Do you want to see my Big ???

Just when Carolynn and I thought Christopher had turned a page in his life and was starting to mature, we get a call from Northgate Middle School. His phone had been confiscated for, well the picture tells it all....

Get Well Soon!

The family went to visit my good friend and teammate Rich Anderson at the hospital after his Microdiscetomy and Laminectomy surgery this week. The procedures went well and hopefully he will be back enjoying a "pain free" life that most people take for granted.

I am praying for a speedy and complete recovery.

God's Country Race Results and Report

Here is a quick report and the results.

I am glad today is over. It has been a long month so far. Never again will I promote two event back to back. I am one tired puppy. My entire body ached last night, but I somehow got enough energy to get through today and also race myself.

I got to the line late because I was making sure Rich and everyone at scoring was set. By the time I got there I was at the end of 120 others. That is not the best way to start an event. I ended up passing over 110 riders and worked my way into the top 10. Took 2nd place in the 40 - 49 division which was good enough to earn me the championship in the Fat Tire Series.

Thank you to everyone who helped out. Special thanks to my wife Carolynn who busted her butt for two straight days and my son Christopher. I was really proud of how he helped me yesterday and today at the race. He said his back, arms and legs were really sore and wanted to know what that that was from. I said "that is called work son, hard ass work".

Thank you to all the racers who came out this year. I really appreciated it. Over 150 which is not bad considering that there were two very large events going on in Lawrence today.

Here are some pictures Carolynn and I took of God' Country Duathlon and MTB

Here are some more great photos from Roger's House of Photos.

God’s Country Duathlon and MTB

Top results below, with the complete results on Sunday.

Duathlon Results

Male Overall Title Tony Raboin 1:14:15

Female Overal Title – Karen Borgstedt 1:26:45

Best Overall Title (Duathlon and MTB)

Male – Josh Patterson

Female – Glenda Taylor

Male 20 – 29

1. Josh Patterson
2. Marcus Skala
3. John Waller

Male 30-39

1. Tony Raboin
2. Anthony Sherman
3. Ted Moore

Male 40-49

1. Rich Lueckert
2. Chris Locke
3. Kent Baker

Male 50+

1. Mike Classen
2. David Mathews
3. Jerry Meier

Clydesdale

1. Chad Wilkins

Female 20 – 29

1. Malarie Fellers
2. Kayla Davis
3. Molly Alvarez

Female 30 – 39

1. Angela Redfern
2. Emily Pastrovich
3. Vicki Peters

Female 40 – 49

1. Karen Borgstedt
2. Wanda Simchuck
3. Stacey Lamer

Female 50+

1. Glenda Taylor

Male Relay

1. Matt Mellor and Ryan Turner

Coed Relay

1. Gerard Arnatowicz and Jessica Hill

Mountain Bike Results

Expert Men

1. Aaron Elwell
2. Tom Price
3. Doug Plummer
4. Eric Struckoff
5. Eric Burch

Expert/Sport Women

1. Jenny Brack
2. Glenda Taylor
3. Emily Postrovich

Sport Men

1. Scott Stevens
2. Gerard Hart
3. JP Bracket

Single Speed

1. Dave Wilson
2. Telford Crisco
3. Jeff Arnaud

Master 40+

1. Craig Myers Arnet
2. Dave Pitt
3. Mike Classen

Beginner Male

1. Adam Keck
2. Dave Randel

God's Country Duathlon and MTB

I have been waiting for this weekend. Not only is it the weekend of the God's Country Duathlon and MTB races, but after this all-time favorite, I don't have anymore events to promote :-)

The technical guide is now available - God's Country Technical Guide.

Complete info www.fattireduathlon.com

Bone Bender Race Report

This year things have been going very well for me. All the training during the winter has started to pay off. It just goes to show you that with life, you get out of it what you put in.

Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey was yesterday. After a week of getting ready, everything was set for a perfect event. Friday, I worked with a great group of volunteers from the Earth Riders and Smithville Trail group to get everything setup for the BB3/6. The course was in perfect condition. We had everything in place. The only thing unknown was if we would have rain Saturday morning. The rain forecast was relatively low when I went to bed Friday night. The forecast was a little sketchy when I got up at 4:30am. They didn't know if the rain would make it here or not. Around 7:00am a few sprinkles started to fall as I was placing my last sign directing the racers to Sail Boat Cove. I checked my blackberry for a quick weather update. Things did not look good. Two huge bands of rain were on the way and another one was possible. Another muddy race at Smithville was cooking up…..

I actually thought that very few people would show up, but we had 137. Not bad for a first year event and a mud fest. We would have had close to 175 or more if that darn rain would not have hit us. Still we raised some good money for ERTA (over $2000.00). I hope everyone will come back to the Bone Bender next year so they have a chance to enjoy our great trails. We may consider moving the date closer to Summer time in hopes of having drier weather. Anyone have suggestions?

How did my race go you ask? Well, I didn't plan to race, but Todd and the Earth Riders stepped up big time by having scoring covered and all the other details, so I jumped in. No warm up, no pre-race bike check and no pre-race meal. No worries either. I was just going out to have a good time riding for 3 hours. I figured I would be finished with the 3 hour event to help with the awards in enough time.

I lined up for the running start to our bikes. I usually try hard to stay towards the front, but I just jogged to my bike, and was still was in the top 25. I rolled the old Mary Single Speed into the first muddy section of the course. Riders were all over the place. I just kept her straight and soon found myself passing riders every couple sections without even trying. It was actually very comical watching the riders slide out and/or crash. Soon we hit the back side of the course and onto Lake Side Speedway. I only saw a couple of tire prints so I knew I was towards the front. The next two miles were very challenging. The mud was sticking to everything. Wheels stopped spinning at the bottom and I looked down to a solid mud machine. I tried to carry the bike through this section of mud, but it seemed like it weighed 50 lbs. I used my hands and started to dig into the mud on my frame. I developed a technique where I would run at the same time as I was clearing off the mud from my tires. I would then clear my drive train with my fingers and I was off for another ½ mile or so until it got too bad again. I hit one road crossing and Rich told me that I was in 3^rd place overall. I did not know if the guys up ahead were in the 6 hour or not, but I put the old body in full race mode and set off to see if I could catch them.

The remainder of the first lap was not that bad. There was water on parts of the trail, which was good. I would hit the water and this would clear off some mud. I wish it never stopped raining. The event would have been better for everyone if it would have just rained all day. I hit the last 4 miles of the trail hard and distanced myself from the other 125+. When I reached the finish of lap 1 Carolynn told me I was in 1^st place overall in the 3 hour division. Brian and Dwayne were out front leading, but those studs were in the 6 hour solo division.

The next lap went well for the first 5 miles. I started to lap riders who were still on their 1^st lap. I tried to give them motivation telling them that the course is drying out and things will get better. I gave this up after some lady called me Dick Dobber. The sections of the trail that were muddy the first lap were actually starting to dry some and you could ride them (or at least I could as some were still walking). The parts of the trail that had water on them earlier was now ankle deep mud. Single Speed and frame clearance were the key words today. The ticket would have been a set of 700 x 38 cross tires on my 29er.

In the end I won the 3 hour Single Speed class and the 3 Hour overall. I have donated my winnings to ERTA. I felt guilty taking money from the promoter.