Trans-sylvania Mountain Bike Epic (TSE) Prep
Place: Seven Mountains Camp, PA
Ridden: May 2015
No video this week because we are tapering, packing, and traveling.
Sunday starts another week at "Single Track Summer Camp", TSE. This is a seven day mountain bike stage race, covering anywhere from 20ish to 40ish miles a day (so 3 to 6 hours of riding a day).
We are camping for the week and cooking our own meals. Cliff is along for the fun also.
So please patiently wait until next week for a video highlighting the week of racing.
Things learned from Greenbrier that we need to remember for next time: drive down the night before, three hours is a long time to drive for a 9am race start; don't forget riding gloves, especially when it it hot and humid out which makes for slippery grips; don't believe the rumors that awards are starting in 10 minutes, take the time to eat and shower first since awards always take longer than expected to get started, sitting around in dirty riding clothes while being super hungry is no fun.
Despite some bad decisions highlighted above, the Greenbrier Classic 4 Hour Endurance race was a good time for both of us; lots of smiles and good times when racing. Many familiar faces to catch-up with before and after the race and lots of friends to chat with while riding. Nothing better to help the time pass during a long distance race than friends and fellow racers to talk to! Numerous fellow Giant Co-Factory Northeast riders were racing, many of whom we have not seen since last year, so it was great to get to catch-up and get to see teammates again. Additionally, a few Saucon Valley Bikes racers were there, good times with old friends.
The race was a multiple loop course; the winner being determined by the rider who could do the most laps in four hours. Each lap was just under 6 miles, not too long but deceptively hard. With just over 700 feet of climbing per lap, a good portion of that being technical climbing, the legs were burning for most of this race. Overall this is a nice course, nothing outstanding about it but the park area is quite nice and the trails are well maintained. One additional feature about being in a state park is showers for after the race!
Race wise it was another good week for Joël and I. First place for me and second for Joël. A great race and good feeling going into TSE in just under a week.
Single Track Sunday
Place: the roads of Northampton County, Blue Mountain, and beyond
Ridden: May 2015
Click on video to play
The French Creek 4 hour endurance race was Saturday, it was a blast. Lots of rocks, fun single track, and riding with friends; it was a great day out there on the bike. We both put in hard efforts, which paid off, first place for myself and third place for Joël. Joel had considered doing a video of the race, but, single track is starting to all look the same on the videos. There is a rock...oh there is a tree...oh there is another rock. So we opted for something different this week.
For this episode of Single Track Sunday, we are highlighting the "recovery" ride we did the day after French Creek. I am hesitant to call it a recovery ride, it was a 5 hour road ride. It was a relaxing, easy pace, stopping often to look at the view and to take photos. So the pace made it a recovery ride, but the distance and time on the bike were not so much a recovery ride, but more so what is needed to prepare for TSE in a few weeks. We have to get our bodies accustomed to doing longs rides back to back.
We hit many of the favorite back roads of cyclists in the Northampton County area- we went up over Blue Mountain, along the base of the mountain on both the north and south side, and weaved our way thorough areas such as Danelsville, Kreidersville, Wind Gap, and Point Phillip. The roads were low in traffic but high in unique country sights. Along the way we stopped to visit friends and family.
A relaxing ride on rolling and winding country roads, a great way to relax and enjoy a ride the day after a tough race.
Nothing like getting out of work
on a Saturday afternoon, driving to Virginia, sleeping in the van at a rest
stop, doing a 40 mile race on Sunday, and then driving home. That sums up our
weekend trip to Millboro, VA for the Middle Mountain Momma race.
Middle Mountain Momma is a race
put on by Mountain Bike Virginia and is part of the Virginia Off Road Series (VORS). The
race takes place in Douthat State Park within the George Washington State
Forest. Junior, XC, and XXC
(marathon/endurance) races take place all at the same time.
A traditional family park for 75
years, Douthat is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for the
role its design played in the development of parks nationwide. Amid some of
Virginia's most breathtaking mountain scenery, visitors enjoy stream fishing, a lake stocked with trout, a
sandy swimming beach, boat rentals, a gift shop and camp store,
cabins, and more than 43 miles of hiking, mountain biking and bridle trails.
Plus, there are playgrounds, an amphitheater, picnic areas, tent and trailer
camping, and a restaurant overlooking the lake. The park also has cabins and
lodges.
The Middle Mountain Momma course provides
mass-quantities of singletrack--and--it's almost entirely unduplicated
trail. Much of the single track is
benchcut into the side of the mountain- pretty hairy at times to be on and know
that one wrong move and it’s a long roll to the bottom. The trails are lined
with blueberry bushes and rhododendron.
The course essentially climbs the mountain for a few miles and then descends
for a few miles….and then repeats this multiple times. The climbs are slow and
steady with a few hike-a-bike sections and the descents and fast- seat post
down, elbows out, and send it. The course was well marked, challenging, and it
felt rewarding to finish it. Total climbing 7000 feet in 41 miles!
I finished 2nd and
Joël was within the top ten. Both of us
were happy with our races- thank goodness for those crazy downhills, they gave
us the chance to catch-up to and pass people.
A busy weekend but a fun
adventure. We rode a new place, met new
people, and enjoyed the Virginia mountains for the weekend.
