Kicking this thing off

Well...after reading and following the numerous blogs of my fellow bikers. I have decided to join in the blogging fun. So, here it is, "Clipped In and Crankin" is born. I will do my best to post weekly and more often if possible.

This blog won't be just about me. It will also be about the numerous riders from the Great Bend, KS area. It is amazing how many great riders we have from this area considering we only have a population of about 15,000 people. Obviously Doug Chambers has had a huge influence on getting people around here on a bike. Besides Doug, other top notch riders from this area include; Steve Dutton, Jon Shank, Dave Nily, Jeff Stevens and Morgan Stevens. In the 2 short years I have been riding I owe alot of my improvement to this group. When you ride with these guys you either get better or you just quit riding. Fortunately I have gotten better and I am always looking forward to the next ride.

I will never forget my first group MTB ride. My wife Linda had been riding for several months and I decided to see what it was all about. We loaded up the bikes and headed to our local bike shop, Golden Belt Bicycle, for one of the Thursday night group rides. We ended up riding the local Lake Barton trail which is a pretty mellow trail but for a first timer it was a challenge. After 2 laps and 5 miles of dancing with trees, bouncing over rocks, spinning over roots and one end-o, I was done. I mean really done! I was bleeding, hurting, pissed and confused as to why anyone would want to do something like this. In fact, I even commented to Linda that this was BS and I would not be doing that again. Well 2 1/2 years later and I am hooked. This years hectic event schedule included "Hills of Hell", "Wilson Fat Tire", "Cramp Alexander", "Cruise the Blues", 4 races in the "Tour De Dirt Series", "Tour De Lizard", Coronado's Challenge" and the big one, the "24 Hours of Moab". What a great year it was and I am having the time of my life.

So there you have it, my first blog post and we are off and running. I will post up again in afew days. Until then, stay "Clipped In and Crankin".