Murrysville Cross

(See attached file: Murrysville.jpg)

I took advantage of last weekend being race free by doing a couple of long rides. Saturday I managed to get a nice 5 hour mountain bike ride in. Then on Sunday Ruth and me did a century on the Red Sled. Centuries are hard but I'm not sure why they seem even harder on the Sled.
The only bad thing about this weekend was that it was booked with local races. Saturday was the Murrrysville Cross which was cool but Sunday there was a conflict the MOM race at Moraine and the Raccoon Cross race. If I wasn't doing the MOM series I'm not sure which race I would chose. Saturday I was looking forward to the cross race even though I haven't ridden my cross bike since the Grove City race. I did this race last year and it was a blast fun course, well organized, muddy and cold. This year the biggest difference was that is was about 20 degrees warmer and I didn't do the Dirty Dozen the day before. I surprised myself and got there in enough time to get dressed and pre ride the course. The course was similar to last year with only a few changes but still seemed fun and challenging too. Using the I only have a single speed as an excuse I had decided early in the week to race the 35 plus race and if I felt OK after that I would race the 1/2/3 too.
It was finally time to get lined up and there was 23 people in my group and I got a spot on the second row. We took off up the pavement and turned into the muck and not long after that there was a crash which somehow I managed to avoid. I was in a group of like 5 people or so and getting close to the hill that I rode every time during the preride but as it would be no such like. The worst thing is having to dismount when your not planning on dismounting because your not ready and lose all your speed among other things. I continued to work my way through the field until Gunnar was the only one in front of me. We rode together for a little then I managed to get past him. I had a small gap after the first lap then starting into the second lap Gunnar past me. We traded places a couple of times on the second lap then that was it. I tried to catch him but never did and the only thing that changed was the lead he had on me. With two laps to go I was feeling pretty spent and was worrying more about getting caught than catching him. At the end I managed to stay in second and was happy to be done. Now it was time for the worst part of cross racing getting changed. It feels great to get out of the muddy clothes but it sucks knowing that you have to go hame and clean it up.
I came close to racing in the 1/2/3 race but decided against it with the hopes of saving a little for Sunday's MOM race. With nothing planned for the rest of the day I figured I would hangout and watch the other races that were going on. While waiting for the races to begin I ran into Gerry Pflug and he was planning on using his mountain bike for the race. I also seen Tim Carson and he was planning on racing a borrowed cross bike. Both of the decisions had me scratching my head. Both of these guys are super fast but after racing the course I thought a cross bike was the way to go for Gerry and felt Tim would be better on his mountain bike. Why the difference in bikes? Here's why it was a traditional cross course a little bit of road, some tight twisty turns, run ups, and super muddy. Gerry races allot of cross and practices allot too so I felt he would be better on a cross bike. Tim on the other hand only does a few cross races here and there and uses his mountain bike. So by not ever using this cross bike before I thought he would be a disadvantage. The race finally started and it was a pretty exciting race. Early on it was a two person race for first between Steevo and Mike Mihalik with other battles going on for the rest of the podium. Not sure when Gerry and Tim switched bikes but it seemed after they did they each made up a few positions. In the end Mike got Steevo, Gerry ended up 4th and Tim was 7th. Funny thing is I know some other people that race a little bit of cross and say there faster on there mountain bike than a cross bike. I tell them that might be true but that because they don't ride there cross bike enough. But now it was time to head home to get ready for Sunday.
Thanks to Fred Baldassare, Henry Dimminck, the Freddie Fu and AG3R teams and everyone else that was involved in the great time.

J

Month of Mud part #4

(See attached file: Grove City.jpg)
At this time of the year I feel like I should be taking a break from long rides and start focusing on cross. But with La Ruta coming up in November I feel torn between trying to race cross and doing long training rides. The hardest part for me about doing long training rides this time of year is the lack off daylight as I found out on Saturday's long ride. In an ideal world I would like to do my harder shorter workouts on Saturday then on Sunday do a long easier ride. But I'm still searching for that ideal world. I decided that I would do a long ride on Saturday and the MOM race on Sunday. After getting started a little later than planned I was out the door on the fixed gear at like 11:30. The plan was head down towards town then jump on the tracks and hit the Armstrong trail up to Tempelton and back. The idea of bringing a light never crossed my mind. Near Ford City I ran into Ruth she left about the same time but went straight to the trail. We stopped in Kittanning and got some water and food. I planned on riding north on the trail until for another hour or so then turn around and head back home. When I turned around it finally hit me. It's after 5:00 I have about 45 miles to get home it will take a little under 3 hours but it will be dark out in less than 2 hours. When I was getting close to Schenley I caught up to Ruth and it was getting pretty dark at that point. I told her that I would just ride ahead and get home first and come back with the car to pick her up. The worst thing about riding in the dark is finding that hole in the road that you for didn't know about and getting blinded by oncoming cars. I got home a little after 8:00 and was getting ready to go pick up Ruth (she thinks this makes her tough) but she called said she'd be OK riding home alone. After she got in it was time to start getting ready for the MOM race at Brady's.

Surprise I got to Brady's an hour before the start and was pretty happy about that. I got ready and did a pre riding to check out the course and then with little time to spare it was time to go. It's always cool to get a call up, but I also knew that it wouldn't help much. Because during the prolog around the horse arena I knew I was out gunned being on a SS. Just as I figured I think I was pretty far back in the pack when we started up the hill. I rode as hard as I could up the hill and passed allot of people. I think I was like 5th or 6th heading into the singletrack for the rest of the climb. At the top I passed a couple of more people and was in third. Funny thing was I figured after the long ride on Saturday that I would be climbing slow. But I seemed to be climbing good, but I was descending pretty slow. There was a few times I'd look back and nobody would be in sight then right after a downhill Joe would be right on my tail. In the end I got 1st SS and 3rd overall I was pretty happy with the results. This weekend I get a break from racing I was thinking about going to the Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die cross race but just going to stay home and put in some extra miles. Thanks again to the MOM crew.



J

Month of Mud part #3

The Grove City MOM race was the third of the series and the second and last cross race of the series. I really wasn't looking forward to this race because I was feeling crappy and sick all week. So I took is easy and reduced my hours but it didn't seem to help to much. The one thing that I was excited about was that it was going to be the Tandumb rematch. We got to the park with little time to spare as usual I was going through the over thinking of which gear to use. I decided to stick with the same gear as last week 42x19. It seemed to be a little heavy at Raccoon last week and was hoping it would OK here. At the start I found out that it was a little light on the road and got past by lots of people. After the prolog I started to make some up some ground and passed a few people. I could see Gerry and Steevo had a pretty big lead on everyone. I knew I had no chance of catching them. The gear felt OK in the woods and grass but I was getting crushed on the road. I was going back and forth with a few people on the first 4 laps. Then after about an hour it was over I finished 9 overall and was the first SS. I was hoping for a little better in the overall but whatever.

Now to the main event of the day the Tandumb rematch plus one more. It seemed like less pressure with three Tandumbs racing. Because when there was only two you could go from first to worst by one position change.The Shogrens learned something from the last race and had 26" mountain bike tires and wheels on. In the beginning on the prolog we were in third but passed Andrew and Maggie. It seemed like our barrier practice was paying off because we were keeping it close on the barriers. This race was going allot like the first race. We passed Gunnar and Betsy in the woods only to be passed on the road. There was one section that had a downed tree were we had a big advantage. We were riding the log on every lap and they were dismounting on it. But thanks to the hecklers the started riding it on the last two laps. We gave it our best shot and kept it close but in the end the Shogrens got the W. It was only by 12 seconds but as anyone that races cross knows that 12 seconds is allot. We never seen Andrew and Maggie after the beginning and found out later that they flatted. Now it was time to get cleaned up and head to the North Country Brewery for a few well deserved brews. Thanks again to the MOM crew and the rest of the fine sponsors.


J

Month of Mud part #2

(See attached file: Tandumb.bmp)

Even after a long day of racing and traveling on Saturday I was pretty excited about racing the 2nd MOM race at Raccoon. This was going to be my first cross race of the year and I wanted to see if my practice would pay off. We didn't get home Saturday until like 10:00 and got cleaned up and I did some last minute bike preparations. Sunday morning came way to early as usual. The plan was to get to the park by 8:30 to do some pre riding so I could pick my final gear and also wanted to practice some dismounts on the Red Sled. But as usual left late and then to top it off 10 minutes into the drive I seen I forgot my helmet. Finally we arrived at the park at like 9:15 got registered and dressed that didn't leave much time for any pre riding. I asked a few other SSers what gear they were using and changed my to a 42x19 which was the easiest I had with me. I did manage to squeeze in a full and got to the line. The field had about 40 people in it and I was very happy to get a call up. Then it was off I had a good start and after a couple laps I found myself in third. Which I was pretty happy with but after about 30 minutes of this pace I popped and had to slow down. By the end 4 people passed me and I was glad that there wasn't anymore. I would have liked to done a little better but after a long race the day before 7th overall and 2nd SS will have to do.

Now it was time to hurry up again and get on the Red Sled to do a little practice. If you think dismounts and run ups are hard on a regular bike try it on a tandem sometime. After a few dismounts and remounts it was time to go. Mechanicals always suck but somehow we managed to pop our chain off in like the first ten feet. I want to say THANKS to the Shogrens our only competition for the day that waited until we were up and going before taking off. We stayed pretty close to them on the first couple of laps. It was amazing how clean they're dismounts were. I think on lap 3 is when we started to make up some ground. This is also when I realized that we had a big advantage over them big and wide tires. We were making up lots of time because we could almost everything and they were walking allot due to there skinny little tires. Then on the 4th lap we go around them and held them off to get the win. It was fun and pretty intense racing on the Red Sled and thanks to everyone that was cheering us on. I noticed that Gunnar is already onto us and looking for a different wheel for his sled. But maybe he needs to look a little closer at the pictures to see the big advantage. I never noticed it until I looked at the pictures was that our pedals were out of sync. Stay tuned for next week's rematch at Grove City. I also need to say thanks to the MOM crew and Gary Dugovich for the awesome job like always.

J

Revenge of the Rattle Snake

(See attached file: ROTR.jpg)

Where should I begin? One thing I knew I had working against me from the start was the goal of by 6:30. We came pretty close and left at 7:15. It was wet, rainy, windy and chilly on the trip down. Almost seemed like the prefect storm for a race in Davis. The goal was to get to Davis by 10:00 for the 11:00 start and we were so close to making it. At 9:50 and only a 1/4 of a mile to go traffic was stopped at a 10:00 Ruth decided to jump on her bike and ride down to get us registered. Finally at 10:20 traffic started to move and I found somewhere to park and found out what the holdup was caused by. The Leaf Peepers Festival was a holding a 5K run with a huge turnout. So after a hectic scramble to get ready in the rain I was finally ready and headed down to the pre race meeting. That's when I heard something that I always hate hearing. " Make sure you take a map with you" we marked the course yesterday and you never know if anyone sabotaged it. I know it's hard to mark a course and when it's a 40 mile race it's even harder. So here's my problem the I have no map reading skills so if I'm off course I wouldn't know and wouldn't be able to get back on course. What I have learned in the past is always try to follow a local or at least someone that knows the way.

But at 11:00 on the dot it was race time and we were headed down route 32 for a little bit onto a gravel road. For the first 3-4 miles it seemed like a bad course for a single speed and I was wishing I had a little steeper gear. But finally I got into some single track and everything was going get until I realized that I was on Mountainside. If you ever rode this trail it's pretty hard to forget. I don't think it's to technical but it's a gentle downhill grade but it's littered with baby head rocks and just beats you up and without any rest until the end. Nearing the bottom I happened to see a couple of familiar faces TJ and Nick Waite were pulled over and fixing the flats together how special. Finally at the bottom I was looking forward to the long climb out. At the top of the climb was the first aid station and Matt said I was 5th. I was pretty happy cause up until then didn't have any idea where I was. This is were we turned onto Plantation trail another one of the world famous in Davis. At this point I was feeling pretty good. The trail was rocky, rooty and wet but for some reason I felt like I was riding pretty well. Funny thing is sometimes when you think your riding well your really not because you either get caught or dropped. But today at this point I was still catching and passing people. I passed three people and had the 4th in site and it turned out to be Rob Spreng after riding with him for a little I passed him. He stayed close and we passed someone hiking in the trail and he told us that aid station 2 was only about 1-1/2 away. I popped out on to route 32 and got to the aid station first and grabbed and fresh bottle and something to eat. As I was heading up the road I looked back and someone was right on my tail. I had to look twice because it wasn't Rob anymore it was Nick and Rob was right behind him. The three of us headed up the road together and then when the trail headed down I just was spun out and they were out of sight.

Something else that happened very soon is when all the technical skills that I seemed to have disappeared. The trail was freshly cut and at some points it felt like I never rode a bike before. It didn't come soon enough but I came to the 3rd aid station and didn't even stop. But I felt allot more comfortable because this is where we got onto to the State Championship course which I've raced before. I heard someone saying that we would be riding Moon Rocks in the opposite direction. I was hoping that it was going to be a little more rideable in this direction. But I can found out quickly that I was wrong. But all I knew is that I had to be getting close to the finish and finally after 4 hours of riding there it was. Just like that it was over I finished 3rd overall and first SS .

It seemed to rain for the entire race but as soon as you finish and stop you get cold really fast. So I quickly headed to the car and got cleaned up and grabbed something to eat. I also decided to move the car to the other side of town so when Ruth finished she wouldn't have to ride as far. Just as I was parking the car I looked over and was surprised to see her riding down the street. What happened is Betsy and her both missed a turn early on in the race and had to back track and got to aid station after the cutoff and were sent down route 32 to the finish. We were hanging out under the tent and had some great food from Sirianni's Cafe and some awesome beer from Mountain State Brewing Co. That's when Gunnar and Betsy talked us into racing the Red Sled at the Month of Mud cycle cross race at Raccoon Park on Sunday. Stay tuned to see how it turns out. Thanks Blackwater Bikes

J

Month of Mud Part #1

Way back in the day my first bike race ever was a Month of Mud race at Brady's Run. Don't even remember where I placed but I do remember that I had a good time. So after lots of racing I still always try and put some MOM races on my to do list. Now that the Month of Mud is all grown up it even has it's own web site www.monthofmud.org Sunday kicked off with the time trial at Bavington, I think this format works great for the course. While I was waiting to go out I seen Shane go out maybe like third. I was very surprised to see him coming down the road that you cross over in the first mile. I thought maybe he was lost or something. But upon further inspection I seen he had I nice gash on his forearm. He went over the bars early and was coming back to get it fixed up hope you have a speedy recovery Shane.

Lately I've only been riding my SS so I decided to race it. It was my turn to go and I felt OK but no great. I don't ride at Bavington to much so I only remember some of the highlights. It seemed like I was riding fast but not to smoothly and was being pretty sloppy in the corners. When I crossed the road for the last time I knew the end was close. When I finished I looked at my time and it seemed a little bit shorter than last years. I finished first SS and 4th overall with a time of 40:43 only 16 seconds better than last year.

This weekend should be a good one too. Planning on going to the Revenge of the Rattle Snake on Saturday it's the last WVMBA Ultra of the season. Then Sunday off to the MOM cross race at Raccoon to test my cross skills. For some reason I like racing on back to back days the hardest of it for seems to be the traveling.


J

Peanut Butter Festival

(See attached file: pbf.jpg)
It's that time of the year again the days are getting shorter the leaves are starting to change. So here in Western PA that could only mean one thing it's time for bike racing season taking center stage with some great local events. Last week was the Tour De Strongland which didn't work out to well for me. The 14th annual New Bethlehem Peanut Butter Festival was on Saturday and the Month of Month starts on Sunday. In year past these races always seemed to be the last races of the year for but that has changed. I'm planning on racing cross in to early December and also have the La Ruta coming up quickly in November.


Not sure how many times I did the PBF race maybe 5 or 6. I really enjoy this race for lots of reasons it's close to home, has a pretty laid back atmosphere, I get to catch of with people I don't see to often, and there's not much going on in New Bethlehem so the Peanut Butter Festival always takes center stage. The course had a few changes for this year. The start had a longer stretch on the road to get an little more separation and some new single track was also added. As usual the start was fast and hard but I managed to be the first into the single track. I always seem to remember bits and pieces of the course and the new single track was nice. After coming out of the new single track I came to a very familiar section the tunnel. The only bad thing about coming to the tunnel was until this point in the race it was dry with only few small puddles. Then not long after that it was onto the long double track climb it's not steep but it seems pretty long. I was very surprised by how many puddles and mud bogs there were. When you finally get to the end of the double track that's when it gets steep. Up though a grassy field onto a road that seems like it's someone's driveway then across a black topped road onto a gravel road back into the woods. I knew I was getting close to the end when I got to the stream crossing behind the school. Then back onto the road for a short uphill finish. I was really shocked when I crossed the finish line and looked at my time 1:04:29. I was pretty happy with that time if I remember correctly my time from last year was about 1:15. Waiting at the finish I seen Ruth come across and seen she also won.


We got cleaned up and headed over to Gumtown Park for the festival and to get something to eat. This was also the final race for the Bike the Wilds series too. When my name was called I was very surprised because they announced that my time was the new course record. Not sure what the old record was but I was very excited to break it. More good news was to follow too I came in third in the Bike the Wilds series and Ruth was second. If that wasn't enough fun for the day I planned on riding home after the race. I've always talked about doing this but never did it was 58 miles and about 3:30 hours. I think 2 hours would have been prefect I seemed to struggle a little more than I wanted too for the last hour and a half. I just want to say thanks to everyone involved for the good time.

Check out all the action here www.pbfmtbrace.com and www.fattirechallenge.com Next year the rumor is the Bike the Wilds will be a five race series including the Dash for Cash

J