French Fried

I spent six hours chasing Hebe around French Creek this past weekend at the second muddy enduro of the year and the first one in the Delmarva Jobs MASS Endurance Series. I'm collecting all the mud I end up wiping off the Scalpel after coming home from these things and am planning to build a few dirt jumps in the back yard by the end of the month.

French Creek is a beautiful state park in south east PA and offers some really great riding, hiking, and equestrian options. The guys from Bean's Bikes in Paoli did a great job on the course and have certainly helped create much more sustainable trails in park. There really only were a couple muddy spots on the whole hour long loop, but I guess those were muddy enough!

French Creek is only about an hour from me here in Allentown (and about the same from Philly and not a whole lot more from Harrisburg), but I don't get down there nearly enough for as close as it is to me. Of course, I don't get up to Jim Thorpe nearly enough either, which is arguably the best riding in the state, because the riding right here in Allentown is so darn spectacular. Like I've said before, mountain biking doesn't get any better than PA!

Back to French Creek - it was a good day for the team, a great course and we'll have a complete wrap up posted here soon, but I am definitely ready for a race that doesn't require as many hours to clean up after as it does to race!

I'm loving the gear this year and taking a look back at my performance by way of the Suunto T6s we're using. These are a lot more than just a heart rate monitor offering up data that gives much more than just beats per minute and while it takes a little reading up on the features - or working with someone who understands them - they offer some nice insights into the performance. Of course, one factor I don't need help figuring out is that I'm not quite where I want to be, but the Suunto is helping me figure out exactly what it is I need to do to get there.

Here's to hoping our new team clothing, Ergon grips, and mother nature's mild side show up for next weekend's visitPA.com Rocktober Challenge. The team clothing 'cause it looks so good, some better weather so we can see the gear at the end of the race, and those Ergon's so my hands don't hurt so darn much at the end of the next long one!

Kuhn