Trans Iowa...Where Dragons are Slayed

Congratulations to John Williams for not only finishing his first attempt at Trans Iowa, but also breaking into the top 10 with a 7th place finish. Awesome job!

John joins Rich Barrett and goes into the Cow Town Cycling Hall of Fame as Trans Iowa finishers

"In the end I felt elated, I felt proud, and mostly I felt like A dragon slayer who had just killed the baddest beast in the land" - John Williams. Read his recount at The Seated Climb

Thursday Night Worlds

**Update**

From Curt: "we do not have the course/venue for this week, April 28, so rides will resume May 5 and should be every Thursday from here on."

What: Thursday Night Northland Crit at the Police Academy
When: 6:15 pm on Thursdays
Where: Kansas City Regional Police Academy, 6801 N Pleasant Valley Rd , KC, MO 64119
Why: To ride those bikes with skinny tires around in circles, what else.

A ride leaves from The Wheel Cyclery at 6:00 pm. and heads up to the training criterium. Come on out and enjoy a night full of fun.

Course features: Gated, new pavement, a variety of courses to pick from!!! This will be a great opportunity to practice criterium racing and get to know one of the courses that Tour of KC will be held on this year

Parking: From the intersection of Searcy Creek and Pleasant Valley Road, turn left and go to the last driveway heading toward the facility, basically at the bottom of the hill, turn right into the drive, follow it to the back of the facility, you can park in the lot with signs that say "RECRUIT PARKING"...DO NOT PARK OR DRIVE ON THE GRASS!!!

Some things to remember: If the gate is not unlocked by one of our sponsors...don't go in...(common sense) While you are out on the course - DO NOT LITTER and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RIDE YOUR BIKE ON THE SKID PAD!!!

See you on Thursdays for some skinny tire fun.

One Hot Ouachita Challange

The 10th Annual Ouachita Challenge was held under near perfect condition, albeit a bit hot for some. This years OC was so hot it even caused a brush fire....

Several members of the team ventured down to test themselves on those challenging climbs and vast technical sections. In his first race back after a long break due to surgery, Rich Anderson laid down an impressive 6:03 finishing time - due mainly to his aggressive downhill riding. Ashley Blum finally made the trip down to Oden and finished in 7:04 after suffering from some bad cramps. Jeff Arnaud also suffered from the heat and cramps but soldered on to a 8:06 finish. Tim Greene had a perfect lead-up to this years OC, but broke the cardinal rule - rest or you will parish. Hot temps did not do Tim any favors either and he did not make the final check point cut-off despite drinking 500 ounces of fluid...

Complete results are up - 2011 Ouachita Challenge Results

Party at Pot Pie

Cow Town Cycling had their annual spring party this past weekend. John and Sarah Williams of Pot Pie hosted a very fine event with a great turnout of new and old teammates. Some great plans were laid out for the season and lots of prizes were up for grabs.

Special thanks to our sponsors for the evening: Pot Pie, Cow Town Cycling & MultiSport Marketing.

The nights festivities

Team Meeting

God's Country Off-Road Duathlon

The Cow Town Cycling Team and Jewel Cartoons would like to invite you
out to the God’s Country Off-Road Duathlon. For 10 years this event
has been offering up “Fat Tire” fun from beginners to experts alike.
Come join in the fun on April 10, 2011 at the Lawrence River Trails
and start your multisport season off with us.

This year we are focusing on a well-organized fun event that anyone
can do and will not break the bank. For an entry fee of only $30.00
you get a multi-sport event with chip timing. Where else can you find
that? Entry fee includes one-day license, custom awards, post-race
refreshments/food and a delightful course that any ability level will
enjoy.

Early entry discount ends April 1, 2011.

Event Details:
• 2.5 Mile trail run / 11 Mile Off-road bike
• Awards 3 deep in both M/F age-groups.
• Packet pickup/Registration opens at 8:00a.m. and closes at 10:30 am
• Mass start at 11:00 am (new time for 2011)
• Event Website: http://www.fattireduathlon.com/go/
• Online Registration: http://www.active.com/triathlon/lawrence-ks/gods-country-offroad-duathlon-2011
• Race Director: Gerard Arantowicz - jewelcartoons@yahoo.com
• Official Timing Service: Raceday Timing Solutions

Other stuff you may or may not need to know:
• This event would not take place if not for the Lawrence Mountain
Bike Club & Patrol, our wonderful event volunteers and the countless
volunteers that help maintain the trail systems.
• Thousands of athletes have entered Fat Tire Duathlon events and
everyone one of them have finished with a smile on their face.
• The UFD MTB season opens on April 9 at the same great location.
• Distances are approximate an may change slightly due to course
conditions
• Trails shoes are suggested, but not necessary to have fun.
• Weather and course will be perfect
• Tige, Laura and Damian are not racing so anyone can now win.
• Cool awards for the top 3 in each age-group, but in our eyes
everyone is a winner.
• Individual and Team divisions are available.
• Part of the bike course will route you up on the levee to allow
ample passing.
• Helmets are required at all times on the bike.

I hope to see many of you out at the Lawrence River Trails next month

The Perfect Pedal Stroke

Central Iowa Rock Road Endurance Metric

The 3rd edition of CIRREM was held under typical Iowa winter weather (cold and snow) and we would not want nor expect anything less from this 100 Kilometer gravel grinder.

Results are in for CIRREM v 3

Some pictures from Kent Carlson

Cow Town was well represented with John Williams bringing home a well deserved 8th place finish. Brent Gowin rolled into the finish in 49th place.

Bone Bender Post Card

Tim's Gravel Challenge

Tim Greene brings us....

What: The Epic Spring Hill Gravel Grinder
When: Sunday February 13, 2011, 9:00 am
Where: Spring Hill, KS
Why: It is time to start training for Trans Iowa, Bone Bender 3/6 Hour and more. Get off that trainer and start grinding or you will be wishing you did.
Who: Anyone who has signed up for an endurance challenge in 2011 and needs to get some base miles in.

Distance will be 58 miles and features 2500 feet of climbing. Come out and enjoy some of the best gravel routes in the Midwest. A very fun route is being put together that will have all the classics that this area has to offer. The weather forecast is looking very good for a day of gravel grinding hosted by one of the nicest guys around.

Tim will have course maps and updates tomorrow on http://gravelgrinders.blogspot.com/

Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey v3

The Wheel Cyclery and Cow Town Cycling presents:

The 3rd Annual Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey makes the move to Clinton State Park for 2011. Come join over 300 off-road enthusiast as they test themselves on the North Shore Trail System. 3 or 6 hours of fun - your choice. Come enjoy some of the sweetest and challenging trails in the Midwest. Party with your friends and just have a grand old time.

New for this year: Dri-Fit t-shirt, added Sport level classes and a 3 person relay division, increased payout to the Men’s and Women’s open divisions, dinner and awards ceremony. Plus more to come.

Course: The BB36 will feature ~15 mile course (depending on course conditions) comprised of rocky technical sections with many short power climbs and fun single track sections. Several areas will cross rocky stream beds. Other areas will have fast easy sections for passing. All this along North shore of Clinton Lake which ranks among the best trails systems in the Midwest

Venue: Clinton State Park is a 1500 acres park located on the northeast shore of Clinton Reservoir just outside of Lawrence, Kansas and features a 25 mile hike/bike trail, 5 mile cross country ski trail, 1 mile self-guided nature trail, archery range, swim beach, sand volleyball, 2 9-hole disc golf courses, 5 acre trout pond, 1 acre children’s fishing pond, accessible shoreline use trail, fish cleaning station and 2 fish feeders, 4 playgrounds and 460 camping sites are available (240 with electric and water).

Registration is now open. Please register before March 21 to guarantee your event t-shirt and before the entry fee increase. Registration includes post race dinner. Register at http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12419

The Bone Bender will again benefit local trails and the fine folk who build them:
http://www.kansastrailscouncil.org
http://www.lawrencemountainbikeclub.org/


Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey
April 17, 2011
10:00 am - Mass Start
Clinton State Park
Lawrence, Kansas
Website: http://www.bonebendermtb.com/
Blog:http://bonebender.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187162284645060