ROTR

Sadly, I'll be missing the Revenge of the Rattlesnake for a happy reason...Adam Childers wedding. Congrats Adam and Kristin!

But, I did get to go up to Davis and do some of the course including the new downhill Rocky Point trail. I also got to do the ride at five out of Blackwater BIkes, eat a Hellbenders Burrito and see music at the Purple Fiddle. These are the must do's when in Davis. The course is in incredible condition being the driest that I have ever seen in Canaan Valley. Folks are saying it is a terrible year for apples and mast is down some 50%. There are going to be a lot of hungry animals up there this fall. But ride while you can.

I also got to Leaf Peep. The purples and red are magnificent. The ferns are changing colors and the cotton grass is exploding. We saw Chaga on many Birch trees, but didn't harvest any.

six pack this Friday

Come on out and support a community event. Meet at the Food Lion on 42South at 3 pm.

Not everyone is as weird as this, but the fast ones are.

Blue Ridge Cyclocross Cup

And the winner is... Fooftown, I think? Foofers came out in droves to race their hometown circuit. While they had a great showing for the racers, I would say spectators and after race partiers was pretty poor. Sketchy Bruce provided some great fodder for spectating with his brakeless skinny tired fixed gear. Kudos to him for hosting the party, too. Didi is a foofette and a very fast one. She is national champion in her age group, I think? She adds some legitimacy to the Charlottesville team.

Nickyboy won the race, I think? It was really hard to tell. For some reason JB gave everyone a head start either on accident or thinking that he would have no problem chasing down everyone. So things got mixed up. But we think young Nick is back especially beating everyone on his mountainbike. Collindish is adding another cycling discipline to his quiver. He is pretty much very fast already at it. If he starts beating Mckeegan, then we are going to have to start taking pro, you know? Also, Misty got a new bike and it was great to see Martinez out there on the dirt.

I rode Tim's fixie and went so hard that I almost puked. It was a great fixie course and the remounts are so much better on a fixie because the pedals are always in the right position. And there was only one dismount/remount so that made it easy, but those 20 stairs were brutal, brutal, brutal.

Queen City didn't have the numbers, but they do get the nice guys award with Mark and James.

Next race is in H-burg not this tuesday, but next at Westover. Be there! And if you race you have the chance to buy one of you hometown iconic t shirts

a couple of pics from Shen 100

Photos by Bob Popovich

Shenandoah 100 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpYZKUwV1aA

550 people isn't the biggest race that I have ever been in. Chequemegon has over 1,000 and Cape Epic has a ton, too. But this video gives you an idea what a thrill it is for both racer and spectator. I see myself go by in a yellow jersey and white helmet and I'm pretty far back. In years past I would just go to the front of the line and start there. I wasn't feeling was amped to do that. And it turned out I got to chat with Danielle, Carey and Karen. Besty was , as I suspected, scrambling to get herself and bike ready and just made the start.

I can't believe it either, but I had good legs and the race was really, really fun. There were only about 15 miles total that were pretty hard. The conditions were so fast and dry, but not hot. Pretty much the ideal conditions because sitting in a fairly dry chamois for over 8 hours is much more comfortable than a soaking wet one.

The downhills were so fast and I felt like I was flying. This was the first race on my DW Turner Flux and my I-9 wheels. I can't believe how fast the bike is on downhills and how much more efficient and accurate it is on the uphills. I waste so much less energy on this bike. I have to think that is why my time this year was only 9minutes off my recored when I was really fit. Yes, conditions were faster, but the downhills were a bit more dangerous because of the scree sides, sandy corners and ball bearing surface. I also put race tires on and felt fast and strong on all the road sections.

I was graced with good fortune when the Men's Leader pulled me and Tennessee Brad, up the death climb. Yes, he is nice. But hopefully, he doesn't want to really be a superdomestique and will stick to the mtb(right Nickyboy?) I owe him a Sambazon.

As usual Mumbles put on a great race with an uber volunteer staff(is the Men's Leader paid or volunteer, or maybe has just bought some stock options in SMT?) lots of Dogfish beer and the best homemade Scud Fries. Plus, how bling is it to have the big bottles of champagne for making the victory spray.

Stay Classy Shenandoah!

Six pack downhill Chimney Hollow

Round 2 of the sixpack season was on a perfect friday afternoon on Chimney Hollow Trail. Joel, Trevor, Tim and I went out a little early to get a pre ride in, but that never happened as we are slow, its a very tough climb and we spent a bunch of time working on a big log jump. I didn't hit it, but some of the dudes did, including young Collindish. Of course, Collindish has no trouble clearing big jumps, but since he was the winner of the last round he had to ride the Navigator(a non-performance hybrid). He beat me by seven seconds, but at least I beat Nick Pence by 1 second.

And the winner was....Joel Maynario of the caveman clan. Second was Tim, which is really the best place to be because then you don't have to have the party at your house. And Kyle naysay was third on his high performance hybrid even walking both drops. That is some fitness! Joel was very impressive not even hesitating to have the party at his house in the backyard and getting shitfaced as well. That is some good daddy rage.

I'm nervous for the 100 miler tomorrow. No denying its going to be tough. There is a ton of climbing and I just hope I have some better legs than at the 101. Rumor is that the churtle won't be making the trip down. That is a disappointment, but one less strong woman to contend with. The women's field is looking good with Betsey and Carey...the nicest fastest women ever.

Motolicious

Tim, Franco and I did some exploring on our motos. While the rest of the mtbers were doing long rides on their bicycles getting ready for the Shenandoah 100, I was out twisting the throttle. I want to be hungry when it comes to next Sunday, at least that is what I'm hoping for.

It was great to get some time on my Kawasaki. Its a great bike for me and very choked down. I got pretty tired at the end, but look forward to doing some more gravel roads in this incredible area that I live in.

Six Pack Downhill Season has started

And the winner of the first round was...Collindish! Yes, Collindish has shown his lightning speed this season on the road and on the dirt. He was 10 seconds faster than last year's invitational winner, Tim. Trevor was third. Whitney and I dominated the women's podium. I rode the death chute no problem and was singing the praises of my Turner once again.

High Knob trail was in great shape and is one of the steeper downhills around. There were just a couple of newbies and they gave it their all giving blood and licking pepperoni thongs in the parking lot. Chase broke his bike(bound to happen) and Basil of course flatted. Kyle had a stellar run on his performance hybrid.

The Party was fun on Rock st. and roll and a decent crew got up early to do trail work on Dowell's.

Moto ride tomorrow.

Shenandoah 100 Trail Prep

Big long races need big long trail clean-up days. Its fun to go with a group of buddies, hang out in the woods and cut some stuff up. The men's leader/guitar hero was there as well as race director/mumbles, the grand contrarian, and sneezy, too. I got to run a weed wacker and a brusher for the first time in my life. It was fun, but of course I have some sore arms today. But its a good feeling to work on the trails, especially for how much that I use them.

Six pack downhill season starts Friday with High Knob in WV. Its a scary first round. And remember if you win you have to have the party at your house...including you Fawley, Chaz michaels michaels, nick pence, JB and etc. And if you want to do the Invitational you have to have 2 days of trail maintenance under your belt.

August riding in WV

Matt Smith, Churtle and I rode our bikes over to Canaan instead of doing the century ride out of Snowshoe. Sorry, I wanted to support the WV Cycling Foundation's effort, but in the end the free ride over to the icebox was really epic. We went over Shenandoah Mt on 33 West. Then through Fort Seebert over Siple mountain to Upper Tract. Then through the Smoke Hole to Rt 28/55. Then the big gigantic climb up Jordan Road and Forest Road 19 into the Dolly Sods. It was the road to Wilderness. The climb took about 1:30 and was pretty brutal. Churtle didn't have a compact so she was doing some power training. The road off of the Sods was also pretty brutal on a road bike. We spend the day out there...all day and the funny thing is that it was only 94 miles!

The the SBC crew had a bike shop gathering at the icebox. What a good group of people and riders they are. Tim and Whitney, being the compassionate people they are, walked their bikes all the way down Lindy and some of plantation trail with a lost doggie. It turned out the dog was 14 1/2 and deaf. It had been lost a day already. The amazing thing is we called the park to tell them and by the time the doggie(Brandy) got to the Lodge, the grateful owner was there.

We scarfed down some Sirianni's pizza and Glen Plake extreme garlic chips and then went out for a State Championship loop.

It was a great summer weekend.