While a lot of pittsburgh MTBers were heading to the super popular 6HOP this weekend, a few DHers traveled to the infamous Wilderness 101 near State College looking for some usual fun. Scott, Justin, Ruth met up with Jake & Steve to claim a large piece of weekend real estate. Once camp was set up, it was out for a little spin on the end of the course. Looked great!
After an evening meeting up with racer-type friends from all over (Mark, Gerry P., Andy G., THE WV clan), good dinner and sleep it was up at 5 to get as ready as you could for the long day. With a 7AM start, the group was off on what would turn out to be a nice hot day promising the usual long mountainous climbs and bumpy descents. Depending on what you have trained for this year, the course treated us all differently, but as with all hard efforts, it's happy to finish whether you had a good day or bad one! A lot pain subsides as you finally reach the home stretch of rail trail leading staight to the partying tunes of the camp site.
Once back, it's a sweet outdoor shower or the creek bath and then to check out the kegs.
Steve---used experience to grab a ---th place!
Justin ---knew what he's getting into, respectable finish----
Jake The Fast Driver---(first MTB 100, will he do another??)--9.5 hours, including the high speed need to bunny hop an opossum munching nest of rats.
Scott-1st Masters ----- & chipper as a squirrel afterwards.
Ruth---head on collision with a R-snake, but didn't speed me up too much. Barely finished, 13 hours.
No pics as it was a busy day, but results posted on shenendoah touring site. Thanks Shenendoah Touring, Chris et al, and all the volunteers for another great ride. For details about the course/event: http://www.mtntouring.com/
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
WVMBA-Valley Falls
After hours of driving from Vermont, the nap at the truck stop and a hurried trip to a real bed, I was up early in MoTown and quickly found the Starbucks. What a good start to a day away from home:-)
The short drive to Valley Falls was nice, the park pretty quaint, hiding all the hills very well as we drove in. Rumor was this one had some climbing, so I wondered what to expect as Valley Falls hasn't been on WVMBA in the last few years.
We roll in and since this race isn't too far of a drive, we see a few more Pgh faces than usual. How nice! It's just Mandi and me for the women ex , Betsy (the usual winner) decided a recovery day was needed after she did really well in Vermont. I knew I was tired but thought this would be a good race for me with the climbing. I soon found out that was dead wrong. The start was a climb and I fell back faster than usual, even the sport pack caught me in what seemed like shorter time than usual. Bummer. This was going to be a long day!
2-1/2 laps later I was suffering to finish, but even that would give me a well needed 19 points for the series, so I rolled in 16 min behind Mandi, glad to be done!
This was a fun (and could have been fast) course, see the write up for more info and a bit of press DH riders got! http://iplayoutside.com/Events/2008/07/10567c.html
The short drive to Valley Falls was nice, the park pretty quaint, hiding all the hills very well as we drove in. Rumor was this one had some climbing, so I wondered what to expect as Valley Falls hasn't been on WVMBA in the last few years.
We roll in and since this race isn't too far of a drive, we see a few more Pgh faces than usual. How nice! It's just Mandi and me for the women ex , Betsy (the usual winner) decided a recovery day was needed after she did really well in Vermont. I knew I was tired but thought this would be a good race for me with the climbing. I soon found out that was dead wrong. The start was a climb and I fell back faster than usual, even the sport pack caught me in what seemed like shorter time than usual. Bummer. This was going to be a long day!
2-1/2 laps later I was suffering to finish, but even that would give me a well needed 19 points for the series, so I rolled in 16 min behind Mandi, glad to be done!
This was a fun (and could have been fast) course, see the write up for more info and a bit of press DH riders got! http://iplayoutside.com/Events/2008/07/10567c.html
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Mt Snow, Vermont
We headed with part of the DH Team and lots of other tri-state racers up to Mt. Snow Vermont for MTB Nationals. I didn't quite qualify for expert license so basically just going along for the trip and will do the sport race to check out the course and get a ride in. Big & Little Hen and Justin will be racing their age classes, expert.
Mt. Snow is a small, somewhat older resort but nice. We bunk with Gerry P. (Speedgoat), with the Sprengs next door in the 5* suite. Justin and I hike course to check it out, it's basically up the side of a long hill mostly on wide, smoother stuff and then bombs back down through tighter and rooty sections. There are a few small rock sections too, but overall the biggest risk is getting stuck on the descent with a pack that could hold you up, passing will be hard and you could lose a lot of time there. Climbing fast will be a big key in this race.
I race Friday, it's really hot and I am glad to see there are only 9 women in my race and two of us are the youngest in the group. The starting pace is ok, three of us in the front stick together for the first climb rotating positions frequently. I hit the downhill first, and near the bottom we catch up to the younger age group's racers in front of us. Hard to pass and getting mixed in with more people within a few seconds got a little confusing to keep track of everyone. When it opens, a few pass me and I keep them in sight as we enter the sprint area. Back to the climb, I thought only 2 passed me and I catch them (meanwhile the other youngest girl in our group got ahead in the pass and none of us realized it). Two of us pace together and push to the top, back down in a rush. She gets me at the bottom of the downhill and finishes >1 min on me in that short section. I thought I finished second and was ok with that, but to my surprise Justin was there to crush my excitement as he quickly blurted "no, you were third".
The next day the guys all race. It rains the night before, so they got some slick downhill riding. Little Hen goes early and we all watch. He stays close to the front of the pack the entire time, finishing in 2nd. Big Hen and Justin go in the afternoon, while Crystal mans the feed zone I head with the camera to the downhill. I got some awesome photo ops, but unfortunately either my camera cannot capture the fast action or I just can't figure out which button makes that happen. The shots were not coming out, so I end up having fun with the other specatators cheering lots of racers on. Along with our two racers, Gerry and several friends from WV/OH and eastern PA were out at the same time so it was fun to get to watch everyone racing.
While most folks relax for the night or head home, we head to WV for the next day of racing at Valley Falls WVMBA. We sleep at a truck stop near MoTown until the WV crew stops by at 3AM to lead us to more comfortable sleeping. Thanks Gunnar, Betsy and Chris:-)
Mt Snow Results:
Justin- 3rd
Big Hen- 6th
Little Hen-2nd
Ruth-3rd
Gerry P.-1st
Info on Mt. Snow National Championships & full results: http://www.usacycling.org/events/2008/mtbnationals/
Mt. Snow is a small, somewhat older resort but nice. We bunk with Gerry P. (Speedgoat), with the Sprengs next door in the 5* suite. Justin and I hike course to check it out, it's basically up the side of a long hill mostly on wide, smoother stuff and then bombs back down through tighter and rooty sections. There are a few small rock sections too, but overall the biggest risk is getting stuck on the descent with a pack that could hold you up, passing will be hard and you could lose a lot of time there. Climbing fast will be a big key in this race.
I race Friday, it's really hot and I am glad to see there are only 9 women in my race and two of us are the youngest in the group. The starting pace is ok, three of us in the front stick together for the first climb rotating positions frequently. I hit the downhill first, and near the bottom we catch up to the younger age group's racers in front of us. Hard to pass and getting mixed in with more people within a few seconds got a little confusing to keep track of everyone. When it opens, a few pass me and I keep them in sight as we enter the sprint area. Back to the climb, I thought only 2 passed me and I catch them (meanwhile the other youngest girl in our group got ahead in the pass and none of us realized it). Two of us pace together and push to the top, back down in a rush. She gets me at the bottom of the downhill and finishes >1 min on me in that short section. I thought I finished second and was ok with that, but to my surprise Justin was there to crush my excitement as he quickly blurted "no, you were third".
The next day the guys all race. It rains the night before, so they got some slick downhill riding. Little Hen goes early and we all watch. He stays close to the front of the pack the entire time, finishing in 2nd. Big Hen and Justin go in the afternoon, while Crystal mans the feed zone I head with the camera to the downhill. I got some awesome photo ops, but unfortunately either my camera cannot capture the fast action or I just can't figure out which button makes that happen. The shots were not coming out, so I end up having fun with the other specatators cheering lots of racers on. Along with our two racers, Gerry and several friends from WV/OH and eastern PA were out at the same time so it was fun to get to watch everyone racing.
While most folks relax for the night or head home, we head to WV for the next day of racing at Valley Falls WVMBA. We sleep at a truck stop near MoTown until the WV crew stops by at 3AM to lead us to more comfortable sleeping. Thanks Gunnar, Betsy and Chris:-)
Mt Snow Results:
Justin- 3rd
Big Hen- 6th
Little Hen-2nd
Ruth-3rd
Gerry P.-1st
Info on Mt. Snow National Championships & full results: http://www.usacycling.org/events/2008/mtbnationals/
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Massanutten-Tour de Burg
A family vacation occassionally gives us a cheap week long condo at Massanutten over July 4th holiday. Just so happens the cliquey Harrisonburger MTBs gather for an annual reunion, including their hometown Trek pros, of epic riding during this week. We've stumbled into their event before, but this time did it on purpose. In between the Tour de Burg, we did a lot of hiking, jogging and riding on our own, with plans to stop for 2 WV races on our way back to Pgh. The trails and mountains here are a lot of fun.
Tour de Burg-what is it? what is it not?
not for the weak, weary or whiny
is only gratifying for the strongest
not aimed at providing recreational riders a glorious day in the woods
is top talent oriented
not a supported event to cater to your comforts
is stict with time checks and sag wagon deglorifying, maybe a PB&J if you ask nicely or look like you are going to faint
not having marshalls wait all day for slackers
is quick to point out the losers and direct them to immediately take short cuts back to the start/finish
That said, Tour de Burg can offer some challenging fun if you are up to it. This Tour is several days of stage events, point accumulation leading to the 'champions' in a jesterous way among old buddies. So, to say the least we feel like outsiders here but otherwise the gang is fast and friendly.
Stages include: 2 MTB time trials, 2 Road Epics, 2 MTB Epics
Mixing this with our vacation, and knowing I can't race all these in one week or even do all meagerly and keep up, we pick to do the time trials and 1 MTB Epic day. Justin could have done more, but being we are leaving here for 2 WV races this weekend, it would take a lot of energy out of us for our planned weekend races.
Tues-MTB Mass Ravine Time Trial #1:
Up Massanutten mountain and back down on the dual slalom course. Average times ~45 minutes. Fun, fast evening to get the adrenaline flowing for the Tour and set the standings.
Wed-MTB Elliots Knob Epic #1:
This totals ~40 miles of mountainous up/down singletrack with a few sections of fire road to help you reach the top easier. The ridge riding is fast and fun, and not all on the popular trails so some jaggers and slightly unmaintained conditions exist. This is where I reach the sag wagon time cut off by the skin of my teeth, as the group is chomping to take off, I crawl in and faced with the 2 second decision of bailing or attempting to hold on. This being near the top, I would find it silly to sag wagon it down! I quickly ask if I can follow the trail at my pace for awhile and short cut out? They give me some quick directions and the pack is off, Justin keeping up well. After another 10 miles or so, I lose most of the racing pack, reach the short cut downhill and coast back to the car. The group arrives about an hour later, heading out to dinner/party. We decide to bail on the partying, and crash for a good night of vacation sleep.
Thurs-Rocktown Time Trial #2:
The gang has been out all day on the Road Stage, they are beat but up for the short quick time trial planned in community park. This is cute twisty trails all mazed up with a pump track and some rocks thrown in. Also funny start with a run to your bike. We start in order of Tour standing, meaning I start near end since not doing the whole tour. Avergage times ~15 minutes. I end up flatting not even 1/2 way through, and so decide to run to finish as fast as I can. Since I was a late starter the pack didn't want to wait for me to finish, I was sad to see the last of them packing it up back to town for the party and the timer person gone! Others flatted too but they were on course sooner and got finish times. Well, at least I got a good run in and practice carrying my bike for a few miles :-)
That's the last we saw of the Tour folks, as we then got ready to head to our races in WV.
(see next post). We had fun, and next time in town will hopefully be able to do some of these again. Thanks for letting us tag along to check out some cool trails!
http://www.svbcoalition.org/events/tdb/?page=results&year=2008
http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm
Tour de Burg-what is it? what is it not?
not for the weak, weary or whiny
is only gratifying for the strongest
not aimed at providing recreational riders a glorious day in the woods
is top talent oriented
not a supported event to cater to your comforts
is stict with time checks and sag wagon deglorifying, maybe a PB&J if you ask nicely or look like you are going to faint
not having marshalls wait all day for slackers
is quick to point out the losers and direct them to immediately take short cuts back to the start/finish
That said, Tour de Burg can offer some challenging fun if you are up to it. This Tour is several days of stage events, point accumulation leading to the 'champions' in a jesterous way among old buddies. So, to say the least we feel like outsiders here but otherwise the gang is fast and friendly.
Stages include: 2 MTB time trials, 2 Road Epics, 2 MTB Epics
Mixing this with our vacation, and knowing I can't race all these in one week or even do all meagerly and keep up, we pick to do the time trials and 1 MTB Epic day. Justin could have done more, but being we are leaving here for 2 WV races this weekend, it would take a lot of energy out of us for our planned weekend races.
Tues-MTB Mass Ravine Time Trial #1:
Up Massanutten mountain and back down on the dual slalom course. Average times ~45 minutes. Fun, fast evening to get the adrenaline flowing for the Tour and set the standings.
Wed-MTB Elliots Knob Epic #1:
This totals ~40 miles of mountainous up/down singletrack with a few sections of fire road to help you reach the top easier. The ridge riding is fast and fun, and not all on the popular trails so some jaggers and slightly unmaintained conditions exist. This is where I reach the sag wagon time cut off by the skin of my teeth, as the group is chomping to take off, I crawl in and faced with the 2 second decision of bailing or attempting to hold on. This being near the top, I would find it silly to sag wagon it down! I quickly ask if I can follow the trail at my pace for awhile and short cut out? They give me some quick directions and the pack is off, Justin keeping up well. After another 10 miles or so, I lose most of the racing pack, reach the short cut downhill and coast back to the car. The group arrives about an hour later, heading out to dinner/party. We decide to bail on the partying, and crash for a good night of vacation sleep.
Thurs-Rocktown Time Trial #2:
The gang has been out all day on the Road Stage, they are beat but up for the short quick time trial planned in community park. This is cute twisty trails all mazed up with a pump track and some rocks thrown in. Also funny start with a run to your bike. We start in order of Tour standing, meaning I start near end since not doing the whole tour. Avergage times ~15 minutes. I end up flatting not even 1/2 way through, and so decide to run to finish as fast as I can. Since I was a late starter the pack didn't want to wait for me to finish, I was sad to see the last of them packing it up back to town for the party and the timer person gone! Others flatted too but they were on course sooner and got finish times. Well, at least I got a good run in and practice carrying my bike for a few miles :-)
That's the last we saw of the Tour folks, as we then got ready to head to our races in WV.
(see next post). We had fun, and next time in town will hopefully be able to do some of these again. Thanks for letting us tag along to check out some cool trails!
http://www.svbcoalition.org/events/tdb/?page=results&year=2008
http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm
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