Laying Low

So the Ethos crew has been laying low and putting in the hours as of late, getting ready for the next bout of racing coming up soon.

As far as XC goes, Warsaw is the next venue for some Down and Dirty Racing. The same weekend will find Kevin battling his hardest effort yet, the Dirty Kanza. Then it's off to the State Champs at Castlewood, followed by some Perry Lake action the weekend after that. Put in a nice 3/6 hour race at Warsaw the weekend after that and you've got the recipe for 4 weekends of good ol' racing fun.

Find the dirt at united here... Midwest fat tire, here...

Here's to hoping Kevin survives.... I'm putting money on yup!

G

Rounded Up

For those of you lucky enough to race Krug last weekend, you were treated to wonderfully dry trails, and lots and lots of climbing. Destruction would be one way to describe this 7 mile loop, Curvacious could be another, Awesome would be my description. The crew out at St. Joe did an great job with this trail, and the trials riding was pretty freaking cool to watch too. Could that be our next venture? Ethos Trials? Kevin said he's in...

Travis man handling that last big push up to the finish...

Me manhandling it my own way. My 34x19 was easier to run than ride up that beast.

Steve with the eye of the tiger

Kevin loving one of the thirteen bridges

Yet, another bridge... We got our bridge riding skillz down.

Kevin looking like he's having way to much fun for a race.

I struggled to 2nd in the 19-29 Cat 1 class. I couldn't say I was the only SS'er in the Expert class this race, Josh, on the far left was rocking his S-works SS Stumpy too. Nice work

And lastly, we have Jeffrey, who is suspeciously looking like he's about to make a covert bike switch in a last ditch effort to crush Aaron E, the eventual overall top spot.

Good racing fellas

G

Lake Wilson and More

Things have heated up nicely with mountain bike racing. Team Ethos like everyone else made it through the long and harsh winter, without losing too much momentum.

Racing started in Lawrence at the Rivertrails where Travis found a good spot in the Expert class, I won the SS class followed by Jessie in 3rd, and Kevin and Steve held down the sport classes in the "older" age groups respectively.

Then it was off to Smithville where some duo and solo action was had. Team Cam and Trav put down an impressive 6 hour duo for the win. I took the 3 hour Solo SS with Jessie holding down a decent spot in the 3 hour SS solo also. Sean Burns made a rare appreance and rocked the 6 hour solo SS, while Kevin just fell short of the podium in the big boy's 6 hour solo. Jamie fell victim to mechanicals, Steve held on strong in the 3 hour solo, Dave rocked the 6 hour Solo SS which happened to be a stacked class, and JP did it up duo style. Come to think of it, that's pretty much the whole team.

The Ethos/Winkler campout

I headed down to Neosho to try my hand at my first expert race of the year. Pretty awesome race, pretty stiff competition, and I landed a mid-pack finish. So by my standards, that means that half the pack experienced what I call, BUBAS. A good ol fashion beating up by a singlespeeder.

Then it was off to the far away land of Wilson Lake for Doug's fat tire fun. Cam, Trav, and I tried our hand at the hill climb, and found ourselves short of breath. Well, at least I did. Then it was off to the races Sunday. The race was a blast, it was hard, and it was filled with amazing trail. Travis held on super strong for the 27 miles to come in 2nd in his age group, and 2nd overall. I did alright, posting 2nd in the expert 19-29, and 6th overall. Kevin got lost on Saturday, and almost did a whole lap, but still rode strong Sunday. He's looking good for his big debut, the DK. Cam had a bad race, probably due to the 6 hours of riding he did Friday and Saturday. Even the best have their days.

Check out Bob Arnolds vid with a cameo from some Ethos crew, including Trav flossing the lake edge.

So that's the quick recap... We'll try keeping this thing updated from here on out.

Prepare for more Ethos pain training this weekend, at the Krug Race. We'll be there...

G

BLVD Cup Cross

In Short...the Ethos brotherhood dominated the competition.

Cam on his loyal fixed gear

Travis takes the #1 spot on the podium

Garet on his single speed

More of Lyle's Photos of the event can be found HERE

Cyclofit ®

Travis and Cameron have been doing alot of this Cyclofit ®. They have told me this is their propeitary workout plan for cyclocross, and that everytime you use the "word" you owe them a dollar. So Ethos racing now is indebted to them a total of $2.


Despite the sillyness of this claim, the workout plan certainly seems to be working. Team Ethos has been doing quite well at the local cross races. Check out Garet's blog for some of his latest race reports, as well as the sick photo of him boosting over the only surviving dinosaur in the Midwest. Travis has been wreaking havoc with his new Ridley, bringing home 3rd place in the Boss Cross Cat 3/4 race two weeks ago. The rest of us have been putting forth our best Ethos efforts and still having a great time.


Friday night Travis, Cameron, Kevin and myself met at All Weather Control HQ, and deployed North to the riverfront park for a brutal workout. We did four 8 minute intervals of follow the leader through the park. It was a blast, and my legs were jelly by the end. We ended by spinning back to my hood to drop me off, then everyone headed back to the rivermarket.


Tomorrow a clown car full of Ethos riders are headed out to Wyandotte County Park for the Boulevard Cup Cross Race. I both assume and hope that the entrance fee includes some free beers before, during or after the race.