Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Are you kidding me!?

I know I'm a bit behind on this, so maybe you've already seen it. I mean, it was posted last month for crying out loud. But, I just now watched the trailer for Race Across the Sky 2010 and was absolutely blown away. It doesn't help that I have a problem. My name is LeLan...and I'm addicted to bikes. So, take two minutes out of your day, watch this, and then go ride your bike...

..preferably at the freedom ride on November 7th here in the fantabulous founding city of veterans day - Emporia!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Class

You'll be glad to know that the rim is looking okay. It's taken a lot of dings over the years running tubeless anyways and it's in the same great ol' shape it always has been. (Nevertheless I do not recommend riding on the rim and fully expect that next time I will take my losses and walk it in!)

More importantly, I will be instructing a mountain bike class at ESU next spring! That's right, somebody has to take these difficult classes and it might as well be me. The other good news is I already have 3 people signed up! Hey, I was just hoping to have one person. It seems we're on the right track here. Now I get to spend my time planning all of our riding adventures! Oh yeah, and there will be some learning going on of course! ;)

And once again I will make the reminder that the Freedom Ride is coming up in just under 3 weeks (November 7th.) There will be a 15 mile ride and a 35 mile race. But, don't fear, if you want to do the 35 mile distance without racing that is fine as well. There is also a 5k run/walk for all you runners/walkers out there. Come join us for some gravel fun!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Choices

So, I hate to admit it, but all this reading in my leadership class is paying off. I had an amazingly frustrating time at the Clinton 3/6 hr race this past Saturday.

First off though, where have all the mountain bikers gone!? So what cross is here. You've got an entire winter for that stuff. You folks have been missing some beautiful mountain bike weather. There aren't much of those left this year you know.

Okay, back to the race. All the books are telling me, and I certainly believe that we must choose our attitudes. A lot of things went wrong at Clinton for me, but there is no sense in getting angry or even quitting. The first lap went fine, rode near the front and was feeling decent. The Toros have been an amazing tire for me, but it is sad to say that after a year and a half they need replaced. Flat number one came on lap 2 as I ripped the rear tire open on a rock. I wasted my first CO2 discovering that Stanz wouldn't seal it. No problem, I'll just throw in the spare tube I've got. Used up the second and final CO2 on that. And of course, that means shortly there after I pinch flatted. Okay, getting a little ticked, but I've got my pump, so let's just patch it and go. Oh wait, Dustin borrowed my patch kit last weekend and I never put it back with my supplies. Fail. Okay, no quitting so I could either run it in or ride it in. Sure, the smart thing to do would have been to run. But, frustration led to riding on the rim. Yes, fully aware this is damaging, but I was not happy and this was much faster, albeit very energy draining.

Got back to the start line and saw that there was still an hour left before the 3 hour mark. At this point I could have packed it up and called it a day, but dang it I had paid my money. The sun was out and there was some fantastic trail action that I hadn't got enough of. I put on a smile, took my sweet time changing the tire and went out for another lap. The last lap was fun. Sure my race was over, I was well out of contention for any placing, but that didn't matter. I had fun on my bike.

Now to go check on that rim!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Look at us ma, front page!

That's right. You know you've made it big when you are front page news in the Osage County Herald-Chronicle. Thanks to Wayne for a great write up and once again to all the racers who came. Now, read the article and then continue to tell everyone you know how much fun you had.

And oh yeah, get yourselves ready for the Freedom Ride on Sunday Nov. 7th. This year the 35 mile route will serve as a competitive race. I know that is a short distance for a lot of you gravel grinders, but come on out and sprint it out anyways!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Weekend Fun

It was a fantastic race day this weekend as we had great weather and fun for the Riverfront MTB Race and Cam took home the SS victory at Moab. You can read all about that here. Big thanks to Matt at High Gear and the Friends of the Trail. And of course all the riders who came out and supported the event!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Riverfront Race

Is this Sunday! Info can be found here:

riverfrontmtbrace.blogspot.com

Be there!

Friday, October 1, 2010

This Weekend

Okay, feeling a little bit back on track. I was nearly thinking about nixing the whole blogging thing there for a minute. But, I suppose it is a good outlet whether or not anyone is actually reading it.

But, for those of you that are....this weekend there will be much fun to be had at Melvern. On Sunday Oct. 3rd (this Sunday!) we will be meeting at the Melvern trails (in Melvern, not the lake) at 2pm to do some race course pre-riding. The trail is always open for riding, but will not be marked for the race until the day prior. So, come on out and get a taste of what the course will be like!