Wilderness 101, Coburn, PA

Single Track Sunday

Event: Wilderness 101 Mountain Bike Race

Place: Coburn, PA

Ridden: July 2014

Click on video to play

The adventure for this weekend was the Wilderness 101 mountain bike race. This was the second time Joël and I did this event (2013 being the first time). The course was challenging and fun, great race atmosphere, well organized, good prizes, and tasty post race food and beer- so you can see why we keep coming back. Shenandoah Mountain Touring and Chris Scott put on awesome events, this being one of them.

                             

It is a backcountry mountain bike race held in the Bald Eagle and Rothrock State Forests of PA. The course consists of singletrack, double track, and fireroads with a bit of pavement. It visits many of our favorite trails that we had ridden in TSE, Rothrock Trail Challenge, and Stoopid 50 including Longberger, Three Bridges, Croyle, and Beautiful Trails.  These trails are awesome; they are challenging and technical single track but along the way also include beautiful views of the mountains, blooming mountain laurel, abundant green ferns, and bubbling mountain streams.  Also included is riding through an old railroad tunnel.  Being that the name is "101", yes, it is 101 miles long with around 10,000 feet of climbing.

One great aspect about this event is the camping. Racers are allowed to camp in the town park which is exactly where the start/finish area and registration area is. We set up camp the night before the event and stayed until the morning after. Camping also adds to the social aspect of races; we were able to hang around and talk with other races and enjoy the post race burgers, hot dogs, and beer the race provided.  There was even a late night pizza party.

As for our individual races, some days are good and some days are not so good; and sometime Joël and I will each have very different days.  I had a good day. I enjoyed the course, smiling the entire day. Many times along the way I was complimented on my color coordination- thanks to LIV and Giant for making the Lust Advanced not only perform great on all the climbs, descents, and rocks but also making it a pretty bike with a perfectly matching LIV kit.  Yes this race hurt (as any 101 mile race should) but that is what racing is about- mentally and physically pushing through the bad times. I was able to better my 2013 time by 45 minutes for a finish time of 10:25 which put me in 4th place female out of a decent sized womens field.  

Joël on the other hand had one of the not so good days.  He was feeling good for the first portion of the race but around mile 45 all of sudden things went bad.  As per Joël "I was in a very dark hole mentally".  He sat at aid station #3 for quite some time contemplating getting in the sag wagon for a ride back.  But as above, racing is about pushing through the bad times, and that is what he did.  After taking a break for a while he got back on his bike and finished the remaining 55 miles in a respectable finish time of 9:08.

     

Another Wilderness 101 behind us. Thanks to Chris Scott for organizing a great race.  Many thanks goes out to all the volunteers, especially John, Becky, and Karen- they know us well and always make getting through the aid stations a pleasure.

- written by Jess

- video by Joël

A tour of Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties, PA

Single Track Sunday
Place: Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties, PA
Ridden: July 2014

Click on video to view

For this video, we decided to take a break from the trails and hit the roads for a bit. When doing long distance rides in preparation for endurance mountain biking events, we sometimes opt to go for a road ride.  It is nice to take a break from all the jarring and bumpy rides associated with being on the mountain bike; it is both physically and mentally refreshing and relaxing to cruise around on the roads for the day.

This rides took us through Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties.  Our main goal was to ride to a place called Tabora Farm and Orchid for lunch. Tabora calls it's self a "gourmet country store". Along with an orchid, farm, and winery there is an old barn that has been converted into a country store selling home made baked goods, sandwiches, sweets, and ice cream.  There is even a make your own peanut butter grinder- don't see one of those at many other places.

Along the way to and from Tabora we passed through beautiful farm country.  Covered bridges, old railroad trestles, tractors, and chickens were just some of the things we saw.

Yes, mountain biking is what we primarily do. However, some times seeing rocks and trees over and over again gets a little monotonous. Getting out on the road bike allows for different sights and different experiences; and a great lunch being a bonus along the way.

- words by Jess

- video by Joël

Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Macungie, PA

Single Track Sunday
Place:  Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Macungie, PA
Ridden:  July 2014

Click on video below to watch

Bear Creek Mountain Resort (some of you may know it by the previous name of Doe Mountain) is a resort with a propensity for outdoor adventure located in Macungie, PA. Skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and frisbee golf all take place on the slopes around the resort. After working hard on the trails, various eateries, a pool, and a spa are available for post-activity recovery.  To show their support to an active lifestyle, Bear Creek holds both an off-road and on-road triathlon, trail run, and many mountain bike races; including the up coming national championships.

The trails are open to mountain bikers and hikers; occasionally crossing paths with frisbee golf players. Dogs are allowed on the trails but not in the resort.                                                                                                             Being that this is a ski resort, the trails pretty much go either up or down.  At times the trails cross the open ski slopes, allowing for a beautiful view of the Lehigh Valley. Because of all the races that have been happening at Bear Creek, many new trails have been built. They criss-cross the mountain meeting up with older, pre-existing trails all over the place.  Because of this, it is best to ride there with someone who knows the trails or take a trail map.

As for technical ability of the trails, they are typical East Coast style- rocky and technical.  Full suspension bikes like the Giant Anthem and Lust are a good choice; their 27.5 inch wheels roll right over the rocks.  Many man-made features have been built such as bridges, jumps, and drops; including the "rock drop" featured in the Pro-XC and Super-D courses.  Additionally, trail features such as the "heckle pit" add to the difficulty of the course but make for great spectating points.  Riders beware- due to the many sharps rocks flats can be numerous.  Make sure your Stan's is fresh, use appropriate tires and carry what you need to fix a flat.

Overall, Bear Creek is a challenging but rewarding place to ride. It can be difficult to navigate there due to all the twisting and turning and random trails everywhere, but if one knows their way around they can put in many miles on the trails. How many miles total; I don't have a good answer for that. The outer loop- going only around the perimeter on what is considered the "older" part of the trail system is about 5 miles. But add in weaving around on all the new trails that are part of the Pro-XC, Super-D, and Junior XC courses there is probably another 5 miles of trails. No matter what trails are ridden there, be ready for rocks, climbing, lots of switch backs, and some awesome descents.                                                                                                                                            After riding, the Trail's End Cafe has awesome food, so don't forget to re-fuel and re-hydrate there.

- words by Jess

- video by Joël

Side note: We know many of you enjoy seeing Clifford in these videos. Due to the heat and humidity of summer, Cliff is not out mountain biking as much. He still gets out on the trails, but his trail time is limited and dictated by the weather.  We want to keep the pooch safe from heat exhaustion, so look for Cliff back on a more regular basis in fall when it cools down a bit.

How a Married Couple Races together, Patapsco 100, Woodlawn, MD

Racing Together as a Duo
Event: Patapsco 100 (we did the 66 mile as a co-ed duo)
Place: Patapsco State Park, Woodlawn, MD
Ridden: July 2014

Click on video to play

Wow, what a race.  Both of us woke up the day after feeling beat-up and tired. This weekend we traveled to Patapso State Park (just outside of Baltimore, MD) for the Patapsco 100 race, in which we competed in the 66 mile race as a co-ed duo.

Camping area

Camping for the weekend

The riding at Patapsco can be considered part South Mountain Lehigh, part Allegrippis, and part Richmond.  There are technical rocky sections with too many log-overs to count and fast, flowy twisty sections with lots of "whoop-de-doos"; all of it is contained in 16,000 acres of state park right in the middle of an urban area. Many of the trails go under overpasses and at times the highway can be heard (but many times it is also dead quite as if you are out in the middle of no where). The 170 miles of trails are multi-purpose, open to hikers and equestrians along with cyclists.  The park system surrounds the Patapsco River, which is great for canoeing and kayaking.  The park has hundreds of camp sites, we utilized one of them as our home base for the weekend.  Many of the campsites are pet friendly, but we opted to have Cliff stay with his grandma at her farm, more fun for him than being locked in a hot tent all weekend (in case you were wondering why he is not in any of the video/photos).

AM race prep

Waiting at the start line

The website for this race has a warning posted: "This race will be extremely hard. With almost 5,500 ft of climbing per lap (33 miles)...this is nothing but epic!"  That description is true!  Just finishing is an accomplishment, there is approximately a 50% DNF (did not finish) rate.  The race is a lap race, 33 miles per lap.  The course is 95% on dirt, with 80% of that being single track. There were multiple water crossings, two of which involved crossing the Patapsco River. These could not be ridden, the water was waist high, so the bikes needed to be picked-up and carried.  As per the description, there was a lot of climbing.  Most were shorter climbs, lasting no more than 5 to 10 minutes to reach the top.  But they were steep and many were also technically challenging with rocks, roots, and water bars.  As one other racer put it " we just keep going up and down and up and down, there is no end to it."  A few of the climbs were hike-a-bike climbs; one climb even included a staircase to hike up.

The race was tough.  It certainly was a challenging course that tested us both mentally and physically.  Despite the pain and suffering, we enjoyed the course and the race.  Joël and I raced as a duo and rode together the entire time.  Being that I am the slower of the two of us, it was great to have him there as encouragement during the tough sections.  For over half the race we traded places with the team that would eventually go on to win the co-ed duo division, Joël and I placing second.  Because many racers were still out on the course, there was no official podium ceremony for the 66 mile race. Awards we handed out individually, our second place including among many other things bottles of wine. Can't go wrong with that as an award!

Pseudo-podium picture

Despite all the water and sand, our bikes preformed well.  The ProGold Xtreme lube kept the drive trains happy and the Bike Shine made clean-up afterwards easy. Both Joël and I were VERY happy to have the light-weight carbon frames of the Lust Advanced and Anthem Advanced, it helped decrease the pain during the hike-a-bike sections.

-words by Jess

- video and photos by Joël