Friday, May 29, 2009

Senate Budget Proposal includes possible closure of some State Parks

Send some emails, people.

Some politicians want to close a bunch of State Parks and also roughly 20% of the forest road mileage in the state as part of budget cuts. Save our public lands for the public, not for private interests to profit from. If the roads close, you know the only people getting in could be the logging interests. If the state parks close, you know the next step could be to try to sell them to private interests for resorts.

DCNR press release

Story from yesterday

Go HERE to find out who your Senator and Reps are and send them emails. Include a reference to Senate Bill 850.

Lots of the parks listed are mountain biking destinations. Penn Roosevelt. Swatara. Greenwood Furnace. RB Winter. Colonel Denning. Fowlers Hollow. Just to name a few.

RIDE

Sunday will be at Mont Alto........Ride time 9am

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

FYI: found a tick

Hey everyone who rode at Mackey Run yesterday, just thought I would let you all know that I found a deer tick on my arm today. They are like the size of a pencil tip and are in the larval stage. This is the time when they transmit lyme disease so if you found any ticks, make sure you keep an eye on the site. If it becomes swollen or target like, go to the doctor and get a test. If you didn't check yourself; maybe have someone check you all over for ticks. I didn't even feel it and thought it was a blood blister on my arm (since I fell down so much). Anyways, just FYI.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Thanks Rob!
a great day

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Memorial Day Ride/Pool Party

Ride from my house followed by cook out/pool party (its heated). Please arrive by 9 so we can ride by 9:30. 10-15miles of Old Forge area trails. Bring a towel, bathing suit, and a food or drink item. If you need directions you can post your email or phone number in comments and I will respond. Or if like me you do not want to post contact info ask someone who knows like T, Dale, chuck , etc. assuming you have their email or number. I don't have everyones email or I would have sent invites out that way. Basically if we ride together your invited. Please rsvp in comments or to my email with what you are bringing so I can fill in the gaps. If the weather is bad watch the blog. If I don't post otherwise its on. See you Monday.

RIDE

Well it looks like poor T was the only one that left snakey alone and made it to the ride Sunday. Let's try Big Flat this Sunday and see who can get up on time and make the ride!! So 9am RIDE TIME. Thurs. as always 5pm Mont Alto

Monday, May 18, 2009

Thursday NIGHT ride.

Those of us that are getting ready for Big Bear are going to bring lights for the Thurs. night ride and drag the ride out until after dark. If you'd like to ride along bring your lights and your sense of adventure.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Bike trailer

Does anyone want to sell a bike trailer that can accommodate two children? I am hoping to find a used one or at least borrow one....call me Mrs. Mooch.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

RIDE

Thurs. 5pm Mont Alto
SUNDAY will be at the Water Shed. We will meet at the Sheetz on the corner of Rt66 & Rt 40. Meeting time will be 8am(wakee wakee get your hands off snakey). For those that live down there we will meet at the parking lot on Hamburg Rd. RIDE TIME 8:45AM!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Who is CBratt and what did he volunteer us for?

This was posted by someone who claims to ride a Spec Stumpy Pro 120 (or at least used to)

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=516465

RNR Rant

RNR = Ridable, Not Ridable

I got a late-night, post ride, post beers e-rant from a Michaux veteran yesterday. This person is also an experienced rock climber (I am not), and referenced the climbers etiquette, which I think means something like, don't f something up for other people. I know we have some climbers here who know what this means, but I think we all get the point anyways.

The gist of the e-mail is below, with some obvious edits:
[start rant]
Larry, I hate to hit you up like this but I am pretty f*****g p***ed that the main feature on [some new trail] has a major rock pile, and someone is filling in voids and building a ramp into a twelve inch high embedded rock.....,12 inches????? Its arguably the best 20 feet on the trail! The only people that have ridden that trail is MBM and cupcakes....., and you know the cupcakes wouldn't stoop to that level! There is still raking and rock work to be done on the trail but to take the main feature and f with it?????? This is after they basically needed a road sign to get them not to ride directly through the spring?????......[lots of stuff removed here] ..... Like I said , I am sorry to vent on you, but holy shit???? That's ridiculous! Maybe post trail etiquette on the blog to get riders to see the light like climbers?? .....I'm sorry,...its like people wanting to ride [a hard new trail in the Shed] and then creating cheater lines around it,.....which I have seen on [a hard new trail in SouChaux] going around the hardest parts...,....... Once again I'm sorry, I'll bring some extra beers at the next ride! or maybe we can get a photo shoot on this trail for your rideable/unrideable series!
[/end rant]

Everyone else: Feel free to vent and rant at any time to your Prezident Ego. See payment details above.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Tuesday Night 3MTTTTT

Donna and I are planning to host a mountain bike time trial on Tuesday nights at 6:00 from our house. This is meant to be a shorter, hard workout to get people ready for Big Bear and anything else they want. The idea was pulled together from our Stoney Creek Time Trials back in the day (preparing for Canaan and Snowshoe), the YBR Touch The Monkey Time Trials a few years ago, and, of course the old-school MBM Three Mile Trail Time Trials from years past. So we sat down and tried to figure out how we could do it in a way that would make it easy to actually hold them every week, with us as the organizers. The answer was to start from our house. We're lazy. And the idea just may well work.

The Stoney Creek course was the longest at 18 miles with a 3-mile climb, rocky descent, and rail trail TT return leg. The YBR Touch The Monkey course was across Shake-n-Bake, hard, hard right to LogSled, and climb back to the finish. Much shorter, but still with the good climb in it. And of course, the MBM Three Mile Trail course was simply 3MT. No road, all tech. We're taking elements of all three. The long climb and longer distance of Stoney, and the tech-fest of YBR TTMTT and MBM 3MTTT.

This could almost be thought of as kind of a race simulation over the same course each week.

The main course will be from our house and out Ridge Road to the beginning of 3MT. Yes. It's fireroad. But it's also a pretty steady climb the whole way out. Work it. Then the whole way through 3MT. This is the MTB techie section. Then back Ridge Road to our house again. Done.

If people so desire, they may opt into the second course option. After 3MT, instead of staying on Ridge Road, they would drop into Derailleur trail and ride that back to the house instead.

In both cases, it will be a mass start from the house. Everyone starts at the same time. There will be a timing sheet and a stopwatch at the house. As people finish, it is their own responsibility to log their own finish times. If someone arrives late and wants to do it, they simply record their start time and then try to chase down the group.

Then you can see how you improve from week to week.

People will need to decide what course they are doing at the start. Perhaps for the first week, we will all do the same course just to see how it works.

The main purpose of this is to supply a training tool and a set course that people can measure themselves against on a weekly basis. It will be much more focused than a typical weeknight ride.

But don't expect me to send out everyone's results every week. I may get that organized, but don't expect it. This was thought up as a tool for Donna and I to train and we want to invite anyone else that wants to show up. The more the merrier.

Who's interested?

Brett and Donna

Cancelled--Rocktober 2009--Cancelled


Kuhn has cancelled this race. http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=8253


The Mighty Mike Kuhn is putting on Rocktober again this year, May 16. He promises it is actually 100k this year instead of more like 75 miles, like it was last year. I think he was taking lessons from the G-burg mileage-o-meters last year!





Hit up High Speed Cycling for more info.





If you like rocks, this has rocks. Lots and lots of rocks.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

RIDE

SUNDAY will be mommy's day but we also must ride. Caledonia ride time 9am. Looks like it might be a wet and wild one but maybe not. Thurs. 5 pm

Thanks Uncle Don

Joeltrain, flying through the water stop on the leader's wheel

Trish (shorts), looking seriously serious on her way to 1st place. Lucky for her, there was no navigation and compass work necessary.

Mary Moon

One of the early-day MBMers, Lee Sornson, looking as whipped as I've ever seen The Mule.

SS Outlaw/MBMer Todd getting some more quality miles in

Brett, thanking one of the sponsors

Your course designer. He did it all for you,
and he did it fixed gear stylie

all photos stolen from Uncle Don's site here

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Maximus Results

They be here....

Good job everyone, including those that tried but DNF'ed and unfortunately aren't listed. I think they ought to list the DNFs in the results to show how many people actually attempted this race in these conditions.

There also seems to be a good bunch of pics over here....

Monday, May 04, 2009

Maximus


Does anyone know if it is safe to eat the mud in Michaux?



I guess we will find out

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Maximus - 3 Winners

Three MBM regulars won their class. "Super-fast" Joel kicked everyones ass in the 20miler with a single speed fully rigid with a time some where around 2.5 hours. Trish was Queen bee for the ladies and Matt showed the old guys how to ride a fast 10 miler. Many other MBMers braved the weather, finished strong and rode like it was a spring day.

The Race that Skinny Missed


Gettysburg knows how to run a race! For the technical challenge, they substituted mud for rocks. Mud is tough because your bike does not necessarily go where you point it, your bike gets heavier for the entire race and your wife may be hostile when you return home covered with mud. I have attached this year and last year's route. They certainly changed the second half of the race.

WUSSED OUT BECAUSE OF THE RAIN

Left my house this morning, with the bike, in the rain. Got to Caledonia, turned around, came home, berated myself, BUT DID NOT WHINE, while watching this guy..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o To those of you who raced today.... please post your race day adventures!