Good Problems

There are certainly good problems out there, but they are still just problems. All of a sudden we have too many mountain bike races in the region! Now, as a mountain bike racer I'm not complaining. I love the fact that there are so many races ranging from xc to 6+hr races. But, as a race promoter it presents a bit of a problem. Especially when we do not have a large number of racers in the area.

What I'm trying to say is that the folks in Manhattan have revived the Fancy Creek mtb race. This is great news except it will be on the same day that we had planned our Camp Alexander race. Not wanting to split up the racers and make you choose between races we have decided to postpone the Camp Alexander mtb race. I know this is two years in a row now that we have got your hopes up with a race at Camp Alexander only to pull the plug on it. All I can do is apologize. There is some good news to come out of this though. We WILL be hosting the Riverfront MTB Race again this October in Melvern, KS. This is a relatively new trail that most have not experienced. It is certainly worth the trip. Check out pictures from last years race here. It is not until Oct. 2nd though, so you'll have to be patient on that one. Also, we are in the works on creating a point to point endurance race involving both Camp Alexander and the Riverfront trails in Melvern. We anticipate this to be in the fall as well, but we have not settled on a date yet. Most likely you'll have to pass on a 'cross race, but this one will definitely be worth it. I will be revealing more on this in the nearish future if it fully materializes.

Hey, most races in the spring time get canceled due to weather anyways (sorry, not trying to jinx it!) So, I think this is a good thing.

Group Rides

I have to share Aaron's sentiment on canceled races. I have had this debate myself with friends, especially since I used to LOVE ripping it up in the mud. But, anymore I have turned into a wuss and hate to clean my bike, so I try to avoid the mud. Not to mention the trail damage it does. But, I get even more confused when road races get canceled. I had planned on doing my first collegiate race until KSU canceled the races this weekend. Can't say I am too upset, the weather is terrible! I am done riding in the cold.

Anyways, had a wonderful training ride this past Thursday. Finally got out with Tim, Scott, and Matt. Tim and I have not gotten to ride together for quite some time.



The four of us got in a couple of good laps at Camp Alexander before venturing south to meet up with the first Thursday night group ride of the year. A fantastic turnout of 30 showed even though th weather was a little chillier than expected. I can only hope for more of this!



Jed, Renee, and myself. Finally a picture that shows my good side.



Kosinski was kind enough to let me ride his Redline SS for a stretch. I wanted to test out those H-Bars. I guess he didn't mind pedaling my Superfly for a bit.

(Pictures courtesy of John Decker, thanks John!)

One more time at Perry

Made it up to Perry for the third race in the Dam series. Wasn't feeling spectacular and was losing confidence as the race start drew near. This photo is right at the start and I do not appear to be very happy about life.



Here is the pack climbing up the finishing hill. this was only the first of seven times up the hill. At least we had a south wind pushing us up the hill. You would think that would make the climb easier, no, it just makes everyone go faster. Still just as hard.



Yep, looking good for the camera. If you can't be fast, it's good to look fast.



No, this is not my impression of Lance. I was just getting dropped from the lead pack (as many others already had) and was desperately hoping someone was coming to pull me back to the group on the downhill. I don't go very fast downhill. I have to pedal while most just coast. I suppose I get the weight benefits of going uphill though. This was the 5th time up the hill. While I did regroup with three others and catch the pack again on that 6th lap, I was gone again on the 6th time up the hill. It was then just suffer on home to the finish the entire 7th lap. Ended up finishing right in the middle.



Dustin joined me and as you can see was sporting the new ESU gear. He came out and finished 10th in his first road race, on a 40 year old steel frame I might add. The two of us are hoping to make it up to Manhattan next weekend to do some collegiate racing. Even though I didn't do as well as I wanted, I had a blast. I suppose that is why I keep doing it. The day it is no longer fun is the day I will quit. And I don't see that happening any time soon!

Saving the Starving

Numana (click link to the right) was at ESU last night and requested help in packaging food to be sent to Japan in lieu of everything that is going down over there. Seeing that Numana is a group we ride in support of it was a no-brainer for team high gear to join in the cause. In total the university and community brought out a few hundred people to assist. So many in fact, that they had to rotate and limit how much people could work. What a good problem to have.

I wanted to get more photos, but this is the only one I have for you. I know Matt took more, so check his blog in the near future for his write up.



Here are just a few of the team mates that came (Randy and Mike were also there). More of a family then a team really, I love these peeps! I'm hoping we will have more opportunities to support our new organizations this year.

A little bit better

So round 2 of this road racing experiment went a little bit better. I was able to crack the top 10 and earned a few points as I finished in 6th. Starting to feel a little better about it. Fortunately they drop one race for the overall series, so if I can do even better next week I might finish fairly decent in the overall.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanternerouge/5524916296/in/set-72157626135111129/

Class

So, I'm not entirely sure that anyone outside of my family reads this, but I just keep posting anyways. Yesterday I had my first class of my mountain bike class. And let me tell you it gets me pretty dang excited. I have been a pretty strong advocate for cycling in Emporia and at Emporia State University for a while now. It makes me pretty happy that we have 18 strong in our first attempt at a mtb class. Not only that, Bobby Smith has followed suit and has 15 students in his mtb class. Maybe we'll just start a trend. I know ESU is already talking about offering the course again in the fall. When it comes to bikes, the only thing I like better then riding them is helping others get involved and seeing them enjoy riding their bikes. It makes me happy!

Road Racin'

Well, got my first taste of big time road racing at the first installment of the Perry Dam race. Let me tell you, racing on the road is simply a different animal. Don't get me wrong, I love me some mountain biking, but riding on the road can be a lot of fun. I wasn't overly pleased with my showing, but considering I was the only one on a cross bike I am not too disappointed. I'm thinking this early season road stuff will do its job though and have me ready to go come April for some dirt action!