TNW KC style

Yea, tonight's race was the maiden voyage on the new bike. So far, so good, it's lighter and stiffer than last year. Too bad I don't have the legs yet to really push it, but good things come in time. I'm just coming off injuries and illness so I'm on my first week of coaches program. Good things to come for sure

















Tonight's crit was a tough one. A big south wind made the uphill side of the course hard and the downhill side screaming fast. Pretty good turnout tonight and you knew it was going to be a rough one with Tilford and the whole Tailwind crew (except for Fuzzy). Attacks went off time and time again until a group finally got away near the end. My Mercy team just didn't have the horsepower to do much about it. Really could of used Joe and Adam but maybe next week. Definitely going to need some more horsepower to deal with Steve and the boys and a few more weeks to gel and figure out how we want to ride as a team. It's going to be an interesting summer!














Choch pulling the group.

Tonight we had an unfortunate incident run in with a Semi on the course. Now everybody knows that the trucks run on the course and if you see one approaching the corner you call it out and wait for it to pass, you don't accelerate and try to use the truck to split the group. Lucky for us the truck locked up his brakes and it wasn't close, but next time be smart and wait.

Tonight's results:

1. Nick Coil 5
2. Matt Ankeny 4
3. Brian Jensen 3
4. Bill Stolte 2
5. Shadd Smith 1
   
   
   

Training/Race Weekend

Rolled down to Fort Smith, AR this weekend for a little training and racing last weekend. It was really nice roll on some different roads and do some climbing. Saturday was 5 hrs featuring the climb up Mt Gaylor and some the roads from the upcoming Joe Martin Stage Race. Sunday Was the NWA Spring Classic in Fayetteville, AR. We all had tired legs before the 70 mile race but everybody fininshed and Shadd and Joe were 3 - 4 in the 1, 2 race. No much to report for me, still fighting back from the Mexico illness.
















Cool roads, good times!

















Pit stop for a flat and some chow.


Tonight is TNW, in the open race if you are in the top five stop back by Chris and let him know what place you got, points start tonight!

Challenge Tires & misc stuff

New season, more tubies to glue. Got this batch earlier this week and finished them up today. More to do tomorrow and next week. As a mechanic I've got to say that I love these tires. The tires are really nice, tread patterns are great, base tape is straight, and you can get them on the rim without pre-stretching. This makes my life so much easier as it takes far less time to mount a nice tire versus some other brands. We saw this with the cross tires so it came as no surprise. Can't wait to ride the tubie version of the clinchers I rode at Tue Nite Worlds. The Forte clinchers look pretty close to a Vittoria CX and ride just as well. I've got some Criterium clinchers to try out on my other wheels. I'll update again after a few rides.

Playa, Playa, Playa del Carmen

Forgot I had this picture of KB on my computer. Nice to see her get her first win in for the season.

I want to go back to Mexico.

Tue Crit: Yea, I know it's the 2nd week of the season and no points are up. I tried to get results from the top 5 from Chris for the past 2 weeks and really had no luck. Looks like the points will have to start next week. Maybe I'll have Chris make an announcement that the top 5 finishers need to report to Chris after the finish. It's just too much work to do the weekly points update if the results are not complete and correct.

Did I mention that I want to go back to Mexico?

That K-State game wore me out! I'm going to bed.

Spring Break

We're back, get a drink and settle in, this is a long one and it's all about our trip to Mexico.

What a long strange trip it's been. It all started last year when Pinky asked Mathgeek why we have never taken a vacation that doesn't involve a bike race. To make a long story short we have friends with a timeshare in Mexico and they go every year. This evolved into a phone call a week or so later from Mathgeek telling me that we had been invited to join our friends on their next trip........and can we go. If you know me you know I'm paranoid about something happening to my kids and taking them out of the country........well let's just say I surprised Mathgeek and said let's do it.

So after months of gathering paperwork, passports, and flipflops, we were off to the airport. Mathgeek was a bit nervous about catching our connecting flight in Atlanta but I thought it shouldn't be a big problem with a 2 hour layover. That was until we got to KCI and found out that out flight is being delayed by 1:45, hmmmm 15 min to make it across the Atlanta airport. We get to Atlanta and run across the airport/tram/airport praying for miracle as we are past the departure time. Wow, we got it...the plane is having a mechanical problem and is still at the gate, we made it just in time. Only one problem here, there is no way our luggage is going to make this flight. No problem, we were warned and brought swimsuits with us in out carry on bags and our luggage should arrive with our friends flight when they arrive the next day.

Only one issue here, our friends missed their flight in Atlanta and were stuck there overnight. Our luggage did arrive but when it didn't arrive as promised at the hotel we called the airline and they said it was lost on the island! Now if I'm going to be stuck somewhere I'm OK with being on Cozumel but we hoped to be on the 1pm ferry to Playa del Carmen. We finally got our luggage at 6:35, just in time to sprint down to the ferry terimal for the 7pm departure. Phew....made it, time to relax, on our way to the resort. Uh....we were warned in broken English that the seas were kind of rough, but the ferry staff spent most of their time handing out/collecting puke bags during the 30 min ride. The boys handled it well but none of us felt very good by time we hit the dock.

Now the good stuff, we made it! The resort is beautiful, it's called the Occidental Allegro Playacar Resort, Playa del Carmen, Mexico . Check out our pictures here, I took way too many to post and Mathgeek has even more.

Now before you get the idea that we had a bad trip, let me assure you, I don't think it's possible to have a bad trip to Playa, it's awesome. We hung out at the beach and body surfed, searched for seashells, and generally goofed off. Once we got tired of sand in shorts we headed off to the pool for a while. One day we headed off to visit the Ek Balam myan ruins and swam in a cenote

During the whole trip we were very careful about drinking bottled water and using clean water when brushing teeth, ect....... . So when our friends and myself all got sick we were a bit surprised. At least it was a rainy day so being stuck inside wasn't a total loss. Mathgeek got some quality time with the boys when they went into Playa to explore. The next day dawned bright and sunny with most of the crew moving a little slow but the warm sun made us all feel much better.

Unfortunately, the time came for a ferry ride back to Cozumel for the flight home. The ride on the ferry was great, the unfortunate part is that we were going home! We got to spend a few hours hanging out at the markets on Cozumel before heading off to the airport. Not much for excitement on the trip home other than the stress of going through customs. Even though it was easy for us I have heard it can be a pain.

What a shock it was to arrive back in KC, we got in around midnight Friday night and the snow was flying. After chipping the ice off the van we headed home from the airport at 35 mph the whole way. Brrrr, what a temperature change. I'm sitting here typing this with 8 inches of snow on the ground. Oh well, it will be warm soon enough.

I'm ready to start racing bikes, wonder if the Tue crit will go this week.....

Not much of a week...but there was a birthday and supercross!

It was Curlys birthday this week. Most kids would go for a cake but he's all about pie so he had a birthday pie. The 2nd grade music program was later that night so the real party would have to wait for the weekend.

Yummy coffee at the High Hat....

No too much going on this week on the bike front, the injury bug has bitten and I'm off the bike. In my last post I mentioned that I took a shot to the knee during a mtb crash. Well, during the week that turned into difficulty walking with out serious pain. Made a few attempts to ride without success so it looks like a few weeks completely off the bike may be in order.

Curly and his buddies at his Birthday sleepover. Nothing like having 4, 8 yr old boys running wild. Oh, the stories I could tell........

This is what Pinky thought of it all. He bailed and stayed over at a friends house to avoid the carnage. Of course he did make it clear to Curly that his room was off limits before he left.

This one is for Troy, Pinkey's still sicking with the vegetarian life while the rest of the family are carnivores. This is what we end up with on Brat night. Mathgeek thought the Tofurky Brat was pretty good, me, not so much, Curly refused to even try. I'm sticking with Curly from here on out with this one.

So on to Supercross.........This week it was Daytona. By far the roughest track in all of Supercross. It's amazing to see the infield of the Daytona Speedway go from manicured grass to a whooped out rutted mess. The announcers pegged the winner, the guy who is comfortable riding on the edge. This is what happens if you make a mistake at Daytona. I've had a few of those in my days racing motocross and I can tell you this, that's gonna leave a mark! Supercross this year has been awesome, for the first time in years there is no one rider that is sure to win every week. With the two of the fastest riders injured the young guys are stepping up to do battle for the championship. Very cool, I love seeing the the kids come up and battle the champions.

Got to get some stuff done and then it's off to bed. I hear the shop went nuts this weekend so it's gonna be a busy Monday. Short week this week and then I'm off to hit the beach.