My Area 106

Signing off...

 

My days in the blogging world have come to a close.

Take care and I'm sure we'll run into each other in the 106!!

Bob

Racing My Shadow

Had the chance to grab an afternoon ride today (my computer showed 68 degrees!) and enjoy this mild weather while it lasts.

While riding, I decided to race my shadow... lost again (but narrowly).

Bob

Iceman Pictures now loaded

Check out the published photo's from the recent Iceman (Photo's Iceman 2009).

Yeah, I know; wish you were there, hey? Mark it on your calendar for 2010!

Bob
 

Iceman Recap

 
Well, hear is a picture of the prized trophy; The Ice Sculpture for the Champion (both Mens and Womens Pro Winners receive one). JHK pretty much carried this with him throughout the evening as we witnessed the slow melting of this great hunk of ice. Pretty cool, hey?

Maybe the 2009 Iceman event will be referred to as the "Nice-man 2009", since the race went off under blue skies and temperatures in the mid 50's for most of the day. Matter of fact, this race has had great weather the past few years, but along with great weather it also brought fast times. The race was lengthened a bit from the 26 miles to something like 29 miles, with the start being moved down near "Main Street" in the city of Kalkaska, Michigan.

Ryan O'Dell (Promoter/Director of the OMBC Series) sent approximately 32 riders to this years Iceman in which several came home with podium spots. Our OMBC group competes in a multi state points contest, and I believe the OMBC group may have finished with top honors (I'm not 100% certain, but I think this to be true). This is a long trip from Ohio, so I thinks its fantastic to see this many riders venturing north to participate in the season finale mountain bike race.

This years Iceman race that had over 4,000 participants as they celebrated the "20th" year of Iceman!!!

Even our own (Area 106) local Gary Fisher rider "Lindsey Prososki" took the top podium spot in her age class and also beating her time from last year (even with the added 3 miles). I couldn't believe all the hardware this young lady brought home! Well deserved, and her support crew (mom, dad and sister) all shared in the excitement during the awards ceremony. Lindsey has definitely gotten faster this season, and I noticed her talking with Heather Irmiger (Fisher/Subaru) several times, so I think we might see Lindsey sporting a Fisher 29er for the 2010 season.

The sighting of the "finish line" at left usually gets the riders adrenaline going and the feeling of "accomplishment".

My "congrats" to everyone that competed in this years event. I plan on publishing a complete photo album of additional pictures of Iceman soon... stay tuned.

Special thanks to all the volunteers & staff at Iceman for making this event so special.

Bob

Iceman Royalty

Heather (3rd wns), JHK (men's winner) and Sam Schultz (2nd).

Bob

Iceman 2009: it's On!

Riders coming through near halfway point.

Bob

Autograph Time

Sam, JHK, Heather at the Fisher table.

Iceman 2009

Time to pick up race packets; race tomarrow.

Bob

Heard about Raystown Lake?

I thought with this post I would share a recent email I received from Trek Ohio Valley Team rider "Mark Shellhamer" recently about his day trip to Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania.   These new trails have certainly been the buzz around the Pittsburgh area, and have heard members of CAMBA (Cleveland Area Mountain Biking Association) have been enjoying making the trek as well to Central PA.   If you get a chance, check out the site at: http://www.raystown.org/outdoor-fun/allegrippis-trails.html   Here's what Mark had to say about his 1 day trip to Raystown: "After reading letter after letter and articles about Raystown Lake in Dirtrag Mountain Bike MagazineI had to take a trip over and check it out. I left at 4:30am and got there by 8:30am. As you may have heard the place is super flowy, smooth, and really fast! I've never rode anything like it in PA. I would sum it as a cross between Mohican State Park and North Park (Pittsburgh). I have Bontrager Revolts on my Fuel EX for racing and had plenty of traction. There's no need for knobbies here! I had a blast ripping around on my EX and feel it's the biggest bike needed for Raystown. 5" of travel was more than enough for soaking up the jumps off the whoops. I have no pride and often climb in granny gear.......I only used it once all day! I rode 99% of the trails with minimal overlap/backtracking.    A couple of hours in I got used to riding at higher speeds. On the Hydro trail I found myself "dancing" with my bike on the trail. Side to side leaning/sinking  into the curves. I've never experienced that before! I bet a ridged single speed 29er would be a blast there as well. The place is that smooth. No skinnies, No log piles, and only 1 real rock garden. If you think your bored pick up the pace and that feeling will go away real fast.  If they ever hold an XC race there you better watch out for Roadies with mountain bikes. They will give us mountain bikers a real lung thrashing at this place! Would I go back? ........When are we leaving!"   Thanks for the report Mark.   Bob

Ride on a Train, a Night Bike Ride and topped off with a "Pint"

 

 

Wanna do something different this fall while getting a chance to ride your bike? Make plans for Akron, Ohio and to catch a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. Remember to bring your bike.

I got a call last week from Pete DiGiacomo (Ernie's Bicycle and riding bud) that he and some of the other shop guys where heading up to Akron for a late afternoon 16 mile train ride trip followed by a night ride back to Akron. Oh, I said. Count me in.

I met up with the guys (Chris, Jason, Joe, Aaron & Pete) late Sunday afternoon at the store then made the trip up to Akron to board the train. Now, the train usually costs a rider $15, but if you are traveling with your bike you ride for only $2.00. Wow, what a bargain!!

Heck, we even got the chance to enjoy a fine adult beverage while enjoying our 16 mile train ride north through the Cuyahoga River Valley which follows much of the path of the Ohio Erie Canal Towpath.

Once we exited the train we were handed our bikes (which rode in the bike travel box car), then decided to grab some dinner at the local Winking Lizard (Peninsula, Ohio) before beginning our night 16 mile Trek. Upon entering the pub, Pete was wearing his helmet which had his night light mounted to it. One patron walked up to Pete all excited and asked if Pete was video taping his dining experience (we gotta good laugh at that one)? He was quite sincere and wanted to be part of the "video" (fact is, I think he had enjoyed one to many "pints" of his favorite adult beverage while watching his Pittsburgh Steelers lose to those Bengals). Nonetheless, we enjoyed some wings and drinks while the sun continued to go down.