Pedal Brake Pedal

Ah, riding the road bike OUTSIDE

2012-01-30T19:36:00.001-06:00

Although I have ridden my mountain bike outdoors at least once a week for weeks on end now, I have only ridden my road bike indoors since the middle of December. But, this last week has been too muddy to ride off road. Imagine my happiness whilst taking the old Fastback off of the trainer and hitting the road yesterday!

Great ride. I really wanted to go for an easy spin, but it ended up much harder than it should have been. To top it off, while doing a lap of Jefferson Barracks, I had to put the B's on somebody. I had just swiftly passed a group of riders (waving as I went by) and one guy returned the favor by drafting me down a hill and attacking me up the next! Awwww, Hail Naw! I turned on the old man afterburners and put that to rest. So much for an easy spin.

I also took a quick lap through the cemetery. I can never remember the street nor the plot where my dad is, so I just made the most of it and enjoyed the view of the cobalt blue Mississippi.

What a great day.

Pile of Rosco Hair

2012-01-29T12:18:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I give Rosco a hair cut. I just can't stand to see him run around looking like a homeless dog. I had enough this morning and went to work with some scissors and this is what came of it. It feels like it weighs several ounces...it's a big pile and it's DENSE!

He looks like a new dog, but he will probably sleep the rest of the day. He gets pissed over things like this.

Sorry, dude. You really needed it. You'll thank me tomorrow.

Hanna is closing in on 12 years old

2012-01-23T18:56:00.001-06:00

Hanna turns 12 in a few days, and as a special treat, we asked her to vacuum the living room! Ok, not really. But she is a very good housekeeper.

Like in past years, we got together with the Buck family to celebrate because cousin Max's birthday is within days of Hanna's. And all the cousins get together and play stuff.

Eli can have fun with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Here, he just finished tormenting one of Max's friends.

I took six or seven photos where Hanna's eyes were closed. I just decided to go ahead and use this one. Hey, nice coat!

Deanna made sure her eyes were WIDE open for this one!

Ah, finally a photo of Hanna with her eyes open! And, I think Max's eyes are open, but it's hard to see with the abundance of hair.

Max had no trouble blowing his candles out. Hanna tried multiple times. Maybe they were trick candles? Happy birthday kids.

100 Bike Parts for 100 Days of School

2012-01-17T21:13:00.002-06:00

Eli has a project at school that involves 100 of something. On Friday, it is the 100th day of school for him, so the project can be anything that represents 100.

It was a pretty easy concept for me to wrap my head around. Eli is always riffling through my parts and tools while I'm working downstairs, and I'm painfully aware while I clean up after him that there are hundreds of small parts and pieces that I currently have little or no use for.

So here it is. 100 individual bike parts, bolted together in a small work of art. Eli was so proud of it. It was very exciting for him to go through the counting process, as well as figuring out ways to put them together.

If you look closely, you can see chainrings, bottom brackets, cranks, chainring bolts, headset top caps, star nuts, brake shoes, brake calipers, cables, suspension remote lockout switches, XTR pedals, XTR skewers, headset spacers....it was actually really fun.

I hope it's at least unique. It is to us.

Happy 13th Birthday Rosco P Coletrain!

2012-01-16T20:30:00.003-06:00

This is the killa.....

January 16th, 1999. That's when it all started. Rosco P Coletrain was born on that day. He came home to my house on my birthday a few weeks later with his angry little face, his huge gremlin ears, and his mean little bark. Through the years he has held such a special place in my life. He and his brother Rudy changed my life forever. It would have been hard for my selfish heart to have learned anything about love or sacrifice without them.

Happy Birthday, Rosco. I love you.

It's January 16th....

2012-01-16T20:18:00.004-06:00

...and I had the top down. It may be dirty, but dammit, I had the top down and my hair blowin'....what little there is to blow. I washed it on the way home tonight, by the way.

Ice Skating with a BFF

2012-01-15T21:26:00.001-06:00

Eli is always bored and looking for fun when his older siblings are not around. Thus, he called his BFF Sydney to go ice skating with us at Webster.

Sydney and Eli were chomping at the bit to get onto the ice. In the meantime, we watched the Zamboni machine.

With his walker...er...ice walker in hand, eli blasted around the rink. He was doing quite well.

I was standing next to the glass and this came up.

The beautiful Mrs K was tearing the ice up. Here she was helping Sydney with her...er...ice walker.

The rink became rather crowded and the ice walkers became quite the rage. If you didn't keep your eye on your ice walker, it would be gone.

I have no idea what Eli is doing here. Can you tell he's wearing Tyson's gloves? We left soon after this because the kids were so darn tired. Apparently it's hard to skate around with those walkers.

New bed, maybe a good night's sleep??

2012-01-10T20:59:00.002-06:00

Neither the Beautiful Mrs K nor myself have slept very well in the last 6 years. That's because we made a poor decision when we bought our last mattress. Well, the mattress, kids, dogs...you know, they all conspire to make sleep a elusive pleasure.

Maybe that changes after today. We bought a new mattress, a memory foam thing. She researched it to the Nth degree, as she does everything, and I have high hopes.

If I no longer have bags under my eyes the next time you see me, it's probably because of the new bedding.

A Bad Blogger's Look Back at 2011

2012-01-07T20:10:00.001-06:00

I keep saying that I am glad that 2011 is over. So far, 2012 is looking pretty darn good, even if judged simply by weather standards.

2011, The Good
The kids are growing like weeds, and each started new grades in school. For Eli, it was his first year of school, as he started Kindergarten. Tyson and Hanna started 5th and 6th grades, respectively. And just like every good parent, I tell everyone how smart they are.

Deanna started with US Bank and is going along very well. She says I can't have a Lamborghini just yet but I'm holding out for early retirement.

I was graciously tasked with the position of Manager at Big Shark's new West location in Chesterfield Valley. It has been the best work experience of my life and I'm thankful for that opportunity. I can see big things for the store in the near future...hopefully very near because, as stated above, retirement should be just around the corner!

2011, The Bad
The year started out pretty badly with both the beautiful Mrs. K and I having medical issues. For me they are ongoing and I pretty much struggle every day with stomach issues. I feel petty complaining about it, because I know so many more people that live with so much worse. Nonetheless, it's made for a very challenging year.

We lost our wonderful friend, Rocky. He's been a huge part of our family, and it's still tough. At the same time that Rocky became ill, Rosco began having stomach trouble, probably sympathy pains for me. He still struggles with bladder problems, but we have requisitioned Grandma's dog Carmel to keep Rosco (and us all) company.

Going Forward
We have a lot to look forward to this year. Hanna is on a select volleyball team, Tyson is playing basketball and will play baseball in the spring as well as do a few mountain bike races. Eli...well, Eli has nothing but good things ahead. Deanna is doing a half marathon in April, and she and I are going to France for a week long riding tour of the Tour de France bicycle race.

....and, I hope to be a better blogger, whatever that means.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-25T00:56:00.002-06:00

Eli and Hanna were very chummy tonight. She with her new iPad and Cookie Crisp cereal, and he with his shaggy hair. Not much under the tree, as this was before they went to bed. She still had on her dress from the Christmas program at her church.

This is the tree AFTER they went to bed. Lots of carefully wrapped (by the beautiful Mrs K) presents await the kids. I wrapped a few of them, and I am glad that Christmas wrapping paper is torn off so viciously by children so that no one sees just how bad I wrap presents.

Merry Christmas, everybody. Remember, it's not how nicely the gift is wrapped, it's who wrapped it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cliff Cave with the Dogs

2011-12-18T22:28:00.000-06:00

After much housework and chores, the weather dictated that we do something with our day that didn't suck. And that something was Cliff Cave. Last year, Deanna, Eli, and myself took Rocky and Rosco to Cliff Cave for some hiking. I did 99.9% more riding than hiking, but Eli and the dogs had a smashing good time. This year, our dearly departed Rocky wasn't available, but our dearly borrowed dog Carmel came along. The first photo shows Eli and Carmel catching some unsuspecting biker on the bluff side of the trail. I rode the new Hei Hei full suspension bike, and despite my 21 hour day Saturday that culminated in the infamous Sharkmas Xmas party, I had a great ride.

Rosco just loves a good hike. Especially in the winter. Carmel loves hiking, too, and he showed his border collie roots by bounding up and down the rocks. Eli took the beautiful Mrs K on quite an adventure by climbing up some of the rocky walls that lead up to the bluff side. The dogs clambered up with them. Apparently it was epic, all ending with the dogs resembling canine mud wrestlers.

This is now Rosco's default position, much more so today after the grueling hike and the subsequent bath. Not a bad place to sleep, I guess, but would not have been my choice with the super soft dog couch across the room.

Later, the dog couch was put to fantastic use, as much stronger sleeping methods were called for. Even super dog Carmel could not hold his eyes open any longer after his bath. Nothing that happened in the house for the following 90 minutes after this photo was taken could shake the dogs from their slumber.

All in all, it was a great day. I even braved Craigslist to get rid of some junk to compliment the newly cleaned garage. And tonight, I parked the Mustang indoors.

Christmas Tree!

2011-12-15T23:22:00.002-06:00

The beautiful Mrs K. does a bang up job with the tree, eh? The kids helped.

1987 Lamborghini Countach

2011-12-15T22:01:00.003-06:00

Ah, father time. It waits for no man. It waits for no car, either. In 1987, I was bedazzled by the Lamborghini Countach. What teenager wasn't? It was the stuff of legend. Just how fast WAS it?? It didn't matter. Most people thought it was the biggest, baddest, fastest car ever to grace public roads. And the feeling it gave all that it passed by was lust. Car and Driver, in mid-summer 1986, tested the then-new Quattrovalvole (four valve) Countach at 5 seconds to 60mph and a top speed of 179mph, 184mph without it's optional wing. Not the fastest ever...and it didn't matter. I lusted after one, but at over $110k, it would have to wait until I worked for more than minimum wage.

Now it's 2011, and the Countach, while still outrageous looking, appears a bit dated. And V6 Mustangs and Camaros are nearly as fast. The march of time has relegated the Rambo of cars (dubbed Lambo by Car and Driver) to museum status.

But I still want one.

Read what AUTOBLOG has to say about this model that up for sale on Ebay.

Yeah! 8th place!

2011-12-13T14:27:00.002-06:00

It may sound petty, but I'm pretty proud of my 8th place in the Bubba Cyclocross series. The results were posted today and I see that the line judges gave me the sprint finish for 9th on Sunday, which was the difference between 8th and 9th in the series.

I'm pretty proud because with the exception of Faust Park (my one DNF), I finished top 10 in every race, which for me was only 6 events (8th, 8th, 6th, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 9th) and I did not do the State Championship race in Kansas City, which was double points. I was nothing if not consistent.

Onward and Upward.

Spanish Lake Cross Race

2011-12-12T20:57:00.003-06:00

I snagged this dollar running over the barriers at Spanish Lake on Sunday. It was one of three attempts, and the only successful one.

I was pretty happy to end the 'cross season yesterday. Not because I'm tired of racing. There are just too many barriers to racing, including the fact that I don't like the cold. Despite being mostly a power course, me and the ol' mountain bike pulled out a 9th. Maybe 10th. I didn't stick around after my sprint finish with Rock Wamsley to see which one of us won. I was excited to have a race come down to a sprint, even though it was for the minor placings. That makes me top ten for the series.

I am so totally shooting for a top 5 next year.

A little Christmas Cheer

2011-12-04T21:43:00.001-06:00

Deanna and I spent the better portion of the day on Saturday putting up Christmas decorations. I think it turned out pretty nicely. We're not done yet, but it's a great start.

I've never been one to celebrate the winter holidays. I know, I know. I sound like the Grinch. Or Scrooge. It's just been more of a depressing time of year for me, what with the cold and all. However, the beautiful Mrs K is much more into the holidays than I am, and it's hard not to be infected by it. So, gradually, year after year, I get a bit more excited by it. One day, I may be driving Santa's sleigh.

Nah.

I can't make this stuff up

2011-12-03T17:52:00.001-06:00

I was cleaning Eli's room today when I came across this pile of stuffed animals...and one sleeping dog.

My three babies

2011-12-03T17:49:00.001-06:00

I think this was photo was from a couple of weeks ago at Bandana's. They are all so completely different, but all so completely goofy at the same time. Tyson is winning the battle for goofiest at this particular moment.

Kona Hei Hei 29er

2011-12-03T13:21:00.001-06:00

The Hei Hei is pretty much finished. There are some tweaks to be done, but nothing major. I still have yet to decide if I will hook up the Pop lock, so it's dangling for now.

Eli and I rode our bikes together for a little while, and he gave the Hei Hei a BIG double thumbs up!

Yamaha Y125 Moegi

2011-12-01T23:11:00.001-06:00

It's not often that a motorcycle can catch my attention. But some do. This is a Yamaha concept bike shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. Click here to read about it on Autoblog.

Jefferson Barracks Cyclocross Race

2011-11-27T22:34:00.001-06:00

Not nearly as muddy as Mount Pleasant last weekend, the race at Jefferson Barracks was not a course that played to my strengths. It was mainly a power course, with long, slow, sticky straights and rather easy technical sections. I dismounted in "the pit" every lap but the last one. It just seemed like it took too much energy to pedal out of than to jump off and stretch the back.

I started like a monkey on crack (thanks, Pat Collier!) as usual, narrowly missing the guard rail at the end of the first straight. After that, the power left my legs and I figured out how to lose 14 places in a 1/4 lap. Wow. That was my worst implosion yet this year. I found my climbing legs half way through and got back up to 9th place. My cheering family was the difference, I think. They can yell like no one else!

Thanks to Chris Creed for the photos.

Mount Pleasant Winery Cyclocross Race

2011-11-20T18:57:00.001-06:00

Somewhere in Augusta, Missouri there is a hillside that wants it's mud and grass back.

It's so typical of me to bail on a rainy, cold day of racing. I mean, I don't have anything to prove anymore and I can take all of the jokes and jabs my racing peers give me when I don't show up for events like today. However, I really, really like Mount Pleasant and I just turned my brain off and went to the race.

The cross race there is on a killer hillside. The course winds back and forth, up and down, and even goes up a flight of stairs and through a wine bar! Normally, it's fast, bumpy, and ripe for my mtb skills. And I thought that today's muddy and wet conditions might also play into my hands. It did, sort of. But there was a slickness there today that I haven't witnessed in a decade or more. Literally, pedaling in a straight line was no assurance of grip. I had great pride while going up the final tricky incline that I had not fallen...then I fell. It was a slow motion, frictionless fall and a slow motion, tractionless recovery. Other than that, my bike, clothes, and shoes were covered in mud, and I couldn't shift anymore by the last lap and had to settle for 6th place. Not that I could have caught Anthony Dust, with whom I had battled for laps and laps.

Ah, well. It was the first muddy race of the year for me. Only two more 'cross races to go, and I might just get by without anymore mud. Then again, maybe not.

All hail Kona!

2011-11-19T08:32:00.001-06:00

I've been dying for a full suspension 29er for a while now. I tried one brand three years ago that was not ready for prime time, but I was still blown away by the control. Since then, they have become more common and much better overall machines.

I'm pleased as punch to be on the receiving end of a new Kona Hei Hei 29er. I am shifting almost all of my racing focus to using off-road bikes (Tuesday night crits notwithstanding) and this is going to be my main cross country machine.

Kona Hei Hei 29er Supreme

I'm eying every UPS truck that drives by Big Shark West to see if they are dropping of this goodness. So far, nothing yet. I'll keep you posted.

Creve Coeur Cyclocross

2011-11-14T20:04:00.001-06:00

Creve Coeur is usually a place for me to avoid when cyclocross racing. I mean, it's flat. I'm not good on the flat ground. However, with my newfound excitement for racing my mountain bike in inappropriate places, I decided to do it anyway. And it was great! I lead the first long lap and only began to get passed in the second lap. I was never farther back than 4th place! The first photo is the second or third lap, chasing Scott Ogilvie.

There was a killer dirt mound on the backside of the course.

I was putting some distance between myself and some 'crossers, while getting gapped at the front by the fast guys.

Scott schooled me EVERY time on the barriers.

Some VERY cool corners. I finally got away from Scott when he rolled a tubular on a particularly tricky corner. Too bad, as I was hoping to actually race to the finish line. I ended up 3rd place, my best placing in a 'cross race since 2001.

Thanks to Chris Creed for the great photos!!!

st. vincent cyclocross race

2011-11-06T22:00:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Mike Dawson for the killer photo!

After the horrific race at Faust Park last weekend, I was very close to giving up on cyclocross racing, AGAIN. I mean, really, I give up on it every year. I start the 'cross racing season with all good intentions, and then bail on it because...well...I suck. I have never mastered the sport. I can't insult all of the good 'cross racers by saying that I have put in the time to be good at it, because I haven't. I just expect it to be like mountain biking and it's not. I don't put in the time, my good intentions get shoved down my throat, and I sell the 'cross bike and quit for the season. In my defense, the season is only 7 or 8 weeks, so it's not like I'm giving up an enormous chunk of racing, but it is extremely helpful to race 'cross because it lengthens the racing season, effectively shortening the down time winter enforces upon us. If you stop racing in Missouri when the MTB racing season ends (most of the time mid-October) then there is a 4-5 month wait to race again.

So, every year, I start racing the Bubba Series and every year i quit.

I didn't exactly quit this time, although I did quit racing an actual cyclocross bike. I don't ride those bikes well. I'm timid, I'm non-aggressive, and I'm slow on those bikes. One could argue that racing a mountain bike on courses designed for 'cross bikes is slow, too. And that's a good argument. But, at least for me, mountain bikes are generally faster as long as the course isn't perfectly flat and non-technical. I love riding mountain bikes, and when I set one up right for 'cross, it's not a bad tool for the job. For me, it's the best tool I can grab.

So, I grabbed the P.O.S. Sette, outfitted in the lightest way I could think of, and headed to St. Vincent park today for the Bubba race. The course was awesome with a capital AWESOME. Really fun, ups and downs, sand pits, chicanes, climbs, descents, etc. I did better than I have done in a 'cross race in almost 10 years, 6th place. For a while there, it looked as though I might keep it in the top 5, but what I gain in handling and confidence with the mountain bike, I lose in the power sections to the 'cross bikes. And, let's face it, there are some good riders in this series and I could have been on a rocket powered scooter and still been off the back. And they ride 'cross bikes very well, thank you.

There you have it. I'm as good as I'm going to get on 3-4 hours of riding a week with this 44 year old body. And I'm thankful for that.

just some dog stuff

2011-10-30T21:19:00.003-05:00

i resurrected an old phone of mine recently. i just couldn't stand the way my newer phone worked, so i tried the old one out. i've come to really like it, so i'm happy. whilst fooling around with it, i found an old photo on there of our dear rocky. seems he was really living it up on the blankets in our room. that made me think of this old post i did a while back of our two canine friends enjoying a little time together:

rosco: dude, seriously, warn me if you have one of your famous gas attacks.
rocky: there are hundreds of soft places for you to lay in this living room and you choose my butt.
rosco: there are none warmer and there are none softer than your old, flabby butt.
rocky: if i wasn't so comfortable i would pick you up by the scruff of your neck like a puppy and toss you out in the cold like a stuffed animal.
rosco: if you weren't so comfortable you would probably be in the kitchen eating my food.
rocky: i didn't know that Gund's could talk.
rosco: i didn't know that sta-puft marshmallow also made dogs.
rocky: i think someone is missing their hamster tonight.
rosco: rocky?
rocky: yes?
rosco: g'night.
rocky: g'night, rosco.

eli lost a tooth!

2011-10-30T21:02:00.000-05:00

forgive the bad cell phone photo, but i had to give you a look at our baby, who lost his first tooth today. he's looking forward to the tooth fairy's generosity.....

this looks comfy

2011-10-30T21:00:00.003-05:00

he seems to find the best places to sleep.

super short video of tyson racing 'cross

2011-10-29T20:58:00.002-05:00

night time cyclocross at faust park

2011-10-29T20:56:00.001-05:00

tonight was the night race at faust park in chesterfield. it has a halloween theme, so the kids did a little dressing up. hanna got a cardinals makeover. she was gorgeous in the new world series champion colors. eli was a storm trooper, and tyson went as a bike racer, because he was actually racing tonight.

deanna and i went as matching hincapie models. it was nice to see all of our friends on the off the front team, as this was sort of the year in party for them.

tyson was doing his first juniors race. he showed the cunane kids around the course as a warm up.

old partners in crime, the beautiful mrs k, cristal, and mary. cristal did the cross race in a fat suit, and hilarity ensued.

tyson lined up with mike bobelak junior and sawyer cleeland.

all of the juniors receive pre-race instructions from mr. pirtle.

the course was hard and long. sawyer took the race wire to wire, and tyson took the second. he was suffering but kept the heat on.

mountain bike stuff

2011-10-28T18:49:00.001-05:00

The Sette got a little make-over. Actually, it got a downgrade. Sort of. It's no longer the go-to bike, so it's back to old cranks, mechanical discs, and even a carbon rigid fork. It's an all season warrior now.

And that is because of this. It's a 2012 Scott Scale 29'er Carbon Pro. It's getting the good stuff (the stuff that will fit, anyway). It will be a few days before it's ready for prime time, as the Prime Pro brake line is too short. Grrrrr.

'cross at fort belle fontaine

2011-10-23T22:20:00.001-05:00

thanks patrick kirkes for the great photo.

more pain and suffering at fort belle fontaine today. not my ideal course, as the corners were faster, straights were longer, and power was necessary....and we know i don't have any power. so i made the best of it and came up 8th once again. start was good. started falling back after a couple of laps. held on pretty well and even had some rider attrition to help out. my bike held together, which seemed to really be a problem out there with lots of dropped and broken chains.

maybe faust park will be different, but knowing the lay of the land there, i say i'm in for a bit more of today's type of course than that of queeny park, which suited me much more.

cyclocross racing at queeny

2011-10-16T20:52:00.001-05:00

after racing the hermann race under the lights this year, i had my doubts about continuing racing cross. i mean, i was struggling. but, after a bit of evaluation, i came up with a plan to improve on what i think is an impossibly hard cycle sport. after today's race at queeny park, i can see some improvement and i'm glad i kept with it.

it was hot, the course was technical and bumpy, and a fair amount of people showed up today. i had a good start, briefly found myself in the top three, suffered for better than an hour, and finally settled for 8th place. i dare to say i had fun while doing it, too.

i need to work on being more aggressive in the corners. i need to work on my power production. and, i need to stay with the race at the front as long as possible. ok, pretty much sounds like i need to work on everything.

so glad to have my cheering section as well at queeny. it makes all the difference in the world.

ferrari in the hood?

2011-10-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

what the heck is a ferrari doing in my neighborhood early this morning?? just down the street, too. it had dealer plates, so i don't think anyone won the lottery. maybe a late night bootie call that stayed??

my women

2011-10-14T20:42:00.003-05:00

i love my women. aren't they beautiful?

bike stuff

2011-10-11T09:38:00.005-05:00

so i have been sporting my new cross bike lately. it's a raleigh RXC carbon bike. i upgraded some of the cheaper components so it's a pretty competitive bike. now, if only i could be competitive on it! never fear, it will be for sale at the end of the cross season in december. line up your purchase now!

i finally added the hayes prime pro brakes to the mountain bike. they are super trick. i love the lever feel and there are tons of adjustments to get the engagement just right. sweet.

take a kid mountain biking day

2011-10-03T19:57:00.002-05:00

tyson negotiated the obstacle course with ease. impunity, even!

after a couple of great rides on the trails, hanna waits patiently for her chance in the raffle. she carted off a super cool back pack and tyson nabbed some really cool mtb gloves.

gorc sponsored a really neat event at brommelslick park in st. charles county on saturday. it was called "take a kid mountain biking day".

i took some goods out for give-aways courtesy of big shark west, so i brought along the kids. the kids got to ride some really cool obstacle courses in preparation for a little bit of actual off-roading on the trails. tyson has already done some off-roading of his own, but it was hanna's first try and she had a great time. i sagged the groups of kids that were led by park rangers. i was worn out from helping a few kids on bmx bikes (with questionable braking power) get up and down the hills. all in all, it was great. we had a blast.

way to go, hanna!

2011-10-02T20:31:00.001-05:00

it was a long weekend of vollyball for my oldest. she had tournament games on friday night and all day on sunday. the friday night games had flashes of brilliance, but the team went away without a win.

today was a different story. after starting off with with a couple of mediocre losses, the team bounced back and won two in a row, both very good games, both with some gutsy playing.

way to go, hanna!

Boss 302 Laguna Seca

2011-09-15T22:31:00.003-05:00

as i pedaled over to the gas station at work today for some much needed caffeine, i saw one of these getting gassed up at the pump. i gave the owner a big thumbs up and he waved back. it's a mustang boss 302 "laguna seca".

as much as i try not to be sucked into the special edition cars that automobile companies produce, i have so far been a sucker for the standard boss 302. i love that car. i have seen two or three of them, and i have lust. before today, i have never seen a "laguna seca", the super duper special boss 302. nor did i expect to see one except in maybe a car show some day. hyper-special "special edition" cars sort of piss me off because they always end up in the hands of collectors.

well, now i'm hot for the laguna seca. it's everything that the boss is, only more.

and it still pisses me off.

cape girardeau photos from andrew welker

2011-09-13T21:34:00.001-05:00

here are some fantastic photos taken by ANDREW WELKER from the cape girardeau mountain bike race that took place a couple of weeks ago. they turned out really well.

i feel....

2011-09-11T23:18:00.003-05:00

most people look forward to the weekends. i look forward to going back to work because the weekends are so hard. take today, for instance.

i rode my mountain bike at castlewood. i felt adventurous. then, i cleaned the garage. i felt dusty. then deanna and i went for a ride. i felt happy. then i changed the oil in BOTH the flex and the mustang. i felt oily. after that, mrs k made chicken on the grill. i felt cluck tastic. then i did mountains of laundry. i felt like one of those women on the TIDE commercials during daytime soap operas. then i did mountains of dishes. i felt like i was working in a greasy spoon. then i bathed eli. i felt soggy. now i'm pining for bed but i'm wide awake. i feel out of sync.

thank god for monday's.

gateway cup criterium action

2011-09-09T22:30:00.001-05:00

god, i don't know why i do these anymore. i have a GREAT time on tuesday nights doing the training crits, but real crits are just torture. my fitness is bad this year, but my riding is worse. just as my mountain biking has gotten better, my crit riding has gone to the dogs. actually, my bike handling is great but my lack of aggressiveness, lack of power, and my inability to engage the race is killing me.

so, that's the bad news. the good news is that brent newman takes good photos. this was taken at st. francis park in the master's race on saturday and i'm sporting the white off-the-front racing kit.

next year will be different. i will figure out my health issues or i won't race real criteriums. simple.

Paintball is for tough people

2011-09-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

cousin max got together 20 of his closest friends for paintball. somehow, i was one of those people. we all gathered at the place on monday morning, and i had much joy finding out that it was about 500 feet from the famous supercross bmx track on missouri bottom road in bridgeton. in this photo, we see the girls, hanna and bailey, getting suited up. rather, we see their backsides. in costume, they look identical.

keith and tyson do not look identical. tyson is a swarthy little guy, and keith is not. but what keith lacks in smallness he makes up in enthusiasm. he seems VERY excited to shoot people.

aunt denise is showing the girls how to operate the paintball guns. the girls were not thrilled about playing, but in almost every game, they were the last ones standing!

here we can see some strategy in action. the fields and small wooded areas were pretty darn cool for this type of thing.

here, keith is firing for all he's worth. in a few moments, he will be blasted in the buttocks by a paintball, a fact that i said over and over because it sounded so funny when using the voice of forrest gump.

here we are after the first game. from left to right, hanna, bailey, me, and tyson. i am NOT happy. i was hit in the ribs about 20 seconds after the game started. my bruise has lasted 40,000 times longer than that game did. hanna was the last one to get out this game.

max and friend walking away from a job well done.

tyson looked so small in all of his gear. he played pretty well, though.

here, tyson is walking away from me. i am fuming because 20 seconds into the second game i got hit on my bare shin. that bruise has lasted 40,000 times longer than the game as well. soon after this, i was hit in the face mask multiple times and i can still taste that goo. finally, i gave the gear to deanna and she had a great time. in retrospect, she should have played the whole time. i would have less bruising, both of the body and of the ego.

some gateway cup photos

2011-09-04T22:41:00.009-05:00

a kiss for good luck for the little guy on friday night at lafayette square. he was fired up for this one.
there would be no kiss for the older one. he's too cool for that.
eli had a tremendous start. then susan kubinak yelled "go eli!" from the sidelines and distracted him. you can plainly see that he is looking over to see what the heck she's yelling about.
then he regained focus and put on the turbos. believe it or not, this 5 year old just learned to ride a two-wheeler a few months ago and turned in 3 first place wins in the 5-6 year old category this weekend. way to go, eli!
tyson had a drag race with the guy on the left. two very conflicted styles. tyson's must have been a hair better, because that's how much he won by...just a hair. great job.
both boys with their build-a-bears. cool old chevy two-door wagon in the background, too.
tyson was trying to keep cool early in the day on saturday. it was HOOOOOOOOOOOT.
hanna, ever the sporty one, was also quite hot. until...
....just as the kids bike races were getting under way at st. francis, a deluge came and drenched the whole place. wind blew, thunder clapped....and eli came away with another epic win. the older kids were befuddled by the carnage, but came back on sunday to do a great job on the hill.

my baby is home

2011-08-28T19:24:00.003-05:00

rosco has had a rough go of it over the last few days. the beautiful mrs k brought him home from the fox creek veterinary clinic saturday where doctor stu robson worked some magic. a few bladder stones, a few pulled teeth...ouch. it's awful being 12, isn't it big guy?

i'm sleeping with him on the couch, as he has to have close proximity to the back yard facilities. last night i slept maybe 2 hours.

in the long run, we're planning on having this yorkie for many more years. in the short term, i'm tired and he's sore.

finally finished the deck

2011-08-28T19:22:00.003-05:00

remember when i was talking about staining the deck? we did the first half a few weeks back. then deanna did another big chunk. and i finally finished it today. whew. that sucked. next time, i'm tearing it down and getting a nice vinyl one!

hanna's funny faces

2011-08-22T22:12:00.004-05:00

actually, this first one isn't very funny. she looks dead serious.
this one is funny. i have no idea what she's doing.
this one? no clue.

cape girardeau mtb race

2011-08-22T21:26:00.006-05:00

i just love this race. it may start in a field next to highway 55, but that's the only downside of the whole thing. we had a nice size field. you can see here that i have my nice, new off-the-front team kit.
marty, aka kaiser soze, was looking so-pro in his big shark kit. and he looks darn serious here, too. looks like he's giving tom albert the stink eye.
we had a fabulous race. very quickly it turned into a 4 man, 40+ cat 1 show. how do the young'uns sleep at night knowing that us old men are putting the hurt on them?? here, sam moore is showing us how it's done.
i'm making a feeble attempt at a pass here. i made it, but by races end i was solidly third. my bike handling was some of the best i've done in years, but my fitness is awful. i'm very proud of my 3rd place, and very respectful of sam and bob arnold, who smoked me in the end. of course a tip of the hat to john matthews, always an amazing competitor, who made us all hurt for 4 good laps.
crossing the finish line alone. just look at the view into the trail. how could anyone not love cape girardeau??
the dust was epic. my arms and legs are coated. and that pepsi throwback was absolutely amazing after the hard fought race! thanks to the beautiful mrs k and hanna for being the most wonderful bottle handlers for me!

tyson's mountain bike adventure

2011-08-22T21:13:00.008-05:00

this was tyson's second trip to cape girardeau for the cyclewerx mtb race. cool new off the front racing wear, too! last year, he won in a very small field. this year there were two separate groups. sorry for the balding image of me included in this photo.
tyson had a slowish start, but then began to pick off everyone. it was very early in the race when he emerged at the front. the beautiful, picturesque course in cape is a delight.
tyson was carving corners like an old pro.
his standing climbs were great.
check out this corner carve! wow.
4 laps of a fun little course saw tyson take second place.
tyson with the local fast kid, who, believe it or not, was only 9. his size said that he was 13!
but tyson was still quite pleased with his performance.

eli starts school

2011-08-19T19:39:00.007-05:00

so, here i am with my brother tyson on our first day of school for the 2011-2012 school year. actually, it's my first day period. i know kindergarten may seem pretty tame to all of you, but to me it's like the superbowl. but, somehow, i felt like someone was watching me.....
oh, yeah. i was right.
of course, mom had to make me pose in front of the affton icon, the ice cream cone. i have no idea why this is such a big deal. as far as i know, they ain't givin' out ice cream inside there.

ok, mom. i'm goin' in!!

yes indeed. i found my seat and i'm already running the place.
see, dude? this kindergarten stuff will be child's play. as soon as i can read all the fine print, i'm finding a way to bust out of here and cruise the first grader's recess. it's just a matter of time.

school starts tomorrow!

2011-08-16T20:59:00.003-05:00

tomorrow, the little guy starts his first day of kindergarten. he is jazzed. he's already met his teachers and he has all of his school supplies ready to go. seems like just yesterday we were sending tyson off to his first day.

speaking of tyson, his first day of 5th grade is tomorrow. he seems to be ok with it all, as he will know almost all of the kids in his class.

hanna is the big 6th grader tomorrow. she is very excited about her teacher this year, so maybe she won't always be complaining to me about how boring school is. in truth, i wonder how she'd get along if she didn't have all the social interaction of school??

kids. they grow up so fast!

what a beautiful night for a race

2011-08-16T20:36:00.002-05:00

i didn't think we'd get the tuesday night race in tonight. rain was all over the place. turns out, it wasn't very much rain, and eventually it all cleared out before 6pm and a beautiful evening was presented.

man, it was faaaaast tonight! crazy attack after crazy attack. i was feeling quite asthmatic, too. but, i was encouraged by my heart rate monitor, which had assured me on last friday's ride that i could indeed hit 187 beats per minute. sure enough, whilst suffering through countless forays into the high 170's, i was able to follow attacks and hold the wheels and even take a pull or two.

much to my surprise, i pulled out a 4th place. and the heart rate monitor flashed furiously 187.

220 minus your age? BAH!

cooler temps mean cyclocross practice!

2011-08-08T21:41:00.002-05:00

we had all family members accounted for tonight during cyclocross practice. the beautiful mrs k, hanna, tyson, eli and myself were all excited to get on the bikes and take advantage of the cooler weather.

this was hanna's first time out with us, and having all five of us riding along, jumping on and off of our bikes must have been quite a sight. deanna was really getting her dismounts and mounts down. it turned out to be quite fun.

and of course we got snow cones afterward.

another kakouris on his way to a cycling future

2011-08-01T20:16:00.006-05:00

oh yeah! i did some modifications to tyson's old raleigh bmx bike (a 20" wheel bike!) so that eli could more easily ride it. he was jazzed!
he threw a leg over and seconds later ripped out of the driveway.
and that was it. he was riding a 20" wheel bike mere months after learning how to ride without training wheels on his 16" wheel bike. he's a natural.
and away we went. we went to our cyclocross training grounds to practice. no actual cyclocross training, you understand, as the beautiful mrs k wasn't joining us. but, we did put in a good 30 minutes on the bikes.

it's very fulfilling to see my kids enjoy biking. nerve wracking, but fulfilling.

road ride, flat tire

2011-07-31T22:25:00.002-05:00

today was hot. i went riding around noon. and i got a flat tire.

the expletives that left my mouth came out in completely natural streams that i could not repeat even if i tried...they were that good.

sweat streamed from my wretched, overheated carcass like a punctured radiator hose. as i was finally getting my co2 inflator situated onto the valve, i noticed a puddle under me. actually, 3 puddles...a puddle for each streaming elbow and a puddle from my streaming chin.

let's just say i'm a sweater.

on i rode. no more spares. halfway through a 4o mile ride and no spares. that's ok, i thought. no need to fix another flat. i would perish from dehydration anyway. as fate would have it, i punctured no more and finished my ride.

bring on the fall.

tyson's all star debut

2011-07-31T22:16:00.002-05:00

tyson and two other team mates from his giants team were selected for the all star team. they played late yesterday, and although the all star team didn't have it's best outing, tyson had a great game. he had a spectacular hit, some great base stealing, and he pitched an inning. he threw a strikeout and two pop fly's to retire batters three in a row.

bike riding, mountain and road

2011-07-26T21:57:00.002-05:00

since it is nearly impossible for me to get in a bike race these days (tuesday night training races notwithstanding) i have taken great pains to get out and ride. i know, it might sound strange, but it truly is an either/or proposition. every day life has forced me to choose between the two.

thursday, at the urging of the great mr. weaver, i ventured out to cliff cave to find all sorts of cool new trails. i was hot, sticky, drenched in sweat, and miserable, but it was worth it and i vowed to go again. and i did, sunday afternoon. again, i was hot, sticky, and drenched in sweat, but not quite miserable and i had a great ride. man, those twists and turns are fun. hats off to the gorc crew for building the new trails.

and tonight, instead of heading back toward home for the tuesday night crits, i did a road ride in the beautiful hills of wildwood. and it was hot, sticky...well, you get the idea. i did have a good ride, though. my climbing feels good, but my recovery is for the birds.

i'll keep riding as much as i can for now, and maybe i can return to racing at the cape girardeau mtb race that i love so much close to labor day.

checking out the new rosco mop

2011-07-20T22:30:00.002-05:00

hayes prime pro brakeset

2011-07-20T21:53:00.004-05:00

another box came today from the Hayes Group. this time, it had these bad boys in it.
the new hayes prime pro brakes. all kinds of titanium tidbits and those cool super-adjustable levers. can't wait to put them on. the new wheels and brakes might have to wait for my new frame, which i hope is coming soon. we'll see if my guy comes through for me.

thanks again, hayes!

thanks, hayes bicycle group

2011-07-15T22:45:00.005-05:00

manitou tower pro 29er suspension fork...mmmm, smooth as butta!
bad to the bone ringle black flag 29'er tubeless disc wheelset with stan's bead technology.
answer pro taper carbon flat bar. 124 grams of pure racing bliss.

it pays to know good people. and it pays to be lucky. i'm lucky enough to be the recipient of these fine Hayes Bicycle Group products. i'll be trying them out for the next few months. i can already say that the fork is superb and the bars are awesome. i'll have the wheels mounted next week and i'll be pimpin' those at the trails.

fireworks photos

2011-07-15T22:39:00.004-05:00

the beautiful mrs k got some really good shots of the fireworks from the webster 4th of july display. not bad for using my dumpy little camera.

a lego bonanza!

2011-07-15T22:35:00.005-05:00

last sunday eli suckered us all into building ships with him. so he spilled all the legos on the table and we went at it. he is VERY good at building star wars type space ships, all with different guns and wings and designs. his are always the best, but i have to give a shout out to deanna's little ship...it was pretty freakin' cool. and after we built them, we flew them around the house and shot missiles at each other. imaginary missiles, of course.

that's my girl

2011-07-15T22:35:00.002-05:00

she is so animated. love those eyes!

hanna loves taking photos of rosco

2011-07-04T23:07:00.004-05:00

"i'm the king of this couch. if you want to sit here, you have to go through me!"
"ok, now that you're here, can you rub my belly?"

power washing the deck....again

2011-07-01T21:25:00.003-05:00

i looked like THIS
today after using THIS.

every year or so i have power washed our wooden deck. i'm tired of it. it's wet. it's nasty. my arms are sore. it's damn heavy to transport in the car. i hate having to pay to rent one. can you tell i really don't like to power wash the deck?

after a couple of days of drying, i have to stain it. i really hate to stain the deck.

i'm a terrible greek

2011-06-30T07:22:00.002-05:00

of course there's lots of terrible news these days about the economic woes of greece. it makes me a little sad that the land of my grandfather is in such dire straights.

but, why would i be sad? i'm a terrible greek. i don't even know the alphabet, much less the language. i'm fond of telling people that i'm greek in name only. that's the truth.

my father uttered only a precious few greek words in my presence. to be honest, i don't know if he knew much more than a couple of words. it seems that his father was in a big hurry to learn english and fit in here in america. in his haste to do so, he didn't pass on any greek heritage to my dad. at least that's my story. maybe my dad was the real culprit and was just too lazy to pass it on to us recalcitrant kids.

i keep saying that one day i will learn the greek alphabet. i keep saying that one day i will visit greece.

maybe i will.

eli's t-ball photos

2011-06-25T22:34:00.003-05:00

what a handsome little devil. thank you to flannery allison for the wonderful photos.

build a bear for dogs??

2011-06-21T22:21:00.004-05:00

poor rosco. every time hanna comes to town, she puts the little guy through all kinds of humiliating situations. at least he looks humiliated. maybe he doesn't care. here, he has on a build-a-bear outfit.
watch it rosco. you may end up showing a plumbers butt if you're not careful.

rosco doesn't like baths

2011-06-13T22:21:00.004-05:00

the beautiful mrs k gave rosco a bath tonight. he just gets so cranky after that. after running around like a mad dog, he settled down between the end table and the couch. it's a tight fit, but he's a little dog.
i came around the front to capture this shot. he didn't even move, despite the flash of the camera. i didn't know it was possible to get that worked up over a bath.

memorial day weekend at aunt jane's lakehouse

2011-06-07T21:02:00.010-05:00

although it was a scorcher, the water was c-c-c-cold!!! the kids ventured into the water just a bit on the first day. the docks were a great place to goof off for a while.
i have no idea what is going on here......
always ready to do something fun, the kids anxiously await the next adventure.
the beautiful mrs k, in the kitchen at the lakehouse.
getting ready for a ride on the formula boat, eli finds time to practice his facial ticks.
under way and in the sun.
our wake was pretty big. we were going fast as the lake was pretty empty on monday.
hanna and tyson were enjoying the view from the helm.
tyson convinced hanna to get into the freezing water. it didn't last long.
then tyson convinced deanna to get into the freezing water. that didn't last long, either!

love that black off the front kit!

2011-06-07T20:59:00.002-05:00

thanks to the photographers at indian camp creek for the photo. i really like the black off the front kit. it has a slimming effect! i do fear that on the hottest days it will add to the misery, though. actually, i shouldn't worry about it...it's ruben's kit anyway! thanks ruben!

2011-05-30T22:18:00.006-05:00

friday we had eli's preschool graduation picnic. big sister hanna was in attendance for this momentous occasion.
"no dude, i'm telling you, contador does NOT have the giro sewn up yet. anything can happen in the last time trial!"
"these things are totally delicious. tell me they don't have any high fructose corn syrup!"
eli and his crew owned the playground.
posing with big sister and big brother. he's all grown up now.
"son, it's time we had a little talk. there comes a time when a man........"

racing season officially started, lessons learned

2011-05-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

the whole off-the-front crew, mitch johnson, greg ott, the holtman's, jfp...and i'm sure i'm forgetting a few, but they turned out a quality event at indian camp creek park. it was a 3/6 hour endurance mountain bike event, and i wisely chose the 3 hour solo event.

the only endurance event i have done in the past was burnin' at the bluff. that doesn't count because i did it as a team. i picked this as my first event for two reasons: i HAVE to start sometime, and the beautiful mrs k sponsored the event with a fist full of cash. no excuses, i had to race today.

cross country events are almost always 2 hours or less. at least the ones that i do. so stretching my racing another hour was tough. especially since i have been a slave to my recalcitrant pancreas for the last few months. not much riding. no racing. evil pancreas.

there was a ton of people there! we did a lemans style start, where we run to our bikes parked down the way. i got into position pretty well and ended up riding with some familiar faces for most of the race. sam moore and i rode together for a while, and he was doing the solo 6 hour. after quite a bit of pushing each other, he wisely slowed to 6 hour pace, because he was killing them and didn't need to stay with me. chris ploch was killing me, and for 2 hours i successfully held back jeff yielding. but, it's a 3 hour event, right? oh, yeah. jeff pummeled me on lap 4. i limped in to the finish at 2:45 and opted not to do another lap. so, i took third out of a pretty big field.

lessons learned? i'm not a 3 hour endurance athlete. i should ride more. i should have a prosthetic pancreas made as soon as possible.

7 years ago, May 13

2011-05-14T21:15:00.002-05:00

on may 13th, 2004, i met the beautiful mrs k for the first time. we had pizza at fortell's and a beer at mallie's on hampton. i know, i know, it sounds totally romantic, doesn't it?? it must've been good because this photo was taken exactly one year later, the day i proposed to her at the lake house.

we make a cute couple, don't we?

i can still ride a mountain bike

2011-05-11T22:24:00.000-05:00

as luck would have it, the psycho rain showers that have plagued our great city for months did not ruin my mountain bike ride on tuesday night. i drove to castlewood after work and i was fully prepared to do wicked hill repeats up cardiac hill to avoid the muddy mess that i thought the trails would be in, but i was treated to some of the best soil i have seen in a while.

it's a shame that i felt like a wet dish rag. the humidity was right up there into sauna territory, and i am still quite unrecovered from whatever life-threatening illness i did or did not have. i did make the best of it, though. in fact, i went back this morning and hit the trails again. i felt no better. in fact probably much worse. and the humidity was legendary.

but i rode my mountain bike, dammit. and i liked it.

smile for the camera!

2011-05-08T09:12:00.003-05:00

this alfa is a dodge viper

2011-05-01T20:12:00.001-05:00

and never have i loved a viper so much. photo courtesy of autoblog. here is the story.

tyson and the birthday cake

2011-04-29T22:18:00.005-05:00

hanna brought along a nice cake for tyson's birthday, so we put on some candles and sang the song.
for some reason, hanna and tyson have been really into this "face in the cake" thing for a while. here tyson is just emerging from the mess.
and he looks great! man, we may need to get that kid a weight set for christmas.

strange body

2011-04-29T22:11:00.003-05:00

yesterday i rode in wildwood and hit a few of the tough hills. i'm not joking when i say that i was crawling up the climbs. it was really odd. today, i rode again, and just to punish myself for yesterday's horrible performance, i rode twice as long and hit twice as many hills.

i'm going to go out on a limb here. i'm not right just yet. it's been an eye-opening experience to ride a bike and feel like a beginner again. i am not going to be stupid and say that i am completely recovered from "the pancreas incident". in fact, my body is telling me that i've got a long way to go to be normal. it's depressing because this was the first winter that i haven't suffered a lot from my typical sinus infections, and i was able to get in those consecutive days of riding in vegas.

i don't know what to say. i'm guessing that i'll just have to see how it goes for a while, and take the races off of the calendar until things come around. i think i might start the tuesday night worlds next week, but i would hate to get out there and just not be able to do it.

curses.

bigwheel-athon

2011-04-29T21:27:00.009-05:00

today was the annual bigwheel-athon at eli's school. this year, the course was bigger and better, as you can see from the photos. i was getting a little jealous that i wasn't going to be ripping around this sucker.
the back straight was brimming with checkered flags.
eli was totally jazzed. he sat quietly on the mat, waiting for his turn on the bigwheels.
i was quite unaccustomed to the way the teachers pinned on the kids' numbers. masking tape? simple and effective, i guess.
eli was checking out the competitions hardware. he had the fast bigwheel, for sure.
lined up and ready!
a popsicle for the effort! eli gunned it around the course. i have video, but it takes so long to load it on blogger that you'll just have to take my word for it.
and they even got some encore laps after the race.

Rocky the Dalmation 1998 to 2011

2011-04-26T21:49:00.002-05:00

rocky and deanna started their friendship a long time ago, when he was just a little pink-nosed pup at the pound. he turned on the charm and deanna had to have him. for 13 years, he ran with her, protected her, gave her love and affection. and when the kids came along, he protected everyone just like he should. even as he got older, he still tried to protect everyone. his bark will forever ring in my ears as the loudest dog bark i have ever heard.

anyone that ever met rocky will miss him forever. we miss him terribly already.

easter 2011

2011-04-24T21:36:00.012-05:00

easter sunday. always a time of great stress for the little people. here, you can see one of the reasons. there was a "easter egg hunt olympics" course set up in the basement at church. you should have seen the little suckers go after those eggs.
eli bagged a sucker early on. yes, i ended up holding it moments after this shot.
eli sprang into action. here, he is actually sliding out of the frame as he lunged for the bounty!
he was a living terror. eli scooped up dozens of eggs.
....and had to show off his winnings.
a nice shot of the three of us. hanna and tyson were not with us today. we always miss them when they are not.
later, we went to grandma's for another easter egg hunt as well as dinner. here, the beautiful mrs k gives me that smile.
tyson joined up after dinner. after the adults had their easter egg hunt ($5 in a plastic egg is not a bad deal for two minutes of hunting) and again it was off to the races.
eli and tyson frantically search for their eggs. uncle keith did a good job of hiding them. all in all, a great day, despite the rain.

hospital visit, missed eli's birthday party

2011-04-18T20:56:00.005-05:00

so an unscheduled visit to the hospital on thursday nixed my plans for eli's birthday party at bounce-u on friday night. i sent the beautiful mrs k to the party with my camera with explicit instructions to capture my big five year old in action. and this is the best shot i got. at least you can tell he was living it up and having a good time.
and mrs k also got this semi-possessed looking photo of hanna, which i really like. cool shirt, too.
eli came to visit me a couple of times during my excruciatingly boring stay at st. anthony's. he brought along some friends, too. they had some epic battles on the heat register.
some transformer action was in full effect.
and this was my view. i went in for acute pancreatitis, which meant no food or drink for a couple of days. That was no big deal, since i hadn't been eating really for the last week or so. the problem was the IV i had to have attached to my arm the entire time. talk about a pain in the butt. i walked all over the hospital, dragging that damn thing around with me to alleviate the boredom. and i watched tv. and i played on the computer. pretty much, staying in the hospital is the most boring thing i can think of. i practically had to beg to leave on sunday evening. but leave i did. and you know what? now they're not sure it was pancreatitis!

i need a break from the medical community.

his first yard sale

2011-04-10T22:11:00.002-05:00

we took eli for a big ride today around wilmore park. there are nice asphalt paths that criss-cross the park, and it was such a wonderful day that it seemed right to give the little guy a bit of running room on two wheels. deanna and i broke out our mountain bikes to ride along with him.

he rides so well! we took him twice around, which is maybe two miles. he has very little trouble getting around, and he even tackled the climbs nicely. he has a habit of trying to stay in front of us, too. then came his crash.

poor guy really accelerated like a mad man at the top of a hill, and then promptly went into a little wobble and did a yard sale all across the trail. he scraped his already scraped elbow, and it took a lot of coaxing to get him back on the bike. but, he finished the ride back to the car like a trooper.

he went to bed very early tonight. i felt so sorry for the little guy.

stomach drama

2011-04-09T23:57:00.002-05:00

so rosco didn't get his bladder stones removed the other day. instead, the vets noticed a large mass in his stomach. they went in with a scope to do a biopsy on friday. we won't know what it is until tuesday or wednesday. that makes me very nervous, because it very well could be cancer and that would be bad.

i went to the doctor on friday, too. my stomach has been giving me fits for a couple of years now, and over the last 7 days i have been miserable. i stopped eating at all on wednesday. the doc thinks i might have an ulcer and so i went to the lab for some tests and i'll know tuesday or wednesday, too.

i'll take an ulcer if rosco only has a benign growth that can be removed. actually, i would gladly take no stomach drama at all, but sadly i don't think that is one of my options.

20 years ago today

2011-04-04T20:59:00.005-05:00

man, it's hard to believe that it's been 20 years. that is a long time in anyone's book. i've always been sad that he never met my kids. dad was gone so far before any of them were born.

he died on april 4, 1991. we had his funeral on april 8, at jefferson barracks cemetery. that so happens to be eli's birthday, although eli was 15 years too late to have met grandpa george.

although i think of my dad often, i have very rarely dreamed about him. i just so happened to have had a dream last night that somehow included him, which i remembered today, which reminded me that it was the 20th anniversary of his passing. a little odd, but i always begin thinking about him a lot around the first of april, so it's not too surprising.

dad, i have a lot i'd like to talk to you about. not that you'd ever say much anyway, but i really miss telling you stuff, and you just sitting there listening. kinda funny like that.

volleyball, bladder stones, and no racing as of yet

2011-04-03T22:00:00.003-05:00

on a positive note, i was able to watch hanna's volleyball team compete in another tournament today. they really struggled today, but none of them have been playing for more than 8 or 9 months, so i'm cutting them some real slack. i'm hoping hanna will have some good quality playing time in this whole year with some of the volleyball camps that we have our eyes on.

my little buddy has bladder stones. yes, rosco is taking after his large pal rocky. poor little rosco has been in a bad way for the past week, and i sat at the vet's tonight looking at 5 rather large star fish shaped bladder stones on the xray board. yep, he has to have surgery to take them out wednesday. do me a favor and pray for him, because he has been with me for 12 years now and i'm not about to let him go.

i have not raced yet in 2011. i totally intend to. really. but our lives are busy and i just can't justify taking time out from the kids, my dogs, my job, etc., to race yet. it will come. after 33 years, i know it's just a matter of time.

Big Shark West

2011-03-29T20:33:00.002-05:00

i am pleased to announce that i will be working at the new Big Shark Bicycle WEST location in CHESTERFIELD VALLEY. the doors will open within days on airport road and i'm pleased as punch about that. there will also be a Big Shark URBAN store opening in the downtown area, at 10th and Locust, so keep your eyes peeled for that exciting venture as well.

i would guess that some of you remember when i announced that i would be working for another store that used to be in the valley a number of years ago. that adventure had it's ups and downs, but i wouldn't trade that experience for the world, as i think it really focused my career in the bike biz.

mike (the owner and mastermind behind big shark) and i go way back to the touring cyclist days. then i worked for him at 'big shark one' from 1995 to 1997, 'big shark two' from 1997 to 2003, and 'big shark three', the current delmar location, from 2003 until 2006. i started working part time at the delmar store again in 2010 while i was playing more mr. mom.

i'm proud of my association with big shark, and i'm glad i will be able to work with a bunch of customers that i now call friends in chesterfield again.

attack of the snow balls

2011-03-27T10:12:00.005-05:00

this is what i saw at the back door last night. almost like an abominable snow yorkie.
this happens every time his fur is long and the snow is heavy. it balls up on his legs.
i had to take him to the bathroom and rinse them off. it was very dense stuff. he's outside right now so i imagine i'll be doing the same thing in a few minutes.

baller mtb ride

2011-03-18T20:22:00.004-05:00

my flash is faster, sheriff rosco.

not really. but, i did get out to castlewood this morning before the rain hit. i did 4 big laps of the 2009 race course. i just love that route. two hours total, and i sort of buried myself. i'm loving the flash, too. it handles like a dream, and even though it's a 29'er it's the lightest mtb i've ever owned.

god, i love mountain biking.

volleyball for the princess

2011-03-18T20:17:00.004-05:00

the girls huddle with the coaches for a few words of encouragement.
hanna was a line judge for a couple of the games.

it was a tough tournament. the girls didn't seem to find their game at all. there was one game out of eight that they seemed to come on line, but then it went south again. this is the first year for all of them, so it's going to take some time and commitment. i felt for them.

a dog's life

2011-03-13T20:29:00.002-05:00

while rocky was away having his kidney stones removed (for the third time), rosco was really beside himself. he was exhibiting separation anxiety and he was moping around like he had just lost his best friend. i felt so sorry for him. he perked right up when rocky came strolling in the front door the other night. dogs aren't very much different from people, you know.

south loop

2011-03-11T20:09:00.002-06:00

i did one of my favorite rides today, the old "sunset south" loop. it has a lot of killer little climbs, especially those on weber hill road, heintz road and christopher. seemed like a perfect day to get out, too. i was beaten down a bit by the combination of the wind and the hills, though.

on the way back home, i passed "orange-t-shirt-no-helmet" guy. he was spinning the cranks furiously on his specialized road bike whilst blazing down telegraph, blowing stop lights. i detoured through sylvan springs and jefferson barracks, and came back out on broadway...sure enough, i saw orange-t-shirt-no-helmet guy again. again i passed him as he was still blowing stop lights. i thought i might say something to him, but i decided to make it a preach-free day and mind my own business. it was too nice of a day and i was in too good of a mood.

my legs are a little wobbly, so it must have been a good ride.

a trip to nevada

2011-03-04T19:57:00.013-06:00

the beautiful mrs k took me along with her on a business meeting to las vegas this past week. we actually stayed in henderson, nevada, which is a lot less 'vegas' than las vegas proper. the hotel was spectacular.
cool "beach" that led into the pool.
walkway over the upper section of the pool.
more of the outdoor area. on the left is the fitness center, which we visited. it was deluxe.
i rented a really nice carbon giant road bike and headed out three days in a row. this was one of my trips on the river mountains trail loop, a 35 mile asphalt path that runs alongside lake mead for quite a ways.
the asphalt trail was no joke. four mile climbs, plus these 20% gut busters. there were two sections of switchbacks that were every bit as tight as off-road switchbacks. imagine the forest park trail on steroids, then multiply it by six. the trail was totally manicured, with middle striping that mimicked a regular road.
the trail went under one of the highway crossings via this corrugated metal tunnel. there were five or six tunnels along the way.
again the path, this time looking out over mead. the solid yellow line meant "do not pass", because although the photo doesn't show it, this was quite steep downhill. i really had to be on the brakes in these corners.
a ravine cut by rain water just off the trail.
the river mountains are riddled with mines. i thought this abandoned mine was a cool shot.
i love the desert. the scenery is always so dramatic.

all told, i spent about 8 hours on the bike over three days. not nearly what the good riders do, but i'll take it for march. thanks for the mini-vacation, honey!

three peas in a pod

2011-03-04T19:53:00.004-06:00

eli seems to be saying "seriously?"
i think tyson is trying to figure out if the cookie is made of gold.
hanna is practicing her new modeling smiles.

misc bike stuff

2011-02-22T21:44:00.005-06:00

i had been plagued by the ugly alloy fsa 2 ring cranks that came with my flash. they shifted fine, they were not heavy. they were just so...ugly. i found these brand new on the 'bay for pennies on the dollar. and i saved 100 grams. good for me.
sunday, the kids were doing a little riding on their bikes. hanna has grown a lot, so she looked positively goofy on her 24" wheel trek. so in about 10 minutes i modified the beautiful mrs. k's homegrown and hanna fit it beautifully. always seems like someone needs another bike around here.
i rode after dark on sunday night (not off road), so i had to get some lights on. here you can see the handlebar hodge-podge arrangement. you can't see in this photo, but there are several knog flashers on the seat post and even a flasher on the rear wheel.

lastly, but no photo, i boxed up the ancient giant that has been cluttering up my basement for several years now. it seems my friend chris is going for a cycling motif in his home art project, and i was more than happy to send it his way.

i can still see you

2011-02-22T21:26:00.001-06:00

since when is the big ham too shy for a photo?

volleyball weekend

2011-02-21T21:53:00.004-06:00

saturday was another big tournament for hanna's volleyball team. here she is looking stylish as ever in the team's new kits.
man, i can't believe how big this little girl has gotten! i wish my sorry camera would work better indoors.
at one point, the girls were required to work different positions whilst they were not playing their own games. here, hanna is a line judge.

the girls won 2 games, narrowly lost another, and flat out got pummeled in several other games. they are certainly improving, though. i find that i get as nervous for her games as i get for my own bike races. i guess i'm "that guy".

lucky

2011-02-15T22:14:00.003-06:00

both of my grandmothers have a bit of irish in them. my grandfathers don't, so i have always considered myself on my grandfathers' side of luck.

lately, i have started to see things from the other side. i'm one lucky guy.

1983 BMX World Championships

2011-02-10T23:30:00.004-06:00

in 1982, the world championships moved to las vegas. it seemed kind of fitting that the biggest bmx race in the world would move to one of the biggest show places in the world. it also marked the year that it moved from concrete to dirt. i was still racing for jag, the sponsor of the race, so of course i would go to vegas. this time, it was on their dime. it was a much better result for me, although i was intensely unhappy at the time about 5th place at the world championships. it sounds really nice now, but in my mind i needed a top three.

christmas of 1983, the world's stayed out west, but this time WAY west, in burbank, california. no longer racing for the race sponsor, it was tough to do the traveling on my own money. but, by this time i was racing for freshour and good old jerry always helped when he could. i flew to burbank by myself and carmen roker, wife of mr. jag, put me up in a room close to the race venue. and the race venue was amazing. wide, fast, fantastic gate...just what i needed.

having just come off of a pretty good racing season (ending up national number 2 in the NBL), i was very pumped to make something happen. the first day of racing was the ESPN pro spectacular. a great way to warm up to the track and be super tuned for the world's the next day. after battling it out all day with some of the best older amateurs in the world, i came away with 2nd place. not bad, and i was feeling hot.

the next day was the real deal. being in california, the race was FULL of the best of the best. i raced so many races that day, having raced both age group and an open class. i made it to both main events. i botched the open main, and i don't even remember the placing. 8th? 7th? no matter, i was super pumped because i had hardly lost a race all day.

the age group main went superbly.

i got third. i was a bit disappointed, because i had a win in me. but things can't always go perfectly and i had the bad luck of having the best rider of my generation to race. he went on to win the overall world champions title.

me? i have to say that my disappointment was not very strong. this weekend marked the moment in my racing and in my life that i knew i could compete. no question about it, whether i was ever going to be the best or not, i could compete.