Mountainside Ski & Sports Cycling

Mountainside Racing on Facebook

2011-12-23T11:30:00.004-05:00

Mountainside Races to the Finish!

2011-09-29T09:16:00.020-04:00

It may not make the September cover of Dirt Rag or be the feature article on the IMBA Facebook page, but there is no doubt that the 2011 Mountainside Mt. Bike Race Team gave it their all this season, especially at the MASS Finals at Bear Creek.

The only way to start this article off is the way you start mt. bike races, you typically put the best first. So the first thing to do is highlight two of the best ... Mike Laub and Janice Morris. There is no question that winning is the prize jewel, but sometimes the real "winning" isn't a result of a 1st place trophy, but maybe it's about the intestinal fortitude and down-right "digging-deep" to get the job done. Both Mike and Janice were subject to mechanical problems at Sunday's race. Even with a flat in the first lapfor Janice and a run down the mountain and back up for Mike to fix a chain, both finished with impressive times and proved once again why they lead such a successful race team. Mike finished 19th in the Elite Open Men and Janice swept up 6th place in the Women's Elite Class. A big "Thank you" to Mike and Janice for a great season and for showing us what it means to be the best!

The Mountainside men had a stellar day at Bear Creek. Andy Hoover ripped the 3-lap course with a time of 2:28.39 and took 10th place in the Elite Men's Open Class. Andy then took center stage as the Champion for the Individual Endurance Series with a point total of 1,674.

You would almost think he is a native to Bear Creek with a super fast time of 2:30.15, but quite the contrary, Chad Cherefko never raced or even rode this course prior to Sunday. Not only did Chad have his best race of the season that day, but he also swept up 2nd place in the Men's Expert Class 19-39 and took 3rd in the overall Cross Country Series for Expert Men 19-39 with a total point score of 1,899.To Mike Funk - apparently blue is his color. It has to be because he simply refuses to take anything but 1st. Mike once again took 1st place in the Men's Expert 50+ Sunday with 2:32.47 registered on the clock. Wait, he's not done yet, Mike also was the Champion for the Men's 50+ Cross Country Series with a total accumulation of 2,415 points.Nathan Goates raced in the Expert Men's 19-39 Class and rode to an impressive 12th place finih with a time of 3:01.22.

Sally "Speedy" McClain led our women to some awsome finishes for the day. Sally traded places through the race with competitor Susan Mrugal and she came away with a tough fought 3rd place overall for the Women's Elite Class and tore up the course with a time of 3:02.33. But Sally wasn't finished with the podium yet, she also took 2nd in the overall Women's 40+ Elite Cross Country Series. No doubt this woman thrives on the gnarliest of trails. Awsome job Sally.

Melissa had one of her personal best races of the year as well. Melissa finished 2nd in her class andd 4th overall for the Women's Elite Class with a time of 3:16.11. To her surprise, Melissa also took 3rd for the Women's Elite Under 40 Cross Country Series. It was a very satisfying finish to her first year racing in the Elite Class.

In the Sport Division, Ben Moore represented Mountainside well with a time of 2:47.26. Ben has been a solid racer in the Sport Division and has helped Mountainside with additional points.

All this indivual effort brings us to the team awards. Mountainside went pedal to pedal with Bikesport for 1st place in the Cross Country Series and the Endurance Series. After tallying all race points, Mountainside took 2nd to Bikesport in Cross Country and 1st in the Small Team Endurance Series for an overall 2nd place in the Endurance Series, which includes all the big teams.All team members agreed that we gave it our best and applaud Bikesport for their 1st place finish. Now that the dust on the trails has settled, next year's goal is within site - 1st place!

Written by Melissa Mertz

Photos by Chad Cherefko

Duathlon - Troegs Greenbelt Ride/Harrisburg Mile

2011-08-17T10:08:00.005-04:00

Janice stormed through the pack at the impromptu duathlon that included a Greenbelt ride from Troegs and finished up with the Harrisburg Mile. In a strong women's field she took a third place in the Mile!

Midnight in Milford Mills

2011-07-25T10:54:00.001-04:00

Race Report by Sally McClain

Thunder rolled and lightening streaked across the dusky sky over Marsh Creek, just as Mike L., Andy, and Sally pulled in to race XC #8 of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series.

As the rain poured down, thoughts of 'it was a dark and stormy night...' horror stories went through their minds. Fortunately the severe weather only lasted for a short while and the 98 degree air cooled off considerably, a welcome change that didn't stick around long enough, with the humidity intensifying.

Since the storm caused a 30 minute delay to the 9:15 p.m. start time, the Mountainside racers took their time rigging up lights and prepping for battle.

Once the clock started, a great contest ensued for Sally with Amy Breyla of Team C3 Athletes serving Athletes. The two exchanged places throughout the 19 mile course, each suffering a crash, and then back at it again. It looked like it would end in a sprint finish, but Amy washed in a turn on the final lap. Sally took the advantage to finish ahead as 4th overall Elite Woman and 2nd place for the Elite Women's 40+ class.

Meantime, Andy and Mike took on the Men's Open Elite Field that is completely stacked with wickedly fast racers, including themselves. They both tore it up and spanked the course, despite each of them suffering some light malfunctions, of which caused Andy to be edged out of the top 10 into a strong 11th Place finish and Mike in 17th.

The Mountainside Racing Team is currently in 1st Place for the 2011 MASS Team Cup XC Competition, as well as 1st Place for the Team Endurance Series. There are only 3 XC races left in the series and the Team shows no sign of letting up.

Thanks to all our Sponsors for allowing all the fun and excitement to stay alive !!

Wednesday Night Ride - Greenbelt

2011-07-01T18:24:00.001-04:00

From Sally:

Mike, Janice, me, Mark, Jen Kulas, and friends rode Greenbelt for our weekly Wed ride. Too bad Troegs wasn't open.

Keystone Warrior Triathlon - June 11

2011-06-20T18:47:00.003-04:00

Kera took 3rd place in her age group at the Keystone Warrior Triathlon on June 11.
Mark had an unfortunate tire incident right away on the bike that forced him out of the race.

Stoopid 50, June 12, 2011

2011-06-15T10:43:00.005-04:00

Andy at the start

Congratulations to Melissa (Missy) Mertz for her awsome 7th place finish in the Open Women catagory at this years running of the Stoopid 50 - proving that she belongs racing against the best in the Mid-Atlantic!

Mike F.

Mike Funk had a great 6th place in the Master Men catagory and Andy finally got going after a slow start for a 16th overall, 13th in Open Men. Mountainside Racing was greeted by mostly good weather for this years running of the Stoopid 50 - except that little thunder banger and deluge about halfway through the race, but who even noticed ...

For full results:

http://www.midatlantictiming.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=163&Itemid=1

Photos by Ken Roth

Mountainside Bike Swap

2011-06-08T21:46:00.004-04:00

Mike and Kera manning the food table at the bike swap!

Many thanks to Mark and Janice for all their help with the food and beverages - all proceeds go to the Mountainside Racing team.

Greenbelt Ride Follow Up

2011-06-08T21:40:00.005-04:00

We had another great turnout for the Greenbelt ride on May 14, despite the threatening weather. Many thanks to Troegs for hosting us in their parking lot!

I forgot my camera, and these pitiful ones were taken with my phone towards the end of the post ride festivities.

Mountainside Ski & Sports Bike Swap

2011-05-15T20:11:00.000-04:00

2011 BIKE SWAP & SALE

SATURDAY JUNE 4, 2011

SELLERS: BRING BIKES AND RELATED ITEMS TO MOUNTAINSIDE BEGINNING WEDNESDAY JUNE 1st THRU SATURDAY AM

WE WILL HELP YOU PRICE AND TAG ITEMS FOR SALE ON SATURDAY.

YOUR CHOICE OF 100% STORE CREDIT OR A 20% COMMISSION (BENEFITS THE SKI ROUNDTOP SKI PATROL) WILL BE DEDUCTED AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A CHECK VIA MAIL.

ITEMS NOT SOLD MUST BE PICKED UP BY 5PM SATURDAY.

UNCLAIMED ITEMS WILL BE DONATED.

BUYERS: SALE HOURS ARE 9AM UNTIL 4PM

CASH OR CHECK ONLY FOR USED BIKES AND EQUIPMENT

MANY OTHER BIKES ON SALE INSIDE THE STORE

CALL 717-697-2063 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

French Creek Videos

2011-05-15T19:42:00.003-04:00

Chad

Dave

Mike L.

Mike F.

Mike F.

French Creek Race Report

2011-05-13T13:22:00.018-04:00

Our first note from the French Creek race is to wish a speedy and safe recovery to our friend and teammate Dave McClain. Dave endured a tough crash while racing Saturday and fractured his jaw in 3 places. Our thoughts are with the McClain family and we look forward to having Dave back in the saddle again soon.

Unfortunately, due to Dave's incident Sally was unable to tear up the women's elite field. No doubt Sally would have done extremely well, since she bears the title "Queen of the Technical Downhill". The McClain boys represented the family well as Kyle took 7th in the Junior 13-15 race and younger brother Keenan swept up 3rd place in the Under 13 class.

The Mountainside men had a stellar day. Andy Hoover again prooved his incredible level of endurance as he hammered out another 1st place finish in the men's 6-hour endurance race. He finished a solid 3 minutes ahead of second place. One begins to wonder if he doesn't have a 3rd lung. Congrats Andy!

And being no stranger to 1st place finishes, Mike Funk nailed another top podium finish by winning the Expert Men's 50+ class with a time of 2:221:52. We think he hides his cape in the trunk of his car ... yeah that car over there. Awesome racing Mike!

Although his main job involves reeking havoc in the Men's Expert 19-39 class, Chad also found time to be team photographer. Chad had another awesome race this past Saturday as he placed 6th out of 26 expert riders. Don't let that knee brace fool anyone ... he is one fast dude!

Leader on and off the course, Mike Laub once again showed his mad skills by finishing 11th in the Elite Men's division. Mike had a great race on Saturday and proved it by leaving behind 15 elite riders. It appears as if he didn't even break a sweat doing it. You da man Mike!

A picture is worth 1,00 words. Although hoping for a better finish, Melissa was able to pull off 9th, just missing 8th by 2 seconds in the Women's Elite U-40 class.

In the Men's Sport division Craig Shambaugh knocked down 18th place on a very fun, but technical course. Word is someone heard Craig mumbling that there were not enough bridges. Don't worry folks, he's on it.

Why wouldn't he be smiling?? It was a beautiful day to be racing and Ben Moore took 23rd in the Men's Sport division. Nice job Ben!

A special thanks to Janice, Judd and Jen who provided great team support to all the racers.

Race report written by: Melissa Mertz

Photos by: Chad Cherefko

Granogue, May 1

2011-05-03T08:23:00.021-04:00

Mountainside Racing had a great day this past Sunday at the MASS race at Granogue. Weather was excellent for a change and the course conditions were only slightly on the wet side. Judd and Jen Kulas were there in the feed zone providing great support for the racers.

Sally with the hammer down!

Starting bright and early at 8:45am, Andy and Missy raced the enduro and Dave McClain entered the Sport Men catagory. Andy finished 6 laps and came away with the the win over a strong field. In the early laps he had to fend off the pesky Fast Forward duo of Dan Rapp and Zach Adams. As the race wore on they couldn't hold Andy's pace and dropped off letting Les Leach take up the fight. In the end he didn't have enough to contend with Andy and settled for second. Missy finished a great 6th in her first Elite Womens enduro!

Chad leading the charge!

At 11am Chad, Sally, Mike F. and I went off in the Elite and Expert field for 3 laps. Mike F. came away with a great win in Master Expert, Sally and Chad also represented very well with Sally finishing 2nd in the Elite Women 40+ and Chad ending up with a 6th overall. I was fortunate enough to just squeak into the money, it's great when they pay 20-deep!

The whole McClain clan was there and Keenan had much better luck than his brother, finishing second in his junior race. Kyle came back early with a flat rear tire, Dave's going to have to upgrade to tubeless. Janice also came along for support still not fully recovered from her bronchitis. She managed to make an 8 mile ride into 16 miles when she got lost coming back from Trader Joes, a necessary trip after someone forgot the burgers for the post-race barbeque.

Full race results can be found at: http://www.midatlantictiming.com/

Mike F.

Andy

Sally

* All photos by Dennis Smith

it's rodeo time!

2011-04-26T09:22:00.002-04:00

Have any friends with kids in my neck of the woods? Send them to our little bike rodeo. The kids will love it.
-----

For Immediate Release:

Shippensburg University Cycling Announces Youth Bike Rodeo

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania – April 26, 2010 – On Friday, April 29, 2010, Shippensburg University Cycling will host the Fifth Semi-Annual Spring/Fall Youth Bike Rodeo. Intended for children in Kindergarten through fifth grades, the event will include activities such as helmet fitting, minor bicycle maintenance, bicycle fitting, safety tips, and a skills-testing obstacle course. The event begins at 4:00 pm and will continue until 5:30 pm.

The rodeo will be held on the Shippensburg University campus, in the Queen St. commuter parking lot at the corner of Queen St. and Richard Ave. While there will be no adult specific activities, parents are encouraged to stay and participate. All participants should bring a bicycle and wear a helmet.

This event builds off the success of previous SU Cycling Team sponsored youth bike rodeos. Thirty to forty children participated in each event.

About Shippensburg University Cycling: Shippensburg University Cycling is organized as a university club sport. The mission of Shippensburg University Cycling is to promote cycling socially as well as to prepare athletes for collegiate competition.

Ship Cycling competes in road and mountain bike events in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (collegiatecycling.org/eccc) under the auspices of USA Cycling (usacycling.org). The team is funded by the University Student Senate as well as the generous support of area businesses including Sunrise Computers and Electronics (www.digitalsunrise.com), The Carlisle Group (tcgrecruit.com), Mountainside Ski & Sport (www.mountainsideski-sports.com) and Wertner Signs (www.wertnersigns.com/).

The team holds regular training rides, open to all area cyclists, in the rural farmland and mountainous terrain of Cumberland and Franklin Counties.

For more information on the Shippensburg University Cycling Team, please contact Nathan Goates, faculty advisor (nwgoates@ship.edu), Matt Conroy, club president (mc3923@ship.edu), or visit our blog at shipcycling.blogspot.com.

CONTACT:
Dr. Nathan Goates
Shippensburg University
717-477-1214
nwgoates@ship.edu
http://webspace.ship.edu/cycling/

# # #

Fair Hill Race Report

2011-04-14T09:22:00.001-04:00

Mountainside Racing came out last Sunday with 10 team members representing with the red and white. The classes were stacked, some 80 deep. This made for a difficult fight to the front of the pack. Sally succeeded for 2nd place. Mike Funk placed 4th. Chad held top 10 til cramps put him in 12th. Everyone else fell somewhere in the middle. Overall it was a fair day at Fair Hill.

-By Sally McClain-

intergalatic farming

2011-04-07T07:36:00.000-04:00

Trying to stay warm between laps at the MASS relay on Saturday.

Marysville Farm - Wednesday Rides & Trail Clean Up

2011-03-24T13:04:00.001-04:00

From our team captain:

We are planning on starting up the Wednesday evening farm rides again … and getting together at Al's of Hampton afterwards, of course.

With the MASS relay on Saturday, April 2nd, the trails are in need of some clean-up. I talked with Mike Kuhn last night and he is planning on being at the farm next Thursday/Friday getting ready for the race. I would like to get started on some trail work earlier next week. Please let me know if you would be available for a couple hours any evening next week to help. If we can get the trails rideable earlier, we can start our regular rides next Wednesday evening.

If you can help with trail clean up, please contact Mike Laub.

Look who made it on cyclingnews.com!

2011-03-09T12:00:00.003-05:00

(You may not be able to read the fine print above.... the above photo was taken by Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net)

Virginia Off Road Series getting underway

By: Cycling News
Published: March 8, 20:15,
Updated: March 8, 21:41

Rain delays start of state-wide mountain bike series

The 2011 Virginia Off Road Series is getting off to a slightly later than planned start after wet, rainy weather postponed the first round, which had been scheduled for March 6. Nonetheless, the series will go forward, starting on March 13, still with a planned 27 races participating.

The Camp Hilbert opener has been postponed until April 10 although there's no word yet on when the second Camp Hilbert event, originally set for that date, will be rescheduled.

The series has grown in recent years, with the including of longstanding, well-known regional events like the Massanutten Hoo Ha! in Harrisonburg, Virginia; the Middle Mountain Momma near Clifton Forge, Virginia; and the oldest race in the state, the Tidewater Challenge, in Williamsburg, Virginia.

"We enjoy creating relationships and keeping them alive year after year," said George Willetts, part of the Massanutten Hoo Ha! race organization upon discussing its inclusion into the VORS. The race is also part of the West Virginia Mountain Bike Series (WVMBA) and is a US Cup Triple Crown-affiliated event. It will offer cross country, super D and short track events.

The Virginia series covers events throughout the state, also visiting Danville, Maidens, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Bedford, Quantico, Culpepper, Damascus, St. George, Wintergreen and Wakefield.

Find out more information on the series or specific events.

Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

2011 tree and farm race

2011-02-11T11:39:00.005-05:00

Announcing...

SHIP CYCLING'S SECOND ANNUAL TREE AND FARM RACE

FEBRUARY 19, 9:00 AM

Location: Meet at Southhampton Township Park near Shippensburg.

Description: Forty-nine miles gallivanting around southwestern Cumberland County.

(Click here for an interactive map w/ elevation profile.)

This "race" (we'll probably only end up really racing over the last 5-10 miles or so) is our annual unofficial kickoff to the collegiate season. The ECCC starts its season on the first weekend of March, but since the ACCC generally runs a race on the previous weekend, The Tree and Farm Race goes off on the third weekend of February.

Usually cold, usually windy, sometimes snowy, completing this course is no Sunday stroll. The route offers a survey of wonderful riding southeastern Cumberland County has to offer, with a survey of Mennonite farm lands, Pennsylvania game lands, and the edge of two Pennsylvania state forests.

Unless you plan on never leaving the wheel of someone who knows the course well, you'll want a cue sheet (provided at start) tied to your top tube. The course meanders along all manner of rural farm road, peppered with two sections of loose cinder rail-trail and about a half mile of double-track (if the snow is clear, otherwise we'll take an all-paved detour around these sections), though nothing is too intense for standard 23mm road tires at typical pressure. What with the weather and the terrain, it's our way of giving nod to the spring races across the pond.

And if you're not game for the whole thing, don't worry, the course offers plenty of opportunities to bail and head for the comfort of home or car. (However, packing your own map is recommended.)

The "race" starts at Southampton Township Park. It finishes at the top of Strohm road (the high point of the TNR course) at the "M & M Roofing" sign.

A view of the finish from the rider's perspective. The finish is at the white elbow sign which reads "M & M Roofing."

PAST WINNERS

2010: Jon Marshall (1st), Dr. Goatesauce (2nd), Tim Cusick (3rd) ... limp chicken award (last-placed finisher): Rider Big E.

***IMPORTANT***

We call this a "race," but it's really just a bunch of guys and gals out looking for a good time on a cold Saturday morning. We race, yes, and there's usually a little something fun for the first finishers, but there are no entry fees, no waivers, and therefore no whining if something bad happens to you while on this ride (like you crash and break your carbon frame or someone insults your girlfriend). If you're the kind of person that doesn't play well with others, please don't come. This non-event event is for non-fun-haters only.

For more about Ship Cycling, please visit us on the web.

Mountainside Ski & Sport is a proud sponsor of Ship Cycling.

Tuesday Night Rides at Swatara

2010-11-02T13:53:00.002-04:00

From Brian A. with SAMBA:

Well the time has come for the Tuesday night ride at Swatara Park. SAMBA has secured an agreement to allow night riding on Tuesday nights only with DCNR. Other then that it is illegal to use the park after dark. The ride leaves the parking lot at 6:30 pm this Tuesday, November 2nd and at 6pm every Tuesday after. Here are the rules: a good light is a must have and no solo rides.

Afterwords some riders will be heading to Al's of Hampden for food and beer.

iron cross viii

2010-10-24T20:57:00.004-04:00

A lot of Mountainside riders came out for some Iron Cross goodness a couple of weekends ago. Let's see... Laub and Janice and Craig and McClain (Dave was there, Sally was sick) and me. That's a pretty good showing.

Laub had the team's best finish. I'm not sure how he finished overall, but it was good enough for third on the old folk's podium and some enviable hardware:

Nice work, man.

All I got was a two ounce bottle of Stan's.

And then this kid was there:

Though he's wearing the trappings of a finisher, I suspect some flavor of fraud. No one dresses like that at a bike race.

cross is boss

2010-10-08T22:53:00.002-04:00

BCA Cross down at Fort Ritchie last weekend...

...it was a sloppy mess for the early races, but by noon it was mostly peanut butter, with just a few sections of major slop.

I was set up for a nice sixth or seventh place finish, but with 1.5 laps to go, just after having come around a guy, I overcooked a turn that put us both sprawling on the ground. The demands of sportsmanship (and shame) required that I make sure the guy I wrecked was cool and on his way before I looked out for myself...and with a dropped chain and a jammed canti it was another 20 seconds or so before I was rolling. Cost me enough time to drop me to an eleventh place finish. Bummer...

Anyhoo, you might notice in the photo that I'm rolling on the new S-Works Crux. From Mountainside. :-) Lovely, lovely rig. With my road wheels/tires it weighs in at 16.25 lbs. (I haven't weighed it yet with CX wheels/tires.)

What you don't quite see is that I'm also riding my new tubies, the first I've glued myself, and a front wheel I built from scratch. I'm very proud.

Next up: Iron Cross VIII

(Photo courtesy of Bruce Buckley. Thanks, Bruce.)

Greenbelt Ride

2010-09-27T10:07:00.004-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day for the Greenbelt ride. We had a great turnout. Thanks to everyone for coming out! And special thanks to one of our sponsors, Troegs Brewery, for allowing us to set up our tents and grills in their parking lot, as well as for the generous donation of a case of their beer.

Greenbelt Ride

2010-09-09T20:39:00.003-04:00

Ride the Greenbelt!
Saturday, September 25
Ride Starts at 10am
Start/Finish at Troegs Brewery (800 Paxton Street, Harrisburg)

Hosted by: Mountainside Ski & Sports Racing Team and Troegs Brewery

Ride Info:

A Group - fast pace, will ride entire loop
B Group - moderate pace, will ride most of the loop
C Group - casual pace, will ride a portion of the loop

You MUST wear a helmet.

No rider will be left behind.

We will have the Mountainside Racing team tent setup as well as a grill. Bring a chair and food to share for after the ride.

Troegs tour and tasting opens at 12pm.

Please let us know in advance which group ride you will be joining so we can plan accordingly. Contact Kera at keragault@yahoo.com.

There is no fee to join the ride. And there's no fee for the Troegs tour. But if you want to buy some beer, bring some cash.

goatapalooza 2010 (or what mountainside riders do when not racing)

2010-09-01T08:46:00.007-04:00

Dr. Goatesauce has laid little tread on PA trails this summer, but he's spent plenty of time on the bike. The yoddling of my immigrant Swiss ancesters rang too loud in my ears, so I took my little goatherd home to the rough high desert landscapes of my forefathers, and I rode my bikes all over them. Now you're going to have to endure pictures.

The Goatmobile (our new swagger wagon) prepped for the trip. The two small wheels at the front of that heap atop the roof are the back wheels of our jogger stroller. The box is loaded with camping gear. The back is loaded with all the crap you have to take along on a six-week family road trip. And the seats will soon be loaded with the five of us: N (36), V (36), A (12), M (8), and R (1).

First night was spent in Indiana, second in Rochchester, MN. Then the Badlands (a pre-dawn ride through Badlands NP remains a trip highlight), and the next day at Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills. An early morning ride through Custer State Park was interrupted by a full-on buffalo orgy spilling out over the highway. I counted 65 buffs, but there could have easily been double that number.

After spending nine or ten days in Idaho Falls, which included a wonderfully adventurous 72-mile road ride (30 some miles of which was over unpaved USFS road), and an mtb misadventure where I fell (sort of head/shoulders first) down an eight-foot embankment into essentially a trough of cow dung, we made it to Boise, where I grew up. At dawn the next day I rode across town and up the gravel road to Table Rock, a table-like bluff situated prominently in the foothills just east of the city.

A favorite ride for Boise folk is the 16-mile jaunt from the city to the base of Bogus Basin Ski Resort, a climb of about 3500'. As I climbed the road I got to wondering if there was an all-dirt way to get to the ski station; not just the lower lodge, where we ride our road bikes, but all the way to the 7,500' peak of Shaffer Butte. A few days later I found it. An estimated 4800' net elevation gain in a more or less steady climb. On the day, probably more like 6000' gross elevation. It was a dee-light-full ride. (Punctuated with the obligatory shot of my ride atop the summit.)

After a week in Boise, we were back in Idaho Falls, then to Utah for a week in and around the Wasatch Front. A friend took me on a lovely five-hour mtb ride; a true loop, we never rode the same trail twice. I wish I knew the names of all the trails. We started high in Millcreek Canyon, crossed the ridge into the Canyons Resort, meandered south near the 8000' line into Park City Resort, then climbed back up the ridge at Guardsman's Pass (Big Cottonwood Canyon), rode north along a section of the Great Western Trail, and then eventually descended back to the upper Millcreek trail head. Those Wasatch trails are such a pleasure. I'm very, very jealous.

There was other great mountain biking in Utah--the Draper foothill trails, Strawberry Reservoir, the Snow Basin area above Ogden--but I had to pull the road bike from the quiver once more in Utah Co., my sense of nostalgia for the dense aspen forests of the Alpine Loop being too strong to resist. (Also, last time I mountain biked in American Fork Canyon--three years ago--I broke my collarbone. So I chose the road this time...)

On the way home we made stops in both Grand Junction and Colorado Springs, Co. (two Colorado towns whose names those in-the-know shorten with casual non-proper noun type appellations--"The Junction" and "The Springs"...and now you know). In The Springs, after a morning mtb jaunt through Palmer Park, a friend took me up "The Incline." Fifteen years of visiting Colorado Springs and I had no idea this existed. But it's awesome. Two thousand feet of elevation over an average grade of 41% (max grade 68%). There used to be rails, apparently, and a cable car-style car that took people to some kind of lookout/resort atop the hill. But that closed in 1990, and now people (including me) illegally access and climb the old rail line. Apparently the Incline is a favorite winter training playground for Olympic athletes, presumably when there's no snow.

I enjoyed my walk up. I even ran the last 50 feet or so. But I took the trail down.

Yeah, so that's what this Mountainside rider does when not racing (poses his bikes for photos atop mountains).

And now its September.

And September means cross.

And cross is boss.

So get excited! (My excitement has led to extravagantly placing an order for a new Specialized Crux S-Works. I'm excited! But not brave enough to tell my wife. Yet.)

Keystone State Triathlon

2010-08-31T21:49:00.004-04:00

Sunday, August 29
Keystone State Triathlon at Gifford Pinchot State Park
Representing Mountainside Racing: Mark Ritter, Brent Shultz, Kera Daily

(Brent, Kera, Mark, Dan Reese)

Race Results:

Brent - 2nd Men 50-54, 25th Overall Men (1:46:04)
Mark - 19th Overall Men (1:42:31)
Kera - 2nd Women 30-34, 14th Overall Women (2:02:25)

Brigantine Island Triathlon

2010-08-11T23:00:00.003-04:00

Another tri under my race belt.

August 7 - Brigantine, NJ

Total Time: 1:30:16

Race report can be found on my blog.

Mini-Mussel Triathlon

2010-07-14T20:10:00.002-04:00

I was sporting the Mountainside tri jersey in Geneva, NY, last weekend at the Mini-Mussel Triathlon. I am very happy with my times and placing.

850 yard swim = 15:39 (2:05 pace)
18 mile bike = 51:58 (18.9 pace) - 12th in age, 57th all females, 239th overall (out 0f 800!)
3.2 mile run = 29:41 (9:17 pace)

I placed 18th in my age group (30-34 years) out of 55.
99 out of 365 females.
316 overall out of 800 racers.

PAValleys.com MASS Festival Weekend

2010-07-02T08:51:00.034-04:00

Every 15 years, the course that looks like a big plate of spaghetti from the sky, loses a few meatballs. Not even this massive logging occurrence could stop Mike Kuhn from putting on the 7th annual Marysville Festival Weekend at the Oesterling Farm.

When the Mountainside Race Team heard the word, they along with various other passionate racers stepped up to the plate to clear cut what was left of the debris strewn trails, and even made time to cut in some new ones. With these team efforts, 3 miles of trail 5 weeks before the race evolved into over 7 miles of tight twisty log hopping rip roaring fun! 54 logs to be exact!

And so it was, 3 days, 3 stages, and 1 extremely hot weekend. The weather wasn't the only thing rating high on the temperature scale though. Mountainside Racing represented with 3 red hot teams, plus Andy, who raced solo, had 1 red ...well let's just say the saddle left it's mark.

If you haven't raced or came out to spectate at the Oesterling Farm you are really missing out!

Here's how it works...

Stage 1: Friday (Night time team/solo time trial)

9:15 p.m. racers sent off in 1 minute intervals armed with lights on helmets and handle bars to tackle a technical 3.25 mile course. Teammates must start and finish together. All of the Mountainside Race Teams finished up in the top 10 around 10:30 p.m. and headed home for some sleep. Stage 2: Saturday (8 hour Solo & Team Relay)

Solo riders cruise the 7.5 mile course solely supported, while teams alternate riders in order. The most laps in the shortest amount of time within the 8 hour parameter wins. Andy Hoover ripped up the course that he so painstakingly cleared and won 2nd place out of 32 solo male racers. Sally McClain and Mike Laub won 3rd place for the Coed Duo division. Craig Thompson, Dave McClain, and Craig Shambaugh won 5th in the 3 Man Master division. Nathan Goates and Tammy Gantz were scored as 1st for a Master Class Coed Duo, LOL...long story there.

(A true master duo accepting award for Nathan and Tammy the alleged master duo)
Stage 3: Sunday (Short Track XC)

Solos red lined for 30 minutes, while Teams had 1 hour to rack up as many laps as they could while alternating teammates each lap. Once again Team Mountainside Racing cracked the top 10. No doubt due in part to one of our sponsors Dave and Melissa Miller of Miller & Miller Law Firm, LLC coming out in the high heat with their two beautiful children to cheer us on!! Thank you for your strong support!

Overall for the weekend Andy was our big winner. He finished 3rd for his division and 3rd for the GC, even though a results screw-up robbed him of his glory. Mike and Sally were 4th in their division and 8th in the GC combined Duos. Craig, Dave, and Craig finished in 5th for division, and 7th for GC.

Of course the weekend is not complete without mentioning another serious competition that occurs. Yes, there is the slow down hill race, the tricycle slalom, the kids race and scavenger hunt, but I'm talking about the ever popular huffy toss. A true test of grit and might, and hopefully a really good bounce. This year we lofted the 55 lb. bike down a small hill. Gravity did not make the throw any easier, but it did make for some spectacular landings! Much pressure was on Craig Thompson as the 2009 reigning champ. He led off with the first toss of the competition. Only a few could come close to matching his distance, but none could surpass it. So Craig prevails as Huffy Tossing Champ 2010. But wait there's more....drum roll please for the Ladies Champ...with the bike weighing half her weight, 5 ft. not even quite 1 inch Sally McClain. Yes you heard it right, Sally had the farthest ladies throw and now covets the Ladies Huffy Toss Champ title for 2010.

Thank you to our sponsors and all who make the team happen!

Funk is on a Tear!

2010-05-17T09:00:00.005-04:00

Mike Funk came out and decimated the Master Expert field for the second week in a row! The second win on his new bike, or is it really a rocketship in disguise - you be the judge.

Despite nursing a cold all week Mike rode strong on by far the roughest most gnarly course on the MASS circuit. The Cascade Classic is three laps of an 8 mile course, normally a rather mundane distance for an XC race. However, with mostly rough singletrack and a ton of climbing coupled with wet conditions, lap times were well over an hour. Mike came in at 3 hours 35 minutes, a whopping 13 minutes faster than his nearest competitor! All the results for the Cascade Classic can be found at:

http://www.midatlantictiming.com/MAT/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=1

Tour de Tykes

2010-04-20T19:03:00.003-04:00

How many of you know, if you're going to host a mountain bike race, it's always a good idea to try and stage it next to a hospital...Fortunately, none of the Mountainside Racing Team landed themselves in the Geisinger Medical Center on race day. Then again, Nathan wasn't racing with us either that day :)

The Tour de Tykes race in Danville,PA held last Sunday was the 2nd XC race in the Mid Atlantic Super Series(MASS). Typically held in June, when the temperatures have soared close to 100 degrees several years in a row, the cool 40's of April were a welcomed change for those of us who don't tolerate high heat racing. The venue is also a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network, so you know sponsor's money via race fees are well spent.

Spent is also the feeling you get after climbing 4500 vertical feet crammed into 19 miles. Or rather, 18.5 for those of you who are lucky enough to have age as an excuse to get out of that last killer powerline climb, no names mentioned, hhmm, Funkmaster Mike.

Regardless of the distance pedaled, 19, 18.5, or 13 for our Sport riders, it's a true test of cardio fitness. Once again, the Mountainside Racing Team proved they are up for the challenge.

With strong team representation, came strong results, and faster times than previous years.

Elite Open: Andy H- 9th; Mike L- beating up on the young bucks for 21st
Expert Master 2: Mike F- 2nd
Elite Women's 40+: Sally M- 2nd; Janice M- 4th
Sport Master 1: Dave M- 6th

Great idea to schedule the team picnic the day before! With all that power packed food came the right fuel to power our day! Thanks to all!!

Mountainside Racing Team Party

2010-04-19T18:55:00.002-04:00

Saturday was a chilly and windy day for an outdoor gathering, but most of us donned our winter apparel (although some were in flip flops?) and showed up at Mountainside Ski & Sports ready for some grilled grub. The Master Griller, Mike, was a tad bit late for the party because he got a little side tracked while visiting one of our sponsors - Troegs Brewing Company. Rumor has it he was "like a kid in a candy store."

We ate, the kids played, we all tried to squeeze into a small sunny spot to stay warm, then when Mountainside closed its doors to the public we all went it to drool over bikes. And keep warm.

Last year's party was unseasonably hot, this year's party was unseasonably cold. That means next year will be just right.

Thanks to everyone for coming out on a less than stellar weather day. As always, it was nice catching up with everyone. And I finally got to meet Dr. Goatsauce, who is now my 6 year old daughter's favorite person.

MS 150: Team Mountainside

2010-04-15T19:23:00.002-04:00

Team Mountainside is seeking new and past members
for the 2010 MS Bike Ride
July 24 & 25
Millersville

A ride designed for all level of cyclists with the Central PA Chapter's annual MS Bike Ride starting from Millersville University. Cyclists will be treated to top-notch support along the route, including rest stops, SAG vehicles, medical assistance, and bike repair.

Contact Team Captain Ed Hirshman
at GREENLANE2006@MSN.COM (Subject - use - MS Tour)

We can link you up for electronic registration or stop in at the store for information.

Come ride with Captain eddie as this will be his 20^th year and will be retiring from this annual event this year.

if there's no blood, then it's not mountain biking

2010-04-11T20:57:00.003-04:00

The trophy I took home from The Mash:

That, and my triceps are so tired it still hurts to straighten my arms.

...

It was a busy day. I got home and had to immediately jump into parental mode...no time for the ER until the afternoon/evening events were over, which included two hours of "Princess Ball"--waltzing, hustling, and bunny-hopping with my two princesses for the better part of the evening. Around 9:30, with kids in bed, I went to the ER. At 1:00 am, sleep. Finally.

(On a whim, I decided I'd try the Carlisle ER instead of Chambersburg. It was a good choice. FYI.)

...

Thanks for everyone's concern, but as I kept saying, it's just one of those wounds that looks worse than it is. Except that I still have a bit of a headache. But that might be from having to do the bunny-hop one too many times...

My biggest regret of the day? Not sticking around for another brat.

Mmm... B r a t w u r s t...

Michaux Mash

2010-04-11T16:26:00.012-04:00

The Michaux Masher is a fun early season event staged in the heart of the Michaux Forest. Racers come not to chase points or win cash prizes, but for the sheer joy of racing and the comradeship with friends and fellow racers they've missed over the off season. After the long snowy winter, it's a much welcomed way to showcase your areas of strength and bring out your weaknesses, all the while gaining a few more base miles before the official season begins.

This 4 hour endurance event offers a little bit of everything. There are lots of logs, tight twisty single track, banked turns, rippin (my personal favorite) downhills, fire roads for recovery, and even a long almost unending climb up Canada Hollow. Did I fail to mention the rocks? Well this is Michaux! Of course there are plenty of gnarly rocky sections. "A steady diet of rocks can be good for the soul"-Nathan Goates. The course is so great you get to ride it again, and again, and in fact, you can ride it for as many times as you want before the 4th hour counts down.

There were 4 categories to place in: Men's Open, Master Men (much debate about the criteria of a master man, '35+' so says the 21 yr old promoter), Women's Open, and Open Juniors (very very skilled juniors that is). Out of the 120+ racers that came out to the venue, the Mountainside Racing Team represented with their six Elite racers, four of which made it to the podium.

Andy H. completed 5 blistering laps for 2nd place in the Men's Open
Mike F. achieved 3rd in the Master's Men
Sally M. and Janice M. rounded off the Women's podium with 2nd and 3rd respectively, completing 4 laps, which was 1 more lap than last year's pace for each of them.

Mike L. had a nice finish placing 7th in Men's Open. Oh, and Nathan? Well, after he got up close and personal with some rocks on his first lap...actually trying to squeeze blood from them, only to find out it can't be done, yet finding out the opposite is true, rocks can squeeze blood from you...he managed to complete 4 laps while only having one eye to see from, grabbed some grub and headed to the...ER?

Afterwards, the food was spicy, the beer hoppy, and the grins huge. Given the preliminary results, looks like the Mountainside Racing Team proved they are in good form and ready to start a great season of racing. Now that's something to leap about, and I did!

Thanks to all our new and returning sponsors for making the fun possible!!

the relay at the farm

2010-04-09T08:30:00.015-04:00

The Farm.

I love that in Central Pee-Aay, amongst the mtb crowd, all you need to say for folks to know where you were and what you were riding is "The Farm." It's also one of those tells--code for "I'm in the know." Because if you know The Farm then you know something about the mid-Atlantic mountain biking racing scene. If you don't know The Farm, you need to get to know it.

For this rider, racing the team relay at The Farm--the official race name: 2010 PAValleys.com International Intergalactic Global Open Mountain Bike Team Relay Championship of the Universe Including the Anti-Matter One. (There, That Should About Cover It.)--means the unofficial start of race season (though this year I've already thrown down on the road a couple of times). A chance to test the legs, renew friendships with all your race buddies, break in new gear...you know, all that. And it's the official start to the MASS season, so there's that too.

Springtime...

...at The Farm...

...means...

...mountain bike racing.

The ambiance...

...brings out the characters.

Anyway...

For those that don't know, the relay works like this (sort of): You register a team of four. Each person rides one lap, tags the next in line, that person rides a lap, and so on. Teams ride as many laps in four hours as possible.

There are catagories, but everyone races together. Your team gets points for each lap completed, but you start off with extra points based on the demography of your team. Beginners are slotted extra points to start, women, young 'uns, old dudes, whatever... Create a handicap or bribe the promoters and you get more points.

Mountainside Racing registered two teams this year: "Mountainside A" with Craig Thompson, Chuck B., and Sally & Dave McClain. "Mountainside B 'Cause A sucks" with Mike Laub, Andy Hoover, Mike Funk, and The Good Doctor Goatsauce (if I'm going to write about it, I get to make up my own nicknames).

The B-teamers put in 16 laps and, without taking into account handicaps (because who knows how all that really works anyway), finished ninth on the day out of some 70+ teams. The A-teamers finished 14 laps...and I have no idea what place that put them in (but if you're so inclined, feel free to sort through the unordered results here). The team fastman for the day was Andy. In his third lap he posted a time of 13:49. (Frankly, I'm awe-struck by this. I don't know how you ride that fast without passing directly through tree trunks. MTBers with mad skillz dumbfound me.)

The scene before the start. There was a rumored Jonas Brother sighting. We all held our breath.

Mountainside riders prep, stew in juices, ponder the big questions (Do these socks match my helmet?)...

...and discuss race strategy (I'm going to hold my bottle up like this, squeeze, and totally spray dish soap in the eyes of anybody riding my wheel...no one's going to pass this bad mutha today).

The race begins with a LeMans style (run-to-your-bike) start. This assures that no one will enjoy the first three minutes of the race.

After the race, there was this:

And this:
And this:
Awesome. (The cheese was especially awesome. I mean, cheese is always awesome, but this cheese was special. Really.)

Thanks to Kuhn......and his family for making it all happen. And this year, with strong support from Hebe and Zack Adams. Thanks, all.

(And a special thanks to Don for the photos. They're all his. I ripped every one of them right off his website. Shamelessly.)

Mountainside Racing Team Party

2010-04-08T10:50:00.002-04:00

Saturday, April 17
3:00 p.m.
At Mountainside Ski & Sports

Please let Mark know if you will be attending.

We will have the grill fired but please bring a side dish or dessert. (Let Mark know what you're bringing so we don't have 8 pasta salads.)

Also, one of our generous sponsors, Troegs Brewing Company, has donated some beer to the party!

Trail Maintenance Help Needed!

2010-03-26T15:22:00.002-04:00

The Oesterling Farm is being logged and there's a good chance the trails will need cleaned up for the race on Saturday, April 3. Please help Mike Kuhn get the Farm ready on Friday, April 2.

If you have a chainsaw, leaf blower, or weed whacker, please bring it along.

Thanks!

Marysville Relay, April 3

2010-03-26T10:08:00.002-04:00

Team relay starts at 11am. The teams are, in order of start:

Mountainside Racing A

Craig

Chuck

Sally

Dave

Mountainside Racing B

Mike L.

Andy

Mike F.

Nathan

Mountainside Racing will have the team tent set up. Come out for food, fun and to cheer on the Mountainside team!

2010-03-18T09:39:00.002-04:00

Trail maintenance at Marysville... Wednesday, March 24 and Saturday, March 27.
Please bring a leaf blower and chain saw and whatever else necessary to get the trails ready for mountain biking. Need more info, please contact Mike Laub.

Road Ride - Saturday, March 20, from Fort Hunter going out to Gold Mine.
Mountain Biking - Sunday, March 21, 9am at Michaux
Contact Mike or Andy for more info.

Mike is registering two teams for the Marysville relay on April 3. If you want to be on one of the teams get in touch with Mike ASAP.

PACX Master 45+ Champion!

2009-12-30T09:13:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Joel Moats for bringing home the Pennsylvania Cyclocross Master 45+ Championship!

*Photo courtesy fo Don Pagano

Rockville Cyclocross Race Report

2009-12-14T09:33:00.002-05:00

By Joel Moats

Local cycling entreprenuer / young speedster Zach Adams, promoted another in a string of finely executed cycling events this past weekend with the Rockburn Cyclocross / PACX Series Final race held @ the Marysville Lion’s Club park along the Susquehanna river.

The Mountainside crew were on hand with the canopy complete with fire ring, brats and beverages. Mountainside racers on hand were Mike Laub, Kera, Craig, Brent and myself. Mike Funk swung thru to say “Hi” while he was out on a road ride with a couple of friends…couldn’t talk him into doing a lap on the road tires.

The race course was one of the more technically challenging that I remembered this year out of the 20 CX venues I suffered on. There were many off-camber turns and straights that were made much trickier by the cold, snow and let’s not forget----mud.

As the race progressed, I found myself not only dealing with the normal high energy suffering of cross, but also with trying to negotiate the course with no feeling in the fingers and toes…...a touch under dressed. There were also a couple of long straight sections for the powerhouses to get a gap. The feature of the course was the “Sunshine Granola” run / ride up, for those who want to show there manliness or womanliness as the case may be. Special surprises were verbally dangled to lure people into attempting to ride it.

My race in the Master’s event started with me on the front row alongside Kelly Cline / Wissahickon and Marc Vettori / C3…good company. I managed a good start with decent legs and tried to remain calm as we started the first of many sketchy sections. After the first few laps, I watched in vane as the gap to 3rd grew out of obtainable reach. Then ensued a battle with Don Kessel / Holmes and others for the next positions. Deteriorating conditions, crashes and bobbles, attacks and fading legs molded the rest of the race into the following order:

1- Marc Vettori
2 -Kelly Cline
3 -Joseph Piccillo
4 -Don Kessel
5 -Joe Lillibridge
6 -Sean Mealey
7 -Joel Moats
8 -N. Johan Anestad
9 -Mike Laub
10- Norman Brach
11 -Kevin Breckenmaker
12 -Douglass Gray
13 -Blake Bricker
14 -Aaron Holfelt
15 -Mark Wanco
16 -Dave Baumgardner
17 -Gary Snyder

Thanks for reading------Joel Moats

Rockville Cyclocross

2009-12-09T16:42:00.005-05:00

Saturday started off dry with a few flurries. By afternoon is was snowing and the race course turned into a slick, muddy mess.

Representing Mountainside Racing: Brent Shultz, Craig Thompson, Mike Laub, Kera Daily and Joel Moats.

Thanks to Joe Mallis for taking really great photos!

Rockville Bridge Cyclocross Classic

2009-11-11T22:34:00.003-05:00

December 5
Marysville, PA

Information can be found on bikereg.com and the race blog.

Cyclocross is back in Marysville! If you haven't tried 'cross yet here is a great opportunity without having to drive far. If you're not interested in racing, it is the best form of racing to spectate - you can see most of the course at once and it is always fast and furious! So come out and support our local cycling community and your Mountainside Race Team, we'll have a tent set up and the barbeque grill will be fired up so come out for an hour or make a day of it! Let Mike L. know if you plan to be there.

Wissahickon Cyclocross

2009-10-23T22:55:00.002-04:00

What a muddy race!

Brent raced C Men and placed 71 out of 86 starters. Kera raced B Women and finished 27 out of 34.

For a full race report, please visit Daily Dose.

Iron Cross Lite

2009-10-12T15:48:00.002-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day for cyclocross at Michaux. As usual, it was a fun course, complete with the Death Spiral.

Joel Moats had a great race taking 1st place in Men 45+.

Kera Daily raced Women Cat 1/2/3/4 (a little intimidating riding with the elite women!) and placed 13 out of 18.

Michaux Terror of Teaberry

2009-10-05T20:08:00.002-04:00

September 20th marked the day for the last in the Endurance Series at Michaux., the Terror of Teaberry. Mike Funk was the only team member to give the 40 miler a try. Always known to be the hardest of the 3 races it did not disappoint this year. The course had 2 big sections of new single track which were very challenging to say the least. After crashing 3 times, it turned into pure survival mode in the end. Finishing in 3rd Masters with a time of 5 hours and 30 minutes was not a bad way to finish XC racing for the year.

Marshman Triathlon 9-20-09

2009-09-23T14:29:00.004-04:00

Sunday was my first triathlon and I am happy with how it went. I had a great swim and bike, but unfortunately the run was a little troublesome for me. Five in my age group passed me on the run putting me 13th out of 40 in the Female 30-34 division.

My complete race report on the tri along with unattractive photos of me in a wetsuit can be found on Daily Dose. And another one at Donna's Dialogue.

Brent’s Tri Update

2009-09-20T21:33:00.012-04:00

It’s time to report on this season’s swim/bike/run adventures as it's almost ‘Cross season!

9/12/09 Lancaster YMCA Olympic Triathlon, .9 mile Swim, 26 mile Bike, 6.2 mile Run
This triathlon is held at Speedwell Forge Lake and has a hilly bike and a tough run through verdant Lancaster county farmland. The rain from an offshore storm lingered into the weekend we raced in a cool misty drizzle. I rode conservatively on the technical rain-drenched bike leg and slogged out the run to take 4th place in 50-54 age group. This tri reminded me of a ‘cross race after the freshly-cut grass transition area was quickly turned to muddy mire and all the gear was loaded with mud and grass!

7/19/09 Musselman Half Iron, Geneva NY, 1.2 mile / 56 mile /13.1 mile
This classic race has a Seneca Lake swim and a rolling bike through the beautiful Finger Lakes region and as a Long Course World’s qualifier attracted a very fast field. I finished 26th of 48 in the 50-54 age group with a strong swim (8th) and bike (15th) and a very sub-par run (39th), with a total time of 5:53:45. I’m OK with that result but looking forward to finding the magic fueling/hydration strategy and exploring my long course potential next year.

6/21/09 NAI CIR Harrisburg Triathlon, .8 mile / 14 mile / 3.1 mile
This race at City Island had a downstream river swim that was very fast this year due to high water, a flat out and back on Front St. to Ft. Hunter , and an 5K run across the Walnut St bridge. And apparently, new for this year, bacteria….. The City Island beach was closed the next day due to high levels of EColi. These bacteria must not be very good in the swim leg as to my knowledge nobody got sick.

The Mountainside Triathlon splinter group gave a strong showing, with Mark Ritter taking 4th of 20 in the 40-44 age group in 1:13:48. I was 3rd of 18 in 50-54 age group at 1:14:03. I was happy with 3rd but also think I might have tried shave off another 15 seconds had I seen Mark in front of me. Imagine the photo of a Mountainside sprint finish...

Bear Creek

2009-09-16T14:42:00.000-04:00

Joel's Race Report:

This past Sunday was the final race of the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Super Series. The M.A.S.S. ,as it’s known, is a sixteen event series with formats including cross country, short track, night XCTT, marathon, team relays and 24 hour races. Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, PA was the venue for the final race.The course was very rocky with sections similar to the upcoming Teaberry race in Michaux. Team mates Mike Funk and Craig Thompsen were also on hand to contest the day.

The rainy weather in the days leading up to the race had the trails fairly wet---basically the rocks were a slathered up mess. This made for some exciting descents and also made the technical climbs trickier.

Luckily, my rock-riding Mojo showed up and I was able to have a solid ride. As the our group of Masters left the start line, Mike Funk sped off with Jay Dodge(“theMark”) in tow like they were shot out of a cannon. I could see that Mike was giving Jay the business during the opening climbs of the course. I was somewhere around 5th as we entered the woods.

When we hit the first technical section, you could here alarm bells and wake up calls going off all over the place as tires searched for traction in the slick conditions. The trails offered roots, rocks, wooden bridges and tight rocky switchbacks all of which were becoming more slick with each passing lap. After eventually passing everyone who pulled away at the start, except for “the Mark”, I became locked into a battle with a rider from Shirk’s Team named Leif Lucas. He was climbing a little stronger than I was, but gaps opened up during the Rocks. During the last rocky sections of lap three and while wading thru the tail end of the Sport class, I twisted the throttle full open and was able to gain a minute lead and hold it to the end for 2nd place.

After the race, the series promoters awarded all of the Series winners there due rewards. Now begins the Cyclocross season for which I have been looking forward to all year!

Kenda Cup East, Windham, NY

2009-09-16T10:34:00.010-04:00

Second road trip in as many weeks brought me to Windham Mountain for the last of the US Cup races on the East Coast. I checked into my hotel about 4pm Friday afternoon, changed and headed out to the venue to pick up my packet and pre-ride the course. This was the second year in a row for me at Windham and having glanced at the course map on-line before I left I knew what to expect. This is an up the mountain for the first half lap and down the second half.

I picked up my packet and on the way out ran into Kelli Lusk, who is in charge of events at USA Cycling. I learned from her that the course had been shortened, like Mt. Snow the week before to comply with UCI regulations. To my disappointment they cut a good portion of the climb out to make the course about 3.6 miles long and after completing my first slow pre-ride lap in about 28 minutes I knew it was going to be a short race even with 4 laps. It turned out to be less than 1.5 hours on the bike ... for the second straight week.

My race went off Saturday morning at 8am so I was up at 6 and off to the local coffee shop for a triple shot americana and some oatmeal. While I was waiting for my coffee, I recognized a familair voice, looked around to see who it was. It was the race anouncer that was at Mt. Snow the weekend earlier. I said hello and he introduced himself as Bruce Dickman. I can see why he makes his living as an event anouncer, very outgoing personality!

I finished my breakfast and headed out to the course. The turnout wasn't very big and like Mt. Snow the promoters decided to combine several Cat. 1 age groups at the start. The under 40 group went off first and the 40+ after that. Unlike the previous weekend the promoters decided to go with leg markings so at least you knew who you were racing against. I was able to get a good start and had only a couple of the younger age group riders ahead as we went into the single track. I had a gap on Jim Frith, second place on the podium and winner of the East Coast US Cup, by the end of the first climb. I felt good and had a clean race for the win. One of the 45-49 guys that beat me, Ken Welch, sent me the podium pic below. None other than the afforementioned Bruce Dickman anounced the awards ... and let everyone know we had breakfast together, which must have been the motivation for my top spot on the podium, which was presented by an old Mountainside friend - Hodgie, who sends his best to Dave and all the gang at Mountainside.

Full Results for the US Cup can be found at:
http://www.uscup.net/index.php?results

Windham Results:

http://www.windhammountainbike.com/WindhamMountainBike.com/Yankee_Clipper_+_Kenda_Cup.html

Mount Snow

2009-08-11T10:14:00.002-04:00

The fifth round of the U.S. Cup was held this past weekend at Mount Snow. After a 6 hour drive on Friday I checked into my hotel and headed to the venue. This is the 4th year in a row that I've raced at Mount Snow so I have become quite familiar with the area and the course. I picked up my registration packet and at about 5pm went out for a lap pre-ride.

To my dismay they cut the course down about 2/3 the length from previous years to about 4.1 miles, taking about half the climb and a good bit of the fun, ripping single track downhill out. Along with a shortened course the laps were kept the same and now that I'm racing 50+ that meant 3 instead of 4 laps. Race pace for me was around 26-29 minutes per lap, ending up with an hour and 25 minutes for the race. The pros were doing 19 minute laps and many were getting pulled when they were close to getting lapped.

Going off at 8am on Saturday in a group of about 40 riders with all the age groups from 40+ made for a tricky start through the cattle shoots. It was great weather, though typical of Mount Snow it was very wet and muddy in the woods. I didn't have great legs, went into the single track in 10th and rode a steady race to a second place. Unfortunately, there was no way of telling who was in your age group since there weren't any leg markings - a practice that has been consistent this year. For full results check out the link below:

http://www.fasttrackcoaching.net/timing/Results/MOUNTSNOWMOUNTAINBIKEFESTIVALXCRESULTS.html

XC Nationals

2009-08-10T20:59:00.005-04:00

Joel's race report...

July 11th saw my family and I heading out to Granby, Colorado to combine a summer vacation with a chance to compete in the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country race.

We spent the first night in Aurora at a family friends house and after getting to sleep around 2 am, we headed out on the 2 hour drive to Winter Park. Iron Horse Resort adjacent to Winter Park would be our home away from home for the next 10 days. Winter park and the surrounding areas offer many outdoor activities. The ladies took several horseback trips from the YMCA of the Rockies. Greta takes lessons locally at the Blue Mountain Pony Club in Newville. We also frequented the Winter Park Resort downtown area for food and entertainment.

The riding was superb in the area with the highlights being a road ride to 11,300ft over Berthoud, a mtb ride to the North Cone at 12,600ft and a trail maze ride outside of Fraser. During our trip we saw lots of wildlife including deer, elk, coyotes, bear, marmots, snowshoe hares and mountain lion tracks in the snow at 12,00ft.

The bike racing was held at the Solvista Bike Park on Granby Ranch Resort in beautiful Granby, Co. Several local riders competed in different events including Cross Country, Short Track and Super D, with some placing very well. Mountainside Racing Team Leader Mike Laub placed 5th in his class in Saturday’s XC Race. My race did not go as planned, but I survived the elevation effect and completed the race.

Mike Laub on the podium (far left).

The Winter Park area makes a great summer vacation spot for the outdoors enthusiast.

The Curse of the Dark Hollow

2009-07-20T17:38:00.004-04:00

While Mike Laub and Joel Moats were out beating up on the West Coast riders, Sally McClain and Mike Funk enjoyed racing on some good ole East Coast gnarly single track at the Michaux Forest. The Curse of the Dark Hollow is the second race in the Michaux Endurance Series. It's the kind of race that almost certainly will take a toll on you one way or another. Unfortunately for Mike Funk a stick took out his derailleur and ended his 40 mile race 36 miles short. Sally managed to escape any curses in the hollow and rode consistent and strong to accomplish 2nd place. The third race in this series is the Terror of Teaberry on Sept. 20th. Look for Mike Funk to take out his revenge.

VisitPA.com MASS Festival Weekend (a stop on the Dirt Rag World Tour) at the Oesterling Farm in Marysville, PA (June 26-28, 2009)

2009-07-01T12:52:00.006-04:00

Driving up the lane of the beautiful Oesterling Farm for the 6th annual Marysville festival weekend you can feel the excitement in the air. You are immediately captured by a nostalgic smell, one that reminds you of past victories, defeats, training rides, countless hours of trail maintenance, and a heavy dose of fun all rolled into one. Let me assure you, whether you are a supporter or racer, Mike Kuhn does not disappoint when it comes to fun and the Oesterling family know how to make you feel comfortably at home.

Mike L.

There was a fresh new format for this year's festival weekend. The emphasis was on team and solo endurance racing. Mountainside Ski and Sports represented with 2 strong teams: Mountainside Racing A: Andy Hoover, Sally McClain, and Craig Thompson rocked the Tres Coed Division, and Mountainside Racing #1: Mike Laub, Mike Funk, and Joel Moats crushed the Tres Men Division. Janice Morris, who is deathly allergic to poison ivy, opted to sit this one out, but supported the team with food and cheers.

Sally

The Friday Night Time Trial, which in previous years was a 3 mile individual event, entailed a 7 mile loop that racers had to start and finish together with their teammates. Both Mountainside teams took off around 10:30 p.m. The long hot night ended with a cool breeze as Mountainside Racing A finished 1st in their division and Mountainside #1 finished 2nd in the Trio Men's category.

Joel

Saturday brought a 12 hour relay event over an 8+ mile course. It was the traditional technically difficult tight, twisty, rooted, log fest that we have come to love and call our "home turf." It came complete this year with some nice new tree tunnels, bees, snakes, heat, and a hefty dose of poison (excuse me while I pause to scratch). It had all the makings of a magnificent battlefield. And oh what an epic battle ensued between the Mountainside A coed trio and Zach Adam's blistering fast juniors team: Cycle Sports/Fast Forward Racing, which included Gunnar Bergey, Madison Matthews, and Jenny Lewis. Each team rotated racers, with Craig graciously accepting the role of Lemans start Champ (again!).

Joel

While the men trio of Mountainside #1 were cranking out incredibly fast laps and showing the venue how we roll with domination style, the Mountainside A team traded leads back and forth with the CS/FF juniors throughout the day. It was around lap 11, with the CS/FF in the lead by 10 minutes, that they decided to go for the win and made a tactical decision to pull their female racer, Jenny Lewis, from the race to let the guys try to solidify their lead. After 12 laps completed, Craig's girl friend Nicole, who thankfully kept the team organized with the clock and ready at the start, made a quick calculation and reported that if we wanted the win Craig will need to finish his 5th and final lap at a wicked fast pace in order to have time to send out another rider. Meantime Sally and Andy drew straws to decide who races the last lap if Craig makes it back in time. Andy came up with the short end of the stick which erupted into another kind of race...finding lights for Andy to race with. A big thank you to Rob Lichtenwalner and Lupine Lights for the helmet loaner, however, Andy insisited on a handle bar position. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Jr. Madison took off for his 6th and hopeful victory lap, 4 people scrambled to frantically attach a couple dozen zip ties to convert the helmet mount to a handle bar mount for Andy, and finally at the start we anxiously awaited Craig's arrival. Super charged on Red Bull, Craig was able to deliver and he blazed into the finish with 2 minutes to spare. Andy rocketed out for the dog fight to chase down Madison who was rumored to have his own light trouble. Pleads and glowers from desperate junior mom's to, "Call off your dogs, they're only kids!!" went ignored as the super fast "kid" surfaced through the spectator camp still holding the lead. It wouldn't be long though before Andy zoomed into view looking stronger and faster than the junior. We waited with bated breath during the next 10 minutes until the racers once again entered the spectator camp. This time it was Andy in the lead and huge cheers erupted from the Mountainside base camp. Although those cheers were quickly quelled when we realized Madison had cracked under the pressure, and with his supporters at his side he made a slow and painful walk back to his base camp. No words of encouragement could persuade him to finish, after 12+ hours and 51/2 laps he was ready to put his feet up, drink a soda, and chill. It was a valiant effort for the CS/FF juniors, and as they say, "Better luck next time kids!!" With 12 hours and 49 minutes on the clock, Andy cruised in to give Mountainside A team the victory with 14 laps. Team Mountainside #1 also held onto their domination factor by completing the most laps out of any team for the day with 15 laps in 12:28. Yes folks, that's how we roll! Truly a day worth toasting to!

Sally & Andy

Sunday offered the ever grueling STXC race. A 30 minute timed event that winds you around the pond and farmstead in a spectator friendly flurry. Only a few Mountainside team racers had the strength and courage to attempt this final event. All did so with a respectable finish time, Craig 7th/20 in the sport division, and Mike Laub 11th and Joel 13th out of 21 expert racers. The McClain boys even got in on the fun by racing each other around the STXC course in a vicious sibling smack down, with the younger coming away with the win.

Putting the cherry on the top for the weekend was the ever popular Huffy Toss. The winner of this event becomes a legend of strength, someone to fear in a dark alley. Beware of him on Red Bull, but our very own Craig "the new guy" Thompson took this bragging right home.

Craig

Please, don't miss out on the excitement next year! Pencil on your calendar the Marysville Festival Weekend for the end of June 2010. Come out and cheer on Mountainside Racing. You'll be greeted by big smiles and kindred spirits everywhere you turn.

Thanks to all our sponsors who make the team and the fun possible!!

Stoopid 50

2009-06-23T09:45:00.004-04:00

June 14, 2009

Tussey Mountain was the start of this years 50 mile marathon known as the Stoopid 50. Mike Funk, Janice Morris and I rolled up the dirt road with the pack of some 180+ riders for a very informal start.

Along with being in one of the prettiest areas of Pennsylvania, this race has some of the sweetest singletrack that can be found anywhere. This years race was set up a little differently than previous years with a good bit of double track and dirt road mixed in with some gnarly singletrack and something like 6500 feet of climbing.

Mike F. had a solid day finishing in 5:07 for 4th in the Masters catagory. Janice was on the bike for 6:28 after missing a turn and backtracking, costing her an additional hour. She still finished 1st Master Female and 7th Woman Overall. The first singletrack section was about 8 miles along the ridge. After a trip over the handlebars at around the 7 mile mark I settled into a long day in the saddle finishing in 4:50 and 18th overall.

Photos by: Leah A. Wasser

Full results and brief race recap can be found at:

http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm

Massanutten Hoo-Ha

2009-06-23T07:47:00.003-04:00

June 7, 2009

Janice and I travelled to Virginia for the weekend for the 21st annual Hoo-Ha. The 2-lap race was held on a course that covered 12.5 miles and took approximately an hour and 20 minutes to complete at race pace. The first 50 minutes was a gnarly single track climb with about 30 minutes of ripping sweet downhill. Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of level ground - one of the best race courses on the East Coast!

We arrived at around 4pm on Saturday and started our pre-ride. We reached the peak at around 5pm - right when the Super D was going off. Watching the pros come down through the rockiest section of downhill at race speed was impressive! Shawn Withers looked like he had a nice run going on his singlespeed. After waiting for the 50 or so Super D elite racers to go through we finished our pre-ride and headed for the hotel at the ski resort. The weather was beautiful and the resort is spectacular, definitely a place to go for a long weekend of riding and relaxing.

For guided rides through the region contact:
http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm

Race morning came and we were up late and made it to the venue with about 15 minutes to warm up. The pros went off and then everyone else a minute later. A mass start with everyone going off at once! This made for a very hectic first climb, having to work through a couple hundred riders on a very tough uphill that being in the woods, hadn't had a chance to dry out from the rains earlier in the week. I finally got clear about 3/4ths of the way up the climb. I enjoyed the decent to complete the first lap and then back up for 50 minutes. I finally caught the leader in my age group with about 10 minutes left to the top and had a steady ride down to hang on for the win. Janice ended up finishing 2nd in her catagory after being surprised at the mass start and starting last.

Results and pics by ITMexposures can be found at:
http://massresort.indigofiles.com/HooHa_09_results.PDF
http://www.itmexposures.com/Sports/805304

Pinchot Tri

2009-06-12T15:12:00.003-04:00

Brent and Mark both competed in the Pinchot Sprint Triathlon on June 7. Mark placed 5th in his age group with a total time of 1:40:33. Brent also placed 5th in his age group with a total time of 1:41:43.

Look at that spiffy Mountainside tri tank on Brent!

Complete race results can be found here.

National Champion!

2009-06-11T15:37:00.004-04:00

April 25, 2009, Richmond, VA

Janice Morris won her second national championship, this time in the duathlon. The course was all off-road and was made up of an 11k run, 26k bike, 5k run. Her finishing time was 3:19 for 3rd fastest women and 41st overall.

Photo by: Brightroom Professional Event Photography

MASS Season Gets Underway!

2009-04-22T08:33:00.012-04:00

Craig Starting the Relay

April 4

The Mountainside Mountainbike Race Team opened the season with mixed results a couple weeks ago at the Marysville Team Relay. This race is a "made for fun" season opener where 4-rider teams do a shortened lap in the set sequence in which they are registered. Each team is handicapped depending on skill and age group level. Lap times ranged from a little over 13 minutes, (Scott Pro Aaron Snyder), to over 20 minutes. The end result is a very hard 15-20 minute effort and then a 45-60 minute wait until you go again.

Mike Funk Hammering

Mountainside Racing fielded 2 teams ... the "A" team made up of Craig Thompson, Janice Morris, Sally McClain, and back for a guest appearance, last year's team member Sarah Lichtenwalner. The team rode strong, completing 13 laps and ended finishing 41st out of 71 teams!

Sally Waiting for Her Turn at the Relay

The second relay team made up of Andy Hoover, Mike Laub, Joel Moats and Mike Funk didn't fair so well. Andy, starting the race, looking to make up for a minor issue the previous year resulting from some over-sized leg warmers that slowed him during the run, (actually stopped him when they were dangling from his feet), was in great shape after the run. Unfortunately, it didn't last long when he was involved in a nasty pile up in the driveway. He gutted out the first lap with what turned out to be badly bruised ribs. Already a lap down, the rest of the team kept racing, finishing 15 laps and ending up 47th after handicaps were applied.

Andy

April 19

The team began the day with Janice participating in the Hibernia Duathlon. This race starts with a 2.5 mile run, transitions to a 12 mile bike ride and back to the 2.5 mile run. It turns out this was a little test Janice undertook to determine how well she could transition between the run and the bike. I guess she passed ... look for her representing Mountainside Racing at the Duathlon National Championships in Richmond, VA this Saturday!

After Janice finished the duathlon, she met Craig, Nicole, (Craig's girlfriend), Mike Funk, Joel Moats, me and the rest of the MASS gang at Fair Hill. She does know how to make an entrance ... as we were waiting on the start line, with just a few minutes to go, up the dirt road comes a gray jeep with a pink IF logo on the spare tire cover. Now, one should understand that the dirt road is in the opposite direction of the parking lot that everyone else parked in. It has an entrance from the hardroad. How she got on the dirt road is still a mystery. To get to the parking lot the race organizers had to move the tape marking the race course and there goes Janice across the course right in front of the start line!

As for the race, Craig had a very respectable finish in the highly competitive Senior I Sport class finishing 35th. This was Craig's first true XC race ever, (the relay described above doesn't count), and we're happy to say that he made the right decision to jump right to the Sport category instead of sandbagging the easy beginner class!

Joel and Mike Funk both had good races finishing 7th and 9th respectively in the hotly contested Expert Master I class and Mike Laub finished 21st in a stacked Open Elite group. Results for both events can be found on the MASS website, link:

http://www.masuperseries.com/2009/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=4

* All Photos by Don Pagano

Mountainside Race Team Party

2009-04-20T13:48:00.001-04:00

You are invited to a Mountainside Race Team Party!
At Nordstrom Select Auto
Saturday, May 16, 2pm-6pm

Directions can be found on Nordstrom's website.

The party is open to team sponsors, friends and riders. We are in the process of finalizing some details and will provide more information in the near future. There will be a couple barbeque grills fired up along with an assortment of beverages. Also, everyone is welcome to join us on the usual Saturday morning shop ride from the Mountainside parking lot at 7:30am. I hope to see you all there.

Michaux MASH, March 15, 2009

2009-03-19T09:52:00.011-04:00

Sally - Great Number Plate!

We are back for an all new season of mountainbike racing! This last weekend was our first race of the year and was billed more as and early season training race. The MASH was a 4 hour enduro scored in the same manner as a 12 or 24 hour race. The intent is to complete as many laps as possible before 4 hours is up, starting at 9am, if you finish a lap prior to 2pm you can elect to go for another lap. The one with the most laps in the least elapsed time wins. Each lap was 9 miles in length and consisted of some sweet single track, dirt road and one huge climb, providing an excellent test of both early season fitness and bike handling skills.

Mike Funk

The rain held off and the promoter Zach Adams and crew did a great job with everything running smoothly, despite a turn-out twice as large as expected. Being an endurance race, the number of catagories was limited to: Open Men, Open Women, Masters 35+ and Juniors. This led to a wide variation of fitness and skill levels, especially when Trek Pro, Chris Eatough, 6-Time World 24 Hour Endurance Champion made an appearance!

Janice - Pretty Bike!

Mountainside Racing had an excellent result for a mid-March race with Janice and Sally both completing 3 laps and finishing 2nd and 6th respectively. Mike Funk completed 4 laps with only one wrong turn and finished 9th in Masters and Mike Laub ended with 5 laps, jumping several places on the last lap for 5th in Open Men.

All Photos by Don Pagano

Full Results can be found at:

http://michauxmash.blogspot.com/

Wonderland Cyclocross Race Report

2008-11-28T21:45:00.003-05:00

What a great race! For more details, visit Kera's blog.

Wonderland Race Results:
Janice, 1st Place, B Women
Mike, 2nd Place, B Men
Kera, 4th, B Women
Brent, 23rd, C Men
Mark, 35th, C Men
Dan, 26th, C Men

Wissahickon Cross Race Report

2008-10-20T14:42:00.005-04:00

It was a chilly and windy morning at Ludwig's Corner as I entered the starting grid with 37 other B Women racers. I had a surprisingly good start, didn't crash in the sand pit, but was slow going over the barriers and up the run-up. I placed 23rd out of 38 and am quite pleased with how well I rode (minus the run-up).

Brent's C Men class started 2 minutes ahead of me, and it was a slow start with 97 racers all jammed into the starting grid. He placed 69 and handled the run-up much better than me!

Click here for Wissahickon results.

Iron Cross Lite Race Report

2008-10-13T14:35:00.001-04:00

Can be found here.

2008 Team Mountainside MS Bike Ride

2008-09-28T11:59:00.001-04:00

Totals in..

1st Giant with $50,625
2nd Capital Blue Cross with $35,340
3rd Mountainside with $18,812

Think we did outstanding as both 1st & 2nd place had 60 riders plus and we only had 22 team members.

There will be a 2009 Team Mountainside and do hope all will return and bring us new and more team members.

"captain eddie"

Bear Creek Race report

2008-09-25T11:24:00.003-04:00

This past weekend Sarah L, Mike F, and Martin competed at the MASS finals at Bear Creek. Bear Creek was an awesome race; the course was fun, technically challenging, and the sene after the race was awesome with food and bands. Martin finished 2nd in Saturdays Short track race and 6th in the xc on Sunday. Sarah finished 4th in the elite women's category and Mike F 2nd in the master expert category on Sunday. This concludes another awesome season of mountain bike racing for most of the Mountainside team. A great time was had by the team this year and wouldn't have been possible with out are awesome sponsors: Mountainside Ski and Sports, Turkeyfoot Nursery, Memphis Blues Bar-B-Q, Gunn Mowery Insurance, Konhaus Marketing & Communications, Re/Max TEAMPETE, Jamis Bicycles, and Daily Screen printing. Thanks to all of you for your support.

Brent’s Tri Update

2008-08-30T11:07:00.005-04:00

It’s high time I report on this season’s swim/bike/run adventures. I’m not sure where the summer went but it’s almost ‘Cross season! Here’s what I’ve been up to:

8/24/08 Pinchot Triathlon, .75 mile Swim / 18.2 mile Bike / 3.1 mile Run
I had a good day, placing 3rd in 45-49 age. We did 2 triangular laps in Pinchot Lake, two circuits of the Lake on rolling hills with a few short climbs, and a run on trails and paths along the lake.

8/10/08 Harrisburg Triathlon, .8 mile / 14 mile / 3.1 mile
This race had a downstream river swim, a flat hammerfest on Front St. to Ft. Hunter and back, and an out and back run across the Walnut St bridge. I was 7th my age group, 42 seconds out of 5th place and under 3 minutes from 3rd. The competition was strong and (sort of) makes me look forward to being 50 (!!!!) and in a new age group next year.

The Specialized Transition Pro
The new Tri bike was worth waiting for. It is an amazing state-of-the-art machine that slices through the air like a fighter jet. Now if I could only add some afterburners. It is very cool – check it out!

7/13/08 Musselman Half Iron, Geneva NY, 1.2 mile / 56 mile /13.1 mile
This popular race has a Seneca Lake swim and a rolling bike in the beautiful Finger lakes region, and attracts a large competitive field. This year we were drenched by rain for the last half of the bike and all the run. Not all bad as the rain kept things cool on the run and we got to splash through puddles. After a strong swim and good bike I was slowed well off pace in the run by fuel / fluid absorption issues and ended up 42 of 58 in age group. Of course finishing any Half Iron is definitely a win!

6/29/08 General Smallwood Olympic Triathlon, Indianhead MD, .9 mile / 24.8 mile / 6.2 mile
This was the tune-up race. I had a good race unfolding until mid-bike when my rear tire flatted. I changed it along the road I took off again and suffered another flat within 5 minutes. This time I removed the offending sliver of glass from the tire (we all know to always check for this when fixing a flat, right?) and was off again. The run was incinerator hot and less than inspiring.

Upcoming Races:
Speedwell Forge Triathlon – September 6

Cross Racing - TBD
Goofy Race-and-a-Half Challenge – Disney World ½ and Full Marathon, January 2009. Can you guess what the Goofy Challenge is?

Special Thanks to the support and cheering crew: Donna, Kera, Chris and Gwen!

Trimax Pinchot Triathlon

2008-08-29T10:58:00.001-04:00

Sunday at the Trimax Pinchot Triathlon Brent took 3rd place in his age group.

Iron Hill, August 16, Lum's Pond Triathlon, August 17

2008-08-18T16:17:00.002-04:00

This weekend Mike Laub, Martin Kell, and Sarah Lichtenwalner raced Iron Hill in Delaware for the mountainside race team. In the elite XC men's category, Mike had a good race, finishing 11th. He felt good throughout the race, and finished strong. Martin had a tough day, battling with his chainring a few times and also had issues with his front fork. This probably did not feel good on the one rocky fast downhill. Despite the mechanical issues, Martin finished 15th. Sarah competed in the 4 hr enduro, winning for the women with 7 laps completed. This win for Sarah clinched the MASS enduro series championship.

Sarah competed in Lum's pond sprint triathalon then on sunday, which was 15 minutes down the road from Iron Hill in Delaware. Luckily, the course was pretty flat, so back to backs were not as bad as it could have been. The course was a 1/2 mile swim, 19.5 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. Sarah finished 2nd in the 30-34 women's category in a time of 1:32.00, 25 seconds off 1st place.

Iron Cross Pre-Ride

2008-08-13T10:43:00.003-04:00

Sunday, August 31
8:30 a.m. start time
Meet at Camp Thompson (but you can't park there, I don't think, you have to park at the lot near the lake).
No one will be dropped (or so Janice says).
A few of us will be cutting the ride short, so there's the chance to bail out early if need be.
If you want to join the ride, please email Mike L. and let him know.

Sarah Lichtenwalner Win's the Patriot's Sprint Triathlon in Bath, PA!

2008-08-04T10:49:00.002-04:00

From Sarah:

I competed in the Patriot's sprint tri this sunday in Bath, PA. I had a great race finishing 1st women overall. I had a great swim (650m in 11:47) and was the first women out of the water. I had a pretty good bike (15 miles in 42:56) but was caught and entered transition with the 2nd place women. I have to buy a new bike. My road bike is pretty heavy and is hard to compete with women on these lite tri bikes and aerodynamic helmets. They probably laugh at my ride. Anyway, we left transition out on the run together. I stayed behind her for the first 1/2 mile to get her pace. Then I passed and was able to finish the run first to the finish line (3.1 miles in 21:09). I was pleased with this run, because it is usually my weak leg of the tri. Total time was 1:17.47. I had a nice cheering section for this event. It is about 20 minutes from my home.

Janice Morris Wins the Kings Gap TT!

2008-08-01T15:35:00.010-04:00

Photos by: Don Pagano, http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/

4 miles with an average grade of 4% made this beautiful venue a challenging test for YBR's Thursday evening TT. Here are the results and commentary from Mark Laser:

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!
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

Race Report: MTB National Championships Mount Snow, Vermont

2008-07-24T00:20:00.007-04:00

This past weekend was the MTB National Championships at Mount Snow Vermont. Mike Funk, Mike Laub, Janice, Andy and I (Martin) all made the trip to represent Mountainside. Mount Snow is a wonderful venue and offers some of the best technical trails for an xc race. The whole team stayed in a beautiful house that Janice found for us that offered spectacular views of the ski slopes and beautiful sunsets. The team had a wonderful time and even had some good results.

Photo from Ed McDaniel

XC Results

Andy- 32nd Semi-pro

Janice-7th expert 40-49

Mike L-8th expert 45-49

Mike F- 15th expert 45-49

Martin - 7th semi-pro

Super D Results

Mike L- 9th 40-49

Short Track Results

Martin- 3rd semi-pro

Read more about my trip http://www.martinkell.blogspot.com/

East Coast National, Windham Mountain, July 12

2008-07-15T10:26:00.003-04:00

The weather held up and the conditions were very fast. Windham is a typical ski resort course with the first half mostly uphill with the second half finishing up with a rippin' downhill. Lap times were well below 30 minutes for the fast guys. The Semi-Pros did 4 laps and the experts 3, making for a short race.

Martin finished 6th in the Semi-Pro catagory in the XC. The top-10 qualifies him for the National Championships at Mt. Snow in Semi-Pro this coming weekend. The following day he came back and beat everyone in the Semi-Pro Short Track to finish 1st! I had a good day and was very forntunate to win the Master Expert class rounding out a successful weekend for Mountainside Racing.

Musselman Half-Iron

2008-07-14T23:04:00.004-04:00

On Sunday Brent competed in the Musselman Half-Iron in Geneva, NY. The day started out nice, but during his bike the rain set in. It morphed into a torrential downpour for most of his run. Brent placed 42 in his age group and 319 overall (out of 549).

Mountain Bike Weekend

2008-07-10T14:19:00.008-04:00

I'm not great at action photos...

Mike L.:

Mike F.:

Martin:

Janice:

Andy:

Mountainside's Cheerleader:
Photo of the team tent as taken by Miss Gwen:

Race Report, Bulldog Rump, June 29

2008-07-02T09:58:00.002-04:00

Martin, Janice and I raced the Bulldog Rump at Kittatinny State Park in New Jersey this past Sunday. Along with the Greenbriar race in the Spring, this is an AMBC race that is a qualifier for the National Championships at Mt. Snow later in July. It also serves as the NJ State Championship.

This was the second year that I did this race and it is a hard, fast 5.5 mile loop with only about 500 ft of climbing. Last year I crashed in the last half mile and finished second in the Expert Master 40-49 class, about 30 seconds behind, so I was looking for another good challenging race. The start was delayed 30 minutes until 1pm which turned out to be good for me. It allowed me time to pre-ride the second half of the course.

The Experts had 4 laps with the Semipro/Pros doing 5 laps. Racing "age-group" in the USA Cycling events is always a stark contrast to the ultra-competitive MASS Open Elite Class. I was able to get off the line and was first going into the single track. About a mile into the race 4 guys passed me. I was able to hold a good smooth pace and after about a lap and a half I began to feel pretty good. As I picked it up I started to reel in the riders in front of me. By the end of the third lap I was back in first and was fortunate to hold on to the finish.

Martin has been riding great this season and again was competitive in the Semipro/Pro Class. Unfortunately, I knew he was in trouble when I passed him late in the race, plagued with another broken pedal. He was still able to manage a mid-pack finish, I think 13th. Janice, racing an XC event for only the second time this year finished 4th in a strong Expert Women 35+ Class.

One of the highlights of the mountainbiking year starts this Friday at the Oesterling Farm in Marysville. The Stage Race and Festival runs through Sunday. This is always a fun weekend with lots of exciting racing, live music, bonfire and a multitude of things to do. I hope to see everyone there!

Pics - Xterra at RB Winter

2008-06-29T17:20:00.005-04:00

Sarah Lichtenwalner was phenomonal again at the RB Winter State Park Xterra. She was the 2nd place gal overall women finishing and 1st in her age group. She was the 3rd girl out of the water, 2nd coming in on the bike and held her 2nd for the run. I heard her and a couple other girls were whoopping up on the guys on the bike on that really rocky trail up there. Niicccee. Great job Sarah!

Race Report:Guy's Neshaminy Classic

2008-06-26T00:33:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday Mike Laub, Andy Hoover, and Me (Martin Kell). Attended the MASS race at Neshaminy High School just north of Philly. All three of us were racing in the elite class. Which was racing three 6 mile loops along with a 2 mile prologue on the fast Neshaminy Course. The first to finish the race was me in 7th place then followed by Andy in 15th and Mike right behind him in 17th. We were all happy with are finishes and the promoter awarded prize money 20 places deep so we all got little gas money for the trip home. The next race on the schedule for the Mountainside team is the Bulldog romp in Andover New Jersey.

Team Bio: Sarah Lichtenwalner

2008-06-14T16:55:00.001-04:00

Team Bio: Andy Hoover

2008-06-14T16:24:00.002-04:00

Team Bio: Mike Laub

2008-06-14T16:04:00.002-04:00

Mountainside Tri Tank

2008-06-08T09:40:00.003-04:00

The order for the Sugoi Tri Tank is being placed soon. If you're interested and haven't already contacted Brent, please do so right away. I think he's placing the order this week.

The tank will look similar to the Mountainside cycling jersey. (Generic version to the right.) As of yesterday afternoon Mountainside had a medium and large of the generic version in stock. If you're getting one I highly recommend trying it on first.

The cost is $40.

Race Report: Black Bear Tri

2008-06-03T14:34:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Sarah:

The Black Bear tri in Beltzville this Sunday went very well. I got 2nd in my age class 30-34. There were 26 women in my class. Overall, Iwas 15 out of 166 women (of all ages younger and older). Not too bad formy 2nd time. I took my swim turn around a bouey too wide and wound up swimming further than I had to. Also, I had trouble with my big ring on my road bike. I need to get stronger in my running. So there is room for improvement. I lost my age class by 20 seconds.

Click here for race results.

Sarah will be doing the Xterra Tri at RB Winter at the end of June, as will Jill Weist.

Mountainside Bike Swap

2008-06-02T16:05:00.001-04:00

Here's Mark at the Mountainside Bike Swap on Saturday with his son, Lance, and daughter, Zoe.

Race Photo: Granogue

2008-06-02T15:58:00.003-04:00

Here's Sarah on the podium with 1st place at Granogue. Congrats Sarah!

Race Report: D and Q Summer SIzzler

2008-06-02T11:32:00.004-04:00

Saturday was the D and Q Summer Sizzler in Sewell NJ. I (Martin) was the only member of the Mountain Side team racing today. Many of the other members were busy running a fund raiser at the bike swap at Mountainside. Thanks for taking a weekend off from racing and doing that.
This was my first time ever doing this race and wasn't sure what to expect, but once I arrived and did a preride of the 5.5 mile course I knew I would like it. The course was very fast and consisted of twisty single track with some short power climbs nothing major and a few sandy sections. When the race started I found myself in a fast group riding strong and worked my way to the front. I was riding awesome but didn't know how well until I caught another ride who told me I was in 4th. I kept my pace for the next 3 laps and held my position finishing 4th. I was super pumped with my finish, that was the best I had ever ridden in a MASS race. Hopefully I can keep it up next weekend at the Tour de Tykes in Danville PA. Hope to see all the Mountainside team there.

Race Report: Escape from Granogue

2008-05-28T23:07:00.008-04:00

Last Saturday was the Escape From Granogue race. The race course was located on the beautiful Granogue Estate located just outside of Wilmintgton Delaware. The team had a few ups and downs. Janice cashed in the first lap of the women's endurance race and cracked some ribs. Janice is one tough gal she said she had to push the one rib back into place to keep it from poking her in the lung, then she hiked it back to the cars and hung around for the rest of the day. Hope your feeling better Janice. Also in the endurance race, Sarah rode 5 laps giving her self the win and a 12 minute gap on the next rider, way to ride Sarah. In the Elite race it was Andy, Mike, and I taking to the starting line. Andy and I had a fairly decent race with me ridding off the back of him for about two laps in the middle until the end of the last lap when my legs finally came around and I managed to pass a few people for 16th place. Andy also finished nicely, making it in the money in 20th place. Bad luck struck the team again when Mike had problems with his wheel and had to trade Janice wheels, but he still finished the race.

Mike Funk competed in the Expert Master category finishing in 6th out of 6 finishers, but he also complained of mechanical failures during the race. The race had some ups and downs for the day with the highlight being Sarah wining for the endurance women. Hopefully The Summer Sizzler in New Jersey this Saturday goes smoother for the team.

Post written by Martin

Photos by Don Pagono http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/

Mountainside Bike Swap and Team Fundraiser

2008-05-27T15:37:00.002-04:00

May 31
9am-4pm (buyers)
At Mountainside Ski & Sports

The team is doing a fundraiser at the Mountainside Bike Swap this weekend that will go toward team expenses at the National Championships at Mt. Snow. We'll be serving coffee and donuts, hotdogs, sausages and sodas from around 9am to 2pm. If you aren't racing and can help out please let Mike L. know. You don't have to be there the whole time.

Also, if you want to sell bikes or other gear, they run it like the ski swap so you will need to drop them off Thursday or Friday.

For more info on the bike swap, visit the Mountainside Ski & Sports website.

Race Report: Rocktober

2008-05-27T15:33:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Andy:

This race was one of the toughest I have competed in. My gps had the distance @ 73.7 miles with over 8500 feet of climbing. The sigle track was basically a rock pile. I managed a 10 place spot with 7 hours and 54 minutes in the saddle. Taylor took 14th at 8 hours 19 minutes.

Race Results:
Andy Hoover, 10th
Taylor McClain, 14th

Oesterling Farm Ride Info

2008-05-22T22:03:00.002-04:00

The Oesterling Farm in Marysville is finally open for riding!
Please see the info in the sidebar to the right.

Race Report: Pinchot Duathlon

2008-05-21T13:18:00.008-04:00

On Sunday, May 18th, I participated in the first duathlon of the year held at Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. The weather for the event was cool and overcast with periods rain. This race consisted of a 2 mile trail run followed by a rolling 18 mile road bike then a 3.1 mile trail run. I arrived at the race site about 2 hours before the race to get a nice racking site in the transition zone. During this time I met with a lot of old friends who I competed against over the last 20 years.

The race begins:

The first trail run was very wet and muddy. I management to finish about mid pack despite keeping my average heart rate in the 180's during the entire run. Transition 1 was a little shaky at best. I really could have used some place to lean against to change into my cycling shoes. I jumped on my bike and took off. I felt very comfortable during the rolling bike course. I had no problem passing many riders on the short climbs and fast downhills. Transition 2 went as planned, with a nice and smooth racking of my bike and change back into my already wet and mud caked running shoes. Then I fell apart about 1 mile in the run. About 10 people passing me as a slogged through the course. I even had my shoe pulled off as I stepped into a 7 inch deep mud bog. I calmly retrieved my shoe and began to run again. I finished the race 1:51:52, 27th out of 43 and 7th in my age group.

Race Report: King of the Hill Xterra

2008-05-21T09:53:00.005-04:00

Courtesy of Jill

Hey Team - Some news of a team member's race on May 18:
Sarah was amazing at her first-ever triathlon, the King of the Hill Xterra in New Jersey. I said to Rob when he said she finished 3rd OVERALL women, "gee, not only can she ride and run, she can swim too!" And Rob'sresponse was, "That's probably what she does best!"

Sarah was the first woman out of the water, 3rd of all the women finishers, and 2nd in her age group. A very impressive race by Sarah! Nice going.

Race Report: NMBS#3 Santa Ynez

2008-05-20T11:35:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I traveled to California with my dad to compete in round three of the national mountain bike series at Santa Ynez .
I raced on Saturday at 8. My race had been cut to 2 laps from 3 due to record high temperatures in the area. I believe the high for Saturday was 101 degrees. I raced in the expert 19-29 class which was rather small with only 7 racers kind of a disappointment for all that travel.

I had rode the course the two prior days and liked the course, it was supper fast with lots of short hilly climbs. When my race started I sprinted first in to the single track whit a few racers following. One racer had hung around but after the first climb I was riding away off the front. Then with about a mile or 2 left on my first lap my foot fell out of my pedal on a downhill and wouldn't clip in. Then I noticed that my pedal had broken and that I wasn't going to be able to clip in. This really had me worried I still had a whole lap left and wasn't sure if I could Maintain my lead, but somehow I managed to and win by over 1 minute.

I had a lot of fun at this race. It was my first time flying which wasn't bad, and getting to see the Rockies covered in snow was cool and California was an awesome place. Ill update my blog (www.martinkell.blogspot.com) soon and have more pictures .

by Martin Kell

www.martinkell.blogspot.com

Team T-Shirts

2008-05-15T10:43:00.003-04:00

Elite Team - the t-shirts are printed and Mike L. has them. Please make sure to bug him for them. :-)

Speaking of shirts... Rocktober this weekend is giving t-shirts, only one color this year, but still cool looking.

Race Report: French Creek, May 10

2008-05-13T10:44:00.003-04:00

Three inches of rain preceeded this "shine only" event, however, the promoter was not deterred. As Saturday morning arrived, the temperatures were cold and the skies were gray and threatening. After watching the first enduro riders come through to complete their first lap it seemed far less muddy than expected, and in fact, the race conditions were wet but quite good. A few puddles and some slippery bridges but very rideable.The rain held off and the sun actually showed itself late in the day. The course was an 11.5 mile loop with some of the best single track on the MASS circuit, full of rippin' fast rocky downhills and gnarly climbs.

The enduro was shortened to five hours and the start was postponed an hour and a half. Janice took off in a the Women's Open category in a bunch start along with all the men. By the end of the day she was one of only two women to complete four laps, crossing the line in second place.

The XC started an hour late with the Elite going 23 miles or two laps starting at 11:00am. Martin and I took off with the group for the uphill prolog start. I felt okay and entered the single track somewhere in the top 15 or so. I was in pretty good shape as I reached the top of the first of three major climbs. As the course turned downhill, so did my race. Martin went by with the rest of the Elite class. After suffering through the first lap I started feeling better and ended up on Martin's wheel. We rode the second lap together and had a great race going back and forth with Martin finishing 19th and me 2 seconds back in 20th - enough for both of us to squeek into the money - always satisfying when you look at the level of competition on the MASS circuit.

French Creek Race Results:
Martin Kell, 19th, Elite Open
Mike Laub, 20th, Elite Open
Janice Morris, 2nd, Endurance Women

Race Report: Michaux Maximus

2008-05-09T21:38:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of Mike F.

Another Saturday of rain made for a muddy race on parts of the course. There was a 25 mile loop which Sally, Tammy, Mike F, and Rob & Sarah did, and the 50 mile loop, which Martin took on. The sun made an appearance and it turned out to be a very nice day for racing.

The results were:
Sally 6th, women
Tammy 7th , women
Martin 3rd in the tough singlespeed class
Mike F., 1st in the masters class
Rob & Sarah were riding their tandem for fun

Great job everyone!

Tour of PA - more details on Stage 2

2008-05-06T09:58:00.001-04:00

From Brian Stephenson... he e-mailed the website to get more detail on Stage 2:

Sprint #1 is on Rt. 322 at State Street in Ephrata Sprint # 2 is on Rt. 322 at Homestead Lane in Hershey Feedzone is 2 miles past Sprint #2 on Rt. 322 at Centerview (near Turkey Hill).
He also sent a map, but it isn’t any more detailed than what’s on the website:
http://www.tourofpa.com/

So I still don’t know exactly how they get through Harrisburg . I plan to watch them pass through somewhere. The KOM apparrently is that climb on 322 after you pass under the PA Turnpike; doesn’t sound too interesting, I wish they were doing Blue Mt Parkway as the Tour duPont used to. As best I can tell from their map, from the feedzone they must somehow get to Union Deposit Rd , maybe through the actual village of Union Deposit ; then straight through town on Market St crossing the river on the Harvey Taylor Bridge .

So good spots might be the Homestead Rd sprint, the feedzone (easier to actually see the riders), one of the sharp hills into Hoernerstown, or downtown.

Tour of PA

2008-05-02T15:21:00.002-04:00

Tour of Pennsylvania route announced
By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

The new U25 Tour of Pennsylvania revealed the cities that will play hosts for the six-day stage race, working its way east to west between the state's two biggest cities -- Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. In typical American cycling fashion, the race is book-ended by two criteriums in the two cities, with a prologue on June 24 starting it all. To date, 18 teams have accepted invitations to race with a complete field of 20 to 22 teams expected.

"The Tour of Pennsylvania offers $150,000 in total prize money, the richest in the world for Espoir class riders," David Chauner, Pro Cycling Tour president said in a release. "Plus it is the only UCI sanctioned race in the U.S. specifically for riders under age 25. Our technical team has designed a route that will test the endurance, power and technical skill of these young athletes who are on the road to becoming cycling's next Olympians and Tour de France competitors."

In addition to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the host cities include Downingtown, Carlisle, Camp Hill, Bedford, Latrobe and Ligonier.

Stage 1: Prologue Time Trial/Philadelphia Criterium - 2 mile prologue/25 mile criterium
Stage 2: Downingtown to Carlisle - 91 miles
Stage 3: Camp Hill to Bedford - 104 miles
Stage 4: Bedford to Latrobe - 60 miles
Stage 5: Ligonier to Pittsburgh - 83 miles
Stage 6: Pittsburgh Criterium - 50 miles

Stage 2: Downingtown to Carlisle (Wednesday, June 25, 2008) (Start time: 10 a.m.) A 91-mile road race, Stage 2 takes riders through the heart of Amish country where they’ll likely find themselves pedaling alongside Lancaster County’s distinctive horse-and-buggy transportation. This course begins on mostly rolling terrain, with smooth roads giving the riders a day to ease their way into the race. However, two intermediate sprints will test their power in Ephrata and Hershey. The course will also allow the riders to find their climbing legs with a 2.5 mile subtle, yet all-important King of the Mountain (KOM) sprint at the top of Spring Hill. The final sprint will be fast with a straight lead-in (and great vantage point for spectators) to the finish line in Carlisle in front of Dickenson College. (Auto transfer to Camp Hill.)

Stage 3: Camp Hill to Bedford (Thursday, June 26, 2008)(Start time: 10 a.m.) Day 3 starts in Camp Hill at presenting sponsor Highmark’s campus there. This stage features a 104-mile road race with a classic European Road race progression. Riders will roll into the race easily for about 37 miles, with sprints in Carlisle and Chambersburg, before ascending the first of two mountain passes. The first KOM begins at mile 63 and climbs 3.5 miles to the top of Tuscarora Summit, a climb that is only the beginning of some very difficult passes to come. The final KOM is at mile 82 at Sideling Hill – this climb is about 3 miles long with an elevation gain of 2,500 feet. After the KOM, the riders will descend at speeds of 50 mph, negotiating some very technical turns, plummeting down to the finish line in the town of Bedford.