matt james photo

my friend matt is a photographer with a great eye. whatever you think of the chunky subject matter of this photo, there's no denying that it's a killer shot. he was shooting the hermann 'cross race after his was over and has some stellar work over HERE. (photo used with permission.)

samsung: japanese for not going to the laundry mat

the kenmore washer that once occupied this space was 8 years old. it lead a hard, hard life. for the past 3 years, it averaged 3 loads of laundry a day. A DAY! so it came as no surprise that the door switch was getting wacky. finally, the darn thing wouldn't tell the washer to spin at all. so i rigged it. then i rigged it more. when it stopped being rig-able, i set about replacing it. that's when i realized that the evil minds at kenmore had a full wiring harness attached to the lowly door switch. yes, ladies and gentleman, the entire wiring harness had to go to replace the $4 switch.

"hello, lowes?"

now these front loaders are supposed to be quiet. check. they are supposed to be efficient. well, i can only see a little water trickle in now and then. check. and they are supposed to clean clothes like your mom. every bit of clothing that has come out of this thing tonight is squeaky clean smelling. check, and double check! woo, hoo! clean laundry, and i'm spending less money!

....let me have this moment. it's the little things in life that matter.

mohawks are cool

bathtub antics. the photo has been cropped to protect the innocent. the small orca hanging from the towel rod is not dangerous, and no orca's were harmed during this photo session.

whoa! alaska?

i just noticed today on feedjit that i have an anchorage, alaska visitor to pedal brake pedal. i don't think i've had anyone from alaska visit prior to today. i don't know anyone from there. hmmm. i hope it isn't...

las vegas illustrated

as i said before, our room in vegas was incredible. it was more like an apartment without a kitchen than anything.

the bathroom was great. the door on the left was the toilet (sorry, chris, no beday), on the right was a tub and separate glass shower, and on the lower left was a makeup table. his and her sinks, of course.

just one of the many near-gothic structures that tower over the city. just because.

everything is in lights, and everything is on a super sized jumbotron. the gnp of a small country is needed for just the jumbotrons in vegas.

circus circus. all of the old buildings are still intact, butted up against the new circus circus hotel in the rear. deanna's grandparents called this their favorite place to gamble, and i actually walked through this very structure while attending the bmx world championships in vegas in 1982. i stayed at the tropicana, which had a small convention hall where the race was held. i got fifth place.

ah, rock racing. the graphics alone make you want one....no matter what kind of bike it is.

the beautiful mrs k, standing in front of the canal in the grand canal area of the venetian. the "sky" is actually painted ceiling, but it's real water and real gondolas taking people for a ride in the canal.

just your typical tourist in vegas. we gambled one night with ccm and mcd, drank a couple of beers, and called it a night. sometimes we're just old.

more gothic architecture. walkway over the grand canal outside under the real sky.

everything is on such a grand scale. you can't just have fountains next to the outdoor restaurant, you have to have lavish waterworks, with a backdrop of the wynn hotel and the ipod structure.

self portrait. we have no photos of ourselves, so this has to do.

a nice man offered to take our photo, as he saw us struggling with the self portraits. this one turned out pretty good. it was actually only moments before we left the hotel for the airport. we were glad to be going home to a less gothic structure. unfortunately, there are no maids at home. fortunately, a bag of potato chips is not $13.

vegas, baby

the beautiful mrs k and i are in the lap of luxury here in gambling crazy las vegas. somehow we scored a pimp worthy suite. the curtains and blinds are operated via remote control. there are three flat screen tv's. the bathroom is bigger than our whole second floor at home. there is a living room with a sectional and a fax/copy machine. the maids come in during the afternoon and turn down the bed and set out slippers for us. there is a king size bed with massive pillows. a wet bar ($9 bud light!).

...oh, and the interbike bicycle show is pretty cool, too.

post cyclocross thoughts

it's been 48 hours since the hermann cyclocross race ended, and now my thoughts about it are more clear. i had a lot of adrenaline going over that crazy race, but now i'm thinking straight.

it was fun. as a matter of fact, it was as much fun as i had at the greensfelder mtn bike race. now, you all know how much i hate mud. yet, somehow, the mud didn't diminish the fun too much. i wasn't happy about the mud, but the course and the action was such that the mud was a background distraction.

my bike worked really well. i may have to experiment with tire pressure a bit more. and i think i could choose some better brake pads for the carbon rims, too. all in all, the bike was a tool during the race, as it should be, rather than a distraction.

it's true that i could probably get through a cyclocross race without water. i don't want to, but i think i can. i probably took 3 drinks total from my mud encrusted bottle that night. after checking out all of the riders bikes, it was painfully clear that drinking was not on their minds. i remember butthead making fun of me a couple of years ago at a cross race for having bottles. hell, what do i know about 'cross??

i don't have the reverse brake thing going yet. i'm just not that smart to be able to distinguish between the 'cross bike and my other bikes and get it right. ooops, over the bars. ooops, over the bars. ooops...you get the idea.

there are a couple of races to do before 'cross becomes the only game in town. there's the short track race and the final norba race at spanish lake. then it's all 'cross, all the time.

...and i hope i improve.

happy birthday grandma!

tonight we had the big birthday bash at grandma's house for her 64th birthday. we all sat down and eli began sneaking little pieces of chocolate off of grandma's birthday pie while he was half heartedly singing happy birthday to her. it was an interesting ploy, and it pretty much worked. the kids love grandma and really love being over at her house. sometimes more than they like being here with us. hey, what does grandma have that we don't???

chopper

there's this tv personality in Australia named chopper. i've never heard of him before, but brian pulled up some youtube stuff about him and had us all dying laughing. not everyone's cup of tea, i'm sure, but i could laugh at the guy until i cry.

spot on, bevan!

.

cyclocross is...you know.

it's well after midnight and i'm here trying to figure out something to do. i've checked my ebay auctions, my mail, my phone messages, done some REALLY dirty laundry, eaten some cereal, stretched, taken a shower...i'm still pretty wired from the inaugural hermann nighttime cyclocross race.

the beautiful mrs k and i loaded up the family to head out to washatonia (washington, missouri for those not in the know) to pick up brian and his lovely wife. washmo is on the way to hermann, so it made sense to pick up brian's busted ass along the way. plus, it's always nice to go to races with friends. brian had been taking this thing pretty seriously...he even bought a new 'cross bike and made some custom shoes for the event.

upon arrival at the venue, it was pretty apparent that this was no ordinary cross race. jeff yeilding, a hermann local, did this thing up right. hermann proper is a crazy hilly town, and every inch of the city park was used for this course. there was a super cool section that had 3 flights of stone stairs! that was, of course, after the not so super cool section of sewer stinking bubble gum mud in the bottoms. ah, the give and take. that's why i had some VERY dirty laundry.

anyway, after the ladies wished us luck, we lined up with 41 other 'cross maniacs and hit it. 75 yards into the first straight, everyone backed up at the first corner, then the second corner, and finally we got going as the group spread out. brian was right behind me coaching me through the stuff before he got waylayed by the sewer stinking bubble gum mud. i was not unhappy with my racing, even though i was never much better off than mid pack. my riding was good, my handling was good...i just can't seem to go that fast. i think i got in 7 of the long laps before butthead finally passed me, sending me to the showers. that was metaphorically speaking, of course, as there were no showers. i did want to continue, even thought it was incredibly challenging. it was still quite fun, and the family was at the top of the stairs yelling, along with everyone in hermann, at the tops of their lungs for me to go faster.

so, another non result in cyclocross. it's a hard sport, one that has me baffled. i am interested in unlocking the key to this thing before i throw in the towel.

ebay! get your ebay here!

i'm a selling fool here. bid on my stuff, live longer, remove wrinkles, look better, feel younger, etc., etc., etc.!

bid HERE

now, that wasn't so hard, was it???

NEWS FLASH

from yahoo news today:

texting while driving triples chances of having an accident.

thank you, master of the obvious.

i wonder if it took very much research to figure that one out?

cannondale shenanigans

i've been riding the wheels off of the new cross bike. it's set up pretty close to the way my orca was, slightly higher and slightly shorter for actual 'cross racing. really, besides having a bit longer wheelbase than a normal racing bike, it's darn racy. and stiff. and good looking.

nevertheless, i had to configure it for the big 'cross race in hermann this saturday. that meant mounting up the tubular 'cross wheels and putting on the spd pedals.

which meant i had to give it a try this morning.

which lead to a snapping of a certain dura ace rear derailleur.

at first, i cruised around a while, marveling at the smooth ride of low-pressure tubies. ah, so nice. i did a few dashes across some grassy fields, hopped a few stairs, and found a little dirt path to carve some turns. and a stick flipped up. right into the rear derailleur. i pedaled. it caught. and it broke. i walked home.

time elapsed: 17 minutes.

lesson learned: no matter how cool your bike is, it is not immune to random acts of senseless dura ace destruction.

i shoulda just put an ultegra on there in the first place....

burnin' at the bluff

so we finally got our ducks in a row. it looks like i may, for the first time, get to race the 12 hour event at council bluff.

my team? dan and chris. we can turn in some fast laps and have a great deal of fun doing it. they're flying in from the great state of colorado, so i'm hoping mother nature gives me a handout because i can't back out.

we are actually going to set up camp with a couple more ghisallo guys who were kind enough to lend us some space. thanks jfp! it looks like we will also be able to cheer on mitch the masher on his solo attempt.

i'm so excited!!!!

dalmatians everywhere

if you look really closely, you can see the dalmatians on eli's jammies. dalmatians hugging a dalmatian!

tour of missouri fun

the tour of missouri rolled across the state this last week, energizing cyclist and cycling fans alike. it may have even gotten a few couch potatoes up and out of the house to witness all of the hooplah. after seeing the finish in st. charles on saturday, the beautiful mrs k and i loaded the kids up and took them to downtown st. louis for the final stage. we went early so the kids could cruise "autograph alley" and get some cool stuff from their heros. here, they are waiting outside the columbia motor home hoping to catch george, cavendish, or bernard eisel.

while waiting, the columbia handlers brought out the super trick team bikes. the bike with #1 on the seat post is georges. note the zipp 808 on the rear, only eisel had one of those. also, george was the only one to have the dura ace 7900 stuff. the kids didn't care. they just liked the cool bikes.

the crazy kids caught george. he was quiet, as always, but very willing to sign the kids stuff. he signed tyson's tour of missouri badge, and hanna's triathlon medal.

cavendish was next, and he was all smiles. he's a little guy, but that's not fooling anyone. he must have some kind of nuclear reactor in that small frame of his.

eli kept trying to yell out "bernard!" but wasn't quite getting it. deanna told bernard that, and he said, "just call me bernie!" the kids got a kick out of that. bernie signed eli's sleeve, and even gave him a columbia hat and signed that! what a class act.

he was the envy of the crowd with his signed cycling cap. you can see his sleeve is signed, too. the sun made a brief appearance here, followed minutes later by quick showers.

rock racing brought their "b" team to race the tour of missouri, but that doesn't mean their bikes aren't cool as hell!

photos with the very nice riders from the symmetrics squad. the kids were having a blast, and everyone cracked up when someone said "the kid has the wrong hat on!"

we were lucky enough to catch christian vandevelde as he was getting ready to warm up.

christian signed eli's other sleeve. he was a very good sport about it. he signed hanna's page and tyson's badge, too. awesome!

the man of the hour, vdv. he took all the marbles this time, ahead of a hard charging columbia team. what a great event. we are very lucky to have such a well organized stage race here in the heartland of america. it is contracted to come again in 2009, so make plans next year to be there and support it!

awwwww

it's always nicer sleeping with a friend....

it's EBAY time again

want to add some spice to your life?? buy my stuff! it's fun!

go HERE and have a field day!

tell your friends!

V8 MGB-GT WOW!

let's face it...i'm no old english sports car fan. sure, i can give the nod to a cool old car, but the bad build quality, abysmal electrics, and wheezy engines of most of the old english cars just turns me off. but this.... a website called britishv8.org has this beauty on it right now. it's a 1974 MGB-GT, completely pimped out with a fully welded and braced body, killer suspension, and the good part, a ford 302 crate engine.

the detailing on this thing is exceptional. british cars WISH they were this good from the factory.

wow, what a killer rear! and yes, that's real wood for the parcel shelves and bins in the back. completely sanitary execution.

and to prove it's not all engine, here is a shot of the suspension upgrades. there's also a panhard rod in the rear. the bracing and reinforcing is top notch, too.

.

with examples like this, i could be an english car fan...

it was a homing pigeon!

after my post about the pigeon in my garage, i got a nice email from my friend dirk. we don't get to talk much anymore, which is sad. always a source of fantastic trivia, he came up with some great insight on my bird encounter:

"Anyway, I got a kick out of the pigeon in your garage. It's a homing pigeon, probably stopped to take a break from his race back home. My dad use to have them in Germany and still gets magazines and books about them. He may have ducked into your garage to get away from a falcon or hawk or something. Pretty cool though, there's a whole homing pigeon racing culture out there, and believe it or not, they've got WAY more prize money on the line than our races....hundreds of thousands!!!!! "

so, i never knew this about his dad. i was pretty impressed to learn long ago that his dad was a chimney sweep as a young lad...yes, an honest to god chimney sweep. now to learn that he's a bird enthusiast, i'm really impressed. what we don't know about people can fill a very large book.

on topic, i'm not happy that i turned away a frightened bird. he WAS very difficult to extract from the area, so i have no doubt that he was running from something. so, if you ever have a pigeon ducking into your car port or garage, or even your basement or living room(!), cut the little guy a break...he may be hiding from the neighborhood bully.

thanks, dirk.

elijah the super fan!

i stole this photo from little O's blog. the little guy doesn't look to happy to be cheering for me on the hill, does he? maybe he's tired. maybe katie just got done pinching him. maybe he's just shy to O's camera.

definition: malachi

def: malachi-to bully or pummel

from: happy days episode

who: the malachi brothers, mean guys who's signature move was the "malachi crunch"

not: what eric p thinks it is!

greensfelder mountain bike race

you could have blown me over with a feather after i took my warmup lap at greensfelder this morning. the area got over 3" of rain, more in some cases, just thursday. it was spectacular. the twisting, technical course was even more fun because the dust was settled and the rocks were more planted. jeremie meitz took some darn good photos at the race, and had them posted mere hours after the event was over. thanks, jeremie!! this is early in the race, but you can tell i'm hurting already. the start was brutal...a gravel road leadout with the pirtle (malachi) brothers, davey b, chris ploch, yogurt, and the ever present drj crew in attendance. again, 21 experts showed up to do battle.

i think jeremie liked this particular spot, or maybe he liked taking photos of me while i was all out of sorts. i can't claim to have greensfelder dialed, but i was taking most sections very well. this WAS NOT one of them. in fact, my riding helped my placing today much more than my legs did.

a little body english from the fat guy. (don't the new ghisallo kits look grand??) although my lead in to this section was sketchy, i was pretty happy with my exit. i can count on one hand the areas of the trail that gave me trouble, which is quite good for me. again, just like cape, my race came down to wes and i for 4th place. i made it happen with a well-timed sprint on the gravel road and single track to the finish line. whew, that was close.

for the birds

this little guy took up residence in my garage on a shelf this morning. he could have only been there for a couple of hours, but he had already left quite a little scattering of poop. he had a band around his left leg that had #16 on it. must've been part of a study or something. it took both deanna and i to shoo him out of the garage. he kept going over the garage door and sitting on top of it. finally, we succeeded in getting him out and i guess he's on to the next ledge to poop on.

Ford Falcon FPV GT-P

the aussies have all the fun. they get this, we get the fusion and the taurus.

cannondale cx9 cyclocross goodness!!!!

here is the final build of the new cx9. of course, i won't be running the schwalbe road tubulars, but you get the point. it tips the scales at 16lbs, 6oz as it sits. it will weigh more when it gets the real tires on it. it will serve double duty throughout the winter as my road bike, using my ROL powertap wheels on the road.

delicious!

bb30 spindle...the last piece

finally i can finish my cross bike! in all of my switching and swapping, i found myself without the one piece that would let me finish the bike...the bb30 SI spindle. many thanks to johnny merli, who miraculously came up with this baby for me.

happy anniversary to us!

without much fanfare, today has come and gone. it's our 3rd wedding anniversary. the beautiful mrs k and i have been married three wonderful years. so far, she can still stand me, which is good.

i would post a photo of us together, but we seem to have so few. hundreds of photos of the kids, none of us. i guess that's the way family life goes.

here's to many more!

bike racing, gateway cup, the finale

the fourth and final day of the gateway cup was in the u city loop. i opted out, not because the course is hard, but because i was tired and not motivated. the kids were super excited to race, so it was important for me to be there for them. it was a hot, sweltery day, and for some reason the good folks of u city decided to remove all follage and trees from the loop area. curious. and hot. luckily, we had the ghisallo tent parked there right next to the dogfish tent. hanna, eli, and tyson, taking full advantage of the tent and a blanket. they were a bit bored waiting for their races. it doesn't take much to amuse eli, though. he had plenty of company to keep him amused, like austin's sister flannery, katie, kevin, and even keith. eventually, the kids suited up and they got ready to race. there were 8 girls in hanna's race, and 9 boys in tyson's.

these are the little tykes. if you look in the middle, the little guy hugging the yellow lines is little farrell, decked out in his dogfish attire. i think he busted through this little pack and got first or second. or maybe he just grinned a lot, just as well.

hanna, tyson, and steve's little boy, all with their medals. it was an exciting and exhausting weekend, and i'm very proud of our little racing crew. hanna went 4 for 4, winning every race by quite a margin. she really wants to branch out and do some longer races, and more triathlon events as well. tyson went second again today, making 4 days, 4 seconds. consistency is the name of the game here, folks!

a little video for you...the first is tyson's race, the next is hanna.