MASS recap- we are series champs

MASS series championship and MASS season recap
Nankmans take Mens and Womens Open Championships
Saucon Valley Bikes Open Team Second Overall
Words by Jess
August 31, 2013

The 2013 MASS (Mid Atlantic Super Series) endurance series came to and end with the last race at Rattling Creek in August.  It was a fun, tough, rewarding season for Joël and I. We raced nine out of the 10 endurance races on the MASS schedule. Only the seven best races count towards championship points, so consider us overachievers.  We raced through cold and snow, wheel-sucking mud, heat and humidity, and ate more Cliff Shot Blocks that may seem physically possible.  Friendships were made and friendly competition ensued throughout the year.

So how did we do? In the end, both of us ended up the MASS Open Endurance Mens and Womens Champions. The two of us are the only team members making up the Saucon Valley Bikes Open team, which was second overall team.  (On a side note, the Saucon Valley Bikes Grassroots team was first overall). A great ending for the season for both us and the team combined.

So here is the MASS season summarized:
Tuscarora 4 hour- March 24- cold and wet!  26 degrees on race morning.   Joel 5th (racing single speed) and Jess 6th
Greenbriar 4 hour- deceptively large amount of climbing.  Joel 7th, Jess 3rd
Ironhill 4 hour- twists, turns, and big dips.  Joël 6th, Jess 6th
French Creek 4 hour- lots and lots of babyheads and chattery rocks.  Joel 4th, Jess 2nd
Bearscat 50- rocks, boulders, and roots that never ended.  The longest 50 miles ever for both of us.   Joel 7th and Jess 6th
Andrew Meins Excellent Adventure 12 hour- rain for days before made for hub-deep mud most of the course, it was a long, slippery day in the saddle.  Joel 4th, Jess 1st (overall women winner)
Stoopid 50- Tussey Ridge, Jess's favorite trail system, a beautiful and fun course. Nothing like bombing down Old Laurel Trail after riding almost 50 miles.  Joel 15th, Jess 5th
Fair Hill 50- twisty and rooty with non-stop pedaling.  Joel 5th, Jess 4th
Rattling Creek 50- rocky, fun course, almost entire race on singletrack.   Joel 10th, Jess 4th

What a great MASS season for both Joel and I and team Saucon Valley Bikes/Weyerbacher.  A big thanks to our main sponsors; Steve at SVB for all the support and Weyerbacher for all the beer.  Also a thank you to all of the other sponsors who have helped us throughout the year; Nick's Disposal, Frank Armetta at State Farm, SRAM, and Schwalbe.

An additional shout-out to the MASS for putting on this series.  Thanks to the MASS organizers, Mid Atlantic Timing, Victory Brewery, and Toasted Head for supporting the MASS series awards.

The MASS season my be over but it's not time to relax...Pisgah Stage race is coming up soon. It's a nice feeling to be going into Pisgah with a successful endurance season completed.

Team SVB endurance racers with series awards

Jess with Topher (who is filling in for Nicole at the awards presentation)

Our racing buddy Jesse Kelly accepting his award

Rattling Creek "Not Quite 50" Race

Rattling not quite 50 race recap.

By: Joël and Clifford (lying next to me for inspiration).

This Nankman adventure started with a very uneventful shy of 2 hour drive to Lykens Glen, PA. (bet you won’t even find it on a map) In contrast to the Fair hill race this one did not start till 10:30 so it seemed like “sleeping in”.

Once at the race site, looking for parking we were reminded that some “racers” are absolute dumb asses and that yelling and screaming is cool or something, and think they don’t have to abide by laws even when in their car.

Not having done much riding since the Fair Hill 50 my legs were aching to turn some pedals. So I lined up on the front row dreaming of how great this race was going to be. The first mile or so was a “neutral” rollout through the streets of Lykens.  And then we went off into the woods; the first few hundred yards or so was a hike a bike section straight up the side of whatever mountain ridge we were going to be riding on for the next few hours. This in itself was epic, I went from getting into the woods in second place to being somewhere around 10^th place once at the top. Guess I should work on my running with bike skills. Some noteworthy features during the race where a PBR beer stop presented by Spud racing (I stopped and took a beer both times), and my favorite section of trail in the area that involves some near trials style riding to get through and it almost made me forget I was actually racing and so wanted to do it a few times over. There were also some amazing view points and I was really bummed that I did not pack a camera since it was a beautiful clear day but once again I was racing.

At sign in we were told that the race was only going to be 46 miles not the advertised 50. So I felt kind of cheated, well this feeling faded as the race went on I think we got our total money’s worth. According to my Garmin AKA The Gremlin we ended up with just shy of 47 miles and about 42 miles of that was on a mix of super-fast flowing, ear to ear grin type single track and some of the most gnarly bone rattling east coast rock trails you have ever seen. Even the double track/ fire road sections were pretty tuff, this made eating and drinking a challenge, and made me very happy that I once again opted for my trusted Camelbak lumbar pack, and did my typical easy to access cut in half Cliff shot block packs.

I ended up 10^th in the men’s field, and Jess was 4^th in the women’s field that saw a lot of lady’s and racers in general not finishing the event.

Spud racing beer stop

Trail Spinners Fairhill 50

MASS Endurance Race- Trails Spinners Fairhill 50 Endurance Race
Elkton, MD
August 17, 2013
Race report by Jessica

The day started early, earlier than most races do. With an 8am start and a little over a 2 hour drive Joël and I were on the road early. Upon arrival at the race venue we set-up the team tent, registered, and set-up our nutrition/hydration at the half-way point.  During all of this our other teammates arrived, and we met-up with them for catching-up and conversation to help dampen the pre-race gitters.

Fairhill is a course that is different than anything we ride around where Joël and I live.  We live in an area notorious for having rocks, and lots of them. Add in a mountain range for some decent climbs and then long, technical descents. Fairhill is the opposite of this- with the exception of a few short, punchy climbs it is relatively flat, tight and twisty, and has root after root after root.

Joël started out in the first wave to go- open men and singlespeed. I started in the second group, open women and masters men.  The race began with a about a mile or two dirt road/tractor path before entering single track.  Joël said he had no issues entering the single track. I on the other hand hit a huge bottle neck. For the most part people were still moving but not quickly I was with a group of women and not going anywhere was quite frustrating. There was no way to breakaway.  It took some time but eventually racers were able to  spread out and the group of women started to divide.  From here on out the course consisted of tight, twisty, tree-hugging single track.  Roots were everywhere!  In the corners, before the corners, after the corners. These corners were tight...add in the roots and it made for some technical trails.  On occasion the trail would open up to a trail or tractor-path in an open field or a short stint on a gravel road.  So one may think that not being a hilly course would be better; well, it's not. Sure, there were no major climbs but that also means not major descents.  And what does all of this mean- pedaling for the entire race.  50 miles of pedaling with no breaks to let the legs relax. This course is deceptively tough; sure it's not rocky and there are no mountains to climb but it has it's own challenges.

It was great to spend part of my race riding with fellow SVB racing team member Ken. Also, having another teammate Todd at the half-way point to give me splits on other racers and encouragement was great.  That is what racing on a team is about, having friends out there for support.

I ended up 4th place open women, only 90 seconds off of third.  Joël was 5th pace open men.

After a hard day of racing some Weyerbacher beer was enjoyed by all of us. We spent some time relaxing while watching the MASS XC year-end awards before heading home to clean bikes, washing clothing, and get ready to do it all again next weekend at Rattling Creek and the MASS series finals awards.

It even looks twisty and tight on the course map...two loops of this.

Clifford...one of the best cycling partners ever

Clifford, our one year old mixed breed rescue dog is one of the best cycling partners ever. We adopted him when he was just a few months old, and started him on the trail right away.  When he sees us getting the bikes ready he starts pacing around the house in anticipation of the upcoming ride.  What better way to start the day than some time on the singletrack with Cliff.  He splashes though the creeks, bounds over rocks, and gallops full speed ahead on the downhills. Here is a short video of us from a recent trip to Sproul State Forest in central PA. Cliff is showing off how he likes to run fast, make that really fast.

Wilderness 101 Race Report

Wilderness 101 report by by Joël
Race date July 27, 2013

So here it goes my first blog entry ever.

The Wilderness 101; so first of all the W101 is not an introduction into mountain biking or hiking or camping like the name might make you think. It is a 101 Mile endurance mountain bike  race in Rothrock  and bald Eagle state forest in central Pennsylvania, with a good mix of fire road’s and some of the most rugged single track trails on the east coast, heck probably even in the US of A. 

This adventure started for us with a 3ish hour drive to the race venue which is the tiny town of Coburn, PA. About 10-15 minutes away from Coburn we got lost, well however lost you can be when you have a map. At some point we were stopped alongside the road looking at the map when Garth Prosser (cool racer dude Google him some time) passed us and said o just follow me I will show you where it is. Unfortunately he drives his car like he rides his bike, so soon all we were left with was a cloud of dust. But we knew we were going in the correct direction and quickly found Coburn park.

Once there, it was time to sign in and set up camp for the weekend. After a few years of setting up camps together Jess and I have finally found out a system that works, it goes kind of like stay out of my way I will stay out of yours, and talk as little as possible that will give less ammo for arguments. After setting up camp it was time to find some dinner, we went into Millheim which is about a 15 minute drive and slightly larger town than Coburn. We found Elk Creek café & ale works that was recommended by the race organizers, got a seat and ordered beers and food. Not long after ordering the people next to us got their food it was some awesome looking spaghetti and meatballs that was not on the menu. So I set out on a quest to find our server to change our orders, unfortunately those people next to us got the last of the spaghetti and meatballs. Once back at my seat Jess, Chris (Chris is a guy I work with at Saucon Valley Bikes that had decided to meet up with us and also do the W101) and I made all sorts of plans as to how we were going to lure our neighbors away from their table and steal their food. Nothing came of it and we settled for the burgers and fries we ordered which were awesome. After indulging it was time to get back to camp and get in a good night’s rest.

Race morning; Jess and I wake up to the sound of rain on our tent or so we thought, neither of us had any interest in getting up to miserable weather so we just laid there for the longest time thinking how nice and cozy the tent was and what all could be done in said tent. We finally got up and found out that the “rain” was the rain fly flapping against the main tent. It was actually perfect weather for a race a little brisk in the morning warming up as the day went on but stayed overcast and never got unbearably hot.

7AM race start; both Jess and I felt ready to go and were pretty excited. I was unfortunately a little too excited and did the classic go out way to fast and realize 30 minutes in there was no way for me to hold that pace for my 9 hour goal time so backed off a little but it was too late I had to back it way off I was getting passed left and right, I was ready to call it a day and just go back to the start line or ride back till I found Jess and ride with her. But just when I was ready to call it a day Rob Lichtenwalner passed me and somehow talked me into continuing. And continue I did as the race went on I started feeling better and passing some people. About half way through I finally dared to look down at my Garmin and somehow it was telling me that I was still well within my goal time. So I kept on riding making sure to keep up on calorie intake mainly by means of Cliff Shot blocks and Gatorade. And to keep good form through the technical single track trail sections as to not crash, and or create any mechanicals. This all went very well and I was actually having a great time riding the awesome trails that central Pennsylvania has to offer, and was very happy that I did not quit an hour into the race.  Other than taking in the beautiful views, and trying to make small talk with some other great riders and ever ready super awesome volunteers that make events like this possible it was an uneventful race for me. And In the end I managed to keep it all together and crossed the finish line in 8hrs 42min good enough for 36^th place in the men’s division. Jess also finished crushing her goal time by over an hour and making me jump out of my beauty sleep doing so, because I was not at all expecting her yet.  Jess's time put her 9th overall women.

After some good food and beer and festivities that went on pretty late it was time for some sleep, and sleep we did. Not waking up till the next morning when it was time to pack up and drive back home to reunite with our buddy Clifford.

 Joël race morning representing SVB

Raffle tickets for a great cause...plus you get to see us on the tickets

Help support the local PA trails by buying a ticket for the Raffle for PA Trails.

Proceeds from the sale of these tickets goes to enhancing PA trails through the Outdoor Experience Organization.

Doing trail work and helping to maintain the trails is important to us; without these trails and people to care for them none of us would be able to enjoy the beauty they hold.

Winner gets a entry to Trans-sylvanic Epic Mountain Bike Race, a bike, and a tubeless wheelset.

And as mentioned...there we are on the ticket.  We recommend hanging the ticket on your fridge so you can look at us everyday.

Check out the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OutdoorExperienceOrganization?directed_target_id=0 for more info as to how to purchase a ticket.

What This is About

We spend so much of our time pedaling along the trails and roads we thought we would share our adventures with you.

Weekends most often consist of races. Endurance races that range anywhere from 25 to 100 miles. Throw in a multi-day stage race and it makes for a busy schedule.  When there isn't a race, we are off to one of our favorite places to ride.  Traveling, camping, and riding with friends is a great way to spend a weekend, especially when our dog Cliff comes along.

Being married and enjoying the same hobby has many perks.  We can spend time together. There is no having to decide which person will loose out on doing what they want to do because the other one is dragging them to some dreadful event.  Vacations are easy to plan- let's go cycling...let's even do a race as our vacation.  Hanging out with mutual friends is easy, we just go for a ride with them. But being husband and wife and doing all this can be challenging, the occasional trail-side disagreement does occur.

We love cycling and most importantly cycling together. We hope you enjoy following our adventures.

The two of us still smiling after 4+ hours riding in the mud and rain