Team Red Wheel

The Cedar Cross registration is Open

Registration for The Cedar Cross is now open.  This race was far and away the best gravel race in Missouri last year and Bob Jenkins is planning to make it even more kick-ass this year.  He has lined up a beer sponsor and is paying out CASH money not only to the fastest racers but also plans to pick out some random dude or dudette to give money to just for being awesome.

Register at BikeReg.com.  The cost is only 1 Andrew Jackson and if you didn't finish the race last year - you race for free this year.  How many race promotors do that?

Still on the fence?  Here's some pics from last year...

 

 

Saturday Ride in Mokane

I'd like to do a longer ride Saturday morning. I've got shit to do later in the day, so this gravel-jam will begin at approximately 730 am in beautiful Mokane, Missouri. This may or may not be a scouting ride for parts of the Cedar Cross.

Shitty weather will not be grounds for ride cancellation. The only thing stopping me will be the Hams Prarie gas station...their sandwiches are delicious.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/73295094

Don't forget dog-spray and gummi bears

And the scouting continues..

                                     Northern entrance to the Moon Loop

I figured people might like to see a few more photos of the Cedar Cross course. I had a couple of days off, so I set out to do a bit of trail cleaning and find some new gravel.

I also wanted to get an idea of what the area would look like after 2 days of solid rain; Turns out it looks pretty damn fun. The picture below was taken on Burnett School road. This bit of gravel is usually dry, but when it rains the water has to go somewhere..

          Hmm..might be a good idea to put some fenders on the ol' cross bike

A few more miles down the road, the gravel was almost too smooth, as if I was the only person to have driven on it. Turns out I was right:

(You don't even want to know how much money this is costing me)

Then I was off to the Devil's Backbone to move some leaves off the trail. For those who don't know, the southeastern portion of the Backbone was only recently acquired by the Forest service. Thanks to this development, the course will now be taking you past 3 DEAD END signs.

Upon entering the Backbone trail, there's a short, unmarked trail that I can only assume was created by the property's previous owners. From this trail, there are several cliff-faces where you can step a few feet from the trail onto a rock ledge overlooking Cedar Creek. You can literally see for a mile in either direction, it's beautiful. Photos are forthcoming

As the trail descends, you get to cross this waterfall:

                                   *This spot is also normally dry*

I'm happy to say that the leaves have been removed from about 90% of this trail, and it is now very rideable. It's also worth mentioning that this piece of trail contains one rock garden that's so nasty I probably wouldn't attempt it on my full-suspension mtb....unless someone had a camera. No photos yet, but it's not like a photo would do justice anyway.

It was getting dark, so the work came to an end. Rather than make the 45 minute drive home, I hiked up to one of the bluffs along the Smith Creek Trail and made camp. Lemme tellya, those woods come alive when the sun goes down. I've never heard so many coyotes in my life.

Thankfully, this fire was just big enough to keep the Boogeyman away

 

Thanks to some frozen feet and an angry bladder, morning came early. A quick hike back to the truck, and I was on my way to the Moon Loop. I'm pleased to announce that this trail is about 80% leaf-free now. The only problem is that horses are rutting the trail and leaving massive piles of shit to clean up. This is nothing new.

 

Trekking along, I found another example of equestrian laziness:

                                                         So lazy

Rather than move the tree off the trail, people just blazed a new trail past it. This literally took me 2 minutes to clean up, and I can only wonder how long that tree laid there.

 

                                                  Seriously. 2 minutes.

Later in the day, I met a pair of horseback riders who thanked me for cleaning the trail. They seemed oblivious to the destruction they were creating and the mountains of shit their horses were leaving behind.  Since they were so nice and since it was Christmas day,  I decided not to pull my gun.

 

At the Big Branch Creek crossing, there is a strange and interesting rock wall. I have to assume it's man-made, and I can only guess at its historical significance.

 

                                     This has to be man-made, right?

 I think that's about all I'm willing to share for now. This race is only 5 months away and there is still a lot of work to be done. Maybe I should be doing more work and less typing?

Just so we're clear, I am NOT creating any new trails out here, only clearing leaves and downed trees from trails that already exist. I've been in contact with the local forest service, and they are well aware of my activities.

                                                        *Before*

I have no desire to go to prison for trying to organize a free bike race, so there will be no new trails cut by me. This thing isn't about new trails, it's about showcasing the ones we already have. Aside from having a great time on a kickass course, The whole point of this race is to get people out here enjoying these trails and working together to bring them back to their former glory.

 

                                                         *after*

Soon I'll be adding a place on the website for people to RSVP. The way I figure, if we know you're gonna be there on raceday, we'll be more motivated to get out there and make this course even better. When it's posted,  please take a moment to add your name to the list (if you plan on racing). You'll totally make my day.

 

           

 

 

The Cedar Cross...coming to a taint near you!!

**I guarantee you ain't never been on this trail**

 

Mark your calendars and tell your wives...on March 25th, 2012  you shall embark on one of the greatest biking adventures of your life...The Cedar Cross. This non-race will cross 2 counties worth of gravel, singeltrack (that you didn't know existed) and National Forest land. There will be be beer, blood, barbecue, spoke-cards and prizes for top finishers.

Admission Fee....What admission fee? This shit is free.

Tell you friends to tell their friends. This will be THE Monstercross event of 2012... or your money back.

 

MonsterCross Pre-Thanksgiving Ride

 

I know this is coming at you a little bit early, but I'm trying to get the word out. Matt and I are collaborating on a 35-50ish mile gravel route that'll put us on everything from gravel, National forest lands and cattle paths.

The course will be well marked, easy to follow and all riders will be given maps and cue sheets. Mountain bikes are probably ideal, but it's a lot more fun on a cross bike with fat tires. So.. if anyone else wants to do well at the Kanza or this race in 2012, we should probably start training now.

DK200 results

Here are the overall results published in the Emporia, KS newspaper.

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2011/jun/06/official-results-2011-dirty-kanza-200/

Congratulations to Matt and Stoney!  You guys are awesome.

MO River Bike-Bridge Opens Soon

I'm not sure why this is happening in the middle of the day on a Monday, but it looks like the official opening of the MO river bike lane is happening April 11th. So.. if you want to go watch a bunch of corporate-types ride hybrids across the bridge, details are here 

I'm of a mind that the lane will be ready for use before then, so I propose a group ride on the weekend of 4/9-4/10. Preferably, I'd like to do the ride on the 9th, camp out that night and ride home the next day. We'll ride and then sit around drinking beer and listen to Nick and his buddies play bluegrass

 

Hermann Hairy Out and Back

Click here for more info

I'm trying a crazy experiment.  This reminder is 5 days before the ride and in it's own post.  Let's see if we get more riders show up than when people announce their ride a day or two beforehand and bury it 30 comments deep in a week-old post.  I think it's worth a try.  If it doesn't work we can always go back to being completely unorganized.

It's really not that crazy of an idea.  The last time someone gave a reasonable amount of notice before a ride we had 8 people show up to ride on snow and ice-covered roads, plus a 2mile hike-a-bike right after a blizzard.  I guess it allowed people to plan their schedule or something.

I've got another crazy idea.  I'm considering driving part way to Hermann and riding the Katy Trail the rest of the way to the ride.  Of course, that depends if I can roll out of bed early enough to do this, but if anyone's interested in joining me just let me know.

Reform Schooled

For various reason I was forced to go on a solo ride today, so I decided to go on a nice little jaunt to the Reform Conservation Area.  I took a few pictures and learned a few lessons.

WARNING - Berry, if you haven't taken your blood pressure meds do not look at these pictures.  I know how particular you are about photography.  These are not high quality and do not meet your standards. 

I had to work from home early this morning and then waited for the temperature to rise a little before heading out.  I can't ride when the temps are below freezing until I find a pharmacy that will fill this prescription(NSFW).  I hit the first hill from my house and immediately noticed the hill felt harder than last year.  I wound up walking 3 of the 4 category 5 climbs.  Lesson learned - lay off the pork rinds.

Climbing up the hill out of Cole County park I saw Robby Brown drive by.  He still has a bike rack on his SUV.  I'm guessing he still rides?

For those who are living under a rock, MODOT is building a bike bridge across the Missouri River.  It will be attached to the right side of the bridge.  I took several pictures while riding across, but only a few turned out.  Lesson learned - slowing down isn't enough you have to actually stop to get decent pics.

 

Here's the square ramp that will lead down to the parking lot at the boat access to the river.  I thought the bike bridge was scheduled to open April 1, but Luke said the project got cancelled. 

 

Here's the infamous haunted bridge on Old 94 hwy.  Scary huh?  Supposedly during the Civil War a group of white abolitionists were hung there and you can stil hear screams and wet footprints appear in front of cars on the bridge.  Source - TheShadowLands.net

 

I then hit the Katy Trail.  I usually like riding the trail, but when it's soft and you're headed directly into the wind it really sucks.  I checked the weather before I left it said wind would be 5mph, I'm calling Bovine Splattercations.

 

Halfway in I made it to the Callaway County Nuclear Power Plant(I don't know the official name).  When I went to unclip I managed to lose one of the cleat screws out of my new shoes.  Although I have Stone in my name I'm nowhere near as smooth as Keith Stone.

 

Calm down Nick, I was able to get another screw in when I got home. So I don't think I stripped the threads.  Lesson learned - make sure you tighten screws with the proper amount of torque and keep replacement screws in your seatbag.

Although there was a veritable plethora of good roads and climbs, you'd have to have a screw loose to do this ride from Jeff City.  And I'm not talking a cleat screw.  Start at Tebbetts or Mokane.  Here's the route if you start from Mokane - http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/29129394

Next long ride - March 20.  Part of the 2011 Missouri Gravel Grinder Series  Starts at Hermann goes to Owensville and then back. I may park somewhere between Jeff City and Hermann to get some extra miles in.

Boone Doggle Report

Well, it was cold, windy but otherwise a great day to be out on the gravel.  A stout group of manly men headed out to do the Boone Doggle loop and maybe more.  Bopp, Nick, Guy, Jason, Matt, Peat, Zach started and were later joined by Stoney and Barry.  The gravel was awesome.  Despite this being a gravel ride we had three crashes.  Bopp bit the dust on the Katy.  Stoney went down on some of Barry's double-secret dirt double track.  And Zach crashed while showing off his stunt riding in front of Bob Jenkin's house.  Plus we had to kill and eat a deer just to survive the ride (see evidence below).  Yeah, it was that kind of day.  Here are a few photos.  I didn't take enough becasue it was just too cold to stop and take the gloves off.  Big thanks to Zach for putting the ride together and for the spaghetti!