Belleayre & Boston

Yep, that's Pauly and the Ol' North Church back there. You know the story one if by land, two if by sea. I spent the weekend in Bean-town this weekend and it was fantastic. Walked the freedom trail and got to see all the sights. Boston is pretty small so it is easy to see everything in one day. Then a blizzard rolled up the East coast and tried to snow me in, but these folks are ready for the snow and had the roads cleared in no time. 

More importantly, I got my board last week. Went up to Belleayre the next day. I can't be riding the trainer 7 days a week, so here's to shreddin' the mountain!
Ah yes, just like riding a bike. We wasted no time in finding the double black runs.

Panther Mtn. in the bag!

Another peak down. Hiked Panther yesterday and it was fantastic. Quite a bit of snow on the ground, but some beautiful views. 

You gotta stay protected out there in the wild. Nothing says manly like a hatchet in a leather pouch strapped to your leg. 

Me and my lil' sis in Woodstock. My mama, aunt Donna, and cousin Ash came to visit as well. Now it's my turn to travel. Look for a return trip early next year! I'll be expecting Camp Alexander to be in tip top shape for a quick ride.

Apologies

Okay,

For the handful of people that actually wonder what I'm doing with my life, I apologize. My updates are getting about as bad as Garrett and that is just no good. It seems like I never have anything to update you with, but it's just that training has been a little dull. Trainer, trainer, and a little more trainer. I don't know how mad man Mike does it, but I have no desire to be going out in single temps to ride. Not to mention it's pitch black here at 5pm. Don't worry though, because I know you are concerned. Since the riding has been slow I've taken up quite a bit of hiking. In fact there are 35 peaks above 3,500 feet in the Catskills and I am going to climb them all! 4 down, 31 to go.

So since I have no new biking news, let me clue you in to some important info. DK200 2010. You do not want to be the only person not riding this event. Trust me, this is one you do not want to miss. For more check out www.dirtykanza200.wordpress.com.


It is supposed to start snowing soon, which doesn't help getting off the trainer, but it will justify the season ski pass I'm about to get. All the snowboardin' I can handle only 30 minutes away. Throw in a little XC skiing from time to time and I just might have some good cross training this winter. Alrighty, that's all for now. Peace out.

First Snow

Hmm...too soon for this. Went for a ride today, but it is clear the trainer will have to be set up. 

Updates

Sorry for the lack of info lately. I've been out and about a little since the last post. I made a trip to the Big Apple. Did a lot of walking and sightseeing in two days. I'll definitely be going back from time to time. 

Been getting some riding in on occasion. Got geared up in my riding lederhosen and scouted out a trail that will be hosting a race next weekend. There were lot's of trails, which were poorly marked, and quite a bit of debris down (we had strong winds recently, I thought I had escaped that!). But, I think I will still manage to go to the race. 

I think this little beauty just convinced me it's time to start shaving. Funny isn't, I was never going to wear those funny spandex shorts. Okay, I'll wear the shorts, but only under my regular shorts. Okay, I'll wear the spandex, but I ain't shavin' my legs. Okay, maybe I'll shave my legs. I suppose this is the normal progression for most of us. On a sad note, this happened at about 3 mph crawling up a steep incline. The back tire spun on a root and I couldn't get unclipped. Thought I had that mastered, guess I better practice that.

Also got to see this 15 foot waterfall along the trail. Hopefully people can keep there eyes on the trail and not stargaze at this.

recent happenings

Gotta make sure I stay away from this guy. This bear has been pawing around camp lately. I should have put my hand by it for context, but he's big.
I made my way up to Windham today. The trail is amazing when you can find it. Apparently after the race they kinda just let it go, so some sections were overgrown. But, a worthwhile trip nonetheless. In this section you ride through a tunnel under the DH course.
Ride and Smile, I did lot's of that today!

DK Video

Ok Jim, its here! I'm just as happy as you are to finally post this thing. (Thanks to Garret for helping my CPU illiterate behind get it working.) I wanted to do much more with the video, but in the end it turned out to be a decent compilation of riders. So, hopefully it brings back some happier memories and maybe the video will sweet talk you into making another attempt next year!

Hmm...Also just noticed some editing errors towards the end. You'll have to forgive me.

Dirty Kanza 200 - 2009 from Garret Seacat on Vimeo.

Allegrippis Crash

Before I went to the trails in PA the bike shop feller told me of a sweet video from the trails. So, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N76X5HN_z1c

Well, I made it. Safe and sound. Thank goodness I decided to stop and ride along the way. Amazing trails and I may have just gone crazy without it. If you ever roll through PA you MUST stop at the recently opened Allegrippis trails.

View from the trail.

At the trail head. 

I plan on riding at Windham this weekend and plenty others in the near future. I'll try to keep the pics coming!

Misery

Yes indeed. But, only while riding bikes is that a term of endearment. This year's RIM dished out more punishment as expected and I wouldn't have it any other way. After Bobby shortened our trio to a duo Anton and I decided we would destroy ourselves in the 12 hr race anyways. Just the two of us. I felt a little bad since this was only Anton's second race. Didn't matter, the man went out there like a champ and had himself a good ol' time. We held our own for a while fightin' for a podium spot, but severe rain left the course a bit slick and dangerous. We ended up with a superb 4th place finish. 

The rest of the Emporia crew was present and in full force. The formidable triple threat of Jim, Tim, and Mike contested the supafast class. And supa' fast it was. Mucho competition in this field. The always good lookin' Burghardt motored his crew of Great Bender's to a solid fourth place finish. Huge props to those fella's that were out in the light shower! Matt, Steph, and Garret successfully defended their coed title. It was a close call though. Rodney and Randy showed they had a lot of fight and kept up good spirits even with all the bad luck. It was great to see a lot of the newer riders come out and not only ride strong, but have a good time. Even with the rain I couldn't think of a better way to spend my weekend. Eating amazing camp food (Thanks Jim!), riding bikes with great friends, and camping in the great outdoors. Huge thanks to the Heartland crew for making these things happen. 

p.s. Who knows if we'll ever have a DK video. I'm trying, but it is giving me quite the troubles. I even recruited the ever computer savvy Garret to help and we still can't make it happen. Maybe it'll be up before next year's event!

Cramp Alexander mtb race video

Here you go. A sweet little recap of the racing action at Camp Alexander. Nothing like watching mtb videos to get you pumped for more racing. Enjoy and see you at Rapture!

Cramp Alexander MTB Race from LeLan Dains on Vimeo.

p.s. DK video to come later today!

Night Riding

My it has been a long time since I went out for some riding after the sun went down. And boy did I forget what I was missing. It definitely helps that I got a couple of new lights as well. After tonight I'm feeling even better about RIM. It will be a grand ol' time for sure. Mike and I started out tonight wanting to see just how long our lights would last. Needed to test the guarantee on the box. Tim and Garret joined us on lap number two and put in a couple laps. I went out for lap 4 on my own and took quite a spill. Not entirely sure what even happened. Just lost the front tire in a loose downhill corner and was kissing dirt before I new what was going on. After finishing that lap I learned that Tim and Garret had already left and Mike was packing it in. He had gone down as well and had a knot on his calf the size of a softball. Hopefully that is better before next weekend. It had only been two hours so I decided I would forge on alone. The box claimed 3 1/2 hrs on high beam so I needed to be sure. After finishing lap number 5 of the trails my back was getting a bit tender, so I jetted out for 10 miles of gravel. Some pretty gnarly thunder forced me to head back slightly early, but got a total ride time of 3 hours and the lights were still going strong. 

Start spreading the news...

I'm leaving in 3 weeks. That's right New York, New York. Fortunately I will be in the catskills not in the city. But, only a 2 hr train ride away so there will be frequent visits into the Big Apple. Of course I've already investigated the racing in the area. I was a little bummed to know that the Windham National race was to happen the weekend before I go up there. But, that was quickly forgotten when I realized I would be having the time of my life at RIM that same weekend. There will be some races in the area though, so I'll get to try my hand at some mini mountain racing. 

Oh, in past racing news be on the lookout for a video from the Cramp Alexander race. I will try and get that up in the very near future. Although I realize we're still waiting on a DK video from me. Life is busy Jim! Hopefully you can view both of those this weekend. Hmm...can't say much else is happening. Just training my little buns off for rapture. Hopefully i'll be seeing you all there!

Cramp Alexander mtb race

The turnout for the race was excellent. Thanks to everyone that came out and to those that put in a lot of work to get this thing going. I hope all the racers enjoyed themselves. The local High Gear riders were well represented today with Chris Wiggins winning the sport class. Mike and Tim had a strong showing in a very stacked expert class and Garret just missed the podium. Shad Schreiner blazed the course to take the overall win. Camp Alexander's very own Anton Sandoval took the beginner men's win in his very first mtb race. Congrats to everyone!

MO State Champs

A little late to be posting about last weeks race. But, I get to it when I get to it. Went up early on Saturday to stay with my cuz. Tim cooked us up some amazing BBQ. Morning of the race brought some rain. By the time the Experts went out the rest of the fields had packed the trails in, but the downpour had still left the rocks a little slick. I started pretty much how I had hoped. Stay towards the back and out of peoples way and try to hang on. Unfortunately they left me behind a couple of spills on the opening descent. No biggie, go around and keep on trucking. Until it was me hitting the ground. First one wasn't bad, hit a rock sliding in a corner and burped an already low rear tire. Shot it back up and it held the rest of the race. (It had been slowly leaking all week prior) Battled back and forth with some SS'ers from time to time and was feeling ok until lap 2. Got a little sloppy and hopped over the handlebars and shoulder checked a tree. I only had a mild bruise. I'm sure that tree was feeling it all week though. This one sent the bike rolling a bit though and the chain wanted to hop the rest of the day. Maybe if I knew anything about bikes I could have made the adjustment on the go. My luck, I just would have damaged things further. Which, fast forward to today and I got some major chain suck that couldn't be pulled out. I didn't touch it I swear! Better put some time on the monocog and let the Superfly get repaired. Camp Alexander trails are looking good and will be race ready come July 19th (crampalexanderrace.blogspot.com). Yes, I will plug that in every post, so get used to it. This week is Bike Week for the kiddies at camp. So maybe they'll get it nice and ridden in. That, or we'll have daily trail maintenance and they can get to trimming on some corridor. Kids + Trail Implements = trip to the hospital and a likely lawsuit. Better just round up the crew and get it knocked out. 

DK

My, my. I knew there was a reason I chose to sit out this year's Dirty Kanza. No one was expecting the all time highs in both temp and winds for this event. I had decided instead to do some filming of the race. I could spend all day watching bike videos and I thought some of you would enjoy seeing your beautiful mugs on camera. I do have to admit though, I didn't quite get the footage I was hoping for and it was no easy easy task keeping the camera still on those roads. You were riding on them, you know what I mean. Who knows when it will be done, but be on the lookout in the coming weeks. 

As for the race, A lead group of strongmen including Mike Marchand, Troy Krause, Dan Hughes, Cornbread, and Joe Fox built an early lead and ensured the top 3 would no doubt be coming from this group. Local diesel Mike Wise dangled just a minute back from this group for far too long and had to battle the wind on his own. He did make contact however, but lost the group when he got his first of two flats. More punctures splintered up the lead group has eventually it was down to Dan, Cornbread, and Troy at the halfway point. Mike Marchand, a victim of multiple punctures, eventually fought his way back to the lead coming out of Alma. When I finally made contact with him again he was coming into the Emporia city limits and had seen his last gravel for the day. He couldn't have been happier. He crossed the line in first place in about 14 and a half hours. Troy Krause came across a mere 30 minutes later and Cory followed suit making it an all Nebraska podium. Joe Fox from KC made it in just after Cory for a solid fourth. Maybe next year a Kansan or two will crack the top 3, come on fella's! Huge congrats to all the finishers. Of the 85 that started only 15 finished! It was an epic day for the DK. 

And just a reminder, mtb race in Emporia on July 19th. All the info can be found at crampalexanderrace.blogspot.com.

cRamp Alexander

Hello peeps,

It's finally time to let the word out about the first ever cRamp Alexander MTB Race. After much deliberation we folks down here in Emporia have decided to put on a race at our very own Camp Alexander trails. I'll give you some info now, but in the future you will want to visit crampalexanderrace.blogspot.com (which is linked on the right hand side of my page) to get all your race info. First and foremost, block off July 19th on your calendar's. That is when the race is going down. That's also only a couple months away, so I would greatly appreciate it if everyone would help spread the word and put a link up to the race blog. Thanks! Not all details are finalized, but here is a taste of what you can expect:

Laps will be approximately 6-7 miles. 2/3 of which will be singletrack and a couple miles of gravel for added mileage. Experts will run 4 laps, Sport/SS 3, and Beginners 2. Fast lap times will be around 30 minutes. Experts can expect some cold hard cash if they crack the top 3. Sport and SS can expect sweet prizes along the lines of Ergon grips, CO2 pumps, and saddle bags to name a few. Top Beginner finishers won't be going home empty handed either. The plan is for gift certificates to the lovely High Gear Cyclery in Emporia. I know we all love those shiny medals, but seriously, mine are in a box in storage. We want to give things that can be used towards the betterment of your cycling life! Age brackets for all classes is simply 34 and under, and 35+. (Sorry, keepin' it simple!) Entry fees will be $20 for Beg/SS/Sport and $25 for experts. Here is the trail description given by High Gear:

These trails are located within riding distance of Emporia just 3 miles East on Old Hwy. 50 to Camp Alexander. This 4 mile trail is easy to moderate in skill level from twisty single track to open double track but will challenge even the most physically fit rider. --Throw in a couple miles of wide open gravel to test the legs and you won't be disappointed!

That seems to be all I can think of. If you have questions leave me a message, post a message to the race blog, or go to ridehighgear.com. Look forward to seeing you all July 19th!

Wilson Lake

I was glad a few of the Emporia crew made it out to Wilson Lake for the Fat Tire Festival. I was a little sad that I couldn't make it for the whole weekend of events, but Sunday was well worth the one day trip. Others turned out as well, some even from Colorado, and made this year's race a lot larger then last year. Mike and myself decided if we came all that way we might as well step up to the expert plate and get a few extra miles of riding in. Garret, Bobby, and Dusty all had a go at the well stacked sport class and first timers Slayton and Brett made their racing debut. A heck of trail to do your first race on!

On the start line Mike and I decided we might have bitten off a little more then we could chew with a strong looking expert field. After the race, my body reminded me how brutal Wilson lake is. Not to mention there was a considerable amount of new trail that added to an already tough trail. I was glad to have gotten the extra riding time though. Garret and Dusty had a strong showing in the sport class. Bobby was able to escape the day with no bike part casualties. That usually makes for a better day. Slayton did great and is hooked. It only takes one race. I'm sure full results and pics will soon be up at golden belt's website. Check it out.

Bone Bender

What to even say about this. Trails were proclaimed to be dry at 7am, so the decision was made to race. Unfortunately, the rain came at about 10 and didn't let off for a little over an hour. It was almost race time so there was no looking back now. Bobby and I were geared up for the duo. Bobby suffered an unfortunate mechanical and I decided to go out for a lap even though our chances didn't look good. Came away with a new jacket out of the deal...can't argue with that. Sounds like the boys down in Neosho got a little sloppy as well. Hopefully Wilson will offer us some DIRT to ride on. 

Ouachita

Bobby displaying the look of pain after finishing the Ouchita 60 mile race. Bobby, yet again feeling brakes were not needed, decided to demolish his front brake lever on a rock. 

Randy was all smiles after finishing. He almost didn't come and I am glad he changed his mind. He ended up riding down with Bobby and myself and it was a magnificent road trip. Although, I'm still uncertain of the services offered at the many tote and pokes we saw along the way. 

This was me pre riding on Saturday. I was singing a different tune come race day. As usual I feel I didn't prepare sufficiently for this race. But, it was the first one of the year and I'm ready for Bone Bender. My esteemed business partner Bobby and myself will be teaming up to tackle the 6hr duo. And we are hungry to avenge our poor performances at Ouachita. No matter what it will be good times! And don't forget, Pillar concert this Saturday in Emporia. You better be there!

Happening's

Thought I better inform the public of what is going down these days. Firstly, High Gear is bringing another amazing concert to town. This one is featuring Pillar, Fireflight, and Me in Motion. Find the link on the right to get all the details and where you can buy tickets. Or just call down at the bike shop. Round up your friends and plan on coming. 

In the riding world, I've been battling some motivational woes. I just haven't been wanting to get on the bike, which is not cool with Ouachita less then 2 weeks away. Bobby and I are in the process of stripping the Superfly down and giving it a good tune up. Maybe that will fire me up, it was a bit dirty and making some noises.  Life is a little muddy around here anyways, so won't be doing too much dirt riding this week. Also not looking forward to the predicted snow flurries this weekend. Hope there is sun in the forecast for Arkansas next weekend!

Going for three

Tomorrow I plan on making a trifecta of amazing riding days. It started on Friday when Bobby and I had decided to do some exploring south of town. While heading down road E, (down around Madison) we made a break off the beaten gravel road on to a service road. It was quite the primitive route, which apparently allowed trucks to get to several oil rigs. I felt like we had rode back about 50 years. Things were going well and we were enjoying the scenery until our run in with a hungry cow. It was just one. Apparently he hadn't had his fill and stayed behind and was munchin' from a bucket of grains by the side of the road. I'm not ashamed to say Bobby and I were not brave enough to cross this bovine. He was staring us down pretty hard core. Fortunately it was pretty easy to cut through the field and hop a creek to get around him. Silly cow.

We followed that up today by taking a spur of the moment trip up to Lawrence. Internet claimed the river trails were rideable and that's all we needed to hear. So Bobby, Crystal, and myself loaded up the bikes and made the trip. They were in fact bone dry and fast as ever. Crystal was shreddin' trail on her new Paragon. I think she might like that thing. We visited the Sunflower shop, chowed down some Chipotle and then ventured over to Clinton to check out the free ride area. It was a bit muddy as expected, but at least Bobby got to see what they were working with. They had even put in a few new obstacles since I had been there last. Cap that off with some frozen custard and you can put another sweet day in the bank.

I can only imagine that tomorrow's planned ride with Mike will be just as nice. Although, riding gravel with that mad man usually means a day in the hurt box. I don't like it in that box. It hurts. What a weekend none the less.

Bikes 'n Beautiful Weather

These are two of my favorite things! It's a good thing you can't hear me singing. Being the jobless wandering vagabond that I am, I decided to mosey up to Topeka to ride some new trails with my faja. (That's father in case you were struggling with that.) Seeing how I've never ridden Dornwood and Tom Travis, who works with my papa, has been suggesting them, we traveled across town to give them a trial run. The layout can be pretty confusing as there are a lot of off chute trails, but we just picked a line and went for it. After that my dad had a tee time appointment and I wandered off to Clinton Lake to join Spot Josh for some single speed spinning. Although there was little spinning being done on my part. It was a struggle to get them cranks revolving. Just one tooth too few on the back. I managed to tip over on a nice rock section. I'm often too proud to just unclip and admit defeat, so in true Mike style I took a spill on the hard stuff. Not to be outdone Josh made a nice dismount from his bike as well. Stalling out on a climb he thought a nearby tree could give him leverage and he couldn't have been more wrong. Josh was so kind as to show me the Clinton Terrain Park as well. We spent a good hour or so playing on the teeter toters, log runs, and other various obstacles. Not that I've seen my fair share of terrain parks, but this one was very nice. It's very, very nice. After being beaten and bruised I limped my way back home, ate frozen pizzas and watched the tube with my papa. Yet another fabulous day in the neighborhood.

Yep, getting delirious and going to bed now.

An update from Garret?

You know it's time to update when Garret is throwing down posts. What's it been....2 years? Plus, everyone else has kept me informed of their doings, so I thought I should join the party. Just watched the Super Bowl. You've all seen it I imagine. Wanted the Cards to pull one out (Go Underdogs!), but don't get to concerned about it beyond that. Let's see...SS and Superfly are tubeless. That makes me very happy. The cross bike will be soon. Chris Wiggins, Mike, and myself laid down 6 laps at camp Alexander yesterday. I couldn't of imagined feeling any better. But, with the weather what it was I don't know that I could have had a bad day on the bike. I know, you're getting the short and skinny here. Maybe the next post will be a little more colorful. Possibly even a picture or two.

First Cross Race

So Bobby and I gave our first try at some 'cross racing. And let me be the first to say, we made some serious miscalculations. Certainly a week of riding does not sufficiently prepare you for the perils of a cyclocross race. I managed to stumble around for 45 minutes and find myself in DEAD LAST place. Not the first time I've been there and of course it won't be the last. Oddly enough I always have fun when I'm losing. There are a lot less worries at the back of the pack. However, I don't anticipate being in that position come next year. Oh no, my eyes have been opened and I now know what is required to tackle a 'cross race. But for now it's back to the mileage in preparation for a long season of endurance races...thank goodness! 

Bobby decided brakes were highly overrated for 'cross racing and came to the conclusion that only real men race on 30 year old steel frames. Maybe he's on to something, at least he managed to cross the line before a few other people. 

Sir Chambers rolling to a second place finish. Albeit fast, the 1,2,3 race was a bit boring. I know that sounds harsh, and there was some nice carnage on the first lap. Big legs + sloppy corners = destruction and endos. After that the race strung out and the finishing order was decided after the first couple laps. This is not to take away from the amazing ride that Chris Wallace put on nor the show that Cam was treating us to. Not feeling that two barriers was enough, Cam decided to hurdle a 'third' barrier. It's never a good sign when the racers are bored.
Bobby destroyed the hill run up. I'm pretty sure he passed half the field on the first dismount. Too bad the race wasn't one big hill run up. He might have won the thing. 
Creative camera work from Bobby. In true Wilson style I managed to hide my face from the paparazzi. It was important to hide my face being that far in the back. Although, a photographer for the Johnson Co. paper asked for my info for a photo. So maybe I made the local paper. I nearly forgot about Brittan and Melissa, they both cranked out 4th place finishes. Well done to the both of them!