Beginner ride recap

We spun up 233 to this great beginner trail Chuck had in mind....
The girls took to it like ducks to water.

Chuck stressed the need for proper riding gear.... a good helmet being first and foremost

We made sure to steer clear of potentially frightening spots that might scare off beginner riders.

All kidding aside, this was a super fun ride, thanks for coming Tricia and Cathy. Oh and you too Tender Lips.

Sunday March 29th Ride

Hey, posting this Sunday's ride for the Chief. He's busy doing something else.... We'll meet at Caledonia @ 9:00am. A request has been made to ride 'Secret Trail'.

Friday easy ride

Cathy Large says:
From Caledonia at 5:00. Meet at the parking lot at the corner of 30 and 233. Plan to ride for a few hours. Chuck's leading, so there's your grain of salt!

We'll do what the group wants to do and we'll ride at their pace. Nothing too hard or challenging on this ride. Friday rides are for fun!

Another Tour de Cure MTB Charity Ride Post

Posting up for Donna:


Hey everyone! I’m feeling pretty pathetic about now…I only have 2 people on my team (and I’m one of them)! Please sign up and ride with me and Chris! You can do a road ride on Saturday OR the new 16 mile mtb loop at Big Flat on Sunday---or BOTH!

Early registration is $15 until April 6 and you are only obligated to raise $150. Our team goal is $750, so once we reach that it’s all good!

Go here to join the team:
http://main.diabetes.org/goto/MBM

Click on “Join Team” (it should say I am the team captain)The link for the map of the mountain bike course is below – Click “Mountain Bike Challenge”

Ride with us on May 30 - 31, 2009!
Yellow Breeches Middle School
Registration & Fund-Raising InformationOur early bird registration fee of $15.00 will be in effect until April 6, 2009. After that, your registration fee will be $25.00. All cyclists must raise the minimum of $150 to participate, in addition to the registration fee, unless you are on a team; the team minimum is $750. Registration fees do not count towards the fund-raising minimum and are non-refundable and non-transferable.
For more information, call 1-888-DIABETES or Contact Us.

Event InformationCome and join cyclist and spinners that will come together for our first two day event in Central PA. New this year we will have a Mountain Bike Challenge being held on day two near Pine Grove Furnace. This is still in the planning stage, but it promises to be an exciting addition to our event.

Whether you are a beginner or avid cyclist, there is a route for you. Road routes from a 25K to a 100K will be supported with rest stops, SAGS and communications. There will also be a 9K family ride for the young ones to participate.

Having no bike is no excuse. Going on in the gymnasium will be our second spin-a-thon. We will have 25 spin bikes and a motivated instructor to lead the classes. If you choose to participate in the spin, you be contacted by a volunteer to reserve a bike for one of the four planned sessions.
When you have completed your ride or spin session, a hot meal, music, and a massage will be provided.

Day two will be the Mountain Bike Challenge being held at Michaux State Forest. The route length is 16 miles. It will have one rest stop and a cutoff time to reach the rest stop. This is not for beginner riders. There is a lot of single track, with obstacles of rocks and logs and climbing. Safety is paramount. A map of the route can be seen by clicking below.

Distance Check-In Start Time
100K (Day 1) 7:00 8:00
50K (Day 1) 8:00 9:00
25K (Day 1) 9:00 10:00
9K Family (Day 1) 9:30 10:15
Spin-a-thon (Day 1) 7:30 8:15, 9:30, 10:45, 12:00

Mountain Bike Challenge (Day 2) 9:00 Show & Go

****Please consider making a donation if you are unable to ride! THANK YOU!! J
Registration & Fund-Raising InformationOur early bird registration fee of $15.00 will be in effect until April 6, 2009. After that, your registration fee will be $25.00. All cyclists must raise the minimum of $150 to participate, in addition to the registration fee, unless you are on a team; the team minimum is $750. Registration fees do not count towards the fund-raising minimum and are non-refundable and non-transferable.
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=5580

Bendersville ride tuesday 3/24

I will be doing a ride from Bendersville parking lot tomorrow at about 11am.I have to stop at g-burg bike shop on the way.My plan is to ride about 16miles on the sport loop at a beginner pace.I will wait where needed.I expect this ride to be 3 to 4 hrs.Bring food drink and bike supplies.Temps should be mid to upper 40s.For anyone who does not know the trails.The trails are not beginner trails.There will be lots of rocks, single or double track and a few fire roads.Feel free to call my cell if you want.717 479 3080.Try to call before 10am if possible.I loose signal around biglerville.Dennis

differences...

Four MBMers and a couple of interlopers hit up the GW National Forest today for a dose of southern rock.
Every trail is on the map, color blaze listed. They all have names, numbers, signs, and are blazed on the trees.

The George Washington/Jefferson Nat'l Forest is 1.8 million acres. Michaux is 85,000 acres. There are over 400 miles of trail.

One of the trails we rode today was used in the Revolutionary War. Many of the others were built by the CCC (if you're reading this blog and don't know who the CCC are, you should really look it up). All mountain bikers in the US owe them a huge thank you.

No one builds their own bootleg trail in the GW. People don't build features and stunts, the trail is plenty technical and tough enough as is. Dumbing down these trails also isn't an issue in the GW. Why bother, there are 400 miles, and they're all about the same high difficulty level.

Though they're all named, blazed, and mapped, no one could ever say the trails are buffed out manicured like Raystown. You could say the GW is the anti-Raystown.

Not a single mile will ever be lost to logging (there are other threats).

There a lots of differences between this National Forest and the Michaux State Forest Not all of them have to stay differences.

JoeP at the end of the 30-minute hike-a-bike

waiting out flats numbered 1-3

DKeg loved the Veach Gap trail so much he kissed it and left a gift for the tooth fairy.

maps here

Many of you might not be aware that every single trail in Michaux SF is already on a map. There is also a guidebook from a decade ago which has some Michaux trails in it, written by a founding MBM member. You can also add to the above the race maps, old USGS quad sheets, the State Park maps, the Buck Ridge map, Google Earth, software like Topo!, and rider's own GPS tracks.

There's a bigger point to this, which really shouldn't be discussed out in the open here. It could all be very different in 2-3 years. How different depends in some part on how important DCNR, and our local District, view us mountain bikers.

We might need some real meetings. It's clear we have some very strong interests.

As Anonymous pointed out in the comments on the other post.
Do not ride what was known as Community Service from the overflow parking lot. There is no trail there.

Mapping Michaux

A somewhat heated discussion started on the MTBR forums regarding trail work, 'improvements', and the overall master plan of what our vision is for the trails of Michaux. The discussion centers around a few people modifying trails that other people were perfectly happy to ride as-is.

I'm not sure of our exact current roster numbers, but MBM represents at least 60 area riders who are passionate about the Michaux State Forest trail network and who have committed to its upkeep.

I think the time has come to make our trail network a bit more formal. I propose we organize a working group to include DCNR, club members from MBM and other area riding groups (YBR?) to sit down and establish a long term vision for the Michaux trail network. I would like to see this group tasked with mapping the trails, grading the difficulty of trails, and marking trail heads. I would like to see these maps available at the popular trail heads around the forest and made available to emergency personnel.

I also see the need to mark certain trails as appropriate for beginner riders; a place where we can introduce friends to the sport without destroying them on log crossings and rock gardens. In concert with this, many trails can be marked as expert level to discourage 'dumbing-down' obstacles that we have come to expect when riding Michaux.

Let's make this happen.

RIDE

Hey All
Thurs. Mont Alto 5pm try to get ride in before darkness. I'm afraid of the dark. Sunday will be at Pine Grove. Will do the old race course. Meet at the furnace parking lot. Ride time 9am

Mashots

Real Men of MBM

new MBMer Jim knows this rock well

Skinny, playin' nice and not passing over the rock line

Alicia Styer, future of our sport

RIDE

Sunday if your not doing the Mash there will be a ride at Old Forge. We will do the classic ride. No Mackey Run. Ride starts at 9am. But than at the Mash it sounds like Buc is riding Mary Moon and Mooch is going to watch to see if he can borrow something. Anyone have an extra leg he can borrow?

Friday Mooch-free ride at Mont Alto 4:30

Easy ride from Mont Alto Friday at 4:30. We'll do some easy climbing (fire roads?) and then hit some trails to come back down. Cathy and I are doing the Michaux Mash on Sunday so we want to save some energy. Oh, yeah. Cathy's doing the Chambersburg Half Marathon on Saturday as a warm-up! No lights needed for Friday!

Another Last Call . . .

If you haven't supported Tomi McMillar, get off your arses and go vote to send the useless bum to the Breck Epic.

From Tomi:

"hey, yeah, it's me again....being shameless, being a pain in your ass.
This will all be over in five days.

just got a fresh vote tally for the Breck Epic contest....
good news! With your help, I've bumped up to third from fourth!!!!

But, it is tight.
Here's the tally:

Dicky: 2526
Jen H: 2060
Tomi: 2021
Luke W.: 1889
Ryan D: 1782

Now, while I doubt I'll close the gap to Rich, I'd sure like to be more secure
in the standings.....so PLEASE GO VOTE AGAIN!!!!, if your IP reset, you
can probably access the survey page again, I know I've been able to....from
both work and home....Also maybe try hitting the "vote" link from various other
entrants profiles, sometimes that will also let you thru.

Direct link: www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fSyN8trcRItHWo9YXQBfjg_3d_3d
Voting is open until Midnight on Monday the 16th.

Also, please, if you have a bloggy thing or website,
would really appreciate any further pimping you can do between now and then.

Teachers....if you have computer lab access, and a few extra minutes....

thanks kids,
Tomi"

Last Call....

Pre registration for the Michaux Mash closes tonight, at....just around midnight....Brown Sugar!

Sorry. The Stones song popped into my head.

Anyway--go register if you haven't!

If you don't plan to race, then carry on with your usual activities. If you are racing, I'll be there to laugh at you.

There's been some good drying action going on this week on the ridge tops. If the weather holds, should be nice conditions on Sunday.

Tuesday Night Road Races

Nathan and Ship Cycling are doing weekly training races. From Nathan:

The ride now begins 5:30pm. Meet at the corner of High and Airport…

http://shipcycling.blogspot.com/2008/12/introducing-tuesday-night-races.html

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/tuesday-night-races-route-1

If you’re driving, there is plenty of parking at the Southhampton Township Park, a little over a mile west of the intersection of Airport and High on Airport Road (the park is actually on the northwest corner of Airport and Neil—see the map from the link above). Easy access from the freeway (Walnut Bottom Rd. exit) or, if you’re coming over the mountain from Gettysburg, from Shippensburg Rd.

Now…there’s some chance of moisture tomorrow afternoon, but weather.com tells us there’s only a 40 percent chance of showers. That means there’s as much as a 60 percent chance of GREAT WEATHER! So plan on coming. It’ll be fun.

(Please pass the word on—meaning forward this email—to whomever… The more the merrier. If we have more that 10 riders—and there’s a good chance of that—a we’ll likely send two groups, giving the faster group a handicap of 2-3 minutes.)

ng

Saturday ride?

I won't be able to make it to Sunday's ride because I'll have family in town. Is anyone up for a Saturday morning or early afternoon ride? I was contemplating going north from Caledonia, but am open to suggestions.

Thursday ride 5pm at Mont Alto

Mooch, Clown and The Big Log will be riding from Mont Alto on Thursday. Not sure what trails we'll do but I bet we skip Ass Crack. Email me or post here if you need a light. I have one spare. DirtyGirlMaggot???

Chuck

Grand Opening May 8-10

You should not want to miss this

RIDE

Sunday ...Mont Alto......Ride time 9am................Don't forget to spring ahead Sat. night!!!!

Name needed

Sandie works hard for the money at the Snotcycle race!

So now she needs a better screen name than "Sandie". Let's help her out. Who has some ideas? I'm sure Mooch and Clown can come up with something.

FS Titus RX-1

For Sale, 2008 Titus RX-1, Medium. Fox fork and shock. Never been off-road, only test ride in parking lot.

MSRP is $2699. $1800 or best offer takes it

More pictures here

Email me for the Specs dkegley@gmail.com