5 more days

DK is in 5 days and I think the bike is ready, hopefully I am.
This past weekend I got in 3 nice rides and spent a lot of time with my family. I had 3 days off work and it was fantastic. Saturday was nasty in the morning, but I got in 2 hours of single speed gravel up north late afternoon. Kathy's family was in town for Levi's Baptism on Sunday. I got in an hour before church on the single speed again. After the Baptism, we had a luncheon at my Dad's house, and for the first time since our wedding all of the family was in one room at one time. It was a lot less akward than I thought it would be.
Monday we got in about 55 miles of road with a very fun group. We rode the Weston loop counter-clockwise. The Waldron gravel was in perfect shape and it got my excited for this weekend.
I'm leaving KC at 4:00 Friday afternoon, picking up the Lawrence kids and should be to Emporia around 7:00. Plenty of time to pack 5 of us into a hotel room, get a few hours of sleep, and go play on our bikes for 15-17 hours.
Full report to come on Sunday. Until then...

Bike week is finally over

After a very long week of riding (395 miles of road/gravel and singletrack), my legs are shot. It was a great week for riding with nice weather, good group rides at both shops, and even a MTB race up in St. Joe. In prep for the Dirty Kanza I thought it would be a good idea to ride to St. Joe on my cross bike and then race. I left at 8:30, which was supposed to be 8:15 and rolled up to registration at 11:25. Almost 50 miles with about 25% on gravel and a N headwind the whole way. I never thought it could be 85* in mid May and we could still have a N wind. The roads were in great shape and I got to ride a lot of new ones once I passed Deerborn.
It was my first XC race in a couple years and I forgot how fast those are from the gun. I got the hole shot in the sport class, but that didn't last long. At the end of the first lap I was in second with 3rd and 4th not too far behind, and I could feel my legs wearing out already. I ended up getting 4th in sport coming home with a medal, t-shirt and a beanie. Heartland puts on a great event and the trails were really nice and twisty.
My new wheels for the Superfly will be done this week, so the next race will be on that.
This will be a mellow week for riding with on 12 more days til the DK, it's pretty much all that's on my mind.

Grrrravel

Good riding Saturday. Left my place at 7:00 rode some backroads to Leavenworth, met up with Puskas, then headed south to Lawrence to meet the others. Brandon, Kristen, John, Andrew and Cody (on a single speed), showed up at mile 40 and we rolled on to Oskaloosa. Casey's was a life saver and I enjoyed a couple Snickers and some honey bbq Fritos. The pace had slowed but we pushed on to Perry and then west toward Topeka. I finally had to take the road home to Lawrence and meet Kathy and my family for a Mother's Day dinner at Free State. 104 miles, a little over half on gravel. Hopefully after a long week of commuting and a couple more long rides I'll be ready for the Dirty Kanza.
It was nice to have the whole weekend off. Lots of riding Saturday and lots of time with Levi and Kathy on Sunday. Two weeks until his Baptism and Kathy and mine 1 year anniversary! Good times to come.

Tuesday night smackdown

Last night I rolled up to the Tuesday night ride to see a swarm of Wheel jerseys. 4 from the wheel and 4 from the wheel/chamois butt'r. I knew I was in for a treat. The ride went good, I held on with dear life as Ryan, Fred and Dan continually attacked. It was all I had toward the end just to keep a wheel. After 45 miles of throw-downs, Elliot was cross-eyed and I didn't know if I would make it back home. The ride home afterward was nice and easy until the last hill. It's been a long time since I've considered walking a hill. It's always nice coming home to Levi and Kathy...they make everything better.
Saturday we have a gravel ride planned. The route looks to be about 110-115 miles of random gravel b/t here and Lawrence, followed by some lunch and relaxing at Free State.