We loaded up the car with bikes, bags, and bodies Friday. We were heading to Kansas City (Liberty, to be exact) for the penultimate Missouri NICA race. Eli has done them all this year, despite having a full schedule of football games for school. He injured his elbow last weekend, which nearly caused us to cancel this trip. We were glad that he decided he'd be fine on the bike. The races were moved from Sunday to Saturday because of the threat of rain. Saturday started out windy and chilly, but no rain as the skies were ominous but kind.
The local St. Louis race scene needs an injection of these kids. Just one of the three girl's races had more participants than our Cat 1 fields have. I can't wait until these future stars start showing up at the trails and races outside of NICA! 300+ kids at each race. I get to watch all of the fields line up and do their thing all day. But I don't get to sit around and be lazy. The Beautiful Mrs. K has been the finish line marshal for all of the races so far, so I end up being the pit crew, food service, gear sherpa, and general secretary for her and Eli. I call it payback for all of the races the family has been to over the past two decades.
The older boys race later in the day. That was a good thing because it warmed into the 50's and the wind died down by the time Eli's race was coming around. He normally does not look like a chipmunk, but I caught him mid-chew with his pre-race granola bar.
The course was fun. Technical, lots of turns and very busy, exactly the kind of course that Eli likes. Not much in the way of sustained climbing, another Eli favorite.
Here he's at the start of his third and last lap. I was shouting words of encouragement, and Mrs. K asked if his elbow was alright. He said, "Yes, but I'm going to need lots of food when I'm done." Great day of racing, awesome meal with the team at a BBQ place, and a good night's sleep and we were back on the road driving home Sunday morning at 10am. Yes, it was cold and raining cats and dogs until Columbia. It began to dry up and warm up. Who knew? By the time we passed Wentzville we were making plans to go mountain biking when we got home. I went to Greensfelder and Deanna met up with the Woohoo Crew at Cliff Cave. Eli opted out, guess he was pretty knackered from racing on Saturday.
I can't believe I forgot to tell everyone about my new shoes. New RED shoes. Pretty exciting, huh?
Almost as exciting as my new mountain biking helmet. I've been wanting a Fox helmet for a long time. We got a red one in at the shop and I have been eyeing it for a while. Now...it's mine!!
Before this weekend was done, we gathered the crew to eat together. Tyson was working tonight (Aya Sophia) so naturally we chose to go there. Always wonderful food, always wonderful service...and I'm not just saying that because Tyson was our server.
Oh, we got dessert, too. The baklava at Aya is to die for.
Tyson was gracious enough to take a selfie for us. It looks like a board meeting for South Side Cyclery. We talked some business and got down to the business of eating. Next weekend is Jefferson City, the last race in the series. Hope it turns out as good as this weekend did.
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