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.