Photo dump

Clearing out the camera in preparation for another race weekend and I found a few pictures from the past week or so. It's been pretty busy with swim lessons and soccer camp but we did find time to finally hit the trails.

Jobro got a new MTB this week. I really didn't plan on getting him as nice of a bike as I did, but I think it's going to be worth it in the end. I think the deciding factor had to be the weight. The move from a mid level bike to one more to the upper end had a significant impact on the weight. Of course half the weight equalled twice the money so I'm glad I work at a bike shop on that one.

We rode the trails at Swope park and it was Jobro's first time on any trail other than River Trails. I knew that the 2nd phase of the trails would be ride able for Jobro for the most part and I had heard the the new trail would be even better. I was right, the Earthriders crew did a great job creating a beginner friendly trail that's really fun. We figured out a way to use the road to connect the trail loops so that there really was nothing technical he couldn't handle. I can't wait to get out solo and see how fun it is at speed.

Here we are just before the Tue Worlds Crit. Pretty decent showing in the A race. It was kind of a weird race, our guys were tired from Nature Valley and the wind made attacks kind of short lived. Eventually there was a break, or a split......I'm really not sure. Quite a few guys up the road and I wasn't one of them. Later in the race Bill, Adam, and I, and one of the St.Johns guys formed a chase group. We got within 9 seconds but we ran out of time and that was it.

Curly had swim lessons for the past 2 weeks that just ended tonight. He passed on to the next wave and was really proud of himself. I know it was touch and go on weather he would pass to the but he pulled it out in the end!

Here's some real Tulsa Tough happiness. Yes it was hot and humid all day. We got the stinkeye when we told him we were going to be there a little longer. When I went to pick up my prize money they had given my check to someone else and were trying to sort it out. After watching another race and hanging out for another hour their solution was to give me the other guys check and say that they will mail me the difference. Yea.....checks in the mail.....right. The topper to all of this is that I was so frustrated about all of this that I just took the check they handed me for the 50+ race without looking at it. Big mistake, I just grabbed the checks and boogied out of Tulsa. When I got home I looked at the check and they gave me the check for 3rd instead of 2nd. I know, I should know better than to leave a race before sorting out payout problems but what are you going to do with a cranky family at the race and a dogsitter at home costing you more and more the longer you are gone.

So........tomorrow is the start of the Tour of Kansas City. This year it's 3 crits. None of them are on the traditional KC courses. Less than excited about the courses and the last two will be on the police training grounds. Oh boy, racing on roads out in the middle of a field. Kind of reminds me of some Nebraska State games crits we did back in the day. Oh well, there is a MTB race at Perry Lake Sunday and you just may find me there.......

Nature Valley GP

Following the weekend of racing that was Tulsa Tough my racing schedule becomes kind of slow. The rest of the Mercy crew (at least the Cat 1 part) went up to Minnesota to do the Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage Race. 5 days of racing in a Pro/Am field looked brutal from what I could see from the coverage. The live streaming video on Velonews.com was pretty good and you could really see the Mercy kits in 3 stages that they showed.

Joe Schmalz had a great race ended up 16th overall.

Joe also ended up with the Best Young Rider jersey.

It's been raining pretty much every day with an occasional strong storm. JoBro got a new MTB and it won't quit raining long enough to get it out on the trails.

I guess you can add me to the turtle savers club. I found this guy in the middle of a 4 lane devided road. Not sure where he was going but I put him in the tall grass on the side of the road.

Instead of hitting the trails Jobro and I got out on the road bikes instead. He's grown so much since cross season that his bike fit is all goofy. I might have to get him into the shop for a bike fit.

Friday nights storms knocked a bunch of trees down. I rode past these three trees that all lost some pretty big branches. Lot's a debris on the ground all over KC on Saturday morning.

Today it was pretty hot at ride time. I was just ending a interval set when I spotted this guy out for a swim. Pretty tempting but I was a bit too far from home to ride in witha soggy chamios.

What's up next? Not sure, maybe Tour of KC with it's police academy crits or a US Cup MTB race in Wisconsin. I guess I'll have to make a decision after my appointment tomorrow with the Ear doc. Still looking for answers to the balance/vertigo problems.

This is a good video from the Cat1-2 race. You can see Mercy Team riders Jason and Nemo pretty much every lap.

Tulsa Tough: Riverview Crit

With all of the turmoil outside the racing part of the weekend I forgot to mention that we actually had a pretty good time. Friday night Mathgeek and I got a bit of solo time without the boys and went down and watched the rest of the Mercy crew in the Pro-1 race. That's a first since....well, before the boys. In fact, since Jobro and Curly were worn out on Saturday night we went out and watched the Pro race that night as well. Saturday Mathgeek and the boys went and checked out the Tulsa aquarium before my race and said it was really cool.

Matheek and they boys enjoying downtown before it got hot. Breakfast at the Blue Dome Cafe was great and only a few blocks from the hotel.

Mathgeek wants to dress up like this next Halloween. If you see any video from Cry Baby hill you will probably see a really drunk jellyfish dancing in the street.

The Mercy Team compound during Saturdays race. This was during the Cat1-2 race when some huge raindrops began falling and road got really slick.

Jobro gave photography a try during the Riverview crit and did a really good job. Pretty impressive for a 12 yr old with a point and shoot camera.

Just about forgot to write about the race. Sunday I did the Masters race so we could get a early jump on getting home. The Riverview course sits by the river and has a pretty significant climb in it followed by an equally significant downhill on the other end. Usually this would be a pretty good course for me but after being sick and off the bike for a good part of 3 weeks I wasn't so sure I had much left on the 3rd day of racing. My plan was to be aggressive early and try to force a split that left most of the 50+ guys behind. It nearly worked, I got the split but a few laps later it all came back together. After a number of attacks and counter attacks we were still together and I was pretty gassed. Just when I slipped back a little bit in the field Will Gault from Tulsa Tough rolled off the front of the group never to be seen again. On the last lap I was pretty far back in the group but managed a sneak attack before the downhill to get in front of the group for the sprint. In the end there was Will and 4 others in front of the group and I was sprinting for 6th. I had a decent sprint but just got pipped at the line by 2 other guys and ended up 8th. In this race there is an additional prize list for the 50+ so I was 2nd there.  So not too bad of a weekend!

I shot this during the Cat1-2 race on Cry Baby hill. Check out Jason blasting by right in front of me.

Time for a bit of a rest before Tour of KC.

Brady Village Crit

Great Photo from Lyne! Took a few minutes to chat with Lyne during the Pro mens race last night and catch up. Nobody works the races like Lyne!

Started the day yesterday at 6am so I could get the van over to a shop and be first in line to get it fixed. I guys at the shop were great and got it dome pretty fast and with out any issues. It's finally back to normal and drives really nice.

As for the race, eh, it was just ok. I did the masters race and it was a pretty weird race. I have not done a masters race in over a year and I'm just not used to the negative racing and going into the turns 15 guys wide and all bunched up. In the 1-2 races I've been doing the pace is much faster and the group is usually line up going into the turns. On top of that most of the guys know what they are doing so you can get pretty close in the turns. Friday night was like that in the 1-2 race so it was a shock to race with the Masters yesterday.

That said I never felt good in the race and was just tired. I attacked a few times and went with quite a few more but nothing was going to stick so I backed off. A little after the half way mark I started to get a front flat. It was a slow leak so I rode it for a few laps so I wouldn't have to argue with the officials in the wheel pit over weather it was really going flat. With 10 to go I got a new wheel and got back in the race. I was feeling ok but just didn't have the snap to get back to the front in the end. I ended up 15th overall and 4th 50+. Nice to double dip in the prize list! Kind of bummed that I didn't place a little better but former Pro Jamie Carney won the race so I can't feel too bad.

So at the moment its raining and today's course had a bid downhill in it that is followed by a off camber turn. That turn is slick when it's dry so it should be pretty interesting when it's wet!

Day 1, Tulsa Blue Dome Crit

Our home boy Joe Schmalz was off in breaks all night and made the final one when it counted. He was in a 5 rider break that got caught by another group with less than a lap to go. He still sprinted in for 9th place!

Tulsa Tough weekend has begun and it's been pretty interesting to say the least. Just getting to Tulsa was a challenge because of car issues. In fact, I'm sitting at a Firestone store right now while they look at the van again. Yep, instead of getting some sleep I got up at 6:30am to drive to the shop. What started as a dead battery turned into a alternator, then some tires, wheel balance, and alignment. After two days of hiccups, and missteps I got the van back yesterday morning in time to load up the family and hit the road. It seemed all was well until the speedometer hit 50 and the van started shaking. I guess it's pretty bad when Jobro looks up from the back seat and asks me why my hands are shaking so bad! Anyway, we made it to Tulsa in time for my race and the van should be fixed soon.

On to the race! I did the cat1-2 race and lined up with a full field of 150 riders. Since I was running so late I decided that a better start position was help more than a warm up so I rolled around a bit and headed for the line. Ended up on the 2nd row with my teammate Logan just in front of me and Nemo just behind. I'm not sure where Jason was but it didn't take long for him to roll up to the front of the field. Overall the race was pretty smooth and I was able to move around pretty easy within the pack and stay near the front.

Going back to the start, while sitting on the line I was looking at the sky and thinking it  looked like rain off in the distance. I figured, or hoped, that it  would hold off, but near the end of the race what I thought was photographers flashes was actually lightning reflecting off the buildings! With 5 laps to go Jason, Logan, and I were all up near the front of the race when the rain really started. High speeds, dirty roads, and rain are a bad mix and the crashing began. Soon there were bikes and bodies on the ground in every corner and after skating around and I decided it was time to sit up and wait for a better day.

So today is the Brady Village Criterium. It's a L-shaped course with a little bit of a hill in it. I'll start with the Masters race @3:50 and see how I feel. If it goes well I may go out and play with boys in the 1-2 race later in the day @7pm. The Pro-1 men go @ 9pm so it's going to be another late night. If you want to watch it's on Velonews.com.

Hope the van is done soon, I'm starving!

Photo Purge

I've got a quite a few pictures that I never used so here's a few that I took a few weeks back in St.Louis and a few others that I picked up along the way.

Colton at the Driveway crit in Texas. It looks like it's pretty hot there and that's a great photo shot for our sponsors, TREK and Reynolds.

Here's Scott at the Friday night crit in St.Louis. Night time photo's are all ways a challenge with my little point and shoot camera.

This is my attempt at a kida artsy shot. Ok, it was an accident but I still like it.

Joe and Brad on the line Friday night. Joe would go on to have a great night riding in a 2 rider break for most of the race. They got caught with just 3 laps to go which was a huge bummer. Where's the GoPro video from that night?

Ah, the stores Sprinter van finally got wrapped. Looks good, sure wish we had one in KC! Ok, maybe just a 15 passenger van, or just a van, ok, maybe a pick-up truck, or yugo with a bike rack...........oh well.

So another weekend at home with no racing. What to do, what to do...............