New Dirt...

It's pretty amazing what can be accomplished when a small group of friends get together to create a new place to ride bikes. With local trail conditions being in flux, I've been spearheading an operative to find and develop a small network of rainy-day rogue trail systems. The great thing about these trails is that  they are just begging to be ridden when you are bored of everything else, when the weather sucks and the real MTB trails are closed; or when you just want to escape the local scene and be alone in the woods.

Sunday was a great day to develop a fun loop near the Pirates Lair for such future activities as underground racing, night rides and shenanigans. CORE-bin, Farmer, The Manimal, Ranski, Justin, Beej, Billy and I rendezvoused with tools ready for a half-day of trail building followed by a few victory laps to enjoy the fruits of our labor. What was once a low lying partially wooded grassland dotted with deer trail and beaver dams now hosts a fun loop of glorious mountain bike sweetness. I want to thank my pals for showing up and helping sling dirt and grass for 5 hours to make this happen. We really kicked some major trail building ass. For those who are racing the last Pirate cXc race, you can thank them yourselves in person on Saturday night, when all things Pirate go down in the dark.

Here we have CORE-bin farting around on his dumpster bike catching some mini-air post trail building. This kid has more energy than a rabbit on hump-day; plays hard, works hard.

I'm psyched to be back riding, albeit the knee is hurting just enough to remind me not to crash. My fitness is crap but as always, still having fun. Hope to see all of you jerks Saturday night for the festivities that await. Cheers.

Riding Dirty, Flying High...

 

Spring; a time of freeze and thaw and riding or not riding. Trail conditions vary almost hourly - take it when you can get it...even with doctors orders saying otherwise.

I headed out solo to do a recovery ride, my first since the knee injury. The day was perfect and word of good trail at Swope was a sure bet that the masses would be gathering to shred. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw many familiar faces: Cotter, Davis, Tate, Billy, Jerome, Doug, Farmer and running at me like a lost puppy - G-Wiz.

G & I decided we'd roll together because he wanted a slow day and I was curious if I could even ride at all, this being my first time on dirt in almost 6 weeks. I brought my rigid fixed gear mountain bike because I am a sucker for pain. 

I chased G-Wiz around most of the good, hard technical sections at Swope. I was not fast but I was in fact able to ride, and other than a few simple dabs; ride fairly well. Bunny-hops hurt a bit, and back peddling the corners to scrub speed was mind wrenching. All in all I felt pretty good for being on the couch so long.

G-Wiz had been talking highly of his newer death machine, and how it was so much fun to ride fast through rock gardens or take off drops, etc. He did all of those things and more, with me even snapping some less than quality photos off the Whales Tail (see above).

A good day, a helluva good time riding bikes with friends. Its great to be back on the bike. 

R.I.C.E...

Started P.T. today on the knee injury. I should be up and riding just in the neck of time to race Bonebender and then Syllamo; Dare I say off the couch? I had grand plans of getting mega fit, fast and unstoppable this season. That's all of course still going to happen, just not as early in the season as planned. Nothing a little Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation and a whole lot of P.T. can't get straightened out. In the mean time I'll be riding - somehow, just to maintain some kind of sanity.

Pirate Booty...

Ch-ch-ch-Check-it! I've got a HUGE list of bike related goodies FOR SALE. Own a piece of Pirate History. Click HERE or click the For Sale tab on the right side of the screen. I keep this ongoing list updated weekly with deals on all kids of goodies that I know you're dying to have.
I'm also selling my Trek Sawyer, FRAME ONLY.

It's a Large, in mint condition. You can run this baby as a geared or singlespeed bike. It has sliding rear dropouts AND a split drive side dropout that allows the use of belt drive systems. I LOVE the bike, but I need the doh. Asking $400.

singlespeedpirate@gmail.com

Night Racing...

Whew! Saturday was a blur of good times. My morning was super hectic trying to get lined-out for a full day of cycling related activities. I’d planned to race Urban Cross in the West Bottoms at 3, then head over to The Howling that evening. The stars did not align and I did not make it to Urban Cross in time to start, so instead I just heckled folks, drank beer, handed out beer and took a few photos. G-Wiz ended up taking home the win ( a set of Major Tom CX rims) with The Manimal rolling in shortly thereafter.
Time lapse to 7 p.m. and we’re doing the group neutral roll-in to The Howling race course. Only half of those registered actually sacked-up and showed for the event, which was a good number of folks anyway. The temperature was a frigid 18 degrees.

For the start of the race all had to remove their front wheel and hold it above their heads. When it was go time all had to get front wheels re-mounted and start cranking. The first technical obstacle was a steep and narrow rock chute into a creek, which was armored with rocks and ride able without getting wet. Next was a long and brutal climb to the high point of the loop, then down a fast descent. Next up was the eight levels of hell – eight short yet super steep climbs non-stop, back-to-back. After these brutal climbs (one of which was a mandatory hike-a-bike) there was a nice flat area to spin and catch your breath, then a final long descent to the start/finish.

At the start/finish there were options for time bonuses; earned by performing unmentionable tasks. The Manimal gained 45+/- bonus points during the three lap race, flipping awesome job! Total race was approx.. 8 miles with 1,000 feet of climbing. It was, per Pirate cXc standards, a brutal course that most were not brave enough to attempt.

Pyro took home the win in Singlespeed. G-Wiz wrapped up his second win of the day in the Geared class. The Manimal took home an ipod shuffle for his over-the-top achievement in the bonus point category. Beej rolled in DFL, keeping his title at 2 for 2. Nice work fellas. And yours truly? I got this sweet hat from Taddihogg!

The Howling was a great time. We hit-up a bar post-race for awards, beer, food and mockery. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun the series has been, and how psyched I am for The Deep next month, which is the final race of the Winter Night Race Series. Check It out!

Double Dipping...

Get out and support local racing without all of the red tape bullshit that I love to hate. It's hard to say NO to beer hand-ups, peeps everywhere and a race put on by a couple mischief-loving freaks.

And for those who just can't say NO to more free beer and DANGER, add this to your Saturday agenda and you'll have hours of campfire stories to tell.

Hope to see you there, and there.

In-CRED-ible...

It happened, StreetcredKC Race No.1 , Tough Guy Alley Cat. Though I should not be riding yet due to a knee injury, I couldn't help but go out and support local racing. Not only was it just a race, but a helluva fun time riding around in the city while being pelted by moisture and cold temps. That followed by snacks, free beer and a warm place to consume both makes for a good day.

My first intentions were simply to come out and heckle riders, do beer hand-ups and spectate. Once I arrived I couldn't help but break out the two wheeled monster truck (I was the lone guy on a fat tire bike) and get to riding. It was game on, we had the instructions for the event and it looked like a scavenger hunt style point-to-point race. I have not lived IN the city for years. My knowledge of streets and getting around pretty much sucked as far as the race goes. I just tried to keep up.

Did I  mention the stairs? I think we climbed like 3,469* stairs.

I did however have a few notable experiences; First I met some fun folks to ride with. Second, Chasm and his better half are back in KC, that's a great thing for fun on bikes. Third, I was able to ride, even with a gimp knee. Fourth, I did the longest, scariest skinny I've ever done (the concrete barrier on the Tracy bridge over 71 hwy). My ass was so puckered during that 100 yards of concrete death that I almost threw-up in my mouth. Fifth, I got way lost from the group and ended up at the Liberty Memorial riding the sweet stone ramps along the stairs. And Sixth, well, It was fun, I was on my bike and there was free beer. I never turned-in my sheet post race, so I'm pretty sure, per the norm for me at StreetcredKC, I probably earned DFL. Hell, I got lost, chased by security guards and barely made it back to Volker alive. Enough said.

Hope to see all of you jerks at the next StreetcredKC - Urban Cross. SAME day as The Howling. YES, this means all the best of the best will be double-dipping in pavement and dirt racing, all in the same day. Get some!

Saturday Night Lights...

And Racing... The insanely fun way, in the DARK!

- MOVED TO FEBRUARY 11th -

I also hear word of a skid competiton... with prizes. Be There!

Shenanigans...

Now those are some funny looking trees...

Cog-o-licious...

I gave away my prize Phil Wood rear flip-flop hub to a friend as a graduation/b-day gift. I am really wishing I had kept it now, since I currently do NOT have a fixed gear mountain bike in my stable. There is something about a fixie and winter that mix well; like the ingredients of an Irish Car Bomb. Delicious and unmatched.

So I was paroosing the interweb searching for ideas when "WHAM"!!! I remembered the Tomicog. What a novel yet basic idea on how to enable the average Joe to run any 5 bolt disc hub as a fixed gear. My fingers did the walking as I instantly ordered an eighteen. I'll be like a kid on Christmas morning for the next week awaiting it's arrival!

Let's see...$30 Tomicog OR $200+ for a new rear wheel? TOMICOG! Just think of all the beer I can buy with the money I saved.