TEAM CF MTB

WOW

2010-09-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

The end of the season brought me to my last two races. The SM 100 and the Terror of Teaberry. Both tough in their own way.

The SM 100 turned out to be a solid ride for me, but not a stellar ride. That day I felt really tired and was unable to push my high limits. Although I did finish well ahead of my personal time goal, it was short of winning the day. That also meant that the NUE title was out of my grasp. I ended up second in the NUE series for the year.

Terror of teaberry started with much terror due to the dumping of rain the night prior and the morning of the event. Ugghhh, not another nasty muddy race. I was looking so forward to a beautiful day on my most favorite trails of all. Surprisingly, as go time crept upon me I began to feel excited to tackle Teaberry. Sure enough the promoters needed to further stick it to us with a running start to our bikes. With the terror being lifted from the humor of the start we got underway. Once on the trails I was pleasantly surprised with the condition of the trails. It had been so dry that the rain soaked into the trails and they were not too sloppy. Yes the rocks were a bit slippery, but not completely unrideable. The gray of the day, the black soil and the glowing green of the forest made for some awesome trail sights. It was quite magical. During this race I really found my legs and top end again. It felt great and I was loving it. It started out on a tight single track and then opened up on a double track where I was able to pick off riders and get in good position for the tough techy trail ahead. I had high hopes of keeping up with some local pals to keep me in good lines, but some of the rocky sections took me off my bike and I lost contact. Once the trail again chilled out I caught back on, but only to be shelled again once we hit the next batch of rocky puzzles. As the day went on the rocks did get more slippery and frustration did set in a bit. I kept it at bay and continued to push my self knowing it was to be the last push of 2010. I was very pleased with my performance and turned in a solid time to place 13th overall and 1st among the women.

Wow is really the best way to sum up my 2010 season. I wasn't even sure that racing at an elite level was still in my guts. However, after being signed on with Team CF, I found the inspiration and motivation to push myself beyond what I thought possible. Being an ambassador for the CF cause changed my focus from my own glory into a focus to bring awareness to others regarding the disease. It was this focus that pushed me harder than I have ever gone in my life. My hope is that my efforts inspired those with and without CF to find their way to an improved life quality through bike riding or other exercise.

Shenandoah 100, open men, 1st place

2010-09-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

My wife and I decided to make the Shenandoah 100 race a mini family trip. For the first time, we ventured to keep our 2 year old child entertained in the car for 10 hours of driving. The trip actually took us 13 hours for adequate rest time especially for the young one. I was very glad that my wife and son were able to join me. Although phone contacts are great, it does not come even close as being together even if it is confined in a closed space for 10 hours.

At the start line, I could not wait for the race promoter to give us the "go" as the chilly morning had many of us shivering. This is certainly why Chris Beck and Jeremiah Bishop went to the front and opened a small gap one minute into the race.

Jeff Schalk and I were at the lead of the main group gradually increasing the pace to join back to them. The group reformed causing a slower pace. I was pleased to follow this moderate pace for awhile but I felt that I could spin the legs a little bit faster. I eventually went to the front and increased the speed. I did not want to reach the single track downhill in a large group.

Shortly before the top, Jeff relayed me at the front. I took this opportunity to look behind. The group had shrunk to 6 riders: Jeff Schalk, Brandon Draugelis, Sam Koerber, Jeremiah Bishop, Chris Beck and I.

Right at the start of the downhill, Jeremiah pulled off the side. He just had a flat tire. The remaining of the downhill was pretty uneventful as we all followed each other closely under Jeff's direction. Once we reached the dirt road that brings us to the second major climb, we organized a good paceline where everybody did his fair amount of effort at the front.

Reaching to the single track climb, I was right behind Jeff. It is not a secret, I like climbs but this one is my favorite: it is in a nice part of the forest, it is steep, it is long and it is all rideable at the exception of a 10 yards stretch.

Jeff bobbled on some rocks putting me to the lead. I slowly started to pull away from everybody and thought it was not the greatest idea as I am not the best descender. I backed off the pace a tiny bit and when I reached the top, Brandon followed by Jeff were only 15 yards behind. I pulled on the side and let them go by.

The downhill was just fun and this year my tires held really good. After a short stretch on the dirt roads, our group of five reformed and we resumed our paceline. While Chris Beck was in the front and I in second position, a black bear crossed the dirt road about 100 yards in front of us. It was first time I witnessed a bear in the wild and while it was cool, 100 yards away is the closest I'd like to observe one.

The downhill of the third major mountain was once more a lot of fun especially closer to the bottom where the trail features some good size water bars.

It was now time to climb the fourth mountain which proved to be too much for Sam Koerber. As we reached the aid station #4, Jeff and I did not stop, Chris had a speedy pit stop but Brandon took a little longer. There, we reformed a three men paceline.

Few miles later, Chris let Jeff and I set the pace at the front; as he guessed that we would pull away anyway as the grade will increase in the fifth mountain. This is exactly what happened. As Jeff and I reached aid #5, we had a neutral stop. Shortly after, Jeff placed an attack but I managed to stay right behind his wheel. The trail is a succession of downhills and uphills before the long way down to aid station #6.

I could tell by now, that I had a little more in the tank than Jeff. Indeed, his normally smooth and efficient pedal strokes appeared to be more labored. Knowing my limits in the downhill discouraged me of placing an attack of my own. Why commit to an important effort if it is to be caught back immediately in the long downhill?

However, I did not have to ask myself what to do anymore. Jeff's chain dropped from the chain ring causing him to get off his bike. I took the lead, I thought I could take it easy for awhile and pull on the side when Jeff will come flying down the trail.

Not following anybody but riding at my own pace, I surprised myself how quickly I was riding. I was climbing a good 1 mph faster. I told myself that it did not really matter as I was convinced that Jeff will easily bridge back in the long downhill.

The only opportunities I have to ride that kind of terrain (technical downhill) are during races. I could not gauge how I fair against others. Anyway, I was certain to lose time but before I noticed I was almost at the bottom.

I came to an almost dry-out creek bed and heard the large stone contact the front rim. Wow! I should be more careful or I could get a flat tire... I slowed down a little for the remaining two times the trail crossed the creek only to realize that I did get a flat tire.

Lucky enough, I was right by the aid station #6. Another fortunate fact, I was in the lead and received the entire support of the volunteers. We pumped more air to the tire to see if the sealant would stop the leak. It proved to be inefficient and carried on with the repair by putting a tube. By the time we were attaching the wheel to the fork, Jeff rolled by. I was surprised that I could almost complete the entire repair before he came by. I must have had a good 2-3 minutes gap. Maybe I am not that slow in the downhill after all.

Quickly before the last climb I reached back to Jeff. He wondered if I got lost since he did not see me fixing my tire at the aid station as all the volunteers hided me.

On the early slopes of the climb, we tested each other's legs. A couple of accelerations later, Jeff gave me a tap in the back, telling me that I could go alone now. And so I did. I maintained the fast pace to the top of the hill but slowed down a little on the way down. I did not want to risk another flat with my compromised tire.

When I reached the double track leading to the campground, I had flashbacks from last year, where Jeremiah was performing a time trial beating me for the win for a mere 22 seconds after 7 hours of racing. It was not going to happen this time. I performed the best time trial I could until I reached the campground.

This time I had it! I raised my arms in the air while crossing finish line. It felt great! After a series of second places, I am pleased to finish the last NUE event of the year with a bang.

I finally reached the best time of the year. This is where I have good fitness but don't need to train anymore. It is just fun to enjoy the trails without any other goals but to have fun. A million thanks to my teammates for the encouragements and tips all season long. Many thanks go to my team: Team CF provided me with great support such that I could perform at my best. And without my wife's sacrifices, it would not have been possible to manage between family, work and training. The end of racing season probably comes as a bigger relief for her than for me!

It was like a big party after the race. My family got to meet all my racing friends/competitors and the members of Team CF. As a family man myself, it was encouraging to see Chris Beck and Chris Etough with their families.

Christian

That’s a Wrap

2010-09-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

What an end to a great season. Took a little side trip to the Mt. Washington Hill Climb, where I captured 3^rd place woman overall and won my age division. Then a couple of weeks later traveled to Seven Springs 24 Hour Champion Series with Rob Lichtenwalner, where we won our division (and missed beating the men’s duo team by 1 second!). With that win, I wrapped up the Mid Atlantic Super Series in first place for the season. Team CF also took the top position in the small team field! What a year! Can’t wait to see what 2011 holds.

Which hat today?!

2010-09-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

Well folks its better late than never! Since I last updated I was off to Bend Or. That was a great trip! I had never been to Oregon before and Bend was a great place to visit. The race had awesome single track for close to 80 miles, however the 10 in between miles weren't much fun due to thick moondusty trails. I felt great that day and battled it out with Sue Butler who hails from the area. She took the top honors and I placed a proud 2nd. Sometimes it is how you feel that day and not if you win or lose.

After Bend I had a weekend off and did some local rides in Michaux that were great fun. The 6 races in a row took a toll on me and it was good to be staying put at home. I missed it.

The next week found me traveling to Dahlonega GA for another NUE event. The fool's gold. I really wasn't myself prior to the race and it proved to be a rotten day for me. The weather was foul, the conditions horrible, so horrible in fact that the race was called at 50 miles. I unfortunately did not finish the 50 miles due to a mistake in course direction and then finding that my bike was unsafe due to brake failure. The brake failure happened because of the horrible conditions of mud and water during the race. YUCK. A day I really don't want to remember. It is the first 100 miler and if my memory is correct the only race I have ever had to DNF. It was not a good feeling. My only reprieve from being completely bummed out is that if that is the worst for this season, for all my 17 100 milers, let alone my entire career than so be it. I am lucky!

Ok, I'm over it! On to new and different things. Like hats. I am referring to my change of lifestyle this time of year. The Monday after GA I went back to work as a School Counselor. Yes I have that same feeling the kids have. Oh no summer is over dread :( along with each year brings something new excitement:). It also meant that as a mom my role is also more demanding with the school schedule, soccer practice/games, helping with homework and just plain family time. I don't mind this change in lifestyle and actually look forward to it. However there is always an adjustment period and the overlap of my biking gig for the first three weeks adds to the adjustment. It becomes difficult to fit it all in and there is little time for rest. The balancing act gets a bit overwhelmed and some pieces start to slip. Actually it is not so much that they slip, it is more that my priorities shift.

Which leads me to this weekend and the next. SM100 and the final Michaux race. Two big races. Two great fun events shared with great people. I really want to go and do my best and I plan on it! I hope I can hold the pieces together for two more weekends. After that I can let go!

Fool's Gold 100, open men, 2nd place, Christian Tanguy

2010-08-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

The 13 hour drive from Michigan to Georgia was one more time quite tiring. I set to go early to bed and rest as much as possible in order to be ready the next morning. In the middle of the night, the down pour woke me up. It was quite a sight as the parking lot of the hotel was transformed into a swimming pool. I returned to my bed and turned on the alarm twenty minutes earlier such I could change tires to ready the bike for the mud.

Surprisingly, the start finish area was not in such a bad shape considering the amount of rain we had the night before. The grassy field was "spongy" and water would come out as you walked on the grass but there was no monster water puddle and the grass field was not transformed into a swamp area. The race promoter gave us the usual advices and started the count down for the 2 laps of 50 miles.

The lap starts by a long and steady dirt road climb; I don't know what stung Jeff Schalk but he set up an incredible tempo right from the beginning. For a moment, I thought that he just wanted to get his legs and heart in gear but after a minute of this high speed pace, there was no slow down. One by one, I watched Jeff's followers losing ground as I was reaching from the back. When I finally made the lead group, Jeff was about 50 yards ahead by himself.

Nobody in the group wanted to stay at that speed since there was still 98 miles to go. Maybe Jeff wanted to set up the longest run away of any 100 mile race? Anyway, I had good legs too and decided to bridge back. Knowing the course from the year prior, I knew I had plenty of time to reach back. I did it very gradually and in a very controlled manner without having to red line the legs or the heart. Jeff and I were now 20 minutes into the race when the first rain drops started to fall around us. 30 seconds later, it was a strong rain.

The Cohutta and Mohican races came back to memory. Will the weather at this year Fool's Gold race be worse? At least, it was a good start as the sky let see no indication that the rain would stop anytime soon.

The steep and long downhill from aid station #1 got me to blink every 5 seconds; the road was just a blurry brownish stripe in front of me. The trail at the bottom was a running creek and I could hear the discs already chewing apart the brake pads. By now, Jeff set up in a much more comfortable pace but yet I got sometimes distanced because I could not distinguish the trail anymore from all the dirt on my glasses.

As we arrived at aid station#2 (also aid station #3), I could have used a short stop to grab a fresh bottle but nothing was set up yet: no tent, no bags, no volunteers. Jeff was a little disoriented as arrows were pointing in several directions. Since I raced there last year and knowing that the loop between aid #2 and aid #3 was run in the opposite direction, I quickly guided us to the proper path.

As we entered a steeper single track, my chain became to get jammed between the chain rings and the chain stay. The first few times, I bridged back to Jeff but the chain suck became worse causing me to chase for longer durations. However, it is in the downhill that I let Jeff go alone. Once more, my vision was impeded by the dirt on the glasses. So far, I have been cleaning quite successfully my glasses while riding but the increased speeds in the downhill caused an increased amount of dirt on the glasses.... in addition, my rear break gave its last hurray in the downhill to aid #3.

I finally reached the aid station and this time it was ready. I grabbed my bottles and took that opportunity to clean my glasses once more. What a difference clean glasses make! Literally day and night!

The chain sucks became more and more frequent and where it used to happen only on the small ring while riding uphill sections, it was now occurring on the large chain ring on flats... Anyway I was still moving forward, at least for the moment.

By now, I started to notice a lot of riders ahead of me. In fact, the weather conditions took its toll on men and machines and many racers were not able to continue racing and were on their way to return to the start finish. On a flat dirt road I met one of them. He jumped out of his bike to help me with yet another chain suck. We rapidly got the chain untangled but it required a tremendous effort to spin the cranks such that we thought the chain was still stuck somewhere. We double checked everything: the chain line was fine and diagnosed the problem. The free wheel was locked. After a few power pedal strokes out of the saddle, the free wheel started to spin somewhat freely...

Before aid station #4, Harlan Price bridged back; he was doing extremely well in the uphill sections and rode several trails on his single speed that I ended-up pushing due to bike problem.

Chain sucks and reduced visibility were my excuses to let Harlan go. Finally, I reached a steep downhill. I remembered this trail to be tricky and made sure I did not entered it with speed as it would be even harder to slow down with my fading front brake. Unfortunately, Harlan did not have the same knowledge of the trail and crashed at speed. His bike was upside down in a tree and the content of his jersey's back pockets scattered all over the trail. As soon as I could see him I crushed the brake lever. Where normally I would have been catapulted over the bar, the bike was gently slowing down; I think this was the last time my front brake somewhat worked.

Harlan was on his feet which was a good thing. After awhile, Harlan sent me on my way, confirming that he was bruised but okay.

The rest of the course was just a blurry mess. Both brakes now completely out, I was really cautious in the downhill trails. In one of the uphill forest road, I saw glimpse of Jeff before he finally disappeared for good in the following downhill. Few times, while reaching approx. 12 miles an hour, I would dismount the bike and start running to reduce my speed. It was really scary at times.

I was relieved when Eddie (race promoter) stopped the race at one lap. I had replacement brake pads in my car and could have changed them for the second lap... or maybe not... Now back home, after cleaning the bike, I noticed that the brake pad was completely gone, not just the brake compound but also the supporting plate. The piston was able to move so far out, that the hydraulic oil was gone. Looking back, changing the brake pads will have been no use.

Anyway, it was an interesting race for sure; worth remembering.

Ore to Shore, Christian Tanguy, open men, 7th place

2010-08-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

I spent another weekend away from home to participate to the Ore to Shore XC race. The weather was ideal and the long drive (8 hours) was completed without any troubles. At the registration, talking to friends, I was trying to understand what was ahead of me. They mentioned some hike a bike, water puddles???

Since it was my first participation at this race, I did not qualify for one of the 75 "preferred start" positions. Consequently, I would be staged with the remaining 600 competitors. When I arrived at the start location, I immediately placed my bike on the ground to reserve a spot as close to the front as possible. The 2 front lines behind the preferred start area were already full, so I left my bike on the 3^rd line and went back to the car to relax.

5 minutes prior to the start, I arrived to the starting line – what a crowd! Everybody was ready to take off. I hurried up to try to find my bike in the crowd. Fortunately, the bike was right where I left it. I was now hoping that the start will be somewhat conservative to allow my legs to warm up slowly.

The gun went off and the train left the station at great speed. Well no quite the descent warm-up I was hoping for... My legs felt sore from the violent effort. I pressed on and 2 to 3 miles in I was in the top 20, right where I wanted to be; next to last year's 2^nd place finisher (Mike Anderson).

The little hill called Lucy's hill, sorted things a little more before a relaxed pace on the downhill / flat trails allowed racers to join back to the front group. Everything was new to me and my goal was just to stay in the front before the "power house" racers will crush me on the fast rolling trails and dirt roads.

We rode thru some sandy portions, along side a railroad, etc. until a reached a creek; I carefully carried my bike using the bridge (to avoid dirt in the drive train); but was probably too careful and had to close a 50 yard gap. It was all for nothing as we reached a very long water puddle which was quite deep in spots. I lost some ground in the mucky waters, forcing me to a hard chase to close the gap.

Finally, we reached a double track trail underneath some power lines. Mike A. was slowly letting a gap being created and by the time I realized it and went around him, the front group was already 100 yards away. I closed the gap by an all-out effort.

One mile later or so, I screwed up one of the tricky steep climb and end-up having to close the gap one more time. When we finally reached the hike a bike section called "Misery Hill" I was dropped again. Each time, I performed a mini time trial to get back to the front; each time it was taking me more time....

At the half way point, we were 7 riders: Mike Simonson, Derek Graham, Brian Matter, Tristan Schouten, TJ Woodruff, Nathan Guerra and me. Prior to the race, I gave myself a 50% chance to be with the front group at that point so it was already a victory of some sort.

By now, there were mad accelerations followed by really easy pedaling. Yes, it was just a road race only we were on mountain bikes.

Blurry several miles of hard efforts later, we were still the 7 of us, 3 miles from the finish. I was struggling for a while and in a small steep incline, I lost contact. This time there was no bridging back. When I finally moved my body over the short climb, the leaders were already at top speed. Amazing how fast they were pulling away!

The racers behind me could not be too far; I maintained a good pace to the finish line and arrived in 7^th place. It is a very satisfying result not so much for the overall position but rather by my riding. For the first time, I could ride with the lead group on a race course which does not hit on my strength. I also noticed severe lack in some skills which I need to improve if I am going to be a contender for the win like: dismount, run, remount or ride 2 feet behind the preceding rider rather than 5 yards behind....

Time now to rest for the Fool's Gold 100 in GA.

Pontiac Lake XC, Elite Men, 1st place, 1h51m17s

2010-08-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Pontiac Lake Recreational State Area is one of the most preferred places to ride in the Detroit area. The place has some hills, rough sections, fast transition trails, etc. Plus, one lap is about 10 miles long, so we don't feel like a hamster in its cage. However, Pontiac Lake is a little too far from home and the last time I was there was three years ago for the cross-country race. I just hoped that I was going to remember the tricky spots.

The starting line was stocked with all the racers chasing for the championship points. As the front runners for the championship were called to the line, we squeezed in to leave a spot for Mike Simonson as Pontiac is his home trail and he is incredibly fast.

As expected, Mike Simonson took the hole shot, closely followed by Steve Dempsey (overall point leader) and myself. Mike put the pedal to the metal and after half a lap; Mike and myself distanced ourselves from the field.

In some turns, the visibility was limited and I probably used the brakes a little more than I could have. On the other hand, Mike's knowledge of the trails enabled him to keep the pace at the maximum speed such that he opened small gaps. Of course, I worked extra hard in the climbs and open areas just to reach back to him.

I was glad when we completed the first lap out of three. I had a little breather when Mike picked up a fresh bottle and actually this short slow down was sufficient to trade positions. I was not feeling so fresh anymore but pressed on each time the trail went up. Surprisingly, two or three miles later, I had a small gap.

Like usual, I kept pedaling as hard as I could but it would have been nice to know the time gaps. Starting the third lap, I was getting sloppy in the tight trails. Thankfully, the tires held strong and the suspension of the Trek Top Fuel saved the day when I deviated to the worst line possible. Apparently everybody was about a minute slower between the 2^nd and the 3^rd lap.

When I finally crossed the finish line, I was really tired. However, I was very pleased to put Team CF at the top of the podium. Next race will be the Ore to Shore in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. Although the terrain should not favor me, as it is mostly flat or slightly downhill on open trails, I will give my best effort to stay close to the front.

Long time gone

2010-08-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have reported. Sorry. It has been a whirl wind on my end. One extreme to the next. It all started back in early July with a 2 1/2 week trip to Colorado. I competed in three events during my trip. Firecracker 50, Winter Park point to point, and then the Breck 100. Altitude definitely does not favor me, but my time was well spent on new experiences and good training. At the firecracker I placed 9th, Winter Park 4th and then 3rd in the Breck 100.

From there I directly traveled to Corolla NC for a fun family beach fest. At the end of that week I then high tailed it home for my favorite race of the Michaux endurance series. The Curse of Dark Hollow can definitely live up to its name, but I still managed to place 1st amongst the women.

So if you have been keeping track that makes four races in a row, but we aren't done yet. Just last weekend I competed in another NUE race The Wilderness 101. I was very nervous for this race, but the day proved to be a great one for me. I placed first among the women with a time of 8:06. Now I am off to Bend OR for another NUE race. That will make it six in a row. I'll let you know how it goes:)

Wilderness 101, Christian Tanguy, open men, 2nd place

2010-08-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

It was my third trip to the Wilderness 101. This year, Chris Eatough and Josh Tostado were missing but Jeremiah Bishop and Nick Waite were there to animate the front of the race. The weather was going to be excellent and all conditions seemed to be gathered to break the race record.

Leading to the race, my training was on track and the day before the race I felt good. After a good night resting, I hoped I would be ready to survive 101 miles of mountain bike racing against some of the toughest racers in the country.

For once, the start was pretty mild on the first climb of the day. That provided a good warm-up for the legs and before we realized, we were already by the aid station #1. On the slopes of the next mountain, the front group was slowly getting smaller and as we started our descent to aid station #2, the group was counting 7 riders: Jeff Schalk, Jeremiah Bishop, Mike Simonson, Brandon Draugelis, Nick Waite, Robert Lichtenwalner and myself.

We completed most of the downhill and I was holding my own. Could it be that I finally reach aid station #2 with the lead group? That was my third attempt at it, and this year was just like the previous ones. The chain got jammed into the cranks and chain rings. It all happened in a fraction of a second such that I was still pedaling. The chain was completely twisted; the links will be oriented vertically by the chain rings but be horizontally oriented by the cassette.

Frustration and adrenaline helping, I pulled like a mad man on the chain and finally got it into an acceptable shape. Before I jumped on my bike, Chris Beck came flying down; I already lost quite some time. I exited the single track downhill and was now on a smooth dirt road. At every other rotation of the cranks, the chain will skip on the cassette. It was impossible to produce any kind of effort. It was clear that if there wasn't a mechanic with a 10-speed chain at the aid station, I would have been forced to quit the race.

It was my lucky day! The mechanic had a brand new chain. Of course, the few minutes I spent standing aside the bike appeared to last hours especially when watching other racers coming and leaving the aid station. The mechanic told me that my rear derailleur had a weak spring which was probably the cause of the chain getting jammed into the cranks in the first place.

Before taking off from the aid station, all the volunteers gave me a great cheer; especially Brandon's mom who convinced me that I was still in range for a descent finish. Indeed, the last 2 years, I was in the same kind of position and each time I arrived in the top 5.

The bike was ride able again but the tired derailleur spring along with a slightly too long new chain; caused the chain to skip every 20 seconds or so. For the remainder of the race (60 miles), I constantly adjusted the cable tension in order to minimize the chain skipping with various successes depending on the gear.

I always welcomed the long dirt road climb right after the aid station #2. I consider it like a launch pad of some sort. My regained motivation was fueling me and instead of "cooling down" two thirds up the mountain like the previous years, this time I kept the throttle fully opened to the very top. In the span of one climb, I gained back 5 places and was already spotting Chris Beck.

I had really good legs and by the aid station #3 I was back in 6^th place. On the rocky single track ascend, I had a nice talk with my bike: "Either die or work properly!" as the chain skipped nonstop causing me to push the bike for a while. Apparently, it elected for the latter choice. Mid way between aid #3 and aid #4, I caught up to Brandon Draugelis. My close competitors were also suffering from mechanical problems so I passed Mike Simonson and Jeremiah Bishop while they were repairing their bikes. Nick Waite was with Jeremiah as I was riding by.

Incredibly, rolling in to aid station #4, I caught everybody but Jeff Schalk. Brandon's mom was again cheering me on and of course had to tell me: "I told you so!" The hardest part was still ahead of me. How do you contain a pro-road racer (Nick Waite) and a pro mountain biker (Jeremiah Bishop) from bridging back? And let's not forget Brandon Draugelis, always well placed. Simple! I rode like a dog: hammered the climbs, crossed my fingers on the rocky descents for the tires to hold up.

By aid station #5, nobody bridged back. It actually made me more nervous as it is easier to deal with an apparent danger rather than with a latent one. Anyway, I crushed the pedals for the last climb of the day. I surprised myself wishing for the mountain to be taller such that I could use my advantage in the climbs a little longer.

The bike gave me a last reminder that it needed some care when in the pitch black tunnel, one mile of the finish line, the chain dropped... Oh well, this time shifting between the different chain rings did the trick and I carried enough speed to keep my balance.

I am delighted I could cross the line in 2^nd place behind Jeff. Except for the mechanical problem with the chain, everything went well. I need to thank one of our sponsor and friend Chris Eatough for the advice on the nutrition. Following his advice, I tried a new formulation of the Infinit product and it rocks!

Stony Creek, Time trial, Christian Tanguy, elite men, 1st place

2010-07-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

How to pass on a race located at riding distance from my home? The time trial at Stony Creek is not part of the Michigan championship I am pursuing but the race is well organized, the course is fun and the competition is always stiff.

The entire week the weather forecast called for no rain on race day, so I was a little surprise when I actually wake up hearing the rain drops hitting the roof. It was not a heavy rain by any mean and it stopped by 8:00am leaving two hours for the trails to dry up.

Doing the full range of mountain bike racing from the time trial to the 100 miles format, I always have a problem settling to pace that is going to bring me to finish line the fastest. Furthermore, I was the first competitor to start and while I would have nobody that could hinder me on the tight single track trails, I would not be able to gage my speed.

No matter, how often I ride there my legs are burning right from the get go as we are riding on the grass shoulder along side the road. Luckily, the first creek crossing is always welcome to cool them but more importantly, that signify that the single track trails are not too far away.

My Bontrager XR1 tires were perfect, rolling extremely well on the double track but still maintaining sufficient grip to handle the humid turns in the single track. Being familiar with the trails and the race layout, I proceeded with extreme caution when approaching the greasy spots and the infamous wet wood bridge.

I was able to maintain the pace to the second and last creek crossing. I then put a harder gear for the last mile to the finish. I was delighted to hear I had the fastest time. Next race is the Wilderness 101 in Pennsylvania; quite an adjustment in race length.

Two Hot Races

2010-07-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

The heat has been on high here in the Mid-Atlantic and I’ve been racing in it with varying degrees of success. The first enduro I’ve done since Trans-Sylvania, PAValleys.com Stage Race and Festival in Marysville, PA, was a stifling sufferfest. The race was staged on a partially wooded farm in Central PA and it was oppressively hot. I bungled my hydration early on and never got back on top, still pulling a very proud, very hard fought, 2^nd place for the day.

A few weeks—and one 10 day vacation—later, things got better. I headed to the Fair Hill Classic in Elkton, Maryland for a 50 mile enduro. It was still hot—100 degree hot—but this time I was prepared. I packed two waterpacks with Infinit (our drink sponsor) endurance formula and forced myself to take in a steady stream. The heat still got to me once or twice, leaving me feeling weak and nauseous. But it didn’t last and midway through the race I felt absolutely fantastic, taking a happy 1^st place for the day.

Christian Tanguy, Boyne Marathon, Michigan, open men, 1st place

2010-07-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Exactly one week after the Stony Marathon, it was time to race yet another Marathon in Boyne ski resort in Michigan. This race is actually a little less lengthy than the Stony Creek one as we need to complete only 4 laps of 11.5 miles and it takes about 40 minutes less than Stony Creek to complete. However, Boyne is possibly one of the hilliest courses out in Michigan.

Once more it was hot and humid, but I almost had a heart stroke when I saw my competitors for the day. Indeed, Mike Simonson (currently in 2nd place for the NUE), Mike Anderson (Michigan's top finisher of the coveted Iceman race) and Chad Wells (recent winner of the race in Michigan) were waiting for me. We were only 4 riders in the Elite Men category but only very high competitive racers.

At the start, Mike Simonson wasted no time to go at the front and crush the pedals on the flat portion of the course. As it was to be expected, everybody matched Mike's effort as we were moving at great speed thru the trees.

Although each lap, we climbed to the top of the ski hill, it is not a single climb to the top but a succession of climbs and descents, just like an inclined edge of a wood saw. Mike S. and Chad were in great form and it was a challenge to follow the first one on the climbs and the second one on the descents as they were trading the lead.

On the last ascent, Mike S. and Chad were about 50 yards in the front, while I was behind Mike A. on the single track. Mike A. was really suffering from the heat and as soon as the single track ended into a paved road, I passed him and joined back to the lead.

Just like on the first lap, Mike S. led us on the flat portion, then I went to the front on the climbs. It was too much for Chad. Just like last year, It was going to be a showdown between Mike and myself.

At times, Mike and I had to be patient with the lapped traffic; but eventually we completed the 2nd lap together. At the start of the 3rd lap, I led us on the flat section and consequently I was ideally placed to increase the tempo as we reached the hillier portion of the course. Quite quickly, I had a sizeable gap. I kept the speed high but most importantly, I try to avoid a mistake in the downhill as we were still far away from the finish and consequently, there would be many opportunities to distance myself again if Mike was going to bridge back.

Of course, by lap 4, I was getting tired but I was confident that I kept the lap time pretty much the same. Finally, I reached the finish in first place; about 4 minutes ahead of Mike. Once more, the Boyne marathon has been a tough race but putting Team CF on the top spot was well worth my efforts.

Christian Tanguy, Stony Creek Marathon, Michigan, open men, 1st place

2010-07-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

During the Independence Day weekend, the chase for points for the Michigan championship was on. The Stony Creek Marathon counts for double points depending on your position at the Brighton Stage Race. The trails there get ridden a lot and each year a new section of trail is added to let some worn out section heal. On the paper, the 6 laps of 10 miles do not look like much, in reality this is quite a challenge.

Due to the length of the event, the Elite Men category starts first at 10:00am, closely followed by all the remaining groups. At the start, it was already hot and humid. The trails were dusty from the lack of rain the previous week. For sure, the temperatures were going to rise up as the day went by.

A group of 5 riders was spun off in the fist mile. The pace was high enough that we had a gap on the pursuers but nobody was gasping for air. After all, there were still 5 more laps to go.

Prior to the start, I thought I would be waiting for the 3rd lap to increase the tempo before I try to shake things up. However, as I noticed that everybody seemed to be "too" relaxed, I decided to try everybody's legs (including mines) a lap earlier. I sped up in the little climb prior to the long single track section called the "rollercoaster". Immediately, the group reduced from 5 to 2 as only Greg Kuhn was able to stay on my wheel. In the following single track, Greg struggled a little bit and I was slowly pulling away from him. It was not a good thing since there were more than 40 miles to the finish and the second part of the lap has significant double track trails.

Drafting in the single track is inexistent, so I let Greg take the lead in the rollercoaster. Both he and I ride often the trails such that we could increase our gap while still saving some energy. Unfortunately, on the last turn, Greg washed out. We remounted our bikes and now I was back in the lead, pulling us on the double track. However, this little mishap was the opportunity needed by Steve Dempsey to bridge back.

On the third lap, I accelerated at the same location than on lap 2; but this time I managed to leave alone. I had a good rhythm, I felt strong both on the tight single track and the double tracks. The 3rd lap was completed quickly.

It was now noon and the sun was really pounding on us as soon as we were leaving the shaded wooded area. I could also notice that I was getting tired as I was not as smooth on the tight trails but the hardest for me was to find the motivation to complete another 30 miles as we were only half way.

The next 3 laps, I kept my speed as constant as possible, realizing that I was fading out anyway. I had no idea where everybody else was located. They could be right on my tail, minutes away or they could have left the race prematurely after an incident. It did not really matter and I kept pushing to the best of my ability to the finish.

I was a little bit surprised when I heard that I had almost 11 minutes over 2nd place. I really wished I knew before my last lap as I would have ease up the pace a bit. I crawled from the finish line to a picnic table where I laid down for several long minutes. My body was in much pain but I was very satisfied to have raced as hard as I could without holding back anything.

For the Michigan championship, it was a good operation as I come closer to Steve for the top spot. I am glad I could put Team CF in the spot light; another few races remains for the championship; I'll try to keep it up.

BC Bike Race 2010

2010-07-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

First off I want to thank Brian and Margaret Benson for saving my bike and my race! When my race rig got held up in Canadian Customs, they were there to get the bike and I. Brain and Margaret are Team CF club members and Margaret is a CF butt kicker, with fresh lungs transplanted a few years ago. Go Margaret!

The reason for my trip to Canada was to report on the BC Bike Race for www.Cyclingdirt.org. I would be racing a seven day stage race through the wilds of British Colombia and shooting video along the way. I'd known about the race for years and had heard many great things about it. Being a stage race veteran I felt that I would pretty much know what to expect.
     British Colombia is a beautiful place. Surrounded by water, it is a rain forest with snow capped mountains in the distance. There were ferns chest high and cascading waterfalls. Trails were covered in moss that looked to be dosed with radiation. Big dark woods greeted us almost every day. For four of the five days we had to take ferries from one race start to another.
      Since I was there to report for CyclingDirt and they payed for a big part of my trip, I was obliged to make racing a secondary priority. I was looking at it as a training week for me and went with few expectations, except to have a good time and ride.
It ended up that I budded up with an old friend and now a good friend Ryan Lebar, who was reporting for Bike Magazine. We proceeded to act as if we had nothing to loose and stayed up late talking to people, writing and downloading pictures and videos every night. It was a great way to do the race without the normal early sleep schedule and tight recovery sechdule one would normally follow.
   I think one of the great things about the BCBR was that so much of the logisitcs were dialed by the promoters that we pretty much just had to take directions and could spend 7 days riding mindlessly. Tents, food and transportation were held under our noses every day. We slept on beaches, in the infield of track fields, city parks, bike hostels (cumberland!), soccer fields and resort hotels (Whistler). We ate in small restaurants, hockey rinks, community centers and every day it was good! That's a terrible sentence.
       Anyways, I found myself contesting for a top ten spot and since it was there I tried hard enough to take it. It was fun riding with some really interesting and legendary people. I spent many days riding the wheel of current World Cup leader Catherine Pendrel and her duo partner and World Cup contender Geoff Kabush. I met free ride legend Darren Butler and after 6 days of trying to ride together fate found us kicking it on the last day. Check out the video for helmet cam highlights on day seven.
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/237274-2010-BC-Bike-Race/video/345789-Stage-7-BC-Bike-Race-Helmet-Cam-Highlights-

If you have the time check out the other videos.

If you ever get a chance and have the fitness, go do BCBR. I give it the highest recommendation, 10 chili peppered rattlesnakes!

Harlan

Kaitlyn's big day in the saddle

2010-07-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn’s first MTB bike went down this weekend. Kaitlyn had really never ridden a MTB bike until this winter. Her training got derailed when she crashed in April and fractured her arm. Kaitlyn picked up the training after she mended and targeted the MASS cross country race in NJ this weekend as her first race. Kaitlyn came out charging and held off a late surge from some of her competitors to get the win. Congrats!! Also thanks to Nikki and Kristin for their coaching and encouragement. Jim

2010-07-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

TSE Recap: Kristin and Nikki

This is your first stage race? You girls will learn a lot!

We kept asking ourselves, "what do they mean?" and "why won't they just tell us?"

But, in time we realized that these are lessons that truly need to be learned.

After Stage 4 I treated myself to a teaberry custard which landed me in the hospital for two days with food poisoning. Nikki missed stage 5 because she was hanging with me at the Mt. Nittany Hospital (a true best bud), but returned for stage 6 and represented! After two days ofJell-o, Who's the Boss re-runs, watching the National Spelling Bee on ESPN, and a lot of sleeping (in a comfortable Hill-Rom bed - just wanted to make sure our sponsors got a shout-out!) I returned to Boy Scout Camp to casually ride Stage 7 with everybody.

Nikki and I drove home feeling slightly underwhelmed, it wasn't because the TSE was underwhelming. It was an incredibly well planned race with beautiful routes and fun people. We hope to return next year, with a few learned lessons in our pockets (like don't eat the teaberry custard).

Lessons Learned:

Don't miss the arrows - pay attention!!
Bring a quick link - ALWAYS
Leave a spare chain and parts at the support stops
Don't eat teaberry custard! PERIOD THE END!
Our friendship is stronger than we had ever imagined!

So, why not return to State College again for another epic day of racing next week?

Steady pedaling - Stoopid 50: Kristin and Nikki

After arriving at the hotel in State College to find that Back to Future was on TV, we didn't think the weekend could get much better!

We awoke to a muggy morning in which showers were lingering, fortunately the skies waited until the first 10 minutes of the 2010 Stoopid 50 to open up. Nikki and I each struggled, each in our own ways. I threw myself over the handlebars about 10 miles in (hitting a big rock with not enough speed) and tragically destroyed my Honka-horn. Ray Adams helped me, brushed me off, and picked up the pieces of the horn - which represented the pieces of my soul. I felt like I was just getting battered by the course and the wet. But, I kept ticking away - what else was I to do?

After about 2 hours and a Snickers bar, I started to get my mojo back, but it wasn't until 4 hours and 53 minutes that I finally closed in on the leader. Having never been in this position (closing in on the leader nearly 5 hours into a race - unsure of how far the finish was) I tried to be strategic: I ate, I drank, I rode steady until I settled in behind her, recovered, then put in a hard effort on a long, stiff climb. Then, rode like I was being chased! I was able to find a rider that had the mileage to find that I was about 1 mile from the finish - a very technical mile.

In a time of 5 hours and 17 minutes I managed to finish first - a very hard win!

Nikki also struggled, mostly with her inner-demons for the first 8-10 miles of the race –often wondering what she was thinking returning to race 50 miles one week after the TSE and wondering if she could call it quits at the first checkpoint. As she approached the first checkpoint, she encountered fellow racer Janel Demeter, who reminded her that r acing a bike was supposed to be fun and that it was a beautiful day to do so. Nikki used this to find her happy place and turn the engines on. By the time she reached the second checkpoint, she’d brought a 29 minute gap down to about 19 minutes. News of this plus a great course was fuel enough to keep Nikki working hard and close the gap between she and second place to about 9 minutes, finishing third for the day!

Marysville 3-Day Relay: Team Kristin and Zach

Mike Kuhn is a cruel cruel man! I mentioned this to his father at the TSE and his father copied down my race number and "reported me". But I am telling you, this man creates courses that destroy!

Friday night I set up camp with the Trestle Bridge Folks (how fun!) before Zach and I took off on the night team time trial. Feeling like I was working the cob webs off - the first 10 minutes were tough, but we boogied nonetheless!

Saturday morning at 10:00 am the 8 hour relay began. Zach went HARD out of the blocks - winning the lap, recording the fastest lap of the day, and sending me out on to the course FIRST! This was fun when 8 minutes into the lap fast men started picking me off one after the next. BUT - did set me up for one of the highlights of the day. I asked the rider back if they wanted to pass and the response I got was, "you're okay, you're riding well like you usually do," only to find that it was Chris Beck. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE COMPLIMENT!

Lap one felt hard, as I am sure it did for Zach. My second lap felt great - I rode clean, hard, and steady, knowing full well that there were many more laps to come. At this point we were in the lead for co-ed duo's, but this didn't last long as the fastest couple on the east coast was ticking away and closing in. Sometime in the middle of the day Ron Harding passed Zach, and Zach temporarily disappeared. When he emerged we learned that he had torn off his rear derailleur (a condition I believe I am the primary carrier for and it's contagious) and cracked his frame. He picked up Ron's rigid singlespeed to finish out the day.

After over 8 hours of racing, and 5 laps each, Zach and I finished second in the co-ed duo category. It was the hardest day of racing I had experienced all year! But, nothing big s'mores couldn't take care of…

Sunday was nothing but fun! After critical thinking and strategizing, I failed miserably at the "huck a huffy" competition - but I think it helped me get my energy back for the 1 hour relay short track we were about to embark on. I actually think they should call this funtrack, not short track!

Zach's face captures the fun of the short track - as does Rob L.'s commentary, "animal house". After 52 minutes of turning out sub-4:00 minute laps we finished 4 overall duo, 2 co-ed duo (again to the fast as heck Hardings!). It was this 52 minutes of racing that reminded me why I race bikes and how fun cyclocross season is - going fast is fun!

So, it's July, I'm absolutely wrecked, a new homeowner and balancing two jobs, developing Gearing Up

www.gearing-up.org

and managing the bicycle ambassadors with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. I'm not sure what the rest of July has in store for me - other than continuing to ride with Kaitlyn (did someone say animal house) in preparation of her first race at the Summer Sizzler, working hard, and preparing to turn my endurance legs in to something fast….

June 27th 2010, Big-M XC (Michigan), Open Men, 1st place

2010-07-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we were back in action in the National Forest inWellston, MI. It was strange to return to this location only one week after having raced there for the Lumberjack 100. When I pre-registered few days prior to the venue, the weather forecast called for 30% of rain.

Around 5:00am it was a down pour followed by sustained rain. I knowthe course does not get muddy but the idea of using my fingers aswiper blades got me to wish for the rain to stop.

Apparently, I got my wish answered as by 9:30am, the rain stopped. The sandy terrain was packed down and at the exception of some slippery corners the trail was perfect for fast rolling tires. The line was
stacked with the contenders for the Michigan Championship and a hard race was to be expected. Today's program was to complete 5 laps of approximately 6 miles.

At the start, I was in 3rd wheel. The first couple of miles are flat and it was perfect to draft and gradually warm-up the legs. At the start of the first gradual climb, I upped the pace and after few minutes, only Steve Dempsey (Bell's Beer) was able to stay with me. I hammered the climbs one after the other and yet Steve was still on my wheel until the last steep pitch at the end of the lap. The hardest part still ahead of me: stay in the front until the end.

From time to time, we were ridding thru the clouds and with all the moisture in the air, my glasses were never really fog free. Anyway, I
carefully went down the sandy hill and tried to keep constant lap
times.

The clouds seemed to get darker; this was another incentive to maintain the pace high before the next rain shower. Finally, the
finish line! I could maintain my time advantage to the end. Luckily
enough, the elite race has been a dry one. It was not the case for the
sport and beginner classes that had to compete under the rain.

Once more I could place Team CF at the top; I also move closer to
first place for the Michigan championship. Next race is July 3rd;
everybody will fight for the points...

The pinky side of the mitten: Lumberjack 100

2010-06-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

What a trip. It is a long, long drive and a huge commitment both in time and money. Glad to report that it was worth all of it. Yes, I did win, but that is not the only aspect of the trip that made the top 10:

10. Jeff to share the drive
9. Chipotle Grill
8. Verizon overnighting a new phone to a remote cabin in MI
7. Entering the twilight zone aka Brighton, MI
6. Wonderful cabin accommodations
5. Finding the race venue
4. John and Bill to help offset the cost of said cabin and adding to the entertainment
3. Three laps not four
2. Touring MI and tasting local fare
1. Two axes sharing the trip home

Jeff and I departed Thursday am to get a start on the long journey to MI. The plan was to split the drive in two days. On the way we usually search for the best eateries and on this day we were lucky to find a Chipotle Grill. If you get the chance learn about its business ethics and get a taste of their wonderful food, you'll be hooked. As for the Verizon business. We like to be entertained on our drive by a gps and the internet while driving. All was going fine until my Droid began turning off and on every minute or two and droning its name as it did so. It was not looking good for the dear old gadget. At our lunch stop we found a Verizon store and had it checked out. It could not be saved. Buying an extended warranty paid off and they set up an overnight delivery to where we were staying. Not too shabby. Luckily we had a back up GPS unit, but Jeff was not quite himself due to being unable to read the latest news or check his messages. We decided to split the drive and stopped in Brighton MI. A cool little town, but a bit on the weird side. We got a great meal and a good nights sleep. On Friday we finished our trip to Brethren MI. We were able to find our cabin get unloaded and head out to the race venue. Without the internet it was all thinking caps on to try and remember our way around. Once we got pointed in the right direction memory came flooding back like yesterday. After a quick lap around some of the trails we chatted with some peeps and made sure all had a place to stay. We had originally booked the cabin with 5 people in the mix. By the time Friday rolled around we were down to just 2. Then John and Bill appeared. They needed a place and we had a place. What could go either way went the best way. What great people. We all should have been friends a long time ago. Better late than never.

Race morning came all too quickly and the next thing ya know we are racing 100 miles. I had a great start and hammered along the first lap at a fast pace. I really wanted to try and get it done in 8 hours. I paid dearly for my focus on time and not on my nutrition. I failed to drink enough on the first lap and each consecutive lap became harder and took more time. The second two laps I began to have the worst cramping in my legs. I was really concerned that I would not be able to continue. I had to slow way down put it in the granny gear on all the climbs because I was afraid that the muscles would tear out of my legs. I also utilized the
midpoint aid station for cold water to put in and on myself and stuffed some bananas in my mouth and jersey hoping it would help. I knew I had a good lead, but I also knew that I had to keep going forward or else be caught. I was not too stressed about it, but really wished I could have put in the effort for a better time.

The course was so much fun despite the pain. I love flowing single track and the the new section of fire roads helped spin out the legs. It may not be the most technical course, but the constant twisty turns of the trail and the punchy climbs really take it out of you. The race was well organized and at the finish we were awarded with a photo, a patch and a cold coke. The organizer of the race was timely with results and awards and kept us pleasantly occupied with full mugs of Founders Ale and dishes of yummy food.

After the race Jeff, Bill, John and I made our way into the town of Manistee. Jeff and I were committed to seeing the big Lake. We had not done it on our last journey to MI and thought that was lame. It was beautiful, the cool breeze was welcoming and the sight of the Manistee River meeting Lake Michigan was magnificent. Then it was off to dinner to eat some local fish dishes. We were quite pleased with taking the time out to be tourists.

Overall the trip was successful and 12 hours in the car is always better when both passengers have an axe and good feelings to bring home.

Christian Tanguy, Lumberjack 100, open men, 2nd place

2010-06-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

My preparation has been good, and I was approaching the Lumberjack 100 with confidence. This year, the course consists of 3 laps of 33 miles instead of the 4 laps of 25 miles. Due to the new course arrangement, friends and family are only allowed to provide assistance at the start finish area; that is 2 times for the whole race. My plan was to stop twice therefore I took an extra bottle to account for the extra distance between feed zones.

This year again, the tempo on the road was just right to stretch the group of racers without requiring a max out effort to stay at the front. I perfectly placed myself and I reached the single track in second place, just behind Jeff Schalk (Trek).

I was feeling pretty good and eventually went to the lead for few minutes while the lead group was taking shape. Then, we reached a double track section where Mike Simonson (29er crew) and Derek Graham (Bissell/abg) placed several accelerations. Shortly after, Mike pulled on the side to repair a flat tire. Meanwhile Derek stayed in the lead. At each climb, he took the opportunity to place a good effort. Unfortunately, he suffered a flat tire and pulled on the side.

As we completed the first lap, the lead group was only 4 racers strong. Jeff and I had a smooth stop at the aid station and right after the aid station, we end-up just the 2 of us. I started not to feel so fresh anymore but this is pretty common for me to have short periods where I feel fatigued before I feel better again.

So far, the race scenario was the best possible; I was left alone with Jeff. All I had to do was to stay with him before the fatigue will cause one of us to drop off the back. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to me pretty much exactly at the 50 miles marker. I was experiencing one of those fatigue period that just cannot be ridden thru. My stomach was like a balloon, my vision was shaking up and down and every part of my body was telling me to stop in the shade and take a 2 hour nap.

Regrettably, I was no stranger to those conditions as I experienced those 2 years ago at the Mohican 100. I was feeling so awful I wondered if I was going to reach the start finish line or if I was going to collapse before that. Of course, my speed drop quickly and as much as I would like to ride with Jeff; it was no longer sustainable.

I barely completed the 2nd lap and while my stomach was full of fluid, I was very thirsty. Although I refrain to drink more, I realized I already emptied a 26oz bottle on the spot. It probably did not help with my digestive problems but I though that the "5 hour drink bottle" I just drank could help me wake up.

I was still in the race and I was still in second place. I was the first to be surprised because for half a lap, my riding was anything but smooth and fast. The race reality got more palpable when Mike Simonson came down to the aid station just as I was leaving it. It did not take long before I pulled on the side to let him by. My condition

was not deteriorating and I thought that eventually the effects of the 5 hour energy could help me regain some composure.

After 20-30 minutes, I started to feel a little bit better and was able to up the pace a tiny bit. Before I knew it, it was Mike who pulled on the side to let me by. However I was not flying down the trail or placing attacks. I was barely moving; grinding on my small ring. I had a long stop at the aid station with half a lap to go. If I was going to have a breakdown, at least I want to have some food.

With a quarter lap to go I gathered all my motivation and energy to crest over the steepest trail that went straight up the hill without having to push the bike. I still cannot believe I could do it in regard of my sleepiness and digestive issue. Incredibly, I reached the finish line in 2nd place. I am glad I could put Team CF on the podium
and keep my chances alive for top 3 at the N.U.E. overall classification.

Big Bear 2X12 featuring Levi's Mountain Momma x 2

2010-06-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

I do have to say that the Big Bear 2x12 was by far the most fun I have had at a relay race. It allowed for all the hard out efforts of a race, but also allowed for a fun relaxing atmosphere with support crew and team members due to it not being a 24 hour event. I went there to race first, but I also made a mini vacation with family and friends out of it.

I was very excited to have my son and husband on the trip with me. They don't do that often and it was a special treat for me. Big Bear offers a great venue and the 2x12 was also a festival with bands playing after the race. It was a family friendly event and a great place for kids to rat around.

After arriving at Big Bear we set up camp and soon after went out for a look at the race loop. I got to ride with my SMT chicks friend Meredith and it was nice to catch up with her. We were pleasantly surprised with some of the course changes and excited about how fast the course would be the next day. When I was done it was Lee's turn for a ride. He is not into racing, but he loves to ride and I was pleased that he would be able to do some riding while we were here. Dinner was by the camp fire and then we retired to our tent. Darn if I didn't remember about the West Virginia Night Club boys. Ear plugs should have been on the list of items to bring. Fireworks are not the best to fall asleep to. Once they died down it was dream land and a good nights sleep.

The next morning my teammate Cassie Smith arrived. We had decided that I would start the relay. I had never started the relay before, but without having to start Lemans style I was game. The first lap added on a hill climb to help separate the field prior to entering the single track. This was not much fun, but I got a good position in and only had to pass a few riders to get a clear run at the trail. The 12 miles of this course has such awesome variety that you don't get bored and it gives one, well at least me, motivation to push during all sections. There are technical sections with rocks and roots, piney sections to haul on, twisty fun stuff, rocky descents to get your thrill on and then of course the night club likes to add surprises to their section of trail. This year it was a rock jump! Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the exciting ending to the course which takes you on a flyover that is more like a bridge. Once over the bridge it was baton exchanging time and Cassie was off. My first lap time was about 1:11, second 1:09, third 1:10. I have not seen official times yet. I am pretty sure that Cassie's first lap was a 1:08:57 and she scored the fastest women's lap. Go Cassie!! It was a bummer that we were racing against ourselves due to there not being another duo female team. To make it exciting we started gunning for the co-ed class. We almost got it, but Gunnar and Betsy won the day! Oh yeah, and what would a race be without a huge orange and red radar making thunderstorm. While Cassie was completing her second lap and I was readying for my final lap a doozy of a storm threatened our existence. Fortunately the 45 mile per hour winds and torrential rain swirled by us, but we did get some boomers and steady rain. Whoopie another mud fest!

Cassie finished her last lap in time to help lead the little ones out for their race. Both our Levi's raced the two lap single track loop and they both won their respective age groups.

Big shout out to Mark for making such a great race happen and having the drive to put on events that keep people smiling.

Selene talks Trans-Sylvania

2010-06-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

To say I was scared going into Trans-Sylvania last weekend is like saying the Pacific is damp. I was quite literally out of my head with visions of sinking like a safe and tanking out on the unforgiving trails of central Pennsylvania, wondering why I choose (often gleefully) to put myself through this time and time again.

Home sweet home. (photo courtesy WTB)

Fortunately, Sunday morning was blissfully sunny and warm as we pulled the two-ton loaded-to-the-grill Tacoma out of the driveway and headed west to begin our adventure. At this point, though still buzzing with nerves, I was definitely ready to get the show on the road. The 10-mile prologue was scheduled to go off at 3 p.m. that afternoon. So we wanted to get there with plenty of time to settle in and warm up before go time. We pulled into camp at about 10:45. When I say camp, I mean camp. The event was based out of the Seven Mountains Boy Scout Campground and we were staying in the rather rustic Rimmey Lodge complete with a resident mouse (or three) and bunk style beds we’d be sharing with about a dozen fellow racers including Rebecca Rusch and her partner Greg Martin; fellow CFers Kristin Gavin, Nikki Thiemann and Christian Tanguy; Mark Weir and the WTB crew; and Mike Wissell out of Back Bay Cycling, just to name a few. I looked at Dave and over at Rebecca who seemed as shell shocked as I was. “We’re gonna be pretty cozy this week, huh? In truth, the little sociology experiment that was Rimmey cabin and TSE ended up being awesome. It was a delicious blend of personalities that made for endless entertainment throughout the entire race.

The race is on. (Photo:© A.E.Landes Photography)

The event kicked off Sunday afternoon with a 10 mile ripping dusty prologue. I had kitted up a couple hours before and got in a pre-ride of the loop with the WTB boys, Mike Wissell, and Mike Cushionbury . It started on a long fireroad climb and then bombed down a fairly sketchy descent before sweeping through the forest on some very smooth, sweet singletrack before returning to some rocks and service roads. It was a perfect mix of climbing and singletrack and I felt confident that I’d do well. I was slated to go off at 3:24, second to last, right after Karen Potter of MTBracenews.com and one minute before Rebecca. I was nervous, but also really ready. Race director Mike Kuhn counted me down and I shot off the line. About midway up the first big climb, I started passing people in the women’s field. About 3/4 of the way up, I passed Karen, who turned it up and caught me as I dove into the woods. We volleyed back and forth on the singletrack until she came around for good near the end. As I crossed the line, I was elated. Rebecca never caught me and I was right behind Karen, who’d started a minute ahead. A few minutes later, I got the word: I’d won. That night I’d pull on the leader’s jersey. Suddenly I was the one to chase. I was thrilled…and yeah, more than a little jittery.

The next morning the race took off in earnest with 40 miles the hard way over some of the roughest terrain central Pennsylvania has to offer. It was also Africa hot with thick pollen-filled air and soup-like humidity. The day started like many with a fast, hard climb to thin the field. I’m not much of a strategic racer, but I decided to play to my strengths this week with one very simple strategy—go like hell off the line and climb with the lead men for as long as I could to gain an early gap on the women’s field. I knew Rebecca could smoke me on the smooth, flowing stuff and Karen has great trail skills and power. They both could likely catch me on long descents, so I had to go early and often if I wanted to defend the jersey. I was off to a great start Tuesday until midway up the first long climb of the day, I caught a stick with my rear wheel, which immediately wrapped itself around my rear cassette and wrenched my back derailleur into my spokes. I stopped and assessed the damage. “$#%@!” Thankfully Chris Eatough (our team coach and all around good guy) was right behind me to help. He kept talking me off the ledge as he slowly but surely unmangled my bike. As I stood working on my dwindling Zen, Karen passed by. “$#%@!” A few moments later, Rebecca passed by. “*&^%!!!” Eatough, still muttering reassuring words, finally got the bike in passable working order, but the shifting was anything but smooth and my gear choice extremely limited. With time ticking away, I jumped back aboard and made the best of it. I ended up catching and passing Rebecca who was struggling to control her asthma in the heat and thick air. But I never caught Karen, who ended up gaining 3 minutes on me that day and taking the leader’s jersey that night. I was disappointed; but I also knew there were five more days of hard racing. I’d get my bike repaired that evening and barring more bad luck, I could work my way back up. That night as Mike and Ray described the profile of stage three—45 miles of mostly fireroads with a few significant climbs—I knew I’d have a chance to make my move.

Happiness is a high speed bridge. (© A.E.Landes Photography)

Tuesday morning brought showers and cooler temperatures. I felt energetic, happy and strong as I rolled out of my top bunk and milled about the cabin. I can always feel a good day and I knew this was going to be one. In fact, it was one of my best. I took off from the gun and never looked back. It was one of those joyful, chainless affairs. A few of the racers grumbled about the lack of singletrack on the day; but the course was stunningly beautiful as it rolled through Amish country, along riverbeds, and even through a pitch black, rustic tunnel. Simply gorgeous. I rolled into the finish about 7 and a half minutes in front of Rebecca who took second on the day and 16 minutes ahead of Karen. I was back in the leader’s jersey that night.

Wednesday was Raystown, the most hyped stage of the week, and frankly the one I feared most. The Raystown Lake trails are like a giant rollercoaster, supersmooth and flowing with lots of berms and jumps. I almost went hind end over head during my last trip to these trails by carrying more speed than I had skill for. As I fretted about the cabin getting ready for the stage, Dave said, “You can’t win it today, but you can sure lose it.” I put those words in my pocket and vowed to ride smoothly and efficiently, but not over my head. I was happy to see the day started with a very stiff, steep climb. At least I could have a fighting chance to get into the woods first. Indeed I did. And I fell into a small train of riders, including Mike and some of the singlespeeders. As we breezed through the trails, I settled in and rode loose and fast,

A real post race cool down. (Photo: Rebecca Rusch)

completely enjoying myself and the beauty of the day. About halfway through, however, we blew a turn and went off course briefly, but just long enough for me to see the bright red Specialized jersey of Rebecca breeze by. Damn! I turned around and jumped onto Mike’s wheel as we sped up to her on a long piece of grassy service road. As my luck would have it, it was a long enough climb for me to get back into the lead. But it wouldn’t last. Rebecca is a monster on that smooth track and she quickly tore by me at the last checkpoint. I kept her in my sights for a while but ultimately lost her. She got the stage win. I was very happy to come in just 90 seconds back however. Carrying high speed on those trails isn’t my strength, but I had held my own and fought as hard as I could. I felt happy and proud as we all beelined to the lake for a post race dip. (On a blue note, Dave succumbed to a stomach bug early on in the stage and had to pull out—a huge bummer, because I knew he’d really love those trails as well as the pulled pork dinner that awaited us back at camp. Thankfully, he was back up and running the following day.)

Chasing is hard work. Raystown was more fun than it looks here. (© A.E.Landes Photography)

Thursday was play day—about 25 miles that included four mini cross country races, each lasting about eight to 10 minutes, including some technical descents. The plan was for the group to roll together nice and easy to the start of each stage then turn ourselves hypoxia blue for 2 to 4 miles before regrouping and doing it all again. I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical of the format, but it was a picture perfect day and it was a welcome breather in what had been a mentally and physically challenging week. The courses were good ripping fun. I rode decently, but I definitely found myself wishing for some rear suspension on the rugged rocky stream bed descent of stage two. How I stayed upright despite rolling like a drunken gerbil in an egg-shaped hamster ball is beyond my comprehension. Rebecca and I stayed close for the day, alternating race wins, with both of us taking two for the day. I eked out just enough time on my wins to take the overall victory for the day. I’d thoroughly enjoyed my day. Yet, pulling into camp that evening, I found myself on the verge of tears. Stage 6 was the next day and it was going to be hard. Very hard. It begins with an 8 mile climb and then goes into some of the most technical, if beautiful terrain in the East. I had a solid 20-minute lead on the women’s field and relatively fresh legs, but the stress of psyching myself up to race day in and out was catching up to me. I started to worry endlessly about all the myriad ways I could crash, burn, and blow all my hard work from the week. I struggled to settle my spinning nerves, but that night brought fitful sleep.

Friday morning was full on dread. I was miserable and though I tried to appear to be my chipper, cloud walking self, I was no fun to be around and Dave let me know so in no uncertain terms. I can race mad. But I can’t race sad. And I felt sad that I couldn’t get out of my way; pull my head out of my hind-end and act like a normal human being. We chatted as we rolled around the venue, warming up until both of us felt better. He then came to the front of the pack with me and set a wonderfully civil pace during the neutralized roll out (which is generally anything but neutral as the pack motor-paces at 25 mph behind the minivan lead out). With my nerves settled, I fell into a comfortable climbing pace as the race officially rolled onto the big ascent. It was brutally hot and humid and by the time I’d reached the top, I was starting to see spots. We turned into the woods for the most technical descent of the day and I turned into instant moron. Ray had warned us the night before to take it very, very careful on the first downhill because we’d be worked from the climb. I’d brushed it off. But there I was, arms totally locked out, heart thumping against my sternum, head swimming, and bouncing down the trail like a potato shot out of a tube of PVC pipe. I actually had to come to a stop about three quarters of the way down to take a deep breath and regain some semblance of composure lest I dash myself—and my race—on the rocks that jutted up from every angle. Once through the worst of it, I settled back into a comfortable riding pace. As I worked my way up to the Tussey Mountain Ridge Trail, one of my favorites in the state, I had decided to put my head up and enjoy the view a little, to take a moment and enjoy the accomplishments of the week. Two seconds later, I clipped my right pedal on a rock and tumbled onto the boulders on my left, gashing my knee. As I got up and looked back I saw Karen coming up the trail happy as a clam behind me. So much for finding my happy space. I hit the gas through the remainder of the race and managed to finish the day in first, gaining another minute or so on the field.

Yay! Play day. The mini XCs were big fun. (© A.E.Landes Photography)

Enjoying Pennsylvania singletrack

As we stood in the grass at the finish line, filling our bottles and snacking on cookies, Karen came up to me. “Wanna call a truce and have a fun day tomorrow?” she asked. I had a 22 minute lead at that point. Rebecca, who had another terrible day with the pollen and heat, had fallen further behind. Our positions were pretty well settled considering the next day was less than 20 miles of fast, non-technical terrain.The singlespeeders, who also had their GC firmly locked up were already planning to fill their packs with beer for a Tour de France style party parade. “I’m game if you all are,” I said. And that was the race.

The next day we rolled along and chatted and laughed, swapping stories and enjoying the trail. We

A bunch of really good sports. (© A.E.Landes Photography)

celebrated throughout the afternoon and into the night. The organizers had planned a fabulous banquet with steak and shrimp and wine that evening. I came home with a generous check, a fabulous medal, a wooden plaque, a bag filled with schwag and more good friends and memories than I ever thought possible. Thanks Trans-Sylvania. We’ll be back.

Forward

Mohican 100! (Harlan)

2010-06-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

The stats:  Driving 440 miles away= 9hrs
   100 miles of racing= 8hrs and 23mins

Tornados, rain, mud in eyes, the smell of oil and old barns with tobacco advertising. Ohio is a strange and beautiful place. Everytime I drive there I gain a better appreciation for the rolling hills of the western Appalachian terminus.

The night before we left Dr. Jim told me that it was hailing chunks of ice! On the drive out we passed in and out of torrential rain. As we drew closer to the event, the evidence of heavy rains could be seen in the fields where only the highest part of the rows stuck above water. We were on track to mimic the Cohutta 100 last month.

It was raining during check-in and the idea of sleeping outside in a tent, which I forgot, or my hammock (which I had) didn't seem appealing. Theo and I took off to find a place to stay. After some searching we found camp TooDik about 5 miles away and acquired a three bunk chalet. It continued raining all night and into the morning.
We woke up at 5:30, ate our cold breakfasts and scooted out of there to leave our drop bags and line up in downtown Loundonville. The rain slacked off for the start and we had only threatening clouds and wet roads followed by wet trails to remind us of the recent history.

The Mohican has one of the worst starts in the history of 100 milers. Two miles out of town we climb the first steep hill of the day and at the top of it is a cash bonus for the first racer to it. The result is a pelaton that goes ballistic from the line and you have to abuse your cold muscles to keep a good position into the opening single track. I discovered this year that it's even harder on a single speed. I burned through a few cookies early and spent the rest of the day regretting my early efforts. Somehow I was still about 15 back from the front and I instantly tried to settle down and work my way through people without stressing myself out any more than necessary. I got to ride with my friend Theo for the first ten miles, which was fun and new. The trails were so full of water and treacherous, but Theo and I were having a good time riding loose lines and catching people a little less capable in the trail.

Eventually Mike Montelbano, another single speeder caught up to us, and we proceeded to battle for the rest of the day. No other one geared rider made their way up to us and we only had each other to watch out for. Through aid station one we went through together and then at aid station two we were cleaning our bikes, and I decided to go inside the garage and grab a snack while Mike cleaned his rig with the garden hose. When I stepped back outside Mike was no where in sight! I had been snookered. I jumped on the bike and after a few minutes caught up to mike and could tell he hadn't cleaned his bike like I thought he was going to do. It turns out when I went inside he thought I had jumped on the bike and was in front of him.

We continued on together with a couple of geared riders. I was trying to be as conservative as possible since I pretty much knew I had blown some reserves off the start and wasn't sure how I was going to finish with anything left. On top of that it has been a pretty busy few weeks and I hadn't been on the bike as much as I should have, so training was definitely not up to par. I knew that after aid station three we were going to have some of the biggest climbs of the day and a section of infamous cart path, that was a single speeders worst nightmare. I got out of aid three first and expected Mike to follow soon after. There was no sign of Mike and after a bit a geared rider caught me and we worked well together through the worst road stretches. Unfortunately he was starting to flag on the Cart path and my advantage of being with a geared rider was a little blown since I had to pull for him a decent amount. The good news was that we didn't see Mike at all.

At Aid station four and 72 miles in I refueled, cleaned the bike a little and took off. Soon after Greg Kuhn on a geared bike caught up and told me he had been riding with Mike and he wasn't that far back. Greg was obviously riding strong and he soon pulled away, which meant he was probably a good pull for Mike. Sure enough, Mike came up on me a few minutes later and we rode together to aid station five. On one of the last steep climbs I managed to ride more of it than Mike, but his walking was the same speed and I could tell I was about cooked. My quads were cramping a little and when he stood up on a nice paved incline and rode away I couldn't respond. I only hoped that I could come back around for the last two hills that I knew he would have to walk with the extra tall gear he was riding. Not that it really mattered, but those hills never came, (apparently they were taken out of the course this year). When we got to the last six miles of single track I started to feel good and despite having no brake pads, and was only using metal on metal to slow down, I was very motivated to try to pull him back.

At one point someone I passed said there was only a two minute gap and I tried to step on it harder, but somehow the trail started to feel like it would never end and with about two miles to go I was pretty much a mud basted turkey. I came across the line five minutes back of Mike and was very glad it was done at no more than my 8hrs and 22 minutes. That's the longest 100 miler I've done since 2006!

Mike was the strong man on the day and it was great to get to have a close battle with someone. It pushes you to dig deeper and can make a lonely ride more motivating. All I got to say is Mike better watch out. I'll be ready come the Shenandoah!

Trans Sylvania Epic, Open Men 5th place overall (Christian)

2010-06-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

What a week!

Stage 1 – Time trial – 3rd place
The first stage was a time trial that lasted about 45 minutes. I started one minute behind Alex Grant from the Cannondale Factory Team and one minute ahead of Jeremiah Bishop from the same team. I thought that if I could reach back to Alex, I would post a great time. I was also wondering if I could hold off Jeremiah up to the
line. I am not a time trial specialist and it will be definitely difficult to limit the time difference between Jeremiah and me to less than a minute.

The trail led us thru the campground on a single track with some sharp turns before we reached a 1.5 mile dirt road climb. It is always difficult to set-up the proper pace and although I pre-rode the course the day earlier, the trail still had some surprises for me.

At the top of the climb, we turned left into a piece of downhill single track. The trail has some rocks and the fatigue from the climb made the navigation thru the rocks a little harder. Not time to rest, as the trail makes a 180° turn back up the hill by a slightly less rough trail. Closer to the top, the trail smooth out before reaching
back to the dirt road.

Although I was really riding at my best, I was not feeling really fast but the good sign was that I could not see anybody behind. The course made a turn to a single track that went up and down before we reached some rough dirt roads. This is when Jeremiah passed me. I wish I could have held him off a little longer but he was too strong. The best thing I could do was to follow him as close as possible. Strange how despite being tired, having a rabbit in front of you makes you ride faster. I was not right on Jeremiah's wheel but I was maintaining a 5
second gap.

Sooner than expected, we reached the last quarter mile of the stage. The trail is following a small creek and has some wet roots and rocks. On my pre-ride the day before, I could not ride it... neither could I
ride it the day of the race.

For a second I saw Alex Grant being passed by Jeremiah, this is where I started to lose a lot of time. As I tried to ride over a rock, I lost my balance I felt. After I ran to a suitable spot to re-mount the bike, I realized that during the fall, the chain dropped off the small chain ring. I had to get off the bike and put the chain on the ring by
hand....

At the finish line, I was irritated by my poor performance on the last quarter mile. I should have been able to limit the time lost to Jeremiah to one minute and few seconds; instead it was over two minutes....Anyway, my performance was sufficient for 3rd place – quite a surprise not being a time trial expert.

Stage 2 – cross country – 3rd place
This stage started fast and furious; at least from my perspective. I got jammed behind a bunch of riders who where leaving some gaps to the leaders. After I redlined my heart beat and passed most of them I followed some other wheels just to notice that I was still not in the front group.

Then, we reached a long and quite steep uphill dirt road where I could see Jeremiah and Drew Edsall (Team Yeti) in the lead. After several minutes of hard effort, I reached back to them. This is where Evan Plews also reached back but instead of sitting back and take a breather, he continued at a steady pace and soon after he was ahead of Drew, Jeremiah and myself by 50 meters.

Knowing that Jeremiah is faster in the downhill than me, I let him in front of me. I was surprised that he started to leave a gap between him and Drew and although I could have rode faster downhill I did not want to risk everything to pass him.

Once the trail got flatter and wider, Jeremiah started to ride much faster. My legs were feeling the hard push as we were chasing Drew. I was getting tired really quickly and would have rather rode a steadier faster pace than this medium and then really fast ride.

Eventually Jeremiah pulled on the side with some brake problems on his Scalpel, leaving me alone to chase Drew. After I reached to the aid station, in the rough(er) single track I reached back to Drew.

I know my bike skills are not the best but somehow I felt I could ride a little faster in that terrain. I hesitated a long time before passing Drew. Indeed since the beginning of the stage, all I did was closing gaps and my legs were really hurting. But too much is too much, after a long time, I decided to pass.

Evan was still ways ahead and I was wondering if I would see him before the finish line. I was riding at my fastest pace when I heard some bike noises. Unfortunately it was not a bike in front of me but behind me. Jeremiah switched bike at the aid station and encouraged me to follow him on our pursuit of Evan.

Jeremiah's pace was out of my comfort zone and I was riding again faster than would like. Meanwhile Jeremiah was telling me that we would chase Evan once we exited the rocky single track. I answered that I was really tired.

Out of a corner, Evan was getting back on his bike after fixing a flat. The chase was over and I wished that the pace will ease up a little. It did not. I was only few seconds in the lead just to witness Evan and Jeremiah riding away as my legs were quitting on me.

I probably did not eat or drink enough and realized that I was loosing time quickly. My computer was broken from my fall the day earlier and I did not know how far I was from the finish. I barely made up the last climb to the campground but still reached the finish line in third place.

Stage 3 – cross country – 4th place
This stage was mostly dirt roads with only one major technical trail: the fisherman trail. Due to the nature of the terrain, nothing happen until the Fisherman trail by mile 18.

This is where I lost 2 minutes to the lead. I buried myself on the following climb to get back before the top just to realize that I could have go much easier in the climb and reach back on the following downhill and flat dirt roads. The problem is that you never know when an attack is going to happen.

At the base of the last major ascent, Brandon Draugelis set up a steady pace. It was not too impressive at the bottom of the climb, by the half way point, I was barely holding and by the top I was cooked and riding on fumes.

Brandon however was riding strong would place several attacks on Jeremiah, Alex and me. I had the most interest to chase Brandon due to the general classification. Great! I worked extra hard and the 4 of us reached the last single track climb of the day together. It was not long before I dropped back and let those 3 racers fight for the stage win.

It was a good day for me as I moved closer to Evan on the general classification.

Stage 4 – cross country – 2nd place
The stage took place at Raystown Lake park. The trail was super smooth and on the 38 miles of trails there was only one tiny tree trunk we had to jump over.

The race started by a pavement climb; it was quite steep. We then entered the rollercoaster trail for a great day on the bike. I entered in 5th wheel, behind Evan Plews. This was not the best position as Brandon Draugelis, Jeremiah Bishop and Drew Edsall started to pull away.

On some uphill section, Alex Grant and I passed Evan and joined back to the leading group where Brandon was navigating us thru the fun trail. We were now in a steady climb. Until now, Evan was lingering 30 meters behind us but he disappeared somewhere half way up the climb. However, he was able to bridge back after any sustained downhill or flat section.

It was a lot of fun to roll on the water bars that looked at times just like a bmx track. It was tricky for the legs to produce important efforts followed by periods of rest as we went over those camel back like trails.

I was carrying more water than anybody in the lead group and by the time we reached the aid station for the second time, I did not have to refuel. I re-entered the single track trail in the lead. Apparently, I
rode somewhat faster than the previous pace set-up by Brandon as we drop Evan for good.

At some point, I reached a succession of large bumps at speed. I tried to avoid getting airborne but on the largest one, I could not avoid getting some air and I landed on my front wheel. I wheeled on the front wheel for what it seemed an eternity. Wow, it was a scary moment!

I was getting tired and drafting was quite an advantage. I did not know how long it will be to the finish and when Alex was getting very close to my rear wheel I decided to let him pass before he made me fall.

He accelerated but being in the draft, I followed him with no difficulties. Finally, we reached the same paved road that we rode at the start; however this time was downhill. It was too dangerous to make any attempt to pass. We all arrived one second behind each other: Alex, me, Brandon, Drew and Jeremiah.

Evan lost some more time and I gained 2nd place overall.

Stage 5 – mini cross country format – 8th place
This was something new to me and it just killed my legs for the reminder of the stage race.

Basically, there are 4 time segments which start with a climb or some false flat. Then the course gets somewhat downhill but pedaling is still required.

The first segment started on wider trail and I did not quite made it to the front. I was maybe in 7th or 8th position and the leaders were pulling away. I was pedaling at my maximum speed and my heart was going to explode. Mid way thru the timed sector, my legs started to turn around. At some point, I passed Brandon just before we reached an open grass field on some two tracks. I went to the right and I found myself in a deep rut. My front wheel started to catch on the one foot tall wall. I felt on the grass and lost significant time while everybody was passing me on the left. It took me even more time to put back my dropped chain. I arrived about 1 minute behind first place.

The second segment had significant more stones and roots. The legs were empty from the previous mini XC; I was pleased when I reached the finish line with Evan about 20 seconds behind first place.

The third segment started on a fairly steep and long double track road. Immediately everybody redlined their heart beat. We finally went down a small grass field before we funneled down on the rockiest trail for the day along side a creek. I probably had my best ride so far but the leaders were much faster. I gained some time on Evan which was critical after my poor performance on the first leg. Again, I finish 20 seconds behind the winner.

By the start of the fourth and last timed segments I could not get the legs to spin smoothly. The prior 10 minutes max speed mini cross country races really drained my energy. Anyway, we were on a dirt road and I made it reasonably close to the lead before we turned left into a rocky single track. I thought we will be going downhill from there but instead we climbed back up a bit underneath some power lines. Then it was only downhill and once more I cross the line about 20 seconds behind the leaders. Like on the third segment, I put more time on Evan
and end up the day increasing my lead on him. Unfortunately, I lost time to my remaining close competition.

Stage 6 – cross country – 6th place
For once we did not started like rockets but instead rode at a casual pace on the flat dirt road. However as soon as we reached the base of the first major climb, the speed went crazy. Alex Grant was making a very high pace and it was only Jeremiah, Drew, Brandon and I. We started the downhill on the rough trail and for once I was following the group without letting any gaps being created. This lasted as long as the trail was steep enough that pedaling was not necessary. Once I started to pedal, I noticed that the chain dropped. Of course, I tried to shift my front derailleur in an attempt to put the chain back on the chain rings. It did not happen; I had to stop and use my hands. Pointless to say I was a little disappointed to have worked so hard in the uphill and then holding to lead pace downhill to finally be by myself because of a dropped chain.

Few minutes later, I got a glimpse at the leaders; they finished a very rough section as I just entered it. I though that I would be able to latch back on but after an hour of racing, my legs were drained and my heart would not rev-up. It became worse when I lost my balance and felt in a rock garden. During the week, it must have happen to me like 10 times, but this time my right thigh landed exactly on top of a pointy rock. I felt a deep pain and my leg seized up immediately. It took at least ten minutes for the leg to spin a little bit smoother.

I tried to my best to keep a decent pace but I knew I was slower than the lead group. After a long while, I saw Jeremiah on the side of the trail fixing his bike. We were then on a very nice ridge trail punctuated with some rough sections. Anytime I could spare a second to look to my right or to my left, you could see for miles. The views were breathtaking. I guess that it per definition a ridge line.

At some point, Blake Harlan (Team Jamis) passed me; I took his wheel and it was fun to have a "rabbit" and no longer be on my own. Once the ridge line finished, I went to the front and created a 30 seconds gap on the climb.

The single track trail ended with a downhill and we were riding dirt and paved roads. On the roads, Blake redlined himself to get back to me bringing back Jeremiah with him. Blake was too far back in the general classification to agree to set up the pace and Jeremiah was too far ahead to ride faster and help me reduce the time on his
teammate. So I end-up leading our group of three for quite a while.

On the last ascent, Jeremiah placed an attack; Blake could take his wheel but it was too much for me. In no time they had a 20 to 30 seconds gap. As the climb continued, I was reeling them in slowly. By the time I crossed the finish line, I was 4 seconds behind.

The race for second place for the general classification was on. Alex, Brandon and I were only separated by 7 seconds. However, all I could think was about my bruised right leg...

Stage 7 – cross country – 9th place
As I woke up, I could not bend my right leg. It took me one minute to put on my socks. A long and low intensity warm up was necessary to reach a somewhat smooth pedal stroke. This stage was going to last around 2 hours and the intensity was going to be high. Right from the gun, Jeremiah, Alex, Brandon and Drew took off. I was left behind struggling silently in pain.

The rain during the night left quite a bit of puddles. 15 minutes into the race, as I rode thru one of them, the muddy water just sprayed up from the front wheel and got just between my glasses and my face. For 20 seconds I could not discern what was around me. Anyway, I was feeling miserable but kept pushing since anything can happen.

At some time Evan Plews and Mike Yozell joined me. I was riding in third position just hanging on. At an intersection, Mike asked if we were still on the correct path. I must say that all my attention at the time was focused on not behind dropped. After we rode a bit longer, we found another arrow and we were still riding hard pursuing the leaders.

Half way up the course, there is a long climb. The three of us were struggling and at the top Jeremiah, Alex and Drew passed us. Alex asked me: "Did you get lost?" I replied: No and you? No. Strange???

Anyway, Alex was wasting no time, he joined back to Jeremiah and Drew. Evan made a very nice effort and latched back to the train. I was lingering 30 meters behind while Mike Yozell lost contact.

For several miles I was 10 seconds behind the lead group however without being able to bridge back. I was pushing really hard as I was trying to save 3rd place overall; I needed to come ahead of Brandon by 7 seconds and although I could not see him behind me, I knew he could be in my wheel before I know it.

I finished about 30 seconds behind the winner completely exhausted. I looked back to the finish line, Brandon was still not there. He came about 3 minutes behind me but meanwhile we learned that we did indeed take a wrong turn when Mike, Evan and I were chasing the leaders. We did not ride a single track trail and rode a dirt road instead. It was a little confusing and others almost made the same mistake. Nevertheless, we should have been more careful. The race organizers decided to give us a time penalty instead of disqualify us.

Finally, I end-up in 5th place overall. For sure, my 2nd place overall for a couple of days got me dreaming of a top three but the top 5 was what I knew my target should be and I am glad I could achieve it.

The race organization was fantastic and I hope that next year I will be able to take the whole week off work and ride those butt kicking trails once more.

Mohican 100 Mud Fest

2010-06-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

This was the third Mohican for me and by far the worst conditions of the three, but it was the best performance I have had at the Mohican. Basically my first goal was to get up the beginning climb and into the single track before the mass of riders clogged up the single track. I did it!! I was so excited. It made the single track, although muddy and slick, so much more enjoyable than years past. I was able to go my own speed and not have the stress of being stuck behind slower riders.

The next 40 miles were very mud filled, but exciting. This was due to me and another female competitor riding as though it was a regular xc event. We pushed each other to ride our best at a fast pace. We traded the lead a couple of times and at one point I even had the lead. She stopped at Aid one to deal with a hydration pack issue and I kept going. I did take a moment up the trail to deal with some chain suck and lube up my chain and sure enough she came up on me like a charging bull. We were back at it. We stayed together up through Aid 2 where she got a little bit of a gap, but I caught back on and we battled a bit longer until I had to succumb to her pace and back down a bit. I was now in my own race to keep a solid 2nd, finish the race without blowing up, and keep myself and my bike in forward working motion. Especially since the rains, wind, thunder and lightening picked up at this point in the race.

This is me happy to be finished. Notice how the bottom half is less muddy. Right before the end, as if I had the energy, I had to cross a swollen creek that was hip deep for most but almost chest deep for me. It was crazy. It should have been quick, but being short I could not lift my bike high enough and the wheels got caught in the current and began to take me with it. Unbelievable, I survived the race and now in the last mile I am going to be swept away in a swollen creek. It took a bit for me to get across, but luckily here I am writing this post.

Over the weekend.

2010-06-07T03:25:00.001-07:00

Shogren, Schalk return to defend past Mohican 100 titles

This is where Harlan, Cheryl and Jim were this weekend. Why are thunder/lightening storms contending for the NUE title too???

Well What happened....

Thats to come....

STAGE 3: Bishop wins stage; pads lead. Draugelis makes move. Yeager regains leader's jersey.

2010-06-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

Stage 3 of Trans-Sylvania offered racers a complete reversal of conditions from yesterday with a course based on doubletrack and dirt roads with just a bit of singletrack spice thrown in at the start, finish and mid-point of the course and cooler temps with rain. The change in conditions brought on a change in tactics and in results.

In the men's race some early efforts by Brandon Draugelis (PAValleys.com) on first climb of the day and began to pull a group off the front of the field. In this group were all the riders at the top of the GC and they quickly settled into a working group that solidified with Mike Festa (Cadence Cycling) showing improving form as the last rider to make the split.

This group, Bishop, Plews, Tanguy, Edsall, Draugelis, Grant, Harlan, Prosser, Festa, Grant and Biese rolled through the checkpoint in Coburn, the home of the original 100 mile mountain bike race, at high speed with most forgoing feeds so as not to lose touch the head of the race. A small climb in the middle of the course and the treacherous Fisherman's Path saw several riders come off the back. The wedge that separated the group came in the form of the Poe Paddy Drive, a rough doubletrack climb to one of the most outstanding views in central PA and checkpoint #2. On the climb to CP#2 Bishop, Grant, Tanguy and Draugelis attacked leaving Plews and Edsall at even 0:30s intervals behind Prosser trailing at 1:30 back and Festa at 2:15 with Biese and Harlan further back.

The four leaders exchanged the lead at the front with Draugelis looking smooth and Tanguy marking him well. Grant worked for team mate Bishop to keep Plews behind while Plews and Edsall cooperated in an effort to match the pace of the front. Two lesser climbs in the final miles of race provided a launching pad for the Cannondale Factory Team riders and Bishop edged out Grant in the final sprint. Draugelis jumped away from Tanguay bringing back a few seconds on the third place rider in GC and in the process also jumped into 4th on GC over Edsall, who finished fifth on stage riding the last several miles on front flat. Plews finished the day in between and while he conceded time to Tanguy held onto his second overall placement in GC.

The Women's race lead changed hands back to prologue winner Yeager who worked together with allies on the road and trail to vault over Potter. Meanwhile Rusch, perhaps helped in part to the change in weather conditions, overcame yesterday's difficulties that left her struggling to breath in the PA humidity and finished a strong second about 8 minutes behind Selene and a similar time gap in front of Potter.

Gavin and Thiemann brought home the duo win while Greg Martin grabbed the victory in Singlespeed and took over the GC lead in SS. Prosser came home 6th overall on the day and added time to his GC lead. The Lichtenwalners had perhaps the most interesting day as Rob soloed in on the tandem for the last 10 miles after losing partner Sarah to dehydration at CP#2.

More tomorrow as the Trans-Sylvania Epic heads to the Allegrippis Trail network at Raystown Lake for yet another completely different sort of trail and conditions.

Race report written by Zack Beltran

Photos courtesy of A.E.Landes Photography Lisa Power

TSE Day 3: Passing Showers (Nikki and Kristin)

2010-06-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

Prior to our 10:30 am start the sky would periodically open up and dump. Thankfully it stopped for our start and the weather was perfect for an absolutely fantastic course!

The start was, again, mass and "controlled" (but not really). We took off out of camp and up a WET and SLOPPY double-track climb for about 2 miles, then through a fast, muddy double-track descent before we hit the first of many fast fireroads. It was here that Nikki and I had our second fight ever. She rolled up to me and said, "Why do you insist on going so hard out of the blocks when you know that I have asthma?"

Over the course of the next three and half hours we rode through some of the prettiest terrain including long climbs, fast carriage roads, one dark and disorienting tunnel, and a fisherman's trail - all dense with ferns and fabulous smells after an early summer rain shower. It was beautiful despite getting poured on occasionally. Just as I turned to Nikki and said, "This has been one of the most beautiful and enjoyable rides of my life," we hit the final 3 or so miles of singletrack - rocky, wet, muddy, steep, and sandy - urgh..... We finished the stage in just under 4 hours, caked in sandy mud, pretty psyched with our ride, but potentially more psyched at the cheddar combo's that Travis had at the finish. Again, Travis saves the day!

Wondering about our fight? It was nothing a little singing couldn't resolve. Ever heard the song about the monkey and the engineer?

Stay tuned for stories from Stage 4

Race Report Day Two – Greenwood Furnace Stage of the Trans-Sylvania Epic

2010-06-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Stage two of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, featuring a remote start from Greenwood Furnace State Park and return to the picturesque 7 Mountains Camp, gave race leader Jeremiah Bishop a scare and shook up the women’s leader board. Trans-Sylvania’s hardest stage, the 40 mile course featured close to 30 miles of classic rocky Pennsylvania singletrack gnarliness strung together in a long flowing chain with small breaks afforded by dirt roads of the Rothrock forest. The stage had participants digging deep with temps and humidity adding to the challenge of the trails, but as multiple 24 hour series champion Rob Lichtenwalner (who is racing the mountain bike tandem category with wife Sarah for the PAValleys.com Team) put it, challenging in a “That is the best singletrack in the world!” sort of way.

Although five more days of racing face the Trans-Sylvania field, day two started hard and fast with a group of six men separating themselves by the first major descent on the technical Telephone Tr. just a few miles into the stage. Emerging from this section were Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing), Christian Tanguy (Team CF), Drew Edsall (Yeti), Evan Plews (EvanPlews.com). Brandon Draugelis (PAValleys.com) and Alex Grant (CFR) were only a handful seconds in arrears. Plews, looking to gain back time lost in the open prologue, pressured the group on the ensuing climb and forged a small gap while Bishop realized his rear brake had failed. The trail into checkpoint one spread this group with small gaps forming between each racer and Bishop trailing in fourth looking for mechanical support. The aptly named Beautiful Trail saw Plews emerge a full 1:30 ahead of Tanguy while Edsall trailed a further 0:30 back and Bishop, charging hard, another 0:30 behind. By this point the racers were into the heart of the PA singletrack and Draugelis used his skills to separate himself from Grant, but was trailing the leader by 4:00 and Edsall by 2:00 min.

Things changed dramatically by checkpoint 2 as Plews had flatted and Bishop capitalized with the two riders entering Chestnut Trail at the same time. Tanguy was still holding strong 2:00 min back, but Draugelis had closed the gap significantly to Edsall and was now within shouting distance of yesterday’s second place finisher. This marked the end of the technical trail riding and any further reshuffling of the field. Bishop, now in a position to defend his lead, rode tactically and threw in a last attack on Plews, the day’s big mover and shaker, to pad the lead by a few more seconds. Tanguy crossed third and Draugelis and Edsall called truce on the run to the line with Draugelis rolling in a second ahead of the Yeti rider.

Meanwhile in the women’s race, Karen Potter of MTBRaceNews.com took the women’s win and the overall lead as yesterday’s winner Selene Yeager (Team CF) faced the challenge of a mangled derailleur hanger in addition to the abilities of her rivals. Potter, Yeager and Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) went out as fast as the men and the heat and humidity seemed to hit Rusch harder than her competitors with Yeager and Potter distancing themselves from her on the early climbs. Yeager’s mechanical gave Potter the opening she needed and Potter used it to full advantage by railing the singletrack and then settling in on the roads that finished the stage once the gap was established. Potter really enjoyed the race, later saying “It was hot. Rough terrain today but fun. It was a good mix and the singletrack here really inspires me.” Potter is looking forward to tomorrow’s 45 mile long Coburn stage from the TSE camp featuring portions of the original mtb 100 miler – the Wilderness 101 - where she will defend her new Trans-Sylvania Pactimo leader’s jersey.

Other category winners today include Kristin Gavin and Nikki Thiemann of Team CF in Duo, Doug Jenne (High Gear Cyclery/Ghostship Clothing) in the single speed category, and Garth Prosser in the Masters field while Rob and Sarah Lichtenwalner of PAValleys.com Team won the Tandem category.

The general classification at the Trans-Sylvania Epic reflect the finishes of today’s stage with Bishop, Potter, Prosser, Gavin and Thiemann, and Jenne leading their respective categories.

Race report written by Zack Beltran

Photos courtesy of A.E.Landes Photography

TSE Day One and Two: Nikki and Kristin - Women's Duo

2010-06-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Boy Scouts Motto: Be Prepared

Day 1:

Yesterday Nikki and Kristin started the Transylvania Epic Stage Race with a BANG! After pre-riding the course, and noting the course markings, we ripped RIGHT by the second turn in a rage of enthusiasm - honking the honka horn and celebrating the start of this epic adventure. About halfway into the time trial, we had a typical Kristin and Nikki moment. I looked over at Nikki as we climbed a fire road and said, "I think we missed the boy scout camp loop."

Well, what could we do now?

Not much - so, we pedaled on and came clean to promoters Ray and Mike at the finish when we were announced the first team to finish (note: we were not the first team to start and we didn't pass anybody. Hhhhmmmm.)

TSE promoters kindly just tacked on some time and didn't DQ us! Thanks guys!

Day 2:

For those of you that don't know , we are staying at a boyscout camp near state college - bunk cabins and all!

As the school bus to the dropoff sped along amish homes with uniform clothing hung perfectly on lines, I looked over to Nikki and said, "We forgot to bring a quick link! Eh, we probably won't need it!"

Well, not more than 3 miles into Stage 2 I tear off my rear derauiller.

We problem solved this: (Note that yesterday I turned to Nikki and said, "Eh, who would want to do this on a singlespeed? That would be AWWWWFFFUUUULLL!) Today I ate my words. By the end of our 5 and half hour adventure we had ripped through 1 rear derailleur, chewed up one cassette, 2 chains, and nearly 6500 calories (perhaps)!

You see, a rigged singlespeed is not a one- time fix, especially when you have 37 more miles of mostly singletrack to ride. Adventures included being pushed into checkpoint one by Travis (Gary Fisher, aka Stork), Nikki scooping up a tow rope (just in case) and A LOT of stops to reset my rear wheel as the tension on the chain kept locking up!

When we hit the finish Nikki said to promoter Mike Kuhn, "Good day to be a duo" to which he responded, "Not for you!"

We're a team - that's how we roll. Nikki was a true best friend today demonstrating patience, emotional support, and positive enthusiasm. I took myself to a "happy place" and kept from crying!

Harlan takes 2nd at Vertical Earth Super-D at Blue Mountain Pennsylvania.

2010-05-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I embarked on a journey to the top of Blue mountain to race one of my favorite formats. The Super-D! If you are out of the loop, the super-d is a cross between a cross country race and a downhill race. The course is supposed to be a test of a person's all-around skills. In an ideal world the winning time should be at least 10 minutes and the style of the track should not favor to heavily either discipline. The courses demand riders with versatile skills and a bike that can do-it-all. That is one of the main reasons I got the Fisher HiFi Pro 29er. I knew it would be an outstanding machine for the super-d.

What that means is you get to go downhill really fast and then bust your lungs on a couple hills. It turns out to be some of the most intense few minutes on a bike you can have. Your mind is 100% focused on staying in control! It is one of the best times on a bike I think you can have.

Entry fee to the race gave you two days of lift service at Blue Mountain, so I went up on Saturday to pre-ride. That was a wise choice because I felt like a fish flopping around on the boats bottom. The course was fast, loose and full of high speed berms with an intense section of jumps. As a XC racer I wasn't comfortable on the jumps at all. Still, I tried rolling them, or I took what looked to be a line around. A couple I couldn't avoid so I jumped them as best I could. The sections through the woods had some tricky spots that I stopped and tried a couple times, looking for better lines. On the second to last run I burped a tire and mildly tossed myself off the bike, loosing my glasses. Bye Bye!

Then on the last run it started raining. Time to leave.

Sunday my race started at 12 so I got up early enough to get there and have a couple hours to practice a little more. Unfortunately I had some toll booth issues and ended up getting there with only enough time to get one run in. Fortunately that one run felt great and my confidence was high. The rain the night before actually made the course a little easier and washed away some of the looser gravel turns.

We lined up to a Lemans start, which meant we ran to our bikes in a big confused mass and started racing for position into the woods. On the start line was Brian Lopes (World Champion) and local legend John Gabor. At the 'go' I had to sky over another bike and came around to mine in not the best position. I ended up 4th into the woods. On the first climb I came around two riders and went back into the woods in second to Lopes. The intensity of trying to go as fast as you can, but not making a slip is freaking addictive. I was able to hold Gabor off till the jumps then I let him by, knowing there was a climb immediately after. I took the jumps faster than before, but it still wasn't real stylish, while Gabor just floated everything.

I did barely manage to come around him on the short climb, but he was throwing down. In the next section of turns and berms I was able to hold position and rolled across the finish line in second, but Gabor finished within the same second on the clock!

It was a great time!

I can't wait till Bear Creek races!

Thanks

Harlan

2nd Place at a Dirt Sweat and Gears : Selene

2010-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

   This Saturday was my 12 hour adventure at Dirt Sweat & Gears in Fayetteville, Tennessee. Last year the race was a war of attrition. Hard rain turned the dirt to clay and the top pros managed just 4 or 5 laps of hiking 100 pound, mud-caked bikes over a 10 mile loop. This year the promoters promised a back up B-plan in the event of rain. But the course, a mix of tight, technical trail, ripping singletrack, screaming descents and gear grinding climbs that add up to1500 feet of elevation per lap is mad fun, but no walk in the park even on a picture perfect May day….which Saturday was, and then was not, and then was again (more on that later).
      I had set my sights on 10 laps as a goal for the day. But I had just one real desire: Ride smart, so I could finish as strong as I started. I got to the venue Friday afternoon to sign in and pre-ride the course. It was blazingly hot, into the 90s and I made a mental note to buy more water as I kitted up. The course was gorgeous, lush and pretty with nearly perfect flow. It was challenging, but not grueling, the kind of course that won’t beat you up, but, especially after 12 hours, could wear you down. I made mental notes of where to eat and drink as I rolled along. Back in the venue, I ran into my old friend Jon Cariveau from Moots who was racing duo. I was traveling and racing alone, so I didn’t have a tent and wasn’t sure how I was going to set up and work my pit all by myself. I decided to ask for a little “neutral assistance.” “Jon, this may be an obnoxious question; and please feel free to say no; but would you mind if I set up shop in a corner of your tent? I’m here alone…” He didn’t even let me finish my sentence. “Of course. Whatever you need. And we’ll help you out between laps too.” I owe them…big.
      Race day broke misty, bright and pleasant. I loaded up on a giant breakfast, packed the car and headed over to the Cotton Mill Preserve. I set up, warmed up, and headed over for the pre-race meeting, where I learned an interesting fact. Any lap that finished after 9 p.m. would not count. I looked around. “Is he joking,” I asked the guy next to me, who smiled and shook his head. I’ve never heard a rule like that. It was like a simultaneous slap in the face and kick in the butt. A lap that doesn’t count? At the end of a 12 hour day? Cut offs are one thing. Discarded laps felt like heresy. I would have to think long and hard if I came in close to 8 p.m. Just another mental note.

      The race started at 9 a.m. sharp with a Le Mans start. The first few laps were uneventful. Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) who is crushing it right now went off the front early. I contemplated chasing, but decided to settle into my day and let the race evolve . I got periodic splits from other racers “She’s 20 second ahead.” “She’s 40 seconds ahead.” But I mostly ignored them. It’s a long day and I was determined to race my race. I felt great. I was eating and drinking well. Then a couple hours into the day I heard the thunder in the distance.
      The rain came, hard and fast. Coach Chris Eatough had said “I pray for dry conditions for you.” I thought he was exaggerating. He was not. I have never encountered conditions so completely unridable. The mud, where wet, was icy slick, where not soaking wet, it adhered like pottery clay to your bike. Here at home, the rocks are sandstone, so always grippy. These rocks were like Crisco coated marble. I had an instant, profound mental mechanical. As I trudged through the slop, barely making forward progress, I kept thinking, “I will not do this. I will not push a 70 pound bike around a 10 mile course for 9 more hours. No way.” I worked my way through the muck and abruptly hit a patch of trail that was bone dry. “Huh?” I thought. “Did it not rain here?” Indeed it hadn’t. I saddled back up and finished my lap with new found resolve. As I rolled in, Jon’s teammate Matty from Moots was sitting on the stoop of the van. He jumped up. “What do you need?” I shot him a look. “Okay, everything!” He got to work cleaning my bike and lubing my chain (thank you, thank you, thank you!). I shoveled down food and set my resolve on committed. The sun was shining, so I was hopeful. I rolled out for another lap to discover that the wet mud was now liquid cement. After another fairly hellacious lap with a 70 pound mud-caked bike, I rolled into transition to get the good news. “They’re running the short course,” Jon told me, grabbing my bike for another quick cleaning and lubing. “They cut out the mud.” “Okay,” I thought, feeling renewed, “Let’s do this.”
      The rest of the day is almost a blur. I had no idea where Amanda was, but I figured it was way ahead of me. For the moment I didn’t want to know. I had good energy, so I wanted to roll out and keep racing. The day passed pleasantly. I kept ticking off laps, eating my sandwiches, draining my bottles, and enjoying the course. As we neared the end of the race, it happened. At 7 p.m., I heard a female voice. I glanced back and I saw a very fresh, very strong looking female charging up the trail. It was Amanda getting ready to pass me. Neither of us could recollect what actual lap we were on, but I knew she must be one up on me. “I think we could be done,” she said as she passed me, explaining that she had passed Jill, who was in third a while back. “I don’t think I’m pulling fast enough lap times to make it out for another.” I looked at my watch and thought, “You could definitely get in another, sister.” But I kept quiet and thought. First place was out of reach. Third place seemed too far back to catch. I seemingly had 2^nd locked up. But something was nagging at me. “You don’t want to quit. You came here to race 12 hours. Don’t quit.”
      I pulled into the venue at 7:45. Decision time. Amanda had done 10 laps and was done. I had just finished 9. Jill was still about midway through her 9^th. As I stood there, contemplating calling it a day, Clay walked up. “You just pulled a 1:03 lap. You have time to get in another.” “You came here to race,” I thought. “You wanted 10. Go get 10.” I pulled on my helmet, turned on my headlight and rolled out for one more. It was a little slow going to start as I adjusted to dark. And I was starting to get tired and a little sloppy. About a third of the way through I looked at my watch and it dawned on me that if I didn’t get a move on, this lap would not count. “You have about 45 minutes. Put your butt in gear and do this. Or you’re going to be furious with yourself.” I found my second wind and started charging. It was awesome, flying through the trees, shadows dancing on the trail, cool night air streaming over me. I reached the final stretch. I could see the lights of the venue through the trees. I looked down at my watch. “You’re going to make it”! I charged over the finish line with six minutes to spare. “You’re staying for awards, right?” Grant, the other race director asked me. “Oh yeah,” I said. “Good, because you not only got second, but you’ll also get a little money for fastest night lap in the female division.”

I may not have won the race. But I won a whole lot more.

Brighton Stage Race – May 15th – 16th 2010 : Christian

2010-05-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Brighton Stage Race runs for 2 days: a time trial and a short track on Saturday; cross country race on Sunday. The winner is the racer with shortest cumulative time on all 3 events.

Time trial:
The time trial is held on the "Torn Shirt" trail in the Brighton State Park, Michigan. Obviously, the trail got its name from the tight turns but not only:
1.Most of the curves of the 100% single track trail have limited to no visibility.
2.There are sections where the riders can get into a nice rhythm as 4 to 5 curves will allow to carry the speed but the following curve is much tighter although it looked just the same as you entered it. Depending how quickly you can react, two things can happen: either you fly off the trail and hope to avoid the trees near by, or you manage to slow down but you are now in way too big gear to quickly regain speed.

The trail was in great shape although there were few corners and steep climbs with some loose sand. It has been 2 years since I raced there. I remember enough about the trail to keep my fingers on the brake levers the entire time. But I still found myself carrying too much speed in some corners, but fortunately I kept the bike on its tires.

After I crossed the finish line, I was satisfied with my effort, until Steve Dempsey posted a nearly 50 seconds faster time...

Short track:
The short track was held 3 hours after the time trial on a grassy field. 7 laps total. The 10 feet wide trail was quite bumpy and there was a wide range of bikes lined up at the start line: cyclocross bikes, 29er hard tail, 29er rigid, 26er full suspension, etc. The funny part was that each racer was convinced that they had the right bike for the event. I admit I was one of them. I thought my Trek Top Fuel handled the small bumps supremely such that I could pedal non-stop and be in full control in the corners.

I had a good start and was second wheel from the whistle before I quickly went to the lead. Despite my best efforts for 4 laps, there were still 6 of us in the lead group. When I looked back, everybody seemed somewhat fresh and relaxed while I was cooking...I sat up and instantly my heart rate dropped off the near red zone to a much more comfortable level. No wonder, I could not get any gap; drafting was too much of an advantage. Consequently, the group stayed together.

Nothing happened until the last lap. Steve made a good acceleration to stay in the front. Although the other competitors could have been more aggressive and try to make a move in one of the turns, everybody kept their line. At the end the group stayed together, I finished in second place; 3 seconds behind Steve.

Cross Country:
Obviously, the cross country is the event where most of the time canbe made or lost. We needed to complete 5 laps of the Murray's Lake trail which is not as traitorous as the "Torn Shirt loop". It takes just above 30 minutes to complete a lap so with 2h30 this race is oneof the longer one.

I started the race with a deficit of 50 seconds to Steve so I needed to attack. Like the day before I had a good start and was in third position. The leader was riding at good speed and there were not too many spots to pass, so we followed him for an entire lap.

At the start finish area, I upped the pace and dropped everybody but Steve. Steve looked comfortable behind me and rightfully so since he was ahead of me for the overall title.

I kept the speed up and tried to be patient. The Murray Lake trail does not have any significant climbs making it even harder to make any kind of difference. The 2nd and 3rd lap were uneventful but I started to be seriously tired and Steve was still glued to my wheel...

Finally on lap 4, I started to notice that in some areas requiring more power he would drop by 10 yards before rejoining immediately on the smooth trail. I was playing with fire and I was very tired myself. At each "power zone" I hoped to drop Steve for good but he put up a great effort and we crossed the start finish line together for
our last lap.

At that point it looked unlikely that I could make up the 50 seconds I needed to win the overall but at least I was going to fight for the cross country victory. Steve started yo-yoing behind me just like he did on the 4th lap but also like the previous lap he latched back on to my wheel quickly after each hard zone.

Suddenly, there was no more noise behind me! Steve dropped and I was about 10-12 minutes from the finish. I could have ease up the pace a bit but the large "Team CF" logo printed on my jersey re-enforced my desire to fight to the end. That is the only way not to feel any remorse regardless of the outcome.

My legs were two blocks of lead and making them spin required as much will power as physical energy. Finally I crossed the finish line, completely out of breath. I was catching back my breath before I glanced at the clock and started to count the seconds.

Steve was sprinting to the finish line and crossed the line about 50 seconds behind. Why does it have to be that close? Steve finished the XC race in second pace, 1min15s behind.

In the last third of the last lap I made up enough time to win the overall title. Racing against a strong competitor like Steve made the race super tough, which made victory even more gratifying.

Cascade Classic MTB race 2010: rocks, roots, mud and confusion = DNF: Dr. Jim

2010-05-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

I ventured north to Montoursville PA for the Cascade Classic which was incorporated for the first time into the Mid Atlantic Super Series (MASS). The course was on private land not open to the public and was billed to include a lot of newly cut single track. I realized the night before the race that the drive was going to be 3.5 hrs which made me think twice about the commitment of time; I packed up the car early the next morning and headed North West for what was going to be quite an adventure.

The remoteness of the venue diminished participation of the regular MASS crew although a core group of competitive cyclists showed up. I got there early enough to pre-ride part of the course. The weather was perfect and I was psyched to get out on the course. Within 10 yards of the first stretch of single track I realized that this was going to be a tough day. The course was on very technical single track that was significantly littered with rocks and roots. Three inches of rain the day before on land that resembled a marsh made for extremely wet and muddy conditions which compounded the difficulty of the rocks/roots. After about 1 mile of a pre-ride I came back to the car and calmed my self down hoping (praying) that the remaining 6 miles of the 7 mile course was going to be easier to navigate.

The expert/elite riders took off at 11 AM. I made it through the first mile of the course in reasonably good shape looking for a break in the rigors of the course. Unfortunately the degree of difficulty went in the wrong direction – it got harder! Much harder!! We dropped down to what resembled swamp that connected a series of mud bogs via small bridges. After ascending up some easily navigated fire roads, we entered into a series of incredibly steep, rocky and slippery drops as well as freshly cut off camber single track filled with roots and branches that had just lost their bark and were as slippery as ice. To make matters worse, at about the 2/3 point of the course, there was an unmarked turn in which a bunch of us (from what I can tell at least 30 of the 70 expert/elites) went the wrong way for quite a while. After getting back on course I completed the first lap and talked myself into starting the second lap with the hope that magically the mud would dissipate and the rocks/roots would not longer be greasy; this delusion did not last long and I bailed and returned to the car. Apparently about 1/3 of the 70 or so expert/elite riders who started decided to DNF. Those that kept going put in lap times for the 7 mile course in excess of 1hr. With some more work this course could actually be fun as long as it was dry – adding significant quantities of mud to it made it just wrong!!

I packed myself up for a disappointing 3.5 hr ride home. On the way I called my friend Carl and arranged to meet him the next day at 6 AM in Manyunk for a 110 mile road ride up through some beautiful country north of Philly on what turned out to be a gorgeous day. Ten minutes into this ride, the experience of the previous day became a distant memory – it is amazing how therapeutic a simple bike ride with a friend can be.

Stokesville-Douthat-Stokesville aka SDS (Churtle)

2010-05-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Wow. What else can you say. A really big ride, really great people, really great food, really great pain.

Saturday: Sunday:

Time: 13 hours Time: 12:30 hours

Moving Time: 10 hours Moving Time: 9 hours

Distance: 80 miles Distance: 70 miles

Elevation: 14,122 feet Elevation: 11,771 feet

A Hard Win on the Rocks (Selene)

2010-05-11T05:10:00.000-07:00

This week I headed out to my old nemesis French Creek On the Rocks, a 6-hour (for the endurance racers) mountain bike race in a state park west of Philadelphia. When I’m not racing, I love French Creek. There’s a lake, an outdoor amphitheater, and yurts for rent. When I’m racing? There’s no love lost. No matter how I prepare, I suffer. And this year was no exception.

This year I really did think it might be different. I’ve been dialing in my race nutrition and have two heaping fistfuls of long hard training days and races under my belt. This would also be my first year racing the course on big 29 inch wheels. The Super Fly would surely take some of the edges off the endless long, rocky descents that pulverize my shoulders and will to go on.

It all started off well enough. After signing in at registration, I kitted up, sprayed on some sunscreen, drank a Red Bull and rolled out with my friend Mike to hit the first hill for a warm up. Legs feel pretty good, I thought as we spun around the bend onto the steepest pitch. Just race your race you’ll be fine. We rolled back down; then hit the climb one more time just to open up the legs and get all systems a-go. As we made our way back to the start finish, the first few drops began to fall. Then it poured. We ducked under the timer’s table. “This sucks,” said the girl sitting behind the race clock. Indeed. As the name implies, French Creek is rocky; nearly nothing but. You’re either climbing up them, sailing down them, or picking your way through them. There are also roots, logs, and many bridges, which take on the traction of freshly Zambonied ice when wet.

The rain tapered off as we began staging. I made my way to the front and looked around for familiar faces. There was Mike to the left; Vegan Rob, Pickle, an old friend Keith, who I haven’t seen in a while but always crushes this course, and Richie Rich, a super friendly, very strong rider I’d met in State College late last year. I was happy to be in good company with plenty of wheels to follow, at least for a while. The race director said, “Ten seconds.” And we were off.

We started fast up the climb, thinning the pack to a small group as we reached the top and made a sharp left for the first big descent of the day. As we barreled over the rock drops and water bars, I was started having flashbacks of sufferings from years past This is why I don’t like racing here, I thought. I’m not a terrible descender. But I’m not a great one either. I’ve gotten much better at learning to ride loose and flow and just point my bike and let it do the work. But the rain had me scared. So there I am white knuckling the bars, wearing my shoulders around my ears and barking at myself to get off the brakes and relax! This behavior, I have deduced, takes a lot of energy, especially repeated 20 or so times over the course of 6 hours.

To be fair, I was riding pretty well and felt good for much of the day. I kept most of the front pack within my sight and finished just a bit behind the lead men on the first lap. I was drinking my bottles, taking my gels, and following the same nutrition plan from the past few weeks. The course was about 10 miles long. I’d made it my goal to do 5 laps. Three laps in, I realized that I was on pace to do 6. Normally that would be a happy realization. But I was starting to feel that creeping fatigue that tells me I’m not staying on top of my food needs. As I came into the pit area for lap four, I was still feeling pretty good, but could tell I was dangerously close to my reserve tank. I grabbed more gels and a bottle and rolled out hoping to rally.

And I did, for a while, until I didn’t. Somewhere, and really it’s sort of a blur, around lap 4 and into 5, I hit the wall. So, I just kept shoveling in calories that my stomach was rejecting, but my body needed. I dialed down the pace and willed myself to digest them. I was grateful for the uphills and swore my way down every jarring, rocky descent that made my shoulders, back, and arms scream and stomach churn. I had fallen off pace for six laps. I was disappointed, but also determined to finish this thing strong. So I made it a game. Just get to the split (the place where the course divides beginner and the rest of the racers) you only have a couple of miles at that point. When I got to the split I thought, just get to the switchbacks. When I got there, it became Just get to the campground; you’re really close then. I nearly got off my bike to do a jig when I came around the tents. I could hear the cheering, music, and general melee of the finish. It’s the most beautiful sound on a good day. It’s like an army of heaven’s angels playing harps for you when you’re suffering like a dog. I turned the final bend and crossed the line at 6:19. Oh, thank God.

In the end, only three riders had made it out for six laps—Vegan Rob and Mike C, 1st and 2nd place respectively (awesome work guys) among them—so I didn’t kick myself too hard. I’d taken first place in the women’s field and come in 11th overall. And Team CF had a killer day with Kristin taking first and Nikki 3rd in the women's elite XC race; Harlan taking 4th on his singlespeed in the men's XC race and Dr. Jim pulling into the podium in 3rd place masters endurance field. All said and done, it was a good day. It just hurt really badly.

French Creek Endurance Race by Dr. Jim

2010-05-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to the French Creek Endurance race of the MASS as a major objective for the year. The course is very rocky with great technical climbs and challenging descents; laps are 10 miles and the Endurance Race translates to how many laps you get complete in a 6 hr window. Due to a last minute mechanical problem with my full suspension 29er (Superfly 100) encountered several days before the race I was forced to use my 2009 29er hardtail (superfly) that Human Zoom dialed in for me at the last minute; thanks Anthony and the guys at the shop.

I was rested and ready to go starting my warm up when the rain started - driving cold rain. We took off in the rain which continued for about 1 hr. The course was as billed - rocks, rocks and more rocks. I started out a little faster than I had planned but kept up on the nutrition and felt great throughout the race. The rain eventually stopped and the wind picked up - with gusts in excess of 50 mph. On the third lap while ascending the long fireroad climb just after the start a huge tree branch let loose and landed on the course just 5 yards to my left. A spectator had been standing in that very spot literally seconds before and fortunately was walking away when the tree limb hit the ground. Falling debris was clearly the most serious objective hazard of the day although the wind and mild temps made for pleasant racing conditions. My hard tail 29er performed admirably although I kept thinking what the full suspension 29er would have been like - being it is made for a course like this. I completed 5 laps in just over 7 hrs and placed 3rd in 45+ endurance category. Today I am clearly feeling the challenge of 7 hrs on a bike at French Creek - more challenging than some of the 100 mile National Endurance Series races.

Jim Wilson

20 years of Michaux MAXIMUS

2010-05-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

And it was 20 years ago that I first raced the Maximus. I have not attended all 20 races, but there was one hardcore dude who had. Impressive. Regardless of how many times I have either raced or ridden the trails of the course it continues to be a challenge. It is raw, rocky, technical single track that never lets up. Being a 85.000 acre forest there is always new trail to be explored. It never gets old. And thats why I keep going back. Well ok, it is my home turf and you always do have to defend it, right?!

Sunday's weather fortunately cooperated with us. I'm not sure I could take another endurance ride in a severe thunderstorm without crawling off my bike into a fetal position. However, good weather or not I did have obstacles to overcome. Within the first two fast miles on a downhill single track section a huge stick jumped off the ground and grabbed my rear wheel in its fangs. I reacted enough to save the derailleur, but a spoke suffered a complete break. I thought I had it figured out to wrap it on another spoke and out of the way. But I failed to do that completely and had some friendly trail help to get the spoke wrapped enough to be out of the way. However, after much dismay with how my gears were reacting, I discovered that the other end of the spoke was stuck in my cassette. This took some more friendly trail help to get out. Phew, at least I could finish the race. "What" said my friend, now its time to chase, and chase we did. Throughout the chase my gears were angry with the prior stick incident. It made it tough to negotiate the subtle and not so subtle ups, downs, and twists of the trail that required shifting. I did my best to not shift much until I remembered about the twisty thing at the gear shifter that can sometimes help you dial in your shifting. Now all I needed to remember was did twisting towards you tighten or away from you. After choosing the wrong way at first attempt, I eventually twisted away and tightened things up and although it was not perfect it was definitely better. Another Phew!

The next 8 single track miles I gunned it and was able to catch my competitors. I then took a bit of a breather and then after the first aid station I again ramped it up to put some distance on the other women. After working hard to get in good position I began to feel very tired out on the course. Oh yeah, I raced 100 miles the weekend previous. It was a weird feeling. I kept coming in and out of feeling good then feeling slow. Fortunately I love the techy single track Michaux has to offer and it helped keep my mind focused. Riding my superfly 100 is the bomb. It was so much fun to float over the rocks and find lines that previously didn't exist when I rode a 26'r.

Many thanks to Gettysburg Bike and Fitness for all my bicycle needs and for sponsoring the race. Kent, Jes and Shawn Rock! Further thanks go out to all the volunteers, moto riders, and other sponsors for the day. And yet more thanks to Team CF for making all this possible and to all those who live with or support those with CF. You fuel my inspiration to keep rolling each day and each race! Look out for the belly and notice who is the tallest.

Oh yeah, Thanks Rich. You better be nice to my husband!

12 Hours of Lodi: Nikki and Kristen

2010-05-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

When you're absolute best buds who train together, travel together, race together, and more often than not, enjoy a milkshake or sweet treat together, it can be a real drag to head to a 12-hour relay because you don’t get to spend any time together – except for those glorious moments at the transition area where much more than a wristband with a rusty tag (thank goodness we both have our tetanus shots) is exchanged

The good news is that we know each other so well that verbal communication is not a necessity.

This weekend Nikki and I headed to Fredericksburg, VA to compete as a Women’s Duo at 12-Hour of Lodi. Having only ever done one 12-hour relay last season, Nikki and I decided it would be best to learn from past mistakes: be sure to eat early and often AND don’t try to record the fastest female lap time in the first or second lap (that’ll burn ya twice, sometimes three times).

Our biggest competition of the weekend was dear friend Dee Dee Winfield (fierce cross competitor) and her partner Johanna Krauss. Here’s how it unfolded:

Lap 1: Pretty uneventful – after getting caught up in some traffic early on, I caught Dee Dee and sat on her wheel for the lap, reminding myself that we had 11 more hours of racing to go….We rolled into the transition area together to hand off the wristband (which nobody else seemed to be concerned about as a time-factor other than us!)

Lap 2: Nikki struggled to get the legs and lungs going while Johanna went out of the blocks HARD! (This may have been the fastest female lap of the day – no formal results yet!) Nikki rolled in about 3 minutes behind Johanna. The nonverbal message at transition was not a good one – but I reminded Nikki that we had a long day ahead of us! I’m no expert on this, but I was pretty certain 12 hour races aren’t won in the second lap!

Lap 3: I headed out on a steady pace to try to make up a bit of time, but my legs couldn’t quite match my heart. I stayed a steady 3 minutes back off Dee Dee. Nikki’s nonverbal message at transition told me that she was on a mission.

Lap 4: It must have been those farm fresh scrambled eggs and sausage burritos I whipped up between laps 2 and 3 that got Nikki going because she managed to cut a minute off Dee and Johanna’s lead. I am not sure if it was her stellar performance or accomplished grin that inspired me – but Nikki handed off the wristband, I could feel her intensity and power on it. I got the engine started…

Lap 5: This lap I put aside my polite, “I’d love to get by if you get a chance,” and started with, “Excuse me – can I pass? I’m in pursuit!” I could see Dee Dee on different parts of the course and knew that I was closing in – and I love the absolute thrill of solid competition that takes over! I rolled in to the transition about 30 seconds behind Dee Dee, grinned at Nikki, and told her to “have fun!” (which Nikki knew was code for, “get ‘er”)

Lap 6: Nikki did her work and stayed right on Johanna’s tail, moving hard on the climbs and maintaining composure on the technical sections. She could see Johanna throughout the lap but couldn’t totally close the gap, as Johanna was strong and super fast through the technical sections.

Lap 7: Just about 6 hours into racing – Nikki and I were just getting our race legs on. I felt like my dog, Natasha, on this lap (Background: when we go running on the trails she tends to lollygag a bit, but if there’s fresh scent on the trail, her head is down, tail is up, and she moves!) I knew Dee Dee wasn’t far away and that I had to ride smooth and fast, managing my effort, so that when I caught her I had a little fuel in the tank for a short hard effort. I did just this and managed to gap an additional two and half minutes or so – rolling into the transition in front of the other team for the first time. Nikki smiled, took the wristband, and got to work.

Lap 8 – Lap 11: We ticked away at consistent lap times (except for when it got dark) for the next four laps, growing our lead to about 6 minutes before the transition from lap 11 to 12.

Throughout the day Nikki and I would log notes back and forth to one another about everything from how we were feeling, what we had eaten, any funny jokes we thought of or other VERY important things that best friends have to share hourly. Well, come 11:00 pm, I cut the small talk and my note prior to lap 11 read, “I have no interest in going out on a 13th lap!” But, this wasn’t really our decision – if Dee Dee and Johanna decided to do a 13th lap, even though we were winning, we had to as well, and hold our lead.

Lap 12: At the transition (at about 10:35 pm) Nikki mentioned to me that Johanna and Dee Dee were committed to doing a 13th lap, at which I dropped a few “locker room words”. Then Nikki took off into the woods, thinking that there was no way that I was going to do another lap, but that we had to, and she would step up. …And then we both began with the “what if’s”. My final “what if’s” included: What if Nikki and I ride the last lap together? What if Nikki’s light dies? what if I walk away from this race having regrets? (which Dee Dee planted in my head – very clearly when she said, “You don’t want to wake up tomorrow and wish you had done it – just finish what you started)

…What if I just ride another lap? A true best bud would not stand at the transition with a charged light and water bottle to send their friend DIRECTLY back into the woods. And, as Dee Dee herself knows, a true competitor would not stop a 12 –hour race at 11 hours and forty minutes. I re-charged my light, donned my final clean chammy, sports bra, gloves, and dry socks of the day, ate two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (for the soul) and headed to the transition area.

Lap 13: I enjoyed the sound of the crickets and frogs busy at work at midnight – and the patches of hot air that I would occasionally roll through – and yes, I walked a few sections that my wrists and back couldn’t take a 7th time. But – I still enjoyed the lap and sense of accomplishment!

Nikki and I finished the day in 2nd overall for Duo Team, 1st overall for Women’s Duo (by approximately 12 minutes), with two sweet frame pumps to show for it and 12 hours worth of stuff to chat about on the car ride home!

12-hours of Lodi was a great overall experience and race. Thanks much to Dee Dee and Johanna for great, supportive competition and to the Charlottesville folks that we spent the day with, especially Buck and James for keeping our bikes clean and working.

1st Place at Granogue: A Very Hot, but Happy Day

2010-05-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Andrew Mein’s Excellent Adventure at Granogue, a mouthful of a race that is part of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series. I’ve heard many tales of Granogue (it’s apparently quite challenging--read unrideable--when wet), but I’ve never raced there. I’d signed up for the endurance race, where the goal is to see how many 7 mile laps you can squeeze in between 9 a.m and 1 p.m. and though I was psyched to race somewhere new, I also was anxious. I like to visualize before a race, which is a bit tougher to do when you have no idea what you're in for.

The venue was a sea of friendly faces, local racers and riders I’ve shared many a trail with over the years. I was happy to see Dr. Jim and Sean from Team CF also milling about. After checking in at registration, I rolled out to do a quick warm up, chat with some fellow racers, and get a feel for the course. I’d been a bundle of buzzing frayed nerves since Saturday, but just 10 pedalstrokes in, I knew it was going to be a good day. The course had everything I love : steep drops, swooping, looping twists and turns, a few tricky rock sections, open climbs and miles of sweet singletrack you can take at speed. I was abuzz with energy and felt light and ready. It was going to be hot—August hot—with temps kissing the 90s. But I had a cooler packed with ice cold bottles and a couple of awesome friends (thanks Liz and Annie and Saucon Valley Bikes!) ready to hand me what I needed as I passed through each lap.

The enduro field, about 60 or 70 riders, staged at 8:45. I sidled my way to the front of the pack and waited. As I looked across the field, I made a few mental notes. Dan “Pickle” Bonora was there. He’s a singlespeeder racer I met at Iron Cross last year and saw again at the Michaux Mash last month. He’s strong and steady, and though I can often get by him on the climbs (thanks gears), he always spins past on the flats and descents and we generally spend the day within sight of one another. Jake, another strong rider I met at Michaux was there, too. Mike Cushionbury, one of my training partners from Bicycling was up there, front and center. Okay, hang with these guys as long as you can and see what happens, I thought as we waited for the start signal.

And just like that we were off, up a fireroad climb to a sharp left turn onto a grassy field for more climbing before bombing a long smooth ripping ribbon of track into the woods. After a little jockeying, Mike took the lead along with Jake, a guy Chris I'd just met, and a few riders I didn't know. The pace was hot, but within my comfort zone, so I went with it. I glanced over my shoulder as we beelined into the woods. Nothing. There was nobody behind us. Our little group had an early break. Awesome, I thought as we cruised onto the first bit of windy, tree strewn trail. I’ll need to take it down a notch; but then I can settle into a good sustainable pace for the day.

The day went by swimmingly. I drained a bottle each lap and stayed on top of the heat. My goal was 6 laps. As I spun through the start/finish area at the end of my 5th, I looked up at the race clock: 3:54. “You’ve got time to do one more,” said the timer with a smile. I returned the grin, grabbed a bottle, and pedaled on. I wrapped up the day with a 1st place in the women’s field, 3rdoverall among the endurance riders, and fully happy and satisfied with my day. Thanks to everyone who makes mountain bike races happen. Thanks to the organizers and volunteers. Thanks to the racers who show up and put themselves on the line. Thanks Team CF for the support. And a big special thanks to Chris Eatough (http://www.chriseatough.com/), who has been providing coaching plans for our team. I have always loved mountain bike racing. But I’ve never felt so consistently great. It’s elevated the joy to new heights. Thanks all from the bottom of my heart. You are really why I love the sport.

Fort Custer, Michigan: XC, Open Men, Christian Tanguy, 1st place

2010-05-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

The past weekend, Christian went for some action on the local scene.

If you think that Michigan does not have fast riders, think again. Despite the rainy forecast, there was a large turn out and a tough
race was to be expected.

The start was crucial since the trail narrows to a single track in the first 50 yards. Too bad for Christian who reached the single track in 3rd position from last! The single track not allowing any passing,Christian waited several miles before he could pass and chase down the leaders. By then, they had a decent gap and while pushing the pace some caution was required. Indeed, the rain before the race left several greasy corners and wet bridges causing several riders to fall.

At the end of lap 1 (out of 4), Christian was in 5th position and with an open trail in front of him, his lap time improved. Some of the corners were drying up and the racers now had fun ripping thru the typical Michigan flowing single track.

Christian made contact with the leader with one lap to go. By the half lap mark, on some sandy uphill section, Christian made his move and created a small gap. It was maybe a little premature as Christian is not a "powerhouse" and the second half of the course advantage those with good power. (long and flat straight away). Eventually thanks to an all out effort, Christian was able to preserve his lead to the finish line.

At the finish, Christian got a lot of attention as it was an exciting finish for the spectators but also because of the "showy" jersey. People were also wondering what Team CF meant – which Christian gladly explained.

Cohutta 100, April 24, 2010; open men, 4th place; 7h09h54s, Christian Tanguy

2010-04-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

It was time give the bike and the legs a good test at the Cohutta 100. This was my first race of the year and I did not expect a great finish. I just wanted to sample the fitness gap separating me from the top riders, so my strategy was to stay at the front as long as possible instead of riding at my own rhythm.

The day of registration, the weather was beautiful with warm temperatures. I was still hoping that the rain scheduled for the race day was going to miss our area. At 7:00am, we were all lined up at the Ocoee Whitewater Center. The ground was slightly humid, the temperature fair and although the sky was mostly overcast, it seemed it would clear up. At the sign of the race organizer, we left at a good pace, up the paved road. Once we reached the single track, I was well positioned just 4 or 5 bikes behind the leader. The slick turns kept the speed at a reasonable level and it was just a good warm up. As we came back to the Ocoee Whitewater Center, few riders went down on the humid roots creating a small gap with the front. Few minutes later, the group reformed and we stayed together thru aid station #1.

We were now on the dirt roads. The speed greatly increased under the control of Jeff Schalk, Josh Tostado and Mike Simonson. Right then, I should have slowed down to prevent hitting the wall later into the race. However, I decided to follow my original idea and buried myself as the pain in the legs rapidly increased. Eventually, the group had shrunk as we approached aid station #2 but I was still there...

By aid station #2, I could have use a refill of my water bottles but instead I rode thru the aid station following Jeff Schalk. Instantly, the 6-7 men strong lead group shrunk in half: Jeff and I who skipped the feed and Mike Simonson whose wife handed him a fresh Camelbag without stopping.

I was over my head for over 3 hours and on an uphill section I let Jeff and Mike roll away. I possibly could have given another big push in an attempt to crest the mountain gap with them but it would just have delayed my demise jeopardizing even more an eventual recovery. Within a few pedal strokes, I went from 10 mph to 6 mph. I was in damage control slowly moving forward. I don't really remember much about the trail or the weather conditions. I was just wondering when I would be passed by the racers that stopped at aid #2. Chris Peariso was the first one to ride by me; it did even cross my mind to try to get on his wheel...

Slowly, I felt some signs of life in my legs again; but I could also hear some noise behind me. Josh Tostado was 30 yards behind but I would not make it too easy to bridge back. I accelerated a bit and he rapidly disappeared in the fog he came from.

By now, skipping aid station #2 felt like a real bad idea as I ran out of food and water. How much longer to aid #3? After a much needed stop at aid #3, Josh was back (he did not stop at #3) and we rode a little bit together. Somewhere in the mountains, Josh slowed down a bit and I was riding by myself until I saw Mike Simonson on the side of the road. He just finished fixing his tire. I rode behind him for a couple of minutes before he started to distance himself at the front. However, I reached aid station #4 ahead of Mike since his first tire fix was not good and had to stop again.

Eventually, Mike rode by me somewhere between aid #4 and #5. It also started to rain constantly and the lightning was striking on the nearby mountain tops making the thunder echoed in the valleys. I pushed hard on the climbs and went extra conservative in the downhill as I could barely see anything behind my mud tainted glasses.

After aid #5, I really felt better and I was able to up the pace. I used extreme caution in the last downhill to the finish and crossed the line in 4th place.

This is an unexpected result as I was almost wondering if I had enough strength to ride for 100 miles. I hope that next time; my legs will be able to endure the pace of the lead group a little longer. You can count on me: I will give my best shot at it.

My Cohutta Race: How to retire and go faster

2010-04-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

Team CF had a great showing at the first NUE 100 mile mountain bike race of the year. Dr. Jim was third in Masters, Cheryl snagged a 2nd amongst the women and Christian Tanguy and myself (Harlan) placed 4th in open men and 1st in the single-speed categories (respectively).

I’m not sure about everyone else’s races but I had a great time, despite it being my first 100 miler on a one geared bike. If you don’t know it, I consider myself retired from competitive racing. In order to enforce this lifestyle change I plan to race the single speed more. Strangely enough, I can’t seem to shake the “eye of the tiger” and when I get on course it’s time to suffer. That being said I don’t understand exactly how I managed to go faster this time at Cohutta than the previous two attempts when I had gears. Plus the weather was about as bad as it gets.

I’ll attribute the race to two things. One was the great people I had too hang out with before the race and the other was Charles who came up to me in the early morning dawn to say how cool it was to have us out there bringing awareness to CF. It’s one thing to have your friends tell you “it’s cool, or great”, but to have a stranger who is affected by the issue come and express their gratitude has a whole other depth. It helped me keep my heart light for the day, no matter how close the lightning felt.

That flash from the heavens was close enough to make me tingle as we trucked through the midday rains towards the finish. The race weather had been threatening for days and we all expected to be starting in the rain. Instead, we were greeted by mild temperatures and fog as the heaviest type of precipitation. Many of us jumped on the start line after some last minute shedding of extra layers. Besides an under-tee I was in short sleeves and bibs. For some reason I decided to keep my vest in my pocket, but within the first hour I was scheming to ditch it at an aid station. For some reason I never dumped it and that ended up being a happy accident when all hell broke loose late in the day.

For most of the first half of the race I managed to ride with the two other top single speeders of the day. Mathew Ferrari and Gerry Pflug. Pflug had won last year so I was keep an eye on him to learn a few things. At one point I heard PFlug and Ferrari discussing gear choices and got a little intimidated when they went on and on about choosing the right softer gear. As a single speeder you are stuck with one gear for the day, so proper gear choice is very important. If it’s a hilly course you want to be able to climb, if it’s a flat course you want a harder gear to go fast with. From the opening miles I had already decided I had too big of a gear on my bike and wasn’t sure how I could manage.

“For you non-single speed savvy folks. My gear was a 32/18. That means the front ring was a 32 and the rear cog was a 18. 32 is probably what your middle ring is on your triple crankset. Pflug and Ferrari were running 32/19 or 20. “

Anyways…. My gear must have been okay. After aid station two or about the 40 mile mark Pflug and I managed to drop Ferrari. Using one gear all day has an element of hard manual labor to it. Sort of like digging ditches all day. You get into a rhythm swinging the tool and just chug along. I kept visualizing the bike tours I’ve done where you have to push through a 100 mile day with 60lbs of gear on your bike. I took the time to look around. In the past I had never noticed the incredible views from the heights we managed in the Cohutta race. This year I got to look out over some broad valleys.

After moving on from Pflug and company I managed to start catching some of the lead group. I saw up ahead in the mist two riders and slowly crept up on David Wood and Sam Koerber. We rode together for a while, then it was just me and David, who came along at the perfect time to help me get through some of the flat spots. Thanks David! Eventually when the course started going uphill again, David disappeared to the rears and I motored on like the little engine that could. Before aid station 5 the weather started turning sour and lightning rolled over us with it’s backup band of thunder. Fortunately I had my Team CF Vest! That kept my temperature just right. Through the rain I started to catch a glimpse of a fit looking rider and it became apparent pretty soon that I was seeing another 100 miler. If I passed him that would put me in 5th, overall, which was one spot better than I had ever done. Needless to say I was pretty motivated, and I tried to pass that motivation on to the 65 milers we had started to mingle with as our courses joined back together. After aid station six we hit trail again and I was starting to feel a bonk coming on. I was cold, wet and feeling a little disoriented. I made sure I drank the rest of my fluids, and ate some food. About the time I was pulling myself to together David Wood comes ripping past me looking pretty fresh. I figured my dreams of a 5th overall were over, but I got back on the bike and wondered how many more were going to catch me. Fortunately I managed to have a pretty quick recovery and caught David about 15 minutes later. It turns out he was getting too cold on the downhill’s to go fast If only he had my magic TeamCF vest.

By the time I got to the bottom of the downhill we only had about a mile to go. I was well ahead of David, but the last mile was torture since the rain was coming down steadily and had to finish in a full on 20+mph headwind.

Really it was an epic day on the bike and I’m surprised I had such a good time. Thanks to Team CF and the Charles for giving me some good mojo to finish out strong. And thanks to Marcee, Ricky and all for the good weekend company!"

Cohutta 100

2010-04-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

The U.S. National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series kicked off in Tennessee last weekend with the Cohutta 100. Last year I did not attend, but in 2008 I had. I remembered that although this race is considered the easiest of the NUE races due to it having less singletrack and more roads, it still packed a punch with 12,000 feet of relentless climbing. It was not going to be a picnic. As usual racing 100 miles is always a great idea until the night before. The idea turns even darker when forcasts call for severe thunder storms and rain. Regardless the show must go on. And it sure did at the Cohutta 100.

My start to the race was not my best and it took a bit for me to fall into my normal pace. Once I did I felt much better and began to make some time on the course. Despite my optimism that we lucked out with the 20% chance that there would be no rain or thunderstorms, the winds picked up , the sky rumbled and the rain fell. This slowed things a little bit and made it quite the sufferfest. Fortunately for me I prevailed and was able to come from a 4th place position into a second place win for the day. My Gary Fisher Superfly 100 was superb in the mud and yuck. It sailed through the last 10 miles of muddy single track as though it were on auto pilot.

Again I am humbled by the number of people our team is touching. At each event I am approached by others who are thankful for our efforts. I am proud to be a part of Team CF and take pride in performing to make a difference in the lives of those affected by CF.

Cohutta, The Master perspective

2010-04-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Masters class was flush with the regulars from last year as well as a new class of "young ones". Jim took advantage of the good conditions in the early part of the race by keeping a moderate pace through the single track and staying hydrated and fueled with product from Team CF's sponsor Infinit Nutrition. He turned up the heat on the major climb that began at mile 25 and passed some competitors. The rest of the race went well despite the storm that blew in around mile 35 except for some mild hypothermia on the long descent and mud induced chain suck. Jim finished 5th overall enjoying the day in the muck and the outstanding results from the mountain bike team! A great way for the national MTB community to be introduced to Team CF.

Singlespeedapalooza by Nikki

2010-04-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

Kristin and I headed up to Singlespeedapalooza in New Windsor, NY to compete in the open women's 25 mile race. We awoke Sunday morning to pouring rain and we knew we were in for a muddy day in the saddle. We headed to the start line with less than an ideal warm up but took the lead of the women's race as we headed up the first fire road. The course was muddy and slick, with some rocks and slippery roots. We stuck together for the first lap, working through the men's field as we went, until Kristin flatted early in the second lap. The rain stopped during the second lap, leaving the trails to deteriorate into peanutbutter mud. We finished the race with myself in first, and scoring the fastest female of the day award and Kristin finisihing second, even after having to change flat.

El Reto De Los Volcanes by Harlan

2010-04-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

"Race in Costa Rica is over. I managed an 8th place overall. It was a great event and I hope to go back. If you ever want to do a cool, low-key stage race consider El Reto De Los Volcanes. Thanks to my sponsors for the support. My Fisher HiFi Pro rode great!" http://www.libertysportsmag.com/?p=1349

Bakers Dozen

2010-04-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Leesburg Bakers Dozen Race Report by Selene
This weekend, I packed up the family and we headed to Leesburg, Virginia for the Bakers Dozen, a 13-hour mountain bike enduro race held on a beautiful, bucolic, privately owned farm. Dave and I raced co-ed duo, which I playfully deemed TeamCF/BFF. For me, this was a fun event where I could fine-tune my race nutrition while putting in some solid, race pace laps. My goal was to get in at least 11 laps (about 88 to 90 miles) in my 6 1/2 hour pull. I’m happy to say, I had a great day.
      The course was awesome, simply awesome. Blazingly, big ring fast. Perfect dirt. Sweeping, swooping, superbly groomed trails. A few log piles and rock outcroppings made it just technical enough to satisfy a mountain biker’s desire for challenge without making it too difficult for even the most green beginner to enjoy. In short, it was a perfect day. I felt happy; my legs felt light; my bike disappeared beneath me, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
      Those 11 laps seemed to fly by nearly effortlessly. Just before 4 p.m., with my pull complete, I handed Dave our timing chip and sent him on his way. The Baker’s Dozen course rewards diesel riders, of which Dave is one, so it crossed my mind that we could pull down a good result. The day continued to go swimmingly well as Dave tore through his first four laps. He’d hoped to pull 10 laps, but a late night flat tire stalled his progress. He rolled in just after 10 p.m., grabbed a cheeseburger and put it, bun and all, between two slices of pizza (no, I’m not kidding), poured a beer and declared the day a success. We’d ended up in a very respectable 4^th place.
      On a team note, I had two racers approach me to thank me personally for racing for CF. One had just lost a family member to CF; the other lives with the condition. Throughout the race, various riders and spectators commented on the team and how they’d seen various pictures and stories or had met other racers and riders. In a short time, we’re making a big impression.

2010-04-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Team CF came out in force Sunday at the Fair Hill Mid-Atlantic Super Series opener in Maryland--a wide open, blistering fast course with a few obstacles, but very little to slow you down. Towing the line in the women's elite field were Cheryl Sornson, Kristin Gavin, Nikki Thiemann and Selene Yeager. The gun went off and away we went. Cheryl tore off like a rocket. With Kristin right behind her. As the pack ripped up the rocky fireroad into the woods, Selene took the lead for a stretch, leading a small train of racers through the woods. A short stretch later, Cheryl came tearing around, leaving a small pack that included all of Team CF out front for most of the day. For the first two laps it looked like Team CF would have a podium sweep. But Selene, who had raced (and won) out at the Michaux Mash the day before didn't have the top end power to hold off Molly Throdahl who had been hanging less than a minute back all day. Nikki worked hard to both close the gap that Molly Throdahl created during the first lap during laps two and three but couldn't make it happen. At the end of the day, the elite CF women ruled the day, sweeping up 4 of the top 5 positions.

Meanwhile, in the men's field...Team CF was represented in the expert Men's division by Jim Wilson in the 50+ group. The first race of the year always draws a large showing in this group that includes the regulars who compete thoughout the MASS season in the XC series as well as a group of roadies who come out for their one time/season MTB race on this fast largely non-technical course. The race started with about 10 to 12 50+ guys which broke out into a lead group of three with the rest left to chase. Jim stayed in the middle group ultimately finishing 6th overall based on interim race results. It was great to see the train of Team CF women come roaring through the bulk of the 50+ men which they wasted no time in doing.

All in all, it was a solid season opener for the team.

Selene wins Michaux Mash

2010-04-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Michaux Mash, an early season “opener” designed with everything a cross-country racer could ask for: endless climbing, rivers of rocks, ripping descents and miles of sweet, technical singletrack. The race is a four-hour enduro, with the goal being to crank out as many nine-mile laps as you can before the 1 p.m. cutoff. It’s not a priority-A race, but I knew there would be some strong racers out there tuning up for the NUE and other endurance series. I wanted to do well. I’ve been training my arse off since Santos, and I wanted to see some payoff.

Mashed Michaux!

Because of the terrain, racing Michaux is always hard. Rocky, technical, unforgiving. Saturday was no different, except it was also cold. After a week of unseasonable warmth, including a day that saw temps kiss 90, Saturday morning was a February-like 40-something degrees. We all warmed up, but no one was warm. The race director said, “Go!” and a hundred shivering bike racers threw it into high gear and started motoring up the fire road. The Clif Notes version: I found myself with the lead group of seven to 10 riders up the first big climb. I thought there was some lightning-fast girl ahead of me, but it was actually a guy. I raced nearly 40 very hard mountain bike miles—including four trips up the giant climb—thinking I was chasing the bionic woman and gunning for second place, when I’d actually won. Very happy surprise!

Day One for Harlan

2010-04-10T05:17:00.000-07:00

"Day one is in the bag at El Reto De los Volcanoes. It was a monster of a day with 5,000+ feet of climbing in 38 miles. I'm pretty sure I placed top ten with the Fisher HiFi Pro. The almost 2hr long climb payed big when I got to point the full suspension downhill through the farms on the side of the Irazu` volcano. Really a great day on the bike. Read my "stage race tutorial" over atLiberty Sports Magazine."

http://www.libertysportsmag.com/?p=1308

Thanks all!
Harlan

Harlan racing El Reto De Los Volcanes

2010-04-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

"Hey all. I'm here in Costa Rica getting ready for a three day stage race called El Reto De Los Volcanes. We'll be climbing five volcanoes surrounding San Jose. I'm posting a series over at Liberty Sports Magazine about getting ready for a stage race and describing my adventure. Check it out!"

http://www.retodelosvolcanes.com/english/index.cfm?subpage=abouttherace

http://www.libertysportsmag.com/?p=1294

Dragons Tale Race report

2010-04-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here it is. I learned something new! Click above.

Dragons Tale

2010-04-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

The first race of the year in the books. It was done on a last minute decision, and it took a lot of effort to get to and then even more to complete, but well worth it. It was a great day, maybe a bit on the hot side, but dry and lots of traction. The climbs were soul crushing, but the downside quickly refilled your soul with joy and purpose. On my new super bike I enjoyed being able to climb more steeps than I thought possible and then on the flip swoop down each ridge at top speed smoothly. Check out the race report and results at cycling news. I tried to attach the link, but I am new to this and I just can't quite get it right. I'll work on it. Oh and when you look at the results notice that I was 11th overall! Sweet. Pictures are linked from our twitter account found on our home page.

This is a must race to attend at least once. The ridge trails are dialed and amazing to ride.

Churtle

Here we go!

2010-03-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Team CF MTB team page. On this page we will share the experience of our mission as it unfolds.

Team CF MTB members:

Kaitlyn Broadhurst
Kristin Gavin
Harlan Price
Cheryl Sornson
Nikki Thiemann
Selene Yeager
Christian Tanguy