Just add water

Finally got the new CX frame from Rocky Mountain built up this weekend.  Pretty hot, eh?

Special thanks to Larry Grossman and Squirtlube - best stuff on earth - for support and excellent announcing at all the CX events.  Not only does Larry shake things up on the microphone, but he also races every weekend.  My summary of cyclocross so far:  Great vibe.

Maxxis, as per usual, tops the list of sponsor support for the last 12 months.  Stoked to be riding rubber-side down!

The new tapered head-tube CX frame from RM -- soon all bikes will be this way.

Tricked out Maxxis stickers via X-acto knife, which unfortunately is not one of my sponsors...

Unfortunately, these photos don't do DT Swiss justice - I will be sure to update them once my new wheels have arrived.  Thanks DT Swiss!  Lightest/Strongest wheels out there.

Down Tube action - Ride like a canadian!

Thanks David Overstreet for the build!  

Until next time, 

the ponderous k

Off Season - the beginnings

Riding bikes can be a great job.  Though I don't get paid a salary, and I couldn't really call what I do "work" per say, my apprenticeship of professional cycling is ongoing, and encapsulating enough to prevent me from holding any other full-time job.  Anyway, back to the point, that being the point of bicycle riding being fun.  

Well, sometimes it isn't.  

For example: when you get hit by two cars in one week, but don't sustain substantial injuries for anyone to feel bad for you, or to take a break from riding.  When muscles scream profanities loud enough to wake me up in the middle of the night.  When masochism begets feelings of "there is no reason to go through this much pain by choice."  Just when these things begin to overwhelm you, and you're on the edge of a simple and early retirement, praise the off-season, for it is finally here!  

Off-season, by definition:  The time of year when thinking about that time in January, when all you could think about was bikes, makes you question your own sanity.  

Welcome, once again, I embrace you yearly, use and abuse you for several months, only to forget you again for nine months of the year, and then, consequently to come groveling back on my knees come October.  

Ingredients:

Eating really great (tasting) food and not worrying about protein and carbohydrates.

Racing cyclocross and making a fool of yourself (because you forgot to wash all your RMB kits and are racing in the US national team kit, or maybe because you're riding a mountain bike)

Sleeping in.

Working at the ski shop, making the moneys.

Spending time with great friends and family

Reading, Writing, and doing the other things that I excel in, but forget about when cycling season rolls around.

And playing in the snow.  On bikes, of course.

But hey, this wouldn't be a proper blog without a hint of sentimentality behind it, so here comes the cheese.  It's been a long journey, has it not?  A long time since that first ride over 8 years ago.  A long time since the golden years of Junior Sport.  A long time since the local series was as nerve racking to me as the World Cup 6 years later.  But one thing hasn't changed.  Off-season always hits with relief, and riding bikes is always fun, even when it's not.

I know, that doesn't make much logical sense.  Unless of course, you ride bikes for a living (which I don't, so it still makes no sense...)

One thing is for sure, even if I want nothing to do with pain, bicycles are aesthetically pleasing to me.  I dream of bikes.  I dream of the new Element, who will surely be gracing me with her presence by 2011.

But mostly, I dream of singletrack.  When I go out in the field for Geology, I rarely see only the glacial moraines to the south, or the sedimentary clasts off the right shoulder.  I see those things, and I see potential.  Building trails is not illegal so long as you do it in your head.  They say you can't dream a face that you've never encountered.  The same is not true of trails.  I rarely dream of a trail I've already ridden (though I do sometimes).  Right now, I imagine a shallow-cut route above timberline, a few sparse shrubs along the right.  It winds along the ridge that cuts deep into the plate blue that is Colorado at midday.   A lone pine shades over a landslid portion of trail (what came first, the trail or the slide?) where marmots whistle their one-note tune and the camp-robber jay hops and hopes for a slice of your pb&j.  This is to be alive.  And the fact that no such face, no such trail exists, exactly how I see it, is sad.  Alternatively, the idea that I'll never be able to prove that this trail does not exist delights me.

Mushy-Gushy-thanks-everyone for a great season.  Thanks be to sponsors, without whom we  professional cyclists would be an extinct breed.  All the Canadian (and otherwise) folks at Rocky Mountain Bikes -- particularly Peter Vallance, and Ephraim Learned.  Rob Perkins over at Maxxis International, and all those guys down South -- the new tires look great!  Podium Sports, Summit Velocity, Mike Mac and Seth Strickland - you guys pulled some serious strings last minute to get me out of a very large, sponsor-less hole, and I owe you both cases of beer (in 1 year, 2 months).  Ryan Cranston and the MRP crew - best of luck with the new Fork line (White Bros., everyone should definitely check them out).  Peter Pyer and SixSixOne - you guys don't do much XC stuff, which is great, because it means your gloves are actually comfortable, hellsyeah!  Marc Gullickson and USA Cycling: great work in 2010, thank you all for such a great opportunity this year and in years previously.

And most of all to my family: Dad, you are the great motivator and you're far too humble about your photographs; Mom, thanks for being creative with me when it seems like my life is all about bikes and money (or lack there of); and Meghan, never forget that I taught you everything about downhill, and that if you treat life like a trail , remember that building your own is always better.

Love you guys, thanks for reading.  

Ride On,

The Ponderous K

Up to the task, down for the count.

Entering the ring with not but your naked fists against an opponent twice as big and far more experience than you--and he's wearing boxing gloves.  Though a mountain bike, like my naked fist, may be well suited for street-fighting and cheap-shots, in the world of cyclocross, cyclocross bikes reign, rain down like blows.

Last weekend, cyclocross was fun.  This weekend, cyclocross was survival -- and survival with insufficient means of survival at that.  Granted, I love my Rocky Mountain Vertex, but she wasn't altogether suited for the "wet-grass-fest" this Saturday at the Boulder Cross Series.  Let's just say nothing really went according to plan... but that was the plan.  For the second weekend in a row, I decided to do the race last minute, and after a long week of riding, found on Saturday morning that all my Rocky Mountain kits were dirty.  Looks like I'll be suffering in the stars and stripes again today, enduring the inevitable skepticism from my peers.  

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, and you can't learn a new discipline of cycling on a whim at the end of the season without a bike.  Luckily, Rocky Mountain is providing the goods, as usual (and they are much anticipated, these goods)-- I should be racing a proper cyclocross bike, the Rocky Mountain Solo CX, soon!

Until then, I'll continue to hop the barriers and give those egotistical crossers a little surprise with my wide bars.  

Ride On, my friends.

the ponderous k

Cyclocross Day 1

I've never mounted a cyclocross bike, or raced in a CX race.  For one reason or another, I've never really wanted to.  But after a disappointing final collegiate race yesterday (getting pulled after being wrecked by another rider and getting stuck at the back of the pack with no passing room), I decided last minute to head up to Summit for this year's Frisco Cross ACA CX race.

My only problem (not having a bike) was solved by some help from one of the local legends David Overstreet, who let me borrow his Primus Mootry for the race.  Jumping on a CX bike for the first time a mere 20 minutes before your first race can be a bit intimidating, especially when the likes of professional Jake Wells and a stacked field of other racers come out to play in the dust.  However, I needed an outlet for all my pent up energy from the day before, and was excited to jump on the bike (over and over) during the 60 minute sufferfest.  

The differences between mountain bike racing and cyclocross are many, but the most impacting to me was the fact that I was "racing" the entire 60 minutes on course.  I didn't have any chance to recover, nor did I have time to think about pain - at the end, my brain was fried from so much concentration.  The one thing I have to say about cross is that it's addicting.

I'm excited to see what I can do this season - though I'm getting a little bit of a late start - this may become more of a passion than an addiction, who knows?

This is what happens when you try to stick to my wheel when I've never ridden cross before - I need to work on my technical skills on these awkward bikes.

Announcer extraordinaire, Larry Grossman, was not only announcing all day, but also racing in one of the earlier races of the day.  SQUIRT LUBE is the best!

Until next time,

The ponderous k.

Interbike 2010

Welcome back!  It's been nearly six months since I last blogged-it-up, but you haven't missed much.  Let me give you a quick synopsis:

Returned from Europe with high hopes to plug in some strong results in the States.  Did just that at the 2010 Pro XCT in Colorado Springs, pulling out a top 20 finish in the stacked pro field in all three events, Individual TT, Cross Country, and Short Track.  Two of the results had me in the top three U23 riders, so at this point, nationals was looking pretty damn good.  At the Firecracker 50 (aka USAC Marathon Nationals), had another great race out on my local turf - riding in the top ten through the first 25 miles (rode through lap 1 with Dave Weins and Jeremiah Bishop).  With XC Nationals only a week away, however, I decided to pull the plug early and head home for recovery after my legs started cramping.  At nationals, I was having the race of my life, but bad luck held me out of that coveted podium that I've sought for so long.  I got the hole-shot up the steep first climb (by the top of it, I had nearly a 100-meter lead) but ran into problems right away on the start-loop descent.  Throughout the race, I continued to experience mechanical issues, but was able to climb myself back into 6th by the end.  Going into the last lap, I was over a minute behind fellow Coloradoans Mitch Hoke and Matt Beaton, who were fighting for the fourth place spot.  By the end of the race, I had pulled myself back up to the two riders, but was not able to bridge the last 10 or so seconds on the last descent.  So close...  Oh well, take it as a learning experience and realize I still have 2 more years left of U23 to get one of those precious metals slung over my neck.  The next day I pulled off a top 15 in the Pro Men's Short Track National Championships, finishing as the third U23 in the race.

Jumping in the Hole-shot at the USAC U23 XC Nationals.  

______________________________________

In August I drove myself and all my stuff down to Boulder for my sophomore year at CU.  I'm living in an apartment just south of campus.  Shortly after moving, I returned to Summit for the Colorado State XC and STXC championships, where I rode to my first ever Pro Podium!  In the Cross Country, I was able to pull off a nationals-type race day, but with no mechanicals this time.  In the end, two Colorado legends, Jay Henry and Jake Wells, grabbed the top two slots, but I rode a strong third onto my first podium!  

Pro XC Podium at the 2010 Colorado State Championships

____________________________

After the state championships at Keystone, I continued my training down in Boulder, but soon realized (through some bad luck) that I needed to take a break after almost 8 months of hard training.  Over the course of 4 days, I was struck twice by cars, and also had a nasty incident with a slackline while riding across campus.  Luckily, the first two accidents left nothing but mental scars and a few bruises, but the least exciting of all the stories put me into the painful position of not being able to ride for several weeks.  

A week or so after the accident, I visited the doctor who informed me that I had received a border-line 3rd degree burn from the rope.  The scab had grown almost a centimeter thick, and I was unable to bend my leg far enough to ride my bike.  After spending two weeks off the bike, the doctor informed me that I should continue that horrible trend, and not ride until the scab was fully-healed.  

Now, I'm all recovered and riding again, but slowly.  It's funny that you spend 8 months training to peak for these big races, and after two weeks of inactivity, you can barely ride uphill.  Such has been the nature of my collegiate season so far.  My legs feel good and solid every race, but with all that base-training gone, I have a hard time cracking the top-ten.  I guess injury is a veritable excuse. 

And now for the exciting part:  I N T E R B I K E  2 0 1 0!

Took some time off school to hitch a flight to Las Vegas for Interbike 2010, the International Cycling Expo.  Thanks to Maxxis Tires, who set me up with a pass to the show, which was probably the single greatest spectacle I've ever witnessed.  

While there, I spent a heafty amount of time in the Rocky Mountain booth, drooling over the soon-to-be-in-my-possession 2011 Rocky Mountain Element (above).  This bike marks a huge turning point in Rocky Mountain.  It is sleek, stiff, and super-light.  So far, it has only been ridden by Geoff Kabush and a few select riders from the Maxxis/Rocky Mountain Professional Mountain Bike Team, but now it's finally here for everyone to enjoy.  On the RSL build, expect Carbon Race Face products, a full XTR build, beautiful new DT Swiss 1540's and a matching 2011 Fox Float Remote Lock-out.  STOKE!  The bike should be here by Christmas. 

I'm also very excited about the new Maxxis line-up for 2011.  The new IKON caught my eye as a potentially potent XC race tire.  Build with new EXO sidewall protection, this non-UST tire will be fast and durable and hopefully on all my bikes next year.  Thanks again to Maxxis for a great 2010 and beyond - I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I've NEVER FLATTED a pair of Maxxis Tires, NEVER!

My other new ride for 2011 - the new Vertex, with a similar look to last year's ride, but don't be fooled.  The bike is lighter and faster!  Stoked to get it out on the climbs.

Fi'zi:k has a great new look with their new Tundra, and I am happy to be riding the saddle for the fourth year in a row.  Are you a snake, a chameleon, or a bull?  Find out at http://www.fizik.it/spineconcept/

Interbike was incredible, to say the least.  It was great to see such a broad spectrum of the cycling industry come out to talk about and look at bikes.  It was my first Interbike experience, and with a handful of new sponsors lined up for 2011, I'm happy with how it turned out (even though I spent a total of 14 hours in the airport waiting for standby seats). 

Returning to the Kevin Kane sponsor lineup for 2011:

Maxxis Tires

Rocky Mountain Bikes

SixSixOne / One Industries

Mountain Racing Products

Podium Sports

Summit Velocity

New for 2011:

White Lightning

providing some of the best bike lube and cleaning products 

Extreme Endurance

an incredible drug-free supplement trusted by some of the world's top athletes

DT Swiss

the lightest/strongest wheels in the business, as well as forks and shocks

In the woodwork:

GU Energy

will be fueling the Kane-Train through 2011

SockGuy

will be stylishly clothing the feet through mud, heat, and everything else

KMC

will be lightening my whip with the lightest chain in the world

Fox Racing Shox

will be providing ample cush through those gnarly Euro race courses

Swobo

will be stylishly clothing everything other than my feet whilst off the bike

Crank Brothers

will be securing me to my bike by means of the incredibly light Eggbeater 11

Fi'zi:k

will be creating the most excellent saddle sores for the fifth year running

Sidi

will be putting their shoe in, literally

T-9 Lubricant

will be lubing my bike like it does the Boeing Jets it was made for

Thanks Everyone, and Ride On!