Busy weekend

We were pretty busy this weekend. I guess you could say that it got busy ending the week and just spilled over into the weekend. Time seemed to stand still Thursday when it came time to head up to the middle school for parent teacher conferences. I'm not sure why I was dreading this night, I guess it's because JoBro's grades have been all over the board since he started 7th grade. I shouldn't have worried so much. It turns out that his teachers love him and all of them know he's smart enough to do the work. Turns out that he is just so disorganized he forgets to turn in his work or turns it in late. We knew it was a problem but it was good for us to sit him down with his teachers and talk about it. Pretty hard to get on the honor roll that way but he's trying. Any way, it's all good, mom and dad are far more stressed out than he is. So this morning I was looking at Facebook and someone posted the paragraph you see below. I had to show it to JoBro just to let him know how we feel. I'm sure every parent knows the feeling.

Friday night a buddy of JoBro's came over for a sleepover and then it was time to get ready for.......

The Great Wolf Lodge

Curly's buddy had his birthday at the lodge and we brought JoBro out to hang out with the birthday boy's brother. It's all ways  amusing to go to a indoor water park when it's in the single digits outside. Pretty long afternoon/evening chasing the boys around the waterpark.

I think I put mentioned that I had a new Superfly Hardtail frame in another post. My grand plan of buying a full suspension bike and using the parts to build up the warranty hardtail frame actually worked out. What you see above is a 2012 Superfly except for the XXX carbon seatpost. Pretty sweet and it's never been ridden. That's right and it's for sale. What I ended up with is what you see below, A Superfly 100 Pro.

I got out today and I love it. Even with the suspension needing some adjustments it felt fast. I'm just amazed at how nimble it feels over the rocks and tree roots. Now I just need some time on the bike to get the suspension where I want it and to adjust my riding style. With the suspension movement and a low bottom bracket I tend to clip the pedals on rocks if I'm not paying attention. Not a problem, just a difference between the hardtail and the full suspension bikes.

Shadd and I rode at Shawnee Mission Park today. I usually won't ride there since it's so rocky I have a hard time getting in many laps. But Shadd had been there a few weeks ago and he said they had done some work out there. I agreed to go and was I surprised. The trail crew has been out there and the trails are much better. Quite a bit of rock has been removed and the new trail is awesome. Pretty enjoyable time out at the park on a nice day.

So, snow tonight. It will nice to have some snow on the ground and just as nice to have it gone the following day. I'm ready for Spring!

I've got the winter blah's...........

February, what a month for bike racers, so close to spring yet so far. It's been a interesting week in the racing world with all the doping news. All I have to say is that I'm tired of all the news on old cases. Armstrong and Ulrich, old news. It's just a waste of money going after retired racers from a old era. I would rather see the money put into looking at the current crop of riders and cleaning up the process of catching the remaining dopers. Just as important would be the procedures for prosecuting those caught. I'm all for due process but it just takes too long to resolve cases when riders get caught. Look at where we ended up with Contador. Enough of that mess, let's see what's new.........

Shadd and I test rode some bikes. Traded off 29'ers, one hardtail and one full suspension. I'm sold, after being a hardtail guy for years I'll be going to a full suspension bike this year.

Rode both the carbon and aluminum version of the TREK Superfly 100 and it was really nice. Definitely easier to go fast the longer you are on the trail.

Around the house Curly and I spent a bit of time arranging the stuffed animal collection. Good thing he has a bunk bed so everybody has somewhere to sleep.

Then there was JoBro's 7th grade science fair experiment. Probably could of made a better choice for his topic. The experiment took a ton of time and energy to make it work.

Then there was the last minute scramble to complete the 3 fold board with all of his data. It was  a late night to get it done and then he managed to get sick and not go to school the next day.

I had a little issue with my Superfly frame and the nice folks at TREK sent me this new one.  I just got a Superfly 100 that looks just like it so after a quick parts swap I'll be selling a brand new Superfly. More on that after tomorrow's parts swap.

We went to Atlanta for Christmas and visited with family. While hanging out at my brothers house  we spotted a really cool biscuit box for their dog. My sister-in-law is a pretty incredible artist and a few weeks after we got home Carly received her own treat box. Pretty darn cool!

It's February and that means it's Pinewood Derby time! Curly had a pretty good car this year, he won his Den and did pretty good overall. Only one  year left for Curly in Cub Scouts and then my car making days are over. Tears..........of joy. 

One of the dad's made this car for the unlimited class. Solid billet of Aluminum with ceramic bearings in the wheels. He even had machined aluminum wheels but they were a little slower.

As usual there were cars of all shapes and sizes. Some were fast and some didn't make it to the finish line. Pretty fun time for the kids.

So here we are, a few days into February. Bike season is getting into the swing. People are training and some are even hitting the road to do some racing. It looks like the Tue Crit is back at the Honeywell plant in Olathe. We are still working on something down by Kemper arena. Maybe a monthly crit series on Saturdays or Friday nights. Should be a good year for bike racers in KC!

Cross Worlds

Day 1 of Elite Cyclocross Worlds is over and the Juniors and U-23's put on quite a show. I had a personal interest in the U-23 race as I know the 2 guys from the USA. I might actually have to get up early tomorrow, yup, way early at 4am, for the Women's race. After that I might have to take a nap until the Men's race at 8am.

Zach had a good ride after starting way back

Lyne from PodiumInsight is covering the race.

A few of the Rapha Focus crew enjoying some of the local snacks.

Sand, sand, and more sand,

Better go to bed soon, it's going to be a short night.

Cyclocross Worlds

Cyslocross World Championships are this weekend, gotta get up early to catch the races live streaming on the computer. I'm pretty excited to watch as there are Americans in every race that have a good chance of a top 5 or even a podium.

Euro Pro road races are in swing in the warm climates.

I'm ready to roll, just have to remember that it's still January.

One season ends and another begins

The cyclocross season has just ended here in the USA and even though there are a few more races and the World Championships in Europe, cross is essentially over. Now that we have adopted the euro version of cross the season now lasts until the middle of January. It's kind of funny that last Sunday I was watching the first Pro Criterium of the season on TV. That's right, like Pro sports  baseball and football here in the States, the euro road season has begun before the euro cross season has ended. The Santos Tour of Australia has started and soon the racing here in the states will start as well.

It will be fun to watch the last World Cup race this weekend and Worlds the following weekend. All of the top Americans are in Europe and good results should follow. It will be fun to watch both the road and cross races.

It was kind of slick for the Women's race at last weekends World Cup race. Kate Compton crashed as well as many others.

It was cold at the cross races but it was something like 105 degrees in Australia!

Dean ended the year with  two 4th place finishes, all ways an inspiration.

By the way, if you are looking for TV coverage and can find VERSUS, that's because in now called the NBC Sports Network.

Masters Worlds

J-Pow in his new USA National Champions Jersey. Pretty sweet st see Zach in one as well!

It was pretty nice in Madison for Nationals but Worlds in Louisville is getting the weather instead. Brrrrr.......

As much as I'm bummed at missing Worlds the reports of all the running is making it easier to take. Power and running would be rough.

I can honestly say that this looks like fun!

Firefighter Curly, the uniform is a little big but you get the idea.

I was watching the Elite race live on the computer and the barriers pictured are at the top of a hill. Bunny hopping barriers takes speed so this had to be tough.

As for Masters Worlds, yesterday was the qualifying races for most of the people I know. So far everybody has ridden well and will have good start positions in tomorrows finals. Brad Cole races for the World Champions Jersey today and then the rest have a go tomorrow. Wish there was a live feed to watch but Joan is doing a good job with twitter updates during the day.

Cross Nationals

So Cross Nationals has come and gone with none of the issues with the cold and snow that people thought there would be. Madison WI had a unusual warm spell and no precipitation made the conditions perfect for the races. I was pretty much stuck to my computer for 4 days getting twitter updates from podiumInsight just to keep up with the races. Riders from the KC area as well as the Nebraska riders all had great rides and showed the strength cross in the Midwest. The KCCX crew once again pulled off a podium finish and a number of top tens.

The Men's Elite race was by far the most exciting race of the weekend. All of the top riders were at the front of the race duking it out for the win. Watching Zach Mcdonald pull the hole shot, then crash, then chase back on to the lead group was amazing. Then J-pow finally attacking near the end for the win was fun to watch.

This week is Masters Cyclocross Worlds in Louisville, KY. I was going to make the trip just to watch but decided to save money and stay home. Quite a few of the Midwest crew have made the trip. How cool would it be to have one of them bring back a World Champions Jersey!

Probably one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. Tim Johnson congratulating his ex-teammate on finally winning a National Championships. No matter how much the press plays up their rivalry they still have a good time!

The start of the U-23 race, McDonald on the front and Fish a few back. Zack would end up winning by 2 minutes.

Brad had a podium in the 30-35 race. Great effort in  race stacked with really fast riders.

One more day before Worlds begins, better get some work done!