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!