Race Report #1

What the *&$K kind of bike blog is this!?! The first gear review was about rock climbing shoes and the first race report is about 

running? Makes no sense... 

Somewhere between waiting for my laundry to dry at my parents house and realizing that I had tennis shoes on my feet I got the grand idea of kicking off my spring break with the 31st Annual Westport St. Patrick's Day Run. I really haven't tested my fitness baseline against anyone else this year and also haven't competitively run against anyone for the past 7 or 8 years, so I figured running with 3,100 other people for 4.5ish miles seemed like a great way to determine just what kind of shape I was in. 

Overall I have no idea how I finished. Apparently scoring and entering data for 3000+ people is a task that takes longer than a week (even with a scoring chip...?) I do know that if I want to continue doing this whole running gig I need to start figuring out how to pace myself a little bit since I am pretty sure I was not supposed to have both a high 8 and a low 6 mile in the same race. All in all I finished worse than I wanted to but better than I would have settled for.

So here's to sport, feet and new kinds of hurt. 

Holy Road Bikes!

Before the pain set in.

I rode to and from the Perry Dam Race with this group of fast kids today. For some reason I thought that 4+ hours on a road bike wasn't going to leave me in a world of hurt but I definitely made it home from my 70 mile jaunt just barely hanging on to my sanity.

The way out group.

Sirs Giles and Waller towed me for a lap around the lake while we waited for the fast kids/kids with $ to finish racing so we could ride home. All I have to say about those two characters is that they both earned their gentleman badges today. The Giles and Waller duo towed me back to the group while I flailed and whined trying to catch up after the main group rolled through the stop sign without waiting for us three (don't worry main group guys we didn't expect you to worry about anyone but yourselves, that wouldn't be the true roadie spirit.)

In conclusion, I still don't find road riding incredibly enjoyable compared to other things that I could be doing on my bike. Although I do understand that it is a necessary evil that I am going to have to spend more time at to get ready for the epic gravel racing that's about to heat up around these parts.

So here's to pain, skinny tires and the true roadie way.

Lovely Day for a Guinness

March is here the weather is warming up and we are less than a week away from my favorite day of the year, St. Patrick's Day! I can't hold my excitement in any longer. My countdown timer is ticking and I am officially one paper and one midterm away from cranking up the Pogues/Dubliners/Dropkick/Flogging Molly play list and diving head first into a week of Guiness, Harp and Jamesons.

Not being anything even close to a full-blooded Irish kid I have absolutely no reason to appreciate St. Pat's as much as I do, but I do it regardless.



I love that it's the one day of the year that allows me to drink with the fervor of a gaggle of pirates and have it be socially acceptable. I love that it traditionally marks the start of spring break, and that I look good in green, and that I always have hope that there will be some young pretty girl unadorned in green just waiting to giggle over my innebriated self giving her a pinch. But for all intensive purposes I firmly believe that there should be a Mc in front of my last name.

So here's to Irish whiskey, women and stout.

Movin' On Up!

The Cycle City Kids got a new shop to play in on Saturday! Exciting stuff for the enterprising Fox family. The new shops digs are pretty swank and offers an environment that I really don't think any shop in the KC area can rival. The super open space, classy coffee nook and fitting area really add to something different in the way of bike shop layouts.


In a way it is disappointing to see the flagship store disassembled. Mainly because while I know I probably could muster up the gumption to do a keg stand of Oktoberfest at most any bike shop, it just will never feel like it did at the old store. On the plus side I did score that super plush love seat that I'm sure all of the northlanders sweaty lycra clad backsides have rested on after a ride or two.


The bum part of the week: My body is wrecked, today was my second emergency room visit in the last month (for completely unrelated things.) Which officially makes me a whiny little girl, but at least I can say that I have been to the emergency room 4 times in my life so at least I have rationed well throughout my years.

Here's how I picture this conversation with my body:
Me: Hey body! So I'm gonna treat you real well, slow down on the drinkin', quit the tobaccco gig, train smart, eat healthy. Ya know? Sounds good right?
My Body: HAHA! And in return I will completely screw over your life for almost an entire month by leaving you in excruciating pain with several different illnesses!

The upside of the bum part: I was diagnosed with pleurisy, which feels like a cracked rib but surprise! It's just the outer layer of the lung tissue swelling up so much that it presses unbearably hard against the chest cavity. Which means I should be back in form for the Bone Bender and also means I left the ER with a prescription for HYDROCODONE! I don't know how many of y'all have gotten the chance to experience this stuff but it's out of this world in the pain killer realm. I'm talking so good that I'm gonna be hard pressed not to add doctor/pharmacist on to the list of qualifications for the future Mrs. Slater just so I can have this stuff on tap when my bods on the fritz.

So here's to swank bike shops, tatterred couches, pain and the pills that dull that damn pain.