Resolution…Schmes-olution

{words brian}

This week it finally happened. It had to have been the longest New Years resolution I have ever kept…apart from the one to have at least one piece of bacon every week for the year, but that was more of a promise than a resolution. When the year freshly turned 07 I resolved to commute to work, by bicycle, at least 2 days a week for the entire year. This week…I didn’t ride in one single day. Instead of battling the cold and rain that hit Seattle this week, I opted for the comfort and convenience of my trusty 4Runner Sue.

At first I felt a little guilty about abandoning my resolution, and doing so with such little remorse about it. But I started to think back on the year and all the rides I did and I’m beginning to feel like I deserve the week off. The 20 degree days of winter with snow and ice blanketing Seattle slowed our commute but didn’t stop us. I went on a vacation to Maui where I clocked over 300 miles and summited Haleakala (sea level to 10,000 feet in 37 miles). I helped get our BEER Commute Challenge Team a top ten finish by riding 36 miles round trip every day in month of May. I did battle with my first double century in one day during Seattle to Portland, only to follow it up with the Portland to Seattle the next day. I started racing this year, tackling the NW Crit series with a focus and determination that hasn’t been seen since the big L left the sport. I took a week long beer, bikes, bb guns and tequila trip to Colorado this fall catching rides in Fruita, Steamboat, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs. I took my lessons learned from the Crits and my mountain bike trip and started Cyclocross racing in the Single Speed division. Then there are the weekend mountain bike rides, the pub crawls, the 2am trying to get home in Seattle but all the bridges are up and the bike paths are under construction so I have to throw my bike over 2 10ft tall fences because I don’t want to back track 2 miles to the road and ride around…meanwhile commuting into work a minimum of 2 days a week. My ass is thankful that I don’t have a computer on my Rush Hour (my main commuter) to remind me how much time I’ve spent on my duff.

I’ve now convinced myself that I took the week off as prep for my last race of the season, the USGP of Cyclocross in Portland. The KISS KROSS crew has disbanded (we’re looking at a reunion race next year) so Bad Santa and his Naughty Helpers will make the trip instead. By the looks of the weather report for Portland, it should be tailor made for a surly Kris Kringle.

So this means I’ll be looking for a brand new New Year’s Resolution…any suggestions?

.

Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships - Portland, OR

{words brian}

Bikes: RX 1.0 & One Way

Day one. Time Trial.

The Time Trial was simple. Ride the Cross course as fast as you possibly could for one lap…then puke. After finding out that there were over 150 riders registered for the TT our mantra became “place in the top 65”. Anyone outside the top 65 were then relegated to the Wild Card race later in the afternoon to try and qualify…unless they were able to complete various Time Bonus sections that the promoters had set up. The aero-bar down hill, the 3 sec beer slam, or the 6pk barrier bunny hop. We arrived with our rag tag crew of merry pranksters with just enough time to grab our registration, get our start time, and get suited up in our ‘working man’ gear. When they posted the times our entire team was shocked when only I had qualified for the following day. Fortunately Cleveland qualified because of a DQ, and Higgins lit up the Wild Card race placing 2nd to easily make it to the next day.

Day Two. SSCXWC.

I knew we were involved in something special when the promoters’ called up all riders name by name from the previous days time posting…got everyone settled…and told us to turn around. Many groaned…I started laughing…this is awesome! Making the pros fight for the title by having to navigate their way through all shenanigans lined up in front of them. When the gun went off I did my best at boxing out Adam Craig as long as I could…and then focused on the Tequila Shortcut (brilliant) which I dutifully hit on every lap until they ran out of Tequila. The shots defiantly warmed me up and took some of the sting off the Dodge Ball I took to the face in the Dodge Ball alley, but made me think I was hallucinating when I came across the Bikini Girl in the forest. I hit the kicker every lap, took a beer hand up every lap and even made a couple dollar preems outside the beer garden…by getting up on a podium where my cheerleaders were standing, working the crowd and mack’n on my girls.

By the end of it all our cheerleaders became the podium girls and I learned I will NEVER wear leather pants in a Cross race again.

I gotta say thanks to Cross Crusade as they put on the funnest cycling event I’ve ever done. Although they were brazen enough to say that we were giving Seattle Cyclocross a better image. Better?! We’ll see if we can’t put a little tarnish on it next month as they requested our presence at the GP Dec 1st and 2nd.

Final Results for Team KISS KROSS…not that it matters.

ACE…55th

STAR CHILD…45th

DEMON…37th

LIVER…DFL

We will leave you with some pictures {CLICK TO ENLARGE}

KISS KROSS Kheer Krew

The commander and chief

For more images checkout these links:

DM Roth 1
DM Roth 2
TL PICS

A RICHER TASTIER BLOG

{words carey}

KEMYOOTER is approaching its 2nd lovely, exciting, rad, passionate, funky, influential, and just all around cool blog year! So...for the up coming year we’ve decided to add a little diversity and throw in an “etc”; which basically means adding lifestyle stories since bikes are a big part of our lives.

If you read our intro copy in the 2008 Raleigh catalog, it goes a little something like this:

{CLICK TO ENLARGE}

“At Raleigh, bicycles are our passion and lifestyle. We design them, we build them, and we ride them. We race. We commute. We climb and descend mountain trails and passes. We strive for the perfect ride everyday. Our bicycles are a product of this passion.”

With that said, bicycles are definitely a lifestyle for us; we breath everyday to pedal our machines so we can breather harder and deeper; to and from work, on the race course, navigating city traffic, rolling on single track, hitting the pubs, touring, getting life's essentials (groceries), and creating new experiences. The straight-up Kemyooter title just doesn’t cut it anymore – it’s a bit restrictive. So…we welcome you to the new “KEMYOOTER ETC. - a richer, tastier blog.”

After all, this whole blogging thing has enabled a much richer global dialogue to take place, showing the world our doings on a more transparent organic level. We really are more than just a corporate bike company comprised of robots that sit at computers all day manufacturing bikes and shipping them. We actually ride them, tinker with them, smile with them, drink with them, master them, fall in love with them, and crave them everyday. We hope that over time this venue will foster inspiration, laughter, ideas, questioning, learning, creativity, community, and promote a hell of a lot of cycling.

From the folks of Raleigh Kemyooter Etc.,

ENJOY THE RIDE!

HANG ME UP TO DRY

{words brian}

{CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE}

SSCXWs are this Saturday and Sunday in Portland OR. Over barley pops one nite, my friends and I decided it would be a great idea if we signed up for it. So we did. With the race looming on the forecast like so many winter storms in Seattle, I went to Donida Farms this past weekend for a little taste of what I was in for.

Who’s the freak’n masochist who came up with this idea?! Not only is it hard enough trying to ride skinny tires through muck and mud, but let’s throw some barricades and running hill climbs in for good measure. Oh wait…now lets get rid of the possibility of shifting. Who’s the masochist now?!

Objectives for my first cross race…

1) Clear the barriers…not catch my foot and fall like a screaming white girl in a horror movie. Check.
2) Stay upright…well…skinny tires aren’t MTB tires…I went down but popped up so fast that a lot of people missed it, but those that caught it were cheering louder.
3) Don’t puke…check. Don’t ask me how…but check.
4) Don’t finish DFL…check. Heck, I actually missed the top 10 by 5 sec.

Lessons learned at my first cross race…
1) PBR is better left for after the race
2) What was a great line in the mud on one lap is the worst line the next lap
3) There is nothing graceful about jumping in the air and slamming your ‘junk’ on a skinny saddle
4) When spectators slap you on the ass…that means go faster. (Cross crowds are the greatest ever!)

Can’t wait for this weekend as KISS KROSS descends upon Portland.

Stretchin' the PBR into the muscles to make them real loose.


Dismount. Run like hell (smile of course). Descend.

Portland and the SSCXW look out for KISS KROSS!

Check out these blogs for more fun coverage of the race:

Adventures in Bikeland

One Gear One Mind