Yellow Breeches Racing

Annual Meeting Tonight!

2011-01-17T04:38:00.000-08:00

6:00 at Miseno's in Carlisle. Mmmm...Pizza...

All club officer and executive committee positions are up for election!

Miseno's is on W. High Street, just before Massey's.

See you tonight!

Summer Smackdown!!!

2010-05-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

From Dr. Goates:

Back for 2010, it's the battle of South Mountain (or something similarly grandiose and awe-inspiring)!

o^o o^o o^o

Yup, this summer, like last summer, Ship Cycling is going to collaborate with South Mountain Velo and Yellow Breeches Racing for the 2010 SMVC/YBR/Ship Cycling Summer Smackdown. This is how it works:

There are FOUR events, an individual time trial, a road race (its only like 23 miles or something), a hill climb to Big Flat, and, new this year, a team time trial.

Each event is scored kind of like a cross country meet. Each team's first three riders to finish score points for the team. The fourth and fifth riders displace the points riders from other teams would score. Additional riders are excluded from team scoring. Lowest point total wins.

So, say the first four riders that finish an event are Ship Cycling and the next three riders that finish are South Mountain. Ship Cycling would score 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 points for their first three finishers. Fourth place is Ship Cycling; he doesn't score any points, but he pushes South Mountain riders down the scale so they score more points. South Mountain would score 5 + 6 + 7 = 18 points. 6 < 18 so Ship Cycling wins.

Even though it's billed as a competition between the three area clubs, EVERYONE IS INVITED! Others can form their own teams (I'm campaigning for Lost Boys to send a contingent) or just vie for individual glory. Non-team riders displace the points teams would earn.

HERE'S THE CALENDAR (everything subject to change):

** Thurs, June 3, 6:00 pm - individual time trial. YBR hosts. Meet at the campground on Pine Grove Rd about five miles north of Pine Grove Furnace SP. (This is the regular Ironmasters TT, hosted by the much loved and probably underappreciated Mark Laser.)

** Wed, June 30 (rain date: July 1), 6:00 pm - road race. Ship Cycling hosts. Meet at Pine Grove Furnace SP. The parking lot by the reservoir. (Probably the same course that we did last year--south on 233, left on Shippensburg Rd, left on Wenksville, left on Coon, left on Bendersville Rd, right on Pine Grove Rd. Probably the same course... It's negotiable.)

** Wed, July 7 (rain date: July 8), 6:00 pm - South Mountain hill climb. SMV hosts. Meet at Southhampton Township Park. (Mass start hill climb up the seven-some miles from Cleversburg to Big Flat.)

** Wed, July 15, time tbd -- team time trial. Dan Daly hosting. (Not sure on the details yet. Probably we'll run this on Route 174, Dan's normal time trial route--for those of you to whom that means anything--from a few miles south of Carlisle to a few miles short of Shippensburg and back again. 40k. We'll have to do this a little later in the day so as to not have to fight traffic, but probably by 7:00 pm we should be fine. We also have to agree on rules, but there's plenty of time for those mundane details...)

EXCITING!

Note the ITT is scheduled for NEXT WEEK. One week from today, actually. Time to dust off the clip-ons and get ready to roll!

...

If you've any questions, feel free to direct them to me...then I'll have you ask Jim Hartnett.

Ironmasters Time Trial Series Begins April 1!!!

2010-03-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

Yay!

First rider off at 6:00 PM.

Start location: http://www.mtncreekcg.com/

Who's in?

Mark

2010 YBR Membership

2010-01-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

Is now open, here:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=9830

Non-believers will be purged from the mailing list on 2/1/10.

Happy New Year!

Mark

P.S. The 2010 Ironmasters TT series starts on Thursday, 4/1/10...

Iron Cross VII Is History!

2009-10-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

On a spectacular Fall day in South Central Pennsylvania, nearly 300 racers from across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. competed in Iron Cross VII, the 7th edition of America's longest cyclocross race. Staging from the Carlisle Family YMCA's Camp Thompson in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, racers tackled a mass start, entered and exited the Spiral of Death and then headed into Michaux State Forest for a massive single loop consisting of paved roads, fire roads, beachfront, doubletrack, singletrack, brutal climbs, steep run-ups, sketchy downhills, and numerous stream crossings.

62 miles and over 6,000 feet of climbing later, riders returned to Camp Thompson, negotiated a sand pit and one final barrier and crossed the finish line.

The Overall and Men's Senior victor was Jeremiah Bishop (MonaVie-Cannondale), followed by Ross Delaplane (Green Mountain), Andy Guptill (CBRC-Iron Cross), Rob Lichtenwalner (visitpa.com), and Adam Farabaugh (Hershey Cancer Center/GPOA).

This win was Bishop's second Iron Cross victory.

The Men's Master race was captured by Andy Applegate (Champion Systems-Cannondale), followed by Ron Glowczynski (RoanokeOutside.com), Doug Jansen (International), Mike Laub (Mountainside Racing), and Steve Gayner (Badger Velo Club).

In the Women's race, Selene Yeager (Bicycling/South Mountain Cycles) crossed the line first, followed by Sonja Evers (CycleLife p/b Specialized), Danielle Musto (Kenda Pro Cycling), Betsy Shogren (Cannondale Factory Racing/Backyard Bike Club), and Bryna Nestor (CBRC-Iron Cross).

The Singlespeed race was won by Gunnar Shogren (Cannondale Factory Racing/Backyard Bike Club). Shogren was followed by Bill Alcorn (Bike Flights), Dan Bonora (EWR Racing), Terry Blanchet (CBRC-Iron Cross), and Michael Tressler (Rad Racing).

The Team Cup competition was captured by CBRC-Iron Cross. The King of the Mountain competition was captured by Andy Guptill; Selene Yeager was the Queen of the Mountain.

Yellow Breeches Racing and High Speed Cycling would like to thank our race volunteers, sponsors, the Carlisle Family YMCA, PA DCNR, South Mountain Repeaters, Yellow Breeches EMS, and Fayetteville Ambulance Co.

Iron Cross VIII is scheduled for the weekend of October 9 & 10, 2010

Links to results, photos, blogs, etc. below...

PHOTOS

Chuck Armstrong video of IC:

http://animoto.com/play/q1EW0Fs8iOf0STkICQ1P7Q?utm_source=project_complete_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=project_complete_email&utm_content=main?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=one_click_share

From Uncle Don Pagano (feat. aerial shots of Spiral of Death):

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/Iron-Cross-Weekend-2009

From Hans, video of the start:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5w6XVpheRs

From Chuck Armstrong:

http://www.elementoftheeye.ifp3.com/#/page/home/

From Tim Mullin:

http://pbb.smugmug.com/Sports/Cycling/Iron-Cross-2009/9935359_qCu7y#677836262_hosRF

From Ed Felker:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8193389@N06/sets/72157622440724281/

From David Trimble:

IC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38654427@N00/sets/72157622450379683/

IC Lite: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38654427@N00/sets/72157622573362388/

BLOGGAGE

From Selene Yeager:

http://bicycling.com/blogs/fitchick/

From Ed Felker:

http://thedailyrandonneur.wordpress.com/

From Jeremiah Bishop:

http://www.jeremiahbishop.com/blogger/

From Todd @ Wrench Out:

http://wrenchout.blogspot.com/2009/10/iron-cross-vii.html

From Dave Kegly:

http://oddg.blogspot.com/

RESULTS

Iron Cross VII:

http://www.runhigh.com/2009%20WEB%20RESULTS/R101109DA.html

Iron Cross Lite:

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/10/10-Iron-Cross-Sat.asp

Time trial series finale!

2009-09-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks for participating in the YBR TT this season, folks!

Here's who did what last night:

Hankins SMVC M 23:22
Miller, W. YBR M 24:39
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 25:10
Hartnett SMVC M 25:42
Kaehler SMVC M 25:57
Shaeffer SMVC M 26:39

Congratulations to our points leaders - your speed and commitment to racing are much admired!

Hartnett SMVC M 1216
Karen P. YBR W 1200
Hankins SMVC M 1185
Polensky, P. YBR M 1116
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 802
Hopkins AG3R/BHS M 677
Fesler, R. YBR M 675
Rider Big E Shippenburg U. M 608
Hise YBR M 562
Hebe Visitpa.com M 525
C-Bo YBR W 510
Conniff, D. YBR W 510
Miller, W. YBR M 510
Goates, Dr. SUCC M 500
Reynolds YBR W 496
Shiffer YBR W 493
Perry YBR W 490
Marshall SUCC M 465
Deimler Mason-Dixon M 460
Kaehler SMVC M 460
Stodter, D. YBR M 445
Engle, L. Unattached M 405
Kelley SMVC M 399
Engle, M. Unattached JM 350
Watts WildBlues W 350
Boward Mercury Endurance W 335
Ballard SMVC M 325
Cusick WildBlues M 317
Guss, Dr. YBR W 316
McLaughlin YBR M 300
Garretson YBR M 289
Shaeffer SMVC M 285
Wagner YBR M 280
Fesler, J. Be Great Racing M 276
Bateman, L. Young Medalists JM 175
Kuhl HCI/GPOA/C-dale M 175
Longanecker, S. Unattached W 170
Stodter, C. YBR JM 170
Saultz RPE W 170
Donna W. YBR W 160
Hoover, A. Mountainside M 156
Brown SMVC M 152
Brixius Unattached M 148
Rosencrance, D. Unattached M 148
Bakermans YBR M 144
Taylor YBR M 144
Miller, T. Tom's Cogs M 144
Longanecker, C. Unattached M 141
Rodbart YBR M 141
Albert YBR M 141
Laser YBR M 141
Alleman Unattached M 138
Bowman Unattached M 138
Derr Unattached M 135
Heeb Mapei West M 135
Maret SUCC M 135
Rowe Unattached M 132
Tenney Mapei West M 132
Boyd Unattached M 130
Woltemade SUCC M 130
Chops SUCC M 128
Galindo Unattached M 124

See you in April 2009 (and hopefully before!)

M.

P.S. Did I mention that we need Iron Cross volunteers?

7/16/09 Ironmasters Time Trial Results

2009-07-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hi racers,

Sadly, North Korean computer hackers infiltrated the YBR supercomputer
network and dorked up the first posting of results; let's try again:

(Corrections: Rick = YBR, added time for Jere, and added time for Earl)

Hankins SMVC M 23:34
Goates, Dr. SUCC M 23:39
Fesler, R. YBR M 23:44
Ballard SMVC M 24:04
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 25:02
Brown SMVC M 25:24
Marshall SUCC M 25:50
Hartnett SMVC M 26:07
Shaeffer SMVC M 26:19
Alleman Unattached M 26:25
Maret SUCC M 26:38
Rider Big E Shippenburg U. M 27:02
Karen P. YBR W 28:16
Saultz RPE W 28:24
Woltemade SUCC M 28:37
Chops SUCC M 28:50
C-Bo YBR W 29:36
Kelley SMVC M 29:39
Perry YBR W 31:37
Galindo Unattached M 33:22

M.

TT postponed (again!)

2009-06-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dang:

This afternoon Sunny early, then showers and thunderstorms becoming likely. Some thunderstorms may produce gusty winds and hail. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds around 10 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tonight Mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms in the evening, then becoming partly cloudy with just a slight chance of a shower after midnight. Some thunderstorms may produce gusty winds and hail in the evening. Lows in the lower 60s. Southeast winds around 5 mph with gusts up to 30 mph, becoming northeast around 5 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent.

Let's double up next week...Tuesday and Thursday - more details to follow.

Spread the word,

M.

TT postponed to Tuesday...

2009-06-04T04:54:00.001-07:00

Weather forecast:

"Thursday A few showers likely in the morning, then periods of steadier rain along with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 60s. Northeast winds around 5 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent."

Sooooooooo...let's reschedule for Tuesday the 9th at 6:00 pm.

See you then!

M.

May 21, 2009 TT Results

2009-05-22T13:35:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a night for riding, eh?

Thanks for coming out, folks!

Will, thanks for shuttling our off-target Germantown Academy hikers to Pine Grove Furnace!

Best of luck to Tim, Jere, and crew as they embark on a cross-country cycling journey; their blog is here:

http://brag2009.blogspot.com/

The next TT is Thursday the 4th of June...

Results:

Hopkins AG3R/BHS M 23:19 175
Hankins SMVC M 23:35 170
Miller YBR M 23:45 165
Goates, Dr. Lost Boyz Racin' M 24:28 160
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 24:52 156
Cusick WildBlues M 24:55 152
Polensky, P. YBR M 25:39 148
Kaehler SMVC M 26:19 144
Watts WildBlues W 27:07 175
Engle, M. Unattached JM 27:10 175
Shiffer YBR W 27:43 170
Garretson YBR M 28:11 141
Boward Mercury Endurance W 28:14 165
Fesler, J. Be Great Racing M 28:37 138
Hise YBR M 28:38 135
Kelley SMVC M 29:10 132
Boyd Unattached M 29:43 130
Wagner YBR M 31:04 128
Engle, L. Unattached M 32:11 126
Guss, Dr. YBR W 34:03 160

Points to date:

Miller YBR M 510
Karen P. YBR W 505
Hankins SMVC M 505
Polensky, P. YBR M 469
Watts WildBlues W 350
Hebe Visitpa.com M 350
Shiffer YBR W 345
Boward Mercury Endurance W 335
Cusick WildBlues M 317
Guss, Dr. YBR W 316
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 316
Hartnett SMVC M 312
Deimler Mason-Dixon M 300
McLaughlin YBR M 300
Hise YBR M 283
Fesler, J. Be Great Racing M 276
Kelley SMVC M 273
Hopkins AG3R/BHS M 175
Bateman, L. Young Medalists JM 175
Engle, M. Unattached JM 175
Stodter, C. YBR JM 170
Fesler, R. Elite M 170
Conniff, D. YBR W 170
C-Bo YBR W 170
Donna W. YBR W 160
Goates, Dr. Lost Boyz Racin' M 160
Perry ? W 160
Rider Big E Shippenburg U. M 160
Stodter, D. YBR M 156
Reynolds YBR W 156
Taylor YBR M 144
Kaehler SMVC M 144
Laser YBR M 141
Garretson YBR M 141
Heeb Mapei West M 135
Tenney Mapei West M 132
Boyd Unattached M 130
Wagner YBR M 128
Engle, L. Unattached M 126

Have a good weekend,

M.

Next Time Trial: Thursday, May 21

2009-05-12T03:41:00.001-07:00

Hi racers,

Our next TT will be Thursday, May 21, timed by Mike Hebe...mark your calendars!

M.

Cinco De Mayo TT Results!

2009-05-06T04:46:00.001-07:00

Wow,

Thanks for coming out in what were, I believe, the worst conditions we've ever had for the TT!

We even had a number of new faces...

Here's who did what:

Hebe Visitpa.com M 24:21 175
Will M. YBR M 24:33 170
Patrick H. SMVC M 24:50 165
Hartnett SMVC M 27:12 160
Bateman, L. Young Medalists JM 30:21 175
Karen P. YBR W 31:45 175
Stodter, D. YBR M 32:16 156
Conniff, D. YBR W 35:00 170
Stodter, C. YBR JM 35:37 170

Pictures here (not Uncle Don-worthy, but still): http://woodcrest21.smugmug.com/gallery/8117874_3hjDi/1/529266595_5pNAf

Our next TT is scheduled for Thursday 5/21/09, but I'll be out of town that day...can you'uns TT on 5/14/09? Please weigh in...

Have a good day,

Mark

TUESDAY Night TT!

2009-05-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks for weighing in; this week's TT will be held on TUESDAY night; first rider off at 6:00 pm!

Have a good one,

M.

April 30 TT Results!

2009-05-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Thanks for coming out last night! Lots of new faces and fast times; who did what is below...

I'll be out of town next Thursday; two options - we can move the TT to Tuesday night or, if someone else can time, we can keep the TT on Thursday. Please weigh in!

Times and points earned follow...

Hebe	Visitpa.com	M	23:50	175
Fesler, R.	Elite	M	23:53	170
Cusick	WildBlues	M	24:58	165
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	25:23	160
Paul P.	YBR	M	25:37	156
Hartnett	SMVC	M	26:47	152
Watts	WildBlues	W	27:37	175
Deimler	Mason-Dixon	M	27:47	148
Jim M.	YBR	M	28:02	144
C-Bo	YBR	W	29:11	170
Kelley	?	M	29:29	141
Fesler, J.	Unattached	M	29:39	138
Heeb	Mapei West	M	30:25	135
Karen P.	YBR	W	30:48	165
Perry	?	W	32:12	160
Tenney	Mapei West	M	33:00	132
Reynolds	YBR	W	37:48	156

Have a good weekend; good luck if you're racin'!

M.

Next Ironmasters Time Trial: 4/30/09

2009-04-20T02:40:00.000-07:00

Overwhelming vote to re-schedule, so that's what we'll do!

Let's shoot for Thursday, April 30th at 6:00 pm...

Thanks for getting back to me, all.

M.

Ironmasters Time Trial Postoned!

2009-04-14T04:39:00.001-07:00

...Thursday's TT postponed to Tuesday, Apr 21 @ 6:00 pm.

(Due to Buddy Guy concert!)

See you'uns next Tuesday...

M.

YBR Annual Meeting Re-cap

2009-04-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Here's what went down at Camp Thompson on 4/12/09:

Intros/team overview – welcome to Camp T, YBR's been around since 2000, we're a YMCA program, suggest 3 races/year and volunteering at at least one event, all ages/abilities are welcome.

2008 review: Z’s Y-Riders, Thursday Ironmasters TT, Iron Cross VI, Adopt-A-Highway, New Frontiers bikes for YMCA day camp, Brett & Donna hosted PA MTB Summit and host Wed night MTB rides, sizable grant to YMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign.

2009 what's on tap: Ironmasters TT series (has begun!), Josh’s Sneaky Speed Wednesdays, Karen’s interval Fridays, Adopt-A-Highway work day in Apr/May, Iron Cross Lite 10/10/09 and Iron Cross VII 10/11/09, YBR blog.

Thanks to sponsors – Carlisle Family YMCA, World Cup Ski & Cycle, Mike Albert, and Cardin & Miller PT.

Thanks to officers – Brett, Chris H., me and to executive committee – Brett, Chris H., C-Bo, Uncle Don, Laura, Sarah - and sport coordinators.

Need new faces!

Have gear for sale and will be working on 2009 kit (similar to Iron Cross design). Can join online (at bikereg.com) or e-mail me for form.

Speakers

Chris – team by-laws, financials, officer and executive committee elections.

Officers for 2009 will be Brett, Chris, and Mark.

Executive committee will be officers plus Karen, Paul, Sarah, and Uncle Don.

Dr. Kirsten "Trashy" Guss will be YBR's 2009 Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator...All Hail Kirsten!

Financials

YBR is in good shape, financially.

Proposed expenditures for 2009 - espoir grants, New Frontiers (and possibly, Camp T) bikes, chunk of kit price, donation to YMCA for Strong Kids/youth-specific equipment needs.

Other

Discussed adding a unique MTB racing event to the YBR calendar.

Ride

Good times! Up, down, all around on a beautiful Spring day, led by Brett and Donna.

Contact Mark with any Q's or comments.

Ironmasters TT #1 Results!

2009-04-03T06:32:00.001-07:00

Aaaaaaaaand they're off!!!

Below is who did what on a rainy, cool evening at the first IMTT of the year.

Date for next TT is TBD; I won't be in town - perhaps Wed the 15th?

YBR's annual meeting is this Sunday, the 5th, at Camp T...and we're MTBing after!

Will M.	YBR	M	24:28	175
Patrick H.	?	M	25:16	170
Paul P.	YBR	M	25:49	165
Kara S.	YBR	W	26:56	175
Rider Big E	Shippenburg U.	M	27:02	160
Jim M.	?	M	27:54	156
Gene	I forgot!	M	28:39	152
Sarah B.	?	W	29:13	170
Craig H.	YBR	M	29:24	148
Michael T.	YBR	M	29:58	144
Karen P.	YBR	W	30:17	165
Donna W.	YBR	W	35:05	160
Dr. Kirsten G.	YBR	W	36:17	156

What's a Little Cold?

2008-12-10T07:34:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was fun in the woods. Even saw Mark and Chris...quite strange, that.

Z!!!

2008-12-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

CRMC Iron Cross VI Is History!

2008-10-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

Woo-Hoo!

On a spectacular, warm Autumn day in Michaux State Forest, a record
290 riders tackled the Carlisle Regional Medical Center Iron Cross VI
race - America's longest cyclocross race.

When the dust had settled, there were new winners in all race
categories except for one.

Chris Beck (Gary Fisher/Joe's Bike Shop) improved on his Iron Cross V
runner-up position and captured the overall and Senior Men win. Andy
Applegate, (Kobold Watches/Cannodale), riding his 6th Iron Cross,
repeated as winner of the Master Men category. Betsy Shogren
(Visitpa.com/SoBe/Cannondale), riding her first Iron Cross, won the
Women's race and Betsy's ruggedly handsome husband Gunnar (also
Visitpa.com/SoBe/Cannondale) won the Singlespeed race on his way to
finishing 7th overall.

In the Sara M. Laser Team Cup competition, Visitpa.com/SoBe/Cannondale
prevailed, relegating last year's winner, True North Cycles, to 2nd
place.

A huge thank you to the Carlisle Regional Medical Center, our other
race sponsors, our fine crew of race volunteers, our safety personnel
and radio crew, the Carlisle Family YMCA, and 290 hard-core racers!

See you in 2009!

And now, more ICVI stuff:

RE-SULTS…

IC Lite:

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2008/10/11-Carlisle-Regional-Medical-Center-Iron-Cross-Lite.asp

IC VI:

Results and report for Iron Cross VI are now posted on BikeReg.com:
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2008/10/12-Carlisle-Regional-Medical-Center-I
ron-Cross.asp

Run High North:

http://www.runhigh.com/2008%20Results/2008%20Results%20B/R101208CA.html

BLOGS…

Gunnar’s IC Lite and IC VI Mappage and more:

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=62883

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=62892

Ed F.’s story:

http://thedailyrandonneur.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/iron-cross-vi-cyclocross-pics/

Greg had some problems with flats:

http://gayracer.blogspot.com/2008/10/iron-cross-vi.html

Kera, on IC Lite:

http://dailysahm.blogspot.com/2008/10/iron-cross-lite-race-report.html

JR P’s first-ever ‘cross races:

http://fatboy-bikes.blogspot.com/2008/10/iron-cross-weekend-of-first.html

Team Bi-atch re-cap:

http://team-bi-atch.blogspot.com/2008/10/hoot-at-iron-cross.html

PHOTOS…

Chuck Armstrong's photos (enter site and click on "gallery":

http://elementoftheeye.ifp3.com/root/ElementoftheEye/iphoto/main2.cfm

Uncle Don's photos:

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/2008%20Iron%20Cross%20Weekend

Judy’s photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/judy.lovelaughter

JR P’s photos:

http://natures.smugmug.com/gallery/6241003_iBrfz#P-1-9

CRMC Iron Cross VI is coming...

2008-09-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Almost final TT points standings

2008-09-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

As of noon, 9/5/08:

Kaehler	SMVC	M	1909
Hankins	SMVC	M	1846
Polensky, P.	YBR	M	1625
Hartnett	SMVC	M	1589
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	1519
Adams	YBR	M	1370
Shaffer	SMVC	M	1295
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	1031
Ballard	SMVC	M	981
Taylor	YBR	M	925
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	830
Hise	YBR	M	816
Bard	YBR	JM	695
Polensky, K.	YBR	W	685
Laser	YBR	M	532
Kelley	SMVC	M	530
Tustin	YBR	W	525
Wertz	Shippensburg U	M	523
Watts	WildBlues	W	515
C-Bo	YBR	W	510
Bakermans	YBR	M	503
She-Bo	Unattached	W	486
Cusick	WildBlues	M	476
Long	YBR	M	457
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	416
Stodter, D.	Unattached	M	390
C-Bu	YBR	M	387
Morris	Mountainside	W	350
Engle	Unattached	JM	350
Weiser, D.	YBR	MTB	350
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	345
Conniff	Unattached	W	322
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	316
Goates	Faulkner Honda	M	308
Davidson	Unattached	M	300
Laub	Mountainside	M	298
Brown, E.	SMVC	M	296
Schaeffer	YBR	M	280
Miller, Will	YBR	M	279
Albert	YBR	M	267
Stodter, C.	Unattached	JM	175
Brown, L.	SMVC	JW	175
Beck, Josh	DeFeet Un-D-Shirt	M	170
Large	YBR	W	170
Flora	YBR	W	165
Rodbart	YBR	M	152
Hadley	CVCC	M	144
Leigh	Intense	M	144
Stephenson	Unattached	M	135
Marshall	Shippensburg U	M	130
Long, B.	Unattached	M	128
Kostelac	YBR	M	124
Maret	Unattached	M	122
Derr	Unattached	M	116

Big Flat Hill Climb = All Business.

2008-08-28T15:38:00.001-07:00

Photo by Bob Zinn.

Kings Gap TT Photos and Iron Hill MTB Race Report

2008-08-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

From Uncle Don, some great photos:

"Hey Mark,

here are some of the photos from last evening's HC/TT. Man they were fast!

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5764910_UMJVz#356525484_YYVDo

dp:

Raise your hand if you think that C-Bo is photogenic...

...and here's more from Uncle Don...his Iron Hill MTB race report:

"Firstly, here's the link to some pics from Iron Hill:

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5750058_7ViUE#355328377_CC7AT

Now...the report!

I know this is late, but its been a crazy couple of weeks, and I'm bleary eyed and brain dead (brain deader? deader of brain?), as usual. In fact, what prompted this report is that I bid young Zach Adams fairwell this evening as he is headed off for college tomorrow, and seeing him reminded me of our very long and very fun day last Saturday. Zach and Jake had been training for and planning to do the enduro event, which was to begin at 9am. Iron Hill is in Newark, De, so I showed up at Zach's house at 6am and loaded up his bike and gear and stared brain dead-edly (ie with significant deadness of the brain) at the numerous directions I'd printed the night before from mapquest, expedia, google, you name it. We finally decided to head in a vague Lancasterly direction and hope for the best.
Somewhere on the maps 222 was to give way to 272, but apparently some evil force of nature swooped down and wiped 272 off the face of the earth, because I swear to God and the inventer of carbon fiber that IT DOES NOT EXIST ANY LONGER!!! We meandered all over that general region and saw things that made us say "hmmm....", but no route that at least 2 maps agreed should be RIGHT THERE!!! So, in the heat of the moment I gunned the manly pagano van toward Rt 30 and once again, hoped for the best. Back on track, we both wondered why we didn't decide on this route in the first place, but foggy brains can make bad choices - just ask prez Bush. Pushing the limits of tarmac and the manly pagano van, I hoped I could deliver young Mr. Adams to the start of the enduro race in THE NICK OF TIME! Who in fact is this Nick, and what's he got to do with cheating time? Alas, Iron Hill continued to evade us, our efforts thwarted by detours, construction, plauges, hurricanes, errupting volcanoes, and the dreaded foggy brain syndrome (FBS - not to be confused with IBS, which can be a result of prolonged FBS). We arrived with just minutes to spare, and we both knew it was too late for Z to register, but he sprinted off toward the tents in a vain effort to find that Nick dude and cheat time. Moments later Z appeared and announced that he did indeed miss resgistration, but got talked into racing Elite. Cool. With joy exploding in my heart that Z was going to race after all, I chanelled all that emotion and energy into a power nap.
When I came to I was faced with bike prep issues, since I never finished swapping parts the previous night, despite staying up wayyyy too late messing with the bike, which accounted for the foggy brain brain syndrome (enough on that topic). I also had to decide what category to race. I had brung me trusty fully rigid single speed, but was on the fence about racing Expert Master, or Sport Single Speed Open. Whilst twirling tools and sprockets and what not, I opted for SS Open, since the SS guys would be attacking the hills, not shifting down and spinning, which is what I'd encounter racing with the geared folks. I managed to grab some shots of Z's start, then bolted to registration, then to the Mega Dip for photos. Grabbed some Mega Dip shots, then back to registration since they weren't ready for me the first time, then over to the Bike Line tents to hand out bottles to Z. Grabbed some pics, handed some bottles, then got dressed, gulped food and water, and warmed up for my race. I felt HORRIBLE!!! The same evil forces that erradicated Rt. 272 from the face of the earth were conspiring to cause me to feel HORRIBLE! Apparently evil forces live in Yuengling Light bottles, because on top of sleep deprivation, foggy brain syndrome, and driving all over the state of De, I had innocently enough embibed many golden Lagers the night before not knowing that they were full of EVIL FORCES!!! You can only imagine that an Evil Force with the power to erase roads from the map could do terrible things to a mere mortal about to race a single speed over hill and rock. It apparently has the power to make mortals feel HORRIBLE!!!
Now at the start line, I'm looking over my competition, many of whom are baby faced and dripping with youth and energy, and I was wishing I'd extended that power nap by several hours or so. Then the suffering is begun. I clip in, mash the pedals, and...I'm in third. Huh. Where'd those evil forces go? Off to erradicate something off the face of the earth I suspect. I managed to stay in third for a long time, but on a taxing climb I decided to back off a bit and dropped quickly to 5th. Iron Hill when dry is superbly fast, but deceptively demanding. Lots of embedded rocks (I'm sure Jake could tell you what kind of rocks are embedded in Iron Hill's earth), roots, tight turns, fast descents, long climbs, and of course the Mega Dip, conspire to sap one's energy. By lap 2 I'd edged back into 3rd, and began to distance myself from the rest of my group. By lap 3 I was trading places with a guy who I finally decided was running at exactly my pace and settled in behind for much of the fianl lap. We added a third to our little gang and eventually caught up with a Shirk's racer who began to fade. We slowed considerably, and I began to get antsy as I could just FEEL racers behind me making up ground on us. Just before the Mega Dip all three of us made a daring 1, 2, 3, pass on a steep climb that brought out pangs of legs cramps as I stood and accelerated. Now I'm flying down the Mega Dip, G-forces reaching F-16 proportions at the bottom, and rocket up toward the other side just as one our 3 Amigos stops short right in front of me. Ahh, the Evil Forces are back. I knew they were gone for a while because despite nailing numerous rocks and roots at full throttle, I never once flatted, and even though I was tired and fighting off cramps, I no longer felt HORRIBLE. In the NICK OF TIME I skirted to the left, avoided dissaster, and sprinted for all my 46 year old legs were worth. Even though none of the Amigos were in my category, I held off the guy who bobbled on the lip of the Mega Dip and cruised to what I thought was a 3rd place finish. Turns out I was 4th, dunno know who passed me when, but I was happy, and the Amigos re-united to swap storries, smack each other on the back, and celebrate our finish to a glorious day of racing on some of the finest trails DE has to offer. Zach won major cash, Jake kicked heiney in the enduro, and I got to meet the guys behind Eastern Woods Research and ride the BEST HANDLING BIKE I'd ever slung a leg over. I'm not kidding - EWR are on to something here. There 29ers are awsome. I've heard the term "telepathic handling" before, but that was the first I'd ever experienced it. I WANT ONE!!! Thanks for reading, I'm off to bed now so I can avoid FBS tomorrow. I'm also dissabling my caps key. YEAH!!! (I'll do that tomorrow).
Oh, a bunch of us headed off to Famous Dave's for killer BBQ, but instead settled on a Red Robbins for chow and suds and then headed home. A fitting end to long, but very FUN DAY! I know, nix the caps key.

Did I mention pics at:
http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5750058_7ViUE#355328377_CC7AT

Uncle Don"

M.

C-Bu Readies State-of-the-Art New Bike For Fall Race Season!!!

2008-08-21T10:15:00.001-07:00

Kings Gap TT Results - 08/20/08

2008-08-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks for coming out and racing last night, folks!

Congratulations to Rick Fesler for lowering the men's course record to 11:47, to Janice Morris for lowering the women's course record to 14:43, and to junior category winner (and first-timer) Charlie Stodter.

Next week's TT will be Thursday on the course that will be used for PA State Masters Championship: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=5866

Here's who did what (note that Rick, Josh, and Z! were all under the previous course record time of 12:30...they're like Usain Bolt on wheels!):

Fesler Elite Bicycles M 11:47 (CR)
Beck, Josh DeFeet Un-D-Shirt M 12:09
Adams YBR M 12:15
Kuhl Sakonnet M 13:00
Hankins SMVC M 13:09
Rider Big E Privateer M 13:13
Goates Faulkner Honda M 13:23
Kaehler SMVC M 13:24
Long YBR M 13:25
Laub Mountainside M 13:29
Polensky, P. YBR M 13:39
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 14:08
Hartnett SMVC M 14:30
Shaffer SMVC M 14:39
Morris Mountainside W 14:43 (CR)
Hise YBR M 14:53
Taylor YBR M 14:57
Maret Unattached M 15:05
C-Bo YBR W 15:45
Laser YBR M 15:59
Stodter, D. Unattached M 16:50
Polensky, K. YBR W 17:01
Stodter, C. Unattached JM 17:14
Beck, Jan Unattached W 17:35
Derr Unattached M 17:43
Bakermans YBR M 19:09
She-Bo Unattached W 19:15
Conniff Unattached W 20:45

One more race for you next week...in addition to Thursday's TT, we're doing the mass-start hill climb of Big Flat Tuesday at 6:00! Racing! Racing! Racing!

YTD TT Series Points:

Kaehler SMVC M 1739
Hankins SMVC M 1671
Polensky, P. YBR M 1469
Hartnett SMVC M 1441
Adams YBR M 1370
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 1359
Shaffer SMVC M 1295
Ballard SMVC M 981
Taylor YBR M 925
Rider Big E Privateer M 879
Hise YBR M 816
Bard YBR JM 695
Kuhl Sakonnet M 665
Laser YBR M 532
Kelley SMVC M 530
Tustin YBR W 525
Watts WildBlues W 515
Polensky, K. YBR W 510
C-Bo YBR W 510
Bakermans YBR M 503
She-Bo Unattached W 486
Cusick WildBlues M 476
Long YBR M 457
McLaughlin SMVC M 416
C-Bu YBR M 387
Wertz Shippensburg U M 382
Engle Unattached JM 350
Morris Mountainside W 350
Fesler Elite Bicycles M 345
Beck, Jan Unattached W 316
Goates Faulkner Honda M 308
Davidson Unattached M 300
Laub Mountainside M 298
Brown, E. SMVC M 296
Schaeffer YBR M 280
Miller, Will YBR M 279
Albert YBR M 267
Stodter, D. Unattached M 246
Weiser, D. YBR W 175
Brown, L. SMVC JW 175
Stodter, C. Unattached JM 175
Large YBR W 170
Beck, Josh DeFeet Un-D-Shirt M 170
Flora YBR W 165
Rodbart YBR M 152
Conniff Unattached W 152
Hadley CVCC M 144
Leigh Intense M 144
Stephenson Unattached M 135
Marshall Shippensburg U M 130
Long, B. Unattached M 128
Kostelac YBR M 124
Maret Unattached M 122
Derr Unattached M 116

Have a good day,

Mark

Learnin' to run @ C&M + Run 4 Your Life

2008-08-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

From Josh Beck

Yep, we sure do offer gait training here at the clinic. That's a fancy smancy term for me watching you run and helping you run faster. This can be done with words and cues or in some extreme cases I have turned rabid geese from the neighboring Letort spring on patients. In any case it's a good time!

Our running store is slated to open September 15th. It's called "Run 4 Your Life". It's going to be pretty sweet. Runners can walk in a common entrance with Cardin and Miller and have a ton of options to help them out. I will have at least 4 lines of running shoes, some apparel, some nutritional products, and anything else a runner might be looking for. Of course Reilly the dog will be here to greet everyone. If your medical needs are beyond the scope of a simple shoe or gait fix I will be happy to send you across the aisle to Cardin and Miller for a thorough eval.

Before the opening I have a little race called the Powerman World Championships.

In the meantime if you have any special requests for a product feel free to email me and I'll put in on the list!

Thanks!

Josh

Anyone want to move to Michaux?

2008-08-12T04:26:00.001-07:00

There's a house for sale just off 233 on the north side of Michaux, off Pinebrook Drive. Easy access for road and mtn biking....

http://realtyassociates2.pennsylvania.remax.com/listings/ListingDetail_r4.aspx?LID=49601380&RFRSKNID=85&#aTop

Ironmasters TT Results - 8/7/08

2008-08-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hi racers,

Thanks for coming out and racing last despite the iffy weather...it
turned out to be a great night for riding!

Congratulations to Patrick and Kara on their W's. Obviously inspired
by the fact that yesterday was Sidney Crosby's birthday, Kara set a
women's course record by clocking a 25:46!

Congratulations as well to SMVC, who won round one of our race series, 8-13.

Welcome aboard to Col. Dean Stodter, who did his first IMTT last
night, and to Dr. N. Goates, who did his first TT of the year.

Excellent race photos from Uncle Don here: http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5648100_uqbng#347408330_RzMxr

Next up is the mass-start So. Mountain Hill Climb, next Thursday the
14...from the softball fields in Cleversburg to the top of Big Flat;
we'll start at 6:00 pm.

Last night's results:

Hankins SMVC M 23:49
Adams YBR M 23:57
Kuhl Sakonnet M 24:30
Goates Faulkner Honda M 24:45
Kaehler SMVC M 25:20
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 25:29
Tustin YBR W 25:46
Polensky, P. YBR M 26:00
Shaffer SMVC M 26:09
Hartnett SMVC M 26:18
Laser YBR M 28:20
Kelley SMVC M 28:24
Taylor YBR M 28:57
Bakermans YBR M 31:37
Stodter Unattached M 31:39

YTD Points Standings:

Kaehler	SMVC	M	1595
Hankins	SMVC	M	1515
Polensky, P.	YBR	M	1334
Hartnett	SMVC	M	1311
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	1227
Adams	YBR	M	1205
Shaffer	SMVC	M	1167
Ballard	SMVC	M	981
Taylor	YBR	M	801
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	727
Bard	YBR	JM	695
Hise	YBR	M	690
Kelley	SMVC	M	530
Tustin	YBR	W	525
Watts	WildBlues	W	515
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	505
Cusick	WildBlues	M	476
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	416
Laser	YBR	M	412
Bakermans	YBR	M	389
C-Bu	YBR	M	387
Wertz	Shippensburg U	M	382
Engle	Unattached	JM	350
Polensky, K.	YBR	W	345
C-Bo	YBR	W	340
She-Bo	Unattached	W	330
Long	YBR	M	316
Davidson	Unattached	M	300
Brown, E.	SMVC	M	296
Schaeffer	YBR	M	280
Miller, Will	YBR	M	279
Albert	YBR	M	267
Morris	Mountainside	W	175
Weiser, D.	YBR	W	175
Brown, L.	SMVC	JW	175
Large	YBR	W	170
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	170
Flora	YBR	W	165
Goates	Faulkner Honda	M	160
Laub	Mountainside	M	160
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	156
Rodbart	YBR	M	152
Hadley	CVCC	M	144
Leigh	Intense	M	144
Stephenson	Unattached	M	135
Marshall	Shippensburg U	M	130
Stodter	Unattached	M	128
Long, B.	Unattached	M	128
Kostelac	YBR	M	124

Kings Gap TT Results & Photos

2008-08-01T05:32:00.001-07:00

Wow, you'uns sure like that Kings Gap course! Thanks to all who came out last night and congratulations to Todd, Janice, and Josh, who posted the fastest time in their respective categories...

...and congratulations as well to Paul Polensky on his Norelco Body Groomer sponsorship. Go, Paul!

Photos by Uncle Don:

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5602908_8okrb#343848732_jmfnj

The next TT is next week...Thursday the 7th of August...start at Mountain Creek Campground. Bring presents because the 7th is Sidney Crosby's birthday.

We're still looking for Iron Cross volunteers; please let me know if you can help out...

Los tiempos:

Long YBR M 13:05
Hankins SMVC M 13:09
Kaehler SMVC M 13:31
Laub Mountainside M 13:35
Polensky, P. YBR M 13:58
Rodbart YBR M 14:01
Rider Big E Privateer M 14:03
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 14:33
Hartnett SMVC M 14:38
Hise YBR M 15:03
Shaffer SMVC M 15:08
Taylor YBR M 15:17
Morris Mountainside W 15:24
Laser YBR M 15:56
Bard YBR JM 15:57
Long, B. Unattached M 17:01
Polensky, K. YBR W 17:03
Albert YBR M 17:58
Bakermans YBR M 18:30
Wertz Shippensburg U M 20:23

YTD points:

Kaehler SMVC M 1439
Hankins SMVC M 1340
Polensky, P. YBR M 1186
Hartnett SMVC M 1170
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 1075
Adams YBR M 1035
Shaffer SMVC M 1023
Ballard SMVC M 981
Rider Big E Privateer M 727
Bard YBR JM 695
Hise YBR M 690
Taylor YBR M 669
Watts WildBlues W 515
Cusick WildBlues M 476
McLaughlin SMVC M 416
Kelley SMVC M 395
C-Bu YBR M 387
Wertz Shippensburg U M 382
Tustin YBR W 350
Engle Unattached JM 350
Polensky, K. YBR W 345
C-Bo YBR W 340
Kuhl Sakonnet M 340
She-Bo Unattached W 330
Long YBR M 316
Davidson Unattached M 300
Brown, E. SMVC M 296
Schaeffer YBR M 280
Miller, Will YBR M 279
Laser YBR M 274
Albert YBR M 267
Bakermans YBR M 259
Weiser, D. YBR W 175
Brown, L. SMVC JW 175
Morris Mountainside W 175
Fesler Elite Bicycles M 170
Large YBR W 170
Flora YBR W 165
Laub Mountainside M 160
Beck, Jan Unattached W 156
Rodbart YBR M 152
Leigh Intense M 144
Hadley CVCC M 144
Stephenson Unattached M 135
Marshall Shippensburg U M 130
Long, B. Unattached M 128
Kostelac YBR M 124

M.

MASS Stage Race weekend at the Oesterling Farm

2008-07-08T06:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Uncle Don for the photo.

Ironmasters Mansion TT Times: 7/3/08

2008-07-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a good night, as no one was run over by a camper trying to turn into the campground!

Congratulations to Patrick and Karen for posting the fastest times of the evening and welcome to '08 first-timers Karen, Mike Albert, and Jim Hadley!

Uncle Don got some great pictures of Thursday night's TT action.

Check 'em out here: http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5325871_7qonu#P-1-9

Thanks, Don!

Hankins SMVC M 24:02
Kaehler SMVC M 24:58
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 25:13
Hartnett SMVC M 25:52
Shaffer SMVC M 26:03
Polensky, P. YBR M 26:27
Schaeffer YBR M 27:52
Hadley CVCC M 29:57
Albert YBR M 30:10
Polensky, K. YBR W 30:40

YTD points:

Hankins SMVC M 1170
Kaehler SMVC M 1099
Adams YBR M 1035
Ballard SMVC M 981
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 931
Hartnett SMVC M 869
Polensky, P. YBR M 860
Shaffer SMVC M 723
Bard YBR JM 520
Watts WildBlues W 515
Cusick WildBlues M 476
Rider Big E Privateer M 423
McLaughlin SMVC M 416
Hise YBR M 400
Taylor YBR M 389
C-Bu YBR M 387
Engle Unattached JM 350
Tustin YBR W 350
C-Bo YBR W 340
Kuhl Sakonnet M 340
She-Bo Unattached W 330
Davidson Unattached M 300
Brown, E. SMVC M 296
Schaeffer YBR M 280
Miller, Will YBR M 279
Kelley SMVC M 254
Polensky, K. YBR W 175
Brown, L. SMVC JW 175
Weiser, D. YBR W 175
Fesler Elite Bicycles M 170
Large YBR W 170
Flora YBR W 165
Beck, Jan Unattached W 156
Leigh Intense M 144
Hadley CVCC M 144
Long YBR M 141
Albert YBR M 141
Bakermans YBR M 135
Stephenson Unattached M 135
Marshall Shippensburg U M 130
Kostelac YBR M 124
Wertz Shippensburg U M 122

Have a great 4th!

M.

What to do this weekend?

2008-06-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Z!'s suggestion...

"Team,

So I thought I'd let you know about what is going on close to home this weekend. It's a race I really love. About four years ago I started my racing career there and I can't get enough of the place ever since.

This weekend is the Glorious Mtb Stage Race at the Osterling Farm in Marysville. It is a really good place for beginners, the hardest obstacles they have are logs. Maybe that's why I was able to ride there at that point in time ;-) The race starts on friday night with a night time trial, I'm pretty sure this is the only one of its kind around. I haven't seen any other races like that. Saturday there are two options, a standard XC race and a 6 hour endurance race. I've done both. They are both unique and are both awesome. You can race super hard there so it's brutal to try that for 6 hours, but it's amazing none the less. Sunday features two races. A hillclimb in the morning, one of the hardest climbs around. It's about a quarter paved and the rest is jeep trail to the top. In the mid day you can test out your speed in the short track cross country race. It's very close to a cyclocross race. And it's also amazing for good spectating. The Elite/Expert field always gives a heated spectacle. The ride from carlisle to marysville on the road is pretty cool too, so that would be a sweet mid-ride break ;-)

But it's not just about the racing. This is a super awesome weekend at one of the very best venues in the mid atlantic. It's about the weekend experience. Between all of the racing there is a bunch of fun events. The huffy toss is my favorite, you get to throw a bike. It actually sounds like a drag but its thrilling. The carnage flies, as do the bike parts! Hang out on Sat evening for the fun events - bike polo, trials, tricycle dual slalom and the band and beverages. Yes, bands and beverages.....nothing better after a hard day of racing.

It's not just because I know mike that I build this weekend up so much. This is seriously my favorite racing event of the year. I love the osterling farm and racing there, plain and simple. This is another place that generally isn't open to riding. It's private property so there aren't many chances to get out there and enjoy such a good venue thats so close to home.

I'll make this easy:

Info here: http://highspeedcycling.com/stagerace_info.html

Registration here: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=6710

Later,

Zach Adams"

Ironmasters TT Points Standings

2008-06-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

As of last night's Cyclogolf extravaganza:

Adams	YBR	M	1035
Hankins	SMVC	M	995
Ballard	SMVC	M	981
Kaehler	SMVC	M	929
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	766
Hartnett	SMVC	M	709
Polensky	YBR	M	708
Shaffer	SMVC	M	567
Bard	YBR	JM	520
Watts	WildBlues	W	515
Cusick	WildBlues	M	476
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	423
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	416
Hise	YBR	M	400
Taylor	YBR	M	389
C-Bu	YBR	M	387
Tustin	YBR	W	350
Engle	Unattached	JM	350
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	340
C-Bo	YBR	W	340
She-Bo	Unattached	W	330
Davidson	Unattached	M	300
Brown, E.	SMVC	M	296
Miller, Will	YBR	M	279
Kelley	SMVC	M	254
Weiser, D.	YBR	W	175
Brown, L.	SMVC	JW	175
Large	YBR	W	170
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	170
Flora	YBR	W	165
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	156
Leigh	Intense	M	144
Long	YBR	M	141
Stephenson	Unattached	M	135
Bakermans	YBR	M	135
Schaeffer	YBR	M	132
Marshall	Shippensburg U	M	130
Kostelac	YBR	M	124
Wertz	Shippensburg U	M	122

Paul's Father's Day Adventure

2008-06-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

It was a dark and stormy night...but the dawn broke dry and overcast
in the Wyoming Valley on Father's Day. I was in Wilkes-Barre with my
wife Karen for the 5k/16m/5k duathlon. We'd arrived the afternoon
before in plenty of time to pick up my race packet from the YMCA and
check in to our hotel.

Just as a side note here; if you ever find yourself hotel camping the
night before a race, I highly recommend finding one within spitting
distance of the race venue. There was one other hotel closer, right
at the start/finish, but I chose the other because it offered
breakfast with the room. In hind sight, it didn't really matter since
I was out the door before breakfast was made available. Karen,
however, was able to take advantage of the twice-warmed-over pre-
packaged breakfast-like foods and tepid coffee.

I'd only been to W-B one other time and that was just a brief foray
into the outskirts of town, so this was the first time Karen and I
experienced the city. At the risk of offending the natives, our first
and lasting impressions were that all the stop lights are timed so
that you have to stop at every single one, and that it has to be the
most pothole-ridden city in our collective memories. Our drive of the
bike course cemented our impressions. The condition of the surface
streets paled in comparison to the truck-torn pavement in the
industrial park which comprised the middle 1/3 of the course. I swear
there was one sinkhole-sized car killer that was growing as we
watched!

Okay, okay...just one more observation before I move on. Our youthful
waitress at dinner unwittingly introduced us to the colloquialism
"yous", as in: "Are yous ready to order?" Now don't misunderstand me;
I'm not saying it's bad, it's just different and we'd not heard it
before. Personally, I'm a "you guys" and "y'all" sort of guy; the
first from my upbringing around Chicago and the latter from my days
roaming around the southern states.

A walk of the run course followed dinner and we made it back to the
hotel just before the storm hit. The two runs followed the same
course: across the bridge, through the park, uuup the ramp to the top
of the levee, down under the bridge, along the river, uuup the ramp to
the top of the levee, back down under the bridge, uuup the ramp to the
top of the levee, across the bridge and back home.

It was a pretty sweet race set up; the race started and ended at
Public Square and the transition was two blocks away in a parking lot
at the base of the bridge. Things got off to a slow start as the race
crew waited until that morning to number the bike racks. After
racking my bike and getting in a good warm-up run, it was a matter of
hanging at the square until the start. And that's when I spotted
him...speedo dude. No, not the same guy from Pinchot, but a much
older, well worn fellow wearing one of those TYR jungle print speed
suits with the matching skimpy singlet. The kind that were popular
back when I first started this craziness about a dozen years ago. I
have to give the guy props because he ended up doing his outfit proud.

The race finally got underway with a big gaggle of folks fighting to
be first across the bridge. I started mid-pack with a plan to run an
easy first 5k at around a 7:40 pace. I knew the second run would be a
slogfest if I didn't save something. As I'd figured, the runners
quickly strung out and it was kind of cool to watch the leaders duking
it out at the top of the levee as I headed for the first ramp. I went
into T1 still solidly mid-pack with a 7:38 pace and smoothly got on
the road. The bike was definitely my leg and I started spitting out
all those faster runners like so many discarded watermelon seeds.
Again, I thanked Mark for the Ironmasters Time Trials as I cruised
past them on the hills. Although nobody passed me on the bike, I did
battle back and forth for a time with a local road racer on a straight
up road bike. He finally cracked on the last climb and I never saw
him again. I passed speedo dude just after we left the industrial
park headed back downtown and he gave me some encouragement as I went
by. I finished the bike in 41 minutes and got myself up into the top
20.

The second run was just pure survival, trying to find a pace I could
hold onto and not get passed by too many folks. I met the race leader
and eventual winner, Jeff Miller, at the far end of the bridge as he
was headed across to the finish and I was just getting started. I
counted eight runners as they passed, including speedo dude. I reckon
I can't talk trash about the guy's choice of kit, especially since he
kicked my butt!

I did have a moment of clarity on that run; not really a life-changing
moment, but more of one of those "nobody told me about this"
realizations. It happened at the drink station, which was at the base
of the second ramp so that you'd hit it coming down and again just
before going up to cross the bridge. I was feeling a little
overheated so I grabbed a cup of water intending to douse myself with
it. What happened instead was that I pitched it right over my
shoulder, soaking only the ground and possibly the race volunteer. We
both got a pretty good chuckle out of it and that's when it hit me:
it all seems so simple but I've never read or heard anybody talk about
how to douse oneself with water while running. I mean, I thoroughly
visualize my races, but apparently not that niggling little detail. I
also visualized, or it could have dreamt, t-boning a car that blew one
of intersections. Thankfully that one didn't come to fruition.
Fortunately I had plenty of time to ruminate over the water thing
before my second pass at the drink station and managed a thorough
soaking.

I floundered to the finish for a 1:29 finish despite the bystanders'
pleas for me to "Sprint it out!" the last two blocks. Here's where
that hotel near the venue thing came in handy. I was able to cool
down, go take a shower and change, and get back long before the awards
ceremony. Much to my surprise and delight, the race director gave me
a medal for 3rd place in the male 45-49 age group. I ended up 25th
overall out of 111 competitors and had the 8th fastest bike split; my
runs were 22:54 and 22:20, respectively.

All in all, it was a great race put on by great folks. Karen and I
had the chance to chat with one of the senior lady volunteers
afterward and it was our pleasure to meet her. I'll be putting this
race on my calendar for next year. Next on the schedule is the
Harrisburg triathlon/duathlon in August and I'll be burning up the
roads in the mean time to get my run times down. So if you see me out
there running and dumping cups of water over my head, don't forget to
give a shout!

Paul

3.14etc. Eating Contest Results

2008-05-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

With apologies to the many fine performances you'uns have turned in so far this season, Fast Albert Greene's takes the cake (or, pie - see below).

"Here is your riddle for the day. I went the Baltimore Bike Jam bike race on Saturday and came in 2nd place and never touched a bike (well I did touch one but I never rode one). I came in 2nd place in the pie eating contest. Karen bought a slice of pie and I asked the guy about the pie eating contest and he said they had openings and that it was free. Pay for one slice or an entire pie for free - easy decision for me - more is always better. I thought it might be low key but it was in front of a stage and there were a quite a few people crowded around taking pictures, yelling etc. I hadn't really thought about it but th contest is the first to finish a pie and you must keep your arms behind your back. My strategy of eating what I wanted and walking aways quickly ended. I started out kind of fast (I was hungry) and then started to think about the ramification of eating an entire pie and started to think it would be nice if someone else would just hurry up and win. The famous scene in 'Stand by Me' came into mind. A girl on my right had made a ton of progress but didn't look well. I started to get my second win and decided to go for the victory and started to put away alot of pie. Too little too late and she beat me and all I had left was 1/4 of the bottom crust (that part was sort of thin). There were 10 people in the contest and most of them kids (2 of them were mine). Once again I've resorted to compeating against women and children. They said it was a 5 pound pie but I didn't feel too bad afterwards. My kids didn't fair as well and were laying around on the ground for a bit but recovered and never got sick (its hard to take care of children when I never learned any lessons growing up - repeat action same result, repeat action same result). I had never been in a contest like that and it was actually fun."

F. Albert, I salute thee!

Uncle Don's Ironmasters TT Photos!

2008-05-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Man y'all were flying' out there! Here's a few pics:
http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/4954050_DiKkR#296425389_RXt2D

Ironmasters TT Points Standings

2008-05-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

As of 5/16/08:

Adams	YBR	M	690
Hankins	SMVC	M	670
Ballard	SMVC	M	665
Kaehler	SMVC	M	608
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	596
Polensky	YBR	M	560
Hartnett	SMVC	M	557
Watts	WildBlues	W	515
Cusick	WildBlues	M	476
Shaffer	SMVC	M	429
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	423
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	416
Taylor	YBR	M	389
Tustin	YBR	W	350
Bard	YBR	JM	350
C-Bo	YBR	W	340
She-Bo	Unattached	W	330
Miller, Will	YBR	M	279
Hise	YBR	M	259
Kelley	SMVC	M	254
C-Bu	YBR	M	246
Engle	Unattached	JM	175
Brown, L.	SMVC	JW	175
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	170
Large	YBR	W	170
Flora	YBR	W	165
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	165
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	156
Brown, E.	SMVC	M	152
Long	YBR	M	141
Stephenson	Unattached	M	135
Schaeffer	YBR	M	132
Marshall	Shippensburg U	M	130
Kostelac	YBR	M	124
Wertz	Shippensburg U	M	122

Ironmasters TT #4 Results

2008-05-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

That was a good one, eh? Warm temps, calm winds, Dogwood in full bloom...ah...

Times are shown below; good to see old (and new!) faces last night. Congratulations to Patrick, Kara (WOW!), Josh, and Lee-Ann, who seized the top spots in the respective categories...

The next TT is Thursday the 15th.

M.

Hankins	SMVC	M	24:03
Ballard	SMVC	M	24:12
Adams	YBR	M	24:51
Cusick	WildBlues	M	25:13
Kaehler	SMVC	M	25:48
Brown, E.	SMVC	M	25:49
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	25:50
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	26:12
Hartnett	SMVC	M	26:15
Polensky	YBR	M	26:45
Stephenson	Unattached	M	27:01
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	27:14
Tustin	YBR	W	27:19
Marshall	Shippensburg U	M	28:13
Watts	WildBlues	W	28:31
Taylor	YBR	M	28:33
C-Bu	YBR	M	30:34
Kostelac	YBR	M	30:37
Bard	YBR	JM	31:13
Brown, L.	SMVC	JW	31:31
Flora	YBR	W	32:19
Wertz	Shippensburg U	M	36:22

Points to date:

Adams	YBR	M	515
Hankins	SMVC	M	505
Ballard	SMVC	M	495
Kaehler	SMVC	M	452
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	444
Polensky	YBR	M	422
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	416
Hartnett	SMVC	M	409
Taylor	YBR	M	389
Tustin	YBR	W	350
Bard	YBR	JM	350
C-Bo	YBR	W	340
Watts	WildBlues	W	340
She-Bo	Unattached	W	330
Cusick	WildBlues	M	316
Shaffer	SMVC	M	285
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	282
Kelley	SMVC	M	254
C-Bu	YBR	M	246
Brown, L.	SMVC	JW	175
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	170
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	165
Flora	YBR	W	165
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	156
Brown, E.	SMVC	M	152
Long	YBR	M	141
Miller, Will	YBR	M	135
Stephenson	Unattached	M	135
Marshall	Shippensburg U	M	130
Hise	YBR	M	124
Kostelac	YBR	M	124
Wertz	Shippensburg U	M	122

12 Hours of Lodi Farm Race Report

2008-05-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

Writing this makes me tired.

We went to Lodi Farm, outside Fredericksburg, VA, for the 12 Hour race. Started at midnight, so less sleep available than a 24-hour race. I was on a team with Zach and Don. They talked me into Expert class. Bastards. Where's the sandbagging in Expert class? I was out of my element!

The course was kinda like Marysville on steroids. 8.1 miles of twisty, loggy, rooty, roller-coastery, twisty, turny, where the hell am I singletrack with a couple (maybe) 100-yard stretchs of field thrown in. Rest? Recover? Speed? These things mean nothing to a Jedi Expert. Only steering, braking and accelerating . . . all the time. I didn't drink anything my first two laps. I was afraid to let go of the bars.

Zach was first up, followed by me, and then Don. Until we were 8 minutes back to the CityBikes team after the first rotation and Zach opted to pull a double lap that put us 3 minutes up. He put 11 minutes on them in two laps. Yes, Zach carried us. He was a monster. I followed the double lap and promptly gave up that 3 minute lead and put us back down by 1 minute. The race was back and forth like that the whole way. Everytime I started my lap, Zach would gift me with a 3 minute lead. Everytime I came off my lap, we would be 1 minute behind. I wanted to punch myself in the head. My fourth lap, I was working hard. Stoopid hard. It was deja vue. Third time in a row I knew how far back that other guy was. I was cranking for dear life to not see him behind me. And then my right hammy got locked in a vise. Oh, dear god. Stay on the bike. Keep pedaling. Hey, there goes my left quad. Then my right quad. Great, they're taking turns. Wait, something's relaxing . . . power up this hill . . . whee, there goes my left groin! Ever try to descend while hovering over your saddle and bunny hopping logs while both quads are in knots? I had to softpedal and wussy-spin through some stuff just to keep legs moving. The guy's right on my tail. Strafe a downhill to scream around a corner into another quick up. Can't stand. Gotta downshift. There he goes. Did I mention I wanted to punch myself in the head? Then tremors rippled up and down the outside of my left quad. After that it was, "Minimize it. Screw you, legs, screw you." Through the neverending flat twisties near the end of the course, where you can see the other guy everytime you turn, but you can't tell if they're 25 feet or a minute ahead of you. Bobbled on a turn and had to dab--bad news! Back on the pedal and keep spinning. Never get off the bike when you start cramping. It only invites more hell to dinner. Push as hard as I can through the rest of the course to finish my last lap, once again 1 minute behind. Don was up next and worked his tail off for his best lap time of the race. It was all down to Zach to try to catch the leader on the 14th and last lap of the race. It was Zach's 6th time out. Did I mention he carried us? He was a monster. We wouldn't be surprised if it was a sprint finish. We knew Zach could catch him. Even the other City Bikes guys expected Zach to catch their rider.

Waiting for end of the lap, we see the City Bikes guy cruise by the back of the transition tent before the final straightaway to the finish line...Where's Zach? This isn't good. City Bikes finishes, arms in the air, first place, we clap, we look for Zach. Nothing. Heck, the City Bikes guys were surprised, too. Even they expected Zach to catch their last guy. We keep waiting. No Zach. Definitely not good. Finally we see him weave past the backside of the tent. Not looking good. He comes down the straightaway and you know he's left everything out there somewhere on the trail. Pulls up to the table, I jog over to meet him and tell the people our team number. He slumps over his handlebars and doesn't move. Thrashed. More people gather. We get him some fluids, slowly try to work him away from the table to some shade, to something. More fluids. He finally perks up enough to weave back to the campsite and collapse into a chair. More fluids, electrolytes, time. We finally wander back over for awards. More chair slumpin' but then he chows down a BBQ sammich and baked beans. We get called up to the prize table. Look over the pickings . . . not much left . . . a bottle of Hammergel for me to give to Donna, Don picked out a bottle as well. Zach lingers the longest, finally picks up a ballcap....a black Monster Energy Drink ballcap with the green "M" on the front. Hey, that's fitting.

We ended up second in 3-man Expert. By mere minutes. Wow.

Donna and Jill Wiest raced Duo Woman open. They won. With 8 laps. Awesome!

And Jake Davidson rocked it Solo for the 12 hours, clocking 8 laps...awesome indeed.

Zach's Race Report is on his Blog.

Pics are from Rick Brown HERE.

Thanks for reading.

Fast and Muddy at Greenbrier

2008-04-29T04:14:00.001-07:00

More nice photos of the 2008 Greenbrier Challenge can be found at:
http://www.jdgalleries.com

Race Report

2008-04-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks. This week YBR was a player at a national level event.
Check out my race report from the greenbrier challenge here, if you feel so inclined.
Good job to all the fish that raced this weekend.

Thanks, Fish!

2008-04-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

A BIG thank you to the YBR folks who helped with today's bike rally at S. Middleton Twp Park: Bill B., Zach A., Amber B., Dave B., and Hollywood.

Thanks also to Dave Gonder of World Cup who, along with Bill, tuned up/adjusted many, many bikes!

...and congratulations to Kate Y. for organizing a fine first-year event!

Good luck racing tomorrow, all...

M.

Zach, Kara, and Josh Sieze Top Honours

2008-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a great night for riding, eh?

Congratulations to Zach, Kara, and Josh on their category wins! You can congratulate Zach in person at his MTB race at New Frontiers tomorrow...

We race again on May 1!

Results:

Adams	YBR	M	23:27
Hankins	SMVC	M	23:57
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	23:58
Ballard	SMVC	M	24:23
Cusick	WildBlues	M	25:08
Kaehler	SMVC	M	25:44
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	26:08
Shaffer	SMVC	M	26:09
Long	YBR	M	26:11
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	26:40
Miller, Will	YBR	M	26:43
Polensky	YBR	M	26:46
Hartnett	SMVC	M	26:54
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	26:57
Tustin	YBR	W	28:08
Watts	WildBlues	W	28:28
C-Bo	YBR	W	28:57
Taylor	YBR	M	29:06
Hise	YBR	M	29:12
Kelley	SMVC	M	29:20
C-Bu	YBR	M	29:58
Bard	YBR	JM	31:36
She-Bo	Unattached	W	32:34
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	32:46

Points standings:

Adams	YBR	M	350
C-Bo	YBR	W	340
She-Bo	Unattached	W	330
Hankins	SMVC	M	330
Ballard	SMVC	M	325
Kaehler	SMVC	M	296
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	296
Shaffer	SMVC	M	285
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	284
Polensky	YBR	M	284
Hartnett	SMVC	M	268
Taylor	YBR	M	261
Kelley	SMVC	M	254
Bard	YBR	JM	175
Tustin	YBR	W	175
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	170
Watts	WildBlues	W	170
Kuhl	Sakonnet	M	165
Cusick	WildBlues	M	156
Beck, Jan	Unattached	W	156
Long	YBR	M	141
Rider Big E	Privateer	M	138
Miller, Will	YBR	M	135
Hise	YBR	M	124
C-Bu	YBR	M	120

Fairhill Race Report

2008-04-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hola teamo, there's a race report from fairhill on my blog if you care to read http://cyclocrosser.blogspot.com/. There are a few non-toddler words, but its not government sanctioned explicit content yet. Good to see a small group of yibbers out there. Good job to joel who made it up to the podium.

TT's here and so is gear.

2008-04-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, racers:

Who's in for this week's TT? Will Z! and C-Bo maintain their dominance? Will Michael win the "stock" category again?

AND NEW FOR THIS WEEK AND BEYOND...we'll add a 2-person category - team up with a buddy - male, female, or "other" and go for it!

YBR racers, gear has arrived (way ahead of time!) - I'll bring it to the TT Thursday night...

Mark

Ironmasters Mansion TT #1 Results

2008-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Howdy, racers:

Thanks to everyone for coming out to ride on a chilly, windy evening - I hope that you liked the new course!

Congratulations to Z! and C-Bo for posting the fastest men's and women's times...and to Michael Taylor for winning the "stock" category!

Results are below and Uncle Don posted some awesome photos at http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/4648367_JRqkP#274449658

I'm amazed by what Don was able to do with the crappy lighting.

See you on the 17th, if not before!

M.

Adams	YBR	M	24:41	175
Fesler	Elite Bicycles	M	24:48	170
Ballard	SMVC	M	26:27	165
Hankins	SMVC	M	26:58	160
McLaughlin	SMVC	M	27:50	156
Polensky	YBR	M	28:10	152
Rohrbaugh	SMVC	M	28:18	148
Kaehler	SMVC	M	28:22	144
Shaffer	SMVC	M	28:28	141
Hartnett	SMVC	M	29:39	138
C-Bo	YBR	W	30:24	175
Taylor	YBR	M	30:42	135
Kelley	SMVC	M	33:25	132
Perry	Unattached	W	35:18	170

Ironmasters Mansion TT Starts This Thursday!

2008-03-31T15:18:00.001-07:00

Howdy, cyclists!

I wanted to give everyone a heads up that, starting Thursday the 3rd @ 6pm, YBR will host a twice-monthly 10-mile bike time trial.

Who: Anyone who can complete 10 miles can ride - and it's free!

What: The Ironmasters Mansion Time Trial - 10 miles - 5 miles out, 5 miles back, riders separated by 1 min intervals.

When: 6 pm, 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month (rain date is the following Tuesday).

Where: A slightly different course this year - well, the same course, but we'll start at what was last year's turnaround point.

Start at Mountain Creek Campground (just off of Rt. 34, on Pine Grove Road) - ride 5 miles west to the Ironmasters Mansion at Pine Grove Furnace SP, and return to Mountain Creek Campground.

Park in the gravel/grass on the south/west side of the campground office. Restrooms are available at the campground - in the brown building across from the office.

Why: This is a great way to test/improve your fitness and to meet other local cyclists...

If you plan to race, please let me know by return e-mail...so far, C-Bo and "Sister of C-Bo" are in...

Questions? Let me know!

The campground people are being super nice about this; please buy some snacks or drinks or minnows from them - or just say "thanks".

Spread the word!

Mark

Fast Albert Says "Get Your Minerals!"

2008-03-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

Mmmm...breakfast in Michaux! Name the trail, MTBers...

now THAT's Endurance Racing!

2008-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sure some of you remember an area biker named Jen Krebs . . . she moved away several years ago and is now in Colorado. But she was instrumental in hooking me up with a lot of local riders back in the day and Donna and I continue to stay in contact with her. She's a pretty cool person. She must be if she's friends with me. Anyway, since we tout our "endurance" sports, I thought this might be of interest to the YBR crew.

Jen Krebs is racing RAW this year. That's Race Across the West, a new part of RAAM, Race Across America. RAW is the first 1000+ miles of the RAAM course, from Oceanside, CA to Taos, NM. In 92 hours. She's racing it. By herself. Yes, over 1000 miles in 92 hours. Or less. And she's using the effort to raise awareness of eating disorders. She qualified for this by setting a new Women's course record at the ADK544 in 2006. That was a 544-mile race in the Adirondacks. Sweet.

Donna and I are helping out on the support crew for her RAW effort so we get to drive around the West for a week and a half in June following Jen on her bike. It's our rest period in our training schedule.

If you get a chance, check out her website at http://www.jenniferkrebs.com/

And check out RAW at http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/page.php?title=Events+RAW
And, of course, RAAM at http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/

Fast Albert Demolishes the Competition!

2008-03-05T04:44:00.002-08:00

Wow, does Fast Albert EVER have an off season?

Here's his report from the Mountain State XC Ski Marathon:

"I really liked the race. Very informal. It was a beautiful day -
Whitegrass in March with complete snow cover, bright sun, high 40's and no wind. It was supposed to be 25Km but it sure felt longer. There was quite a bit of climbing and they said the course was a bit different from previous years. I had skied over to Canaan, rode up the lift and skied back down around and down 3 mile trail earlier in the morning.

The race started at 1 so I had time to switch to my wife's lighter back
country skis (no metal edge) and couldn't believe how much lighter they
were. The boots felt like slippers compared to my boots.

It got fairly warm and there was very little glide at all in my skis.
The route was sort of slushy in places and the set track was missing in
various locations and then was wiped out by the skaters. There was a
fairly long downhill that was actually pretty fast. It has been a long
time since I used skis with out metal edges so it was tricky trying to
gain control. It reminded me of my first time cross country skiing and
flying thru the woods with no control. The sun went behind the trees and
the downhill section started to firm up and was very fast the last 2
laps.

The folks at Whitegrass are the best. I thought they would probably
cancel the race because there were so few people and was pleasantly
surprised they went ahead and had it. Then I felt bad keeping them out
there when there were only 3 of us left after the shorter races had
finished. No problem at all - they were just happy it was nice out.
Chip must have thanked me 4 different times for coming out and racing.
If you ever get a chance to do the race, you should give it a try. I
think they said it was the 15th year of the race but they might say that
every year.

I would like to try skating skis sometime. They look fun and fast.

Mountain State XC Marathon Sunday March 2 Results
25 Km Skate
Jason Cyr 35 Davis WV 2:26
James South 37 Uniontown, Pa DNF

25 Km Classic
Albert Greene 45 Woodbridge, Va 2:41
Bill Pope, Oakland, Md 3:02

10 Km Skate
Rodger Carter 39 Clarksville, Md 1:06
Chip Chase 54 Canaan Valley 1:11

7 Km Skate
Charlie Waters 45 Canaan Valley WV 0:42
Steve Strothers 49 Cabin John, Md :45
Marty Byers 47 Potomac, Md :57 min

7 Km Classic
Jennifer Carter 47 Clarksville, Md :56

BB Biathlon Sat March 1 Results
Name (Hits out of 9) Time
Eric Suter-Bull 9 8:26
Kathryn Suter 9 9:21
Mason Clark 6 11:06
Nick Merriam 6 14:02
Chase Sutton 9 14:51

Jennifer Fri 6 16:29

P.S. Sarah was going to school on Monday and was using the Whitegrass water
bottle I won. Karen told Sarah that I had won it for coming in first
place. Sarah immediately called me at work and asked how many people
were in the race - she is pretty quick for only being 8. Great deductive
reasoning - dad wins = he was the only one in the race. Actually there
were 2 people including me! The other racer was 70 years old (a super
fast 70 years old and super nice guy!)."

M.

A Living Legend Retires

2008-03-04T21:10:00.001-08:00

First it was MJ, then John Tomack, now Brett Favre has called it quits. I'm in a state of shock. I feel like someone just stole my teddy bear, I lost my best friend, found out there is no Santa Claus, discovered my spokes are NOT DOUBLE BUTTED!!!

Just as I know the sun will rise, titanium rides better than aluminum, and Fast Albert will run a ridgid fork at Michaux, I KNOW Brett Favre will line up under center in a Packers uniform. Now this constant is no more, this immovable force has been displaced, this legend has ridden off into the sunset. And so I shed a tear, I pour my forty in the street, and I have one less hero to cheer for on Sunday. Here's to heros, here's to good guys who come out on top, and here's to Bret Favre. I'll miss you number four...

Lots of YBR News!

2008-03-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

Howdy, team!

Sit down and grab a cup of coffee or a juice box; there's a lot of info here!

First of all, don't forget that you can access the YBR blog here: http://yellowbreechesracing.blogspot.com/ - if you want to be a contributor to de blog, please let me know and I'll get you set up.

Thanks for all of the ideas you provided at the annual meeting and via our YBR member survey. At our recent YBR executive committee meeting, we voted to take action on the following...

Free (other than time, no cost to YBR) ideas we'll pursue:

+ MTB rides for beginners, starting with Z's race at NF on 4/20/08 (we'll try to organize these so that they don't interfere with our training schedules and so that we have at least 3 experienced YBR riders each time we do a beginners' ride).

+ The Shake and Bake MTB TT will be back this year, baby!

+ Road rides for beginners (Laura to advise when the first one'll be).

+ Monthly YBR newsletter edited by Sarah, starting in April.

+ Of course, the Ironmasters TT will be back this year - Thursday, April 3 is event #1.

+ With MANY thanks and a tip o' the hat to Greg Spath, we plan to switch to Googlegroups for our YBR mail service: http://groups.google.com/?utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us_ca-google&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=google%20groups

Ideas we'll spend YBR $ on:

+ The new uniform design looks great! To get as many fish as possible wearing the colors, we're offering a discount on our sweet new cycling team kit ($25) or jersey ($10) - this includes those of you who have ordered already - if you haven't ordered yet, get your order to me by Saturday, March 15.

So...jerseys (mens or womens; S >> XXL) will be $50 minus $10 discount = $40. Shorts (mens or womens; S >> XXL) will be $55. Bibs (S >> XXL) will be $60.

Buy a kit (jersey plus bibs or shorts) and subtract $25 from your total bill! (I'm getting a jersey and bibs so I'll pay $110 minus $25 = $85).

Send your $ to me (check payable to "Carlisle Family YMCA - YBR) at 21 Woodcrest Drive, Carlisle, PA 17015.

+ Swim technique clinic led by Sarah (Sunday March 30, noon-2pm)

+ YBR race volunteers, executive committee, and sports coordinators will be eligible for $10 race reimbursement or discount on 2009 YBR membership (up to $1000 max. for the team)

+ Team t-shirts - we're going to produce some very nice YBR wicking shirts - e-mail your size to me by Saturday, March 15.

+ Pop-up tents with YBR signs - we're going to get a couple that we can take to races/training events.

+ Entry fees for YBR team leaders at Tour de Cure and MS150 - want to captain a YBR team at one of these fine charity rides? Let me know! Donna W. already has the TdC covered...

+ We're going to help our individual sports by allowing our sports coordinators $250 discretionary funds subject to executive committee approval (no EPO!) for road, MTB, 'cross, and triathlon - more news on this later...

Rock on,

Mark

Sarah's Swim Clinic!

2008-03-02T04:22:00.001-08:00

Calling all fish! I am hosting a swim clinic on Sunday, March 30th from 12-2pm at the Carlisle YMCA. This will be a great opportunity to work on your stroke technique and pick up a few pointers. The clinic will be designed to improve freestyle efficiency and teach those who are not that familiar with swimming the lingo, drills and sets designed to help you swim faster. This clinic is designed to make you swim faster. not teach you how to swim. Therefore, you must be able to swim 200yds without stopping.

Refreshments will be served at the end of the clinic.. Guess what that is.GRANOLA!

Please RSVP by March 25th if you would like to attend. It is free to all YBR members. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

Thanks!

Sarah Lanphier

Join Donna and Your YBR Pals for the 2008 Tour de Cure!

2008-02-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

For the last 12ish years I have been participating in and captaining teams
for the MS Society. This year, for the first time, I have decided to focus
on the Tour de Cure, mostly because a great guy and one of my good friends,
Tim Roden is in charge of the whole she-bang! Not to mention it's much
closer to home (Boiling Springs vs. Millersville). So....Come out and put
in some good training miles and do something really good for someone else!
:-)

Follow the link at the bottom of the page to get to our team page and get
signed up. Email me if you have any questions!

Thank you, Donna Weiser

Saturday, May 31st - Yellow Breeches Middle School

Diabetes affects the lives of millions of Americans. More than 20 million
adults and children have diabetes and 54 million are at risk.

While these numbers are staggering, there's something you can do: Join our
Tour de Cure team! Tour de Cure is the fund-raising ride of the American
Diabetes Association.

Signing up is easy! Use the link below to help us make a difference. The
funds we raise will support the American Diabetes Association's important
research, education and advocacy efforts.

Join us, and together we can take steps toward fighting diabetes!

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web
address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC104938030?px=3507975&pg=personal&fr_id=5009&s_tafId=166019

Click here to view the team page for Team Heim - Yellow Breeches Racing
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web
address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC104938030?team_id=273588&pg=team&fr_id=5009&s_tafId=166019

News Flash! Mountain Biker Conjoins in Woods!

2008-02-27T04:14:00.000-08:00

Zach takes the opportunity to conjoin with the soft, white snow on a recent ride on Community.

Calling All Mountain Bikers

2008-02-25T05:17:00.001-08:00

Hey, I remembered how to get into this. And, I figured out how to post a new entry. Amazing. Next, I'll want a bike with gears! On to the point of this . . . if you're reading this and plan to race your mountain bike this year, please email me with your intended race schedule. I'd like to try to figure out what YBR's mountain bikers are actually up to. Anyone focusing on MASS? The endurance side? What?

In the meantime, here's the highlights of the race schedule Donna and I put together:
4-20 Savage sprint adventure race
5-3&4 12 Hours of Lodi
5-17 Rocktober Challange 50-miler
5-31 Tour de Cure century ride
6-4 thru 15 Follow Jen Krebs around the southwest on Race Across the West
7-20 Curse of Dark Hollow 50-miler
8-16 Wild 100
9-12 thru 14 RCST Mtn Bike Bash
9-20 Cap City Challenge sprint adventure race
Iron Cross? dunno . . .
10-26 MTeC 12-hour adventure race

We're kicking around bringing back Touch the Monkey Shake n Bake TT once a month and also beginner/casual mountain bike rides once a month to help all our disparate interests get together. I'll see if I can kick out an email, too.

Be strong--spring is around the corner!

The Wisdom of Fast Albert

2008-02-11T05:17:00.000-08:00

Things I learned today that I had learned before but I never seem to really be able to apply to my life. Maybe If I write them down and put them in my wallet I’ll remember.

1) Riding when sick can be hard.

2) Riding with injured ribs hurts

3) Aches and pains associated with sickness makes injured ribs hurt more.

4) Riding a single speed uses more upper body strength and makes sore ribs hurt more.

5) Climbing makes you breathe harder and makes injured ribs hurt more.

6) Riding in cold air makes sick lungs really hurt.

7) Riding in cold air makes a sore throat hurt more.

8) Climbing on sort of mushy damp ground is harder on a single speed.

9) Don’t pick a route with climbing when you are sick.

10) Don’t pick a route with many rocks when your ribs hurt.

11) When you are sick you really don’t have as much strength as usual.

12) It is hard to get a good night sleep when your ribs hurt.

13) When you are aren’t feeling well you should just turn around and take it easy – don’t keep riding until you reach your original objective – it may be a long slow painful ride back.

14) Don’t wait until Sunday night to go to work and finish those projects.

15) Don’t take a break from your projects to write silly lists or you won’t ever get rest or finish projects.

2008 YBR Team Kit

2008-01-27T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hiya, team:

Thanks to Josh for leading the ride Saturday - that was a lot of fun and I hope that we do it again!

Note that we only have the 2008 cycling gear fit kit for 36 more hours; I'll pick it up from the Y Monday night. I have a rough draft of what the new jersey will look like; let me know if you'd like to see it...

You can renew your YBR membership here: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=5633

Have a good Sunday,

M.

YBR Annual Meeting Re-cap

2008-01-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

YBR Annual Meeting 2008

Intro/team overview – 2000, YMCA program, 3 races/year, all ages/abilities

2007: Y-Riders, Ironmasters TT, Carlisle GP, Iron Cross, Adopt-A-Highway, New Frontiers bikes for YMCA day camp

2008: Y-Riders, Ironmasters TT, Carlisle GP, Iron Cross, jersey design

Thanks to sponsors: Carlisle Family YMCA, World Cup Ski & Cycle, Cardin & Miller PT, Bob’s Salsa, Vanderkitten, and Brian Keich.

Thanks to executive committee – Brett, Chris H., C-Bo, Uncle Don, Laura, Sarah - and sport coordinators – Sam (adventure racing), Zach/me (‘cross), Brett/Tom/Uncle Don (MTB), Laura (road cycling), Sarah (multi-sport).

Key volunteers – Rachel (membership and race reimbursements), Toni (Adopt-A-Highway), Karen (Iron Cross marketing)

Speakers

Chris – team by-laws, financials, law school charity ride 6/7

Dan – TT and HC race series

Josh – Cardin & Miller

Laura – Road cycling, PCA update, Carlisle GP

Sarah – Tri, espoir grant, granola, focus tris (Got the Nerve, Philly, Wilkes-Barre)

Zach – MTB, espoir grant, Y-Riders Race Series, MACDC

Uncle Don - MASS, Michaux series, group MTB rides, do some 12/24 hour racing - it's fun!

Mark – 2008 espoir grants to Z! and Sarah, Iron Cross VI, bike rodeo 4/26, Tour de Cure 5/31

From Brett:

“anyone that's interested in mtn biking should email me if they want to be included on group ride emails . . .include your ability level and any racing history... most group rides will be doubling as training rides so the pace will be set by the ride leaders. rabbitlugboot@gmail.com”

Proposed 2008 expenditures

Espoir grants, Y-Riders series, NF bikes, entry fee for YBR team captains at charity rides, sport coordinator discretionary $ (subject to EC approval), Women’s road series, YMCA transfer, Team t-shirts .

Breakout

Need race sponsors, Adopt-A-Highway, race volunteers, and running coordinator; see me if you’re interested

Meet with sport coordinators, renew membership, order gear

2008 cycling fit kit is at the Y and will be until Monday, Jan. 28. Orders are due by Feb. 14.

Thanks for attending and Go, Fish!

Your YBR Pals

MACDC

2008-01-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hey, racers!

Learn more about the Mid-Atlantic Cycling Development Camp by clicking right here: http://fastforwardracingproductions.blogspot.com

Rock on,

Mark

What happens when your first race is Michaux...

2008-01-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

Great update from Danny Feng below...

(Danny did his first-ever bike race - the Ironmasters Classic - back in the day, on a bike (a GT Zaskar, I think?) that he borrowed, then bought from Cumberland County cycling legend John Bobb...

"Last 2 months has been crazy racing wise for me, in December I did the Tour of Thailand, a UCI 2.2 race, the course was really tough, 3 days of 200+km stages in a role, I started well, but I stuck bad luck half way through stage 4 where I broke my chain on the climb, so I had to DNF, but I mange to get a few pictures on cyclingnews.com!

After the tour of Thailand, I went to Fukushima's train camp in Chiang Rai Thailand for a few days, doing 150KM training ride everyday, it was a lot of fun.

Last Sunday I just finished Tour of Malaysia, another UCI 2.2 race, it was the fastest stage race I have ever done, race averaged 42-44 kph every day, it was like motor pacing everyday! On 5th stage, bad luck strick again with a flat in the last 25km, peleton was chasing down a few break away guys, so the pace was over 50kph and I just could not get back to peleton and end up giving 8+ minutes in that day and drop down to 2nd last in ranking, but I was just happy I finished the race within GC and escaped at least 4 close crashes! http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2008/jan08/jelajah08/default

Happy New Year!! Best wishes!!

Danny"

Go, Danny!

Why can't Fast Albert attend the annual meeting?

2008-01-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Mark,

I won't be able to make the meeting because.....

1) I need to go to the methodone clinic.

2) I'm currently in jail (although I'm innocent even though I look quite guilty on the film broadcast on national tv)

3) I'm going to the Anna Idaho concert (it is a Hannah Montana tribute band)

4) I'm going to Cyclocross Worlds to beat that Nys character.

5) I'm going to see the Royal Scott Dragoons at George Mason University.

6) I'm going dog fishing in New York city (I use Kentucky Fried Chicken for Bait)

7) I'm going to the Malibu Stacey museum with friends.

Can you guess the correct answer?

Can you guess which answer I stole from National Lampoon?

Albert

New Frontiers Night Ride Extravaganza

2008-01-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

Mild weather and great trails after dark = lots-0-fun. Zach lead a few of us all over the sprawling New Frontiers estate last evening (Thursday, Jan 10) despite rapidly dimming lights that he forgot to recharge after Tuesday evening's Michaux ride.

Donna, Brett, Dick, and Zach were already meandering about when I rolled in, and Joel (Pa State Cyclo Champ) was prepping his bike. In the photo above, Joel ponders the absence of gears on his bike. Zach and I reminded him that he was actually riding a singlespeed. He just giggled and went back to humming the Spounge Bob Square Pants theme song.

The Weisers decided to head home after a short time as they were feeling the previous night's "workout". At least that is what the spunky couple is calling it these days! Dick left shortly after that. Sadly, I didn't get to hear an Angry Brett weekly rant. Maybe this Sunday?

In the photo to the right, Zach strikes a pose - one of many. Earlier, Zach had flipped over backwards attempting to ride a wheelie off the teeter-totter of death. He must have rung his bell slightly as he was convinced he was modelling for a bike magazine. He kept saying "get my good side, get my good side". We tried for over an hour and gave up when we determined he didn't have a good side. Zach did leave a butt-shaped crater in the dirt where he hit the ground after the ill fated wheelie attempt. It was more like a crater, so it might be there for a while if anyone wants to check out an impressionistic image of Zach's cheeks.

Zach, Joel and I rode about an hour and a half or so, and Zach ended up riding sandwiched between Joel and I to take advantage of our lights' output since his had died. A great time was had by all, and at the precise moment we got back to the cars and called it quits, rain began to fall, signalling a perfectly timed conclusion to a great ride.

For anyone looking for a break from the typically rocky and uber challenging Michaux terrain, New Frontiers offers a nice change of pace. There are a lot of fun trails packed into a relatively small area, and Zach is working on even more. The trails are singlespeed, cross, and runner friendly to boot. Hope to see more of you turn out in the future, you will have a good time - Zach guarantees it. Just don't let him demonstrate the teeter-totter of death.

Uncle Don

YBR Annual Meeting: 1/20/08!

2008-01-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hello,

The YBR annual meeting will be held on Sunday, January 20th from 1-3pm at Cardin and Miller. Be sure to bring a chair!

You can renew your membership. With your membership this year you will receive a t-shirt. Everyone, regardless of sport, will receive the same t-shirt. You can give us your size at the meeting and then we will order the shirts and distribute them in about a month. We are trying to create a sense of team unity. Please wear your shirts to your events so that we can recognize and support each other.

Each sport coordinator will introduce his or her self and give a quick 1 min speech on his or her sport. During that time, they will also announce their focus events for the 2008 season. A more though explanation of focus events will be given at the meeting.

Hope to see you all there!

One more incentive... I will be providing free granola samples!

Sarah Lanphier

Where's Fast Albert?

2007-12-29T04:51:00.000-08:00

Be the first to correctly locate YBR's hunkiest 'cross star in this photo from 2005 'cross natioanls and win a valuable prize from the YBR prize stash (which is, in realty, a bag a left over crap from Iron Cross)!

Send those answers to woodcrest21@gmail.com!

M.

Cadence TV

2007-12-27T04:24:00.000-08:00

From Mike Kuhn:

"Happy Holidays YBRers!

Since Brett asked about indoor training videos I thought I'd mention this little ditty we're getting ready to launch -- CadenceTV.

CadenceTV is a monthly subscription based web broadcast of our indoor training sessions. Through CadenceTV you will have the opportunity and ability to "tune-in" to our live classes throughout the week or choose an on-demand workout from our ever growing library of training sessions to do at any time. There is no software to download, you just log in and take class by means of your internet browser. Every class is led by one of the Cadence coaches and each week's class changes focus slightly as we progress through the year.

I got the chance to take a class on CadenceTV from home a week or so ago. I certainly appreciate and espouse the virtues of the classes we offer here at Cadence - they are a fantastic one hour focused workout (in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm a little biased since I'm write most of our classes), but part of what has made them a great training enhancement is that you're here in the training center with a coach. I was a bit apprehensive about exactly how our indoor class would translate across the internet and into athletes' homes, but was very pleased with the results when I tuned in and had a very similar experience to the classes I've taken in-house (great info, the hour passes quickly, its a dang good workout, etc). In fact, not having to drive in to the office made the CadenceTV class experience even better than a training center class for me!

The interface shows the class throughout and displays count down timers for each interval and portion of the session. You'll hear the coach offer advice on technique and training tips and are alerted to the upcoming interval by way the screen. You also have the ability to customize the screen based on your lactate threshold power and heart rate numbers. You input these numbers into your athlete profile and then your training zone for each and every interval is displayed on your screen keeping you in the right place at the right time. Now, you do not have to input this data to use CadenceTV (the coaches will direct to you the proper level of effort in other ways) but we highly encourage you to do so as it's use offers you a very high level precision and individualization in your training. If you do not know your lactate threshold numbers we can help you determine them through a lab or field test ----- or give Josh a call and book some testing time on his CompuTrainer!

We're looking at a full scale launch in the first month or so of 2008 and are finishing up beta testing; I'll send more information your way as we get closer. We'll also update the website (www.cadencecycling.com) with info as the launch date approaches.

Hope you all had a great holiday and best wishes for a wonderful New Year and check out CadenceTV!

Cheers!
Mike

Mike Kuhn
Director of Coaching Programs
Cadence Cycling and Multisport Centers, LLC
Philadelphia/New York
mkuhn@cadencecycling.com
www.cadencecycling.com
"

Disc fixy cogs by Tom Miller

2007-12-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

From Tom Miller:

"Hey All,

the website:

http://tomicog.blogspot.com/

the purpose:
To supply disc fixy cogs to a small niche market
in order to support my racing endeavors.

Need to add the purchase option/shopping cart dilly
to the website, then it'll be good to go. Target is to
take orders and begin shipping the first production run
first week of January. Final price is gonna be maybe $25,
maybe $30 ea, 4.95 to ship up to four.

Will spam again when it's all official.

peace,
Tomi"

This Fire

2007-12-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

This fire was well earned. I was all prepared to have a great set-up for those brave souls who ventured out for the event.

Tent- check
Firewood- check
axe- check
matches- ummmmm......say what?

I fully realized the pains of my disassociation. No Matches! Well I couldn't NOT have a fire when everyone showed up. I started scrounging around the car for anything I could find to fuel this inferno. I searched in vain for a lighter that I was certain I had. I found a shotgun shell. I proceeded to disassemble the projectile into its seperate entities. Hull, shot, wad, loose powder, little cardboard disc, and ignition powder. I piled the powder into a meticulously formed mound of instant ignition. I positioned the cut-off hull over the mound and proceeded to emit a desperetly needed spark from the primer with a screwdriver and hammer. No such luck. Despite my hard work and many attempts, I failed at producing that necessary spark.

Back to the drawing board....... Jumper cables, yes of course! I have a spare battery in my trunk to feed my stereo system. At that point it was only a matter of trying. The jumpercables and battery alleviated me of my grief and need of fire.

Behold my miraculous mass of flaming stuff!

Uncle Don's Unnationals Report

2007-12-22T04:19:00.000-08:00

Five showed, four rode, one got temporarily lost when downed trees detoured him to Possum Lake (which was gorgeous in its ice-covered splendor). The weather was chilly, but the riding was fantastic and the scenery downright awsome. Ice encased every tree branch, leaf, and blade of grass, and transformed the woods into a shimmering, glistening wonderland.

I got sidetracked on the way when a crew detoured motorists toward Possum Lake due to a downed tree that blocked McClure's Gap road. I drove right past Mr. Laser who was traveling incognito in Mrs. Laser's Taurus. Trees were bent over at crazy angles from the weight of the ice, and I had to swerve all over the road to avoid smacking into them. When I realized I was at Possum Lake, I pulled over and snapped a few pics. While I was engrossed in the sights, I heard loud cracks all around me. Ice was causing trees and branches all around to snap like toothpicks, but the sound was deafening. Pretty cool, but scary at the same time. I got going right away, but had a tough time finding McClure's Gap Road again, and by the time I arived at NF Gary Kelley was on his way out. He'd scouted the area, but decided he didn't want to be bouncing his noggin' off the ice covered trails. Wise choice G-Dawg, but good to see ya out.

Mark, Zach, and Josh were already tooling around on their bikes when I got there. I quickly dressed and we rode for well over an hour, exploring every trail we could, and some we probably shouldn't have. As the ice began to melt a bit, we got completely soaked as we were constantly smacking into the foliage that was bent over and into our path from the weight of the now melting ice. We still had a blast, and I can't wait to get out there again. Zach lead a great ride/race, Mark delivered humor and entertainment the entire time, and Josh had to be peeled from the icey underpinnings when he flipped backwards after an errent attempt at a wheelie. Mr. Laser awed us with his skill as he shredded the super slick trails on his cross bike!

Thanks to Zach for coming out and putting it all together. Hope to see more fish out there next time. I snapped some pics of the scenery - no action though, sorry! They can be found here: http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/4033201#234778919

Uncle Don

Joel's PA State CX Championship Report

2007-12-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

PA State Championships/Wonderland Cyclocross---Lancaster,PA

Way before the alarm went off, I awoke realizing that today was the last race of the 2007 cyclocross season. I lay thinking of earlier races, rolling the highlights over in my head. Thinking that I hadn’t really had that race where everything came together. There were some good races, like Granogue and Wissahickon and there was a few I would rather forget---Fairhill CX. Recalling last years race at this venue in Lancaster, I began making mental laps of the course until it was time to rise and shine, and begin the Prerace Ritual.
I picked Nathan Goates up in Shippensburg and after some ice dancing , we headed to Lancaster County. I had heard from a co-worker , that Lancaster didn’t get any snow.------WRONG.--------We arrived to see the course covered with about an inch of icy slushiness with temps in the upper thirtys. I new right then the technically skilled racers would have the upper hand. As I readied my bike and body for the pain train, the early races turned the course into a brown quagmire. “Definitely going with the Mud 2’s at about 28 psi.”We yelled as Cathy Large raced to a 2nd Place Overall and Silver Medal for the PA State Championship in the B Women category.
After a pretty good warmup session on the trainer, one tall dark, half a can of Monster Energy drink, half a powerbar and a bottle of Cytomax, I made my way to the start area. I stripped off all the layers down to the skinsuit and arm warmers, the Icy-Hot finally steaming “hot” after an hour. There were no call-ups and attentively , I got a good start position amidst the 17 entries for the B Men contest.. Sitting on the top tube several minutes waiting for the official, I really wanted to get on with it. My “dangling carrot” was 2 positions to my left, we are in the front row. The plan was to try to hang with him……….
The whistle blew and off we went. I was in one too hard a gear and didn’t get the jump I normally get out of the start and ended up around 6th or so into the first turn. In which some knucklehead darn near took out my front wheel. As we got to the muddier off-camber section, I made some passes by keeping down close to the trees and hopping the log that was obviously left there on purpose.The next turn and straight were rideable but way faster to run---keep in mind this is flat ground with 4 inches of mud. Next came a rideable turn into a straight section with a set of barriers. At this point my heart rate is thru the roof and breathing is fast and furious, but I’m hanging with my carrot…….the rest of the race is a blur of numb feet, searing pain, mud, sand, and trying to stay upright…..Until I realize I’m in 4th.I passed into 3rd on a sweeping, off-camber right that led into a sharp climb into a set of barriers.After that stuck, I set sights on 2nd place(my “dangling carrot”) and started gaining on him. I’m riding the sand pit and gaining a couple seconds each time.Two laps to go and I’m within 5 seconds! Now I’m really pushing it---Michelin’s barely hanging in the turns---------I thought “Don’t’ want to go down now!” Ten seconds later-------too much rear brake and I’m on my can. The “carrot” must have seen me go down, because he has opened up an attack and added 15-20 seconds to his lead. Back on and still charging, we get the bell lap and I give it as much stick as I can --whenever I can. Once again I started to close the gap, but there was not enough turf left to catch him. I pushed on to the line were I was met with applause and the “carrot” saying, “Way to go dude, you got the State Championship.” Turns out 1st place was from Delaware and “the carrot-Chad” is from New Jersey.
That is my story of how blind pigs do find an acorn now and then.-----------Joel Moats

Uncle Don and Rider Big E are Famous!

2007-12-17T04:07:00.000-08:00

From Uncle D:

"Here's something kind of neat that happened for both Big E and myself: I guess a month or 2 ago I got an email from a website designer stating that she was designing a new site for Privateer Bicycles, the brand that Big E rides, and wanted to purchase a photo I'd taken of Earl at one of your YBR TTs. I was thrilled that they wanted to use one of my photos, so I said Hellzyah, but I didn't feel right "selling" it, so I gave it to them in exchange for the credit, which I guess is common. So Big E is famous, and graces the website's home page. Check it out at http://www.privateerbicycles.com"

Unnationals Update!

2007-12-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Howdy, racers!

Not going to Nationals or just looking for something fun to do this weekend? We've got you covered...on Sunday, Yellow Breeches Racing is hosting "Unnationals" at the Carlisle Y's New Frontiers Camp, north of Carlisle.

We'll race on a tasty 'cross/MTB- friendly course with nary a spec of pavement - expect a fun race with lots of holiday spirit, arbitrary time bonuses and penalties, a mandatory feed zone, and guaranteed appearance fees for all racers.

That's right, the race is free and if you race, well give you $1.

One race, one start time - noon on Sunday the 16th - first-come, first-served 50 racer field limit. If you're in, e-mail Zach Adams at deer478@hotmail.com.

Directions: Mapquest the intersection of Stone Church Road and McClures Gap Road (Carlisle PA 17013). When you arrive at that intersection turn, left onto Stone Church Road. Turn left at the top of hill. There will be signs on the left of the road.
The venue is 10 minutes from the mean streets of downtown Carlisle.

Unnationals will be a fundraiser for the Furry Friends Network (a great organization in Carlisle that matches unwanted pets with new owners), so we'll pass the hat for that...

http://www.furryfriendsnetwork.com/

Oh, and you have to make your own number. Doesn't matter what number it is, just make a number and attach it to yo' rig.

If we get REALLY heavy snow (like, 6" plus), we'll move Unnationals to next Sunday, the 23rd. Watch the YBR blog for weather-related news: http://yellowbreechesracing.blogspot.com/

See you on Sunday!

Z!, Marc van der Lasser, and the YBR Crew
(Photo from www.icebike.org)

YBR Unnationals and NYE Resolution Race (5 km)

2007-12-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

Howdy, folks:

In addition to next Sunday's YBR Unnational 'Cross and Trail Running Championships at New Frontiers (noon), don't forget about the New Year's Eve Resolution Race - 5 km throughout the holiday lights at the Carlsile Fairgrounds (starts at 5pm on the 31st).

The NYERR is sponsored by long-time Iron Cross supporter Galbraith Pre-Design.

Expect more about Unnationals later this week - the course was marked this morning and it is SWEET, I tell you! ...expect a mountain bike-ish 'cross race with numerous arbitrary time bonuses, penalties, and so on...may even have a MANDATORY feed zone...please come out and join us!

M.

Snow = Go

2007-12-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

From El Bretto:

"So, what the heck do you do when it's been snowing all day it looks like there's 4-5 inches piled up outside your door and everyone who said they would ride backed out on you? Go to some sweaty spin class? Nah. Just wait for Zach to call. And then go ride!

I was thinking the ride wasn't going to happen last night when the phone rang and Zach was there---"Are you still riding?"

"Everyone backed out."

"Yeah, but are you still riding? I want to ride."

"If someone shows up, I'll ride."

And about an hour later, Zach pulled in the driveway and we got ready to roll. The start down Michuax road was pretty sketchy and slow and cold but it got better once we hit trail, went thru the deerfence, down thru Corkscrew and into a bunch of stuff on Lower Rattlesnake. Saw rabbit, fox, deer, and mouse tracks . . . I think I heard an owl . . . and we were the only ones cutting tracks through the fresh powder. Tooled around and then back up and thru the deerfence, across Michaux road, and down Dynamite Shed to Old Ship. Cut in a driveway into some more trail and then completed the loop back out Bunkerhill to Michaux and back to the house. We both had our share of falls--I think Zach had more than his share--and had fun trying to clean snow-covered logs. Heck, Zach even supplied the necessary bass beats for some sections that I was just oh-so-missing from spin class... Total ride time: about 1:45 or so.

Spin Class Pros:

techno beats

M. Laser lookin' sexy in spandex

pools of sweat running across the floor

look ma--no brakes!

Snow Ride Pros:

soundtrack by DJ Amish

snow covered white pines

what the heck animal was that?

look ma--got brakes but no control!

fresh air

sweat steams off you before it gets a chance to pool anywhere

first tracks in virgin powder

you wanna talk spinning perfect circles? here you go--the punishment for not spinning is a quick trip to the ground. ask Zach.

great slow-speed bike handling practice--slightly faster than a spin bike

you're outside.

did I mention you're outside?

Snow ride wins! But I'm a little biased.

Brett"

Funky Friday Spin & Ironmasters Mansion TT Series

2007-12-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

Howdy, chums:

Funky Friday Power Cycling classes start this Friday (the 7th) at the Carlisle Y @ 5:30pm...I'll be your task master, treating you to an hour (give or take) of indoor cycling with the funkiest soundtrack this side of Prince's house.

If you aren't a Y member but want to check it out (or you want more info), let me know and I'll guest pass U.

+++++

...and there's only four months until the 2008 IMTT Series begins! We'll move back to Thursday nights this year, with a 10-mile out and back course starting at Mountain Creek Campground (last year's turnaround).

As always, the series is open to all and is free. This year, we'll divide the series into Spring (Apr-Jun) and Summer (Jun-Aug) halves.

+++++

Are any YBR folks doing regularly scheduled weekend or weeknight runs?

M.

First focus triathlon of the '08 season...

2007-11-29T04:54:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

OK so it is winter and I am a summer person so I need something to look forward to while a freeze to death on my bike.

To kick off the racing season, our first focus race is going to be Mt. Gretna at the end of May. I have to talk to the race director but I want to set up a pop-up tent for YBR and E-town College members only. It will be a little hang-out before and after the race. I will supply Gatorade, coffee and bananas before the race and I can do a pancake breakfast afterwards. Maybe we can even recruit members! But... I highly recommend you do the race because it is going to be a bunch of fun!

Sarah

Fast Albert's USGP of 'Cross Report

2007-11-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

USGP of 'Cross - Trenton, NJ

I’ve had some trouble writing race reports but I will give it another try. Its is not just lack of time but also lack of mental focus….. lack of mental focus.

My first impression of the course was its flat and that isn’t a positive statement for me. It turned out that it was a lot of fun and actually very interesting. Two of the most interesting features were the very long deep sand pit and the flyover. The sand pit wasn’t very ride able unless a grove formed from riders riding the same line. I chose to run the entire sand pit and don’t think riding it was much of a benefit. It was definitely a crowd favorite and any rider that made it thru cleanly received a huge cheer. The flyover had stairs up one end and a very steep ramp down the back. The flat transition was very short so you had to mount the bike quickly and hope you clipped in. I rode it a few times not clipped (I did have my feet on the pedals) in and didn’t have a problem but the thought of slipping off the saddle and landing on the top tube at speed scared me. The rest of the course had a pretty interesting flow with some tricky off camber sections and many tight turns that required riders to slow down and then accelerate back up to speed.

The first day the course was relatively dry – not dry like the dust bowls we have seen for most of the season. The 2^nd day it was rainy and they changed the course to add a few more tight turns. It was a lot of fun to ride a more technical course with all the off camber areas and most of the turns were much trickier. 38 degrees and rain on Sunday so waiting at the start was the worst part of the weekend. Once up to speed the cold wasn’t an issue.

I rode the 4^th cross bike this season and I haven’t even done that many races. I had ordered a frame from Hot Tubes in MA (my old frame cracked in 2 places) and when I asked the builder if he was going to be at the Mercer Cup he said he was and that he could probably have the frame done by then. Things didn’t work out to share a room so I had a room to myself. I decided Saturday night was the perfect time to build the frame so I brought everything I needed (I hoped I did – that rarely works out). The only thing that really crossed me up is the builder brought a 10 speed derailleur – guess who still runs 8 speed? Actually I have mostly 8 speed with a 9 speed chain. It turned out that my friend’s bike (the one I have been riding) had the right derailleur. Amazingly I got the bike built up and even had time to put my friends bike back together (I had put some of my parts on his bike). I even did things I haven’t done before like cut a carbon steerer. There is always something that comes up and this time it was the brake stud on the fork would become unscrewed. The way my brakes work they torque the stud when the brake is applied. I snugged it up while not trying to stress the fork and the thing ended up holding. I didn’t have any problems with the bike the entire race. It is hard to say the difference with the bike because the conditions were so much different but it seemed to be more balanced.

Watching the elite classes was so much fun. It is so cool to watch the experts ride the same course that you did earlier in the day. It was a really strong field with Ryan Trebon, Barry Wicks, Jeremy Powers, Tim Johnson, Todd Wells, Adam Craig, Kabush, and Chris Horner to name a few. A very deep field. The 35+ field was incredibly deep and fast. I was more appropriately racing in the 45+ field. Kevin, Nunzio, Joel and I were the YBR crew in attendance and everyone seemed to really enjoy the race and had good races. Nunzio gets the tough man award for venturing out racing both days with a sinus infection.

I don’t know if they are going to have the same race next year but I would strongly recommend the venue.

USGP of Cyclocross – Mercer Cup near Trenton, NJ

Iron Cross V is History!

2007-10-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

...and race winner Rob Jebb of Team Wheelbase (UK) has set a new Iron Cross course record!

Iron Cross V results, blogs, photos, and GPS data (we'll keep updating this list as we get more links!):

(thanks to Bina B. for the photo above)

Results:

IC Lite:
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2007/10/13-Iron-Cross-Lite.asp

ICV:
http://www.prologsoftware.com/proracingtiming/results/r10_14_07BikeFinal.htm

Blogs:

Aaron H.:
http://hofelt.blogspot.com/2007/10/iron-cross-v.html

Anne G:
http://speedychix.blogspot.com/2007/07/iron-cross-plus.html

Anne G:
http://speedychix.blogspot.com/

Cara "Crash" McCauley:
http://caramccauley.blogspot.com/

Chris (fixed gear SS):
http://lockringnotincluded.blogspot.com/

Cyclochris:
http://cyclochris.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/half-blind-and-undertrained-my-ironcross/

Danielle M. (and Naomi):
http://daniellemusto.blogspot.com/

Darren B:
http://www.thebikeandmore.blogspot.com/2007/10/ironcross-v.html

Liz S:
http://bikevoice.blogspot.com/

Kevin H:
http://kevinhorvath.blogspot.com/2007/10/ironcross-5.html#links

Marc W:
http://marcwinder.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-finished.html

Ron G:
http://racingyenski.blogspot.com/

Serotta forum clips:
http://www.serotta.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33613

Steven L:
http://cyclingmanimal.blogspot.com/2007/10/ironcross-race-weekend.html

Central 757 tripower blog post:
http://757ironcross.blogspot.com/

Photos:

IC Weekend, by Uncle Don:
http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/

IC Weekend, by Ian's Bina:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemansgtman/sets/72157602585490396/

IC Lite, by Kevin Dillard:
http://velophotos.phanfare.com/album/448356

ICV, by Chuck Armstrong:
http://www.elementoftheeye.ifp3.com/

ICV, by Tom Miller:
http://tomi.smugmug.com/gallery/3649121#208212122

GPS data from Anne G:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=4246215

See you'uns next October at Iron Cross VI!

+ The Iron Cross Crew +

(Photo by Uncle Don Pagano)

MABRA Breast Cancer Awareness 'Cross Results

2007-10-09T15:09:00.001-07:00

October 8 - On Saturday, the Carlisle Family YMCA's Yellow Breeches Racing cyclocross team travelled to Hagerstown, MD for the third race in the 2007 MABRA cyclocross series. Hundreds of racers from all over the Mid-Atlantic competed on a tight, bumpy, hard-packed course that wound through the Hagerstown Fairgrounds. Making the course difficult was a steep, short climb, numerous off-camber turns and a deep, loose sand pit.

YBR racers fared well...Nunzio DiBiasi led the way for YBR, winning the Men's 55+ race, after finishing 32nd in the Men's B 35+ race. Also in the Mne's B 35+ race, Joel Moats finished 12th, followed by Kevin Breckenmaker (18th), Chris Schaeffer (24th), Mark Laser (28th), and Michael Taylor (34th). In the Men's C race, Chuck "C-Bu" Buczeskie, finished 34th.

Next weekend, YBR racers stay home to host the Iron Cross race weekend to benefit the Carlisle Family YMCA and the Blue Butterfly Fund. Detailed race information can be found here: http://www.yellowbreechesracing.org/ironcross/ . All racing (biking and running) will be staged from the YMCA's Camp Thompson in Pine Grove Furnace State Park south of Carlisle.

Great photos (like the one above) by Kevin Dillard here: http://velophotos.phanfare.com/album/438314

M.

Ed Sanders 'Cross

2007-10-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

October 1 - On Sunday, the Carlisle Family YMCA's Yellow Breeches Racing cyclocross team travelled to Buckeystown, MD for the second race in the 2007 MABRA cyclocross series. Hundreds of racers from all over the Mid-Atlantic competed on a tight, twisty course that wound throughout the grounds of a lilypond farm. Making the course difficult were steep run-ups and drop-offs, deep gravel, and man-made barriers. YBR racers fared well...in the women's B race, Cathy Large, in her first-ever "'cross" race, led the charge for YBR, finishing in 6th place, followed by Mary Fetrow (14th), and Laura Jones (15th). In the men's Masters B race, Joel Moats rolled to a fine 10th place finish, followed by Mark Laser (29th), Chris Schaeffer (31st), and Michael Taylor (54th). In the Junior race, Josh Bard finished 3th and in the Masters 55+ race, Nunzio DiBiasi finished x4h.

Said Large after the race, "this could become addicting!"

YBR travels to Hagerstown, MD for MABRA race #3 next weekend.

Contact: Mark Laser (245-2423) or woodcrest21@gmail.com. Photos by denS (www.dennisbike.com).

...and here's Laura's take on things:

"Earlier this year during a training ride with Mark, I was lamenting my painfully lackluster road season. At some point, Mark raised the topic of cyclocross. (I know, I was suprised too.) Since I was suffering from a delirium caused by lack of oxygen and low blood sugar, I don't remember the entire conversation, but it went something like this:

MARK: You should do 'cross! It's LOADS of fun and it will build up your power and aerobic fitness for next year!

LAURA: Yeah, I've heard that 'cross is good winter training. But I'm not very coordinated. I don't think I'd be able to get over the barriers....

MARK: Oh don't worry about that! 'Cross isn't very technical and it's mostly flat! You'll love it!

LAURA: Really? Well...OK....

Fast forward 3 months, and I arrived at Lily Pons with my very own 'cross bike, still bearing the collection of bruises that I had amassed while falling into and around the sand pit and barriers at Charm City. This time, I knew how to get through the barriers (thanks to the apt instruction of Mark and Zach) and there were no sand pits. Convinced that the mechanical difficulties at Charm City were the only other obstacle to my complete domination over the cyclocross world, I made my way to the registration tent.

Mark and Michael met me at the registration tent and offered to take me on a pre-ride of the course. As we threaded our way around the lily ponds, Mark pointed out places that offered a good line through corners. It was flat, there was no sand and, armed with Mark's advice on cornering around the ponds, my confidence grew. At last, I would do well! A top five finish was mine!

But then we came to the cliff. I had heard this particular topographic feature described previously as a "run up" and a "drop off". Because I don't yet speak 'cross, Mark and Zach translated for me: "It's a short, steep little hill. You run up and then drop down the opposite side. It's nothing to worry about." I had watched a Utube video of the dropoff again and again during the week prior to the race. Somehow, though, the perspective in the video didn't quite do justice to the wall of dirt and rocks that I was staring up at on the back section of the course dubbed the "party zone".

I began lugging my bike up the cliff (aka "run up"). Meanwhile Mark and Michael casually dismounted and bounded, antelope-like, up the wall, scissor-kicked in the air, remounted, and hurled themselves down the opposite side, emitting cries of "Yeeha!" and "Woohoo!". I, on the other hand, stood at the top, looking down at the litter of weeds, rocks, and dirt at the base of the cliff, trying to recall whether my current benefits package would allow me to be treated by an out-of-state healthcare provider, or whether I would need to have my husband cart my broken body back to Pennsylvania before I could be pieced back together.

Mark and Michael stood at the top of the rise opposite the dropoff calling for me. There was an awkward pause. "Are you kidding me?!" I called. After realizing that I was having second thoughts about throwing myself off the top of a cliff, Mark and Michael graciously returned and tried to coax me down off the ledge. "Don't think about it!" "Just put your weight on the back wheel and let go!" Mark and Michael, in an effort to convince me that this was all carefree fun, ran up and threw themselves down the hill 2 or 3 more times, whooping and yeeha-ing. "See? Nothing to it!"

A traffic jam of riders began to build behind me and a small crowd of on-lookers began to gather. I kept waiting for the chant: "Jump! Jump! Jump!" Everyone began offering advice and encouragement: "Just don't think about it!" "They have excellent hospitals in this area!" "Don't hit the brakes on your way down!" "If you start to lose it, throw the bike!"

Michael and Mark, in an amazing show of team support, stayed with me. By then, I'm sure they felt like witnesses at a car accident. Mary rolled up. "Come on, Laura, you can do it! You gave birth to 2 kids. This is nothing!" I pointed out that childbirth was much slower and involved no rocks. Apparently, this didn't convince Mary, and down she flew with an enthusiastic "Woohoo!"

I stared down at the rocks and tangle of weeds again and began fishing for excuses to graciously bow out. Mark, however, was not accepting excuses and he and Mary came back up the hill. I rolled up to the edge, wondering if it would be bad luck to tell someone to have my husband bring the car around in order to avoid the pesky wait for the ambulance. I let go. I did it! WOOHOO! (Apparently, all of the whooping is a shout of thanks for returning to sweet earth unharmed.)

I managed to cause a traffic jam only once more when I came back to the hill on the first lap of the race. Fortunately, Diane Vettori, accompanied by a group of women that I had just passed on a flat section, rolled up behind me and offered inspiration: "MMOOOVVE!" That worked, and I was off.

Everything after that is a blur of lilypads, gravel, and the sight of that hill over and over again. I finished the race and didn't even come in last. I successfully went down the cliff 4 or 5 more times (I lost count--as I said, it was a blur)."

It begins...

2007-09-24T13:16:00.001-07:00

September 24 - On Sunday, the Carlisle Family YMCA's Yellow Breeches Racing cyclocross team travelled to Baltimore, MD for the Charm City Cyclocross Race - the first race in the season-long MABRA series. On a very dry, dusty, fast course, YBR's riders competed with hundreds of other racers from all over the Mid-Atlantic.

In her first "'cross" race, Laura Jones finished 16th in the Women's B race, despite being slowed by mechanical difficulties. In the 90-racer Men's Masters B race, Joel Moats was the top YBR finisher, in 32nd place, followed by Kevin Breckenmaker (34th), Mark Laser (35th), Fast Albert Greene (38th, despite a flat tire near the end of the race), and Michael Taylor (61st). In the U-16 Junior race, Josh Bard finished 3rd and in the Men's 55+ race, Nunzio Dibiasi finished 4th.

Said Jones, "While on the course, other riders were trying to guess where the noise on my bike was coming from and I still haven't figured it out. I was only able to apply power to the pedals for about a third of each pedal revolution, so I'm glad I finished where I did!"

YBR's 'cross team travels to Maryland again next weekend for round 2 in the MABRA series.

TT Results and Pure Sweet Hell...

2007-09-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hi, racers:

I've uploaded this year's Ironmasters TT Series and Pine Grove TT results to:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ironmastersmansiontt/

...does anyone what to get together for lunch Sat at the Carlisle Coffee Co. for our traditional pre-'cross season screening of "Pure Sweet Hell"? If so, I'll make the arrangements...note that the PSU v. Michigan game doesn't start until 3:30pm...

MvdL

One 'cross race down, lots more to go...

2007-09-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Under the cover of darkness, I left Carlisletown this morning and headed for Pittsburgh for a meeting on Monday and, even more important, a 'cross race today.

The race was the first in the "Month of Mud" 'cross and MTB racing series. I thought it would be good to get in a race before Charm City and I'm glad I did this one! The course, laid out by Iron Cross star Gerry Pflug, was a (very!) twisty turny tight dizzying up and down off camber affair with a few grassy power sections, 3 sets of barriers and one run-up. Good times were had by all!

The weather was perfect, the course was pretty dry and the racers were a fun mix of seasoned 'cross racers and MTB racers just trying to get through the race! The vibe was laid-back and grass-rooty, just like the good ol' days. I felt pretty good, the bike worked great, I managed to stay helmet-side up for the whole race, and had a blast...

I punished myself for 45 minutes and now I'm sprawled out in my hotel room feeling beat up but happy. It was good to see Gannar, Betsy, and 'cross promoter/racer Gary Dugo...

Charm City should be fun!

I wonder how the Pine Grove TT, Teaberry, and Yuasa went for the other Fish?

Good luck this weekend, Fish..

2007-09-14T04:12:00.000-07:00

...at the Pine Grove TT, at Teaberry, at the Yuasa Crit, etc...

Do any race attendees have a handful o' Iron Cross windshield flyers that they can distribute?

If you haven't seen the IC website, check it out...it's looking great:

http://www.yellowbreechesracing.org/ironcross/

(Thanks, Cass!)

M.

Help Tara Llanes

2007-09-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

From Fast Albert:

"Mark,

I stole this link from another blog.

http://www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com/

Maybe you could add it to the YBR blog?

Albert"

Ironmasters Mansion TT Series Finale Photos

2007-09-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

From Uncle Don:

"The pics from Thursday night are up. There are lots of them, as usual, since I'm incapable of determining which ones are stinkers and which ones are keepers. Singlespeeder.smugmug.com."

Great shots, Don!

M.

Carlisle Grand Prix Photos!

2007-09-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the race are up, here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49321&l=bdc83&id=699635183

M.

Josh's 2007 Zofingen Race Report

2007-08-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

"The Zofingen Experience

This is the big one, at least in my book. It’s the one I spend 364 days a year pushing pedals, pounding pavement, and countless hours daydreaming about. It’s Powerman Zofingen. It’s a tremendous race throughout the Swiss countryside that has a brutal 10k opening run, a 93 mile bike ride with 6100 feet of elevation change, and finishes up with 30k (18.6 miles) of trail running/walking/crawling with 2000 feet of elevation change. In short, the race is a near death experience, but the atmosphere and surroundings make it more than enjoyable.

This year Jan and I packed up two bikes- one for me and one for her. We also had two suitcases of loot to go along with us. Perhaps the organizers of the race should add a luggage run, because Jan and I got quite good at wheeling 250 pounds of junk around busy airports! I’ll spare you any airport stories…traveling now is pretty difficult.

After 7 hours of a direct flight to Zurich, we were greeted with the keys to a rather beat-down rental car that I quickly dismantled in an effort to pile our belongings in it. With the rear end sagging of our tiny dented tin can of a car we took off towards our homestay family, which lives just outside of Zofingen.

Now many intense athletes use these homestays as crash pads for them to sleep, eat, and train- no more. Jan and I have stayed with Walter, Pia, Manuel, and Leandra for 4 years and once at their house you automatically become part of the family. It is so fun! For me, that means playing soccer, speedmitten, jumping on the trampoline, and in the case of last year, mowing the grass. It’s not that they make you do these things, it’s that they are so fun you want to. Sure we got our rest, but hanging with the Pfaffli’s is our favorite part of the trip.

Like every other year, we had a “special” lined up by Walter and Pia. This year all 6 of us piled into the van and took off towards the Alps. A couple of mountain passes and a gondola ride later we were at the top of a 8000 foot mountain. In a move that would make just about any other serious athlete cringe with fear, we all donned helmets and raced down the mountain on scooters! Much to other tourists shock, the six of us flew down the mountain on paved trails at 35 mph. When you are with the Pfaffli’s nothing is done slow, so this activity soon becomes a race to see who can get to the bottom first without flying into the Swiss countryside. Fortunately no one did and we even did it a second time.

I could write a book about our experiences with the Pfaffli’s, but I’ll spare you and move on to the race!

Come Friday night, the opening ceremonies kick up and everyone gathers to see the parade of nations. This year 27 countries were lined up. There is no other feeling like seeing a small Swiss kid carrying the ol’ stars and bars up to the front of the room. This year we had just two Americans, myself and John Phillips, competing so it was important to me to represent the US the best we could.

Saturday came and went in the blink of an eye. I did watch the Powerkids race, which brings all the local kids out in their mini racing suits and bikes to compete over a small course. It’s a blast to watch them all and to see the parents racing around the block to see where their kid is in the race.

Then it’s time to go off to the races! My race started Sunday morning at 8:58 am. This is 58 minutes after the women. Like other years, there is an overall prize to the first person to cross the line, be it man or woman. It was really nice to not have to wake up at 4 am to eat before a race. It was also really nice not to have sixteen layers of clothes on and warmup in the rain! This was the first Zofingen I had done where it was not raining and cold, which I thought was a disadvantage for me.

The first run starts out on a steep (like pitches up to 15%) 800 meter hill before it weaves its way through the forest. Once the gun goes off it’s a mad dash for the first 400 meters, with just 6 of us pulling away by the top. I knew all the favorites were in this group, so I stayed at the back and kept pace the best I could. It was, after all, going to be a long day!

After going up countless false flats we dove back down towards the city to start our second lap. By the middle of the second lap I was content to keep my pace 50 meters of so behind the leaders. I raced into T1 with a 31 minute and change 10k, which is crazy fast by my standards. I changed, threw down a powergel, and took off on the bike.

My strategy on the bike, after a few years of experience, was to ride behind the two leaders and ahead of the looming pack that would pace each other. This way I could be out of sight and out of mind to both groups. That strategy worked until the end of the first lap, where a pack of 12 caught me. I was bummed that they caught me, but glad that I wasn’t burning up matches trying to stay away from them.

The rules say that you must have 10 meters distance between the rider in front of you, so that there is no drafting. When you take 12 guys, 10 meters apart, there is a definite draft going on! This group had 8 guys that did absolutely nothing but sit in the rear and eat rice cakes all day. I was at the front trying to keep everyone moving, especially since the leaders now had an 11 minute lead on us. I didn’t want to settle into racing for second place, even though a lot of guys were content with that. The second lap was animated by some hard climbing; especially on the Bodenberg by a few local Swiss stars. I kept pace and worked hard to keep my bottle consumption going, as it was getting near 90 degrees.

On the third and final lap I gave it some gas on the Bodenberg in an effort to split our group up. My tactic worked and our group was down to just 7 sets of tired legs instead of 13. I ended up downing 16 bottles of fluids, 7 gels, a Clif Bar, and a banana during my 4 hour and 2 minute ride. I thought that would be more than enough to get me through the last 2 hours of torture!

In T2 I downed a Pepsi and a gel just to start things off and started the ascent up the mountain. By the top I was in 4th place and I was feeling good. I remembered my blowup last year, so I kept the pace back a little bit and dumped water over my head at every aid station. Finally I came out of the forest and saw my cheering section, which made things seem like they were going a little faster. That was a good thing, because it was getting really hot and I needed to wrap this thing up before I turned into a big pile of American goop in the middle of the forest like last year.

As the long descent at the end of lap one arrived I was hurtin’. It happened so fast! I went from seeing straight and being completely in tune with my body to thinking about rolling myself down the hill. I did everything I could to find some kind of relief. I dove into the bushes to go to the bathroom. I dunked my head in an enormous water fountain. I started dumping coke and Gatorade over my head along with the water. My legs felt like were as big as straws and my muscles felt like guitar strings. I had to start walking, and not just walking, I was mall walking! I can’t imagine walking slower than I was going. I made it halfway through the second lap this way, trying to just finish this blasted race and get my T-shirt and go home. Finally, with Jan’s encouragement, I started jogging in the forest. It was more of a shuffle, but it was forward progress. My dreams for this year were shattered, but at least I burned out bright. That was the only satisfaction I could give myself as I wrapped up my mega-long 2 hour and 35 minute second run. I crossed the line, grabbed my shirt, and tumbled on the ground next to John, my fellow American who finished in his fastest time ever.

After a few minutes of trying to spit out complete sentences to the Pfaffli’s and Jan, I started to realize that I was lucky to just finish. I finished in 7 hour and 9 minutes, which is more than respectable, just not by Josh Beck standards. An hour ago I was thinking about how stupid this race was and that I couldn’t believe that the same thing happened to me as last year. Now, after 30 minutes of rest I was ready to tackle a new training program for Zofingen 2008- as soon as I could walk again!

To wrap it up, I finished 20th on the day out of 250. I was bummed that I got cooked by the heat again, but the rest of the trip more than made up for it. This year more than ever we had more fun than we could handle. The race was awesome…great running trails and epic climbs that have hearty crowds and enormous cattle staring you right in the eyes. It pushes you further into your “pain cave” than you ever though possible. To do it while flying the stars and stripes and in front of a Swiss “family” makes it all the more rewarding.

Now it’s time to go back to work- and training too!

Thanks for reading!

Josh"

Josh and 'Cross Clinic/Practices

2007-08-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

Josh news: http://www.insidetri.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=110590

It is my pleasure to announce the 2007 Carlisle 'cross clinic and practice schedule...

Sunday Sept. 9 @ 3:00 p.m. - 'Cross clinic presented by Mike "Hebe". Dinner and/or beers to follow.

Thursdays @ 5:30 pm starting Sept. 13 - 'Cross practice (starts, off-camber shenanigans, relays, barrier work, etc.).

We'll do these thangs at the Carlisle Fairgrounds:

http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/guest/directions.asp

Enter at Gate 3.

Don't forget about Iron Cross V race weekend Rocktober 13 & 14 and Carlisle 'Cross on December 1.

http://www.yellowbreechesracing.org/ironcross/

Mark
Historic Carlisletown, PA

TT pics and points standings

2007-08-25T07:58:00.001-07:00

From Uncle Don:

"pics are up on singlespeeder.smugmug.com from Thursday's TT. The trail run murdered my legs! I'm still sore...sucks to get old and outa shape."

...and here are the YTD points standings, with one race to go:

Shaffer SMVC M 1904
Hankins SMVC M 1705
Laser YBR M 1663
Hartnett SMVC M 1391
Large YBR W 1225
Fesler World Cup M 1205
Kaehler SMVC M 1076
C-Bu YBR M 866
Gassert YBR M 859
Rohrbaugh SMVC M 850
Kurz SMVC M 826
Hartpence YBR M 619
Ahrens YBR M 558
Kuhl Sakonnet M 505
Flora YBR W 492
Miller Ski Whitegrass M 469
Mark, D. YBR M 456
Rennels YBR M 450
Adams YBR JM 350
Gault WildBlues W 345
Bateman, L. YBR JM 345
Goates Faulkner Honda M 335
Daly YBR M 313
Camp The Bike Line M 290
Baum Unattached M 175
Watts Memphis Blues/Wildware W 175
Mark, M. YBR W 170
Beck YBR M 165
Hammaker Cadence M 165
Bonora World Cup M 165
Polensky YBR M 160
Murphy Unattached W 160
Cusick Memphis Blues/Wildware M 160
Taylor YBR M 152
McClain Team Plum Pox M 148
Mansberger YBR M 144
Starr YBR JM 141
Hise YBR M 135
Schultz TBD M 130

M.

Ironmasters TT Results

2007-08-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Dark, gloomy night that was great for racing! Some of our racers (C-Bu, Cathy, Rick, Uncle Don, Cory...) even went for a run after...

Hard to believe, but there's only 1 TT left in our series! Double points and series awards Thursday, Sept. 6 on the good ol' Ironmasters Mansion course!

Here are last night's times:

Fesler World Cup M 30:48
Kurz SMVC M 32:06
Shaffer SMVC M 33:20
Kaehler SMVC M 33:49
Hartnett SMVC M 35:18
Taylor YBR M 35:55
Laser YBR M 36:06
C-Bu YBR M 38:00
Rennels YBR M 38:00
Large YBR W 39:32
Flora YBR W 43:51

M.

Ironmasters Mansion TT Results

2007-08-24T11:51:00.000-07:00