Spoke Pony Showdown 6hr

Todd and I decided to head out to Kansas City early Friday to pre-ride the Spoke Pony Showdown course at Swope Park. This park is amazing and you would never know you are in the middle of Kansas City! When we arrived, we were greeted by Doug Long, one of the directors from the Heartland group. We chatted about whether the course was rideable due to the amount of rain they got earlier in the day. We decided to give it a try hoping it wouldn't be too bad since it's been so dry.

The trail seemed to be pretty hard packed but, there was just enough water on top to cause us to slide around and collect mud on the tires to the point we barely had any traction. We bailed after 1 mile and I decided to do my leg openers on the pavement. What was the race going to be like tomorrow?

Kansas City had light rain off and on throughout the night before the race. We set up our TA next to the course and soon it was the whole St. Louis clan-Team Seagal, Momentum, Team Free Awesome (Pete), and the rest of the Off the Front racers. Of course, made room for super stud, Mark Gullet out of Springfield. The grass was still wet and folks were bailing after the 1st mile of pre-riding due to the muddy conditions.

Todd and I chose to do to the 6 Hour race to train for the bigger 12 hour races we have later in the Fall. I also chose the singlespeed to race on. There wasn't as big of a crowd as I thought there would be. I suppose the rain scared folks off but, they missed an awesome race and now one of my favorite trails in Missouri!

Race started up a paved road for about a 1/4 mile and we quickly made a sharp right onto the trail going counter-clockwise. The trail was still very slick! I got caught behind some slower folks but, as soon as I got more confident riding in the slick rock and mud I started making the passes. My 1st lap was the slowest of all of them. I think this was the case for most folks due to the conditions. But, as the race went on, each lap got better and faster! It was amazing! My lap times were getting faster and I was able to get over more technical areas.

The course was straight forward... 1st 3 miles was very technical and rocky and the last 4 miles was smooth, flowing, and fast. I was finding myself only 4 minutes in front of Cathy from Team 360 after 3 laps. I was also having some technical issues with my singlespeed causing me to stop to fix a couple times. I knew I couldn't keep dealing with the bike issues if I was going to attempt to win the race. Todd caught up to me on the course since he was feeling like superman. I asked him if he could have one of our friends who was racing on a team to get his geared Niner ready for me to switch when I come in. My geared Trek 1 x9 was still waiting for the chain guide to come in so I only had the SS.

Kerri Schewe was racing on a team with Christine so she was so kind to get Todd's Niner out of our car and get it race ready. I came in and Kerri helped me switch everything very fast to the geared bike. I owe her big time!

I took off and holy cow...I was climbing over many technical obstacles that I didn't have the strength to do on the singlespeed. My lap times just kept getting faster too! Going out on the last lap I was still ahead of Cathy but, not by much. I know Cathy and she is usually like me...steady and doesn't stop. Then, all sudden I hear Kerri's voice! She was going out on her last team lap and was riding behind me. I always enjoy riding with her so it was mentally a relief. My last lap was the fastest of all 6 and I ended up with the win. Humm...geared vs SS. Could there be a switch for the big races? Cathy was super strong as usual and will be competition for me at the bigger 12hr races this Fall. Congrats to her on her strong finish.

There were many podium finishes by the St. Louis crowd. Todd won 2nd in his age and 5th overall. He really had a good race despite a bad crash and had EMT butterfly his arm during the race. He was standing on the podium with some big names. Dave got 3rd and Peat 2nd both in 6hr race. Keith Weinkein placed 3rd in 3hr despite showing up 10 minutes before race start. For team divisions-Steve/Val 5th, Kerri/Christine (Team 3 Braids) 6th, and Seagal boys 8th.

Race was over and the whole St. Louis crowd and Mark Gullet headed to Gates BBQ. Obviously, this decision was not made by me. This place was true KC BBQ. Big plates overflowing with various types of meat smothered with BBQ sauce. Matt quickly hit it off with the waitress. Not sure what he remembers though.

Next, off to singlespeed championships tomorrow. Not sure I have any legs left though.