we do this for fun....right?

today was the rocktober challenge. kuhndog and highspeed cycling put on a great event, that was sadly not very well attended. as of wednesday of last last week there were 31 people registered. seriously people, don't bitch about not having shit to do when there is a fantastic event in central pa. make it a weekend and camp out for crissakes.

after the rain all day friday, conditions were expected to be nasty. yet again, despite the anticipated mayhem, it wasn't all that bad. (thank you ma nature)
from bikereg:

Its Longer
Its Harder
Its Rougher

and more inaptly named and inappropriately described than ever!

That's the theme of the '08 Rocktober Challenge at RB Winter State Park in
the Bald Eagle State Forest of beauuuutiful central PA.New for 2008 is a full
110k distance and the addition of even more rocky singletrack. We're
pretty sure that you'll realize why we kept the Rocktober name after only a
little taste of the course. A 3-leaf clover sorta trail configuramagation
allows us to keep the start, finish, and our checkpoints all in the same place
and makes spectating better than usual at an mtb endurance race. Okay, so
spectating at an endurance mtb race pretty much sucks, but at least this way
your s.o./kids/parents don't have to nap quite as long until you come back
around. We're thinking 5.5ish hours for the fast guys. We will have
a cut off at CP 2 of about 7.5 hrs.

Kuhndog hit the nail on the head with that description, except for the finishing time. He was off by a solid hour.

holey frijoles that was one of the two toughest races i've done. the other being bakers dozen earlier this year. hell the wilderness 101 is easier than this. about halfway through i started to feel the bonk coming on. the symptoms include fantastic thoughts of food (usually cheeseburgers) followed by hunger then no gas in the tank. right about this time a feed station appeared and i stuffed myself with as much food as i could. shortly after i blew out my rear tire and had to boot it with a used gel wrapper...sweetness. i can safely say i'm not looking to ride rocks anytime soon. seriously.

visitPA.com rolled it with rob taking 2nd, the legend-3rd, and me-4th. michelle rocked the W in the womens class.

speaking of the legend, he caught up with me at the 2nd checkpoint and we rode the last loop together. we had a gentleman's agreement that we would stay together until the finish and then he could finish in 3rd to take max points for the MASS endurance series. while riding together we got to talking and commiserating about how brutal and tough this course is. i knew it already, but i had to tell him what a stud he is. i mean seriously, if he has been doing the bike game for so long and now he's back to the dark side and absolutely killing it against the younger crowd. i wonder if he thinks this was epic?

kudos to kuhn, the volunteers that help make this a success and the pa dcnr.

Thanks to our sponsors: VisitPA.com, Cannondale, Rudy Project, Deuter, Northwave, Suunto, and Cadence.

Rocked Out - Thursday

That was epic (BTW, results are up there too). I didn't get to ride it, but just promoting the thing was an epic event. We arrived at RB Winter State Park late on Thursday afternoon after taking literally all day to get up there from Center Valley with a short stop at the farm to load up poppa Kuhn's truck and another to pick up the camper from Kris's brother - this promoting stuff really is a family affair.

At this point I'm a bit stressed because there are about 70 miles of trails and dirt roads to mark and I'm now down to 2 hours of daylight on Thur and the day on Friday to get everything done since the race goes bright and early on Saturday morning. I have to get something done. I grab the Lupine Wilma and a battery and figure the first loop is less than 20 miles and is mostly double track and roads so no problem. I may want those lights for a little visibility on the road but shouldn't really need 'em.

Its amazing how much time it takes to put up a few arrows. You end up doubling back a lot to make sure the arrows are in a good spot or just to mark a spot you may have thought didn't need it originally. And somehow or other it ends up starting to get a little dark while I'm still on the top of the ridge. No worries, switch on the Lupine and away we go.

Except I grabbed the wrong battery from the stash. I grabbed the one from my work commute that didn't get re-charge time yet. I see the red indicator on the remote and I'm begin thinking..."I think the red light means I'm about out of juice. I wonder how much I have left? I wonder how long that little red light has been on? This descent is awesome, technical and rocky and the first time I've ridden it in 10 years. Oh, my lights just went out. Sweet."

There is nothing quite like riding a rocky technical descent by brail when you know your phone doesn't work out here and you're not sure that anyone back at camp really knows where you are and you have a 70 mile mtb race to promote the next day. I did the rest of the descent and the road back to RB on nothing but rods and cones - and put up a few more arrows since trail marking for the race should always come before personal safety. And I whistled dixie the entire way back as the boys had seen two bears on their ride two days earlier and I just did not need a head-on in the dark with one of those.

5 days camping: R.B. Winter State Park

Last Thursday through Tuesday, 'milla and I set up camp at R.B. Winter State Park to help set up the Rocktober Marathon race course, do the race, and enjoy the spoils of the State Park and the Bald Eagle State Forest. Unfortunately, the region had some crappy weather (rain every day and chilly!) so it was a bit more challenging, but luckily the campground has very nice modern bathrooms to warm up and shower.
On Friday, Kuhndog told me I was to mark the final 18 miles of the race course. No big deal, minus the mid-40's and spitting rain. Nothing is worse than suiting up to ride in the rain. But once I hit the trail and warmed up, it was a great ride-all 4 hours of it. Between stopping at every turn to staple course arrows, reading the map and crashing, the ride that should have been 2 hours was a bit longer. Once back to camp, it only took 30minutes to regain feeling in my toes and fingers!

Saturday was the race, which was hands down an epic adventure at nearly 70 miles. My day didn't go very well, with 3 flats, a bent chainring, a water bottle cage that almost escaped and a wonky suspension fork. I pulled the plug after the 2nd loop (about 52 miles in), which only took 5:30!

Sunday opened with more rain, so the weekend campers left early, leaving a quiet park. After sleeping in, making great cottage cheese pancakes and helping the teammates pack up, 'milla and I headed to a beautiful gap to hike. The gap (no name I can find) was part of the race course, and has a really neat amphitheater built into a rock garden. We found a switchback trail that ran up out of the amphitheater, which we followed to the top of Buffalo Mountain. It was really beautiful: winding up a huge rock garden through the mist, on a very old trail that was laboriously stitched into the mountainside. We bushwacked down the mountain to a small stream to the North, and followed it back to the gap. It was a great place to explore, with a few trails/old logging roads to follow up the small mountain streams. Here it is:


View Larger Map
After hiking and exploring for 4 hours, we headed back to camp. I was pretty beat from the previous days race and then walking for 4 hours--but Camilla wanted to see more! Starting at 7pm, we went for a mountain bike ride on some great trails close to R.B. Winter. Camilla is new to mountain biking and rides a hybrid bike, so I chose a route that was suitable and really fun for both of us. I was really impressed with her strength and ability to ride singletrack! She totally loved it. The area has a reputation of being super rocky and hard mtn biking, but as we've proved, you can put together a nice 2 hour loop on nice trails that won't break you. Along the route we saw a bunch of deer and a porcupine, which topped off a great day of hiking and cycling.

Monday was the nicest day weather wise-which meant only occasional sprinkles and mostly sunny. We found The Hook Natural Area on the map and decided to make that the day's exploration. This turned out to be an amazing choice.

View Larger Map
We rode our bikes South from R.B. Winter up Pine Creek Hollow Road, and stashed our bikes near the Mule Shanty Trail head. The path obviously wasn't used too often, with a lot of blow-down trees and overgrown rhododendron. But that was part of the charm of this amazing place. Following Panther Run on an old rocky railroad bed, typical of trails in the region which often follow old small gauge RR beds made of small boulders. We felt like the first people ever to be there (minus the new trail marking and RR bed!)-absolutely beautiful cliffs, hemlock groves, thick vegetation and crystal-clear water. We definitely felt like outsiders peeking into a wild, untouched world. Once we got to Molasses Gap Trail, the path was easier to follow and a bit more worn (thats not saying much though). We had lunch up on a cliff overlooking the stream. I was convinced that we'd spot a bear or a mountain lion, but no such luck. Eventually the narrow stream valley opens up a little bit offering a cozy place to nap under the sun. With the sun warming us and the stream rippling in our ears, it was a lovely snooze streamside.

Even though the weather was crap, we got to explore the fruits of the Bald Eagle State Forest, or just a small fraction of it. Between hiking in natural areas, cycling on the well maintained trails, and modern camping at the State Park-we had a very rich and memorable camping trip. I can't wait to go back to explore more trails, gaps and natural areas!

Thanks for reading,
Ryan

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

Roadside America

Back in April, when 'milla and I were driving down route 78 on the way to the US Open MTB Relay (OH YEAH!), we decided to stop off at the Shartlesville exit (#23). I've driven past this little place called Roadside America dozens of times, every time wondering what the heck it is. One can tell from the old skating rink architecture and antiquated signage that whatever this place is, its gonna be something unique if not interesting. Roadside America was indeed both of these!

The place claims to be the 'greatest known miniature village' in existence, and I wouldn't doubt that claim. Upon entering the building and handing over a small entrance fee, you feel a sense that possibly, maybe, probably definitely you are entering a time machine-one that goes back in time. Inside is a giant model-trainesque scene of rural and small town America spanning time from several hundred years ago to the 1970's (or, modern times if you believe what they say).

It is a completely fascinating look at neat model building, geography, history, trains, bridges, cabins, towns, airplanes, wagons, cars, and industry. Once you've spent a half hour or so there, the lights go down, the music comes on and you experience the indoor village slowly going to sleep and waking up. I won't go into too much detail, but this is a nice little stop that worth taking, its kitschy and neat, and you can tell all of your friends you've seen the worlds greatest indoor village. Right here in Pennsylvania! And my team won the US Open MTB Relay the next day!

Thanks for reading, Ryan

Links:
-Roadside America
-visitPA Road trips

More Rocktober

So I'm standing around with some folks swapping war stories after FC and they asked me to extend the deadline on the pre-pre-reg cost ($75) for the race at RB Winter this weekend. They'd been hearing some great things about the course about how pristine the area is the how challenging but fun the trails are but hadn't yet signed up on Bikereg.com and wanted to.

Since I'm such a dang nice guy I said sure and went in there last night and altered the up charge day and time so that the cost remains $75 for prereg for a bit longer. So, if you didn't yet sign up hurry up and do so and you can still take advantage of the lower entry fee cost.

BTW, the forecast for this weekend is a 30% chance of rain with high around 65 on race day.

M

Rocktober Updates

Some news about the visitPA.com Rocktober Challenge for you -

1. Prereg closes at 8AM on Thursday morning and then gets absolutely very expensive on race day. So, take a couple minutes and go to bikereg.com to get signed up.

2. The course is a wee bit longer than 100K. More like one hundred and eleventy K or there abouts. There is a very small chance we'll cut out a piece, but that would throw off the aid station plan and we'd lose some of the stellar trail we've been working on for you. If you're coming you're already figuring on being out there all day long anyway so this is just more of a good time. Really I'm giving you even more for your money! You should so be thanking me.

3. If you are planning on coming up you should know that the RB Winter campground is rapidly filling up. There are several other camp grounds close to the venue and the closest hotels can be found in Lewisburg which is about 25-30 min away. visitPA.com should be able to help you find alternate lodging. By visitPA.com I don't mean Ray or Wes or Mike or Ry but rather by visiting the website at http://www.visitPA.com. However, your best way to get directions to the race is through our race site.

See you on Saturday!