First off, play this attached video and listen how a professional basketball player Allen Iverson thinks of practice.
I am privileged to have many awesome off road cyclists in "My Area 106". With this said, I am proud of the fact that I have "3" riders in "My Area" that are part of a large national team with Gary Fisher called the "29er Crew". Travis Saeler, TJ Platt and Amanda Sproat are all members of this select national 29er team.
I recently heard that the prior two (Travis is on the left, and TJ right) have been slacking on the "practice side", so I decided to do a spot inspection and show up at one of their scheduled "bike practice" sessions this past Wednesday at North Park (North Pittsburgh).
Continue reading ""Let's talk Practice"" »
I got to practice on the new Trek Top Fuel 69er the other night on my favorite trail, Mohican. I was rushed for time, so I knew I had to keep it to an 8 mile ride at most. Lately, we've had a good amount of rain for a few days straight, so I knew most trails would be wet and possibly closed but I had a good idea that Mohican would be fairly dry (this trail soaks up the water real well). Let's talk big wheel. The Fuel 69er of course has a 29" front wheel which I immediately thought "where have you been". I've been a Fisher 29er rider the past couple years and now remember just what difference having that larger front wheel makes.
If you are on the fence or have never ridden a 29" wheeled bike, you owe it to yourself to get on one and experience it for yourself. What I like about this Top Fuel is the traditionally 26" wheelbase (short and easy to maneuver), but quick acceleration (if you can call how I ride at times quick), the awesome ability to just roll over log piles and rocks, but above all the great contact with the trail on descents and ramming it into a tight bend.
Continue reading "Big Wheel keep on Rollin...." »
It rained pretty steady this past Friday night till about 11pm, but the weather forecast promised to be mostly sunny for all of Saturday. I had just finished putting together the finishing touches to the Fuel 69er and was anxious to get it on the trail. With all the rain of late, I knew the only trail that would be decent to ride would be Mohican, and my plan was to get a several miles on the Top Fuel before noon Saturday.
Along with a chance to ride here's a list of other events I planned to do this Saturday:
- help arrange medium sized rocks along my wife's landscaping beds (I hate working in the yard)
- pick up her mother's day gift(s)
- take pictures of my eldest daughter Rachel and her prom date (Josh) before they set off for their big event (Prom Night)
- Meet up with my PA buddy Travis Saeler and join the Ernie's crew for their evening Night Ride
I awoke at 7am Saturday morning to sunny skies and the hope the trails at Mohican where going to be nice and dry.
Continue reading "Busy Weekend.....and a toast to all MOMS on "Mother's Day"" »
Saturday, May 31st will find this same picture location here (looking down main street) loaded with racers as they begin the mass start of the Mohican 100 and 100k race event (which takes off this year in downtown Loudonville). The riders will head west out of town up a good road climb which will certainly break up the group prior to heading into the state forest trails.
I was in town to line up some hotel rooms for the upcoming event and of course I purposely chose this later time in the day so I could ride a few miles of the trail before heading home. The trail was so dry (as usual) as I parked in the lot which is just near the 7 mile mark of the trail.
I've developed my own 12 mile loop since I rarely have the time to devote to the entire 24 miles, as I
actually ride clockwise for the first few miles then access the short loop trail which drops me out at about the 22 mile mark of the main loop. I finish this then continue my ride at the actual trail start.
Continue reading "Looking down "Main Street" Loudonville, Ohio" »
Thought I would jump outside "Area 106" and share the race report from this past weekends Michaux Series kickout (Michaux Forest area near Gettysburg) by Steven Hoover (Trek East Coast Factory Team Manager/Wrench/Racer, heck jack of all trades). We had a few riders from the 106 participate with some very good results: TJ Platt (29er Crew - TOP) took 3rd in the Pro/Elite race just behind the two Trek riders (Eatough & Schalk), Travis Saeler (29er Crew - TOP) placed 2nd in his class, Chrissy Burkle (Pittsburgh rider) placed 3rd in the women's Pro/Expert field with Michelle Johnson (Trek Ohio) finishing strong in the top 10.
race report continued:
Continue reading "Area 106 well represented at the Maximus (Michaux)" »
Location: Kanawha State Forest (just outside of Charleston, West Virginia).
1110 feet of climbing tonight. My Garmin also total 13.5 miles (8 mph average) and a total time of 1 hour and 40 minutes. The first 35 minutes I totaled 750 feet which was a long fire road climb that reminds me of the climb at the old 24 hours of Canaan (Timberline) course (does anyone remember that great course at Canaan, especially 1993 with all the mud?).
The climbing was a lot for me. I confess, I tend to shy away from the big climbs but today welcomed it because once at the top I knew I was about to enjoy some awesome trails. The downhill portion helped push that average up to the 8 mph, but still I felt really good about the ride today.
Continue reading "1110 feet of climbing bliss...." »
Vulture's Knob - "the Chute"
"Bike Practice". I stole this phrase from Jesse as he writes about his countless hours practicing on his bike. This works for me, except as he talks about "Fast Practice" I'm more like "Getting Up to Speed Practice". Ever since my riding was cut short late last summer (mountain bike accident) I've been trying to make up for some lost riding time this spring by trying to ride each day if possible.
I've been toting my Fuel EX along with me (on the back of my Element) while visiting my retailers with the goal of catching a trail ride at the end of the day. What makes it nice is that Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Charleston (WV) and Toledo all have outstanding trails nearby and in the direction of home.
Continue reading "Bike Practice... making up for some lost time" »