Peace. Love. Bicycles.: Boss Cross #1 and 2

Well, it was a busy weekend that started out with me throwing my 29er on the back of my car and heading from Emporia to KC. On my way I called Shawnee Mission Park to see if the mtb trails were open, looking for an easyish offroad ride after several days in a row at Camp Alexander. They weren't, but Britton had mentioned to me that the new stuff out at Swope dries up nice and quick, so I pointed the car thataway. Getting to the trailhead, there was only one other car, but it had a roof rack, so I hoped that meant the trails would be good. Wow, were they ever, had an amazing ride, although it only lasted for a couple hours, the conditions were perfect. With the rain midweek, they were just moist enough still that tires couldn't help but hookup great. I really have to say, despite not being too sure about swope at first, every single ride out there has me more and more convinced of its quality.

After that, I rushed over to Volker to grab my new cyclocross frame from Britton. I was really trying to hurry, so that he wouldn't have to stay late helping me put it together, but it wasn't meant to be. I desperately looked to the GPS on my phone, hoping it would get me there quicker; instead it took me right through the Plaza for no reason at rush hour. Getting into the shop, we worked at making all of the parts I'd contributed fit onto all of the parts Britton had ordered. I ended up with an awesome bike, but with a few quirks (such as the lack of shifters combined with a full 10 sp cassette). During the process, Britton and other teammates wanted to know if I would be racing the next day...Hells yeah was the answer. So, I promptly went home, had a beer or two, and tried desperately to learn how to get on and off of a moving bike.

At the race, Gabi and I arrived around the same time as buddy and teammate Steve. Seeing him pull into the farmer's market parking lot, Gabi and I waited a second and we all walked over together. I was pretty excited to try out a totally new discipline, but really had no idea what I was doing yet, so I decided to race the cat4's and get the hang of it from there. Riding the course with Steve before the race, I had an issue that foreshadowed bigger ones to come. My bike shifted. Normally, this wouldn't be much of a problem, but on a singlespeed that just happens to be carrying some extra cogs, it sure is. I sat around not warming up, but instead playing with my chain tensioner for a bit. Thought I broke it once, but everything worked out and I was able to get lined up to race.

Started at the back, just so I wouldn't have any pressure and could have a good time. Actually passed about half the field, raced hard and had a blast! Wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected at the mounting and dismounting, and I'd say that 16th out of 31 isn't too bad at least for SS in a geared category. Given my pleasant surprise on Saturday, I thought to myself that I should just go for it and race the SS cat on sunday, even though it's full of fast guys.

At the shop after the race, switched out my handlebars, stem, for some with a little shorter reach. Had a few Fat Tire cans, provided by Joe, and generally had a good time. I got to use the bike stand at Volker, and looked a whole lot like I worked there in my volker wool jersey.

Photo thanks to Joe.

Me and Britton both did SS, which was almost the first race of the day on Sunday. Warming up, I saw some guys lined up, so I went ahead and went over. Didn't see Britton pull up to the line until just about a minute before the action started, but when he got there he sure looked better warmed up than I felt. Starting out near the back again, I passed a few racers pretty quick, then almost wiped out going into the first sand pit on the dismount. Ah, well, still getting the hang of it. Chris from Rennaisance who was in front of me, asked if I'd tried to ride it, probably thinking I was better than I was. Still, passed another guy in that sand pit during the remount. 14 guys in ss, makes me in like 11th then. Barriers are the next thing I remember, because I thought it was so funny that I passed somebody while running them. Right before that I'd heard Steve say, "Start moving up after these barriers!" Well, Steve, I did ya one better. Had my sights set on another guy who had a bit of a gap on me. Then, bad things started happening. My chain fell off the ring, partially, but I kicked it back on only to have it off again immediately. Got passed by a couple guys while I put it on with my hand, then took off in hot pursuit. A minute later, it came off again. I guess when chain tension is off, it's just really off. This time I stopped, and sat down, thinking I should drop out. Oh well, I paid 25 bucks, I'm racing. Took my time, and redid my tensioner. At this point I was in last by whole minutes, maybe 2 or 3. So, I went as fast as I could. Managed to pass one ss'er. Then another. Then, on the last lap I came up behind Chris, and was just trying to draft and rest on the paved roundabout. He noticed me and very politely let me by, not knowing that he was dooming me to more torture. But honestly, what a guy. I was afraid that I'd hold him up by going too slow, or crashing, so I went really hard for the rest of the race, taking 11th. Would have liked to have seen how I could do without the mechanicals, but whatever. Had even more fun on Sunday than on Sat, so I'm sure not gonna complain. Britton evidently had an amazing SS race, because he took 2nd.

After the race, I got to cheer on and hang out with teammates, which was great. Had a free IPA, and Dan was gracious enough to share some Pabst after he got 2nd in his 3/4 race. Went on a nice lap with Eric Stull, cooling down while he was warming up, and talked a lot about some real good stuff with Joe, Steve, Adam, and Philip.

PICTURES!!!