Madison Matthews

New Terrain

2010-08-18T22:39:00.004-05:00

So on Friday my dad and I are flying out to Durango for the Telluride - Durango ride from Western Spirit. After a few days hanging out and riding around Durango, we'll shuttle out to Telluride and ride the gondola up to the top of the mountain, where our five day singletrack epic begins. Western Spirit shuttles all your gear in their van and you camp at different spots each night. But during the day you ride on all unsupported singletrack. I have no clue what to expect, other than some fun riding and crazy long descents and climbs. I'm taking a whole bunch of batteries, so hopefully there will be some helmet cam video from each day.

Wilderness 101

2010-08-09T21:28:00.007-05:00

Being a mountain biker in State College, you are always surrounded by the Wilderness 101. People talk times and training all year round and for people who only do one or two races a year, this is their time to throw down a good race and have some friendly competition with the other local riders. On the last Saturday in July (sometimes first in August), almost everyone in the area that rides a bike will either be racing, watching, or working any one of the five well stocked aid stations. That being said, July 31st, 2010 was a day that I have thought about for most of my life.

I started riding at a very young age and my dad was always there for support. One year (2002 or 2003?) he told me about this all-day race through the rocks and over the mountains called the "Wilderness 101." Later he showed me this picture, and immediatly I knew that I wanted to do this race. So I set a goal for myself that I wanted to finish this race before I was 18.

It's six or seven years later, and I'm laying in bed the night before the race. Everything is racing around my mind. Bike is spotless, dinner was healthy and filling enough to get me through the race, my aid station bags are ready to go, clothes are clean, so it should be a good day. At around midnight I'm starting to get worried, and I finally fall asleep at 2. Oh, a 9+ hour race on three hours of sleep? No big deal. What was re-assuring was that it turns out that not many people actually do sleep much before this race. So before I knew it, it was 6:30 the morning of the race and it was cold. Got a short warm up in with Bill Nagel and Jake Davidson and headed back to the Coburn park for the start of the race. The neutral paced start was led by the local Purple Lizard mapmaker, who also led out this year's Stoopid 50. Turned left and across the bridge and started climbing. I found myself in a group with Jake, Dustin, locals Clay Chiles and Peter Buckland, and others. We stayed behind the singlespeeders into aid station 1. The group split a bit as some of us stopped for water before the second climb of the day. This is the hot, sunny climb in the Stoopid 50 that everyone hates, but it was cool and shaded today. The whole day I stayed focused on riding all the trails smoothly and paying attention to whatever my body told me it needed. You have to race smart to get through this stuff. Rather than give a 100 mile course description, I'll just give you a link to a good video from the course.

Jump ahead to 6:00 later

Coming into Aid 5, there is one rocky singletrack. At this point I was freaking out because I wasn't sure if I'd break my goal of 9 hours. So I figured that I'd need to average 10-12mph into the finish to make it. Cranked the rock gardens as hard as I could and came into Aid 5 like I was breaking away in a XC race. After a quick refueling and a glance at the Garmin, I was safe. Just keep it steady to the finish and don't get bit by any snakes. Up the Mingle climb, which isn't bad by itself but is a real pain over 90 miles into this race. On the other side is the infamous Fisherman's Path. It's makeable, and I came close to riding it. So now I guess my next goal for this race is to clean it. Anyway, it's some technical boulders on the side of the river and a couple short climbs and drops. Once you're across it, there's a bit more rail-trail to the next tunnel. This is your last chance to get a flat, cause there's glass in this one. But if you make it out of the tunnel fine, it's all pavement back to the park. You can smell the food and you can catch a glimpse of the finish before you loop through the town of Coburn. At this point I was so pumped, because I sprinted into the finish with an 8:25. The Centre Daily Times was there covering the event, which is cool because it's a race that's been going on here for so long and not too many people know about it. Here's the article.

It feels good to have that one behind me. What's cool about this event is that you get everyone from the top racers, to those that are just here to finish all starting at once and everything is very relaxed, but serious at the same time. And no matter where you finish, everyone has the same thoughts at the end of the day.

The climbs are hard
The descents chew you up and spit you out
The rocks will make your hands black and blue
It's the 101

2010-07-03T14:34:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago was the Stoopid 50. The course was mostly the same as last year...the only change was that it was extended a little bit past the last downhill so that it finished much closer to the parking lot. Racers got to ride the Three Bridges trail in the opposite direction of the Wilderness 101, and then take a chute down to the finish. A few days before the start, a tree fell on one of the 3 bridges and made it un-rideable. But it was fixed for the race.

The night before the race, Jay and Cameron Dodge, Alan Consalvo, Chad Mccurdy, and Jeff Dicky came up to stay at the house. Bob Popovich, the photographer, also came to stay. As everyone staged for the start, it started to lightly drizzle. Thunderstorms were in the forcast, so I don't think anyone was too suprized (although most people weren't too happy with the wet rocks). As we cruised up the road, the rain started to pick up. It was really raining hard as I turned into the first section of trail that takes you up to Tussey Ridge. Cameron was on my wheel and we were setting a pretty good pace coming up the road. A short but rocky downhill takes you to the ridge, which is one of the best trails in the race. My mom was watching the race at the gasline crossing and she told me that I was in the top 10. I wish I could've kept this position all day. After the ridge there is a benchcut downhill that takes you into the valley, where the toughest climb on the course seems to look down and laugh at you. It looks like you are about to ride off the edge of the mounain as you climb up through the clouds, then the road makes a turn and you get your first look at a long wall that stands between you and the top of the climb. Every singlespeeder that passed me earlier on the climb had to walk this section. Then you take a jeep road down the other side of the mountain to the first aid station. After the aid station, there is a slick, rocky, rooty section of trail that can really waste your energy. Then there is some downhills and climbs, and you retrace your way back to the aid station. Most of these trails were also on the Transsylvania Epic course. Once you're back at the aid station, all of the tough singletrack is behind you. But there are still three major climbs and one crazy descent to the finish. Thought I'd share this little write up of thoughs from the race.

The next week was the Massanutten Hoo Ha. It was a hot weekend and the course was dusty, but it ended up being a fun race. Raced the Super D on Saturday and that turned out to be really fun. The course wasn't nearly as technical as I would've liked, but that's alright. We stayed around and watched the short track race and saw the intense finish between Jeremiah and Sid.
The next day was the cross country race. Just as dusty and hot as the day before. The race started off with the most hectic, confusing mass start fake out start I've been in, but once I picked my way out to the front of the field I could actually enjoy the course. Some seriously dusty trails, but high speed singletrack through dense trees and then out to the start finish area. Then started the only sustained climb of the whole course, but it was a long one. Switchbacks took you all the way to the top of the Super D course and through some rocks and ledges at the top. Then pretty muched bombed the Supder D back (with a little detour through some more fun singletrack) to the finish. It was really hot, but it was a fun weekend.

Next was a longish road ride up and down some pretty big climbs. I think we did somewhere around 80 miles with 5 or 6 serious climbs and sprints for signs throughout the day. And then every Tuesyday, the local shop holds a nice group ride. This week we took the first twisty descent on the Stoopid to the bottom of the first nasty climb, then turned off and rode one of the rockiest trails in the area. It's full of oddly placed boulders and lots of holes for your front wheel to fall into. Here's a video of one of the rock gardens, taken by Don Page on his nifty Iphone (yeah it shoots in HD).

Last weekend was the Long Pine Classic. A new race in the MASS series and probably one of my favorite courses anywhere. Gotta love those one-lap XC races. Some killer climbs, twisty singletrack, and just enough rocks to keep you on your toes. Not to mention some loose ATV downhills. This race was a fight throughout the whole 22 miles, but there isn't much that beats the feeling of pushing your limits and knowing that you did the best that you could do.

It was gonna happen sooner or later...

2010-06-07T19:26:00.003-05:00

So I've been hearing things about the Cannondale Scalpel frames separating at the chain stay/bottom bracket. There's a little spot there where the carbon front triangle is glued to the different weave of the rear triangle (same with the aluminum bike). And last night my dad and I were coming pretty fast down the last downhill on our ride. I get to the bottom and wait...after a few minutes, I get a little worried and start to ride back up. So here comes my dad and he's talking about how he thinks he might have bent his axle or frame or something because his wheel locked up on the descent. We take a look, but couldn't really find a problem. And then my dad finds a little gap where the chain stay meets the front triangle. I didn't get a picture before he took it into the shop but there was about a 1/2 inch gap on the one stay. Cannondale has a bunch of frames at the factory and he should get a red and black warranty 2010 frame built up in a little bit.

Long Post…

2010-05-18T20:07:00.001-05:00

Alright so it’s been a month or so since the last post on here. A lot has happened…

Fair hill was the first race of the year and it hurt a lot. The course is fast and flat, which means that there aren’t any breaks and you never stop pedaling for the entire race. Since my injury, the weakest part of my body has been my back and this course definitely hurt it a lot. It felt worse than any other ride or race than I can remember, although my legs didn’t feel nearly as bad. Ended up finishing somewhere in the middle of the group, which isn’t bad considering that this is the exact opposite of what we ride.

Tour de Tykes went better, but still not as well as I would’ve liked. I was definitely able to use the course and the weather to my advantage, but it just didn’t go all that smoothly. Missed the start, and then got gapped when I couldn’t pass some riders. But it’s a fun course and a lot of people enjoyed the cool weather for once.

And then there was a week off. We ended up riding 40ish miles of the Stoopid 50 course. Trails are in good condition…probably gonna get out there with a brush cutter and trim some stuff back, but everything is holding up nice.

Any race in Michaux is always a good time. I didn’t do the new course last year, and was a bit upset that they took out the Grave’s Ridge trail, which is a rocky ridge-top ATV trail. Fun stuff…but the new course turned out to be almost as technical anyway. Slightly disappointed in losing the race on a fire road climb but it was still a good race. Broke out the new frame for its first race. Last fall, my dad found some Rush frames on eBay, so he bought some in case we cracked one. Since I wasn’t really feeling the 29er, I just took all the parts off it and built up a second Rush. Thanks to my dad for letting me ride his I9 wheels.

I hate missing French Creek, but that day was prom…But it was a good time anyway.

Cascade Classic (used to be CAT Classic) is a nice course when it’s dry. Some climbs and just enough rocks to keep you on your toes. But this year it was really muddy so it completely changed the race. None of the three people that drove with us actually finished. My dad got lost and Anthony DiNallo and I both quit after 2 laps because we were sick of mud. Didn’t stay too long after the race but I’m pretty sure Julian crushed it on his home course. It’s a shame that the conditions were so bad for this year, first impressions of races usually last a while.

Marysville

2010-04-08T15:20:00.002-05:00

So on the Tuesday before the Marysville relay, I saw a neurologist and he said that I'd be fine to ride, just as long as I didn't do anything too risky and get another concussion. I've ridden 8 times since last Wednesday and it's really nice to be riding again. That Thursday, my dad called me and said that Erik at the Bicycle Shop was looking for a 4th person so that they could have a second team in the relay. So I've been lucky enough to get back on the bike a lot earlier than I thought, and I've also been lucky to find a team for last weekend. Marysville is such a fun event that it doesn't matter who has stacked teams, who has the most handicapped points, or even who wins at the end of the day. All people seem to care about is seeing all the people that they race with, having a good time, and some short and hard efforts on the bike.

With two of our riders not being able to ride because of injuries (yes, we had two ski accidents on the MBR team), we needed to find two replacement riders. We ended up with Anthony DiNallo and Bob Radzwich. Both were very competitive, triathletes, and singlespeeders. So that team did really well and MBR ended up getting 2nd place for the second time in a row. I really want to win that trophy next year, but our handicaps are slowly going away each year.

The relay was able to tell me a few things. First, 25 sessions on the rollers can really come in handy. It was the first time I actually trained during the winter, and thankfully it carried me through 3 weeks of no exercise. Indoor riding is boring but nothing gets you more ready for spring races. Second, I was able to see that my ribs held up to a hard effort and that I'll be able to race expert for Fair Hill and Tour de Tykes.

Maybe it's time to tell people...

2010-03-25T15:08:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I was and idiot and went skiing in jeans, a flannel shirt, sunglasses, and without a helmet. First run of the day, I hit a 50ish foot jump. Of course I didn't check it out ahead of time to realized that it was re-groomed and you didn't need nearly as much speed to hit it anymore. I ended up hitting it with way too much speed, got kicked back, and completely overshot the landing. I was sure that it was a dream and that I was gonna wake up soon. I also thought it was summer...

It turns out that I landed on the flat below the jump on my back, got the wind knocked out of me really bad, and walked down to ski patrol where I ended up passing out. Once I understood that this actually happened and it was really winter, I figured out that I was in a neck brace attached to a stretcher, and being loaded into an ambulance while my parents watched. At that time I couldn't imagine what they were going through.

As you could imagine, my parents were pretty upset about this. Five hours, one cat-scan, and one x-ray later, I left the hospital knowing that I had collapsed a lung and broke a rib. I also knew that I'd be able to walk, which was a major relief. I'm sure I had a concussion too but the hospital report didn't say anything about that, so.....

My dad kept telling me that my face was pretty messed up and that I must've been bleeding a lot, but I didn't realize the extent of what had happened until I looked in the mirror. Well a nice spring break full of riding was over, and I didn't know when I'd be able to ride a bike again. It's been three weeks, and my lung has healed. I've ridden outside on fire roads twice, and have been on the rollers countless times. Next week I'm supposed to go to a neurologist to decide when I'm able to get back to normal riding and racing. It could be fine and I could be out riding next week, but I still wouldn't be racing until May. Or it could be the exact opposite and I might not be able to ride any trails for a full calendar year. I'm trying to stay optimistic about things but I'm mainly just happy that I had the chance to learn from that mistake. Everyone out there, have a good season. I'll be at the races regardless so I'll see you all soon. And now I feel bad writing a post entirely about me...oh well, have a good season everybody.

Just a Reminder

2010-02-24T18:24:00.001-06:00

Just because a gate was open the first 2 times you climbed a hill doesn’t mean it will still be open the 3rd time you climb it. Remember to keep your eye on the road and don’t get caught up in your training intervals.

Fall, winter, and then some more training

2010-02-21T12:24:00.001-06:00

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, or even visited anyone else’s blogs. I don’t know why I haven’t because a lot of great things have happened since race season ended, and I’m sure lots of other people had some interesting things to write about. So anyway, let’s think back to where I left off…

Bear Creek was a good race and the whole weekend turned out great. It’s always nice to go to a race and be able to enjoy the whole weekend, from all the time you spend off the bike, to the race, and then packing up and going back home. After Bear Creek was Michaux’s Terror of Teaberry. Great course, but my dad and I both had a few flat tires. He flatted on his rear tire and I flatted on my front, so after blowing out the valve on my second tube, I was able to use his wheel to keep going. I got really close to the start/finish and didn’t really feel like being selfish and racing another 10 miles, so I rode back to the finish and waited for my to grab his second set of wheels. Then we rode the course at a fast trail ride pace and were able to enjoy it. I had another flat but there wasn’t any pressure and it took me back to 2006 when my dad would ride the races behind me to make sure I didn’t hurt myself and to offer all the encouragement he could.

Fall riding is always fun. Getting to ride the technical, hardly ever ridden trails that are too dangerous or too hard to get to during the racing season.

My Rush that we bought in April 2008 has gone through some major changes that started midway through this summer. The goal is to make it a strong, all mountain bike. When it’s finished, the only parts that were original will be the fork, shock, stem, seat post, and front derailleur. The major changes have been the wheels and brakes. XTR wheels to Mavic 819/717 with Chris King hub with a future fun bolt. XTR brakes to Avid Jucy 7s, 185mm/160mm rotors. Also, the XTR rear derailleur is getting switched out for an SLX.

And now we’re back to training. 50 mile road ride yesterday

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Laurel Classic

2009-09-08T17:43:00.001-05:00

Since both my dad and I did good here overall last year, we decided that it was probably a good decision to race expert. I had fun and I’m pretty sure he did too. The race started off well, and I realized that for the first time in a while, I needed to just let the leaders go. I knew that I would get burned out if I tried to keep up with TJ Mosher, Ray Adams, and the super fast rider from State College, Jean-Luc. So as people started to split apart, I ended up in a group with Julian, Rich Straub (another State College), and one other rider. I tried to avoid setting the pace, but eventually I had to. After the long road climb, there is a gradual downhill to the famous Stinger trail. Stinger is loose and steep, so there are a lot of people that come out to watch it. At the bottom, it turns onto a dirt road. There is a lot more people down there, just incase anyone gets hurt. But just my luck, I ended up hitting one of the cars that were parked on the course. Eventually I fought passed the pain in my wrist and caught back up to Julian. He was setting a really fast pace into the next downhill. Coming into the second downhill of the course, I thought I caught a stick in my wheel. I stopped to pull it out but couldn’t find it. Turns out that I had a broken spoke. Got it fixed and raced down the trail with the hope of catching Julian at the bottom. Right when I saw him, he was getting off his bike to fix a flat. I felt sorry for him since he always seems to have bad luck, but I also knew that I needed to ride strong to the finish. After the downhill is a fun little section of stream crossings, followed by a not-so-fun climb. And then across the top of the mountain, through some mud, and down the last downhill of the race. It’s about 3 1/2 miles long and is really fast. It’s hard to describe how fast it is for a singletrack trail…lets just say that 34 mph felt way too slow, and that another rider that we know had no problem reaching 45mph. On the long sprint down the road to the finish, I saw Julian walking back up the mountain. Turns out that he had another flat shortly afterward and decided to DNF. Again, I feel bad since he always breaks stuff in races. My goal for this race was to break 1:45. I got set back a bit with the bad crash and a broken spoke, but had a 1:46, so I’m happy. I didn’t think I’d do this well overall racing expert, but I guess that having to keep up with the riders around you makes you go faster. I can’t wait for expert next year, although I’m getting some thoughts of racing elite just for the fun of it. We’ll see…

My mom also came to the race. We told her that there was a lot of climbing in the Sport course, but she decided to do it anyway. She had fun, although it sounded like she hated it at first.

A Nice Intermission from Racing

2009-08-30T21:03:00.000-05:00

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.

2009-08-17T19:40:00.011-05:00

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

2009-08-06T13:03:00.004-05:00

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.

www.nycmtb.com/?p=764

Curse of Dark Hollow

2009-07-20T12:26:00.004-05:00

For some reason, I always feel like I have an obligation to do well in any Michaux race. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I have something to defend, even though I don't. It's not like a kind of pressure that I get nervous about or anything too competitive, but it makes me ride faster and have more fun doing it. Sunday was the Curse, which turned out being a great race. While we were driving around to find a parking spot, we found Jay, Cameron, and the guys from Guy's racing...they saved us a spot next to their van. Thanks. That was good because we were able to get into the good parking lot and were close to everything. Got a short warm up in and rode off the the pre-race meeting. As with every Michaux race, you ride down a dirt road to where they tell you to stop, then turn around and ride back up to the trails. There was a bit of confusion as to where the juniors were going to stage, but we got it sorted out and I was luckily able to go with the Vets. I was really happy because that ment a lot less people to pass (usually we go close to last with the Masters). The start was really good. I was 3rd place, behind 2nd's wheel going up the road, but I jumped ahead to 2nd when the guy I was following backed off. Last time I did this race, I turned into the parking lot and slid out in all the loose gravel, getting passed by so many people. This year I didn't fall even though I felt it sliding out on me. Shifted into the big ring and followed a local from the Gettysburg Bike Shop team down the first downhill. That was good until he got out of my sight on a really short climb, but I caught back up on one of my favorite downhills in Michaux. After that, there is a really steep climb that switchbacks back up to the top of the mountain. He was out of my sight again, but I still pushed hard because I knew that I might be able to cath him on another downhill. Across a rocky ridge, and I was reminded of why I started racing. I started racing in Michaux, and ever since, I haven't been to any better races. After the ridge is another technical downhill, and I took some fun alternate lines for the fun of it. Eventually I passed the rider ahead of me, and really worked hard to get as far away from him as possible. Cleaned all the short technical climbs on that section, then dropped down to a lake. This is the same lake that is at Long Pine, and the course rides a fisherman's trail on the side of the lake, then takes a road around till it reaches the last short climb of the Long Pine course. Later was a steep climb full of loose rocks. It was faster to run most of it, but the Gettysburg rider was right on my wheel again. So I hopped on my bike as soon as possible and bombed another downhill. I was so scared because he was on my wheel, that I rode the downhill like the finish line was right at the bottom, and I was racing something much more important than a race in Michaux. At the long rode climb, he was out of my sight, so it looked like the downhill worked. But about 2 miles up the climb and on a gravel road, he was right there. He passed me with about 2 miles to go, and I was able to hold his wheel for a little bit, but he was a local and new the trail. It was a really soft and twisty trail, so it would be good to know it...anyway I ended up finishing a minute back, but still 2nd overall. It was a really good race and I'm happy I did so well because it is my last 25miler in Michaux...I'm racing the 40's (or if they ever go back to 50's) starting at Teaberry and going until I can't ride the distance anymore. Everyone had a good day - my dad and I got firsts, Bill Gardner got 2nd in the master class, and my mom got 3rd woman in the 10 mile race. Coming up is a bit of a break from racing, since I'm now going to the MASS race this weekend, and next is the Wilderness 101. I'll be there on the course. Next race is Neshaminy.

Today's Ride

2009-07-16T22:31:00.004-05:00

So today, my dad and I got out on some of the lesser ridden roads of the Wilderness 101. Left from the house and rode out to where the W101 crosses 322, then took the route passed Penn Roosevelt and up Thickhead. Remember the killer climb from the Stoopid that was right after the 2nd aid station and baking in the sun? Today we had the fortune of riding it with the sun slowly setting behind the mountain. That was probably one of the best times I have ever ridden it. Then down the Detweiler trail from both the Stoopid and W101. Up a road climb to where the Stoopid turns off but continued to the top on the 101 course. Then we took a rocky trail that parallels the road to where the W101 later picks up the trail. Took the trail to the infamous 3 Bridges, and turned down to head back to the house. It was a good 36 mile ride that took about 3:15. Tomorrow we're going up to cut back a lot of the long grass on one of the trails for the Wilderness 101. It's a trail that would be wide enough to pass on, but with the grass, it is too narrow. It is the only trail here that isn't rocky or anything, just a little too narrow and hidden for a race to go through.

Fair Hill

2009-07-14T11:41:00.003-05:00

Coming into this race, I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to get another win, but I wanted to try to keep the gap as small as possible. The race started off with a fast pace on the first dusty road and into the singletrack. I was 3rd into the singletrack, behind Noah's wheel. About 20-50 ft ahead of him was Manuel Caliz. On the second section of road, I think we caught Manuel, and then 2 others caught our slipstream. I drifted to the back of the group to minimize wind resistance, and I was going to get ahead for the next bit of singletrack. But on a tight turn, I slid out on some loose gravel. I was on the inside, and there were riders all around me, so I knew that I would hit someone if I stopped turning. I really hoped I didn't fall, but I did. I don't even know what happened, but I have cuts on my hip, back, hand, arm, and my finger and toe are black and blue. So I think I rolled a lot. Got up, and hopped on my bike, but the wheel wouldn't turn...my chain was stuck in the spokes. At first I thought it was broken, but I got it untangled and it was fine. Took me a while to get back up to speed, but I eventually passed a rider and ended up in 4th place. About 5 minutes back. I think I could have done better if I stayed with the group, because after the fall, I rode way to cautiously through the corners. But it's okay, because it wasn't a race that I was expecting to do well in anyway, and I did much better than in the spring race here. Next week is Michaux's Curse of Dark Hollow. I can't wait.

Long Pine

2009-07-05T19:41:00.004-05:00

Everyone said it was going to be rocky. And the more people said that, the more pumped I got for this race. I was definitely going into this race for the win in senior 1, and although I didn't tell anyone, I had always been too close to first overall to not win that one too. So I came into this race with high expectations, but also knowing that anything could happen. We picked up my grandpa along the way down, so all 3 generations were at the race. He brought his bike to ride around a bit to different spots on the course. I let others set the pace up the first climb until Noah, me, and another rider broke away from the rest of the group. We were riding together for a bit, until I recognized trails from the Mash. It was then that I decided to break away. I knew how the other riders rode, and I thought that if I timed it right, I could take my chances and ride to the finish alone. I got it into my head that I just needed to go for it, and when the big boulder step up-step down came, I hopped it and off I went. I had a big gap at the bottom of that trail, but they were still within my sight up the big climb from the Mash. I just sucked it up and forgot about how much everything hurt, because I knew I needed to get out of their sight. That worked, and I had a reasonable gap again. But another road section and eventually 2nd place was right on my wheel. Worked hard to clean the steepest climb of the race, and dropped him at the top. At this point in the race, I had the biggest gap yet. I could still see 2nd place as a little dot far behind me, and that was too close. Accidentally turned into the expert course but I got back on track. I got confused on where to go at the powerline, and ran through grass and over rocks until I got back on the trail. I really didn't want to step on a snake. I knew that must be passed halfway, because I had already been passed the expert turnoff, so I kept in in the big chainring and cranked the flat, rocky, twisty singletrack. Gunnar warned me about the water bars at the end of the race, but I hit them too fast anyway. I didn't fall, but had a few close calls. Got to the road, saw I was 14 miles in, and started sprinting. Up the last climb to the top of the powerline, and the race was over. Top 3 spots were very close, and Noah ended up with 3rd overall. I never got a chance to talk much with the guy who got 2nd, but I don't think I've seen him at many races. After we got home, we got the bikes off the car and waited for my mom and sister to get back from picking up our new puppy. He's a rodesian ridgeback. When he first got here, he was a bit nervous but he's really playful now. So I'm looking forward to just getting through Fair Hill -- hopefully having a good race -- and racing Michaux's Curse of Dark Hollw, which is one of the best races I have ever raced. I missed out on it last year, and I really want to have a good time, because I barely finished in 2007.

12 Hours

2009-07-01T10:49:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was the VisitPA festival weekend. I wasn't planning on going to it, but I was asked to be on the Cyclesports team with Gunnar and Jenny since they needed a 3rd person. I have my liscense now, so my dad let me drive to Marysville solo, and he rode his bike down with some other people. Their ride was about 110 miles. I'm really happy he came down, because there was no way I would have been able to drive back after the long day. Since I only showed up for Saturday, I was cornered into going first (everyone else did the NTT), and that ment running. I am really not that good at running, but I gave it my best so that I didn't have to pass that many people while I was riding. It was really hot and humid the whole day and the course was similar to last year's XC, with some of this year's 4-hour relay stuff thrown in. I'm really happy with my times because the only thing I really cared about was keeping them consistant the whole day. I ended up doing that well. 50, 48, 48, 48, 50 minutes. We were able to get another lap in with 10 minutes to spare, but at the last second, my light wouldn't turn on, and Gunnar and I had to flip helmets. The light was good and I was able to see everything, but the helmet was too big for me and so the light kept pointing too far down. We were worried that the batteries were going to die, so Sam met me on the course and I switched Gunnar's light for his. This, along with me being tired and not riding my fastest lap because I didn't really think I needed too, ate up a lot of time. Sam told me that the rider from the Mountainside team had gotten out on another lap. It took another 10 minutes after the light switch, but he eventually passed me. At this point, I knew that there was no way I could catch him, and we now had 2nd place either way. Later, I saw Jenny out on the course, and I asked her if the 3rd place team got another lap. She said that they didn't, so we just walked back to the finish. Coming through the pit area was a bit embarrassing, and the Mountainside racer flew by us again. I had a good day, although I felt that it was my fault that we lost. But then I realize that we all did our part to do so well in this race, and none of us expected to do this well. No mechanicals out on the course, and it was a really fun day of racing. Next weekend is Long Pine. It's a MASS race in Michaux, so that alone tells you that it'll be an amazing race. I don't think it'll get quite as many people as the other MASS races, but still go to it anyway.

Spring Edit

2009-06-22T13:55:00.005-05:00

Just a little video that I threw together of some rides on some fun downhills earlier this year. The first is Lingle Valley trail. It is fast, flowing, and has been on the Stoopid 50 course all 3 years. 2nd is Bald Knob. It got its name from the top of the mountain, where there is a big boulder field without any trees. The trail follows the ridge, then descends down into the hollow on the far side of the mountain. The 3rd is Croyle. A steep, rocky, twisty trail that is on the W101 after the Greenlee climb.

Stoopid 50

2009-06-14T19:10:00.008-05:00

This weekend was really good. On Saturday, Rob from Bikeline came to our house to stay before the Stoopid. We were able to ride from the house and show him some of the course, which was the last technical downhill to the finish. Got the bikes ready, ate dinner, and we all felt pretty good about tomorrow's race. Later that night, Jay and Cameron Dodge and some friends from Guy's arrived. Everyone was really excited for the race. We were able to tell them all the details about the course, and eventually got to sleep. It was really weird waking up so late, because our house is a 5 minute drive from the start. I was actually considering riding my bike to the start as part of a warmup. I didn't because I knew I wouldn't like the two hills on the way back. We got to the start and got feed bags set up and everything. It's a nice change seeing all the people that I know out there supporting the race and helping with the course.

The race started good. I knew that I needed to get out in front early to avoid a big pile-up on the rock gardens in the beginning of the race. So I started at just under XC race pace, and gradually settled into a rhythem from there. Across a rocky ridge and down a really fun downhill to the first major climb of the day - Thickhead Mountain. This is one of the toughest climbs in the forest, and for people who don't know the road, it always looks like your at the top. But it just keeps getting steeper and steeper. Down the backside to the first aid station, then on some familiar rocky trails from last year's Stoopid. The technical Brush Ridge trail will take a lot of energy out of you if you don't know the lines, because it is always slick and the rocks seem to never end. Up a really steep wall, and then another fun downhill through Lingle Valley. Then up the Bear Gap climb -- a short, but very steep and rocky climb that is covered with moss and leaves. After that, there are even more rocks as you cross the ridge on Beautiful and Chicken Peter trails. Retrace your tracks back down the steep wall out of Brush Ridge, then a technical trail out to the paved road, where there is about 2.5 miles of gradual uphill to the next aid station. I stopped and got some food from my feed bag, and then I was on my way back up the other side of Thickhead. Jake caught me, and we rode together for a while until he gradually got out of my sight. I wasn't going to chase him because I knew that the final 15 miles were very steep, jeep road climbs. I made it through the climbs and got a bit of a second wind. Coming into the last 5 miles, I knew exactly where I needed to pick up my pace. Because the last 2 miles is a downhill too steep and rocky to pass on, I needed to pass as many people as possible on the climb up. My finish sprint started on one of the switchbacks with 2 miles until that downhill. People were looking at me like I was crazy, but I knew that once I got to the top, there wouldn't be any more pedalling the whole race. I got past a lot of people that I wouldn't want to follow down that trail, and passed 3 more on the last downhill. This was because 2 were walking. The one rider that I had to pass was really hard. I finished strong and less than a minute behind Jake, although I thought he would have killed my time. I kept thinking that Cameron was ahead of me the whole race, but it turns out that he wasn't. He had a good time for his first 50 miler. I ended up with 43rd overall, and with a time of 5:13. The course is faster than last year, but it was also much harder because the trails were rockier and there was much more climbing.

Tour de Tykes

2009-06-07T16:33:00.009-05:00

I'm happy. Not only did I have a good race both physically and luck, but it's been the first time that I've stood on top of the podium since what seems like forever. I knew I was gonna have a good race after Iron Hill, but I didn't expect to do nearly as well as I did. The race started off with a mass start, and I settled in behind the wheel of a senior 2. I followed him most of the way up the first long climb, where he gradually pulled away from me. But we went back and forth like that -- I'd catch up to him after the downhills and he'd drop me on the climbs. I eventually passed him, dropped him on a downhill, and then he was right back on my wheel at the top of the next climb. By this point I knew that if I rode steady and didn't have any mechanicals, I'd probably win senior 1. So that was kinda relaxing...until my wheel fell out of the dropouts. Go figure it was on a narrow bench cut where I couldn't get off the trail. So I had to move over a lot for some of the experts to pass me, but I got it back fairly fast, after 5 or 6 interuptions. Caught up to the people that passed and although I never saw the 1st place sport rider again, I was back to my position. Kept that steady to the finish. I think that if I had thought about falling on the downhills, I wouldn't have done nearly as well as I did, because that is where I thought I was able to stay away from everyone. I sprinted out the final paved road back to the finish and was really happy with 1st place senior 1, and only 19 seconds from being 1st overall. It was really nice to win this race, since I flatted here last year and I was born in Geisinger. I think the race will be good points for the overall. It always seems like no matter how well I do, there's always something I could have done to get back those extra seconds. I remember feeling really happy after some of my best preformances, but then kinda regretting some things and realizing that I could have rode a lot of sections faster. But then I forget about that and go on having a great day. Overall, everyone had a good day. My dad and I got firsts, and Bill Gardner ended up getting 2nd, so the MBR team had two spots on the master 2 podium.

Iron Hill

2009-06-03T15:04:00.003-05:00

There isn't much I can say in this post, since I didn't really have much of a race. Last Monday, I noticed that the fork on my Rush was broken, so we drove down the mountain and met my dad. He switched me bikes and I was able to get a ride in on the 29er. This ride felt so good that I scrapped the idea of racing my Scalpel that weekend and really wanted to give the 29er a try. Warmed up and felt good...got to the start with a few minutes to spare and felt great. Once I got the bike up to speed, I easily passed everyone in the short field and was first into the singletrack. Sam was behind me, and I think we had a little gap over the rest of the class. That helped because there were a few sections that could have easily gotten backed up if it was crowded. I was able to keep good speed through all of the course, and there was only really one time when I worried about being passed. Coming into one of the downhills, I knew that I needed to ride it as fast as I could if I still wanted to be in the lead. So I did that, and really accelerated out of the corner at the bottom to try to get a bigger lead. As I shifted down to the middle chainring, I just thought I overshifted and the chain went off the rings. When Sam passed he let me know that I didn't have a chain. So I ran until I could fix it. Tried to get it fixed for a long time. I actually got lapped by Sam while I was trying to get the pin out. So I ran the rest of the way out. The 15 minutes that I actually rode, I felt amazing. The beginning of the year wasn't too good with training (I got sick a few times and started training really late), but I feel a lot faster than even in Granogue a few weeks ago. Sam might have dropped me at the end, but I know that I definitely would have gotten 2nd. That made me happy, because I realized that it is a lot easier to fix a bike before another race than it is to fix your preformance. I'm looking forward to Tour de Tykes. My dad took the bike into the shop yesterday, and it turns out that my crank was loose, which is probably what caused the chain to snap. So I'll be at Tour de Tykes next week, and I'm excited that it's only supposed to be like 60degrees. Much better than last year.

Montour75

2009-05-17T17:09:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was the 75 Miles of Montour. A road race with 7,000 feet of climbing, with all the climbs in the last 40 miles. The beginning was a bit stressful, since a dog and 2 horses ran in front of our group. At the first climb, I made a break and caught the lead group. The pace was being set by Ray Adams and a few elite road racers. I was able to keep up with them on the climb, but they slowly dropped me a few miles afterward. Then I joined a chase group and we eventually caught them, but we got dropped again. Got a quick bottle switch at the aid station, then found another group with a very organized paceline that got us back up to the other group. People slowly dropped off the back, and it ended up being me and 2 others for the last 20 miles. That was good because I learned how the other riders rode, and I was able to plan my breakaway. That happened on the last switchback of the last climb, because I knew the other two riders eased off and rested when the grade got shallower. So I rode up beside the other rider, pretended like I wasn't breathing hard, and dropped him around the switchback. I knew he was a good downhiller though, so I really needed to work hard to make up for my light weight on the long downhill to the finish. I knew that I needed to take all the corners as fast as possible so that I didn't get caught in the straights where I wasn't able to go as fast as the other 2 riders. I almost slid out on the last turn (a 3-way intersection with a railroad crossing), but I finished the last miles of the race strong. I didn't have any cramps or difficulties until the last bit of my breakaway, where my calf siezed up because I was putting everything I had into the finish. Came away with 14th overall, and 2nd in the 2o and under division. I'm happy with that since I'm not a road racer. When I broke away, I remember coming to a slight uphill, and just praying that I didn't go too early, because I knew it would be all over if I blew up before the finish.

Today I did a 3 hour ride. I woke up early and rode over to a state park on the other side of the forest, that way I could get an hour ride in before I met up with a group ride. I didn't want to climb one of the forest's hardest dirtroads after yesterday's race(Seeger, for those of you who have done the W101), so I took another road out of the forest, around the mountain, then back in. The ride went good...we shuttled to the top of the mountain, did about 13 miles, and then got 2 people to drive the cars back while the rest of us bombed the 3 mile downhill back. That downhill was Lower Sassafrass - the tough trail climb that the Wilderness 101 hits at about mile 60, and that the Stoopid does at around 35. Grilled some burgers afterward and had a lot of fun.

By the way, Cadence is having and endurance camp in State College. Go to it. The trails are great, and the price includes entry to the W101. It's the weekend of the Stoopid though, but we're having some problems putting that on I guess. It will probably happen, but if it doesn't, definitely come up and do this....the trails are great. I wish I could ride but I still have school.
http://www.masuperseries.com/2009/files/MTB%20Endurance%20Camp%2009.pdf

Sometimes you just have to sit back and laugh at how stupid this sport can be...

2009-05-03T16:48:00.005-05:00

Last weekend was great, cause when races go well, there's nothing else like it. Saturday was a bit rushed, but it's alright. I woke up, picked my bike up from the shop, went for a ride, packed for Granogue, then got ready for the school's spring dance. Danced with some girls and was pretty tired by the end of the night. My dad picked me up with the bikes on the car, and I rode down to some Hampon Inn in a suit. Got to bed around 1:30 that night, but I got a lot of sleep the night before so I wasn't too worried. Woke up 4:30 later and didn't want to get up. Finally got back on the road and finished the drive down. It was raining...yay. I was really stiff and didn't feel very good when we first got the bikes down, but a quick warm up fixed that I think.

Race started well. Got to the line with little time to spare but at least I was warm. I didn't have the best starting position but I worked my way up to 2nd by the singletrack. First lap went really well. Fell a few times but I kinda expected that. Turns out that out of all the riders who finished the race, I was in 2nd place after the first lap. I've ridden on ice that gripped better than that mud. Second lap was kind of a disaster, but I think it was for everyone. Had to walk way too much since my rear triangle was completely caked with mud. Finally got the bike up on to my back and pressed through the mud until the last pavement section. I can say that I was able to ride what might be the most technical rock drop on the course both times, but that's about all I rode of that area the 2nd lap. Found a gear that actually worked and finished the final climb strong. It was a good day, but I was shivering shortly after I crossed the line.

The Beginning of a New Era

2009-04-19T18:35:00.009-05:00

The Bike Line Fair Hill race was the first race that I've done as a senior. No, I'm not 19 yet...I just left junior to get some experience racing a bigger group of tough competiton. It's completely different. Junior racing was just hammer to the finish and hope you don't burn out. These starts actually involve some strategy. I realized something was wrong when we climbed the first wall and I already had a big gap on everyone else - they were sitting back and let me set the pace, and they were drafting behind me on the long dirtroad downhill. It's a bit more crazy with more people...I almost got taken out when someone passed me and hit my bars, sending me almost off the road. The start of the race went good; I got passed by some people but eventually settled into a rythem and caught most of them. But then, on a kinda technical log crossing, the person in front of me hit a tree. I was following so close that they moved out of the way, and then I hit the tree. And then another rider came bombing down the trail and hit me, slamming me and my bike into an even bigger tree, and twisting my breaks and shifters so I couldn't reach them. But thankfully I didn't tighten them too much, and I eventually got them back to normal. After that, the race went really well. I was able to keep my speed through every section of trail, and was really happy except for the finish. Another senior snuck up behind me and rode my wheel to the finishing sprint. I didn't hear him behind me, and by the time I saw him, he had already passed and we were 5 feet from the line. The course was really fun. It was unlike anything I'm used to riding, and it was so fast. I'm just really happy to be racing again.

THE Open

2009-04-08T16:02:00.009-05:00

Last weekend was the visitPA.com International Intergalactic Global Open Mountain Bike Team Relay Championship of the Universe Including the Anti-Matter One. (There, That Should About Cover It). Formerly the US Open Relay or Marysville Relay. It's a really fun event with handycap points so that you never know who will win. The point is to get as many laps as you can within 4 hours, and when those are added to the handycap points, the team with the most points wins. I was stuck with going first, so I had to do a long run and then hop on my bike for the lap. I never run, so you can imagine how that went. I was about middle of the pack during the run, but I was suffering to keep up. Half way through the lap the pain from the run started to go away, and I finally finished the lap. It felt like the longest one that I would do that day. Second lap went great - I was 30 seconds faster than my first. 3rd was also good, since I kept myself consistant and had almost the same time as my first lap. Going into the 4th(last) lap, I knew that to get a 3rd person on their 4th lap, we needed to keep the times consistant. So I rode hard and came out with a time that was within seconds of my 1st and 3rd lap. My dad finished his lap with 20 seconds left in the race, and we barely got 15 laps. Added in the points and that got us 2nd place for the day.

Finishing just in time (above)

Yeah...my heart was racing when I saw 1 minute to go...

Don't Let the Pictures Fool You...

2009-03-30T19:40:00.005-05:00

So last week my dad, Bill Gardner, Stu Hess, and I headed down to Brevard, North Carolina for a Carmichael training camp. Left on Tuesday after school and drove down to Roanoke, Virginia. Woke up the next morning to continue the drive (Virginia, Tennessee, and NC) and show up in time for a short ride in the rain. Ate a very good lunch and dinner that day, and got to bed excited to go do a field test on a 2 mile climb the next day. I felt a little slow when I went hard in the Mash, but these efforts made me feel good about the upcoming races. Did 2 efforts, rode back, and ate lunch. It was still raining hard by the way. But I really like climbing in the rain. Then we got ready to go out for another 2 1/2 hours on the flatter areas. Worked on paceline skills (yeah in the rain) and got a good, hard 40 mile ride. Then it got interesting...

The next day (Friday) was a 4 hour endurance ride. Started off through the fields and stopped at a gas station for a re-fuel from the support car. Then it was off to the mountains. It wasn't all uphill, but there was no downhill on the 21 mile ascent up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a climb that took an hour and 50 minutes. It got really steep at the top, and it was raining again. The summit was 5,667 feet, and I'm proud to say that I reached the highest elevation I have ever been to...and I did it on a bike. So that was 3,000something feet of climbing on that single climb. But it was almost 10 degrees cooler at the top, and I was shivering badly while waiting for the support car with all the gear. It got there, and no matter how many dry clothes I put on, I was still shivering. So I skipped the 20 mile descent back to the hotel and rode back in the car. After a long time driving around the town trying to find a decent place to eat, Bill stumbled upon Fall's Landing. An amazing seafood restaurant. I got blackened Mahi Mahi and it was really good. The next day was hill repeats. I can say that by this time, I've gotten used to really pushing myself again. So again, I'm feeling good for Marysville. 13 miles to the climb and 13 back, so the ride was about 45 miles. I got a chance to do some homework that night and we went back to Fall's Landing. The Mahi Mahi was really good, but I wanted to try something different on the menu. I decided to go with Orange Roughy. It was still really good fish, but I liked the Mahi Mahi better. Bill had a craving for pizza and beer while we watched the Villa-Nova/Pitt game, so he ordered Pizza Hut (which was next to the hotel). I had a few pieces, and it tasted good after a few days of hard rides. Next morning was the Carolina Crusher, and our final ride. After some rolling flats and a big descent into the valley, we stopped at a gas station in South Carolina and fueled up for a ride up George Hincapie's favorite training climb: Caeser's Head. The climb is a little over 7 miles long from the time it really starts to pick up elevation. It stays mostly in the 8-10% grade range, but at the switchbacks near the top, gets up to 15-18%. It's a really scenic climb with a lot of overlooks over Greenville county.

Michaux Mash

2009-03-16T18:51:00.005-05:00

I really wasn't coming into this race expecting much. Sure, I knew I would ride well and probably have a decent time, but I wasn't racing it at all. It was more of a ride in Michaux with a lot of other people there.

So my Rush had been in the shop getting a new derrailleur and chain after it came in contact with a stick. Driving in to pick it up, my dad let me hear the bad news: I also tore my fork boot and that needed replaced, meaning that the bike I planned on riding in the Mash was still going to be at the shop for awhile. My Taurine is getting sold, and I picked up a Scalpel, which I plan on racing a lot this year. On Friday and Saturday, I was able to ride the Scalpel enough to get used to it and to wear the break pads in.

The morning of the race was really cool. It was the closest it's ever been to the weather of my first race (2006 Michaux Maximus), which was foggy, cold, and a big storm the night before. I was a little rushed to get my water bottles and everything set up and get to the line, but whatever. The beginning of the race was tight, Gunnar and I were trying to pass a lot of people in singletrack that wasn't very good for passing. And then we made a wrong turn. Actually our whole group made a wrong turn, and we bombed down a doubletrack to where it deadended. Then we had to turn around and climb back out, and pass all the people we had just passed. Some really nice singletrack to a road, and then a tough climb. Gunnar started to make a move on the climb, and I really didn't feel like chasing him since I was just out riding and I didn't have the motivation to punish myself that much. I already knew I was going to hate that climb later in the day...

The rest of the laps went well. 2nd lap was faster than the first by a minute or two, 3rd was just a bit slower. Then I came to that climb on my 4th lap. It killed me mentally more than physically, because I was feeling great up until then and I got a lot of my energy back after I crested the top. But on this climb, my dad passed me. It was a bit of a shock, and it didn't make me feel too good about how I was riding, but I realized that he is a very strong rider who is much better at a constant endurance pace than any kind of racing. So anyway, I got to the top and immediatly turned on the gas. I knew I didn't have too far to go and I was pretty happy since I liked the trail a lot. Came into the finish with a sprint that felt like I was racing XC, and after a little while to think over the day, I was pretty happy with how I had done. It was the longest ride of the year - only the 3rd one over 3 hours. First hard ride. I'm looking forward to the year, especially because I know that I'll be able to catch up on my training. I got sick 2 times this year when I could've been training, which set me back a lot. But I'm ready for the real races to start.

Update

2009-03-07T19:16:00.004-06:00

So these last few weeks have been pretty good. Got to ride outside without much snow on the trails. Last weekend did two 3 hour rides on Saturday and Sunday; recovered pretty well and Sunday's ride was a lot better than Saturday's. Got to go for a ride outside again on Friday, and it was very nice. 60 degrees outside ment I could ride in just knee warmers and a short sleeved jersey. Today, a 3 1/2 hour ride was planned, and I got 3 hours of riding in, but it wasn't exactly how I wanted it to go. We met some people on the other side of the forest for a long ride on the Stoopid course. Rode the first trail of the race out, then came back the direction of the Stoopid. About an hour into the ride, a stick caught my derraileur and pulled it into the spokes, breaking it. We fiddled with a singulator for about an hour, but couldn't get it to work. Since I was riding the Rush, I wouldn't be able to singlespeed it without the singulator, because of the amount of suspention. So we took the chain off and I hiked up to where I could finally coast down the last bit of downhill to the car. We drove back to the house, got something to eat, slept for a bit, and then I got my 29er ready to go for the second ride. My dad and I left from the house, but just 30 minutes into the ride, my dad's chain snapped. This one wasn't so hard to fix, but it was really frustrating. We finally got on our way again, and headed up the road to Bald Knob; an extremely rocky ridgetop trail. Out of all the trails I've ridden on the 29er, this was by far the hardest. I was getting bounced around like crazy, and on those kinds of rocks, 29 inch wheels don't 'float' over the rocks like people claim they do. So that was about 2 hours of riding, putting my total ride/hike time to 3 1/2. We came back out of the forest in the dark, but the second ride was definitely worth it. And tomorrow we're leaving for Disney World. We haven't gone anywhere for spring break (our schools have it here because of Penn State) for 5 years, and this will be our last one. I was a little dissapointed because the weather here is so nice to ride, but it's supposed to get colder so I don't really mind. We're getting back Thursday night and I'll find a derrailleur for my Rush on Friday so I can ride it in the Michaux Mash.

Intense Ride...

2009-02-14T18:19:00.007-06:00

Today we went for a ride, and it turned out a lot differently than I expected. Once we got up to a high elevation, the ice thickened and was really hard. It was difficult to walk up the side of the road, and if you tried to ride, you would probably fall within 10 or 15 feet. On the way up, we passed a car that slipped off the steep bench cut. It was very lucky because it was stopped by 2 trees. There's no telling how far it would've rolled without those trees...

It was at that point that we decided that we could not continue our route, and we tried to think of the best way back down to a lower elevation. That only gave us 3 options: go back down the road, ride up to the top and walk down a kinda steep trail to where the ice gets softer, or ride down a very steep trail that takes us almost the whole way to the bottom. We chose the 3rd. I don't know if it was a mistake, considering that the other trail could've been the same, but this one was too icy and steep to walk down. So we went off the bench cut and walked straight down to the road. It was very difficult but we finally made it to the road, not far from the bottom. At the bottom, we took the 3 Bridges trail, which actually wasn't icy at all, just a dusting of snow. From there we went up Longberger trail. That was kinda hard, because it was either snow or deep mud from the water runoff. Then onto Upper Longberger, which is rocky and completely different from the lower section. I have to admit that it wasn't one of the most fun rides at this point, but the rocks on Upper Longberger quicky changed that. Across a road and up Tuxedo, then we planned on taking the Tussey Ridge Trail back across the ridge, then Camp trail down to the gap, and ride the road back home. Maybe 20 or 30 feet into Tuxedo, I noticed that my bike seemed to be dragging more than it should. I guessed that it was my brakes, but the wheel spun perfectly. Right away, I knew it was my cranks. Turns out that the small chainring bolt had backed out and was scraping away at my bottom bracket. They're coated in aluminum so I think the frame will be okay. This is exactly what happened to my dad at Iron Hill. It was cold and we would've needed to take the whole crankset off to get to the bolt, so we called my mom to come and pick us up. It was good that I was by a road, because I couldn't pedal at all. Checking those bolts every once in a while is something that everyone should do to make sure this doesn't happen. Both times, this was on Cannondale's SI crank, but I'm sure it could happen to any crank, so check them often.

Went for a Hike Today

2009-01-31T22:51:00.003-06:00

2 and 1/2 hours through 6-12 inches of snow (sometimes more) and rocks. A little over 5 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation gain.

Racing of a Different Kind

2009-01-25T19:08:00.006-06:00

So, last week we had a ski race at our local mountain, Tussey Mountain. It wasn't the first this year but it was the first that I did. Tussey is different than a lot of other courses. When we do get enough snow to have a race, it is usually short in distance because our mountain isn't very big and doesn't have a high vertical drop. But we make up the shorter time when we set the course. For as long as anyone can remember, our coaches set some of the tightest, weirdest slalom courses in the area. Combine this with Tussey's steep start and serious ice, and you'll get a course that's length is close to the times at bigger mountains. Last year, I ejected out of my ski bindings every race, because of the vibrations from ruts in the course and the fact that my bindings were junior bindings. But this year I was able to pick up some adult bindings, and although my skis were chattering the whole way down the first steep pitch, I didn't "walk out" of my bindings. Walking out of bindings is something that happens a lot in races with a lot of ruts. It appears as the skier just steps out of the ski. I had a good race. The next day was the same, but I felt even better.

This past weekend was the first race of the PA Cup series, which are the qualifying races for racers ages 14-18, along with masters racers. It was held at Seven Springs. The course the first day was difficult, but it was different than what I was used to. The turns weren't as tight as what I thought they'd be, but the snow was icy the whole way down. I do better when it's icy, and it's hard to explain, but I find it's better when the snow is variable - icy in some spots, perfect snow in others, and deep and bumpy ruts in others. I like it when the snow is bad in any way it could be, but not horrible in any one way. Again, this race was a slalom, and I felt I did well. After the race, I was waiting around for my friend to finish his run, so that we could go get our twintips and go freeskiing. I heard the speaker announce Cameron Dodge's name. I was suprized, although I knew that he raced. I got to talk with him a bit after he finished. It took us a while to find it, but Seven Spring's terrain park was very nice. It's premier park wasn't open yet, but this was the next biggest thing. It was the first time I was able to take my twintips into an actual park, with jumps and rails. I was able to learn 2 new tricks, and was able to do different kinds of rails. All the rails I knew were within my ability, I just never had a chance to hit rails that were shaped like a rainbow, and also rails that were flat, and then went down like a stair rail. It was also nice to take the skis off some groomed jumps and see what they were built to do. That night we went out to dinner with the team and watched the X-Games big air competition. I was happy that Jon Olsson and Simon Dumont made it into the finals. The next morning, our coach set the course, so we all knew it was going to be a good day. The snow was variable, just how I liked it. The way my first run went, it would be safe to say that it was the best run I have ever had. The second run did not dissapoint and I ended up doing well overall. The first day, I was 30th overall, which is great for me. The second day, I think I did better, but they hadn't posted the results in order of time, so I do not know how I did. It was a fun weekend, and there are still a few more of these to come.

What's Been Going on Lately

2009-01-06T19:53:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I started riding the rollers. They're actually not as boring as they were in the summer...probably because I'm not using to fork support and can ride it like a real bike.

For Christmas, I got a wok and a cookbook. I was able to put them to use last night and make a healthy meal of rice, chicken, egg, and a lot of veggies. Turned out pretty good but I'll get better as I go.

Ski racing practice has started, and we now have enough snow to set courses. Last Saturday was my first time skiing a course this year. So far it's going pretty good, and we have a race weekend at our home mountain in 2 weeks. My first race of the year. The helmet camera seems to work better for skiing than biking cause your head doesn't get many vibrations. I filmed one of the runs on Saturday.....

Snow

2008-11-23T16:51:00.006-06:00

After a week of cold weather and snow, it finally cleared and today ended up being very sunny. The forcast said 35 degrees as a high, but it was 28 when we drove to the mountain. It's usually 5 degrees colder in the forest. Anyway, it was good because it wasn't windy and we were able to stay on trails - nothing too fast. Here's some pictures.Gasline that goes through the forest - recently made wider for another pipe
3 Bridges trail

Plans for 09, and probably 10

2008-11-21T15:09:00.002-06:00

I really don't wanna stay at home for these, especially since I missed last years and these next two years would be my last at USA Cycling juniors. But my dad and I have decided that since the elevation for nationals is 7,000 something, it would be way too unfair and I shouldn't race. That elevation really takes energy out of you, and there is a reason why Harlan and Eatough said they stayed away from the marathon nationals in Breckenridge. I doubt I'd find a healthy solution that is good enough to race with, but if I do, I still may consider. As of now though, next year's nationals and possibly the year after's are definitely races I won't go to, even though I wanna race them without the elevation handycap. It makes no sense to beat myself up way too much, racing with 10 - 15% of my energy not there. If I traveled that far to race, I'd wanna have some fast results, and right now we don't think that can happen with the elevation.

New Suprize

2008-11-15T18:39:00.008-06:00

On Saturday, we went into the Bicycle Shop to get my dad's wheel trued. I didn't know that he had been planning on getting me a Cannondale F29 for Christmas, and I didn't know why a size medium had been rolled out of the warehouse. And then I realized it wasn't one of my dad's new toys. He told me that it was left over from 08 (which is great because they stopped making them in the raw aluminum) and that he didn't want to wait until Christmas because I wouldn't get to ride it much. We took it down to the basement where we swapped the wheels for a pair of my dad's extra Stan's Arches with a King hub, swapped the bar for a FSA carbon (I think another of my dad's extras), and got everything set up. It has X9 with the SL fork, and weighs about 24.3 lbs with those wheels. We got it at a really good price, because you see the SL forks on ebay for just a few hundred less. I rode it around the driveway and it felt a lot different than hopping on my dad's. Snappy and fast. Today I went for a ride with the owner of our shop and some others. That bike climbs like a rocket on the fireroads. If you try to power up short climbs, the wheels just won't turn though. Staying in a smart gear is important. It felt really smooth in the rocks when I had momentum, but if I hit a pedal or something, it was hard to get going again. Turns better than I thought. I think I'll race it next year. Possibly Granogue and the summer Fair Hill. Probably more. The ride went really well, considering I'm just getting over the flu and how bad I felt last Sunday. At one point I got a little dizzy, but that was only after racing Erik Scott up a climb. It's not a good idea to do that because he needs to be the first to the top of every climb. At the end of the ride, we saw a porcupine climbing a tree. My dad commented on how good of a climber it was. Erik immediatly claimed he was a better climber and tried to race the porcupine up the tree. He just really likes to climb.Erik the Porcupine

Wanted to, But Didn't

2008-11-09T09:27:00.002-06:00

Today we were supposed to go down to Michaux and ride the Maximus 25 mile course. With some exceptions like riding Fender both ways. Anyway, I fell at the end of a night ride on Friday and bruised my hand. It swelled up really big; it's still swollen but I could've ridden today. The real reason why I'm not riding is because last night, I got really sick. All of the sudden the only thing I could do was lie down. Even walking made me more sick. I barely got any sleep last night and threw up a total of 13 times in 10 hours. It was so bad that when I went to the bathroom for water, I threw that up 30 seconds later. I don't know what I have or how I got it. If no one at school is sick, I probably got it from my Camelbak. We were going to stop by Mountainside Ski and Sports on the way back to get new bindings for my skis. I DNF almost every race last year because I ejected out of junior bindings. Chris from Mountainside watched me race and he said that I skied too agressivly for the junior bindings. May go back and try to ride in a week or two.

Crazy Riot

2008-10-29T20:40:00.001-05:00

Penn State riot the other night after beating Ohio State. It's sad that this happens when we win a big game.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izj8TGFZE6U

IMBA R3 Epic

2008-10-26T14:50:00.003-05:00

R3 stands for Rothrock 3 Loops. A 32 mile course that was set up 9 or 10 years ago. First loop takes you to the top of Bald Knob, rides across it and descends into Shingletown. Climbs back out and you ride towards Croyle. Down Croyle and up one of the longest climbs, going from a little above the lowest point in the forest to the top of one of the highest mountains. Then down a jeep trail to Long Mountain, where there is an extremely steep hike-a-bike to the top. 3 years ago, there was a sign of a hiker, which marked a designated hiking route. Someone spraypainted a bike on it, and drew an arrow to this trail. It isn't there anymore. Anyway, the trail is so steep that the first time I did it (back in 2005 on my 24inch Specialized Hotrock), my dad had to carry my bike up as I crawled up the trail. Down the never ridden Long Mountain descent and up a long road to Upper and Lower Longberger. I'm apologizing to myself for accidentally deleting all the video and pictures I took for this ride. Wow. How could I have done that?

The Watershed

2008-10-24T22:24:00.004-05:00

So all 3 times we've made it down to Gambrill State Park to ride, we haven't ever gotten to the Watershed due to time constraints and other stuff like that. But today my dad, Fernando Torres, his friend Rob, and I met at one of the trailheads and I got to ride the area for the first time. It was a good ride; about 18 miles and 2:20. Started off with a nice descent, then around a lake. At the lake there was a nice jump into a steep pitch, which was really fun. I just kept falling and falling, but the landing was very soft. It's a natural jump off a rock, but it is perfect. Then rode a short technical trail down to some road, down that and on to what Fernando called the Death March climb. From there we turned right and on to a really fun downhill. At the bottom, you go through these huge boulders, some being close to 20 feet above you in places. Then onto the road. We did some more fun stuff like that, got on the Blue trail at some point, and eventually worked back to the car. It was one of those days where everything worked perfectly -- the bike did everything I wanted it to, and I was having a great day both physically and technically. Numerous times during the ride, we'd pass these really nice looking rocks. Of course I never really noticed how nice they were, just tried to figure out if I could ride them. Chances are that if it's a big rock and it's on the side of the trail, ride up it and you'll find some interesting way back down. At one point in the ride, we passed this big metal box, which used to be someone's trash. Everyone tried to figure out what the thing was. I saw it as someone's junk that shouldn't be in a forest, but since it was there I might as well try to ride it. It was built up, so I gave it a shot. This was my mental state the entire ride and it turned out to be really fun. Can't wait to go back. Pictures should be coming soon.

Grizvitational

2008-10-19T14:56:00.005-05:00

Rob Ginieczki used to live here in State College. He has written many mountain biking guide books. His book of our own Rothrock State Forest helped my dad and I find a lot of the trails here. Every year, there is a big group ride for him, and he usually shows up. He lives out in Colorado now, and didn't make it to this year's ride. The ride started at Penn Roosevelt State Park, the same place as the Stoopid 50. We climbed to the top of Thickhead mountain, and descended the steeper side. 31 mph without pedaling on a jeep trail. Then we turned onto the John Wert Path, a trail known for it's technical rock gardens, and is a must-do for anyone visiting the area. Then up to Upper and Lower Longberger. Upper and lower are completely different trails; lower is one of the only beginner trails in the area, and upper is a 1 mile rock garden. Turned on to 3 Bridges trail and up Laurel Run road to Charcoal Flats trail. Starts off fast, then stops descending and turns into a 3 mile string of rock gardens. Steep, technical descent into Shingletown Gap, with lots of big rocks and ledges. Then a rocky climb back out to the road. We turned back into 3 Bridges and took it down to Bear Meadows road, and climbed that to Kettle trail. Kettle is a short, but steep and washed out climb up to Tussey Ridge. I've only cleared it once, and my dad is the only other person I know that has done it. Tussey Mountain trail isn't as rocky as John Wert or Charcoal flats, but it's still technical. Rode it passed the forest fire that burned the whole ridge 2 years ago and across the gasline to Tussey Extension. The extension finishes the ridge, then descends, but goes back uphill to the gasline, and descends the gasline down to Treaster Kettle road. The climb up Thickhead from that side is really hard when you're only 1 hour into the ride. We started around 11 and the sun was beginning to set while we climbed. The only race that this side of Thickhead has been in was the Singlespeed World Championships in 2005. My dad climbed it that night and all he saw were footprints. By the time I got to the top, it was almost dark. We descended the other side with just enough daylight to see the bumps on the way down.

A Week of Fun Riding

2008-10-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, my dad and I woke up early and left from the house for a ride. It was really foggy when we left, but as we started climbing, we went right through the clouds. By the time we got back down, the sun had burned off most of it though. Rode a rockey trail down and almost out of the forest, then turned around and took a different one back up. Climbed a steep and loose trail to the top of the mountain, which is one of the big ones you can see from my house. The mountain is called Bald Knob, because of the large boulders at the top, where there aren't any trees. Ride passed that and you come to that steep, technical descent that I talked about earlier. Did it in the daylight, and it was much more fun. Down the road, up a trail, and back another rocky ridge to the house. Ride time was about 3 hours, and we had to get back to help get ready for a party that we were having for the local mountain bike club.

On Tuesday was the Bicycle Shop group ride, and it also turned out to be really fun. Up a climb, then down a really fun 20 minute singletrack descent. Usually at this point, you take a fire road through a gap, and connect to a rocky trail that goes through a really dense hollow. Instead, we took the gasline up and over that ridge to the trail. Up an encredibly steep wall, then down the other side. By the time we got to this difficult trail, my dad had already snapped a chain, but we got that fixed pretty fast. While we rode off the gasline, another mechanical occured, and a derraileur got snapped. Threw a singulator on it and singlespeeded out. At that point, it was night. The John Wert path is a difficult trail in the day; riding it at night was completely different. Big rock gardens, and low trees and other plants that try to grab ahold of your light. I'm 2 for 3 this year on the "Sea of Rocks" rock garden. It's one of the hardest ones around, and when I did it the first time I thought I would never be able to do it again.

Today was my birthday, and I got mostly riding gear. Which I'd actually rather have than anything else. Some new gloves (I tore mine when I broke my collarbone and they started giving me blisters), a waterproof jacket and baggy shorts (I was borrowing my mom's jacket because mine leaks through). I also got a helmet cam. It's the same one that Gunnar used to record his Bear Creek videos, I'm looking forward to learning how it works. On Sunday we'll go out to R.B. Winter and do a fun group ride out there. It's hard to believe that it's only 45 minutes from my house and I've never been there. Can't wait.

Way, Way Off

2008-10-04T19:08:00.002-05:00

Based on the calculations for lactate threshold heart rate and max heart rate, I was able to redo my zones. They were way off. It makes a little more sense that I didn't recover until I didn't ride outside for a month. When I was doing "recovery" rides in "zone 1," I was really in high zone 2 and in zone 3. It wasn't really any kind of recovery. My perceived effort was screwed up because I got into a rhythm of hammering. The rides felt easy because they were easier, not because I was recovering.

Yesterday was my first real night ride of the year. My dad and I started off in the day, as soon as I got back from school. We rode many of the trails from the Stoopid 50 (from the first fun downhill almost to the first aid station, then picked it up again towards the end). We're kinda spoiled since we can ride from our house, so we hadn't really ridden on that side of the forest many times this year. The trails aren't as rocky but are just as fun. The one part that we did get to ride at night was the last 5 or 6 miles. It's the part of the Stoopid after the rocky ridge, where you cross the road and continue along the ridge, through some nicely built piles of rocks and some clearings. It was really fun at night. When I was riding that trail, I noticed that a few trees had a reflective dot on them. Not even ones that were close to the trail. It looked perfectly round and was probably a big nail, but I don't know why they were there.

9/29/08

2008-09-30T20:27:00.002-05:00

Today I re-did my heart rate test to figure out my zones, and found out that I had been running the generic 220-age max heart rate since I got the Garmin. Which was wrong. My lactate heartrate was off, and that threw off the hr zones. Did 20 minute timetrial up the Laurel Run road (it's the climb after the 3 Bridges trail in the W101). I ran out of room so I continued up to the very top by taking another road to the fire tower. Almost made it there, about 1/4 mile left. Rode back down and joined my dad and several others for the Bicycle Shop Tuesday group ride. We descended into this rockey hollow, climbed to the ridge on the other side, and descended an extremely steep, technical trail into the darkness. Really would have liked the Rush on that one. Big 2 foot drops on an already steep and rocky trail made the Taurine feel like such a steeply designed bike. The 70 degree headtube angle is fine and turns fast, but the front wheel is almost directly under the frame. 69 degrees for the Rush and full suspension would have made the trail much safer. It still was fun and I'm looking forward to riding the trail again. This time with the Rush and some kind of daylight.

Bear Creek Final

2008-09-21T20:26:00.008-05:00

I'll just start off by saying that the XC race was probably my best preformance all year, and that the Super D was super fun. On Saturday, we got to the mountain just in time for me to get registered and go and pre-ride the Super D course. While I was riding up the course, I could tell that it would end up being a good race. I got to the top and went a moderatly fast speed back down because it's easier to find the best lines that way. A quick adjustment of the pedals and I rode back up to the top. Watched racers start for about an hour until it was time for me to go. I was the second to last person on course. Some spots got better but others just got torn up. The race started off with a kinda rocky section. Not too bad but it really beat some people up. Then onto a loose access road and off a jump into some twisty singletrack. Across another road and more twists to a big steep chute. Gradual uphill to a switchback, under a tree, and a sharp but fast turn into some more rocks. Jump across a bridge and some more tight turns until it opened up for the finish. I made the mistake of trying to shift out of my big chainring, and double shifted making my chain skim off the rings. Despite that problem, my run went really smooth. I finished 12th overall with a time of 6:06. About a minute behind Harlan and 20 seconds behind Brandon.vThe next day was the XC final and it went great. Cameron and Caleb had a big lead through the back of the resort and up to the singletrack. On that first steep climb, I passed Caleb and closed the gap on Cameron. I stayed behind him up the first climb, and passed when we got to the rocks. I felt that it was a good attempt to get away, because I couldn't hear him or see him at the turns. But while trying to pass around a turn, I went too far to the outside and my front tire found a small shrub. Straight over the bars and onto my face. Cameron passed but I caught up to him soon enough. I followed Cameron all the way until the first climb on the second lap, where he gradually got out of my sight. I'd still see him at the end of some rocks, but he wasn't close enough to get back to him. He finished with a high 1:33.40something and I finished with a 1:35.0something. My best preformance all year. I did beat him at Granogue but I felt like I raced better today. Gunnar came in about 9 minutes back. He had pink eye or something and he wasn't feeling too good. It was a really fun weekend and a great way to end the season.

A lot of people kept telling me that I would come back much stronger from my injury. When I was in the sling, I didn't really believe them. Laurel Classic was a good race but I didn't know exactly if I was stronger than before. I knew something was wrong at Teaberry because, looking at the results now, I realize that it was a very bad race. This weekend, I can now see that what everyone said was true. I was able to respond to almost every attack that Cameron tried, and although I wasn't able to, I know how to beat him. Simple race strategy that I won't tell anyone over the internet.

Go Ahead Dearie...It will Make You go Faster

2008-09-14T19:20:00.010-05:00

Last Sunday was the Terror of Teaberry. Most of you who weren't there would probably think it couldn't top last year's crazy event. Most of you that weren't afraid to come back would agree that the course killed last years. What it lacked in distance (yes, it actually was 25), it made up for in some of the hardest conditions I've ever raced in. Rain the day before, 90 degree heat, loamy and wet trails, and fresh cut disasters made it incredibly long. Last year it took me 4:08 to complete the 33 mile course, in perfect conditions. This year's time was 3:50.

the back of the t-shirt

After the race, Harlan let my dad borrow one of his sets of Industry-9 wheels. He'll get to ride Harlan's "heavy" set, which were the ones that won Teaberry, until Bear Creek. Thanks Harlan.

I fell while trying to pass Cameron in the beginning of the race, but soon caught him again. I stayed with him for about 15 miles, but couldn't close any kind of a gap. Cameron has been training specifically for this event, getting in lots of 30 mile rides. I have not, and my endurance is way way down since the injury. No biggy though. 2nd place. I came through the 12 mile loop a little over 1:10, which was a pretty solid time. The back 13 took me 2:40, and I was still passing people. If you can remember the 3 Stooges trail from last year (the technical, steep downhill), you'd remember that it was wet on a dry day. This year was crazy. Roots criss crossed the trail as well as huge slippery boulders. Possibly the most technical trail+conditions I've ever raced on. Not to bad, I actually thought it was more fun like this, but it was a little to technical for most. The 3 others that I was with were walking down it. I rode that last 8-9 miles without water, and a stupid mistake. At the aid station with 6 more to go, I drank some water, but completely ignored the nice, orange, water cooler. I was suffering from dehydration, feeling dizzy and sick at the end, AND COULDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO DRINK THE ICY COLD WATER.
Next race is the Bear Creek Super-D and XC race. Should be a fun close to the season of racing

2008-09-09T19:22:00.002-05:00

Because of this thing where no company can order any spare parts/bikes (Gunner knows what I'm talking about), we had 2 pairs of shoes that can't get fixed. The one pair were the red S-works Specialized shoes that my dad gave me. I wore them at the end of last year and this spring until I broke the boa a week before the relay. $10 gets you a replacement kit, but since Specialized can't get any, we're getting store credit. Same with my dad's other S-works shoes. He switched over to Sidi so we got more store credit. With my dad's shoes, we were able to trade them for a pair of new S-works in a 43. And today I got to try them out. They fit your foot like a slipper, and I found some old Shimano insoles to put in them cause I have weird feet. Hopefully they hold up nicely and don't break. Specialized puts all their money into weight savings, while companies like Sidi offer every replacement part you could think of, including spare treads for when you wear out yours. They're heavier, but unless you rip them, they will last a lifetime. There's a really slippery bridge when you're entering the forest, and on our way back to the house, we passed a car that had flipped over. There's been a lot of accidents on this bridge, but I'd never seen any of them. The car slipped off the road and drove up onto a bank, where it flipped over sideways back onto the road. The driver was alright, thankfully.

The Dog

2008-09-06T18:24:00.004-05:00

So my mind was pretty set on just riding the beginner course at Laurel with my mom. Until last night at 8:00 when I figured that I was healthy enough to race. We drove up and I got ready as usual, but when I was about to start warming up, my dad rode by and told me that Gunnar had just pulled into the parking lot. Big suprize. So it ended up being Gunnar, Julian, and me at the start.

At the last second, I kinda dozed off and the gun sounded, catching me by suprize. Before I knew it, everyone was around the turn and I was weaving in and out of riders to catch up. I rode with Gunnar and Julian until the first steep uphill section, where I pulled away. 29ers go fast on fireroads, so I wanted to give myself a little advantage. It worked out pretty good and I had a big lead on both of them, until it started getting flat again. Every flat spot, Julian got closer, until he finally passed me. The same with Gunnar, and I got behind his wheel going into the singletrack. It continued very steep uphill for a while, where I rode behind Gunnar and got a little rest. Once we got to the top, I shifted first into the middle, then worked through the cassete until I was in the biggest chainring. I didn't look back, thinking I would be dissapointed with what I would see. "The Dog" is the name given to the big chainring by Craig Gordon, the 2006 24 hour solo world champion. I ended up using that ring a lot of the race. So anyway, I was flying on this gradual downhill section and before I knew it, the trail dropped off the side of the mountain onto the Stinger trail. It's so steep that once you start down it, you're not slowing down. I started down it too fast and ended up passing 3 people. At the bottom, you flew out onto a fire road, and I looked back. Still no Gunnar, but Julian was just ahead. Seriously, this is the exact same thing that happened to me last year with Gunnar. I rode hard, but Julian just rode faster and had dropped me by the time we got to the Dear trail, the second technical descent. Bombed down that and across the road.

After the road, there is a little ditch where a spring crosses the trail. I don't know how big it is, but it's deep and not many people try to jump across it. By the time I saw it, it was too late and I knew that I had to try and clear it. As I was in the air, I looked down and saw this awful knob on the other side. I was just hoping to clear it, and I did. Barely. Through a few streams and you're off to the 3rd big climb of the race. Again, I had closed the gap on Julian, but couldn't catch him. Just kept pulling away from me. On the last downhill, my Garmin registered at 31.2 mph. It's fast, but only if you're really pinning it. I crossed the finish 2nd overall, less than a minute behind Julian. Julian got a time of 1:52, I had a 1:53, and I'm not sure what Gunnar's time was but I'm sure that he broke 2 hours. It was a fun race, and I like the course conditions - slippery and foggy and wet and muddy.

Oh and I also have my first week of school behind me...

btw Gunnar, that Hammer gel flask that you saw without the top, it was mine. we figured that out when all I had left in my pocket was the cap ;-p

Bear Creek Pre-Ride

2008-09-01T15:54:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, my dad and I drove down to Bear Creek to pre ride the course. We did 2 laps Saturday night and 3 laps on Sunday. The hotel is really nice and so is the course. I got most of the lines down and I felt that each lap was smoother and more flowing than the last. Should be a fun race.

Now for Some Rocks...

2008-08-23T12:41:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, we decided that I was probably ready to ride some rocks. I had been doing the 3 Bridges trail (walking the minefield cause everyone thought it was best) the direction that the 101 did it for the past week, and my shoulder wasn't hurting. On Thursday, although my mom didn't agree with our decision, I rode down one of the steeper downhills in the forest. It's washed out with some steep pitches. It ended up being pretty easy and I rode down it and up over a few big logs without noticing any problems. Next day we went out for a spin, and did a fairly rocky trail. Much like the rocks at French Creek's rockyest part. No problem. Then today I did 20 minutes of all-out effort, followed by a nice, long, cool-down. On the way back home we rode another trail that was kinda rocky, but a different kind of rocks. More big, rock garden type rocks than Friday. Lifted over some big logs without any difficulty. My forearms ached after a downhill section, but nothing in the shoulder and the strength will come back soon. Still no problem with the shoes so the new soles should work out good for me.

2 Mysteries Solved

2008-08-19T14:51:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we figured out 2 riding problems. The one with my dad's bike and the other having to do with my shoes. At Iron Hill, my dad's crank wouldn't turn with 2 miles left in the race. We thought they were bearings in the BB30 that went bad. When we took it into the bike shop, the real problem was quickly found. One of the small chainring bolts had backed out of the small chainring, and was scraping against the bottom bracket shell. Lucky for us, they aren't all carbon, but are coated in aluminum. The damage wasn't bad. For some time now, my feet have been bothering me. I came to the conclusion that it was just my feet swelling up inside the shoe. I decided that I probably needed a wider shoe. I went to the bike shop yesterday to look at Shimano shoes, because they are wider than any other major shoe brand. The manager had the idea of putting the in-soles from my Louis Garnaeu road shoes into my Specialized mountain shoes. I did not have the problem in the road shoes, and he thought it may be the "ergonomic" shape of the Specialized in-soles. The middle of the sole is raised for the meditarsal button. It helps produce more power for some people, but it was just making me angry. Rode the LG shoe on the road, then switched in-soles and went for a mountain ride. Nothing. I'm pretty sure that problem is solved.

Physical Therapy

2008-08-13T10:26:00.002-05:00

Today started my physical therapy. It went pretty good, and it should really help my tendons and muscles heal. During one of the excersizes, I pinched a nerve and passed out, but that's kinda normal because of the different position of my collar bone. I found out that I have a grade 1 seperation of my AC joint, but only half the bone is displaced, so it's not too bad. I'm still supposed to take it easy for a while, so no racing Laurel Classic for me. Instead, I've decided to ride behind my mom on the beginner course and give her tips and help her and stuff like that. Yesterday's ride went much better than I expected. We left from the house and rode near the 3 Bridges part of the W101. I thought we were just going to stay on fire roads, but when we got up there my dad thought it was okay for me to ride an easy trail. Went up it, then back down it. It's not too rocky but has a few washed out sections. Those weren't a problem and my shoulder didn't hurt at all. Tonight I'm going for a ride with my mom on some fire roads. Spinning.

Finally

2008-08-12T13:12:00.002-05:00

Today I got my shoulder x-rayed and it turned out pretty good. I'm mostly healed, and the only things I have to deal with are a swelled AC joint and my muscles being very weak. I start physical therapy tomorrow morning, so it should be good. The doctor said to take I should be good to ride, but I should really take it easy for 4-6 weeks. That brought up a whole new option for what I should be doing this fall. I'm undecided about whether to ride the Laurel Classic with my mom, on the 10 mile course, or race it with Gunnar or whoever else shows up. It's 3 1/2 weeks away, so I should still be taking it kinda easy. And if I do injure my shoulder again, I'm taking the ski season off and not skiing this winter. My Rush is back from the shop, as it had been there for 4 weeks with a broken fork. I popped the saddle rail through the back of the saddle in the crash, so it had a new saddle put on. I may or may not go for a ride tonight, but if I do, it'll be on fire roads with my fork unlocked. I can't wait to at least get on a bike, that I really don't care about what I ride.

Almost There

2008-08-03T15:10:00.002-05:00

Next Tuesday (not this one but next one) I am going back to the doctors to x-ray my shoulder again. Hopefully I'll have the green light to ride a few days afterward. After a much needed break and some structured workouts, my legs feel strong again. I don't know how they are compared to everyone else's, but they feel like they did around the time of Greenbrier and French Creek. I can finally raise my arm passed 90 degrees without any pain, and all of the cuts that the pavement gave me have healed. I still have a decent sized tear in Zach's Camp Jersey though, but I'm glad I wore it because it had a full zip. Much easier to get off than the base layer I was wearing.

Michaux Maximus 2006

2008-08-01T16:32:00.002-05:00

an old photo of the damaging conditions that day

Update

2008-07-29T10:06:00.011-05:00

>Tonight i can start taking my sling off to sleep

>I still have 2 more weeks until I go back to the doctor and don't have to wear the sling anymore

>I have a lot of movement back in my arm and I can do some things with both hands

>I'm still riding the trainer and my legs feel like they did in the spring

>Bad thing is that it's only been 2 weeks and I'm going crazy from not riding

:-(

2008-07-22T10:32:00.003-05:00

so today starts off my trainer-bike workouts. it'll give me something to do, but everything is so boring. the days feel like they're in slow motion, and i'm not even waking up until 10. we're thinking full physical recovery for the fall races, and i'm sure confidence will be back. i don't know how long it's gonna be till i feel comfortable drafting behind other riders again. oh and now i have an excuse for not doing the w101 besides "my dad won't let me."

dark hollow

2008-07-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

since i couldn't race, i spent the day walking around the course and taking pictures. i was really dissapointed at myself because cameron dodge was there. i rarely have any compitition at the michaux races, and they are my style of course. good news is that he'll be at the teaberry race in the fall. terror of teaberry's course is perfect; rocks, roots, tight singletrack, and climbing all in 25 miles. should be good. i'm feeling so much better now and i'll be able to do 4 more races before the season ends -- laurel classic, terror of teaberry, bear creek, and the iron cross.

Fair Hill

2008-07-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

I think the gods of the Mid-Atlantic races decided that I've had too much fun, and that my good luck had to stop. Today was an awsome day. I was both physically and mentally ready to finally win one of these things. I got hydrated and decided that since it was a fast course and not too technical, I would try drinking from water bottles. It was a good idea. I definitly felt the difference. Last night, while looking over my bike, I noticed that the saddle height was an inch too low, and it would have stolen some of my energy the next day. So I fixed that and went on to do other things, when I accidentally squeezed the brake lever while the weel was not attatched to the frame. I called up my "mechanic" to ask him to walk me through the process of resetting the break pads. He's not really my mechanic; I'm not lucky enough to have one, he's just one of the shop employees and my friend who likes to tune up my bike when I take it in. I had some experience with mechanical breaks, so I sort of knew how everything fit together. They're actually really simple and you don't need any tools other than a pair of needle-nosed plyers.

The race started off with me and Cameron immediatly pulling away from the rest of the field. I wasn't starting too fast, because I knew there would be 22 miles to catch him and I could see that he was struggling already. I'd let him go on the climbs (saving my energy) and catch him on the downhills. I planned to do this until he got tired, then I would make my move. However, I got stuck behind others, and while I tried to pass, I had a bad fall that twisted my handlebars. I was now a minute back. I pushed really hard to catch him, and I knew my legs were finally back. I finally caught sight of him for about 10 seconds. I was coming on him fast, and with 13 miles left I knew I would win. At the rate I was closing on him, I would have passed him at mach 3, hopefully destroying his confidence. And I should have, but the gods of MASS didn't want me to. Shortly afterward, I heard a CRACK, almost like a whip, and my chain skimmed my leg as it slingshotted off into the forest. It pulled the X-O derraileur with it, stripping the threads and bending the hanger. But it was still attatched to the cable, and I fought hard to rip it off. Finally it was done, but I had dropped back to fourth. I ran 3 miles to the next aid station, "gravitying it" on the downhills, pumping the trail as much as I could to generate speed. As I was running, my dad passed me and told me to DNF. DNF, SCREW THAT.I hate DNFing, so I ran until I found Jacob's dad on the side of the road, waiting to be taken back to the finish. He fell and bent his front wheel. Lucky for me, his bike was unrideable and he offered up his chain. I pulled a few links out and singlespeeded it back to the finish. I would have one, and should have one that day, but I ended up coming in last; 8th out of 8 juniors. Stuff like that happens. I lost over 40 minutes trying to get my bike to pedal, but I finished. And grabbed some points, even if it was only 10 of them.

New Jerseys

2008-07-10T08:49:00.000-05:00

So our MBR team has decided that our old jerseys were too "busy" with all of the stripes. One of the employees at the local bike shop helped design the last one, so we contacted him again to see if we could do another one. The jersey is pretty much the same (it still has MBR's M logo and such) but with less stripes and different colors. We encorporated more black into this one, and although Lois Garnaeu's "Canada Blue" is the main color, black is dominant. We switched up the font for MBR to make it like a "retro" but not really. It's more like a fast retro. And we got shorts and a long sleeve jersey this time to go with it. So it looks like I'll be pulling up to the Fair Hill start line rocking new colors. Too bad my socks don't match anymore, and I figured out my dad's master plan of buying blue bikes even though he doesn't really like blue bikes.

This morning I decided to celebrate by cutting the sleeves off of one of my old jerseys. It had two big holes in the back and one smaller one under the sleeve. It was getting old so I took a knife to it.

The Curse of Dark Hollow

2008-07-09T13:54:00.000-05:00

Is coming up. I can't wait. The Michaux races are the ones that I look forward to by far the most and it's where racing started for me. The courses are what all race courses should be like. Mountain biking should be about mountain biking. Sure, I know that not many places in PA can hold such a race, but it's still nice to dream about the possibilities. Last year's Terror of Teaberry and this year's Michaux Maximus were in my opinion the definition of a perfect course: starts off not too technical (so that you can get passed everyone without being held up in the rocks) and the trails keep getting better and better until the end. Unfortunatly, Teaberry was very different from what was advertised; 10 turned to 13, 25 turned to 32, and 50 turned to 46. Like I've said, I just can't wait and I'm counting down the days until one of the best weekends so far; Friday Mount Snow, then Dark Hollow on Sunday. I hear that Mount Snow is pretty technical, so it should be a good day. I really enjoy courses that seem to be as much about bike handling as leg strength (and I don't mean tight turns, but lots of big, oddly shaped rocks and roots), and feel that it should be a good weekend as far as performance goes. It'd be good for me to pull all of it together at Fair Hill to give me one last confidence boost for Nationals. Should be good...

Stoopid 50 Pictures

2008-07-08T11:43:00.001-05:00

took me a while to find them but here they are...

15 mph moto paced start

Chicken Peter Trail (the first time)
mile 7ish

Again on Chicken Peter (still the first time)

Pigpile Trail - mile 30 or 35

Beautiful Trail - mile 42ish

Marysville

2008-07-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

The Marysville festival / weekend / race / thing was great. Although I felt really strong going into the weekend, I made some bad mistakes that probably kept me from winning. But no excuses because the best person won, and mountain biking is a hard sport. I've found out that it's not about having good luck, but about not having any bad luck.

It all started off great. I had absolutly no confidence going into this, because my last good race was Granogue, which was a month ago (the Stoopid doesn't count cause no one else was there). But the Night TT went really well. Not really, cause I had 3 falls that took a while to recover from. Falling at night is hard cause it takes you a while to realize where you are. My legs felt great, and was red-lining 200 bpm the whole race, maxing out at 212. I probably should have had more practice at night riding; this was the second time I had ever ridden at night, and the first time this year. It was a really fun course, and definitly a race that I will do again next year. I didn't really race the whole thing, just started kinda fast and rode the rest as a warm up for tomorrow. After I fell twice I didn't really feel like pinning it anymore, so I just let Gunnar go instead of chasing him. But it was really fun.

I didn't have the best of sleep last night; I had put my bag inside my tent and elevated my feet up on it so that I could remove any lactate from my legs (although I didn't feel any, it was probably there). But in the bag was my water for tomorows XC race. Somehow it leaked out, spilling water over all of my racing clothes. I got up in the middle of the night to find a puddle of water all over my side of the tent. But it was in a tent, so in my opinion, it was better than my own bed (I have no idea why I am so twisted to believe that, but I am).

On Saturday, I made the biggest and possibly the most stupid mistake I had ever made in a race since I was 10. Today was another nutrition mistake. We got up at 7:30 to pack up our stuff and carry it back to the car. I had a good race breakfast of pancakes and was ready to go. But the problem was that I didn't have any water that morning and didn't have anything to eat since then. MISTAKE. I was really dehydrated going into the race, and athough my legs felt great, I didn't have it in me to race as intensly as I needed to. I bonked really bad about half way through the first lap.

The race started off great. I didn't feel bad at the start, and tried a slightly different race strategy (sorry, I can't say what it is cause I'm not sure who's reading this). I don't know if it would have worked because I bonked so bad, but I felt good. Gunnar was leading mostly the whole race, and I tried to stay on his wheel, which was hard because of having to pass so many people. There were a few times where I should have jumped on him and taken the lead, but I don't know why I didn't. I got stuck behind a train of people on some singletrack that you couldn't pass on, and lost Gunnar. I was getting splits from some of the racers' parents telling me that I was about a minute back. But then, I forgot I was on my hardtail. There was one particularly big log crossing that I bombed into, and it sent me flying into the thornbushes. I went to get back on the bike, doing that thing where you run along side the bike and jump on the seat, but missed and landed one the top tube. OUCH. I kept seeing riders in black helmets, orange and black bikes, and BikeSport jerseys, thinking they were Gunnar. So I gave it my all to catch them, it wasted my energy. Then I bonked. On the second lap, I passed one of my riding partners (who was pre-riding). I asked him if he had any goo, and it worked out perfectly, because he rode back to his car, and met me at the only road intersection. I got a handoff of cola flavored goo (normally I wouldn't touch it, but I was so hungry that it didn't matter). It was enough to get me to the finish, but not enough to get me 2nd. Gunner was 1st, Jacob 2nd, and I was 3rd. I know that Jacob is a really good 13 year old, but the fact that he beat me is messing with my head.

7/2/08

2008-07-02T18:56:00.000-05:00

The Iron Cross is still months away, but I'm already excited at it's possibilities. Today, while in the garage, we found these old 26x1.25 slicks. They have flat protection and the sidewalls look pretty good. The idea for the Iron cross this year was that I would just pump up my tires to 50 or 60 psi, and ride the Taurine, since I do not have a crossbike. But after finding these, I'm just gonna run them tubeless on my Stans wheels. They're gonna be fast on the pavement, and if it's dry, shouldn't be too bad on the trails. Both mountain bikes are in the shop, cause I'm switching the spider on the Taurine for a 4-bolt triple. Then I'm switching the cranksets so that the aluminum one is on the Rush and the carbon one is on the Taurine. The carbon one is heavier, but I'm doing it because the aluminum will hold up to rocks better. It's too hard to go easy on the road, so I didn't ride today. Instead I took my dogs up for a hike with my mom on some of the trails by the parking lot. I brought a small packsaw and was able to cut back some branches as well as build up log ramps on a fallen log, making it rideable. Tomorrow I'm going night riding for the first this year. I'd better get a ride in before the night tt. Gonna ride with my mom on the "beginner ride," save the ride as a course on my Garmin, and ride it again at night, hopefully without getting lost.

Took it Easy Yesterday...

2008-06-25T12:12:00.000-05:00

...and it was wierd. Now I realize what I have been doing the last month or so. The heart rate moniter definitly helped, I was able to keep my heart rate at a reasonable recovery rate; max heart rate was 167 and averaged 132. Something I never would have done without it. I had been so focused on setting a pace that wouldn't "hold anyone up" before, that what was really happening was that I was dropping everyone. Not good, especially with racing that weekend. But now it's all sorted out, so I'll be able to get back on track. It's a nice change, riding at a slow pace most of a ride. You really get a different perspective on things. I'll be doing that for the next 10 days instead of really training. Above is an example of some of the things you can do with the Garmin (using the different software).

Over Trained

2008-06-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

The previous post on this was very negative, so I decided to edit it out and just rewrite the whole thing once I had a little time to clear my mind.

The Guy's MASS race (more widely known as a word that starts with an N that I can't pronounce or spell correctly) was a great race. The course was very flowing, and although not too technical, there was one downhill that sent a few to the EMTs. I'll have to check my dad's Garmin, but the switchbacks had the potential to be over 45%. I raced my new Taurine (the owner almost gave it away, at a price that was extremely good. Like I could ride it hard for 2 or 3 years and still sell it for a lot more than I had origionally bought it for (yes, our bike shop likes us)), which felt great on the course, but was a bad idea. It was build on Friday and pretty much as soon as it was finished, we rode them (my dad got one too) that night, trying to beat the daylight and get as much of a ride in as possible. If you combine that hard ride with the Stoopid 50 and 2 weeks of overtraining, racing on Sunday was a suprize. And with the new crankset, a 29 44, found myself always wanting to be in the 44, and waysting energy. But a triple is on the way from Cannondale...

Where I live, a huge thunderstorm passed through the night before, and I thought that the trails were going to be very wet; much like the way Greenbrier was. But the storm moved north of the race and everything was dry and dusty. There were some showers in the morning, so I decided to race without glasses incase a storm did come through. Bad idea. It was so dusty that I was constantly getting dust in my eyes. From the start, I felt as if I was having a good day. Until we finished the prologue. Went back into the forest for our first real lap and I felt sluggish. All that training had built up and left me with no energy. Gunnar flew by me and I was in 3rd, and it stayed that way the whole race. At one point, Zach rode up behind me. He was pre-riding the course, and kept encouraging me. It really helped (THANKS ZACH) because the second lap felt much better. Cameron Dodge ended up winning (1:26) and Gunnar in second (1:29). I came in 3rd with a 1:30. I definitly learn a lot more from these races than from the ones that I do well in, so looking back on it now, it was a lesson that I had to learn sometime. Better now than at Mount Snow.

Stoopid 50

2008-06-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

This year, the Stoopid 50 fell on Fathers Day. I rode it with my dad, as part of my w101 training. It was a good race, and a lot of people where there. Some 200 people showed up, including Brandon D., Rob L., Michelle Stopper, and other elite riders. I raced the Men Open category, but two other juniors raced it too. Like God (Jeff Bahnson) and Forrest Conrad.

The race started with a 15 mph moto paced start on a long dirt road with some paves sections. Then a turn, and up a steep (but short) climb to the Brush Ridge Trail. Interesting it's named Brush Ridge, as it never gets anywhere close to the ridge, always staying in the valley. Across some skinny bridges (a 25 footer, then a 100 footer). After Brush was a wall out of the valley, then the Lingle Valley trail; a roller coaster descent with some steep drop-offs and a sketchy drop into the valley. Bear Gap (crested the top, then first flat) took you back up to a road, then switchbacked back onto the Chicken Peter trail. From there was a sweet descent on Shitalka trail and a fire-road climb to the first Aid Station.

I fueled up at the station and then got ready to walk my bike up the Upper Sassafras trail. This is one of the best technical downhills on that side of the forest. Up on the ridge and down to a gradual uphill road, where we descended the Telephone trail, then Wallace trail. At the beginning of Wallace, I launched off a drop-off into a rock garden, and got my second flat. Many people have come to the conclusion that I ride wayyy too agressively for my race wheels, so I have decided not to race them this year. My rock wheels are much stronger. At the bottom, we turned onto a road, and climbed a very steep snomobile trail back to the bottom of Telephone. Continued on the snowmobile trail back down to the road, switchbacked, and climbed Lower Sassafras; a steep climb through mountain laurel and crossing a pipeline. At the top we crossed a road and continued uphill on Pigpile trail, then downhill on Pigpile through some fast turns and boulder drops. The technical lines were easily ridden around, but for some of the locals who wanted to have fun with the trail, the drops and jumps were really fun. A short but super fast downhill road sent chills through you, as the wind was very cold. The long jeep trail, named Flat road (if you ever ride it, know that it is not flat at all) took you back to the bottom of Upper Sassafras (the hike-a-bike) and then the course sent you on Sassex-X; another extension of Sassafras that lead to the second Aid Station.

After a twisty trail, then back up the road to ride another portion of Shitalka trail, you climbed Long Cut and Dear Tick. Once the climbing part of Dear Tick was behind you, it was a fairly easy ride back, but 3 rocky trails still stood between you and the finish. The top part of Dear Tick had a few rocks; same with Chicken Peter and Brush Ridge. After finishing up the Brush Ridge trail, it was a long and boring gradual climb on a paved road, then a turn, uphill, then downhill, then the last uphill to the finish. Then you ring the gong, and go to a shaded area to fall over.

It was a really fun race and I am going to do it next year and every year after that for as long as I can. If you're not doing anything, and aren't too far away, you should think about coming up. Forrest sayed that the trails were possibly the best he has ever ridden, and if anyone wants to come up and ride with me this summer, let me know.

Tour de Yikes

2008-06-08T17:25:00.001-05:00

Today was the Tour de Tykes mountain bike race in Danville, PA. It was kinda wierd because of all of the life-flight helis that were flying in and out...I hope no one was in them. I got their pretty early (like 3 and a half hours early) because my mom wanted to race the beginner race, so we went down to help her out with stuff before the race. It got much hotter as it came time to start our race, but at least we were in the shade most of the time. The start went pretty good, and I was feeling strong in the beginning of the race. Gunnar and I were some of the first few people up the first climb and into the singletrack. When we hit the singletrack, I was ahead of Gunnar and was feeling really good. Until I heard a pop. I had slashed the sidewall of my tire on something and it was going flat really fast. So I got out my cO2 and filled it up again, thinking the stans would hold it. I had no idea how big that gash in my sidewall really was, and within 100 feet, it went flat again. This time, I was out of cO2 and had to borrow a pump from someone else. I must have been in dead last by the time I got the tire off, because absolutly no one was passing me. I got to cheer on Caleb and Jacob and some other juniors, but the struggle with that tire proved to be a hard one. I finally got the flat fixed, but when I started off again, I was shivering because of the fast start and the sudden stop. It must have been a really old tire, because about a mile later, I flatted again. I had just passed the person I had borrowed the pump from, and I gave the pump back, so I had nothing to inflate the tire. Thanks to another kind person, I was able to continue again. Until I heard screams coming from the valley below. Someone fell really bad, and by the sound of it, it was really really bad. It sounded like the person fell behind me, so I flew down to the bottom of the climb, but didn't see anyone. I continued on the course, and finally found the person. She had a compound fracture on her left arm (when the bone sticks out of the skin) and blood was everywhere. When some other people came down and stayed with her, I rode to the next aid station AS FAST AS I COULD to make sure medical got there as quickly as possible. By that time I was out of all of my energy, and had no motivation to continue. I was impossible for me to win, and a very small chance of getting top 3, and no one was depending on me to ride fast anymore (except for my friends, at least the ones who believe that I race mountain bikes). It was a constant battle against my mental self; I never wanted to DNF a race, but there wasn't any reason for me to continue. I finished anyway though, passing a few other juniors along the way, and making it into 4th place. Looking back on it, I'm actually kinda glad that I had bad luck, because Jacob was able to make the podium. He had always been 4th or 5th; so close but never top 3 in any of the Sport MASS races I've raced this year. I really wanted to win here, because I was born here, and it's the first time I've been back in my life. Gunnar was 1st, Julian Hinkleman was 2nd (I raced him at the Cat Classic), and Jacob was 3rd. I was about 20 minutes from 3rd, but everyone gave it their best. Oh and I hit a tree and can't type that well right now, but I have to type an essay anyway, so I guess I'll learn to type faster.

Tour de Cure, But No

2008-05-31T20:36:00.000-05:00

So I was all signed up and everything to participate in the diabetes fund-raiser, the Tour de Cure. Everything was ready for me to get up and all, but when my alarm went off in the morning, I found my dad standing at the foot of my bed. He told me about this huge storm that was moving through the Boiling Springs area, and told me to go back to bed cause we weren't going down.....
That didn't go so well, and I was pretty angry until I checked out the radar on the internet. Mostly reds, oranges, and yellows, which ment thunder. I don't know how the storm was down there, but when I finally got up at 2 or so to go swimming, the sky was bluebird clear without a single cloud in the sky. What happened to the storm????? It was the only event that weather has stopped me from going to, and hopefully it will be the last, because doing frontflip variations off diving boards for 3 hours gets boring, riding never does. The good thing about it was that I was able to practice tricks for skiing...but that's not for a while.

Wilderness 101 Pre-ride #2

2008-05-28T20:49:00.000-05:00

Okay so today we rode the seggy of the 101 from about mile 35 to 62. It went pretty well, our average speed being somewhere around 11 through those hilly 27 miles. The ride was much like a race; we had only one stop the whole ride and I was constantly trying to keep up with one of the riders on the long, steep fireroad climbs. One of the bigger climbs of the W101 "Greenly" kept me asking myself why I was riding...
WOW THIS REALLY SUCKS
MOUNTAIN BIKING IS A STUPID SPORT
WHY AM I DOING THIS???
...but I quickly found the answer at the top of the climb when we desended the sweet singletrack "Croyle," which was about 2 miles long ;-p (oh and I almost killed a bird going down that, but luckly it flew right passed my head)

Wilderness 101 Pre-ride

2008-05-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

Today, me and a few other members of our MBR team pre-rode the first 15, then last 25 miles of the Wilderness 101. It was an early start - getting up at 5:00 and driving to first highway intersection of the course to meet at 6:30. My dad and I drove to our team-mate Bill Gardner's house to pick him up along the way. At the pull-off beside the highway we met the other team-mate planning on racing the W101, Stu Hess. After a short climb up and over the ridge, we rode the Sand Mountain road to where the course meets it at the end of Stillhouse Hollow road. From there it was a short climb up to the Sand Mountain parking lot, where we started along the Sand Mountain trail, a loose ATV trail that was very steep in sections, reaching 18-20% in most climbs. After that trail, we rode on a road for a while, then finding the trails got difficult. We were riding in an area that sees very little bicycle use until the time of the 101, and following the obscure trails presented a challenge. We finally made our way to another road, and it was a long, chilly downhill to an old railroad bed, where we crossed a narrow bridge over a river and then rode through a long, dark tunnel. It was still a gradual downhill when we got to the other side. After the railroad bed, we continued on one of the bigger climbs of the W101 - Old Mingle. After riding down the other side of the mountain, the infamous "Fisherman's Path" lied ahead of us. This trail is extremely technical, with rocky and rooty drop-offs then hairpin turns on the edge of a cliff. When Chris Eatough raced the W101 a few years ago, his only goal was to ride this section of trail without putting a foot down or walking. He rode it successfully, and although the trail is at about mile 90, it is a trail that few people can ride even fresh into a ride. With the help of a few trees, I was barely able to make it; I almost fell into the river once or twice. From there it was a long railroad bed back to Coburn, where the finish is. Then we went on to ride the first climb. The climb was definetly fooling us. It was 5 miles where it kept looking like we were at the top, then went around a turn and kept climbing. The descent was rewarding, reaching speeds of close to 40mph at times. After that, it was a long, half paved and half not road back to the highway. Overall it was a pretty good day; we had a ride time of about 3 and a half hours, and got back to the car around 10:15, which was just before it started to get hot.

75 Miles of Montour

2008-05-25T16:00:00.000-05:00

http://web.mac.com/earthscapes66/75_miles_/Movie.htmlThis one was quite the suprize. With over 7,000 ft. of climbing in 76 miles, this was one of the most epic road rides I have ever done. Coming through the town about a mile from the start, the police held the stoplights and the peloton was stretching as far as I could see. The first climb was a wall, and split the race into 3 groups - the leaders, a smaller group that we were in, and an even smaller one behind us. My dad and I encouraged the other riders in the group to catch the leaders, and we got within 50 feet at one time. I could see that our group was drifting back, and that there was a dirt road ahead. Most of the leaders where not able to keep a very fast pace through this section, and my dad and I used our mountain biking skills to bridge the gap. We rode together for about 30 more miles until 2nd big climb. Somehow, I used my momentum to get slingshoted up passed other riders to the front of the group. At the top of the climb, our group was somewhat structured, dropping 40 people or so, and I was riding with the elite 20 people of the race. Which wasn't a very good idea. I was expecting on stopping at an aid station, but the group I was with just cruised right through. With about 25 miles to go, I got dropped, and struggled to keep my pace up as a killer headwind was blowing against me. It seemed as if the climbs were easier that the wide open, flat fields, because of the lack of wind. I finally finished with a time of 4 hours and 17 minutes, about 8 minutes ahead of my dad. I had not expected to do this well, because it was the first time I had ridden my road bike in 2 years, and because my bike was 4-5 lbs heavier than the bikes that most other people where riding.

Escape From Granogue 2008

2008-05-25T14:42:00.000-05:00

Escape From Granogue was held on the DuPont estate grounds in Delaware. The course provided some great views of the area and at times came very close to the mansion. For the sport, expert, and enduro classes, the course was around a 7 mile lap. The lap was done 2x for sport, and 3x for expert. The weather was great, and it wasn't too hot at the sport's 8:00 am. start time. Many of the other juniors that I like to race against were there, including Gunnar, Jacob, Josh, and Caleb. The course was very fast and fun. I didn't do the race last year, but I heard that it wasn't going to be very technically difficult. Although it still didn't have quite as many obstacles as I would have liked, the race was more technical that I thought it would be, and had a mix of terrain such as bridges, tunnels, railroad crossings, steep drops and climbs, and fast twisty sections. I woke up that morning and felt like I had gotten the flu, but on my way out of our hotel, I grabbed some hot tea and drank that all morning. At the start, I felt much better. Although I never heared or saw them since I passed them going into the singletrack, I looked back about 2 miles later and Gunnar and Caleb were right on my wheel. I knew that I needed to make a move fast, so I quickly passed a few people and picked up my pace. When I looked back and saw that Gunnar wasn't there, I slowed down so that I could recover well enough to race the 2nd lap with enough energy. I finished first with a total time of 1:29:12.25. Gunnar was about 4 minutes back and ended up getting 3rd. 2nd Place went to Cameron Dodge, who I had never raced against and did not know.