Gateway Cup Day 1 & 2

Posting from the Hotel computer this morning as I wait for the kids to come down for breakfast. With two days in the books I'm a little tired and the legs are sore but I'm sure everybody else should feel the same way.

Friday Night Lafeyette Square: I do love to race at night but this race is all ways a little spooky. The corners are well lit but the straightaways are pretty dark. Makes for some crashes as you really can't see the wheel in front of you. It was a hectic day as I worked at the shop in the morning, loaded up and hit the rad at 1:00pm and got to St.Louis around 5:00pm. Had a little trouble finding the hotel and got lost for a bit due to the Interstate being closed down. That put us behind schedule to get Jonas to the kids race so running around was pretty much my warm up for my race. As for the race.....I felt pretty good, got a $25.00 prime, just missed a $50.00 prime, and helped a St.Louis teammate get a $75.00 Prime. In the end I thought I was going to get boxed in but got out to sprint in for 5th.

Saturday Downtown Crit: I was feeling last night and just didn't have the legs to go for primes and the $50.00 one that I did I missed by half a bike length. Five guys got away and in the sprint and I just missed the crash in the last turn and got 10th.

Tuesday crit and Fall sports

It's nearing the end of the road season and last night I heard a few people wondering, "what are we doing here". With tired legs and weary minds we return like lemmings from the sea to the Tuesday crit. I swear at this point I can't help it, I don't think I've missed one the whole season. But with two more weeks to go I think I'll make it to the end. For those of us that are going to the Gateway cup next week is going to be a tough one.

Last night's crit was pretty fast, I made the break of 7 that stuck about half way through the race. I felt pretty good and the break was rolling along pretty smoothly. I knew it would'nt last forever, too many guys. Sure enough the attacks began but I was feeling pretty good. With about 10 minutes to go I was rolling through a turn and hit a bad spot in the pavement. It ripped a hole in the sidewall of the tire resulting and a rather loud blowout. Bummer..... I thought about booting the hole and changing the tube but there were just 3 laps to go and it was rather pointless. I'm still wondering what happened to the break as it was blown to bits a lap or two after I flatted. Ah well......good sensations going into Gateway Cup.

Speaking of points.......how about a unoffical points series for cross. I'm thinking we should pick 6 races through the season. Our own little KC Cup, maybe even keep track of the top 10 places since our USCF folks will be scoring. I'll have to decide if I'm up for keeping track of more than the 1,2,3 race or not. Any thoughts...............

As for those Fall Sports............. if you've got kids it's that time again, time for multiple practices and two game weekends.
So it all started tonight, practice for both the boys, and of course, their times overlap.

Divide and conquer will be our plan of attack for the month of September.

Tuesday Crit.............Two weeks to go!

Tuesday KC Crit Results

1. Shadd Smith
2. Phil Gronniger
3. Jeremy Pych
4. Davis Hedjuk
5. Jeff Winkler

Tuesday KC Crit Overall Points as of 8/26/08

1. Shadd Smith 100
2. David Hedjuk 46
3. Joe Schmalz 27
4. Jeremy Pych 27
5. Bill Marshall 25
6. Tom Price 25
7. Cam Chambers 17
8. Phil Gronniger 16
9. Adam Mills 14
10. Brian Jensen 8
11. Steve Tilford 7
12. Graham Aldrich 7
13. Phil Mann 5
14. Jeff Seese 5
15. Chris Hall 4
16. Adam Lang 3
17. Jeff Winkler 3
18. Nick Coil 2
19. Jeff Schroeder 2
20. John Shipman 2
21. Mike Palitto 2
22. Kurt Mulebach 1
23. Bill Stolte 1
24. Mark Cole 1
25. John Palman 1
26. Chris Wallace 1
27. Andy Lucas 1
28. Paul Fancher 1

Sometimes you're the hammer. Sometimes.........

Sedalia Crit......... What can I say, it's fun, fast, and really dark. Well....it's actually really well lit for starting at 9:00PM. I love to do the PRO,1,2,3 race here as the field is usually small but fast, just what I need before Gateway cup weekend. But like I said, Sometimes you're the hammer, and sometimes you're the nail. At Sedalia Brian Jensen was the hammer and there were 28 other nails out there on bikes. I got in an early attack with Ethan and another guy that got out there but without Brain we were doomed. Sure enough after a while we were caught and the fireworks began. Brian started attacking over and over until he got away. I was hanging on and there's not much room to slide back in the field with 28 guys in the race. So as I'm beginning to eat my lunch all over again Brian finally get's away with 4 other guys. Great......half the money is up the road all ready. Being the awesome sprinter that I am it's going to be tough to make any money tonight. In the meantime Scott is riding great, hanging out at the front of the field and staying out of the wind. So the break is gone, the field slows, and it's not too long before I see Brian fly by as the break laps the field. Brian is towing a few more guys away from the field so I try to bridge with Nolan and another guy. We get close but can't bridge the gap, but the field does get close enough to bring them back. It doesn't take long before Brain is off again as we get the 5 to go. The speed picks up and with 1 to go Scott takes the front and picks up the pace even more. We get swarmed a bit with two turns to go but I go into the last turn 3rd wheel. The sprint is pretty tight but my guess is that I could be anywhere from 7th to 12th. Well..... I ended up 12th but I'm not going to argue, I'm pretty happy with my race anyway. Scott ended up 19th, way to get up that hill big guy! David Hedjuk was there as well and got 10th nipping me at the line, yep, a blanket toss field sprint finish in the dark, got to love it.


For the past few years this weekend has been the warm-up for Gateway Cup. Sedalia Saturday night followed by working/riding the Tour de Shawnee. I've been riding the 1,2,3 race in Sedalia because it starts at 9:30pm and it's fast. Problem is, you get home after the race and into bed around 1am. Then have to be up at 6am to get set-up to work the Tour de Shawnee.



Jonas can with me this year and here are some Post and Pre ride pictures at the Tour de Shawnee. It was his first ride in a large group and as much as I tried to talk about setting a reasonable pace he wanted to pass as many people as possible. Lesson learned. He was baked by the end of the ride but pretty proud to be able to finish.

As usual we had the crew working the tent before the ride, during the ride via cars, and a crew on bikes fixing flats as they rode. Nice turnout and awesome weather.

Now to get some sleep and recover for next weekend.

Student driver's not wanted / Training the kid

I really wish I was in the shop last night when this came in. I remember when this bike got built up a few months ago. Super sweet Project 1 Madone, carbon everything, Sram Red, the works. I bet your thinking the guy must of got hurt.....uh.....nope. Sean said the guy put the bike on top of the car and drove off with his 16yr old daughter at the wheel. Armed with her learners permit she must of got dad a little bit
distracted. I bet it was loud when it hit the garage and the frame popped. We see a few cases where a person drives into a garage or overhang every year but this was a $10,000 dollar mistake. What a bummer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doug Plummer was in the shop this AM and was thinking about picking up his daughter after school and going for a ride. Hmmm....I had a light work load. I decide to do the same.

Jonas and I hit the Indian Creek Trail and headed east.

I'm planning on taking Jonas to do the Tour de Shawnee Sunday for his first organized ride and he was freaking out about having to ride 12 miles.
Today we did 14 no problem and he didn't even know until we got home.

Now I just have to get up on Sunday morning after racing Sedalia Saturday night!

Tuesday Crit

Another Tuesday Nite Crit is in the books and it was a fun night full of attacks and counter attacks. I made it into a few breaks and there quite a few more I wasn't in, but none of them would stick. With two to go the Yellow Train of the TREK/HRRC crew got organized and did a killer leadout for Shadd who went on to win.

Scott was back this week.

David White has been back racing the last few weeks. Nice to see him back after missing most of the summer due to injuries. Looks like he's going to ready for cross. Kelly Benjamin was back again tonight mixing it up with the guys.
There were the usual suspects from the 360 crew at the race tonight. David was 2nd again and Andy in the mix as usual.
This is how I felt those last two laps. Pretty much a blur trying to hang on until the sprint. Heard the average speed was around 25mph. Ouch.........

Tuesday KC Crit

Tuesday KC Crit 8/19/08

1. Shadd Smith
2. David Hedjuk
3. Jeremy Pych
4. Tom Price
5. Paul Fancher

Tuesday KC Crit Overall Points

1. Shadd Smith 95
2. David Hedjuk 44
3. Joe Schmalz 27
4. Bill Marshall 25
5. Tom Price 25
6. Jeremy Pych 24
7. Cam Chambers 17
8. Adam Mills 14
9. Phil Gronniger 12
10. Brian Jensen 8
11. Steve Tilford 7
12. Graham Aldrich 7
13. Phil Mann 5
14. Jeff Seese 5
15. Chris Hall 4
16. Adam Lang 3
17. Nick Coil 2
18. Jeff Schroeder 2
19. John Shipman 2
20. Mike Palitto 2
21. Jeff Winkler 2
22. Kurt Mulebach 1
23. Bill Stolte 1
24. Mark Cole 1
25. John Palman 1
26. Chris Wallace 1
27. Andy Lucas 1
28. Paul Fancher 1

Tranquility Tire Tantrum Omaha, NE

I headed up to Lincoln a little early to try and get the Paragon out for a ride before the race. I got to my buddie Kevin's house in Lincoln, kitted up, and headed out. Not more than a half mile into the woods Kevin went over the bars and I think that was the end of his hope of racing the next day. Sure enough a bad back put him on the couch for the weekend. Saturday I picked up Jay and his little guy Jack and headed up to Omaha. We got there just in time to get Jack set up to race the kids race and then had 30 min to race time for us. Not much time to warm up and no chance to pre ride the course.

So the race starts and I'm in 2nd place and rolling along behind Shim. I remember thinking that the pace was perfect and I was feeling good. By the end of the lap I was struggling to hang on and was really starting to hurt. My back usually get's tight after the cross/mtb races but this time it went down into my legs and it was tough just to keep going and finish the race. I'm really not sure why I finished but I know I'm still paying for it. After a spin to the shop and back today on the singlespeed I feel a little better. Tomorrow night should be interesting at the Tuesday Crit.

Speaking of crits.....Chris Hall was in today. He just got back from the US PRO Crit in Downers Grove. He said it was pretty crazy, 30mph avg speed, and the closer it got to the end the more crashed there were. He got caught up in one with 2 laps to go but ended up not hitting the deck. Unfortunately it sounds like Steve Tilford got caught up in a crash with 1 lap to go and did go down. From everything I've read it sounds like a crazy weekend.

Omaha/Lincoln this Weekend

I might have to trade in the Paragon for one of these next year!

This weekend I'm off to Omaha for a MTB race on Saturday and then probably hang out in Lincoln for a group ride on Sunday. With a 40% chance of rain on Saturday we may be racing on Sunday instead. Whatever....it will be nice to get a race in on the MTB again. I had to pass on the 6/12 at landahl. It would be fun to try but I'd be too beat up to do Sedalia and Gateway.

Sounds like a few of the crew will be off to the US Pro race in Downers Grove, IL this weekend as well. Then there's Shadd........if you didn't catch him in the September issue of Outside Magazine you can see him on tv tomorrow morning on the CBS Today show. I'm sure he would sign your magazine at next weeks crit.

Last Day of Summer Vacation

Today was the last day of summer vacation for the kids. I'm sure all of the parents in the Shawnee Mission School District are all letting out a sigh of relief tonight. It will be nice to get back into some kind of routine. On the kids last day off they got stuck in the shop in the morning but they did get to begin our day in junk food heaven. McDonalds for breakfast and then plenty of shacks later at the pool. Jeez, I still feel bloated but they had a good time and what a good way to end the summer.

Yeah, I know...the hair has to go. So tonight I did what every good parents does when school starts tomorrow.....I made it worse! Actually Jonas couldn't look any worse so I think the haircut may of helped. As for Eli......I'm pretty sure I gave him a mullet but it's hard to tell when it's wet. Mom's having a fit but hey, at least I left enough for a professional save the day.

Tuesday Crit

Ok, so this isn't the best picture of Chris but I wanted to test out my new camera. Shadd was the winner tonight out a 2 man breakaway with Jeremy. Kind of weird back in the field, nobody really wanted to chase so we pretty much cruised and waited for the sprint. Andy C. and Chris did the perfect lead out from 2 laps to go and I was able to jump on the train for the sprint. I've got to thank Mark Cole for giving me Bill's wheel with 2 to go. Overall I think I'm beginning to get over whatever I had over the weekend. I've still got the sinus headache but with more sleep it should be gone tomorrow.

Speaking of headaches being over............I no longer have to work nights!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea....I'll take the kids to the shop tomorrow morning and then school starts on Thursday. I love hanging out with the kids but I get nothing done around the house and I'm tired and cranky from working nights.

Tuesday KC Crit Results 8/12/08

Tuesday KC Crit Results

1. Shadd Smith
2. Jeremy Pych
3. Bill Marshall
4. David Hedjuk
5. Tom Price

Overall Standings as of 8/12/08

1. Shadd Smith 90
2. David Hedjuk 40
3. Joe Schmalz 27
4. Bill Marshall 25
5. Tom Price 23
6. Jeremy Pych 21
7. Cam Chambers 17
8. Adam Mills 14
9. Phil Gronniger 12
10. Brian Jensen 8
11. Steve Tilford 7
12. Graham Aldrich 7
13. Phil Mann 5
14. Jeff Seese 5
15. Chris Hall 4
16. Adam Lang 3
17. Nick Coil 2
18. Jeff Schroeder 2
19. John Shipman 2
20. Mike Palitto 2
21. Jeff Winkler 2
22. Kurt Mulebach 1
23. Bill Stolte 1
24. Mark Cole 1
25. John Palman 1
26. Chris Wallace 1
27. Andy Lucas 1

Spy Photo from Trek World

Now that's a suprise! I thought they would bring back Klein to replace LeMond. This one looks to be a Alum/Carbon frame and the one behind it all carbon. Hmmmmmm it's going to be interesting.

Power Meter Pain of a different kind

I found a link to this on the Sean's blog. Power meter's from a mechanics eyes.
How true, how true..............................

By The Power Of Grey Skull - Or, Why The Power Meter Is Ruining My Life
By editor on August 2nd, 2008

Do you want to know the fundamental difference between the common cyclist and a bicycle mechanic?
Sorry if you don’t. I’m going to tell you any way.
A cyclist will lay eyes on that new, must have wonder product and immediately start fantasizing about how that product is going to transform them into the cyclist they’ve always dreamed of being.
A bike mechanic will barley need a glimpse at that wonder product before immediately dwelling on the fact that his life is slowly, but steadily being ruined one innovation at a time.
Lately, the bane of my existence has been the power meter.
Not just one but all of them.
SRMs, Powertaps, iBikes, and even the Polar monstrosity- over the past few months I’ve installed and subsequently troubleshot them all. I don’t know how I became the anointed one (maybe in Karmic retrospect I shouldn’t have been so mean to Mr. Bechner in the 10th grade) but at the shop where I’m indentured, any time one of my esteemed colleagues hustles anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand slices of cheese from the pocket of a power hungry rube who inevitably lacks the technical know how to find a set of boobs on the internet, I magically get to be the one to install it.
During my various quests to install the almighty power meter, I’ve been treated to career low lights such as:
Fielding a call from a frantic customer who accidentally snipped the cable that makes his SRM’s magic happen during a multi-day charity ride. Desperate to pour over his power output between pit stops, this fella asked if there was any way we could get SRM to next day air him a replacement cable to the next town on his ride’s itinerary.
Gotta give this guy credit though, during our chat he advised me that I’d be better off trying SRM’s office here in the states because over the wee hours of the night he’d placed a call to SRM’s German headquarters in a surprisingly clever attempt to work the time difference to his advantage but sadly, he had no luck getting through to them. “I left them like four messages and those bastards never called me back.”
Having a conversation with a technical support person who dispensed this gleaming gem of advice, “If you’re trying to synch the sensors and you’re close to a cellular phone, the phone can interfere with the signal.”
Being that I was calling for help from a rather large, technologically advanced city, my response was “Oh great, you mean I have to go way out into the woods to set this thing up?”
Then a couple Fridays ago when I already had one foot out the door on the way to Chipotle for a rare summer time lunch break, a pair of carbon fiber wonder bikes were being wheeled in by a customer’s latest assistant.
“Hey, are you Bobby?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Uh, I’m supposed to bring these bikes in because the Powertaps stopped working and the twins are scheduled to ride tomorrow. Oh yes, these Powertap equipped bikes belonged to a set of twins who’d just celebrated their 12th birthday.
Oh the humanity. How could a 12 year-old be expected to go for a bike ride with a non-working Powertap? So instead of taking a visit to the land of guacamole lucky me got to go on an obscure battery scavenger hunt.
Still, nothing tops what just went down here at the shop.
A few days ago a gal came in her with a simple shopping list. Her dad was turning 75 and was starting an exercise program so she thought a heart rate monitor would be the perfect gift.
I showed her the simplest thing in the display case- a Polar with just a single button. Just the ticket for a 75 year-old, right?
There was just one hitch.
“My Dad’s a total gadget man and want to get him the best one. I don’t care if it’s expensive. The more stuff it can do the better.”
Three days later a silver haired man shuffled his way into the store clutching his birthday present. I didn’t even have to stand up before my colleagues had thrown me under the bus and indicated that I was the guy to talk to.
“Hi there, my daughter gave me this for my birthday and I’m having a heck of time figuring out. Before you write me off as some old nincompoop, do you mind if I tell you something.”
“Shoot,” I said as there was something so refreshing about an old person with the ability to be self aware.
“I worked for Boeing all my life. When I was about your age, my job was writing the operations manual for the 747. The manual filled up two binders about this thick,” he said spreading his hands apart just far enough that you knew he wasn’t lying.
“I wrote the manual in such a way that even you could sit down in the captain’s chair open it up to page one and follow the directions step-by-step and fly the damn plane without any training whatsoever. For the life of me I can’t figure out these directions. Whoever wrote the sequencing needs to be taken out in the street and beaten.”
You hear that Polar? The guy who wrote the instructions for the friggin’ 747 thinks your directions don’t make any sense.
Think y’all might be able to do something about that before me and my new septuagenarian friend decide to go vigilante on your collective arse?

Yep, life in the bike shop.

Tour of KC

I just don't have too much to say about this one. I wrote earlier last week that I was worried about working nights before the weekend and I guess it was justified. By Thursday night I was tired and just starting to get the telltale tickle in my throat. Friday nights race went well but I could tell that I was still down on power and not climbing well. Saturday I spent most of the race limiting the damage on the hill hoping to have enough to get a good finish. That plan didn't work out when it started raining. Coming up the hill with 2 laps to go I got shuffled back in the field and just after the start/finish there was a huge crash. Guys kept falling and the whole pile kept sliding to the curb. I decided to stay off the brakes,bunny hop the curb, and do a little cross practice in the woods. I guess it was better than falling. So I ended up saving it but the race was up the road so I called it a day. Sunday......man I was bad.......so bad that I actually thought about quiting. I stuck it out for 10th.

Here's the story from the masters races. The OKC velo guys has 6-8 guys in the races and dominated. Talk about frustrating.........I'm going to have to make some changes to get some teammates next year.

So far it's been a bummer post but hey, a sick bike racer is a bummed racer. So now for the stellar ride of the weekend...........IT 's Chris Hall for his ride at Cliff Drive! That was fun to watch.

So now it's time to recover. I hope to get up to Omaha for a MTB race next weekend, then Sedalia, and then the big one......Gateway in St.Louis.

TT Results / Dan Hansen sighting

NEET Time Trial August 7, 2008g , 6.1 Miles Name, Elapsed Time, MPH

Weinbeck, Dennis 0:12:32 29.20
Price, Tom 0:12:49 28.56
Henwood, Craig 0:12:50 28.52
Hoehn, Stan 0:12:56 28.30
Lively, Jeff 0:13:04 28.01
Thomas, Mark 0:13:20 27.45
Maher, Matt 0:13:49 26.49
Raupp, Jay 0:13:50 26.46
Swift, Bert 0:13:59 26.17
Angell, Patrick 0:14:05 25.99
Conway, Jim 0:14:06 25.96
Miguel, Jesse 0:14:23 25.45
Davis, James 0:14:27 25.33
Hottman, Donovan 0:14:41 24.93
Rimel, Robert 0:14:48 24.73
Bunch, Patrick 0:14:55 24.54
Breeding, Mark 0:15:14 24.03
Gordon, Richard 0:15:18 23.92
McGregor, Gary 0:15:23 23.79
Smithmier, Michael 0:15:25 23.74
Stevens, Donna 0:15:34 23.51
Berger, Arthur 0:15:46 23.21
Martens, Jamie 0:16:01 22.85
Hoehn, Jim 0:16:23 22.34
Procnor, Charles 0:16:30 22.18
Vecchione, Joey 0:16:43 21.89
Kopp, Brian 0:16:46 21.83
Swift, Donna 0:16:56 21.61
Weston, Paul 0:17:29 20.93
Hoehn, Alex 0:18:06 20.22
Hoehn, Sierra 0:22:25 16.33

I rode the TT last night hoping to get the legs going for the Tour of KC. I've been feeling pretty flat for the past week so I'm hoping a short 10K TT will open up the legs. Plenty of guys missing this month, most are probably resting up for the weekend.

And then there's this...........................
Yes, here's Dan, spotted in Wilber, Ne with a host of other unsavory guys dressed lycra. Looks like he's discoverd the Kolachies and the story has it they were headed into the bar for some refreshments. Nothing like an ethnic festival for a reason to ride 60 miles. Dan's looking fit so watch out this cross season!

Shop Rats

Wednesday the shop opens at noon so I had the boys up early so I could get my work done before the store opens. Stopped at Panera to get some good sugary bagels to get them good and wired. The music was turned up loud so I couldn't hear the crashing sounds up front while I went to work in the back. Sorry about that Scott! I don't think they look guilty in this picture at all!

Tonight it's TT time, it's short so maybe it will wake up the legs for tomorrow night's opener for the Tour of KC. Speaking of the Tour of KC, I saw that Cliff Drive has been repaired and is ready to go. I kind of wish they would of left some kind of obstacles there as I tend to ride like crap in this race. I could of used some cross style diversions. Oh well......we will have cool temps, and no rain, fun, fun , fun.

Raingutter Regatta/ Tue crit

So my tale of two weeks with the boys begins. I worked into the early am Sunday, or I guess that would be Monday, to try to get ahead. Monday night was more of the same but I did manage to get into bed by midnight. The boys and I spent our days preparing boats for the Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta. Yes, once your child becomes a scout you not only get to make a Pinewood derby car, you also get to make a boat.
Not too complicated until you try to give the boys enough direction to do it themselves without getting hurt or spray painting the car. In the end it was all good, Jonas got 2ND. Eli got DQ'ed. His boat just wouldn't go fast enough so he decide to give it a push with his hand.
I should explain the setup, picture this.....take 2 gutters 10ft long, cap ends, and place on sawhorses. Fill gutters with water and place boats at the end. Yell go and each scout has to blow his boat to the finish line. I got there as they were handing out awards and everybody was soaked. I guess the main attraction was the supersoaker/giant squirt gun battle after the races were over. Overall pretty amusing.

The crit tonight was pretty hard, I guess it's as hard a you make it. I was having a great time early in the race, gassing it up the hill for 3 laps in a row. Of course it strung it out and you know what that means. I'm gassed and Shadd and a few others roll off the front. I got shuffled back and by time I got to a place to attack they were too far out there to bridge. I gave it a go and got reasonably close but I knew I needed another guy to make it. I screwed up the finish but Andy Lucas got it right to win the field sprint for 5th. I love it when another one of the 45+ crowd gets in there.

KC Crit Results

KC Crit Results for 8/5/08

1. Shadd Smith
2. Bill Marshall
3. David Hedjuk
4. Jeff Winkler
5. Andy Lucas

Overall Points as of 8/5/08

1. Shadd Smith 85
2. David Hedjuk 38
3. Joe Schmalz 27
4. Tom Price 22
5. Bill Marshall 22
6. Cam Chambers 17
7. Jeremy Pych 17
8. Adam Mills 14
9. Phil Gronniger 12
10. Brian Jensen 8
11. Steve Tilford 7
12. Graham Aldrich 7
13. Phil Mann 5
14. Jeff Seese 5
15. Chris Hall 4
16. Adam Lang 3
17. Nick Coil 2
18. Jeff Schroeder 2
19. John Shipman 2
20. Mike Palitto 2
21. Jeff Winkler 2
22. Kurt Mulebach 1
23. Bill Stolte 1
24. Mark Cole 1
25. John Palman 1
26. Chris Wallace 1
27. Andy Lucas 1

Hot, Hot Hot

Man it's hot!!!!! I usually like it when it gets hot but the last three days have been rough. Yesterday I didn't think about it much as I headed out but I figured I could handle it. I was fine until the temp on by bike computer kept climbing. I know it reads hot because the sensor is on the bottom of the computer so it picks up the temp off the road(track temp to you nascar folk). So when it hit 105 degrees I started to melt. In fact, I'm sure the road was melting causing me to go slower and slower. Lot's of bottles and a Gatorade and I made it home fine. Today I got an earlier start since I didn't have go shopping but it was still hot. I wonder how it felt at the Missouri State crit today. Hope everybody had folks to do handups.

Today I start the night shift and I am so looking forward this schedule.......not. My guess is that I will be a bit slower this week anyway, only the hardcore or crazy are out there at 100 degrees. Not sure which category I fit into there.

Into the weekend / First Friday

This week I managed to get ahead at work so I had a pretty easy day today and snuck out for a ride. With a NW wind I thought Leavenworth but the legs said they would be fine with something a bit less. Still a ride out to Wyandotte Co lake had me crawling up the climbs. Still not recovered from the Tue Crit/Wed Hill ride combo. Add in the Tue nite basement flood and continued wed cleanup it's been a long week.
Yea....it was hot and the lake looked really good. Summer camp ended for the kids today so I'll be hitting the pool with the kids for the next two weeks. Looking forward to hanging with the kids......not looking forward to working nights. Nothing like no sleep the week before Tour of KC. Oh well, since I won't have much time to ride maybe I'll be fresh!
So tonight we were off to First Friday with the boys to see if we could bore them to death in some art galleries. Mission accomplished in less than 2 hours! They were begging to go back to our friends music store and then go home. Strange, but somehow I've never seen ACME bike shop before but I kind of like what I see from the outside. I should stop in sometime. The Trek KC crew were out as well,. We saw Dean and Debbie, Deb Ridgeway, and Cam all checking out the scene. So it's off to bed so I can be rested for shopping for school supplies tomorrow. It's no Tax day in Missouri on school supplies. Oh boy.................