Demo

Hey all
I was in Washington Street bicycle and Jody told me that Trek and Gary Fisher will be having a demo ride at Gambrill March 16th. I'm not sure were at Gambrill but I will find out.

ride

Sunday will be at Mont Alto at 9 am.

Baker's Dozen and Off-Road Duathlon

A couple interesting, early-season happenings in Virginia. Don't shoot me, but, I'm hoping there's still snow in Michaux in early April :)

A 13-Hour race not too far south of here (Leesburg, VA)
The sponsor's site here.

CycleFest Duathlon (Fairfax, VA)
I know a few MBM folks have ridden this place (Wakefield Park). And I can certainly vouch for the high grin factor there, especially, with all the new IMBA-built bermed singletrack and rollers. Similar to the Marysville courses.

RIDE

I rode Caledonia Tues afternoon and things were good on blue trail up to Long Pine. Rode Yellow ridge back to the park. South side of mountain all the snow and ice are gone. Sooooooooo this Sunday will be at Caledonia at 9am.....

Epic stage racing anyone?

Call me crazy, but I'm actually considering this race, the Brian Head Epic, in late August. Is there anyone else out there crazy enough to do this with me? It looks like it will be about 280 miles over 4 days with around 70-80 miles of that on singletrack.

Morgan

Annual Meeting & Ride

RIDE

Well with the snow and all we will be at Mont Alto once again. When the weather breaks we will be riding every where but Mont Alto so hang in there .
Time 9am

Pennsylvania Mountain Bike Summit

From our friend Frank Maguire in State College. I guess we ought to send some peeps to this. Anyone interested? I hope it isn't the same weekend as the first Michaux race?? Kinda hard to tell from the RaceMichaux site now.

Pennsylvania Mountain Bike Summit

OK, OK, so it has been tried before, but now more than ever it seems important for mountain bikers in Pennsylvania to get organized. There has been some chatter on PA forum at MTBR.com about this as well. And being organized doesn't need to be a top heavy structure with no fun allowed. What is probably needed is a means of communication and better coordination between clubs and land managers.

Why is this important? For one thing, the PGC is about to roll out their program for allowing mountain bikers back into State Game Lands. The draft proposals for this change would require a local club to "adopt" a game lands trail and agree to maintain the trail using recognized trail maintenance standards. It is important that information on the various points of this can be shared, leading to more successes and more trails to ride.

In addition to the PGC, State Parks are looking at expanding their bike access. Right now, trails in State Parks are closed unless posted open, making it much easier for a land manager to avoid appearing to be the bad guy for not allowing bikes. There is a push going on right now in Harrisburg to expand recreational opportunities, with bike facilities being pretty high on the list.

To this end, we here at the Nittany Mountain Bike Association, in conjunction with IMBA, have reserved a camp in the Rothrock State Forest here in Centre County for the weekend of May 9-11 for a "Pennsylvania Mountain Bike Summit." The purpose of this is to meet in person and discuss our opportunities to work together in improving access throughout the state, and have some fun riding the awesome trails in Rothrock while we're at it. The discussion will be facilitated by Ryan Schutz, IMBA's new grassroots advocacy consultant.

The camp is reserved from Friday through Sunday. The plan is to have our "meeting of the minds" on Saturday evening, but plan to make a ride weekend of it. RSVP to frank@mtnittanywheelworks.com and please use "PA Summit" in the subject line. Questions can be addressed to either Frank or Kevin (mtbiker11@juno.com).

Recap:
What: PA Mountain Bike Summit
Where: Rothrock State Forest,
When: May 9-11
Who: Anyone who wants to improve mountain biking in PA. Mulitple representatives from the same club is not a problem. The 4H camp can has room for 100 people camping, the meeting hall will hold about 50.
Why: Why not?

Michaux race series site hacked!

Anyone try to visit the www.racemichaux.com site lately? It looks like its been hacked and fugged up by some idiot. I assume the guys at G-burg cycles already know it, but I sent them an email anyway. Jackweed hackers.

Ride

Well lets do Mont Alto one more time this Sunday, 9am.

Sunday ride

This sunday will be at Mont Alto @9am. The MBM meeting will be at Witters after the ride!

Ride

Hey all
How about Mont Alto this Sunday at 9Am. With the weather the way that it is we might keep it at Mont Alto for awhile.

woops

Since I can't ride this Sunday again I think someone has to watch Seeber. I think I know what happened last Sunday. He can ride the tough stuff but since he got that new jack in the box seat post I think when he was going down the steep stuff he hit the button on his seat post and it ejected him. Have fun and hope to see you all next ride. Feb 3rd will be at Mont Alto and after the ride there will be a MBM meeting at Witters. Mark that on your planners.

ride

Sunday at Caledonia at 9am

Sunday MBM Ride

Yesterday we had a big turnout for the Sunday ride from Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Joel, Chris, Chuck, Big E, Larry, Martin, Morgan, Sue, Sally, Steve, Dave and two other MORE friends from DC/MD, a couple of others I can't recall, and me. I became default ride leader as we headed out on Community Service Trail.

Larry and Martin had taken Joe and some other MD friends out the day before and commented on the heavy ATV traffic - so my plan was to stay NW of 233 on the singletrack and avoid ALL of the ATV(multi-use) trails which would most likely be mud holes. This meant not riding Grave Ridge, but gaining Lewis Rocks and Rattlesnake.

Shortly after we crossed 233 I suffered a ride-ending derailleur hanger break that sent my rear derailleur through my spokes and seemingly destroying the tensioning spring in the pulley cage. After removing and dismantling it and saying goodbye to the whole group I thought I could maybe spin the whole thing around. Turns out it had been spun 360 by the stick resulting in complete spring detensioning. Viola! I had a functional rear deraileur (kudos to XTR). Larry was the only person left as he was answering nature's call. I told him I was back in the game and he stayed to help remount the deraileur and adjust the cable. I was hesitant to attempt shifting until we caught back on to the group so I was pushing a 33x16. Finishing the singletrack out to Woodrow we found ourselves alone. I sort of figured the group would be waiting here for Larry. The original plan as discussed was to climb Stairway to Heaven and then ride Lewis Rocks around to Rattlesnake. I figured we could climb Woodrow to the last switch back and cut across Jakes Trail to Stairway near the top and beat everyone there. Plan accomplished we sat at the top of Stairway for a while then I began to think that the group might be waiting somewhere for Larry. Larry opted to stay and wait on the trail and I rode down Stairway and back out to Woodrow, finding no one, I climbed back up Woodrow, across Jakes again, and regrouped with Larry. At this point, I figured two things: first, that the "we want to ride Grave Ridge" vote had won out over the "it's going to be an ATV mudfest" vote; and second, that they had left Larry for dead. The latter was because anyone that knows Larry knows that he wouldn't be walking his fully functional bike back to the car with me unless perhaps - I was hurt.

We rode Lewis all the way out to the rocks, then hit Rattlesnake, the corkscrew, and the trails down by 233, crossed over and started back Community Service where we caught many from the original group and fellow MBM'er Emory on a solo ride. At the end of CST I repaired a broken chain while Larry and a downhiller from DC gave J-hopping lessons.

We learned the group had indeed left Larry for dead, went to ride Grave Ridge, found that the trails were muddy, met some ATVs, split up - with some doing Dead Woman's and 3 mile trail and the others heading back.Steve had crashed on Grave Ridge so hard that he got a nosebleed and yet was able to finish the ride. Larry and I ended up logging 20 miles at what seemed a rather brisk pace.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 4:20:57 12:44 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:58:12 8:41 pace
Distance (mi ) 20.48
Moving Speed (mph) 6.9 avg. 24.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +3,157 / -3,157

All told it was a great day for riding in Michaux.

We ran into former pro racer friend in the parking lot who had been riding in Southern Michaux and commenced rehydration while playing around on some picnic tables.

Later we headed up to Brett's beautiful mountain home off of Ridge Road for some refreshments, indoor climbing, and small batch brews from Troegs and Brooklyn.

RIDE

This Sunday will be at Pine Grove Furnace at 9AM 01/13/08

ride

Hey
This Sunday will be at Mont Alto @9am. See I can still get in this thang and use it!!!

MBM has a State Champion!!!

Joel Moats recently won a PA Cyclocross State Title.

Below is his race report.

Congratulations Joel!!!!

PA State Championships/Wonderland Cyclocross---Lancaster,PA

Way before the alarm went off, I awoke realizing that today was the last race of the 2007 cyclocross season. I lay thinking of earlier races, rolling the highlights over in my head. Thinking that I hadn’t really had that race where everything came together. There were some good races, like Granogue and Wissahickon and there was a few I would rather forget---Fairhill CX. Recalling last years race at this venue in Lancaster, I began making mental laps of the course until it was time to rise and shine, and begin the Prerace Ritual.
I picked Nathan Goates up in Shippensburg and after some ice dancing , we headed to Lancaster County. I had heard from a co-worker , that Lancaster didn’t get any snow.------WRONG.--------We arrived to see the course covered with about an inch of icy slushiness with temps in the upper thirtys. I new right then the technically skilled racers would have the upper hand. As I readied my bike and body for the pain train, the early races turned the course into a brown quagmire. “Definitely going with the Mud 2’s at about 28 psi.”We yelled as Cathy Large raced to a 2nd Place Overall and Silver Medal for the PA State Championship in the B Women category.
After a pretty good warmup session on the trainer, one tall dark, half a can of Monster Energy drink, half a powerbar and a bottle of Cytomax, I made my way to the start area. I stripped off all the layers down to the skinsuit and arm warmers, the Icy-Hot finally steaming “hot” after an hour. There were no call-ups and attentively , I got a good start position amidst the 17 entries for the B Men contest.. Sitting on the top tube several minutes waiting for the official, I really wanted to get on with it. My “dangling carrot” was 2 positions to my left, we are in the front row. The plan was to try to hang with him……….
The whistle blew and off we went. I was in one too hard a gear and didn’t get the jump I normally get out of the start and ended up around 6th or so into the first turn. In which some knucklehead darn near took out my front wheel. As we got to the muddier off-camber section, I made some passes by keeping down close to the trees and hopping the log that was obviously left there on purpose.The next turn and straight were rideable but way faster to run---keep in mind this is flat ground with 4 inches of mud. Next came a rideable turn into a straight section with a set of barriers. At this point my heart rate is thru the roof and breathing is fast and furious, but I’m hanging with my carrot…….the rest of the race is a blur of numb feet, searing pain, mud, sand, and trying to stay upright…..Until I realize I’m in 4th.I passed into 3rd on a sweeping, off-camber right that led into a sharp climb into a set of barriers.After that stuck, I set sights on 2nd place(my “dangling carrot”) and started gaining on him. I’m riding the sand pit and gaining a couple seconds each time.Two laps to go and I’m within 5 seconds! Now I’m really pushing it---Michelin’s barely hanging in the turns---------I thought “Don’t’ want to go down now!” Ten seconds later-------too much rear brake and I’m on my can. The “carrot” must have seen me go down, because he has opened up an attack and added 15-20 seconds to his lead. Back on and still charging, we get the bell lap and I give it as much stick as I can --whenever I can. Once again I started to close the gap, but there was not enough turf left to catch him. I pushed on to the line were I was met with applause and the “carrot” saying, “Way to go dude, you got the State Championship.” Turns out 1st place was from Delaware and “the carrot-Chad” is from New Jersey.
That is my story of how blind pigs do find an acorn now and then.-----------Joel Moats

Upcoming Rides

Friday, Dec. 28 - Mont Alto @ 9 a.m.

Sunday, Dec. 30 - Old Forge @ 9 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 1 - Caledonia @ 9 a.m. (hangovers welcome!)

Trail Work

Hey!! I think I got this thang worken. Thanks Paul. Paul and I got turtle open also.

Mont Alto Trail Update 12/24/07

I went for an early morning solo ride at Mont Alto today. Cut open some more stuff. Things are really starting to get back to normal. Also talked to Curt Finney in the parking lot and he's been doing a ton of clean up work also.

An update to the trails post below:

Four Logs - open
Lower Charcoal Hearth - open
Upper Buckets - open
Lost Creek - open
Wayne's Highway - open
Wayne's Trail - open
The Shelf - open

Also ran into Joeltrain, Paul Doty, and Bucksexy out for a ride. It was good to see Chuck back on his bike, and recovering quickly after his dreams of playing in the NBA were cut short...

Trail Update

Yes indeed, there are some big trees overturned at Mont Alto!

Well, things are shaping up in the Michaux State Forest. Most of the damage was in the drainages near water so areas like Park Trail and the Narrows were pretty rough. Still lots of work to do but here is the latest:

Caledonia
Upper Connector - open
Lower Connector - ?
Breast - totally open
Abigail - bottom open, upper section likely ok
Lollipop - ?
Camp I - ?
Camp II - ?
Camp III - ?
Camp IV - ?
Stinger - ?
Wildcat - ?
Yellow Ridge - ?
Blue Trail - ?
Secret (sssssh) - ?
Ditch - ?
Canada Hollow - ?

Mont Alto
Park Trail (top part above picnic area - open
Park Trail (bottom section) - ?
TV/Cable line to Narrows - open
Heaven or Hell - open
Middle Narrows - open (need to move cut logs)
Upper Narrows - open (one big log remains at bottom-don't remove!)
Lower Buckets - open
Lee's Rocks - open
Upper Buckets - ?
Charcoal Hearth - ?
Waynes Trail - ?
Waynes Highway - ?
Turtle - unknown, likely not open at bottom
Black Andes - open to Buckets, upper unknown
The Shelf - ?
Sawmill - ? (top part was logged before storm and is in bad shape)
Crumble - ?
Four Logs - ?
Col. Weistling - logged
Spooge - logged
Sweeper - ?
Short ripper - ?
Upper Hearth - ?
Fire Tower - ?
Curran - ?
Raccoon Run - ?
Lost Creek - ?

Old Forge
Rocky Ridge - ?, Travis Coldsmith was working there today
Larry, Moe, Curly - ?
Stick - probably pretty bad
Soggy Bottom - ?

Pine Grove Furnace
Look for an update from YBR soon.
Heading out the Narrows after a few hours of trail-clearing in the rain. Look for good things, some trails will actually be improved by the required re-routes.

Christmas Eve Day Mtb Ride @ Mont Alto

Hello and Happy Holidays.
I'll be riding at Mont Alto tommorow 12/24/07 @ 1000 am.
It's going to be a good day to ride.
See you there?

Joel Moats

Mont Alto cleanup

Bruce Kessler, Morgan Styer, Steve Seeber and I went up to Mont Alto this morning to ride and see what kind of clean up needs to be done after last weekend's ice storm. Our hopes of ridng were quickly snuffed out. The place looks like a war zone. There are trees down everywhere, even across Staley Road.

Portions of the Park Trail need to be rerouted due to trees being uprooted. There are just large craters where the trail used to be.

Thanks to Bruce's chainsaw and our other wood cutting weapons we were able to reopen all of Lower Buckets. It took us about 3.5 hours just to get that done! It's going to take awhile to open all the trails around Mont Alto if the damage we saw today is spread throughout the area.

Chainsaw?

I attempted to ride Mont Alto today but wasn't even able to finish Parking Lot trail before throwing in the towel due to all the down trees. The Ice and wind storms from last weekend have left the place a mess. There are probably a 1/2 dozen trees blocking the first section of parking lot trail. I didn't venture up the mountain any farther so I'm not sure what it looks like up there. I think that this will call for some trail work days over the winter to clean it all up. Chainsaws would be of help if anyone has any.

Night Ride Fever

Michaux's winter Tuesday night rides have begun. Powerful lights, warm clothes, and advanced riding abilities are a must! Every Tuesday throughout the winter at 6pm - email or comment for details. To give you a rough idea - we ride up Connector, up Abigail, back Camp 2 and Camp 1 (backwards) down Lollipop in the dark during snowstorms. Great trails, great times, suit-up and come out.

There are also indoor winter training rides in Chambersburg on Tuesdays & Thursdays; and, of course, regular Sunday morning MBM rides; again, email for details.

Cheers.

Sunday Ride - 12/2

Old Forge State Forest Picnic Area @ 9am

Buck Season

PA Buck Season has begun (Nov. 26-Dec. 8) so please be careful out there !!!!!

Grave's Ridge Ride - Thanks Dale!

Here's to you Mr. Fitzsimmons!

For leading an excellent Grave's Ridge ride today! It was a big MBM ride with several other fun-loving local riders joining in. At the start of the ride we were somewhere near 18 riders! I haven't seen numbers like that in quite awhile. Must have been the warm weather that brought 'em all out (ha!).

I don't know the trails around Pine Grove to give a good "play by play" of the ride, but I can say we rode some great trails today. There was even some residual snow from the little cold snap we've been having. Ride was about 3 1/2 hours long.

Thanks again Dale for leading us all around the woods today and not losing anyone.

Sue - I can't wait to try the new Fox RP23 that Mike is buying you after the "stuck down" incident today :)

Ride Report: The not-so-secret Secret Trail

Riders: Chuck Bucksneezy, Don Pagano, Brian Kane, Dale Fitzsimmons, Jason McConnell, Dan Summers, Rick Michael, Sue Witter, Chris Bratthauar



What a day for a ride in the woods! The trails were in good, fairly dry condition after last weeks much needed rainfest. Yesterday's windy weather really helped dry out the trails.


The crew rolled out of the parking lot a little after 9 and headed out on the park trail regrouping on Staley Road. I've been contemplating picking up a singlespeed hardtail as a low maintenance bike to ride in the winter. Luckily, the climb up the cable TV line punched me in the face and reminded me once again that I'm not worthy of such a rig. Of course Pagano made me feel really bad by leading the group up this trail on his singlespeed 29er...


At the top of the trail it was an easy spin down 233 to Racoon Run trail. This gnarly, rock garden filled trail was enjoyed by all. Rick Michael showed us all up by riding an endo wheelie through one of the rock gardens and finishing with the awe-inspiring "Crouching rider, flipping bicycle" get off.

From Racoon Run we crossed 233 again and set out Secret Trail. What a great trail this is. Every time I ride it I enjoy the flowing singletrack all the way into Caledonia. Traction was excellent today and the whole group rode strongly all the way out to the theatre in Caledonia.

Chuck was feeling extra spunky and demonstrates once again how he earned the nickname "Bucksexy".

We refueled at the theater in Caledonia and decided to make it a true "out-and-back" ride. So we turned around and headed back from whence we came. All that glorious singletrack we flowed down into Caledonia was now facing the other way. Translation: lots of climbing back to Racoon Run trail.

On the way back up we ran into MBM'er Mark Shoap out for a ride in the great fall weather.

The temperature was perfect and the legs were feeling good, so the climb back out was great. No dabs and a feeling of accomplishment for me. After sitting out for the last few months with a bum wrist it feels really good to be back on the trails with the MBM'ers.

Here's Dan leading half the group on the last climb back up to 233.

We spun down 233 and turned left back into the woods at the deer fence. From there we headed up the trail toward Lee's Rocks but took a quick right turn (yes Dale, that IS your RIGHT) onto the connector trail over to the Cable TV line. We bombed down the Cable TV climb and called it a day back at the parking lot.

My watch had us at just over 3 hours ride time. A great day and a great ride.