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Jeff, Mark, Mark, Teresa and Ty shared a few things this weekend. They all made the podium at Boss Cross. It was sloppy, snotty, muddy, cold and kooky, but  four of the five stayed as toasty as one could under those conditions wearing those nifty fleeced special cyclocross skin suits....sure, they have last year's sponsors, but we'll overlook that for the moment. But whether you're on the Slimen side or the Localcycling crew, I think you'll get a 5 popcorn bag review of that kit for those conditions. 

The S&G/Locals were also  well represented by Bryan, Craig, Joe, Larry and Matt.

The SlimenundGrossen team has been present at all the local cross races recently and putting in a very good showing.  Scott Dunsmuir of Springfield has taken the Masters field by storm, collecting 3 wins in the last 3 races.  Joe Houston is making his presence felt in the Cat4 races and getting some attention by riding the hill at Smithville.  Too bad nobody got him on video as he was behind the lens taking this video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOgNlOgrIao

Dave Pitt is consistently out there mixing it up with the Masters and suffered a mechanical at the line this weekend, but toughed it out in the 1/2/3 race.  Mark Thomas is an ever present fixture in the Masters races as well keeping people in check.  Kyle Bush is steadily moving up in the 1/2/3 races finishing a season best in 4th on Sunday at Smithville.  The other team members have been out to the races a couple times, but with more racing in the upcoming weeks I'm sure they will make an appearance.  Check the Photo Gallery for more cyclocross action.

Yup, until February you'll see the colors of the two fisted Team Slimenundgrossen and Team Localcycling.com out playing in the fields. Some podium spots have already been nabbed, some Belgian and Belgian style ale consumed, and some mud hosed off the bikes. Diamond BlackFan, GP Heartland, Chris Cross, Capitol Cup and Boulevard Cup are history. Kyle has checked out the turf in Chicago. Upcoming? Series60CX, DeStad Van Kansas, State, National and World Championships. Watch for us.

The Diamond Black Fan Cyclocross Challenge kicked off the local cyclocross season in the KC area.  This race was also the first of the De Stad Cyclocross van Kansas series.  High temps and big fields filled the day at the Sar Ko Par park in Lenexa.  The Slimen race team showed up 5 strong to contest the Cat 4, Cat 3/4, Masters 35+, and the Elite races.  2 podium spots were had in the Masters race by Scott and Kyle in 2nd and 3rd.  Strong performances in the other races were displayed by the other Slimen boys. 

The season continues this upcoming weekend at a new venue in Topeka at the Heartland Park dirt track on Saturday night!  That's right another night race at a cool venue so get out there and cheer em on.  The HPT race starts another series of CX in the KC area that will culminate in early January.  The Series 60 CX series hosts races within a 60 mile radius of the city center at new and familiar race venues.  Sunday brings the second race of the De Stad series at the Chris Cross CX race at Clinton Lake in Lawrence. 

Yes it's Fall and all good cyclists should be dreaming about cyclocross. But here in Kansas the racing season is all mixed up like the debris from Dorothy's tornado. Last weekend was the state championship Masters criterium, followed by the opening 'cross event. This weekend it's a time trial....yeah, the last one for the year.

But from October 11th on, it's all veldrijden:  Night racing around a dirt track in Topeka for the first race of the Series60CX. Lots and lots of races all the way through January. Sweet dreams.

Lance Armstrong is planning to mix it up with the real 'crossers at Cross Vegas tonight.  His spokesperson has even said Lance has plans to hit some of the larger cross races this fall including Gloucester and the Boulder Cup.  We'll see if his uber roadie skills can handle the demands of cyclocross and constant attacks that will surely be thrown his direction.  Lance has been making some appearances on the mountain bike circuit recently with stong finishes at Leadville and SnowMass, but cross is a different ballgame.  Ryan Trebon has the "Bring it On" attitude toward the 'cross newcomer and thinks it will a fun opportunity to see what he has on the cross course.  In the first two races of the season Trebon has supposedly been the one to beat and has been relegated to lower spots on the podium both days by the Powers/Johnson duo.  Tonight's race will be a great show of who's who on the grassy fields of Vegas.  It won't be the most techincal of courses but surely exciting.

Can Lance Cross it Up??  First off he needs to get rid of those Sissy Brake Levers!

Cyclocross Season has started with the Hermann Cross Under The Lights Invitational race this past Saturday.  The race was held in Missouri wine country in the small town of Hermann located near St Louis.  The race was truly a who's who of cyclocross from the surrounding states.  The Intermediate race was held around twilight and had nearly 60 starters, with the main show starting at 8pm featuring many state champions and even several racers that bag UCI points in the Advanced race.  Slimen racers Scott and Kyle were in the Advanced race, both former state cyclocross champions, where Scott got a 2nd row callup in the 45+ racer field.  Team 360 also had a heavy presence in the race sure to make things interesting. 

The course featured a tight technical start, merging into a 2 barrier off camber uphill runup.  Then onto a steep corkscrew road descent into the darkness of a FAST road section.  The course dropped out into the bottoms including some fast grass stretches then onto the sandpit and a 150+ meter long mudpit, back to the road and up the 60+ stairs. 

A pretty good crew of the pinstripers are heading up to the 'Fat Tire Forty'...a great tuneup before cyclocross season is in full swing. Yeah, we all heard the rumors about Lance and his comeback. Mark even got some TV time with Bev Chapman and Channel 9 about it. The real question is, will he wear black Slimenundgrossen pinstripes or the Belgian flavored red, yellow and black of Team Localcycling?

Join the members of our two sponsored teams: Localcycling and Slimenundgrossen Thursday Night, August 28th for an informal get together. Find out who we are and learn about our programs: group rides, clinics, advocacy, racing and fun. We'll have some wine and beer, snacks and our sponsor Epic Bike and Sport will offer some special deals for the night.

From 6:30 PM until 8ish at Epic Bike and Sport, located in Tuileries Plaza just west of I-29 on 64th Street.