Riding Cherry Plain

Posted on May 1, 2010 by aa

I had a great training ride today at Cherry Plain. I logged a solid 18 miles with alot of climbing. I also scouted some new trails that I hadn’t ridden before. While the new trail still needs some post winter clean-up, it does add almost 2 miles of singletrack onto my long loop. I’ve also started to name the trails that I ride regularly there.
  • Dynamite Shack Trail – A long and steady climb that goes through old building foundations. The buildings were used to store the dynamite that was used for the mining.
  • Schaefer Beer Trail – An old abandoned road that is actually called Schaefer Road.
  • Deliverance Trail – I really like this trail. It has long steep climbs with a nice descent with some technical descending. As you ride across the top, you come to about a half dozen shacks. You can’t call them houses, they are old unmaintained shacks. I’m sure they are just hunting cabins, but it does look like Deliverance up there.
I haven’t named anything else yet, but I will.
This ride started out at ~13 mile the first time I did it. But since then, I’ve been able to connect other trail to the original loop to lengthen the loop. There is definitely another 2 or 3 miles of singletrack that I know I can connect, but the trails need to be cleaned up. There is still downed trees and branches that need more work than we can do while riding. Also, being State land, we can’t just go in with ATV’s and chainsaws and rakes. But even with the existing loop, there is alot of riding on alot of trail…singletrack, doubletrack and dirt road. And, the best part is, I can connect these trails to the trails that I ride from my house and get in a nice 40+ mile mountain bike ride…from my house.
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Singlespeed-a-Palooza

Posted on April 26, 2010 by aa

Rock Tavern, NY – Why do I occasionally race single-speed? It’s a fun bike to ride, but race…well, that’s fun too. The 2nd Annual Singlespeed-a-Palooza (SSAP) is the other reason to race single-speed. 250 single-speed racers, sold out weeks in advance and enough sport class racers to split the field into two: NY North and NJ South.
I had 86 racers in my race. That is easily the biggest field that I have ever raced in. In a regular XC race, I’ll have somewhere between 10 and 30 other racers. But when Darkhorse Cycles puts on a race, everyone comes out for it…whether it’s the Darkhorse 40 (capped at 450) or Singlespeed-a-Palooza (capped at 250). You are guaranteed a great race, a fun atmosphere, and ice cold beer afterwards.
SSAP is held in the Stewart State Forest in Rock Tavern, NY near Newburgh. Stewart has some of the best singletrack that you will find in that region of New York. With two 13 mile laps of mostly singletrack, I initially set a goal to finish at around 2.5 hours. Once I saw that the weather forecast was correct with rain through the night and all morning, my goal quickly changed to around 3 hours. I did pretty well with that too considering most of the course was like riding on paste and the rest like a Slip ‘n Slide. Time on my Vetta computer was 3 hrs 11 min, but a rear flat cost me a ton of time during the second lap for a finish time of ~3 hrs 37 min. Fixing a rear flat on a single-speed is tough enough, but throw in the mud and it kinda sucked. A finish of 58th out of 86 isn’t great, but I’ll take any finish that isn’t a DNF.
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Winding Trails Fat Tire Classic

Posted on April 18, 2010 by aa
Farmington, CT April 18, 2010 – Today was the start of my 2010 mountain bike race season with the Root 66 Race Series Fat Tire Classic at Winding Trails in Farmington, CT. The Winding Trails race course takes you through a mix of cross country ski trails and some great twisty singletrack. A mostly hard-pack surface with a little sand (mostly at the start) and a couple rooty spots. This race course is fast. In some places too fast. This is a non-stop race course. I raced in the Singlespeed Open category in preparation for next week’s Singlespeed-a-Palooza. Three laps with a total of 16.6 miles that I finished in 9th place with a time of 1:46:28. I was hoping my lap times would be about 5 minutes less to bring me in at around 1:30, but I felt good and I rode pretty solid for mid April. 9th place is a good start of the season for me…any top 10 will do.
A huge thanks to all of my sponsors in helping me get off to a good start in 2010: Evomo Team Rukus, Hayes Bicycle Group, Motor Tabs, Fluid Recovery, Rudy Project, EFX, Brave Soldier, Oxygen4Energy and Vetta.
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Today Was A Singlespeed Moment

Posted on April 3, 2010 by aa

I took my Jamis singlespeed out today to give it a good workout. I drove over to the Rensselaer Lake side of the Albany Pinebush Preserve. That is the part of the Pinebush that is mountain bike friendly. Most of the trails there are just a web of singletrack and doubletrack, but you can put together a pretty good loop for a casual ride or a good recovery ride. It’s mostly not technical, although, there are the tight and twisty spots. I find that it is a good place for a singlespeed ride as there are no monster climbs, just rolling terrain.
My plan was to ride about 15 miles but fter the first 11 miles I felt good. So I decided to just keep riding and do another 11 miles. It was a great ride, but I should have stopped at 18 miles. During mile 19, I was riding a piece of singletrack that went along the edge of the water. My foot caught under a tree root and stopped me pretty abruptly. I did an endo, but landed on my feet…but in the lake. I think I scared the crap out of the two guys that were there fishing. There was one casualty in the little crash…I need to replace one brake lever. Easy enough, but it’s hydraulic. I finished the ride without a problem, but don’t think I should try to race with the damage that I did to it. From there I finished the loop, a little cool down ride and then back to the car.
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Windham Mountain – Race the World

Posted on March 26, 2010 by aa

Windham, NY has been chosen as the host venue for the 2010 World Cup Mountain Bike Finals scheduled to run from Thursday, August 26th through Sunday, August 29th. This is the first World Cup Mountain Bike race to be held in the U.S. since 2005 and the first to be held on the east coast since 1991. The “Race the World” event at Windham Mountain is being organized in coordination with the Windham World Cup to create an opportunity to be a part of cycling history and race with the best athletes from all over the world!!
Cross-country riders will compete on the same course as World Cup athletes, while downhill riders will compete on their own, uniquely designed course. Kids will also have a chance to “Race the World” on their own course. Please note, practice times have been clearly outlined and will be strictly followed in accordance with UCI requirements. Make sure to check out racewindham.com to get more information, see the course maps and review the schedule of events which begin on Thursday, August 26th with rider packet pick-up.
The “Race the World” event will be part of the New York State MTB Series. Categories and points will be based on the New York State series format – check out NYSMTBseries.com for details.
The Windham World Cup and “Race the World” events are being organized by the community and are not-for-profit; any net revenue will support community trails for public use. Registration will entitle you to participate in all World Cup festivities at Windham Mountain including a Friday night Block Party with a 100m time-trial sprint (“Drag Race”) in front of the pub; live music on Saturday night (bands TBA); and a “Big Wheel” race down a steep, paved course (BYOBW). To encourage attendance, and unlike most international World Cup venues, there will be no fees charged to enter the venue or the consumer and tech expos. To help defray the tremendous organizing costs and to keep the World Cup in the US, a minimal fee for parking – $10 for an entire carload for one day, or $25 for three days – will be charged.
Click HERE for more information or HERE to register.
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Spring Training

Posted on March 19, 2010 by aa
The temperatures are in the 60’s this week. Today, nearly 70 for my road ride. The trails are looking better, but I still won’t ride most until they are dryer. So, that leaves me on the road bike quite a bit for this time of year. Using MapMyRide.com, I’ve mapped out a nice loop from my house that is about 7.3 miles. For me, that’s a good distance. I can ride a good, hilly, training loop as many times as I have the time for. It’s a route that I like to use when I don’t have alot of time, or if I’m riding before work. I try to give myself enough time to ride the loop three times, but I make sure that I can ride at least two loops. It is 7.3 miles of mostly rolling country roads with very little traffic. In the middle of the loop there is a nice little climb that is a 3%-4% grade. After the decent, there is a nice 1.5 mile steady 3% climb with a fast decent. It might not sound like much to some, but for a mid-pack Cat 2 MTBer, it make a nice workout for me when time is limited.
My fitness level seems to be pretty good for this time of year. All of my training rides this week have felt good. I was able to maintain much of my fitness through the winter, and I’m definitely ahead of where I was at this time last year.
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Spring Is Just Around The Corner

Posted on March 13, 2010 by aa
It’s not quite spring yet, but spring is just around the corner. How do I know? Well, it’s mud season. You know, that time of year between Winter and Spring. That time of year when you have to stay off the trails so not to damage them. However, today I did ride some trails. In fact, with the snow mostly gone, I was finally able to ride some singletrack. That’s a good thing…my first race is only two weeks away. Was there mud? No! But it’s mud season right? Yes, it is. But these trails are part of the Pine Bush Preserve, and the ground there drains like nothing else around here. I think this is probably the only place in the area that is rideable without the concern of serious trail damage.
There isn’t alot of mileage there, but it is mostly singletrack. Fast, flowing and great for a singlespeed. I didn’t ride my singlespeed today, but next time there, I’m sure I will. We were out for a little over a hour. Not long, but a good stretch of the legs and a test of the lungs. I guess all the time on the trainer throughout the winter actually did pay off. I felt surprisingly good.
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Oxygen4Energy: Latest Sponsor

Posted on March 13, 2010 by aa
My latest sponsor for the 2010 race season is Oxygen4Energy, producers of recreational canned oxygen.
Oxygen is the most important nutrient to the cells in your body and plays an integral role in almost every bodily function. You can live without food for weeks, without water for days, but only a few minutes without oxygen.
If you, like so many other athletes out there, are seriously looking for something perfectly safe to provide just a slight edge over your competition and help your body perform at a very high level, canned oxygen might just be the answer to your prayers!
  • Maximize Power and Explosiveness!
  • Do More Reps or Sets!
  • Increase Endurance and Stamina!
  • Dramatically Reduce Recovery Times!
  • Get more out of your Sports and Fitness Training!
  • Reach Your Goals in Less Time!
  • Improve Mental Focus and Clarity!
First time customers can receive a 15% discount by using the Coupon Code: friends
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Black Fly Challenge

Posted on February 21, 2010 by aa

From the Black Fly Challenge website

The Black Fly Challenge is a classic Adirondack mountain bike race that takes place every year on the second Saturday in June. The race changes direction every year with the start and finish alternating between Indian Lake and Inlet, NY. Over half the 40 mile course traverses the rugged Moose River Recreation Area on mountain roads composed of dirt, gravel, sand and exposed boulders with several steep elevation changes. The top racers finish the race in about two hours while the rest of the field may take four or more hours. It’s called a mountain bike race but there’s a strong cyclocross contingent and that category appears to be growing, especially among the top finishers.
This year is the 15th running of the race and is being held on Saturday June 12, 2010. The 2009 Black Fly Challenge saw a record 300 entries, a rise in the number of female competitors and continued growth in cyclocross competition.
The Sport and Beginner mtb categories remain strong but some competitors moved from the Expert mtb category to the new Cyclocross category, thus lowering the level of competition in Expert. It has become apparent that the BFC may need to add a Cyclocross age class and combine Expert age classes.
While the BFC is no longer affiliated with NORBA, the old NORBA guidelines still make sense: Any category with less than 5 competitors should be combined into another category.
For complete race information, visit their website at www.blackflychallenge.com
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Cyclocross Crashes Compilation

Posted on February 20, 2010 by aa
We’ve all been there…He is a video of cyclocross crashes. Some of the crashes are pretty funny, but some, you can feel the pain.
Posted in cyclocross, race | Leave a comment