Cross Off the Old Year Race Report

Today Christopher and I decided to skip snow skiing up at Snow Creek and instead head over to Shawnee, Kansas for round #5 of the series60cx series. The final race of the year so named Cross off the Old Year Race.

Conditions were a bit cold but nothing to bad. The course was a big loop around Stump Park with two little out back sections to add some length. One dismount comprised of a couple of hay bales and another section of heavy snow that you had a 50/50 chance of making depending on if any one else was in front of you. Most of the course was packed snow with some mud and ice which is what you would expect for this time of year. Ice buildup on your bike and wheels were a little problem today. Check out Roger's photos for more pics.

I wanted to get a lap or two in to warm up, but only got a 1/2 lap in before Christopher was yelling at me telling me they were calling my name to line up. When I got there I was in back of the Cat 3 field. They had us lined up on the side walk to start which meant that we were two or three abreast going as we started with not much area to pass in. Nothing much to do except follow and wait for an opening or for someone to make a mistake.

First lap was spent trying to bridge up to the leaders, keep the frozen ice off my 'chops' and salvage my race. I extended myself a little to much and in hind site should have just ridden my own race the entire way instead of pushing so hard on the first lap. Especially with the lack of any hard efforts as of late. I settled in and slowly picked off riders until I got up to 4th place. I could see 2nd and 3rd just a few seconds up. Chris Hersey had checked out and was on his way to another win (someone should upgrade this guy :-)). I started to feel better towards the end of the race and if the race distance was the normal 40 - 45 min maybe I could have reached the podium.

My Ritchey tires and Crank Brothers eggbeaters worked great today. I talked to several rides who were having problems with ice buildup on their pedals. Everyone of them had another brand. I am just saying.... The old Jack the Snake was not that bad either. I made some adjustments after the Missouri State CX and felt much better on her. Now I just need to stop skiing, eating and drinking so much. On second thought, is winning that important? Yes Carolynn, I will have another beer........


Fun racing in the snow and a good workout. Thank you to Mark, Mike and everyone else involved in today's race. It is nice to have opportunities this time of year to race our bikes. Might hit the next round on Sunday or we might head to Snow Creek to practice skiing some more. The family is planning to head to Colorado for some Spring skiing or to the Grand Canyon in March. I need all the practice I can get. If you ever want a good laugh come check me out skiing. I am the dude who looks like he is 95 years old skiing as 5 year old's come flying by....

2009 Year in Review

I've always liked this time of year. Time to reflect over the past year. Overall 2009 was a good year that created many good memories.

The Good:

• 16 Wonderful years with Mrs. Carolynn Locke.
• An awesome time at the Ride the Rockies.
• Some good times Camping.
  
• Winning overalls at the Black Locust and Bone Bender MTB events.
• Winning the Fat Tire Duathlon Series.
  
• A great showing at the Cross Roads Triathlon.
  
• Taking top honors, again, during Bike Week.
  
• A good showing at the Redman Triathlon.
  
• Promoting a successful Duathlon and Cyclocross series.
  

The Bad:

• Where the heck did my 401K go?
• Missing not racing/riding with Christopher (the X box got him).
• A visit to the ER because of a crazy bug.
  
• Dealing with IT Band Tendonitis while training for an Ironman.
  
• Sour stomach at Rapure in Misery.
  
• The Ouachita Challenge (more of a disappointment than bad).
  
• Overall weak showing during the 2009 cross season.
  

Smart or Lazy?

Christopher is home on Christmas break. He needed something to do to keep busy and earn some money to buy more Xbox games. I refuse to buy him any. I think those video games are just as bad as dope. Kids get addicted to them and all they want to do is stare at a screen and play with a controller. I regret ever allowing him to get one in the first place. But I digress....

So I give him a job which was to transport all the race equipment that we had left over from this years cross season from the garage to the shed out back. It was a large pile - taking up 1/2 the garage, and I estimated that it would take him 2 days to complete it. If he completed the work and did a good job I would pay him $100.00.

I get a call from him today, two hours after he began the job, tell me that the work has been completed and can we go to Game Stop tonight to buy a new game with his newly earned cash. I asked how he did it so fast. He said it was easy. He rounded up all the kids in the neighborhood, borrowed some wheel barrels and had the kids do all the work. My question is, is this smart of him or is he just lazy? Should I pay him or the kids who actually did the work?

New Year's Day Ride

New Year's Day Ride
Date: Every year on New Year's Day
Time: 12:00 Noon.
Description: This was the inaugural ride of the Lawrence Mountain Bike Club in 1996. Rain, snow, cold — it doesn't matter, we always start the year off by going for a ride at the River Trail then having refreshments at Johnny's Tavern. The New Year's Day Ride is appropriate for riders of all abilities. We begin the ride on the levy and ride to the River Trail where you may opt to ride as much or little of the 9 mile trail as you like before heading back to Johnny’s!
Location: Meet in the parking lot accross from the Lawrence Visitors Center (Restored Union Pacific Depot) in North Lawrence at the intersection of N. 2nd Street (Mass St.) and Locust Streets, just north of the river.

More info: http://www.lawrencemountainbikeclub.org/

Discussing Cross w/Poser

Gravel Grinders

It is winter time and that means one thing besides freezing your butt off here in the Midwest. Guru's Gravel Grinder series. Time to hit the lesser traveled roads and put in some serious base miles for 2010. Many of those roads will be gravel hence the name Gravel Grinders. The first three dates are set. We are also working on a gravel road race for February so stay tuned. As we progress through the winter the rides will become longer. Come join in the fun.

Here is our new blog: Gravel Grinders

GGG Dates:

#1 12/20/09 - Riverside, MO
#2 12/26/09 - Smithville, MO
#3 01/02/10 - Baldwin City, KS


Here is the info on GGG #1:

What: Guru Gravel Grinder #1

When: Sunday, December 20, 2009 - 10:00 am start time

Where: Start at E.H. Young Riverfront Park, Riverside MO

Who: Any and all are welcome

Why: Because there is way too much pavement in the world

Route: A mix of gravel, levee and back country roads. Mostly road, but plenty of gravel to keep us sane. Some hills will be climbed. You will experience some discomfort depending on pace. We will try and stay off any high traffic roads. Any road bike with a good sturdy set of wheels can be used. Cross bike preferred, but not required. Distance from E. H. Young is about 38 miles.

This is a Show-N-Go ride, please bring food/water and anything you require.

Ouachita Challenge Here I Come

I needed some motivation to train so I got up early this a.m. to sign up for the 2010 Ouachita Challenge. Entry is limited to only 275 spots for the race and it will fill up fast. The Ouachita Cycling Club does a great job with the event and they always have the best rest stops. Maybe this year I will stop and enjoy them some. For the past two years Carolynn has been at each stop with our own food. I think this year will be a time to enjoy the event and trails a little more. It is not like I will be on the podium or anything with the likes of this guys/gals showing up.

Last year I raced the single speed division on a Haro Mary SS Rigid. It handled great on smooth single track, but on sections like Blowout Mountain it about killed me. The downhills on a rigid are the worst. I can still feel the fatigue and numbness in my arms from last year. I found some good YouTube videos from last year bu Amdreatdg - OC on Video.

Still unsure what bike I will ride this year, but I am sure it will have gears and at least a front suspension. I will also change my race day diet. Last year I experimented with an all liquid diet which required that I not eat anything prior to the race. I did use this same product in training with good results, but the distance and intensity was not the same. Plus, sometimes you just need some solid food in your stomach.

Missouri State Cyclocross Championships

The 2009 Missouri State Cyclocross Champions were again held in Hermann, Missouri. Jeff Yielding and crew did a nice job again with the state championships. As you would expect for December, the weather played a part in the course. Conditions early on were good when the ground was frozen. After the first race the conditions changed and by my noon start time for the Masters is was a slippery mess.

After a couple of weeks of very poor training, I was not actually going to go, but I decide to go support Jeff's event since he came over to support the De Stad series several times this year. Early Sunday morning I heading to pick up Chris Hudson and Chris Thomas. Because of this, I decided to just take one bike and only race the masters. If I would have know that we would have made it in time for the 10:00 am Single Speed start time I would have brought my single speed, but I ended up only racing the Masters 40+ on my old Jake the Snake.

My race was nothing special by any means. Form is way off and I was just not dialed into the Snake on the slippery course. My type of conditions are wet soupy mud. If it is raining all the better. The ground under the mud was still a little frozen and made for a traction less ride. Plenty of crashes and near slide outs. End results after my effort was a 7th. Not really how I wanted to end my season. If I feel better by next weekend I will head to the Barnyard Cross in Manhattan. Otherwise, I am done for the year.

Results can be found at MO CX Results

Some pictures of the SS, Cat 4 Men, Juniors and Open Women below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/multisportmarketing/09MOStateCXChampionships?feat=directlink

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Happy Birthday Christopher

Happy Birthday Son. 14 years sure does go by fast. I still remember being at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado back in 1995. I was there for a cycling clinic and during one of the presentations in front of about 200 people in walks a member of the USOC. They interrupt the presentation and call out my name telling me that there has been an emergency back home in Florida.....Carolynn had come down with the HELLP syndrome and I nearly lost you both. You were born 9 weeks early and only weighed about 3 pounds. The doctors and nurses at the Melbourne hospital were great and kept you going. It was close a couple of times, but you had a strong heart and set of lungs.
Sorry I was not there for your birth. It figures I was at some darn cycling function, but you were 9 weeks early so I have a good excuse. Soon we were able to start feeding you. We missed all those midnight feeding during the first month because you were in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but let you till you this you made up for it when you we were finally able to take you home.

Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving was supposed to be spent with my mom, but she decided she was not able to come up to Kansas City. Some things never change. The question is, should I expect them to? Enough about that. Nothing I can do but move on....

Well I have 5 days off. What to do? First up, head to Swope Park and try out some new trails. I have heard some good things about Swope and was eager to try them out for myself. I ended up meeting Rich Anderson, JP and his daughter Karen. JP and crew were sporting new 29er hard tails. They looked sweet. Good ole Rich is back riding after his surgery and by the looks of things he has not lost any of his "Skills". Watch out for him once he gets his fitness back. As for the trails, they were nice. I was still getting used to being back on my MTB after a season of cross so I was not flowing too well. I plan to ride them again Sunday with Christopher and should be able to judge them better.

Thanksgiving Day was Gerard's 20th Annual Thanksgiving Day MTB Ride. He started this tradition back in Pennsylvania and has kept it going. A good group of guys showed up for a rather chilly start including several Cow Towners, Lawrence MTB members, Telford and Rasta Rider. We quickly broke into several ability groups based on ability level. Christopher and I ended up riding alone for most of the ride, but we mixed in with several other groups in route to the Clinton Skills Loop. Christopher and the others looked like they were having fun riding the teeter totters and boards. I will tell you up front that I can not ride anything slow. I need speed to clear any technical stuff. The trails out at Clinton Lake were in very good shape especially with some new trail work done by Mike Goodwin and friends. If you have not been out to Clinton recently you should make the trip. Well worth it.

The annual Black Friday MTB ride was up next. While Carolynn and Christopher were out the door early to hit the sales, I hit the Landahl MTB trails with Rich Anderson, Mark Krause and Brian Prosser. The trails were in great shape. It had been awhile since I had ridden them and it was a blast. I got out there a little early to warm-up and adjust my bike. Still playing with the set-up but it is getting better. The group rode for about 2 hours and we basically hit every trail at Landahl. On the technical trails Rich or Brian took the lead. Those guys are good and I like learning from others. It was fun riding with everyone. Be sure to put the Black Friday MTB ride on your calendar for next year. I ended up getting in an extra hour of riding after everyone else headed home. On my post cool down ride I ran into Aaron Browning. We chatted about the new section that he had just flagged. Looks like more technical stuff to come out at Landahl.

Saturday was a great day spent alone with Carolynn including our first tandem ride since the Ride the Rockies ride back in June. I can not believe we were able to ride in shorts and short sleeve jerseys just 4 days from December. I think I actually got a sunburn....

Sunday the weather is heading South and I will be following her down as we hit both the Swope and BuRB trails. Christopher needs to break in his new ride. I was able to get his new Anthem built up that he got from The Wheel Cyclery. He now fits a 16" frame very nicely. Included in the build is a very sweet Crank Brothers bottom bracket as his old one was totally shot, a set of Maxxis Advantage UST tires and and new chain. Hopefully he will get at least a year out of it, but at the rate he is growing this year I doubt it.

Haven's Wooded Trail 5K Race Report

The Haven's Wooded Trail 5K promised muddy shoes, mud pits, logs, obstacles and awards for the top three in each division. I guess 4 our of 5 is not that bad....

Christopher and I took a break from repairing the USM course (we got there extra early to get started with Damian) and heading over to participate in this first annual event held at the ultra hilly Haven's Park in Leavenworth Kansas. When I say hilly I mean it. Neither of us are much in the way of runners, but we both enjoy the woods and getting dirty.

The race started with an uphill start. I lined up on the front row for some odd reason. As I looked back at the 60 or so other participants and their skinny selves I should have just walked to the end of the line and saved myself the embarrassment. Knowing full well that my body does not climb well. However, when the starting gun sounded I shot to the lead with the full intent to use my body mass to keep everyone behind me in the trail. Only problem was there was not single track trails, just hilly double track roads with plenty of room to pass. To my amazement, I actually lead up not only the first hill, but the next two as we reach the top of Haven's Mountain. At this point a couple of those skinny runners came by, but not as fast as I expected. I think all intensity of racing cyclocross this past 6 weeks has started to pay off....

Christopher beginning of his race did not go as well as mine He started in 3rd and fell back to close to 50th place by the top of that first climb. He was a little discouraged, but did not give up and slowly started to pass some other runners, namely the 50 year old lady who he really wanted to beat. She was a stealthy elder runner with plenty of years of experience on Christopher, but he had youth on his side. At least that is what he kept telling himself....

As we approached mile 2 I had fallen back to around 10th place, but I still felt good and started to bring back some of the guys who went out to fast and passed me earlier. One of those runners was my old friend John Schlesselman. I was happy to pass him back because he is a solid runner and usually runs faster than myself. As we approached one of the steeper washed out trail sections, I picked off a couple more guys as they opted to use the ropes for safety. I threw safety out the window and just ran like old Good Ben would down hill - WFO. Ben you would have been proud of me. I could see the leader up ahead of me as we approached the end of mile 2. This is were things went south for all but a few of the leaders. Most of us missed this turnoff and kept running down this road. I for one never saw any signs and there was no one there to direct us. There we were were running lost in the woods. We finally came upon a volunteer and ask where the course went. She was really no help so I just ran back along part of the course that was already used in the first section of the run. This brought us back toward the finish. At this time we had already ran well past the 5K distance so we went to the finish where it was a little disorganized with runners finishing in both directions. Kind of funny when you look back on it, but also very frustrating. I ended up getting 2nd in the Male 40-44 division and 7th overall. The sad part is that the guy who I passed earlier on (#45 in the picture in the picture on the right - pics by Mr. Harrison) won the overall and my age-group. He knew Haven's Park and found the right course and finished with the winning time. I found this on Garmin Connect - Haven's Wooded Trail 5K Course. Looks like lysernix got lost also....

Christopher finished in 40th place overall so he picked off a dozen or so runners. Not bad for a kid who does not run at all and as big ole feet the size of swimming fins (size 45 already). Maybe he should take up swimming with those things. He could be the next Ian Thorpe if his feet continue to grow.

We were going to stay and pickup my award for my age-group, but we were told that only 1st place would be getting awards. I am looking at the flyer now and it says "top three finishers in each 5 year age category". I hate when that happens.....

After the event we headed back to the University of Saint Mary to help Dave, Mark, JP and everyone else work on the course. We got a lot done and things look much better. Still need to pay USM another visit or two, but everything should be back to normal by early next spring. More on the repair later.

Junior Stuff for Sale

Christopher has outgrown the following items. All items are in great shape. If you are interested let me know.

Item/Size:

Dry-Star undershirt 8/10
Winter tights small
Dry-Star tights med (runs very small)
Surly wool jersey med (fits small rider)
Sugoi XS tights
Asics tights medium
Kucharik medium
Sugoi tights medium (with reflective strips)
Russell undershirt youth large
Arm warmers small (will nice flames).

Christopher's cyclocross bike (48 cm) is also available. He has one more event to race (Missouri States). More details available if you are interested.

Thank you,

Chris
chrisdlocke at gmail.com

De Stad Cross Cup Mud Fest

Well everyone finally got the mud they had been hoping for. On some riders I could not tell if that grin on their faces was a smile or pure agony.

I like the mud very much and usually do very well in it. Christopher loves the slimy conditions even more and showed it today. He had an awesome ride. After a slow start, he slowly picked his way up to the lead. I was very proud of him most importantly because he really tried. The kid was on the edge all day with snot and mud streaming off his face. He took home the Junior title today.

My race was fun. Did not have the legs to keep up with the leaders, but I did hang with some of the Men's Open guys on my single speed. I didn't have time to pre-ride the course because I was repairing the course and then I was running around looking for Christopher after his race because he wore my shoes (the kid already has a size 11 shoe). First lap was spent getting used to the course. Still did o.k. and kept Songer the leaders in site. After that I was losing my focus and couldn't enjoy the event because I knew there was going to be a lot of work to be done cleaning up after this one.

Here are some photos:

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De Stad Course Map

The Cross Guru was out finalizing the course yesterday in the dark. Hopefully he was able to find a smooth path but he does not guarantee it. Depending on weather conditions this course could be very interesting.

Key features: Mount De Stad should be a run-up for all except those with billy goat genes. The exit of Roger's Revenge has a nice little off-camber section on the climb back up. Those that can ride it will be at a great advantage. Butt'r Alley along the pond could be muddy if it rains. Bring the big chainring for the cobble road sections. Cow Town barriers will be in place right before the finish line stretch. Spiral of Despair moves to a new location with a faster approach. One to three dismounts depending on your ability level.

Veterans Cross Race Report

This years cyclocross season has really flown by. Only a hand full of races left after today's Veterans Cyclocross. One side of me is bummed that only 3 more races are left on my calendar. The other side is very happy because my cyclocross season has not gone the way I would have liked it. Today's race was in the middle...

Yesterday was spent helping Roger and his Renaissance Cycling team setup for the Veterans Cross a the University of Saint Mary. Roger wanted to design his own course and put in a few special features. As you can see by the photo on the right, Roger was a lot of help. None the less, things went quickly and we were done before noon. I headed home to finish working on the bikes and watch some college football. My Gators got R done, but their win over Vanderbilt was not pretty.

We finished setting up everything in about 3 hours this morning. All there was to do for about 4 hours is wait for my start time at 1:00pm. I almost signed up for the Masters just so I would not have to wait around so long, but I only had my single speed and I really did not want to experience that much pain today. The course was hilly and rough and racing the beast for 50 min was enough.

I took some pictures while I was waiting and cheered on Christoper. Carolynn was not feeling well and opted to sit out this one. Christopher has had about as good a cyclocross season as I. He finished in 6th on the day. Enough to keep him in the points lead, but just barely. Hopefully the weather will be a little cooler for him at the De Stad Cup. I know the course will be a lot less hilly and will suite him better.

Finally it was time for me to race. I did a couple of laps for warm-up and thought I had some good legs. The whistle soon sounded and we were off. I got into the lead, but did not press the pace and soon Steve Songer and Matt Gilhousen went by. I settled behind them until the first barrier section. After I remounted I had some good momentum going up that first hill and shot back into the lead. This lasted about 4 corners as Songer and Matt were back on the next climb. Their pace was fast, but they both slowed down in the new single track down hill section that Roger put in. I went back by them both and into the lead again. Are you guys keeping track. That makes 3 lead changes. Songer got by again and I decided to stick to his wheel. On one of the tight corners coming back up from the little dam, he slid out and I just about t-boned him. I thought for a second there that he rolled a tire, but that was wishful thinking :-). Here I go again back into the lead. Only this time I didn't to lead because of the windy conditions coming back to the finish. I settled behind Steve and Matt with Theodore close behind in fourth. By this time we opened a good gap on the rest of the single speed field and was actually closing in on the tail end of the Men's Open field. Something happened to Matt's bike during the next couple of laps and he soon fell off the pace. By this time Songer had checked out (he is a machine this season) and that left Theodore and I to decide who would take 2nd on the day. We went back and forth a couple of more times until my legs were gone. Theordore opened up a nice gap on me as I settled in for 3rd on the day. Fun racing today for sure!

Here are some pictures that Carolynn and I took today. I hope you all enjoy them. We promise that we will have a good camera for next season :-)

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Tug Uglies Take the Title

This weekend was the annual Stowers Institute family picnic. The last two years the event was held at Worlds of Fun, but this year the event was moved to the Faulkner Pumpkin Farm and Ranch. A very cool place to have a large party or such.....Christopher had a great time. At first I thought he would not want to go, but in the end we couldn't even get him to leave. He had a ball on the 4 wheel pedal vehicles.....Speaking of little Christopher, check out the photo from Saturday. He is officially taller than his mother now. And darn proud of it.

Highlight of the pinic was the Tug-A-War competition. The IT group at Stowers formed the six man team called the "Tug Uglies". After a week of training and studying video we were ready for Saturday's big show down. Luckily we got a first round bye as the number one seed in the competition. When it came down to our first pull I was actually very surprised at how hard it was. As you can see be the below video's, I am not too graceful on my feet, but I do get the job done. End result was a big win by the Tug Uglies. For trophies we got 2 lb hand weights and a sweet gift card from Target. Second place got a protein powder and power bars for their award.

The Tug Uglies in action:

Happy Anniversary

Happy 16th Wedding Anniversary Carolynn!

I finally found some photos from our wedding. We sure did look like a couple of young fools in love..........



.....16 years later I Love You more than ever.

Smithville Cyclocross Pictures

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Smithville Cyclocross Awaits You

Round # 3 of the De Stad Cyclocross Van Kansas Series presented by Paceline Products is tomorrow. It is going to be a great day for cyclocross with a great course designed by the Cross Guru, an awesome venue at Sailboat Cove, a chilli extravaganza, and additional prizes added by The Wheel Cyclery, FSR, Tifosi, Hammer Nutrition, Raw Revolution and Hammer Nutrition. JET Performance Chiropractic will be on hand to help before and after your events. Complete info at www.kansascitycross.com

The course is already set for the Smithville Cyclocross Festival. It just shows you what can be done when a great group of people come together and volunteer their day to help you. Thanks to everyone who came up to help. I could not have done it without Dave Wathen, Mark Studnicki, Roger Harrison, Rich Anderson, Mark Krause, JP Brocket, Mark Kern, Heather and Dan Jordan and The Wheel Cycling Team.

Here are some photos from today and the course. Come out and enjoy her tomorrow. Current course conditions are perfect.

Boulevard Cup and Cross Courses.

As I got out of bed Sunday morning I knew I was in trouble for today race. My entire body was aching and at first I did not know why. I soon remembered all the work yesterday up up at Smithville and those torture devices know as a double edge weed blades and axes. I wish I would have had a Scythe. Those things are cool and are much more effective. I got my weed eater and chain saw working so Thursday's work day will go much better. Plus Dave is bringing is mower so we can mow the course. Right Dave?

Sunday morning was spent, dialing into the switch at work to do some maintenance, working in the garage, preparing some race supplies for the Smithville Cyclocross Festival (sign up here) and fixing Christopher's and Carolynn's mountain bikes so they could go for a MTB ride up at Smithville. I wanted to go with them, but was heading over to the Boulevard Cup cyclocross race. Thank you again Mike for the entry and a fun event. I wish I had the legs to earn that free beer, but it was not to be.

Not much to say about my race today other than I basically sucked. During my recon laps of the course I tried to get a good warm-up, but the desire to race hard and maybe visit the old House of Pain was not there. Heck, I did not even knock on the door. While I was out riding and everyone else was racing I was thinking "What the heck am I doing here". I still had fun and got in a good workout. Enjoyed the post race food and chatted with some friends. That is what cross should be about anyways. Results are nice, but not everything.

Some of Lyle's pics below. The rest HERE.


After the race Roger Harrison and I headed over to Riverside so I could show him what course the Cross Guru has in mind. I got a sneak preview on Friday when I went riding with the old guy. The Cross Guru has decided to add in a couple of longer running sections for this weekends Smithville Cyclocross Festival and the Vet Cross (aka Riverside Cycloross Festival). He is a little tired of all these short little run sections. Traditionally cross has more running because course conditions like mud require it. But with these fast dry courses that we have now, the run sections are short with just a barrier section and maybe a run-up. I for one am glad for this. Now if we could only add a swim portion I would be golden. Work on those shoulder carries this week :-)

Check out the Smithville course here: http://kansascitycross.blogspot.com/

Smithville Cyclocross Course Workday #1

I spent the better part of the day out working on the course for next weekends Smithville Cyclocross Festival. It was Me, Myself and I out working so I did not get everything done that needed to be done. I will have to visit the course a few more times.

The course for round #3 of the De Stad Cyclocross Van Kansas Series presented by Paceline Products will be a nice one for sure. There will be several changes from last year, which are all for the better.

I am planning on racing tomorrows Boulevard Cup. That is if I can move tomorrow morning. The swing blade and ax kicked my butt today. I still tons of work to do including fixing a flat tire that I got today while checking out the Smithville single track. I had to bail on the course work because there was a wedding going on down by the lake. I could just hear the people that were setting up saying "I hope he stops riding before the wedding starts..." The parts of the trail I rode were dry. I guess I went a little too fast and pinched a tube. I wish I would have brought my MTB bike....

All this hard work over the last couple of weeks really makes you think why. Why am I out here busting my butt? Shouldn't I be enjoying myself riding/racing or spending more time with the family? Does anyone really appreciate all the sacrifices that it takes to put on events like this? It makes you think......I still wonder how I got myself into this gig.

Here are some photos of the work completed. The first two are before and after photos.

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Chris Cross Race Report

I knew I was in trouble when Rich and I went out to design a new course for this years Chris Cross. Rich must like hills because he wanted to add a few to make the course harder. Well he got his wish.

Friday and Saturday were mostly spent helping Rich and getting ready for Sunday's Chris Cross Cyclocross. I was very tired going into Sunday from all work/stress of promoting, but I knew that going in so I can't complain to anyone but myself. I was hoping for some good legs and a podium spot. With any luck I could gain some points on Songer and move into the points lead for the De Stad series.

Sunday morning went very smooth. We had the course almost entirely ready to go on Saturday so we only had about 2 hours of set-up left. Heather had registration under control, Roger kept us warm with his heaters and the Cow Town crew was out in force putting the final touches on the course. All we had to do was wait for everyone to show up and race. I was a little concerned that the cold weather would discourage some riders from showing up. I think it did hurt our turnout some, but we still got over 200 entries.

Carolynn and Christopher lined up for their Noon race. Carolynn thinks the the cyclocross gods do not want her to race. Her first race she about died of heat exhaustion and today she is freezing to death. Christopher likes the cold and had no issues and looked like he enjoyed the course. I guess he likes to climb. Is he related to me? Both did very well in their races. Carolynn is improving with every ride on her cross bike. I think I even see a smile on her face.

My race was o.k. but I did not have my climbing legs on. I'm still not fully recovered and I did the best I could on this day. I railed the corners and downhills which is the only reason I was able to manage a 3rd place podium spot. We will have to see how the points stack up after this weekend. I think I should be in a tie for the lead with Theodore Fleming who took second on the day. Garet, who is 1/2 our age checked out on both of us early on. Results at www.kansascitycross.com

Rich Anderson did an awesome job with his first (and possibly last?) event. He got a ton of support from his friends and team Cow Town Cycling, but without all his hard work this event would not have happened. I think he already knew how much work goes into events, but now he knows first hand :-)

Cross Guru took some photos, but he forgot to bring the camera today do download the photos. So check back tomorrow for some cool photos. Check out www.kansascitycross.com for some great photos by Roger and Lyle.

Cross Along the River.

This weekend I visited my old cyclocross stomping grounds down in Parkville along the Missouri River. I can still remember back in 2001 promoting my first cx race at English Landing Park. We had some good races back then at the Crosslogic Cyclocross Challenge. I learned a lot and somehow did not learn the lesson to quit while you are ahead. Nine years later and still at it...

This weekends races did not go so well for me. Just inside the top 10 both days in the Men's Cat 3 class. Legs still have not recovered from the Redman two weeks ago. I know I should have taken a couple of weeks of rest to recover, but cross season is here in full swing now so not much to do but ease myself back in. I did learn one thing this weekend, I need to hit the intervals big time. All my training over the summer was geared toward an Ironman distance event. These short hard efforts that are required for cross are just not in my body yet. Watch out for me come December. I will be flying :-)

Congratulations to Mark Cole for taking the win on Sunday, Michael Tarne had a good day also getting 2nd in the Juniors. Dave had a good weekend; looked good Saturday especially getting 11th even after some mishaps.

I thought I would share some old photos (from Lyle Renolds) from back them. Some good time for sure.