August 23 - Points Series #10 - Cape Race, Cape Girardeau, MO

Come one come all! Let's see some support for Schlafly and get some of us idiots to the race! Should be a great race.

Event Highlights: The CYCLEWERX Crew is looking forward to bringing you another great race. We have changes this year as we have an entirely new and exciting venue.Klaus Park is the setting for this years race, and it is easy to find and easy to get to with close proximity to Interstate 55. The Course: It is a fast and flowy hardpacked singletrack trail with virtually no rocks and only a few exposed roots, and the race loop will be approximately 3 ½ miles long, virtually all singletrack. There are three (3) climbs, one of which is an old gravel road bed, while the others are sweet singletrack. The Park: We will have plenty of schwag and a fun atmosphere with music and much more. The park has several covered pavilions with BBQ grills as well, and it is a very shaded park with large old growth trees which provide a beautiful setting for a race. There are nice clean restroom facilities (not Porta-Potties) and the park provides excellent opportunities for spectators to view racers often. Concessions will be provided by Burrito-ville, one of our great sponsors. There aren't any convenience stores or restaurants at this exit so you might want to come prepared, but we will have Powerade, water, energy drinks, coffee and possibly some hot dogs for sale in addition to the concessions offered by Burrito-ville. Race Times: 11:00 am Beginners race for 1 hour $25 Marathon race for 3 hours $25 12:30 Sport race for 90 minutes $25 Expert / Pro for 90 minutes $30 SS for 90 minutes $25Directions to Klaus Park: The park is located next to I-55 at exit # 99 (Cape Girardeau/Jackson.) At the exit, head West (that would be a right for people coming in from the North off of I-55) onto Highway 61/34. Once you take the exit and begin heading west immediately get into the left lane as you need to take the first left onto Wedekind Rd. After crossing the highway, Wedekind Road comes to a "T" intersection 3 way stop. Take a left turn at the stop sign and go approximately a ½ mile to the Park entrance on the left. Additional parking will be available across from the entrance to the park.

St. Paul jersey show off ride!

Our largest outing since the new jerseys came in! Check out the pic, great looking group(at least from the left side to about the middle). The new jerseys have been a real hit! I am glad people like me and Brad's design. Thanks Schlafly for supporting us and letting us design the kick ass jerseys!

This pic was taken after one short 12 mile lap around St. Paul. We picked up another rider and got rid of a few and proceeded on to another 25 mile long loop around St. Paul. This was the first time we have ridden in thi big of a group in a while due to the ski season kicking it into high gear. Now that it is over I look forward to have more of these type of rides in the future.

Nathan and I decided that we should have some sprint sections in the ride to spice it up a little bit. Brad led us into the Guthrie hill thinking to himself that he would be able to beat us up it. Little did he know Nathan was on his wheel and I was on Nathans wheel just waiting for Brad to slip up. Once we hit the hill Nathan and I shot off and passed Brad at a very fast speed. Brad was pissed and said something to us that I cant write on here! He wanted to be the king of the hill but you cant lead two of the fastest guys into a hill and not expect us to fight it out. I think he learned his lesson not to pull us for that long, letting us save our energy.

For a while I hung out in the back, very back and just observed the group. It looks great to see everyone in the blue and yellow Schlafly Cycling jerseys! But you know me, I couldnt take being in the back long, I had to move to the front and work a little bit. I like pulling the group, I get to ride at my speed. If they cant hang with me, then they should work harder, just kidding, I will wait for them.

Enjoy the team pic!

Jay

Quail Ridge

Today I was asked by my 10 year old nephew Jacob if I wanted to go to Quail Ridge and ride some of the MTB trails. I said, " sure that would be fun!" So Jake, my brother-in-law Jim, and I headed over there. It had been a really long time since I had rode my bike there. That's were I first started riding bikes a few years back.

As I was riding today I remembered the first time that I rode there. It was at my heaviest weight ever 272lbs. I had just made the decision that I was going to change how I looked. So I went out and bought a Trek 4300 mountain bike, the same bike I rode today. That day I did one lap around, and I didn't even leave the concrete trails. It was only 2.56 miles, and I think it took me like 30 minutes! After I was done I had felt like I was going to die! But I also felt a great sense of accomlishment!

So I was excited today to see how much I had improved. Today the 3 of us did about 10 miles. We hit some of the trails and some of the concrete ones as well. After this trip I felt great! It is amazing how much improvement I have made. It also motivates me to keep working hard, because I have a ton of work still left to do! My Nephew Jacob did all 10 miles on a BMX bike. He is an animal!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Spanish Lake MTB race

The word on the street is that our very own Mary Piper won the womens sport division race!!!! I saw your time mary, very very nice!!! Wish I could have been there, but we were in Rockford, IL. Let us know how the race was and how it felt to win your first Sport race! I should have went, the guys that took first and second are always behind me so I missed out.
Jay

Virgin poster

For all of you who do not know me or of me, my name is Nathan Lafferty and I am part of the Schlafly cycling team. I am very computer illiterate, and I can’t spell, so if a word looks weird… just move on. I first want to say this is my first post and I want to thank everybody who had a hand in putting this together, the people that are keeping it together and Schlafly for sponsoring us. I have been riding for about 4 years with my “now” wife and we love it. She is also part of the team. My biggest achievements have been the MS 150 twice, completing my first double century on the second year. That ride is unbelievable, and if you have never done it, I would highly recommend it. I have logged about 1,000 miles every year, but since joining the team, I should easily top that with the help of Lindsey, Brad, and Jay. I have never raced, but I think that this may be my first year. Jay and Brad go quite frequently and have asked me every time, but I seem to make up some excuse. I get really nervous at even the though of competing, so I’m not sure how I would handle myself once that I got there. Maybe here in the future, they can drag me along and I can prove to them that they should have left me at home. That’s the short story about myself, now I will just talk about how my ride went this weekend. I started off Saturday morning about 7:00 heading for New town from where I live in Warrenton. Last time that I had tried to ride to O’fallon, I only made it about 15 miles till I was struck by a car that ended my ride pretty quick. On this occasion I went down the north service road, through St. Paul, and into New town. From new town I turned around and headed back to O’fallon, where Lindsey’s parents live. I arrived there around 12:30 or so right at 93 miles. I was a little disappointed because my original goal was 100. I retreated inside the cool house for a couple hours to eat and regain some energy before I finished the 7 more miles. All in all, I completed my century with a riding time of 5 hours and 21 minutes and an average of 18.8 mph. That is better then my most recent mph of 18.1 and that was with a few drafting partners. So I was satisfied when my average went up and I was by myself. Lindsey and I went on 45-mile ride through St. Charles on Sun. where we met some new friends. I rode with a guy named Dan that had been riding for quite some time. He will be at this years MS 150 riding for Wild Horse Creek Crusaders. They have a huge tent with lots of sponsors, including Schlafly, (and if any important people are reading) they get like 4 kegs of beer from them. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of any thing more then a nice cold beer when I get done with the ride in September.

Thanks InBev!!!!

Thanks InBev, because of you we are going to have more Yummy Schlafly to drink!!!!!

http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/08/03/story5.html

Castlewood MTB Race

I wanted to put Rockbridge behind me at Castlewood and I was able to achieve that. Great course in awesome shape, tons of racers and close to home. My goal was 3 laps in about 2 hours and I finished 2nd in sport with a 2:04 time. I feel so much better about my mountain biking after Sunday's performance. Here's a pic of the sport ladies just chillin' before the race. Even my pre-race jitters seem to be going away :-)