Concordia Century Registration

Come and Join us for a day of family fun and fitness! Be a part of the Concordia Century and ride 100, 60, 30, 15 miles, or whatever you are able along the picturesque Mississippi River Trail and Confluence Greenway up to the Chain of Rocks Bridge and out to Grafton! The route is an out-and-back, so you can ride any distance you want. Most of the riding is on paved paths, the rest on roads. Join the whole group of riders afterwards for food, prizes, and fellowship across the street from the former location of Concordia Seminary at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 2650 Miami Street (just a few short blocks off of the trail) from 1:30-3:30pm. What are you waiting for? Get out and ride!!

Click here to download the registration form. Please turn in your forms and money to Russ Troester (Campus Mail - Box 397 - Checks made payable to Concordia Seminary) no later than Wednesday, October 10 (if you want a T-Shirt). Late registration deadline is Monday, October 15. Post a comment here if you have any questions.

Clayton Plans Bike Trail Study

The latest "Cityviews" newsletter from the city of Clayton announces a study to examine a trail system connecting Clayton, Brentwood, Maplewood, and Richmond Heights. This would obviously be of great benefit to both bike commuters and recreational cyclists on campus -- especially if it helps us avoid Big Bend and Clayton Road as much as possible. There will be a public forum held at The Heights (Dale Ave east of Hanley in Richmond Heights) on Nov. 29 at 7:00pm. I'll send out a reminder later, but if you live in any of these communities you should plan to attend and support this effort.

October Beard Contest

For all who can grow a beard, October will be official beard and 'stash month. All who are participating are to start with a clean pallet by Oct. 1st. Awards for best beard or 'stash will be handed out at the Post Century Feed and Fellowship. Participants reply to this post if you are "in".

Rogaine, Propecia and other such hair tonics are illegal. Use of such topical hair growth formulas is akin to doping and will result in immediate disqualification.

BTW, Kloha can grow a mean 'stash

Weekend Rides + Food!

Concordia Century is just a few weeks away. Training rides this weekend will meet up again -- Saturday women's ride, all levels, no drops, meet at 7:00 am at Luther Statue. Sunday Long Ride, meet up at 2:00pm. Plan on 3.5+ hours.

After the Sunday ride we'll meet up for a barbecue at the Kloha's. Have your families meet us there between 5:45-6:00, bring along meat for yourself and a dish to pass. Before the ride you can drop clean clothes off to change into later at the Kloha's.

St. Genevieve Road Race

Concordia had a great day at the St. Gen road race today, a tough, very hilly route on a warm day. Russ took 7th in Cat 5, his first race ever. Marc took 10th in Cat 4. Susan took 2nd in the Women's Masters category, her second race. Anyone who's ever raced knows how tough a top 10 finish is to earn, and we got three of them today! The old man, unfortunately, isn't quite right still since Gateway. Road racing season is over now until February, though cyclocross racing fires up in a few weeks, and there are still a few mountain events

Bowling Alone and Cycling

Concordia Seminary hosted the annual Dellinger Lecture last night, this year the speaker was Harvard Professor Dr. Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone. This was an interesting, at times funny and at times frightening lecture about the loss of community in America and its consequences. As a sociologist, Putnam had lots of statistics about lots of things. One surprising conclusion was that the more groups you belong to, the more friends you have, generally the more you hang out with other people, the longer you will live. In fact, a person living an isolated life apparently has the same chance of dying in the next 12 months as a lifetime smoker. In contrast, those with a large network of friends live longer. By quite a bit, he said. So, the obvious conclusion (not his, but mine) is that if you cycling, that's good for you. But if you cycle with others, then you'll live a lot longer. So hop on the bike! Join in on the rides! Meet someone new!

Weekend Rides, Sep. 22-23

Looks like a great weekend for riding. A few people will be participating in a race on Saturday in St. Genevieve. Saturday, the women's ride has been gaining momentum. This ride leaves at 7:00 am, and is intended for all levels of cyclists, including beginners. The Sunday ride will leave at 2:00, plan on 3.5+ hours (assuming no shredded tires again).