Greetings! Christopher here and bike week has begun and there is a lot happening! Last year during bike week, I only managed to make it in 3 days before my legs were starting to turn to mush; and when it rained on that Thursday, it was very easy for me to throw in the towel. It’s only 10 miles into work, but 60+ miles when my body was not used to it, I was starting to tire pretty fast. This year I going to make sure and ride all 5 days I have a little extra motivation; Mandy is going to do it with me! This helps me out for many reasons, but mostly to keep me company. I love having her with me when I go for rides, plus it helps to get out of bed knowing that we are doing this together.

We did a test ride on Thursday of last week to try out the route and make sure it was safe enough with the early morning rat race. Chouteau Trafficway has a little road construction, but it’s not too bad and it really only takes about 30 minutes of causal riding to make it downtown. Our Monday was very successful, and we are excited to keep this up for the whole week. The gas we will save means more money in our pocket and getting out of the car and enjoying the weather helps out our attitude. It helps wake us up and give us a better start on the day. Mondays are never any fun, but after that bike ride in this morning, it sure gave us a better outlook. As my co-worker told me this morning, you are very “Zen like” today.

There is so much going on this week by way of bike and BikeWalkKC.com has all the scoop on their site. Go check it out and see what you can do to help support cycling in our city! One of the events that we will be attending is the Tour de Brew this Sunday. We had a lot of fun on it last year, and of course we will be riding it again this year. Much like last year, we will be riding the 30 mile course.

The very next weekend we are signed up for the Pedaler’s Jamboree once again! This will be our 1 year anniversary, and we couldn’t be more excited to participate in this ride again. It was a great way for us to spend our Honeymoon weekend last year, why wouldn’t we want to sign up again?! Call us simple, but we don’t need much. Beaches and resorts? Nah! Give us bike trails and music and we will be just as happy!

Also, on May 31st, the Clips of Faith Beer and Film Festival will be back in town. Go and enjoy some beer tasting from New Belgium Brewery and watch some short clips made up by the fans.

So grab your bikes and come meet up with us on one or all of these events! The more bikes we get out on the street, the happier this city will be! Promise.

M&C

The first Sunday Funday of 2012 was pretty tame. After the first week of changing up our training, our legs were pretty tired and sore. Not to mention that Tom had just finished running a half marathon that morning, we all were good with taking it easy on this day.

We started off at Sharp’s for some fuel\ refueling. It’s hard to pass up a great brunch at that restaurant! Then we (causally) headed south to Irezumi to check out some jewelry. Mandy is in the process of gauging her ears and is now currently at a 4 gauge. Thanks to Adam for always being helpful!

After the brief stop, we made our way to the Gaf. Yes, again. Don’t judge us! That seems to be our go to place when we are up that way. If you have ever tried their Irish Coffee, then you would understand.

After warming our bodies at the Gaf, we rode around for a few more miles before calling it quits for the day. It was a good day and was nice to get out and enjoy the weather! We have to take advantage of this while we can! We’re not too sure how much more mother nature will spoil us!

M&C

Since the holidays are upon us and the next two weekends will be filled with celebrating, this might be our last ride of the 2011 year. This time we were met up by our good friend Brittany. Having recently moved back from Tucson, Arizona, she was able to join us for her first Sunday Funday bike ride.  After parking at our usual spot, we debated on where our first pit stop would be. We thought of a couple of different spots, but that Irish Coffee from the Gaf just sounded too good. Unable to resist, we made our way to the Gaf. We grabbed some fun Santa hats to show off our festive attitudes, and they were a hit with everyone as we rode by! Everyone waved and shouted Merry Christmas!  After a small bite to eat and a couple of Irish Coffees, we made our way back to the Plaza.  We lucked out and had pretty fantastic weather for our bike ride.  We stopped in at Kona for a drink before heading up to Old Westport to stop in at Fric and Frac.  We fueled up and enjoyed some good ol’ comfort food while enjoying another drink as the sun started to set.  It was dark and getting cooler as we all rode back to our car.  Not yet ready to end the evening, we grabbed some snacks and wine at the grocery store before camping out in front of our TV to watch Zombieland.  It was a great Sunday Funday to round out the 2011 year!

In the past year, we have done quite a bit. 5K’s, adventure races, marathons, Tweed ride, Halloween ride and countless other events. It was certainly a glorious year, and we definitely had a lot of fun. For those of you that have joined us or invited us, we just want to send you a great big THANK YOU for helping us make this a fantastic year! We have made many new friends in 2011, and we hope to see more of you in 2012.  Next year we have already planned a jammed pack list and I’m sure we will be adding to that as the year develops.  Please join us as we hope to make 2012 even better than the previous year!  Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you all!

M&C!

The 3rd Annual Tour de BBQ was a blast this year! Over 2500 participants showed up to help the fight against cancer with the Livestrong Army of Kansas City.  This is the 2nd time we’ve attended this event, and it will not be the last!  This year was very well organized with staggered starts and plenty of volunteer help.  Not to mention, they added more BBQ stops along the way!  There was a 62 mile, 35 mile, and 15 mile course; but we opted for the 35 mile to take it easy and enjoy the day.  We were elated to find out that there were 5 restaurants that we were able to stop at instead of a mere 3 like last year.  Last year was not quite as organized, and we were only able to get BBQ at one place, which was our last stop.  This year we were able to get plenty of BBQ and a few drinks, and were able to enjoy the day with full bellies!  Stop one was Smokestack, stop two was Oklahoma Joe’s, three was RJ’s BBQ, then Johnny’s BBQ, and lastly was Woodyard.  Woodyard was by far the best BBQ that we’ve had in a long time, but all were amazing and very accommodating.  It was a gorgeous day, and at the end of the ride we were able to enjoy a concert at Power and Light while sitting at Gordon Biersch chowing down on appetizers and throwing back cold drinks.  Again, we were thrilled that it was so organized this year, and we would definitely recommend everyone coming out and joining us next year!  Plus, you get to help in the fight against cancer….extra bonus!

At the end of the night we were wonderfully exhausted, and we stopped in at a local hole-in-the-wall bar for our house for a couple drinks.  We ended up back at home enjoying the evening on the deck with music, drinks, and lots of Tomfoolerie!  That’s how we roll

Sunday was a beautiful day! The weather was about near perfect and Mandy was excited to get out and try her new Origin 8 pedals and Molletta Design toe straps. Piece by piece, she is putting her own signature on the Vilano. She wants it looking good for the KC Bicycle Calendar shoot that we have coming up in a couple of weeks!

 We started off at our usual spot in Westport to get our legs warmed up. We both were a little tired and sore from the training that we put in the day before at Smithville Lake.

As usual, it was a casual Sunday Funday. We stopped by Barnes and Noble to pick up a good book; Panera for some good lunch; and last, but certainly not least, a stop to enjoy some delicious bubble tea from tea drops. We are addicted.