new years eve ride

Nordstrom Cafe (a hidden gem)

When I was posed with the option of places to eat pre shopping at Mac Arthur Center Mall in Norfolk VA, this place certainly did not pique any interest of mine.
But Sally and Judy had been there before, and gave it much praise. Still I was skepticle. As we neared the cafe, I noticed a very tempting smell of fine foods being arranged and dispersed. And there it was, this hidden gem that I would so love to expose and share with all of you. It's an alternative of sorts to the big brother resteraunts at the mall. It's on the third floor with a wonderful view, great friendly service, and fine craftsmanship. The prices are ok, but compared to the food, its worth it! Tell em K-Blogg sent ya and ya might get served ;-)

Rainy Sunday Ride

We knew it was gonna rain, we knew it was gonna be chilly, we knew mountainbiking would way better than a windy rainy road ride at the beach. I woke up with ample time to make coffee, and breakfast, setup my yahoo fantasy basketball lineups, and pack a big ol bag of clothes for riding... As i headed out to the car, I realized it was raining. Dinsey had been emailing me to see if it was a go. I called Liz, and she said GO! Marco was already on the road, and I knew Jerry was in no questions asked. I emailed our favorite forcaster and he actually gave an accurate forcast... I'm good so long as we start dry. After the photo sessions (when you have bloggers on a ride, photos will be taken) were done, we split up by gender and hit some trail.Marco, Jerry, ChrisD, and myself were led by Todd who knows this trail system very well. He kept a really nice pace that kept me working really hard, and the others even harder. It says alot when someone can ride down to our level and have fun. Thanx Todd, we really enjoyed it!
The conditions started cloudy, and cool, and diminished rather quickly. We never noticed the wind, but couldn't help but notice the rain slowly soaking us, and making every turn out of control, and the numerous roots treacherous, and demanding.
There was a few wipeouts, but all in all, we rode well. And I'm so glad we made it. Riding the mtb is so much fun!
The girls seemed to have had a good time as well. Good to see Liz, Beneline, and crew! Let's do it again soon...

The boys seeking some refuge from the rain before heading back into the trail.


The rest of these pics are from Liz






Tomorrow Judy and I will be hitting the gym, and then the trails behind our house. Then it's the Hair of the Dog 5k run at Mt Trashmore New Years Day followed by Miles for Merideth Nicolls ride...

sliding into home plate!

It happened again...
Just when I thought the curse on kevin in 07 had been lifted.
Finishing up the 3rd loop (2cnd for me) I bunny hopped the median into the rear of Starbucks, and carved an aggresive line towards the sidewalk curb when my specialized "all condition tires decided to give out, and off i went sliding on my left side for like 15 feet! All in front of everyone. I'm pretty dissapointed in the tyres... But I ill say that it was wet, and that parking lot is very slick.

It was quite the spectacle for all to see! And many were looking for their camera's to no avail. You see, whilst sliding, I put my hands down and found some footing, and ended the slide on my feet. I grabbed my dd-x and saw that she was good to go, mounted, and rode a few pedal strokes to coffee, cheers and jeers. It's all good, I didn't get hurt, but do have a nice raspberry on the hip just below a fresh scar.


It was a good ride with some good peeps. We got to see Danbo today! That was a treat! He took a few shots and threw them on his Blog...
Hopefully it won't rain so the real men and women can go mounainbiking!

This photo is from Danbo

Velocity

OK, I got my brand spankin new Velocity wheels handbuilt by Velocity from my friends at Slingshot (two very fine cycling company's in snowy Michigan)!

They are titanium in color with black spokes, and black hubs. If you look on they're website, you'll find quite the assortment of colors to be had. The wild colors look best on the deep V.

I'm also trying some little red plastic caps called veloplugs which eliminates the use of rim tape. Don't you just despise rim tape? They claim to be lighter in weight. I'm excited, and it seems like a good thing. I did end up placing a sram sticker to cover the weld of the rim.

They seem like a quality build, and have a little tag indicating who built them, and date. I went with a very high spoke count for a bombproof all around wheelset tha I can use as road trainers and cross.

I have Specialized all condition tires mounted for heavy duty winter base building rides. They look and feel heavy duty, and the color scheme goes well with the Slingshot dd-x.
The first ride on them was a 60 miler early Christmas Eve morning at the Beach. I can very simply say that they're moderate in weight (which is good considering the low cost, and with racing tires, they will feel even lighter). Very stiff! Dare I say that they rival the stiffness of Ksyrium SLs? (it's true). I also like the quietness of the freehub. It's very stealth like...


I will write more about them as I ride them...

Merry Christmas!

Foxy

Foxy came by to visit us before our Christmas Eve dinner tonight. Judy and I run into ol foxy in the Arboretum all the time on our bikes, and sometimes we see him before he runs off throughout the hood. But tonight, on Christmas Eve, we spotted him on our deck snooping around for some food. Earlier in the day I had set out some crackers on the ledge of the deck in hopes of catching some close up photos of the many birds in the backyard. For some reason, they were all over the place today.
So I'm thinking foxy was onto the cracker smell... I went out there and gave him a hotdog, and shot some pictures with the D-50. Isn't he just perfect???

KCCX Nationals 2007

Checkout race.cx for the knockout blow!
Brian, when you coming to visit?


The course was very different everyday
Friday it was icy but more muddy
The bikes were looking pretty bad.
Saturday everything froze.
All of the muddy ruts were frozen solid then blanketed with a couple inches of snow
And it was still coming down through the afternoon
Sunday was better with actual lines to ride and a thawing of sorts.
After looking at the course and watching some races, I realized that I'd need something better than my sneakers. So where do you think we went? Yup-------» WalMart! I got some lovely camo winter boots for 26 bucks. They were perfect. And yes, I left them in Kansas. Someone at Avis is probably sporting them right now.

We raced Saturday afternoon in near white out conditions with a nasty 20mph wind to add to it.
I was shivering me timbers at the staging area getting ready to start.
A kind velo bella girl took my black and white Tripower jacket and said she'd have it at the finish but I got pulled after two laps. Hopefully we'll find a way to get my jacket back. I brought the unlucky one that has holes all over the back from a nasty wreck in October just in case it got left behind. You never know the power of blogs have done some amazing things.
The race was very dangerous with icy ruts pushing you all over the place. I went down a couple of times and for some reason both of my shins hit the pedals hard. I had blood running down my shin and collecting in my sock. Didn't even know till way after. It would have been fun to play ride with your friends but to race in those conditions, na na! So getting pulled probably saved me from bodily harm to look on the bright side.
I was starting dial things in and better my position through the largest field of the day.
And from what I hear, Mark Mcormack crashed into a lapped rider while getting ready for a sprint finish. I'd hate to be that guy. Speaking of that guy. How would you like to be the guy who slides off course into the other side of the course hitting Ryan Trebon and literally knocking him unconscious and out of the race. That sucked. He looked really bad.

My setup was the dd-x which is very light, stiff, yet subtle when needed.
Ksyrium sl tubulars with tufo tires glued on em. The psi was tricky, I went very low probably 28 which gave me lots of traction and a whole lot of much needed cush.
I use Specialized carbon bars and seatpost for more lightness and quality feel.
It all worked well except my shoes and pedals filled up with ice and snow but then again, I don't know how to get around that.
Hand and toe warmers worked well. And plastic bags in the shoes helped to keep things dry.

Saturday night we went to a little perty at Sunflower Outdoor ----- a really cool bike shop and more. Dan the owner was super nice and welcomed us and gave us a quick rundown on the local bike scene and the lines they carry. This shop really seems to be doing it right. They had two kegs and some hot cider for refreshments. The place filled quickly with cyclists from all over the place. We met Ned there, and that was great.

Watching the pro races Sunday was awesome!
Katie Compton won her fourth cx champs in a row. Rachel Loyd came outta nowhere to take 2cnd. We got to meet and hangout with her mechanic a bunch over the weekend and he says she's very new to cx. Watch out for that one. She's now a triple threat (mtb, road, cx). Georgia Gould took third. Mo Bruno Roy had a very good ride. And all the rest of the girls were looking so good going fast and gettin dirty! WooT! I was getting dizzy trying to count all of the velo bella girls. I love those kits.
The mens race was action packed the whole time. Page looked good out in front being chased by Tim Johnson who had the eye of the tiger and Todd Wells not too far behind. TJ caught Page and they traded blows until Page slid out and got the bike caught up in course tape. Fortunately he wasn't far from the pits so he ran and got a fresh bike and put on a feverish chase to no avail. It was TJ's day! He was awesome and very deserving of the jersey. The Wells bros got third and fifth.
We went to the after party at D&B's which is just like Jillians here in norfolk. Bar, restaurant, arcade. The place slowly filled with CX'rs coming in wave after wave of who's who in cross. We hung out with Buckles and Stu from Richmond, played games, ate, drank a lot of beer and had good times with a lot of stars of our sport just cutting loose!
We asked TJ where the after party was gonna be and our lovely waitress said downstairs at Saddle Ridge . A big ol western bar with a mechanical bull. Oh yea we were all primed and ready to go. Everybody took turns on it and it was so funny. I did it three times and got a nice blister on my finger from it. We all partyed like rock stars and it even got coyote ugly up in there. The girls were dancing on the bar!
We were let in on something a lot of us normal people don't get to see. It was underground, and I will keep it there and not uncover the anonymity of the people I look up to cuttin loose as they should be able to do.
We got back to the hotel after 2am and passed the hell out.
That I think made up for the sucky race Saturday.

Thanx to all the well wishers
Mi Familia
Tripower for helping us get out there
Slingshot bikes for an awesome cx bike (the dd-x)!
Bill G for letting me use the bike box

Sunflower Outdoor & Bike


Stu rockin the Bull bandit style!


Looking upon the venue from parking afar


no exageration, it was cold, windy, and snowing!


Our only refuge was the inside of our mini van rental...


Hard to imagine I didn't feel this. Take a look at the coagulation on and in the sock, frozen blood!


how does stuff even work in this???

These two gems are from Sean Yeager who had a stellar 2 races! He and Matt Marchal were two friendly faces to run into everyday. 804 represent!




I emailed this one to my team titled EPIC. Little did I know just how true that title would play out through the day.


I snached this one from cyclingnews.com. It's the start of my race, and it really captures the elements.


And last but not least, Mike and I rockin the Bull !

Thanx Sally for the pics. It was good seeing you in Kansas too...

CX Nats Blog updates throughout the day!

KCCXBLOG

Check out that blog

Off to Nationals

I'm busy packing tonight because tomorrow after work I'm being picked up and hauled to the airport and flying to Kansas City!
I will be taking my Slingshot and representing the 757 as best I can. Gonna see some friends, meet some new ones, check out the scene, and freeze my ass off! Wish me Luck...


In other news---Division 2 Club of the Year has just been announced. Tri-Power of Virginia Beach Virginia wins it again!
This makes me happy. I would like to congratulate, and thank most all of my team for being such a cool team and doing well in so many disciplines of cycling. I reckon I will stay on for another year...

photo---jb aka (brokefoot)


I'm wondering why no automotive companies are contacting me to offer me, and a group of my mates a vehicle for use in traveling to and from cycling events in 2008. I mean, I want to be Green, I want our environment to be clean. I want to promote this, and their product. I would like a Hybrid, or alternative fuel vehicle to carpool to races. You, the company get to label said vehicle however you want, you get to track the mileage and whereabouts we go via GPS. I dunno, I think I'm on to something here... Mike, handle it!
Holy Methane! We can make special Tri-Power kits with green flames, clean burning flames!
I can see it now, can you?

I wish that Bio-Diesel plant didn't get rejected here. I would have hit them so hard for sponsorship, it wouldn't even be funny!

This is Cross...

Another Movie Night

We had a fine crew over to hangout and watch ROAM...




What should we watch next???

Judy Breaks Out!

Judy had a killer ride today in our trails behind the house! She pretty much rode everything, and when we got to the stairs (at the end of the video), she said " I think I want to ride them"... I told her to wait till I got the camera set up, and she nailed it. At 6 years old, this girl is tearing it up like nobody's business. I couldn't be prouder. The song I think is fitting, talking about a shadow, and leaving it all behind.. Some new Eddie Vedder stuff (which is quite good).

I think she's ready for some Ipswich!!!

Team Tri-Power 2007

Happy Holidays Erbody!