Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

The local free paper, the Pitch, has a little diddy about KC Sprints in it this week.
Home Opener #5 is THIS SATURDAY NIGHT folks!
Bring $5, your racing legs and your drinking livers to Harling's Upstairs bar & lets do some sprints!

Looking for something to do Friday?

They say a photo is worth a thousand words....

KC Sprints Occupy Duffy's

KC Sprints - Occupy Duffy's POSTPONED!!

POSTPONED

Welllll.... shit.

Unfortunately Mother Nature appears to have other plans for Lincoln this weekend besides KC Sprints - Occupy Duffy's.
Via our contacts the snow is deep, falling hard & fast, raising the question of us even being able to get into town
So compared to driving a few hours only to realize we can't make it and/or get stranded somewhere the decidison has been made to postpone the event to a yet to be determined date. Assuming that Duffy's will still have us (although we are sure they will).
We love coming to Lincoln & want to put the race on. It will just have to be a different day.

Sorry folks. Have fun playing in the snow.

We are gonna drown our sorrows with some afternoon drinking and maybe go heckle the KC Street Cred event.

Nice work Hoss!

Won't be long until KC Sprints - Occupy Duffy's

no time better than the present

First race date of the season is set. We're heading back to Topeka! The good folks at Topeka Community Cyclist Project have invited us back for their 2nd Anniversary benefit show. If you kept up with us on the last go around you know how excited we are to really show off our stuff without (fingers crossed) a crap load to software and hardware mechanicals. You can check out our previous write up HERE.

All the information for their event can be found below:

FLAT TIRE BENEFIT SHOW #2!

Friday, December 9 at 8:00pm

Kansan Bar & Grill
705 S Kansas Ave
Topeka, KS

Cost: $5.00 donation.
This event is ALL AGES.

Last year was so much fun we're doing it again this year! Come party with The Topeka Community Cycle Project for the 2nd annual Flat Tire Benefit show.

We will be having a Silent auction, Live Dj's, Bands and Kc Sprints stationary Bicycle races, drawing to win a super sweet bicycle!

Bands this year are: Slow fade (experiemental)
http://www.facebook.com/TheSlowFade

The Hemorrhoids (Lawrence punk rock back for year #2!)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hemorrhoids/367504245810

Oils (lawrence, Ks)
http://soundcloud.com/oils

KC SPRINTS
http://www.facebook.com/groups/51717492444/

Resistance Dj's....WE ARE GETTING DJ WHITEBREAD and BLAUNDIE

You can find the facebook page for the event HERE

Should come out cause its going to be a hootenanny of a good time in TOP CITY.

uNKy jOIns

Our livers hurt...

... How about yours?



85 registered
25 teams
17 bars
4 hours

Send us your favorite photos
There are bound to be some good ones
KCSprints@gmail.com

Who wants to win a bike?

Up for grabs at the next KC Sprints event is a bike from Pabst Blue Ribbon.
It looks something like this:


Photo via cjfoeckler

Will it be the grand prize?
Will it be a raffle prize?
Will Jones try to keep it for himself?
All that is yet to be determined.
But it has been confirmed that there will be a PBR cruiser up for grabs one way or another.
Wanna chance at winning it?
Guess you better show up.

See you at the Replay Lounge April 22nd

Ya ya OK... We know. Pretty late on the reminder.
We've been busy. Seriously.

Plus we figured you already knew and that your calendars were marked.
But just in case you need the reminder....

Friday night (for many of you, TONIGHT, for some of your LAST NIGHT)

KC SPRINTS at the BUZZARD BEACH : Round II

You know the drill.
Tournament sign ups and Grudge Matches begin at 8 PM
Tournament racing begins at 9 PM

Tournament racers qualify to win fabulous prizes from out sponsors:

Eight Inch
Surly
CycleOps
Portland Design Works
Twin Six
Giro
Ghost Ship
PBR
UrbanVelo


You don't have to come out to the Buzzard Beach,
but you probably should!
You don't have to race,
but you probably should!
You don't have to drink,
but you probably should!
You don't have to challenge your _____ (husband, wife, boss, mistress, son, uncle, cousin, co-worker, fuck-buddy, neighbor) to a Grudge Match,
but your probably should!

Friday.
Get off work. Hit happy hour or have dinner with your family or friends.
Then ditch them, or just bring them to the only 5 Star Dive Bar in Kansas City, the Buzzard Beach.
Have a ice cold tall boy of PBR and check out, or maybe join in, the fun that is KC Sprints

See you at the races.

uNKy jOIns, KC Jev Jev, One Eyed z

In our book everyone is a winner But only some of you will get prizes...

I decided to revamp my prize picks for KC Sprints @ Buzzard Beach Friday night.
Realized I got a little carried away and we'll still need to have some prizes for future races.
But we have some pretty sweet stuff up for grabs for the fastest of the fast.

The top 3 in the Men's and Women's classes of the tournament racing on Friday at Buzzard Beach will win...


Oh you would like to know wouldn't you?
But we aren't telling.
What we will tell you is that Friday nights prize package contains items from Surly, Giro, Eighth Inch, Twin Six, Portland Design Works, CycleOps, GhostShip, UrbanVelo, Broadway Coffee & PBR
It has an approximate retail value of... $525!
And thats not too shabby considering all we want from you is $5 and a little bit of sweat.
OK, a lot of sweat.

Extra bonus!!
We are also having a raffle.
What could you win? This one we'll tell you.
A brand spanking new set of CycleOps Aluminium Rollers!



These rollers have a $280 value!
Raffle tickets will be $5.
The more times you play the better chance you have of winning.
So be sure and buy up those raffle tickets!
You must be present to win.
So no slinking off thinking that you'll get a phone call if you win.
You aren't there, you don't win.
Simple as that.
We'll do drawings until we'll find someone that still there.

So lets review:
Friday night
Buzzard Beach
KC Sprints
8 PM tournament sign ups & Grudge Matches begin
9 PM tournament begins
Men's and Women's brackets
Prizes for top 3 of both classes
$525 in prizes available for the wining
Raffle for CycleOps Rollers
$5 for raffle tickets
Must be present to win

See you Friday night!

Just a reminder... Friday night Buzzard Beach... Time to Sprint!

I started putting together the prizes for the Men's and Women's 1st, 2nd, & 3rd places of the tournament tonight.
A little something for the best Grudge Match of the night
And we are considering a SWEET grand prize for the best overall sprint time of the night.
We've got some really good stuff.
You'll be missing out if you aren't there.

Tournament sign up and Grudge Matches start at 8 PM.
The tournament starts at 9 PM.
Tournament is $5
Grudge Matches are $2 per racer.

So go do Critical Mass at 630 then come on over to Buzzard Beach all warmed up and ready to race.
Or just to have a beer, cheer on your friends & heckle your enemies.
What ever you decide its gonna be a good night and you should be there.

See you Friday!

Thanks Lincoln!

A little video from NoCoastFilms of Sheclismo presents: KC Sprints at Duffy's Tavern Saturday night.
Thanks Elizabeth!

Sheclismo Presents: KC Sprints from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Full report of the event coming soon.

Making the papers

From the DailyNebraskan.com
(I took the liberty of adding links and the flyer)




Sheclismo, KC Sprints set to host fundraiser for cycling team at Duffy’s

By Emily Walkenhorst

Lincoln is a cycling town, all included.

Sheclismo (‘She' + the Spanish word for ‘cycling') is Lincoln's only all-female cycling team. With members ranging in age from 22 to 69, its presence is known — and growing.

On Saturday, for the second year in a row, Sheclismo and KC Sprints will host a fundraiser for the team at Duffy's Tavern (14th & O streets).

The event will consist of traveling organization KC Sprints' specialty: simulated bike races.
Starting at 6 p.m., bar patrons and registered participants will pedal 500 meters, as measured by computers and attached spedometers, atop stationary bikes. In addition to a planned tournament, attendees will be able to challenge friends and complete strangers to head-to-head races.

One of the founders of Sheclismo, Elisabeth Reinkordt, said last year's fundraiser filled Duffy's to the brim with bike enthusiasts and those just looking to have a good time.

"It's really not a serious event as much as it is for fun," said Dave Kosark, co-owner of Joyride Bicycles, a sponsor of Sheclismo. Kosark described last year's event as "raucous."

Even with the loose atmosphere and semi-drunk challenges, both Kosark and Reinkordt warn: The race is hard.

Reinkordt said fast racers can often finish in fewer than 30 seconds, but added, "When you're up there on the bike, it feels a lot longer."

Reinkordt also said she expects many grudge-match challenges this year from people seeking to even scores.

"There can be a tendency to have a few drinks and want to prove something," she said.

But one thing Reinkordt does not remember from last year's fundraiser was a large turnout of female racers.

Sheclismo is a somewhat new organization, with members who race competitively on roads or mountains and members who simply commute to work by bike every day, even through harsh winters.

Events like KC Sprints at Duffy's are a way of helping Sheclismo financially but are also recruiting tools for the team.

KC Sprints, an organization based in Kansas City, will provide all the tools and bikes necessary for Saturday night.

ScreenInk, a screen printing and embroidery business in Lincoln, will also be on site printing T-shirts throughout the night.

Aside from the flair of impressive technology and energetic atmosphere, Saturday will also be an opportunity to bring a community together.

"For a lot of us who enjoy cycling," Kosark said, "it's a way to get together."

emilywalkenhorst@dailynebraskan.com

EVENT INFO:
Duffy's
6 p.m.
$2 for head-to-head challenges
$5 for tournament entry

KC Sprints Sponsor Update!

We've added a couple more sponsors to our impressive sponsor list for the 2011 winter season.
Returning once again are the fine people from:

Surly



AND

Twin Six



We also have picked up a new sponsor for this season

Broadway Cafe & Roastery



KC Sprints wants to thank them and all of our sponsors for their support.

Don't forget!
January 15th, THIS WEEKEND, KC Sprints at Duffy's Tavern in Lincoln, NE
January 28th KC Sprints at Buzzard Beach in KCMO for the post Critical Mass party/race off!

Hope to see all you beautiful people at the races!

TCCP benefit event Recap

Back in the beginning of December we loaded up the gear and headed out to Topeka to take part in Flat Tire a benefit for the Topeka Community Cycle Project.


The shop facility space for the TCCP is huge and the people connected to it were great hosts. Which was nice since we ended up needing their tools, work stands and then, embarrassingly, some of their parts to pull KC Sprints off that night.

The night was riddled with one problem after another. Which was too bad because we went in to it ready to put on a great show & help raise money for the TCCP.
And according to the TCCP crew we did just that, although it didn't look that way from our end.

There were problems right from the get go.
First there was a communication issue with the restaurant Bosco's that our part of the event was in. The organizers were under the impression they were going to stop serving dinner early so we could pack the place to race. Bosco's either didn't want to or just didn't realize that was the plan. We could understand why. It is a nice place. Really nice. We couldn't believe we were going to race in there. Plus it was a Friday night. Prime eating out time for one of the nicer eateries in Topeka.
No matter. We worked around it.
Of the nights hurtles it was a small one.

While Jevon working on getting the software set up, Jones and tag along Rudy set up the rollers etc & I took the bikes down the block to the TCCP shop. The rigs were in desperate need of new rubber & a once over, something I hadn't had the opportunity to deal with.
As I said before for being a bike collective run by volunteers with donated equipment the TCCP facility was really nice.
I got the new ThickSlicks from Freedom by WTB installed (a company we should hit up for sponsorship) wiped down the frames, tightened the stems etc & hustled back down to Bosco's to finish the set up.
It wasn't until the bikes were back on the rollers and we were test riding that I realized the next issue. The Blue/White bike's short chain combined with the new bigger tire meant that when the bike was weighted the tire rubbed the frame. Back to the shop to scrounge up a little chunk of chain.
While I was correcting that problem Jevon let me know that we were also having some software problems. An automatic software update that happened over night wasn't working properly. Well OK thats putting it nicely. It didn't work at all.
Well, shit.

OK. Don't panic. No need for the normal projector and screen.
Jevon had a plan B.
Plan B was to put our spare little computer screen in front of the riders so they could see their progress.
But when we plugged it in we discovered that apparently its had a rough life since we used it last and the screen was cracked.
Aww...WTF?

No worries. Jevon had a Plan C.
Plan C consisted of Jones squatted down in front of the racers relaying the hand singles that Jev was giving him showing who was leading who. No easy task since Jev was determining who was leading who by watching code stream across his laptop screen.
It looked something like this:


OK. So finally we are racing. Problems are solved.
Well not all of them. Not yet.
About 1/2 way though the grudge matches the Blue/White bike started having problems again. The seat post was slipping down during the race. We kept clamping it tighter but it kept slipping. Finally I pulled the seat post then loosened up the quick release all the way to take it off and give it a look. When I did so I discovered that the resin washer (for lack of proper term that I know it has) had broken in half, which then promptly fell out.

Good grief.

I stuck a regular flat metal washer that we had in the tool box in its place but it still wouldn't hold. So it was time for another trip back to the TCCP shop to dig around in their parts.
Thankfully I found exactly what we needed and we were back to racing again.



At this point we (Jones, Jevon & I) had all individually decided that after a couple more races we were going to suggest packing it up & going home.
As it happens we only had a few more races before we realized something else was wrong. This time with the Red/Black bike.
At first we thought that we had a bearing going bad on the rollers, which would have been really odd. More so on a sets of nice CycleOps Rollers that were only a few years old. But it was much simpler than that. Apparently when I had replaced the tires I had managed to pinch the tube giving it a nice sloooow leak. The new fat ThickSlick tires hid this obvious detail until a rider was on the bike. Which would explain why some riders were out of the saddle leaning dangerously over the handle bars when on the Red/Black bike.
Oops. Sorry about that guys.
That however, was the last straw and good enough reason as any to call it quits for the day.

Now while all this was going on in the basement restaurant upstairs the other 1/2 of the Flat Tire event to benefit the TCCP was taking place. Consisting of 3 bands & a silent auction.
We didn't stick around though. We were fed up with our poor performance & frankly a little embarrassed.
However, the fine people of the Topeka Community Cycle Project said that the event was great. They got what they wanted out of it and they had a big & successful turn out.
Which is good. Since that was what it was all about anyway.

If you want to see more photos from the event you can see some more of the above either at uNkY jOIns or the One Eyed z Flickr pages.

KC Sprints want to thank the good people of the Topeka Community Cycle Project for letting us be a part of their event. Not to mention the use of shop, tools and the couple little parts we "borrowed".
Thanks gang!

Up next (besides some serious software, bicycle & equipment check overs) KC Sprints returns to Duffy's Tavern in Lincoln, NE January 15th.
Last year Lincoln was not only our 1st out of town event but by far the best event of the season. Lincoln set the bar pretty high for our KC Sprint events. We are hoping that all the kinks are worked out of the system so that in 2011 the Lincoln event can be even better than it was in 2010.
Don't worry Kansas City, we haven't forgotten where we came from.
KC Sprints holds its first Kansas City race January 28th at the Buzzard Beach. It will be the January Critical Mass post party.
Should be lots of fun. Hope to see you at the races!

What? A CycleOps Blender? Really?

Yes. Really.
Check this thing out.



Once again this season CycleOps is one of our great sponsors.
Outside of getting use some items to use for swag and prizes (even a set of their rollers for a Grand Prize!) the local rep (Thanks Ron!) thought it would be a great idea to loan us his new CycleOps Pro Series Trainer Blender.
For serious.
It arrived today and I set it up in my living room to check it out.
Basically it is their Pro Series Trainer modified to power a blender.
I haven't made any drinks in it yet (I'm sure I will tonight, Jones... bring ingredients over tonight!) but I don't see why it wouldn't work like a champ.
We will have this out at the KC Sprints events this year.
Hopefully any bar we are in will let use set it up and blend some of their tasty drinks for them.
Why the hell not, eh?

Lets have a drink!

Hey... Look at that. Sponsors!

Well well well... Looks like we'll have sponsors for the 2010/11 season.
Some are repeat sponsors (Thank you!) & a few are brand spanking new!
If you take a look over there at the side bar you'll see who we've gotten so far.
Or...
Since I couldn't wait for you to look, just look below.

The repeat sponsors:
PBR

UrbanVelo

Eighth Inch

CycleOps

Giro

All Hail the Black Market


The brand spanking new sponsors:
Portland Design Works

GhostShip


We are very excited to have gotten the support of these sponsors.

First race is this weekend. Topeka, KS here we come!

In the begining there was....

We've come a long ways since the days of racing in Jevon's apartment.

For your consideration

uNkY jOIns and I were talking the other night (drinking beers) when he mentioned that with our 1st event of the season coming up perhaps we should repost that sweet promotional video that Lucas Marshall made for us after our Lincoln event last January.

So here ya go.

2010/11 Sponsor Hunt

Its that time again. Time for the
Great Sponsor Hunt for the 2010/11 KC Sprint season.

So, if you are a past sponsor, know of someone/a company that should be a sponsor or want to be a sponsor, hit us up at:

kcsprints@gmail.com

Our needs are simple.
We need the use of you name and logo, to promote you, along with swag/prizes for our contestants that you provide.
Stickers, t-shirts, buttons, helmets, jackets, hats, bike components, whiskey... whatever.
Everything is appreciated.

Things are a brewing.
Events are being planned.
Jones is thinking (scary!)
Lets see what happens.