We are excited to invite you to our first Spooks and Spokes Halloween Bicycle Ride! Costumes are not required, although we’ll be dressed up and encourage you to do the same. We’ll be meeting outside of Grinder’s on Locust between 18th and 19th Street. We will head to The Filling Station for a quick cup of Joe before winding our way to the Plaza to parade our Halloween attire. From there we will head to Westport and will stop in at McCoy’s for lunch. After lunch we will head back to Grinders for some spirits. The more the merrier, so please feel free to invite anyone you wish! Remember, this is a fun ride, and no one will get left behind; we will be riding casually. Hope to see you Sunday!

Below is a link to the route that has been proposed:

Spokes and Spooks!

You can also go here and RSVP to the event page on Facebook! Hope to see you all there!!

Facebook Event Page

Hey all, Christopher here. Hope everybody had a fun and a safe 4th of July!

Just wanted to remind everybody that this Saturday, July 9th, 2011, will be the second annual Rock the Crossroads 5K. If you have not signed up yet, it’s not too late!

When first we heard about this event, it didn’t take us long to decide. Grinder’s Pizza, free concert and beer?! This was too much stimulation for our brains, and they nearly exploded! Grinder’s just happens to be one of our favorite places to hang out. If you have never had their Chili Bomb pizza, just let me just say this… tater tots, chili, sour cream and nacho cheese placed in the center of your favorite pizza… Oh. Dear. God. I’m salivating just typing this.

Also, for this being my second organized run, it’s going to be HOT! Quite a bit different than the Drumm Run which was in the 30′s! But as always and thankfully, I will have my Partner In Crime (PIC) right along with me. Mandy always does a great job of helping me along. We are excited to meet up with our friends Tom and Jamie who will be participating too. So if anybody else wants to run this, remember, it’s not too late! Sign up today and we hope to see you there!

Cheers!

M&C

How is everyone doing out there?! We just wanted to give you a quick update about some events coming up, what’s been happening, and some other fun stuff.

In just a few weeks, I (Christopher) will be running my second official 5K. I know, sounds crazy right? I blame my wife for this. Regardless, the both of us will be running this 5K at an event called Rock the Crossroads on July 9th. Yea sure it sounds hot, but a little sweating never hurt anybody (as long as there is plenty of water!). The running part doesn’t sound like much fun (to me), but the concert at the end of the race is very enticing with local bands Atlantic Fadeout, Sons of Great Dane, and Expassionates, and of course nice alcoholic refreshments. Sold!

Next up for me is the Wakarusa Off-Road Challenge. Bonk Hard Racing sponsors this event. I actually signed up for it last year, but a month beforehand I was trying to impress Mandy, and in the process injured my knee. The things we guys do to try to win over a girl. Anyway, this year I am doing it for sure. The race will start out with a 2.2 mile trail run, then go into a 17.2 mile mountain bike ride. To give the legs a little rest, there will be a 4.2 mile paddle down the Kansas River before finishing up with a 4.1 mile run to the end. 27.7 total miles of off-road fun! I have some training to get started on! This will be 3 more miles than I have ever run, and I have just under 3 months to get ready for it!

For a second year in a row, Mandy and I will participating in the Tour de BBQ. Another 35 miles of bike riding through the streets of Kansas City visiting BBQ restaurants. MMMM BBQ! Some of the best things that come out of KC is BBQ. Not only is it a fun ride, it is also a part of the Livestrong Army of Kansas City, an on-going battle of cancer. This ride will be on October 1.

And last but certainly NOT least, for the third year in a row, Mandy will give it another go at the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon. After running it last year, she thought she might take a year off. It took a lot out of her last year and she needed a break. To make matters worse, she has been dealing with a foot injury, and the thought of running a marathon seemed like a long shot. But being Mandy, resilient and stubborn, she is better and ready to get started on her training for the full 26.2 miles. That’s my girl… tough as nails. Come help me cheer her on!

As of right now, this is all we have going on. There are lots of other events that we would love to sign up for, but with time and money, there is just not enough of it.

As always, we have bicycles that we are restoring or working on. The Traveler that I recently purchased is close to being done; just  a few more parts and I can stamp that one done. The next big project is the Peugeot.  I’m really excited for this one. We are still on the look out for a good commuter for Mandy, so if anybody knows of a small frame road bike give us a shout.

One last thing I would like to mention: a good friend of ours has changed gears a little and decided that she is going to run a marathon! This pretty lady used to play women’s semi-pro tackle football for the KC Tribe and would go on to help win the 2009 World Championship. She played semi-pro for three years and finally retiring in 2010. As with most competitive people, she needed something that would give her a challenge and keep her going. She has decided to give it a go at a marathon. I’d say that’s pretty aggressive. I think Mandy might have had a little influence here, but I’m not for certain. So in doing so, she will be documenting it along the way, the ups and the downs of her experience with this daunting task. You can follow her here with her blog, Gridiron Girl Gone Runner. A rather cool title, don’t you think? So go check her out and follow her as she ventures into the world of running 26.2 miles.

That’s all I have for now. I’m sure there will be other events popping up along the way; and as always you will see us out roughing it up with Mother Nature. Damn, we just love life and what it has to offer!

Cheers!

Christopher and Mandy

For the second year in a row, I entered the Tour de Cure benefit bicycle ride.  This year I was able to raise $280 to help the fight for the cure for Diabetes.  Instead of killing myself on my single gear or fixie, I opted for putting road tires on my mountain bike.  This would help me with speed and make the ride a little easier.  The weather was great; it was a little cloudy with a threat of rain, but we lucked out.  Some friends of mine, Gary and Chris, joined me on the 40 mile route.  The beginning of the ride I had some issues with the shifting and the derailer on my bike.  Thankfully there were bike mechanics at the first sag stop that helped enable my shifting better for the ride.  After that it was smooth sailing and good times.  There were a few hills that were a bit menacing, but nonetheless we were able to finish in a timely fashion and still have a good time.  All in all it was a good day with a good ride, and the rain stayed away.  I was especially happy that I had Mandy at every stop waiting for me.  It made every stop a little more enjoyable.  Next year, I might possibly own a good road bike for this event and do the 60 mile route.  Thanks again to everyone who helped my efforts by donating to the charity.

Christopher

Clips of Faith is a fun event to showcase indie films submitted by aspiring filmmakers touring 18 cities in the country as they display some of the New Belgium Lips of Faith beers.  We were so excited for Clips of Faith to come to Kansas City and had been looking forward to attending the event for months, even as it was scheduled for the night before we were to get married. Christopher rode his Cutter to my office on the Plaza Thursday after work, and we rode together to Spin! Pizza for dinner and drinks before venturing over to Theis Park.  We were one of the first to arrive, and we let the bicycle valet team park our bikes among the many racks awaiting all of the other cyclists to come.  We checked out the many vendors who had set up camp under tents, and we were so happy that it was such a gorgeous evening for the event.  So many of our friends were able to meet up with us as well as a slew of other bicycle advocates we seem to run into at each cycling adventure.  One thing we love about the cycling community is how friendly and accepting everyone is!  BikeWalkKC even gave us an honorary membership as a gift for our wedding!  Christopher and I got to sample many of the introductory beers, and we had a chance to brew our own concoction at one of the booths.  As the evening turned into night, they began playing the indie films on a big projector on the lawn of the park, and many gathered on blankets  or huddled together to watch.   Clips of Faith was a hit here in Kansas City, and we would love to see New Belgium bring their Tour de Fat to our home town one day very soon!  Check out pictures below of the fun time we had!

Christopher and Mandy Beltz