You know how you can get so busy that the things you know that you should be doing don’t get done because of the things you should be doing? You get up everyday to do things you should be doing, while the whole time you know you should be doing other things that you’re not. "As soon as I get done doing things," you tell yourself, "I am going to get back to doing the things I should be doing."
Well, as crazy as all that sounds, that is exactly how it has been for me since May. And it is aslo my flimsy excuse for not being in contact with all of you readers and supporters of the Major Taylor Foundation of Greater Kansas City. But, I am back now…from doing things…but only long enough to let you know what we have been up to…and then it’s back to doing MORE things.
We have been held back all year long by the fact that our car died on K-10 last year, taking my sons to race in Lawrence, Kansas. Since then, the racing we have been able to do has been sparse, to say the least.
But, a couple of our great teammates on our TREK/Localcycling.com race team and friends on the Team X race team, have helped out and taken the boys to some of the training crits and a couple of out of town races.
A few weeks ago, Christian went with some teammates to do the Dave Babcock race (road, time-trial and criterium races over 2 days) and came back home a winner in the jr. category! He won the road race and the crit, and said he could have won the time trial if his cleat had not come out of his shoe during the race. But he did well enough to win overall. Christian is developing well as a jr. racer.
But, a couple of our great teammates on our TREK/Localcycling.com race team and friends on the Team X race team, have helped out and taken the boys to some of the training crits and a couple of out of town races.
A few weeks ago, Christian went with some teammates to do the Dave Babcock race (road, time-trial and criterium races over 2 days) and came back home a winner in the jr. category! He won the road race and the crit, and said he could have won the time trial if his cleat had not come out of his shoe during the race. But he did well enough to win overall. Christian is developing well as a jr. racer.
Some of you all have asked me about my son Thomas a.k.a "The Monster". Thomas has been showing great progress as a racer, competing on a level that even a lot of the area racers cannot believe. Hey, area superhero Steve Tilford gave him his number after a training crit last month. When that guy notices you, you must be doing something right.
But, Thomas has had some difficulty in school. Christian too, but he has turned it around and ended the school year on a great note. Thomas has not had that same turn around. Both my wife and I are sticklers about education, and when it comes down to it, cycling takes a back seat to school. So Thomas has been grounded off the bike for most of this season. He can train (for a while he couldn’t do that) and he can participate in the Tuesday nite training crits, but he is not allowed to get back into racing until his grades come way up from where they are now. We got his report card the other day, and we see some changes, but still reserve judgement as to when and if he will race again this summer. Let me tell you this…the boy loves racing a bike…and is working hard to make it back. I got faith in the boy…and look out when he does get back!
The boys are riding matching Kona race frames that were recently donated to the foundation by Michael Combest. Michael used to help run the old KU Jayhawk race club and had been holding on to the frames and some other equipment he donated to us, one of those being a vintage frame alignment table that has a tremendous history attached to it. He saw us when we did a display at the Home & Garden show down at Bartle Hall, and decided that MTFGKC would be a good home for that stuff. The boys built up the beautiful red Kona frames and now go faster than they ever have before. If you know Michael, make sure to mention his donation and thank him for being a supporter.
We recently have been accepted into the Greater Kansas City Community Foundations’ Donor Edge program, which will assist us in creating and updating a profile that will help us reach charitable donors nationwide. I have attended several training and grant competition sessions that GKCCF has conducted free of charge. I have learned so much — mostly that there is much I don’t know. Check out www.gkccf.org for more info.
I was asked by a local publication called "Our Health Matters" which has a focus on the health of our urban community, to write an article about cycling, which came out in May. The editor, Ruth Ramsey has put this quality magazine (which is widely supported and distributed throughout the KC area) together and has been keeping her eye on MTFGKC. I have had a lot of postive responses to the article and send thanks to Ms. Ramsey. (If you want to see the article contact me and either I or Ms. Ramsey can send it to you.)
On June 11th, the boys and I did a SAG for the Kansas City Bicycle Club’s ride, the Tour of Fountains. We were set up in Loose Park, and even tho the day started with rain, it turned out to be a great day to ride. I was a bit jealous that I could not ride that day, but I wanted to make sure that we showed appreciation to KCBC for their donation of $500 to MTFGKC last year. I still got to see a lot of my cycling friends and made a few new ones that day too.
On Father’s Day, I rode the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure/Wheel to Weston, Mo. The plan for months was that the boys were supposed to ride with me, but it seems that they stayed up too late the night before, and despite the fact that it was Father’s Day, could not bring themselves to get up out the bed and be on the road by 6:30 am. So I rode this ride alone. I saw folks that I knew along the way, but to be honest, I was a little hurt by the boys not getting up, so I hammered (or what felt like hammering to me) the whole 70 miles, catching folks, doing a few pulls and then moving on when we got to hills. I did 75 miles on that day, in 4 hours and 30 minutes. Funny thing is, when I got home, I was still hyped, so I went rollerskating for 2 1/2 hours that evening. The event itself was great, ride organizer Vannessa Scavuzzo did a fantastic job and I had a fun riding in it for the first time.
I have also had the honor of being selected from over 200 applicants, as one of three presenters for the 2006 National Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference, held in Madison, Wisconson in September. Our topic of discussion will be, "Connecting with Minority and Disadvantaged Youth" and I will be representing the Kansas City community and MTFGKC. It is a very prestigous honor I am told, especially since it will mark the first time the conference has addressed issues connected to the minority community as they pertain to walking and biking. For more info, check out www.bikewalk.org.
Hey, if you are still reading this, you are REALLY a supporter of MTFGKC. So let me make the biggest thing the last. I was recently contacted by a guy named Bruce Coffman. Bruce, along with some other folks, used to run the Trips for Kids program, here in KC. This program would take urban kids for moutain bike rides and trips. But their last year in operation was 2005. So Bruce gave me a call, we talked and as a result, Trips for Kids has made a tremendous donation to MTFGKC…donating over 20 new or used mountain bikes, clothing, gloves, helmets, water bottles, a tent, tires, tubes, and every other thing associated to mountain biking you can think of. And get this, not only did they donate all of that, they donated a van along with it! (Which means that we may still be able to make it to races for the second half of the season!) We actually have gone to see all of the stuff in storage and will take possesion of it this Friday! God is good, y’all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you know Bruce or any of the folks that used to run Trips for Kids, give ‘um a big hug for me.
Well, that brings you up to date. We are partnering with the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services on July 29th to put on a Fitness Festival down on the 18th & Vine Historical District. Over 60 health or fitness related organizations are presently involved in the planning of this event, with MTFGKC providing a big focus. We will be doing spin classes that day, a bike safety course, minor bike repairs and establishing ourselves as a viable source on cycling information for people in our community. Keep your eyes open for it folks, while I get back to doing things. My thanks to our board members, volunteers, my friends, Kansas City Parks & Recreation, Bikes & Trikes for Tykes and of course you…as a supporter of MYFGKC. See ya!