short but sweeeeet!

It's been good to just hit some trails as of late and sway from the competition. I go out for fun either way. Hit up some Michaux with a good crew last week for a long day. Rolled out to a race to hand out these with Buck. Some folks were appreciative and some should have never said "I'll get one next time!" The real winner of the event was Mr. Lange for making a maintenance stop before reeling in some competitors for a decent finish. Hitting up the Wilderness 101 this weekend before this whole summer comes to an end and I must return to the grind. I might have some tricks up my sleeve for this ride, but only the Dutch Eagle holds the secret microfilm that could infiltrate my plan! If anyone is heading to Coburn drop me a something, or I'll see you there.

the curse!

What can one say about riding in the Michaux Sate Forest. Probably that it will be some of the toughest terrain one has ridden. How about racing a 100K event on those trails? It will probably test your very limits of endurance and stamina upon your two wheeled vehicle. Yesterday was the second installment of the Michaux Endurance Series, The Curse of the Dark Hollow, a 100K race through the forest. The race start was at 7 am so camping was, is the only option, plus it is always a good time hanging out with others the night before the race. Seeing how it was a 100K, I started with a decent pace to get warmed up, but still stayed ahead of the traffic before hitting the tight-n-twisty. Working my way through some folks, I found myself with a group that I could ride a ways with, Buck, Topher and Old Man Withers. We rode for a while, passed a huge timber rattlesnake, before the Old Man had a flat. Bummer! The three of us pressed on riding and actually stayed together for 45 miles. That was the longest I have ever ridden with the same people in a race. On to the last 20 miles, the course was more fire road than we had hit before and I was feeling good, so I pushed it on the climb to three mile trail. In three mile trail is where I felt like I have never ridden technical before in my life. Buck ended up catching and passing me, and the last time we chatted was at the 50 mile aid station. Keeping a decent form, I pressed on to the sweet decent of dead womans to grave's ridge. Rolling at the bottom of grave's I saw another huge rattlesnake. This time I was just turning the pedals and didn't really notice that it was right next to my foot! Cruising through the last aid station it was hot as hell with a two mile climb between myself and the finish. Back up on the flats, I rolled through the parking lot to see people from the 10 and 25 mile races looking fresh. Every beer in their hands looked like the elixir I needed, but I made some turns and ended my day in 2nd place for the SS class and 8th overall with a time of 6 hrs 48 mins. Props to Harlan for putting it to Eatough with the fastest time of the day. It is definitely sad to here the misfortunes that others had throughout the day when everything seemed to go well for yourself, but that's the way it seems to be served up at Michaux. You never know!

BSC!

I have organized group rides in Jim Thorpe in the past that were based more on a small group of folks getting together to ride some trail and get a history lesson from the Dutch Eagle. This time I kind of just flowed some emails to see what would happen. What did happen was the largest, I counted 37 riders, group ride I have ever been on, let alone try and keep organized. If Def Leppard's tour bus rolled into the meeting spot with a one armed freeride bike on the rack I wouldn't have been surprised. The cast was allstar. The loop was epic. The overall mission was accomplished. To ride some trail in the summer heat. Thanks to everyone that showed, rode, and had a few cold ones. Did anyone ask Dean how he figured out how to use that cell phone? Hope to see some folks here this weekend.

thorpe -> lgp -> thorpe

There is no shortage of beauty in Northeastern Pennsylvania!

spank the monkey!

Yet another action packed, fun filled weekend of mountain bike racing and hanging with great folks in the books. This time I hooked up with the infamous DCCOD, I think it stands for Delaware Cyclists Confused Organized Departure, and headed down to the Quantico Marine Corp Base for the 12hrs of the Cranky Monkey. We had a big enough crew to almost cover a rider or team in every class. I, along with my trusty side kick Amy, comprised the Sooper Dooper Duo in the Coed Duo catergory. After arriving at Quantico man, we took off on a pre-ride of the course. Swoopy, climby, fast, and fun. I could not wait to rip it up! Unfortunately, one of our group members went down and ended up hurting his finger pretty bad and could not partake in the race itself the next day. After setting up our station, we all headed to the hotel for some food, beverage, and rest. At dinner, Rotten Rob, inducted the group into the newly dubbed Frank Zappa Kappa with fancy pink t-shirts. The Sooper Dooper Duo's race strategy was simple. Double up on the laps for a few rounds, then kick it back to singles for the rest of the day. We stuck to the plan and managed to pull out top honors in the Coed Duo class. Great job Wonder Woman! As for the rest of the FZK: Chris and Ethan pulled off 1st in SS Duo, followed by Bob and Buddy the Keg Breaker in 2nd in SS Duo. Rotten Rob, Fatmarc, and Diane got 2nd in the 3-person Open. Jan and Blair pulled out 2nd in the Masters Male Duo. Wes and Matt rolled out 1st for the Male Duo, with Wes having the fastest lap time. Levi bested the Solo class with Andrew not far behind in 5th and Fitzy hung with 5th in the Solo SS class. A big thanks goes out to Tom and Meghan for being the support for the entire day. With pink t's littering the podium I would say that the FZK spanked the monkey!

tonights forecast...dark!

In lew of lou, some must needed rest is required. It is tuff to do, but good for you. Future endevours! Nice stuff! Gettin' results! Dutch treats! See ya there! Return of the Jedi!

ERC

So you want to ride some singletrack?

slightly stoopid 50

State college riding is burley! Almost 50 miles of it, mostly singletrack, is dashingly strenuous. The good old 4-H camp was the hostess with the mostess once again for some epic riding/racing in the Penn Roosevelt/Rothrock Forests. The usual suspects were out in full force to lay it down on some of the most technical, shall I say rocky, terrain there was to offer. The mood was set on Saturday night, which it was almost too hard to stop drinking beer in order to rest up for the next days adventure. I guess that is part of the mistique of the 4-H camp. Needless to say, the race was going to be fun. Figuring on some aide stations, I rolled out with two bottles on the horse and one in the pocket. Quickly, on the first downhill, I realized why I should have put new bottle cages on my bike. After spending some time in the woods looking for the magical elixir, I got on my way. Perhaps another downhill or two could solidify the stronghold or lack there of, of my bottle cages. I pressed on moving through the woods on familiar trail and just staying hydrated the best I could bewteen water stops. After the second water station, on the third half of the race, I started to amp it up a little. Rolling through the final section of singletrack I was relieved to give my plush rigid fork a break from smoothing out the bumps all day, and was on my way to the coldest warm beer I was imagining for most of the ride. Rolling through the finish I had a time of 5hrs 9min. My traveling mate, Amy, rolled in with 6hrs 40min. Pretty sweet indeed! On terrain like that, anybody who stuck it out to the end is a true victor! Props go out to the jackass that didn't race and led his girlfriend in after she spent 9hrs out in the woods. He looked fresher than a peach!

WUWH

Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, Telling myself it's not as hard as it seems...

realtime

For more words and visuals on The Griz-viz, "X" marks the spot. Memo weekend was a blast!

mother nature's son

spring buds

Every spring, a gathering of off-road mountain cycling enthusiasts rendevous at the beloved 4-H camp in the Penn Roosevelt Forest. Pure and simple, this is the soul of our sport. Thanks Griz.

norwegian wood

Someday I will actually have a camera to accompany me on my exciting journeys. I could have a photo collage insted of tons of words and explanations. I could take some pictures of the nice woods coming alive in the spring. Mammals gathering, birds singing, rattlesnakes shakin' their tails. Some things that did strike me this time around was the badass loop that Elk and I rode in Thorpe on Saturday. It's hard to get bored with the network of trails here. So many ways to ride everything. I was truly grateful for the 9:30 pilsner break at the top of Pisgah. Thanks bro. Shortly after the ride ended I was about to throw in the towel, but upon further investigation, I gathered the essentials, and headed to French Creek for the MASS ride on Sunday. Meeting the gals, Val and Linda, and the Bean's for some pre-ride carb loading. The cabins were rustic, but better than the back of my truck, and the beer was tastey. So tastey the next morn was a bit ruff. Rolling to the start I was wondering how I was going to feel. After the start I was just glad to be sucking the wheel of the infamous "litterbug." Man that cat is strong! Trying to reel him in the whole day left me with a second place. Huber-1, litterbug-1. Oh well, at least I didn't spare on the fun the previous night or after the ride, but it was mother's day so I couldn't hang too long. Sorry! The ride home left me with a more efficient way home, no reception and a newly found car problem. Hmmmmm

maximus

I got to say it was a good day. The weather was beautiful, the course was epic indeed, and I was feeling very good. I settled into a nice pace to the top of "dead woman hollow." Cruising up the climb with Buck, he assured that we were at least in the top 4. I stopped to refuel and drop a liter, and got back on the horse. Rolling through the roads, duel tracks, and woods I caught back up with the Buck, with the leaders in sight to the entrance of the "three mile trail." I stopped to refuel, quickly, for the last time, chugged some High-Life, and we hit the singletrack. Making some turns we caught up with Timmy D, but unfortunately he was fixing a flat. Making a few more turns we caught up with the leader. Some burley dude, that according to Buck, was seen litering on the trail. We both agreed that the liter bug should not win, but this guy could rip it up on the duel tracks. The three of us rode to "rattlesnake ridge," were Buck and I both blew by the burley guy on the downhill. Realizing that there was probably some duel track before the end of the race, we started pushing hard on the singletrack. Making a few turns, the race started to come together with riders from the shorter loops, but there was no real traffic. At this point, I was feeling strong enough to crank it up to the finish. Fully rigid, fatty smile, first place finish. Some people did not have such good fortune, which I always hate to hear, when mother nature comes through with such a nice day to ride. Results from the race can be checked out here. On another note, it's time to dig in and help out some people that really need support. Team Bury the Dragon is sponsoring a "bike gear" raffle to raise money for the HERA Women's Cancer Foundation. 100% of the proceeds of the raffle are being donated. Show some support for a great cause by clicking here to make a donation.

mellow velo

Thankin' the southerners for hitting the JT trails on sunday. Check it out here and there. Now it's time to get busy.

2-day

extra donuts?

I could not wait till friday. A sweet three day weekend, and a roadie to Virginia for the first race of the year, for me, and the Baker's Dozen Endurance Event. I was stoked on the fact that I had never raced an endurance race before, and was also getting out of town for the weekend. I threw a bone out with some flesh left on it and the Dutch Eagle swooped down to join me on my trip. We packed the Blazin' Blazer, hit the grocery store, and "blazed" on down to VA on a beautiful April the 20th. Got there early enough to hit the register and get a lap in before it was time to hunker down. The race was on an old farm with huge mounds of cow shit lurking about. Waking the next day, there was definitily more people showing up and the weather was crystal. Rolling around I ran into some friendly faces and new it was going to be a good day on the bike. The start of the race was interesting. People blasting off the front. Me being a good sport, I joined in for a little to warm my legs up, but indeed it was going to be a long day in the saddle for me. I settled into a good pace and rode strong. I kept a good flow, only taking quick breaks to refuel. Being such a nice weekend the folks rolled down to hangout and do some antique shopping in the area. My mom never saw me race and was really excited. She was urging me to keep eating, cause my body needed it. She was right. As the night fell, I conitnued riding with great form and was hoping I wouldn't slide out on some bigass pile of cow shit that seemed to be harder to see at night. Also, the Jaeger swillin' Dutch Eagle was keeping me on my toes with his Col. Angus anticks. I rode my ass off and ended up just out of the loot, 4th place, in the solo singlespeeder class, but did walk away with a sweet raffle prize. Some badass 07 XTR shifters that will look better for sale on ebay than they would on my bike. In traditional fashion, a bunch of fellow racers and event organizers drank by a huge bonfire till the wee hours of the night to recover from the long ride. Looking at the sky, a nice falling star sealed the fact that I did ride strong for my first race and am looking forward to more rides in the coming months. They might be called races, but its all about riding your bike.

verbage

I'll piece it back together after the weekend. It's looking like a nice one, so enjoy it!

cony-bloom-cony

There is always a calm before a storm. So they say. Yesterday proved to be somewhat calm compared to the weather in NEPA as of late and the weather on the way. The plan is to leave Werner's in Conyingham, ride to Bloomsburg, and stake out some different terrain on the return trip. The group was small with myslef, Werner, and Dean. We headed out around 11. The day could not have been any sweeter. Rolling smoothe we hit Bloom about 40 or so miles in. We decided to skirt around the town and head back east. On the return trip we hit the town of Nuremburg. Sounding like the name of a Nazi concentration camp, we agreed that the ovens were probably broken at the pizza joint, and headed down the mountain to have one of the greatest hoagies in NEPA. At least the wrapper said so. After refueling we headed towards some more beasts and psuedo-beasts. Climbs. When road riding in NEPA most of the ride is climbing of some sort. Cruising back up tower road on the backside, safety breaks insuede, and we descended towards the valley. We rolled the valley for some time heading towards the final climb of the day, Nescopek Mtn. At about 65-70 miles in this climb was going to be fun. Reaching the base of the climb is a climb in itself. After hitting the top we rolled back to Conyingham with just shy of 80. Seizing the day was achieved. Now, time for some rain. Happy Spring!

today is the big 29!