KC Cup results here: http://www.heartlandrace.com/images/stories/kccup_09_results.htm
So looking at these official results, I did a tad better thank originally thought. Got 8th, out of 8 that finished, haha! One DNF, one DNS. and I onl;y lost by 10 min, not 14.
It kind of pisses me off looking at these. If I don't stop to blow chunks 3x I'm in the top 5 easily. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
Pictures so far are here: http://www.randybraley.com/KC_Cup/index.html (I'm picture 27/37, crossing the finish line)
and here: http://www.alexgrigsbyphotography.printroom.com/studio_homepage.asp?domain_name=alexgrigsbyphotography
and I'm sure more will pop up soon....pretty sure Ben McCall got a good one of me dropping a rock....and I know a few more people took my picture sometime out there too. Yay for them!
peace and dirt!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
KC Cup
Basically I got my ass kicked on my "home" trails. Great time, kind of.
So Saturday was my good buddies' wedding, Mr. Chris and Mrs. Ellie Heath. I've known them since junior high. Nice short wedding ceremony followed by free Free State beer and killer food at Alvamar Country Club with a lot of peeps I hadn't seen since I moved out of the L a couple years ago, and even an appearance by Mr. Alex Newman, who is also now a former wrestler turned bike rider. We had a nice compontents and bike porn discussion after dinner, hahaha. Needless to say, I took advantage of the free Wheat State Golden and a few of us had a nice "memory session" and that basically started my demise for the next days race.
Sunday I got up way too early, 7 am and made the mistake of having a little chill session by myself, like I usually do on weekend mornings before riding/homework/whatever I am doing. Ended up buying 3 creme filled doughnuts and 2 powerades from sunfresh for my mornings' nutrition, another would-be terrible call.
Mr Sean Burns was kind enough to pay the entry fee for my broke ass, so I am now his endentured servant until my debts are cleared, thanks bro!!!
And of course my dumbass decides to mix it up with the 19-29 sport class instead of the ole crazy spinners in the single speed class (I think the shaggy dude won the SS class in like 48-49 min, crazy). I thought I was going to be alright, until I got the the preview for the REAL course. I had left out an entire LONG section of double track and pavement on my pre-race preview laps the past couple weeks. Needless to say, I got dropped hard right off the start cause everyone was big-ringing it through the DT and asphalt. And I made the mistake I always do of spinning wayyyy to much on the open areas to try and stay within sight distance-->heart rate went out of control and culminated in me exiting the 8-pins area and blowing chunks on the side of the trail while 15+ people passed me. To back track a little...so we got to the single track and I slowly am starting to gain on the people in my class, pass a couple of them, then a few more and get to 8-pins. Right before the enterance of 8-pins, I let an older guy in the class behind us pass me on his Yeti (he had caught me, we went off in 1-minute increments). Huge mistake on my part. #1) people were ALL OVER the goddamn place through there. Middle of the trail, side of the trail, wrecking on/off the trail, side of the trail making repairs, going way too fucking slow for a race in the good line, etc I saw Sean Burns through there and he was yelling at people to get the fuck out of the way if you weren't riding it, or riding it slow. I found out later he bent another chain ring, goddamn hammerman, hahaha. So anyway #2) The older dude on the full suspension Yeti decides to granny gear the whole f-ing section so I end up right up his ass the whole time and eventually actually made him endo because I cut him off when he went wide on a drop-off (Big-time sorry Bro! really it was a dick move on my part) #3) the older dudes were getting up my ass pretty hard so I was blazing through there like I hadn't in awhile, rode everything through there at probably 100 RPM, and then I stopped and lost my stomach contents.
By then I knew I was no way near gonna get a podium, but I figured hell, they're giving out 5 places, maybe. Spiked the heart rate again, blew some more and then Sean caught back up and passed me on the pavement climb back up the hill, I made it my goal to keep him in sight, hahaha, didn't work so well. Got through about 4/5 of my final lap, the last climb up Wudchuck run and Shadd Schreiner and Cam Chambers were yelling at everyone to move it or lose it, so I stood for a sec to blow chunks again and awtch them FLY by, I mean absolutely hauling ass through there (They were passing me on their 3rd lap, I was finishing my 2nd, :'( They finished their 3 laps in 1:01 and I was at 1:03)
Ended up DFL in my class, losing to the first place kid, who hadn't ridden a MTB race since March and is primarily a roadie, by 14 minutes, OUCH, big ego kick in the nuts. This was made even worse when I looked at the SS results and I would have been mid-pack there, weird how shit works sometimes.
I did get a free bike tube, however--26er presta valve, that I have no use for. My 29er is Presta, the full sus 26er is schreader = nice.
Yesterday was my final culmination of XC racing, that crap just isn't for me, really (I'll probably still do it tho :/. I will throw down on some 6 through 24 hour races, but anything under a couple hours really isn't worth my money anymore, I always get "smoked" haha get it?
check the blogroll to the right to read others reviews/write-ups.
and BIG UPS to the heartland staff, scott and craig, all the trail builders and event volunteers--another great event by that crew.
peace and dirt!
So Saturday was my good buddies' wedding, Mr. Chris and Mrs. Ellie Heath. I've known them since junior high. Nice short wedding ceremony followed by free Free State beer and killer food at Alvamar Country Club with a lot of peeps I hadn't seen since I moved out of the L a couple years ago, and even an appearance by Mr. Alex Newman, who is also now a former wrestler turned bike rider. We had a nice compontents and bike porn discussion after dinner, hahaha. Needless to say, I took advantage of the free Wheat State Golden and a few of us had a nice "memory session" and that basically started my demise for the next days race.
Sunday I got up way too early, 7 am and made the mistake of having a little chill session by myself, like I usually do on weekend mornings before riding/homework/whatever I am doing. Ended up buying 3 creme filled doughnuts and 2 powerades from sunfresh for my mornings' nutrition, another would-be terrible call.
Mr Sean Burns was kind enough to pay the entry fee for my broke ass, so I am now his endentured servant until my debts are cleared, thanks bro!!!
And of course my dumbass decides to mix it up with the 19-29 sport class instead of the ole crazy spinners in the single speed class (I think the shaggy dude won the SS class in like 48-49 min, crazy). I thought I was going to be alright, until I got the the preview for the REAL course. I had left out an entire LONG section of double track and pavement on my pre-race preview laps the past couple weeks. Needless to say, I got dropped hard right off the start cause everyone was big-ringing it through the DT and asphalt. And I made the mistake I always do of spinning wayyyy to much on the open areas to try and stay within sight distance-->heart rate went out of control and culminated in me exiting the 8-pins area and blowing chunks on the side of the trail while 15+ people passed me. To back track a little...so we got to the single track and I slowly am starting to gain on the people in my class, pass a couple of them, then a few more and get to 8-pins. Right before the enterance of 8-pins, I let an older guy in the class behind us pass me on his Yeti (he had caught me, we went off in 1-minute increments). Huge mistake on my part. #1) people were ALL OVER the goddamn place through there. Middle of the trail, side of the trail, wrecking on/off the trail, side of the trail making repairs, going way too fucking slow for a race in the good line, etc I saw Sean Burns through there and he was yelling at people to get the fuck out of the way if you weren't riding it, or riding it slow. I found out later he bent another chain ring, goddamn hammerman, hahaha. So anyway #2) The older dude on the full suspension Yeti decides to granny gear the whole f-ing section so I end up right up his ass the whole time and eventually actually made him endo because I cut him off when he went wide on a drop-off (Big-time sorry Bro! really it was a dick move on my part) #3) the older dudes were getting up my ass pretty hard so I was blazing through there like I hadn't in awhile, rode everything through there at probably 100 RPM, and then I stopped and lost my stomach contents.
By then I knew I was no way near gonna get a podium, but I figured hell, they're giving out 5 places, maybe. Spiked the heart rate again, blew some more and then Sean caught back up and passed me on the pavement climb back up the hill, I made it my goal to keep him in sight, hahaha, didn't work so well. Got through about 4/5 of my final lap, the last climb up Wudchuck run and Shadd Schreiner and Cam Chambers were yelling at everyone to move it or lose it, so I stood for a sec to blow chunks again and awtch them FLY by, I mean absolutely hauling ass through there (They were passing me on their 3rd lap, I was finishing my 2nd, :'( They finished their 3 laps in 1:01 and I was at 1:03)
Ended up DFL in my class, losing to the first place kid, who hadn't ridden a MTB race since March and is primarily a roadie, by 14 minutes, OUCH, big ego kick in the nuts. This was made even worse when I looked at the SS results and I would have been mid-pack there, weird how shit works sometimes.
I did get a free bike tube, however--26er presta valve, that I have no use for. My 29er is Presta, the full sus 26er is schreader = nice.
Yesterday was my final culmination of XC racing, that crap just isn't for me, really (I'll probably still do it tho :/. I will throw down on some 6 through 24 hour races, but anything under a couple hours really isn't worth my money anymore, I always get "smoked" haha get it?
check the blogroll to the right to read others reviews/write-ups.
and BIG UPS to the heartland staff, scott and craig, all the trail builders and event volunteers--another great event by that crew.
peace and dirt!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Cruise the Blues Photos
Found these today, Thanks to Paula Stout!!!
The suffer fest that is cruise the blues.
We got 2nd!
Ripping it :D
The suffer fest that is cruise the blues.
We got 2nd!
Ripping it :D Read up!
Little week in review and a look ahead to what's on tap...
Taco Tuesday at the ole BuRP...man it was fun! I got to the Sand Tap around 5:45 and hooked up with Micah who had already ripped the wagon trail, and was warmed up :/ He took off ripping OxBow up to basement when about halfway through I asked him to please stop for a minute...my heart rate was out of control, as one would expect when going from sitting in a car to spinning like mad on the bike. Got the heart worked back down and then we ripped through BoHoCa through the culvert then up the northern section of River trail. At the Ridge/River crossing we took it!! Oh yea Wast Side trails!!!!! Neither Micah or I had been back there in a long while. The Ridge trail was in suprisingly really good shape as was about 75% of the double track. However 25% of the double track was trashed!! Talk about horse and rut damage!! wowzers. We tooled around the west side for a bit and got back to the trap around 7:10. Had a burger and a beer, bullshitted a little, and threw my lights on for a night spin on Serengeti and OxBow. Went south first then doubled back and up OxBow to the road and the doubled back to the Trap, ended around 8:40. riding out there at night by yourself is kind of creepy. got EXTREMELY close to some deer on OxBow, they were coming back up from drinking from the river. almost hit the damn thing on the out AND back :/
Thursday nights at Swope have become the place to be if you own a Mountain Bike!!! I counted ~24 cars in the lot when I was getting ready to ride home after my few laps out there last night. However I know for sure that some people had already left and a few more were parked at the top of the Camp. probably 50+ riders out last night! amazing!!!!
Swope is in absolute killer condition. I cleared everything on 8 pins last night without having to put a foot down for the first time ever (thank you clean lines and 34-20 gearing :) The race course is killer fun too, too bad I'm broke and way too out of shape, other wise I'd do it this weekend for the KC CUP. Instead I'll be a "spectator", AKA riding the race course when warm-up laps are allowed/before/afterwards/drinking beer and generally just having a good ole time. See you there, I'll still be on the Rasta both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday for the cross race I'll have plenty of trombone and PBR as well if you wanna stop and say hi :)
My first exams and papers are starting to be due next week, lata even more riding :( Looks like I need to get the trainer set up so I can read and spin :/ oh joy.
peace and dirt!!!
Taco Tuesday at the ole BuRP...man it was fun! I got to the Sand Tap around 5:45 and hooked up with Micah who had already ripped the wagon trail, and was warmed up :/ He took off ripping OxBow up to basement when about halfway through I asked him to please stop for a minute...my heart rate was out of control, as one would expect when going from sitting in a car to spinning like mad on the bike. Got the heart worked back down and then we ripped through BoHoCa through the culvert then up the northern section of River trail. At the Ridge/River crossing we took it!! Oh yea Wast Side trails!!!!! Neither Micah or I had been back there in a long while. The Ridge trail was in suprisingly really good shape as was about 75% of the double track. However 25% of the double track was trashed!! Talk about horse and rut damage!! wowzers. We tooled around the west side for a bit and got back to the trap around 7:10. Had a burger and a beer, bullshitted a little, and threw my lights on for a night spin on Serengeti and OxBow. Went south first then doubled back and up OxBow to the road and the doubled back to the Trap, ended around 8:40. riding out there at night by yourself is kind of creepy. got EXTREMELY close to some deer on OxBow, they were coming back up from drinking from the river. almost hit the damn thing on the out AND back :/
Thursday nights at Swope have become the place to be if you own a Mountain Bike!!! I counted ~24 cars in the lot when I was getting ready to ride home after my few laps out there last night. However I know for sure that some people had already left and a few more were parked at the top of the Camp. probably 50+ riders out last night! amazing!!!!
Swope is in absolute killer condition. I cleared everything on 8 pins last night without having to put a foot down for the first time ever (thank you clean lines and 34-20 gearing :) The race course is killer fun too, too bad I'm broke and way too out of shape, other wise I'd do it this weekend for the KC CUP. Instead I'll be a "spectator", AKA riding the race course when warm-up laps are allowed/before/afterwards/drinking beer and generally just having a good ole time. See you there, I'll still be on the Rasta both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday for the cross race I'll have plenty of trombone and PBR as well if you wanna stop and say hi :)
My first exams and papers are starting to be due next week, lata even more riding :( Looks like I need to get the trainer set up so I can read and spin :/ oh joy.
peace and dirt!!!
Monday, September 14, 2009
grinding...
made it to swope last thursday to check out the KC cup course, it'll be ripping...killa climb up to the camp then through some jeep trail back into the woods, really really good passing areas and should ged everyone lined out at the start, hopefully (getting through the trash is the hardest part of being on a SS, of course this race should be a little different since its an XC and won't be mass start). Oh yea, the crappy part: I tore a sidewall on my rear captain armadillo. for reals. swope eats peoples' gear.
school is starting to get really busy, got the first 6 page paper due first week of October. First exams start piling up next week :/
satruday morning I made it out to Shawnee to rip it with my good amigo Mr. Sean Burns over at Shawnee Mission Park for a quick lap. I had to ride the Specialized and it was an up/down ride to say the least. I would bomb down the little runs they have getting way ahead of Sean, only to see him pass me chugging along on our climbs back up and get way ahead of me. We ripped out 1 lap of everything, purple, orange, red, and did the ride in/back from his house for probably around 8-9ish miles. Short sweet ride, but he and I both had shizzle to accomplish. BTW--Seamus is gonna be an older sibling.. singlespeedpirate.blogspot.com
welllllpppp...it's about that time to find calories and coffee before draining them out my brain, it feels like i'm forgetting something and as I'm typing I remember.
Liz was sick all weekend, boo, it sucked, really bad. for her and I, lol.
I did convince her though that we should go watch the finale of the TOUR OF MISSOURI!!! I knew I was forgetting something.
goddamn, it was cool to see something here in KC at least trying to imitate the Tour de France. hella roadies everywhere, haha, but saw quite a few MTBers down there as well, lots of bonebender and RIM shirts. some canadian took the stage win, and i have no idea who won overall, and don't really care to look it up. It really was kind of like watching the Tour though because they had a huge jumbotron at the start finish that provided on-course live coverage (kind of like VS does with the Tour de France) really really cool to watch. The KC streets look a lot different without traffic everywhere and an enormous peleton speeding around :)
peace and dirt!
school is starting to get really busy, got the first 6 page paper due first week of October. First exams start piling up next week :/
satruday morning I made it out to Shawnee to rip it with my good amigo Mr. Sean Burns over at Shawnee Mission Park for a quick lap. I had to ride the Specialized and it was an up/down ride to say the least. I would bomb down the little runs they have getting way ahead of Sean, only to see him pass me chugging along on our climbs back up and get way ahead of me. We ripped out 1 lap of everything, purple, orange, red, and did the ride in/back from his house for probably around 8-9ish miles. Short sweet ride, but he and I both had shizzle to accomplish. BTW--Seamus is gonna be an older sibling.. singlespeedpirate.blogspot.com
welllllpppp...it's about that time to find calories and coffee before draining them out my brain, it feels like i'm forgetting something and as I'm typing I remember.
Liz was sick all weekend, boo, it sucked, really bad. for her and I, lol.
I did convince her though that we should go watch the finale of the TOUR OF MISSOURI!!! I knew I was forgetting something.
goddamn, it was cool to see something here in KC at least trying to imitate the Tour de France. hella roadies everywhere, haha, but saw quite a few MTBers down there as well, lots of bonebender and RIM shirts. some canadian took the stage win, and i have no idea who won overall, and don't really care to look it up. It really was kind of like watching the Tour though because they had a huge jumbotron at the start finish that provided on-course live coverage (kind of like VS does with the Tour de France) really really cool to watch. The KC streets look a lot different without traffic everywhere and an enormous peleton speeding around :)
peace and dirt!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
school #2
as you can tell (if anyone reads this), my posting frequency has dropped dramatically since August 24. so i'll make this short and sweet, cause I got crap to do.
#1--I am no longer an urban planning & design major. drawing and 60 hours a week doing it are not for me. I am now "just" a triple major in sociology, spanish, and environmental studies with a minor in sustainability. I should graduate sometime in 2011 now though :)
#2--riding time/miles have dropped off the face of the earth. I've hit a couple taco tuesdays, rained out/was robbed the past couple swope rides and thats really about it. I have been riding to/from UMKC every day for class though, so I'm at least getting 5-10 miles a day that way.
#3--my class schedule sucks. 15 hours. 5 classes. MW 9:30-10:45 Geography of Middle America, MWF 2:00-2:50 Stats in Sociology, MW 5:30-6:45 Spanish 315, TR 9:30-10:45 Intro to Women's Studies and TR 1:00-2:15 Issues in Environmental Science. good classes but crappiest schedule ever.
#4--I need a job, near midtown/westport/plaza/brookside/etc. if anyone has a hookup let me know, please and thank you.
well, I'm gonna peruse someothers on my bloglist, get some needed coffee and got to class.
peace and dirt!
#1--I am no longer an urban planning & design major. drawing and 60 hours a week doing it are not for me. I am now "just" a triple major in sociology, spanish, and environmental studies with a minor in sustainability. I should graduate sometime in 2011 now though :)
#2--riding time/miles have dropped off the face of the earth. I've hit a couple taco tuesdays, rained out/was robbed the past couple swope rides and thats really about it. I have been riding to/from UMKC every day for class though, so I'm at least getting 5-10 miles a day that way.
#3--my class schedule sucks. 15 hours. 5 classes. MW 9:30-10:45 Geography of Middle America, MWF 2:00-2:50 Stats in Sociology, MW 5:30-6:45 Spanish 315, TR 9:30-10:45 Intro to Women's Studies and TR 1:00-2:15 Issues in Environmental Science. good classes but crappiest schedule ever.
#4--I need a job, near midtown/westport/plaza/brookside/etc. if anyone has a hookup let me know, please and thank you.
well, I'm gonna peruse someothers on my bloglist, get some needed coffee and got to class.
peace and dirt!
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