up and slowly reeled us in. Once in 2nd place they set their eye's on the leading team of Elwell, Brown and Chambers. I was a little disappointed that we were not in 3rd, but realized that with 12/24 hour events anything could happen. Tige put in an impressive night lap and set the fastest night lap of the evening with a 52 min lap. Damian followed that up with another great night lap to keep us in contention.

As the Midnight hour approached and the top 3 teams went out for their final and 14th lap, it would come down to a little luck in who would win. Tige got a flat tire on his 5th lap and this put us a little to far down for me to close in, but I still didn't give up and went out on my 5th lap to see if I could happen upon some good luck (meaning bad luck for the other teams :-)). As it turned out the leading team got in some trouble and fell back to 2nd and let the DJR Racing team take the win. We came in 3rd place only a few minutes back - at least we got up on the podium and took home some prizes.

Memories of RIM.

It has finally arrived. The 7th Annual Rapture in Misery will take place this weekend. This is one of my favorite mountain bike events. I have competed in all of the past RIM's. I can still remember the first one at Snowcreek in Weston, MO.....

Seven years have gone by quickly. Back then I had just arrived in Kansas City from South Florida. I only knew one rider here - my good friend Gerard Arantowicz of Jewel Cartoons..... Back then I was on the Bicycle Adventure team and a solo freak. I signed up for the 12 version of the then 12/24 RIM (I can never understand why they changed it to a 6/12). On the first lap I got not only one flat, but two (this was before they even thought of tubeless mountain bike tires :-)). This was my 3rd 12hour event of the year, so I just decided to put in on cruise control and not worry about my placing for once and just RIDE. Well I did more than ride. I worked my way up from dead last, passing dozens of riders each lap, and soon found myself in the lead. 4 hours later I had an entire lap on the solo field and was on the same lap as the team guys....Then all hell broke lose. Severe thunderstorms, lightening and flooding.

The second year I teamed up with Gerard and David Pitt for a 3 person team (Carolynn finally talked some sense into me...). We did awesome! We won our division and kept up with the big boys for most of the night. Here is a cool video from the 2002 Rapture in Misery. The course at Snow Creek was some of the most difficult terrain I had ever ridden on a mountain bike. Looking back I really miss it and wish it would one day return.

The third year David Pitt and I competed in the Duo class and won our division. I don't remember much about that event, other than it was very painful! It is almost easier to do the event solo. With a duo team you still ride very fast laps, but you don't get enough rest to do any good...

The 4th year I was on the Bikes and Boards team and we competed in the 5 person open division. I think I chose a 5 person because of all the pain I went through in 03'. That year our team consisted of Gerard, Damian Almanza, Brian Bass, Mike Claussen and myself. We basically kick everyone's butt. I even set the fastest night lap (actually tied with Doug Long). It was an incredibly fun event for sure.

The 5th year Damian and myself teamed up for another duo suffer-fest. I guess I never learn. We did well that year and were leading by a good margin until the last couple laps. A team from St. Louis came from about 15 min back to take the lead in one lap. Bobby some how lays down the fastest lap of the day after riding for 10 hours and even does it at night. How you ask? Drugs? Super powers? Heck no, that bastard cut the course. We ended up 2nd in our division. Man was I pissed. I didn't even want to get up on the podium because I knew the other team had cheated...

Last year was the year of the Six Rocky Mountain Oysters. Tige Lamb, Damian and myself teamed up to show em' how it's done. We were the fastest team, and the only team to complete 13 laps in 12 hours. Tige set the fastest first lap, fastest overall lap and fastest night lap. I suffered the entire event with a stomach virus. I didn't let on too much because I didn't want it to affect the team. It was very hard on me to ride hard being so sick.

My Last Race?

Round 10 of the Midwest Fat Tire Championship series was yesterday. My good friends Damian and Anita joined Carolynn and I for the trip over to Columbia. Carolynn decided not to race so it was just Damian and I racing with Anita and Carolynn our support crew. And boy did we need support. I could have used 10 water bottles today.

The Show Me State Games round is held at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park which are some super fun trails - they are well worth the trip. We had a great turnout in the Vet 35 + class today. Heck, most of the other classes also had a good turnout. Why everyone showed up to race in this hot summer weather is beyond me.

A few guys jumped the start. Mainly because the RD counted down and at around 1 1/2 most guys took off. I basically started in 10th place and put my "Plan B" into action - race the course and conditions and try to slowly bring everyone back. This plan was working somewhat as I did start working my way up, but by the 4th lap I was about to have another episode of heat stroke so I basically just rode into the finish. Still waiting on the final results.

I am made an important decision. Taking into account my performance yesterday, and the fact that after several episodes of heat stroke my body just does not perform in the heat, I have decided that I will not be racing in the summer any more.