A Nice Intermission from Racing

Where to start…A few weeks ago was the Rattling Creek 50. As much as we wanted to go, we decided that morning that we didn’t want to ride in the rain. Of course, it didn’t turn out being that bad. But we had a great 3 hour ride here instead. My favorite riding conditions, with fog and a bit of light rain. Rode some rocky trails and some fun climbs and downhills. 

the view of Tussey Mountain Ski area and Bald Knob from our house

We did a good 55 mile road ride on Tuesday, and that was great. On Friday, we were planning on going to Bear Creek to pre-ride the course, but some more rain, and we decided that it wasn’t worth the 3.5 hour drive. So we had another good ride here instead. We ended up riding the first ridge of the Stoopid 50 in reverse. Once we were at the top of the first climb, it started to pour. A lot. It was really fun, but eventually the rain slowed. I ended up running about 15psi in the rear tire, but only really noticed it hitting the rim once or twice. At the top of the last downhill

(which was the first bit of singletrack in the Stoopid this year), it started raining harder than I remember ever riding in. It was really fun, and the rain actually helped grip the tight, loamy turns on the way down. Since we left from the house, and it would’ve been a really long ride back, we called my mom to come pick us up.

Today, we rode with a big group in RB Winter. It was a fun ride, and we rode the favorite trails like Stony Gap, Cowbell Hollow and Top Mountain Trail. It was my second time in RB Winter, and my first time on Top Mountain. After we convinced my dad to come along, the 6 of us (originally 28) had a blast on the trail. It’s a rocky jeep road, and from the stories that I had heard about it, I thought it was going to be a lot worse. So far, this is what fall is going to be like, and to be honest, I can’t wait.S

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So here’s some pictures from rides last winter. Hopefully it won’t be as icy so we can ride all year round.

Some pics from the Wilderness 101

Even though we've done recent races, both my dad and I went into Neshaminy feeling like it's been forever since a MASS race. After the W101, Bill Nagel invited us to stay at his house the night before the race. We drove down there, and ate dinner with Bill, Chad, Cameron, and Jay. It was lightly raining, and everyone knew that the race might get canceled because of the rain. In that case, they planned a ride in Wiss. Got a good night's sleep, but we awoke to pouring rain. Things slowed down a bit, and then Bill got a txt saying that the race was still on. So we loaded up the bikes and drove to the start. Still light rain, and the beginners were looking muddy when they came out onto the field. I was trying to be optimistic about things, but the course was as muddy as Granogue. The race started well, and as long as you were focused, the mud wasn't that slippery. But the race would get interesting as the mud messed with the bikes. Coming off of a downhill and into an uphill, Noah lost his chain and needed to get off his bike. It was still really early, but I knew that this was when I needed to break away. So I did, but right when I was starting to recover from the attack, I kept hearing my cassette pop. I backed off a bit, and it went away. When Jeremy passed me, I stopped and tried to get the mud out of my derrailleur. The cage was completely covered. I ended up getting passed by a bunch of other people, but finished the race. I had to walk most of the climbs because of the gears, but I felt good physically. I had fun even though I was a bit dissapointed. Everyone else had a good race, so I'm happy.

Later that week, my dad convinced me to get new bars for my road bike. I feel much better on shallow drop bars, and we had one of the best road rides we've had in a while. My mom wanted to do a sport race sometime this year, and she was able to go to French Creek, so she came along with us. The race was really hot and humid, but they cut the lap down to 10 miles, putting the race at around an hour. The course was full of rocks, climbs, and techy descents. So what it lacked in distance, it made up for in trails that you'll never see in a MASS race. Everything was a little slick, but sliding was predictable. It was a good race. I'm a little dissapointed that I didn't break an hour (only because I came so close with 1:00.14), but I was really happy with the race and nothing makes me happier than rocks. Both my dad and I came out with wins, and my mom had a good time.

Wilderness 101

Every year, one of the biggest challenges of the W101 is the weather. It is always hot and humid, but this year seemed to be different. We got a lot of rain the days before the race, and a little the morning of the race. It was a bit chilly, and very cloudy and foggy. But the fog burned off around 10:00, and everything cleared out to a hot and humid day. After watching the start, I made a quick stop by Three Bridges to watch a good section of trail. The trail gets it's name from the three skinny bridges that cross a stream about halfway through the trail. Usually a lot of people who don't know the trails walk this section when they are dry. But that day was really slippery, and almost everyone walked the bridges. Some people tried to ride their bikes through the stream, which is very hard since there isn't any trail. One person actually did it and got back on the course. After the bridges is a big rock garden. It is easier the direction that the 101 does it, but it's still hard, especially for people who have never seen it. I was able to see my dad and Stu Hess come through this section, and they were doing better than I thought they would be. After the trail is a climb up a dirt road. It's not one of the hardest in the race, but it still picks up a lot of elevation. This is where the Stoopid 50 finished, and right at the intersection of Three Bridges and the road is Old Laurel trail - the last downhill in the Stoopid. John Williams and some others accidentally turned up this trail, hiked to the top, and then rode back down. If you're familiar with the trail, you know that it's a big mistake. After watching Three Bridges, I went over to Aid Station 3 to help out. By that point, it was really hot. We had a lot of help at the station, but everything was really rushed to try to help people and get them on their way. My dad and Stu were together still, and they both were riding pretty good. Bill Gardner came by a few minutes later, and was also feeling good. After aid 3 is another nasty climb. This one is the only major singletrack climb in the race. One singlespeeder got to the top of the climb, but then his chain snapped. So he rode 3 miles back down to the aid station to get another chain...and then climbed back up. Around 4:30, it started getting cloudy as another storm rolled in. Just a little rain though. My dad finished under 10 hours, which seems to be the benchmark for the 101. Stu ended up pulling away from him at the last climb, but my dad kept it close and only lost about 4 minutes. Everyone had a good race, and my dad ended up getting 2nd in the Masters category, behind Bill Nagel from Guy's Racing, who stayed with us the night before the race. I took some pictures from the race, some are decent, but most are pretty bad, so I'll just give you a link to some professional ones taken before the race.

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