New Stage Race Doings

Less than a week til that night ITT kicks off and we're working hard to bring together another bang up edition of the visitPA.com Stage Race and Festival weekend...besides all the good stuff you've grown to love we're adding some new twists!

Saturday evening is going to offer up some new fun events -

Trials - with a little help from our friend Topher we're going to put together a fun little trials course for you all. We'll have some easier beginner bits and some more challenging stuff for those of you with a trials rig in your collection. If you've never done it hop in and give'r a try. If you've got the skillz come and show us how its done!

Bike Polo - get your buds and form up a team! The games will be short and fast so you can try the trials too and we'll probably figure out a little impromptu tourney. If you've your own croquet mallet or polo gear bring it!

Hill climb course - we've made some mods and we're unveiling a revamped hill climb course that will give you a bit more dirt time on your way to the top of the ridge. Big Larry's been out there blasting it in for you so we hope you'll enjoy it - as much as one can enjoy a race up a steep PA ridge anyway!

More to come so keep checking back!

Mike

Round and Round and Roundtop they go.

Ray and I took a little trip north last weekend to Athens, PA for the 12 Hours of Roundtop 2-bub competition. Thanks to Ray's tireless efforts and me not jacking it up too bad we took the overall win on a day where conditions varied from thick fog to beautiful skies and tacky trails to drenching thunderstorms that turned the course into a slip-n-slide.

12 Hours of Roundtop is a race that has remained a hidden gem for far too long. I've been there a few times now and I even have my own little Hat Trick of Roundtop (yes, I made this up, but its completely official) after this year. What's the Hat Trick? Wins in the solo, duo, and team competitions! Yep, at one time I was fast enough to actually win stuff and I didn't need Ray's help to do it. These days I'm darn happy he's on my team*.

Yes, Roundtop is a long way from the MASS epicenter, but much like what we try to do with the stage race weekend - create more than a bike race - is what they're after up at RT. Amenities like on-site camping, beer, bands, post race meals, night before meals, lunch, during race pizza (that has saved my backside in two years now - I think I may just start taking slices in the feedzone) are all part of this thing.

The course is a hoot too. Ray won the lap of the day with a 29.5 min on the clock. I'm thinking this place would rock for a handicapped MASS 12 Hour 4 bub team relay. Yep, handicap it like the US Open Relay and we'll all burn laps for 1/2 a day grinning like fools. Plus, this gets me the added benefit of somehow inflicting my particular idiom on yet another event and puts me one step closer to world domination.

It doesn't always work out this way, but it is nice when these trips aren't just about the racing but about the getting there too. The trip to Athens gave me an opportunity to do a little back road driving in a part of the state I'd not been before by way of Route 6, the Grand Army of the Republic Highway; the Pennsylvania piece of one of the original transcontinental highways and a designated Heritage corridor in PA. Turns out Route 6 wouldn't be any slower than the interstate highway system for this jaunt and would save me 60 miles roundtrip in the process - save that gas!! Back roads that used to be main roads PA here I come.

You know those blue historical markers along the highways - yes, the ones you blow by and never actually read and perhaps wonder who does stop? As I'm blowing by one I catch the word "Camptown" and of course that old ditty pops into my head. Turns out Camptown, PA is the namesake of the Stephen C. Foster song I always knew as Camptown Races (and as a slightly altered Boy Scouts pine wood derby tune), but was actually originally titled "Gwine to Run All Night." Mr. Foster spent some time in Camptown and apparently blew some coin at that town's horsetrack back in the day.

I didn't get a chance to stop by Camptown this trip, but I find it pretty cool that a little town in the middle of nowhere, PA was the inspiration for what is likely one of the most well known tunes penned in the USA. Had I not taken the trip down Route 6 I'm guessing I would have never learned this little fact. Here's to back roads to races!

Thanks for stopping by,
Kuhn

*And that Ry, Wes, Hebe, Yozell, Michelle, and Nancy are too as they all make me look good.

Fieldwork II

Cooling off takes on a whole new meaning today.

Rhododendron

I can't seem to identify this little bird, maybe you can?

Some food for thought (huckleberries)... I've found many well- established patches for the fall browsing. It's nice to see a good stand of mast in the woods, as long as we get periodic rains throughout the summer.

I can't get enough Mountain Laurel, here shown in pinkish variation.

Lovely leaves of the Moccasin Flower (Pink Lady's Slipper), which have yet to bloom, are one of PA's orchids, a beautiful cousin to the stunning Showy Lady's Slipper. I have yet to find a Showy Lady's Slipper this summer...more fieldwork for me....

Home sweet home. Enjoy! Michelle

Fieldwork in PA

Starting out was rather enjoyable.
Mountain Laurel.....

Some fields of green.


Rare find of Sheep Laurel. Kalmia polifolia. One spotting in 3 days of traversing trails in central PA.


More pictures to follow..... Michelle

The Rocktober Files III

Last wrap up from the visitPA.com Rocktober Challenge last month. There was some discussion after this thing about whether it might have been too hard. Like much in life I suppose the answer must be "it depends."

What I'm sure of is that the event is too hard for some people. This is definitely not a beginner's marathon. It may not even really be appropriate for a sport racer. When one figures that the guys at the front of this thing are national caliber endurance racers and they took almost as long to do these 75ish miles as they take to do some of the 100s...well, that means this was tuff. Or maybe they just all stopped to enjoy the scenery?

This is what I'm thinking for 2009: We're going to keep the endurance race where its at right now - 75 miles of mountain bike bliss. What we're going to do differently is make the event a little more accessible to the rest with either a long XC or (more likely) a relay.

It'll work like this -- since we've designed the course as a 3 leaf clover we can use the center point of the clover as a place to switch riders. Each team will consist of 3 riders and the teams will be required to have 1 beginner, 1 sport, and 1 expert on each squad. Beginners will do loop 1, Experts will take on loop 2, and Sports will finish it out on loop 3. I'm not quite sure how yet to integrate this into the MASS - perhaps just as a team event similar to the US Open Team Relay we do in April or maybe we can do some sort of XC points too with the results from each loop counting as stand alone XC points...we'll see.

Hopefully this gives those of you not into a 8-10 hour 75 mile mtb experience a little something to look forward to because as anyone who did the 2008 Rocktober Challenge will tell you, the riding in RB Winter and Bald Eagle is just plain spectacular.

Stage Race coming - July 4-6. Be there!
Kuhn

Coming Attractions

The stage race info is up (mostly) and registration is open on bikereg.com. So, get yourselves ready for the best weekend of bike racing around - July 4th - 6th at the Oesterling Farm on more time!

There are some very significant changes to the weekend scoring this year so those of you who are concerned about such things should make sure to check out the new system!

The Rocktober Files

So while its well delayed the rest of my Rocktober story went something like this:

Friday dawned wet. Real wet. So wet that you wanted to stay in the camper and not set up a 70ish mile long course. Too bad.

Luckily the calvary showed up today. Well, two guys on motorbikes anyway and it was just enough. First Mike Kryzytski, former RB Winter Mountain Bike Jamboree guru from way back in the day (before Ray was legal even) came by to lend support taking some time away from his custom woodworking business and headed back out in the muck with arrows for the roads. Ry was sent on his way by Cannondale to mark the trails of loop 3. Deuter rep and all round nice guy Chris Jones rolled in and was given the task of loop 2 trails by moto. Me, I headed out in the car and jumped in front of Ry hitting all the road/trail intersections and dirt road bits until roundevous with Big Larry at 1300 hours for some parking/reg sign set up. Meantime Kris rolls out in search of internet access for all the last minute stuff.

Somewhere along the line I get a call from Zach Adams who gives me some hope in mankind with a message that he'll be along shortly. Lucky for me Zach came down with a case of senioritis and was just not feeling well enough to make it to school that day. He took on a crucial piece of the marking puzzle when tasked with the role of dropping in Bear Gap to mark this challenging descent. Then once let go from their work confines, locals Miguel Fausto and George "Brushhog" Heim came by for last minute support and to bring by the reg files for Kris.

We rejoiced in the day by taking a spin into Mifflinburg for some hard earned ale and cow at the rather dang nice Scarlet D tavern on main street. It was a long tiring wet day and one we were glad was over. I can say that without a doubt the aforementioned folks were the reason this race worked. I could not have pulled it together without their help and, in particular, Mike and Chris on the moto's were invaluable. Thanks fellas.

Saturday dawned without actual liquid falling from the heavens and we again rejoiced. If there is one thing worse than setting up the course in the rain its actually racing and promoting the race in the rain. Thankfully, this nice big hole in the clouds stuck around for about 8 hours and most everyone was done by then.

When I say done, I do mean done. As in well done. Cooked through. Crispy. I received the most unusual feedback I've ever received from a race which went something like this:

Racer (finishing): "Where's Mike Kuhn?"

Me: 'I'm here. Nice job.'

Racer: "I don't know whether to shake your hand or punch you in the face!!"

Rob Lictenwalner: "Punch him in the face!" (I love my team mates BTW)

Racer: 'That was the hardest race I've ever done!'

This was a sentiment echoed by a number of riders and reflected in the 40% attrition rate. And while some thought this race was too hard many shared sentiments along the lines of it being "real mountain biking." This is the kind of mountain biking that we all did before short loops on less technical terrain became the norm for racing and riding. Mountain biking before trails became groomed and graded. Mountain biking that is more primitive. Mountain biking as it used to be and how it was when many of us fell in love with it.

That's pretty much what we were going for and that's definitely the kind of riding you'll find at RB Winter State Park and Bald Eagle State Forest. If you didn't make it up for the race you should take the time to drive out and ride Old Tram, Pirate, Cowbell, White Deer, and the rest.
One more on the next time around coming soon.

See you around,
Kuhn

If this is not reason enough.......

If this is not enough reason to buy a Cannondale, maybe these facts will convince you to buy local:

1. The Cannondale Plant employs over 460 folks in Bedford, PA.
2. Troy Laffey heads up the Green Initiative Team that recycles aluminum, cardboard, plastic and paper generated at the plant.
3. Cannondale is classified, in the state of CA, as a low emission and low waste facility.
4. Cannondale owns a cardboard and plastic compactor!!


Bar Stock to Bike Recap:

No pictures will adorn this lovely blog on my tour of Cannondale last week. That’s their policy. So, get yourself there and tour. You won’t be disappointed, my promise.

I was fortunate enough to catch Troy Laffey on the east coast and at the Cannondale factory, so you bet I hopped that train for a tour of the ¼ mile long facility, starting with the good-natured folks in Human Resources and ending with watching Jackie, packing Motos in boxes, way past quitting time. Jackie, you rock!!!

So, as linear as bike production seemed to me, it’s actually a wheel-like process. Cannondale makes most of the parts and the others, like tires, rims, saddles etc… are shipped in and assembled. It all comes together and assembled in an ergonomic assembly-line like method. I knew bikes have lots of parts, but really until you look at the process of putting each part on the bike, it’s overwhelming to imagine that over 100 bikes are shipped out on a daily basis.

Just the basic process of making a frame, starting with bar stock, was enough to set me spinning. Here's the basics....if I can remember it all.......machines cut, prepared the metal to be tack welded, welded, sanded, aligned, heat treated, aligned again, hand-painted, dried, decaled, clear-coated…..and all that for the frame.

So overall, the tour was amazing and informative, the guys who work there answered questions with professional ease, and the atmosphere was family-like. I am glad and thankful that I can support workers in the PA and that I am supported by them! It's a win-win situation!

Thanks again, Cannondale for your time and support!
Michelle

17 Years Gone By........

Did you ever wake up and realize that almost half of your life has gone by? Well, riding my bike down a steep mountain road, it hit me square in the face….literally. I was hit by a Magiciada cassini (17 Year Locust) and it darn near knocked me off my bike. Stopping me dead in tracks, I wiped off the goo and realized it’d been 17 years since I’d seen those bugs.

Time stopped and I found myself in the woods with my sister and brother shooting these locusts out of trees with our Red Ryder BB guns. School was out, life was good…….working, swimming, playing softball, ….living every moment, doing what kids do.

Still, 17 years of my life have gone by, and it took a beady red-eyed bug to remind me that no matter what happens, I'm happiest when I live and enjoy the moment, because that's all I can be sure of.

Michelle

VEGAN ROB in the Allentown Paper

Nice article on our teammate Rob Lichtenwalner. Good luck at Big Bear this weekend! Hope it's not nearly as hot as it's going to be in Danville.