Death by Hills gives new life

to this under-trained, overweight, lifeless lump. I had a blast as did the crap load of people that finished this year. Literally on the verge of cramping from Woodland Meadows to the end on each repetitive lashing, I somehow survived feeling okay. Awesome to see some new faces looking to conquer this thing. From ultra light, TDF lookin doodz to crazy strong nut cases like Nico on single speeds. From old veterans to Wendy, first time on road tires and in West County, nice freakin job!

Amazing the following this non-team team has. Only one casualty that I know of, I heard he just lost his........Momentum! No mechanicals that I saw, just a bunch of tough people making this point their Mecca.


Special thanks to C.F.R. who was riding like a man on fire at the very end.

It's about time(updated)

Went on an awesome road ride yesterday with C.F.R and Steve Friedman. I showed them something that a lot of cyclists know about, but moar don't than do. I showed them a monument out on Old Manchester that was dedicated in 1921 to Victor Smith. Anyone who thinks they are tough just needs to stop and think of what it must have been like to ride a bike back then. My guess would be wooden rims, single speed of course. Only choice was sew ups or maybe even solid tires. I often wonder what those riders would think if they could see us now. Could they ever have imagined what the sport has turned into? What would they think about society? What would they think about the relationship between cyclists and motorists?

Anyway, it bothered me how bad the growth had gotten out there. Hell, I knew where the stone was and had a hard time finding it. Since I didn't want to ride today I got the wild idea to go out and do something about it. I threw the chainsaw, loppers, handsaw, rake and a bunch of other stuff in the truck and took off. I stopped by the other known monument located at Pond and Old Manchester to take a picture. This one is from 1923, dedicated to William M. Butler.



I'd think the building, trees and all have changed. This photo is available for purchase from the Missouri History Museum. Went out and tried to stage a picture to see if the building or trees are still there. Today's condition is kind of a shame.




I had the forethought to take a picture of the condition it was in when I arrived.


Here is a photo I just found that I took last year in the spring.


After about 2 hours of cutting, lopping and dragging, I was satisfied.





If you look at Old Manchester as traveling east/west from 100 and Fox Creek Road, then it is just past Rem lane on the south or left side, about a mile west of 100.




Who would you dedicate a monument to? I can think of a few awesome people that have made a serious difference to our sport. Stop by and look at it. Hopefully this clearing will last a few years but I will not let it get this bad again, it deserves moar respect than that.