eli, look at the camera!

a little fireman with an attitude

thanks mr lynch

a few weeks back, i mentioned that good-guy john lynch was sporting a cool "i support county police" jersey. so what does he do? he brings by this stylish dark blue version for the beautiful mrs k. here, she shows off the front (and her tan)...

....and here is the back. not a bad way to be seen around west county, eh?

we're both training!

mrs k is training for her 2nd marathon at the same time that i am training for bike racing in general. her goals are more specific, while mine are pretty general. vague, actually. i'm training to get better, she is training for a specific event.

marathon training is all over the web. there are hundreds of sites that you can go to and get a day by day, week by week schedule of what you should be doing. i remember when i met her back in 2004, she was training for the chicago marathon. since we didn't live together then, i didn't see all the training days that she put in. i knew she ran a lot, but now that i have the printout in front of me, i see that it's a lot of work. there are short days, long days, rest days, and clumps of days together and even cross training days.

i have to be honest, it's too regimented for me. my training schedule has much more discretion built in, with contingent plans for tired days or exceptional days. her plan is strictly by the numbers. i guess that's what it takes. she has been following it very well so far, and has gone from a very tough 3 miles to a solid 6 mile run in a very short while. i'm quite proud of her.

dino

this is the ferrari dino that i remember from my youth. i was like every high school boy in the 80's, my favorite cars being the lamborghini coutach and the ferrari bb512. throw in a 930 turbo and it was heaven. but the little dino? never heard of one. but one day, at the top of the street where my girlfriend lived, was this cool silver car. it said "DINO" on the deck lid and my, my, it was sexy. i was on my bike, so i just circled the car for, oh i don't know, 15 minutes. it LOOKED like a ferrari...or a european sports car like a ferrari. i went to the library that same day (what? didn't you know there wasn't an internet in 1985?) and found some books that held the answer. it WAS a ferrari. a baby ferrari, named Dino after one of the sons of ferrari. mystery solved, and a new, less overtly exotic favorite was born.

this is an artists rendition of what the newest dino might look like. rumor has it that ferrari wants to do a new one, and speculation is running wild about it. if i saw this baby ferrari on the street, i would probably circle it for, oh i don't know, 15 minutes and fall in love with it, too.

race day in webster

it was another race day for the kids. the webster crit hosted another kids race this year, so we hauled the clan up to old orchard and suited them up to race. both of the kids are excited to do the races, but tyson is much more serious. he gets on his bike every day and jams up and down the hill in front of the house. hanna gets on, pedals furiously for a few strokes, and calls it a day.

well, tyson pretty much smoked the 6-7 year old race. it was about 80 yards or so, and he took off from the gun and won! hanna started well, and stopped pedaling about half-way. she coasted the rest of the way for forth. hmmm. she wasn't happy about it, she just said she was scared. i told her i know the feeling, i'm always scared when i race too. but i think she did get the idea that if she's going to do it again, she has to pedal and try her best. i felt so bad about it.

i came back later in the day to do the pro/1/2/3 race. yes, race fans, it was my debut race for 2007. i just got sick of riding and being in good shape with no purpose. i got a new trainer (actually, my first EVER trainer) and i'm very confident that he knows what i need. obviously, the plan is working pretty well because i had a darn good race. i finished with the main bunch in a pretty fast race. i was 10th wheel with 2 to go, but the kick up in speed on the last lap did me in. i'm not that far along yet for the road, but this bodes very well for my belated off-road season. yes, i'll be doing the off-road races, too. i'm a sucker, what can i say?

another night at the movies

after taking a little time to deliver a birthday card to my older brother, the kids were jazzed to be on the way to the movies. the destination? shrek 3.

we were trying to see this movie weekend before last, but it was storming right as we drove up to des peres theater and the lights went off. whoa, dodged that bullet. last time i paid for a movie and the lights went out, i got a voucher, but no refund. this time, same scenario, a bit of a storm, but the lights stayed on.

first off, let me say that the previews were great. there is some kids movie coming up that stars a bee. a honey bee, voiced by none other than jerry seinfeld. looks very funny. yeah, yeah, we're just old people with kids. and we know we won't get a chance to see any other movies, so we're always hoping for good kid movies.

shrek was good...not because of the story line, which was not good, but there were so many funny parts that it made up for that deficit. and to watch eli dancing with the music was priceless. other movie goers were quite amused, too. i was practically crying. he was bobbing up and down and clapping and smiling and laughing. worth the price of admission, for sure. and yes, hanna and tyson enjoyed the movie too.

reviews

whenever i consider buying a new bike, i ask questions. and i find as much about it as i can on the web....and take it all with a grain of salt.

i've embraced the full-suspension thing whole-heartedly, so more is better as far as i'm concerned. i did a little reading on the web about my new bmc fourstroke, and found this. good reading, i hope at least HALF of it applies!

team bikes

my friend dan sent this pic to me. it's the crazy bmc tt bike. what is up with those cranks?? wow, they are thick. i want a wheel like that. not because i can time trial, quite the contrary. but because it's cool. i bet i could go faster with one of those. even if it's just in my head.

this thing is so butch!

i threw it together tonight, so it's not ready to ride. but one look at it and you can see it's a serious cross country/endurance machine! i can't wait to try it out. the workmanship on the frame is amazing. the links are beefy, the seat cluster is futuristic, the tubing is meaty. this thing is gonna rock!! bmc fourstroke, baby!

On EBAY

Buy this Frame! Because:

1. It's pretty!
2.It rides good!
3. It'll make you more attractive!

(two out of three of those statements are true...)

so

...this is corn, huh? tasty.

it's tough being 1

hey! hey guys! sissy? tyson? whatcha guys doing in there? hey! can i come in?

wwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! waaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

sirius and ferzors

i'm guessing since i made such a big deal out of the radio in the beautiful mrs k's new car, i got one for fathers day. the sirius satellite radio is like cable tv. 1000's of channels, most i will never ever listen to, but they are there. when i can't stand one more minute of ancient local radio, the satellite radio is a godsend. i can't wait to try it out!!! oh. well, first i have to have it installed. and, of course, you have to pay for it monthly. sure beats buying cd's, though.

...and i got a ferzor*. my old ferzor* is, you know, old. it has breaks in the heads so every now and then i get cut from it. and it really doesn't cut my manly beard anymore. i could've just bought new heads, but why, when a whole new ferzor* is the same price, and now THEY'RE CORDLESS!! ain't technology grand?

.

.

*you know it's called a razor. i know it's called a razor. but kids don't know what it's called, and they call it what it sounds like....ferrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzrrrrrrr.

the things kids say

hanna and i were talking in the car yesterday and the subject came up about magic.

"there are only 3 people who can REALLY do magic in the world," she proclaimed.

really? hmmm. i asked her who they might be.

"god, jesus, and ronald mcdonald," she said flatly.

i won't tell you her explanation, because i don't think i even remember what it was. the statement left me speechless. i was without speech.

no riding

thursday and friday were just not good riding days. for me, i mean. i was tired, and the workload at work is tough, there's lots of things going on at home, all recipes for fatigue. so i did some housework at home thursday, and drove to and from work with mrs k. we talk a lot when we drive together, which is good because we don't get to talk much at work lately, except about work.

it's funny working with your spouse. at least for me. at least where we work. we actually do a lot of different things, at different ends of the store. sometimes, i don't see her for an hour or more, and we have helped completely different people. there is sort of a big split at ghisallo. the clothing side and the bike side. there are actually customers that come to our store that have no interest at all in bikes, just the cool clothes. i'm glad the task of helping those people falls to deanna, because she is really good at it and i'm....really good at other stuff. it was nice to see that mrs k is also good with families, and she has been selling kids bikes alot as a result.

i guess her selling stuff on "my" side of the store means that i need to be better at selling things on "her" side of the store.

just not sports bra's. please.

riding to work

i rode to work again on wednesday. it was a fabulous morning without wind, too. when i got close to work, i saw the beautiful mrs k riding with her wednesday morning ride crew. it was smaller than last week, so they rode longer. she is going to make the ride 20 miles now instead of just an hour.

we were quite busy, which is really a theme these days. it seems that the customer traffic is non-stop all day long. good for business, and a good cure for insomnia. i was wasted riding home. i still picked it up to a nice pace a few times, though. maybe it's my new bike. maybe it's just hard for me to go slow, even if i feel bad.

nice to read about friends

BIKE DROOL is back and dan is actually riding his bike and telling us about it. nice to hear from you, dan.

maiden voyage: salsa el santo

the salsa made me proud at chubb this morning. unaffected by the recent rains, chubb was in perfect shape. at least the tyson side, along with the flint quarry and new connector loop. that's all i did this morning, being tired and all.

the extra travel the salsa had is so much appreciated at chubb. the rocks and trail clutter are amazing there, and hardtails and short travel bikes make my rear hurt just thinking about it. the salsa soaked it all up. the front end is wonderfully light and animated, making it a great technical bike. i may have to get the kaiser to go full-on crazy with the reba, though, as it wasn't as supple as the rest of the bike.

i was quite impressed by the climbing, too. chubb is gravelly these days, but it was so easy to find the balance point on the bike so as to keep the front end down and the rear hooked up. i never once used the other features on the rear shock, such as the platform function or the full lock. why? there is no need. i like the suspension to work, i don't need band-aids. the el santo works just fine, in or out of the saddle, under power or under braking.

nice day for a ride, i wish i was faster.

riding to work....slowly

i did my monday thing monday. but i did it oh, so slowly.

i think riding the hg as a single speed on sunday wore me out. my butt was sore. i was lethargic. wait, that's normally the way i am....

it was a great morning for a ride, though. i ran into russ murphy on geyer. it seems he was spinning his legs out from his 4th place finish on sunday. i bid him goodbye as i closed in on clayton. i had left the house 15 minutes earlier, but my slow pace was too slow. i picked it up in time to get rained on at clayton and baxter, where it normally rains on me. i can't tell you how many times it has rained on me, starting at that intersection. luckily, the rain stopped right as i pulled into the lot at ghisallo. thanks, rain!

the ride home was painfully slow, and an east wind made it painfully unenjoyable. i shouldn't be so bitter. a bad ride is better than no ride at all, and the weather had turned quite balmy.

it's new, it's all the rage!

try the new baby carrying case from ronco! only $19.95, it zips, it carries, it zips and carries! see how this 3o pound baby fits like a glove into the new ronco carrying case! handy for those families on the go. no time to put baby in a proper stroller or jogger? ronco has the answer for you! if you order now, ronco will include a month supply of huggies along with two boxes, yes TWO BOXES of aloe baby wipes, ABSOLUTELY FREE! call now, as operators are standing by! it's baby in a bag, by ronco! (baby NOT included, please add $6.95 for shipping and handling, allow 6-8 weeks for delivery)

single speedin' ain't much fun

i took the hg single speed out for it's maiden voyage today. i don't really like it. i chose the single because it was wet and rainy, and even though i knew the 'wood wouldn't be sloppy, i knew the single would be a snap to clean after some severe splatter.

it just seems like an awful lot of work for little reward. i did a lot of different trails, climbing quite a bit. of course, mostly standing to climb. a little standing is fun, a lot is not.

i'm not sure what all the buzz is about. give me my gears.

anybody want some single speed parts??

race day

not for me, for tyson. the winghaven race in o'fallon had a kids race in the middle of the day, so we sped out there to let him have at it.

it was spitting rain, and several adult racers were walking around with road rash. i didn't figure it would be trouble for the kids, though, as it lightened up considerably. there were lots of kids and parents. after initially being told we were too late to register (at 1:30 for a 2:00 race??) mrs k straightened out the lady at the registration table and we were racing.

of course, it was delayed a bit, which makes the idea of being "late" for registration all the more ridiculous. we watched jill peterson, in her first bike race ever, win the women's open race for ghisallo. then it was our turn.

there were 20+ kids in tyson's race. it was a 6-7 year old grouping, so it was no surprise that tyson was the smallest kid there. there was a kid with a new trek kdr1000 road bike, and a few kids with actual bmx racing bikes. but tyson took my advice and started strong and never quit pedaling. he avoided a kid doing a lip skid at the roundabout and jammed home for 5th place. yoo hoo! it was fun to watch the little tykes pedal their hearts out. the kids take the races way more seriously than the promoters give them credit for. sooner or later, maybe there will be real races for them with prizes and trophies like in bmx racing.

couples ride

finally, after what seems to be forever, deanna and i got out on a ride together saturday night. it seems like no matter how hard we try, there are just too many hurdles. grandma was gracious enough to entertain the boys for a while, giving us a couple of hours.

i wanted to take a more challenging route, since she is in better shape now. we went toward kirkwood via eddie and park, up past grants farm, and then rott road. some of the hills were tough, but she is definately climbing better. we took geyer to adams, then through some beautiful side streets down to grants trail. there we kicked it into high gear. deanna is much better on flat ground, so i was rapping it out in the 53/16 with her still on my wheel. i was impressed, as was the tall guy on a trek 2300 who stayed in our draft for a while. after we stopped at a light, he told us how hard it was to stay in our draft. i told him to hang on, because we were going to kick it up a notch. the mrs had her whip going, so i went faster. 2300 guy got dropped. then we started doing some paceline stuff so she could get better used to rotating and maintaining speed with other riders.

it was great. we rode for 1:45 and it was a blast.

when the lease is up

the lease was up on the beautiful mrs k's escape, so it was time to get something new. believe it or not, she is more of a ford driver than i am. she has owned 2 escorts, 2 explorers, and the escape. it seems they have her number.

the only sedan for young-thinking folks like us in ford's lineup is the fusion. the cousin of the mazda6, the fusion leans less sporty than the 6 but is appointed alot better. with 221hp and a 6speed automatic, it certainly gets out of it's own way, and although smooth riding, the michilen pilot tires grip pretty well. the interior is quite nice, and this one even came with sirrus satellite radio. bonus! it's hard to tell from this picture, but it's midnight blue metallic. sweet, sweet color. the interior tan leather. and it even has the sunroof that mrs k always insists on having.

two wagon type vehicles in the family was just too much. we pretty much got by with using only the freestyle 4 days a week, and the escape the other three. with that kind of usage, it made sense to get something less trucky and a little more fun to boot. believe it or not, it was NOT my decision to buy this car, and i'm still happy with it.

what can i say?

it's really hard to be mad at the turd for keeping us up all night when he as these mickey ears on....

homegrown single

the homegrown has been with me for 4 years. it's almost 8 years old, but i've had it half of it's life. it's been a street cruiser, a mountain bike, my only bike, my road bike, and it was nearly destroyed when it was involved in my great "accident" at the 'wood in a shorttrack race.

so it's only natural that it gets turned into a single speed, right? hold on there. i'm not going to grow a goatee, or start wearing baggy shorts, or start using words like "bro" or "NINER!" anytime soon. i just wanted a fun tool to work on legspeed and momentum. i find that i've grown way too dependent off-road on gears, and that i brake too much, and that i don't stand enough when climbing.

answer? an eno rear hub. a singlespeed crank. remove derailluers and shifters. install fork. quick and easy. don't laugh at my 80's barends. i love them. i just couldn't bring myself to use them on my normal off-road bike, but i won't take them off of this bike. i put 32/16 gearing on the homey, but that may change. we'll see. it may just get turned into a street bike again, but i have to give it a try.

mr k's wednesday beating

for the past week or so, anthony and i have been anticipating getting together with dan and doing our regular hammer fest. only it wouldn't be so regular.

peanut had the same idea as i did, and we hammered down supplements all day, laboring under some mistaken notion that supplements actually work, or, if they did work, they would work the very same day, mearly hours before actually needing them.

anyway, we headed out at 5:20. the plan was to follow the super secret state road training loop. only it isn't super secret, and it would have to be modified due to construction on wildhorse. as we rode along, i noticed that it certainly is easy for dan to chatter on about things, while not so much for me. i usually get out "yeah" and "right" and "#$@@". a lot more "#$@@" last night. we climbed alot, and descended alot. it was a pretty fast ride, averaging 20mph, even with all the climbing. we climbed eatherton, wildhorse up to hardt, t up to osenfort, bassette from t, bouquet from old manchester, and hardt up from t. sheesh, it was tough.

finally, dan made a nice windbreak for anthony and i as we sped along old olive toward rhombach's. it was satisfying to pedal though the corners in the high 20's. finally i gave in while peanut and dan pushed on to the gas station. enough was enough. this old man hasn't hurt that much in a while, but hurting with friends sure is nice.

mrs k's shop ride

so wednesday was the inagural ghisallo woman's ride. the beautiful mrs k rounded up some riders for a nice morning spin around the valley. they all seemed to really enjoy it, and it looks like they'll all be back next wednesday. if it sounds like fun to you, join her and the crew.

the road home

some BMC guy came by the shop at close looking for someone to ride with. i said, 'well, ok, since you're going my way....'

it's so nice to ride with someone. i get tired of the route to and from work. i've tried the ride 20 different ways, and there may be 20 more variations, but it is, after all, the same ride. riding with dan made it a lot more fun. he wasn't ripping my legs off or anything cool like that, but i guess the conversation and watching a duraace hub go round and round in front of me just makes an all-to-familiar ride fun again. we were talking about watts and pedal speed and how to conserve energy...you know, geeky bike racing stuff, and dan displayed to me his cartoon leg speed. when at full boil, dan can get his legs to resemble road runner's. i wanted to try it myself after he peeled off to ride back, but i didn't want to embarrass myself or my sorry knees. i'm sure i could make my legs look like cartoons, too, but more like wylee coyote's.

dan's was the second BMC i have seen in the last few days. i worked on another at the shop on friday. they have such interesting tube structures and joints. much more mechanical looking than most bikes. his was stiff as a board, like a rocket sled with pedals.

we need a maid

mrs k has been a cleaning fool for the last week or two. it is amazing. our rats nest has never looked so good, except maybe before we moved in and it was brand new. she cleaned the bathrooms and the floors and the kids rooms and our room. everything. normally, i do a lot of laundry and dishes and trash and stuff, but she's been on that, too. yee haw, i say.

i did clean out the garage sunday, though. after my epic ride, i still had a little juice to go after the mouse that has been living in the garage. i saw the little pecker out there a couple of times, but when he starts making little condo's in the cycling shoes and stealing food from eli's stroller, IT'S ON! i cleaned the garage like it was going to be an operating room. the neighbors probably thought i was nuts, having all of the garages contents out in the driveway. i washed, scrubbed, and threw things away.

george the mouse has met his match....

and sunday is a day of rest

not really. name one sunday that i have rested in the last, oh, 30 years?

mrs k and i slept a little later today, given that eli woke up extra early. we went back to sleep, and missed church. ok, next sunday.

i picked up the moots and headed out at 11am for a long ride. i don't like to ride long unless there are hills involved. call it euro-envy, or tour envy. i picture long rides being mountainous and hilly and scenic. some great descents, killer climbs, isolated roads. so for my long ride i rode south, down to jeff co and antire road. i love that area, hitting jim weber road and hiway pp. ball buster climbs, for sure, but it always feels like home to me. i lived in fenton, off of romaine creek, for a couple of years back in the 90's and pedaled these roads every day.

all and all, it ended up being 60 miles or so. with the headwind out, the tailwind on the way back was heaven, indeed.

i may not be fast, but i can ride, ride, ride.

1925 Rolls Phantom

It's hard to believe that this Rolls-Royce was produced in 1925. What did other cars look like in 1925? Not like this. This is madness. Such beauty, and presence. I can imagine that the obscenely rich and famous would roar down the roads, stopping for neither man nor beast, to secret hideaways and power meetings. Were the roads even good enough to support such a long, low gorgeous behemoth? Wow, what a beauty.

saturday, saturday, one day only!

it was a bang-up saturday for us here at the k household. we took the crew up the street to the st. dominics parade and ensuing carnival. it was nice to just stroll up to the event, instead of pile everyone into the family truckster.

eli was completely beside himself when the fire engines came by. hanna and tyson were scrambling for the candy that the kids throw from the parade cars. quite an extravaganza.

a quick block away was the carnival. i've always wondered what it was about carnivals that inspires the drinker in everyone. it was, what, 11am? and yes, the beer tent was in full swing with none other than uncle jim at the wheel. not a lot of drunks yet, but drinkers. the other weird thing about carnivals...carnies. yeah, the people that run them. traveling gypsies? tumble weed types? who knows? the guy running the swings had finger nails as long as elvira's. and yet, there was fun everywhere. the kids were having a blast. we spent as much as a six flags trip...almost. standing next to the noise of the swings and the farris wheel, eli went to sleep in his stroller. the kid can't sleep at home in a wonderfully quiet room with winnie the pooh and tigger too on the wall, but he can sleep next to a blazing compressor and whirling carnival rides.

after we pawned the kids off on their various other parents, and katie and kevin came over to watch eli, the beautiful mrs k and i headed to aya sofya for a surprise birthday party for a dear friend of hers. it was a big hit, and yes, the friend was surprised. the food was great, as i stuffed myself with hummus, kabbobs, grape leaves, and even a mrs field's birthday cookie. being the party poopers we are, we bugged out early and made it home before 10pm. we're partiers...big, big partiers.

last chance to recon

the last chance the beautiful mrs k and i had to check out a nice course for the ghisallo women's ride on wednesday's was this morning. we got down to the valley early, and headed out. it was quite windy, but very muggy.

we figured out a nice little route, and we got a short workout in, too.

wednesday night rodeo

not a rodeo, really. just some intervals with peanut. for whatever reason, wednesday's are the prescribed nights for pain, and i usually join him.

the drill was 3x20/40's, 3x30/30, 3x1 minute on/off, and 2 five minute intervals. we did this while i was riding home from work. that put peanut waaaaaay out, but hey, he's the one being trained by the pro's, right??

i had a few bright spots, but peanut was tearing up most of the intervals. that's why he had to pony up a tube and a CO2 when i flatted in the southern country of valley park. when done, we busted up through the apartments off of marshall road. a nice, hard way to end nice, hard intervals.

good times

hanna has been visiting us this week, and we've had some good times. we rode our bikes to grandma's on tuesday, and we got a nice ride in on thursday morning. she and grandma have been having some good times, too. grandma loves to play games, and so does hanna.

it's a lot of fun to see that little ol' thing grow up. she's learned so much during first grade. what a hoot. i really don't think i was that smart when i was her age.

she also lost a tooth while she was here! tyson lost one earlier in the week, too. the tooth fairy has been active here.