Chris Smedley, the owner of Bicycle Shack and a Kansas City icon, lost his battle to Pancratic Cancer on Sunday 4/29. He will be sadly missed by the cycling community.
A note on how to honor Chris’ memory:
“Arrangements for Chris’ service have been finalized and are listed below:
– Visitation will be Friday, May 4th, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Holmeswood Baptist Church at 9700 Holme
– The funeral service will be Saturday, May 5th, at 10:30 a.m. at Holmeswood Baptist Church, followed by a private interment at Mt. Moriah Cemetery South, 10507 Holmes.
The family has asked that people attending the services do not dress formal and to dress in a way to celebrate Chris’ life and accomplishments within the cycling community. Wear your favorite bike jersey, Shack t-shirt or other tasteful, yet casual attire.
Also, there will be a group that will RIDE in the precession from the church to the cemetery. Bike Shack Racing Team please wear your race kits; others please wear your Bicycle Shack Jerseys if you have them. And of course, all our racing friends wear your colors.
As far as the ride to the cemetery, that will start at 11:30 and is approximately 1 mile but it is nearly all up hill and becomes quite steep. In an attempt to phrase this without hurting feelings, the family asks that only the higher-level riders ride bikes in the precession for safety and to prevent people straggling behind in traffic. The precession will slow down only slightly and this hill will require the group to push it a little, especially at the steepest part. We don’t want to stretch out the precession line, so we’ll be 4-5 wide riding close together and we’ll be passing on/off ramps to I-435. So please, only higher end riders should plan to ride. Obviously the BSR team, other racers, and the Dogs fall into this category but not necessarily our respective family members or other casual riders that this email might get forwarded too. Sorry, but we have to be considerate towards the traffic, safety, and the precession.
Chris wouldn’t want us to miss a ride if there is good weather, so the 7:45am ride from Longview College is still on Saturday morning and will be the start of our celebration of Chris’ life.
You can find Chris’s online guestbook here.
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/dignitymemorial/guestbook.aspx?n=christopher-smedley&pid=157394759
Feel free to forward this on to others that may be interested and contact any of us listed below if you have questions.
Jim Flath
John Tye
Greg Smedley
Vic Smedley