20100207

Big Snow Night Ride

20+ inches of snow fell from Friday Noon until Saturday Noon... ...and what better way to enjoy the storm than from the saddle ...at night!
Kirk Morrison, Rich Allen and myself headed out Friday Night around 9:00 pm ...and had the world pretty much to ourselves.
Everything is pretty when covered with fresh powder.
By the time we got home it was after Midnight, with the snow so deep that even the smallest incline brought us to our knees ...'er, rather ...to our feet!!!
One advantage of the snow was that no kick stands were necessary to park our bikes!
The rest of the weekend was spent shoveling ...the driveway...the sidewalks ...the roof ...the deck ...and the little paths through the yard so the dogs to go "out" ...!!!
I am so sore I can hardly move : (

20100130

First Race of 2010

Steve Brewer traveled east to meet up with Brian Hopkins in Carlisle, Pa for the Team's first race of the season! Promoted by Fast Forward Racing, "Why Not Cross" went off with 17 degF temperatures and sunshine! In the Open Men's Division, Brian finished in 6th Place and Steve in 7th Place. Watch "Blog-ettes" for possible posts from each of them.

20100128

Northern Group Satellite

Mark Briercheck organized a ride out of Zelienople on Saturday, with Mark Hess, Dan Chew, Dave Stewart from Nevada, Jonathan Pratt, Joe Ross, Dan Schar, and Rob Gaus in attendance.
A warm January day. I left my house 8 am and rode north to Zelie for the 9:30am Hess ride. After a 14 year absence from the group Dave Stewart returned to the Northern Group. Morning started in the low 30's and mid-day almost touched 50 degrees. Joe Ross (riding a big soft and cushy single speed with Monster tires) flatted after the off road down hill into McConnels mills. The guy with the biggest tires had the only flat. That's luck i suppose.
The climb out of McConnells mills was total snow and ice. Oh Yes! It was a single track climb to get out. Gaus and I set down a fun quick tempo on the march into the Sheetz off of 328 (this is a guess that we were on 328...as usual I have no idea where we actually were). As for this matter I won't even describe our loop because I don't remember any of the roads anyway. I know we did climb up breakneck? Notable Notes - Rob forgot his food so Renee' delivered it to Rob like a team car.Team Gaus to the rescue. Mary Hess had muffins waiting for the returning riders! thanks for the great ride, briercheck

Ride Oddities

Rich Allen, Doug Frost and I went out for a spin this past Saturday... and when riding at slow Winter Riding speeds, we were able to see a few curiosities along the way! A 20 Foot Tall Lamp Post... (or maybe an ICBM silo?!)... Historical Landmarks...
Old Fashioned Barn Advertising... covering front yard Water Meters...
A Man-Made Climb ...not yet open to the Public...
...and a Flat Tire that mysteriously happened while we were IN the Coffee Shop :)

20100116

Coasting Races

If an Indian Summer is a warm day after the first freeze, what is a warm day in the middle of winter called? Rich Allen and I were lucky enough to be around for an impromptu ride with Doug Frost, because the temperature was warm enough for him to come out and play! No one paid much attention to the climbing we did today, because we were more interested in Coasting Races, where we all match speed at the top of a descent, then see who can keep rolling the longest/farthest without pedaling :) Today's Pillsbury Dough Boy was Frosty the Coaster Man! Check out the pic below ...right as Frosty is in his final inches of coasting, starting to saw his front wheel (actually breaking a spoke doing it!), his phone falls out of his pocket.

Notice that the shadow of the phone is "not connected" to the phone itself, because the phone has not actually hit the ground yet!

20100110

Old Stone House

We started our ride later than normal today...waiting for it to warm up a bit...
...with my arm, Rich Allen and Brian Parker foolish enough to brave the elements!
After meeting at the Old Stone House...
....we rode off into the countryside.
With the roads reasonably clear, the sun popping in-and-out of the clouds, and the wind behaving itself MOST of the time, we were happy to be outside.
No matter HOW you look at it, a ride always brightens up our day : )
...THEN... Brian went out for 18 more miles solo after he got home! It would appear his elbow is feeling "good-as-new"!

20100106

SS Snow Rides (3SR)

Me and Sam... sorry Mom, Sam & I...(!!!)... riding on Sunday night and Wednesday morning!!!

20100101

New Year's Day Ride

Sam Morrison, Kirk Morrison, Rich Allen, Ray Sielski & I all headed out into the brave new world of 2010 this morning, amid a nice snow shower, for the 16th Annual FoxVelo New Year's Day Ride. When we came upon the big piles of snow in the Mall Parking Lot, we got the idea to try to ride up...
then climb the piles of snow...
...until Sam got the idea that we should put on a CX race at the Mall and make EVERYONE go up and over these mtns with each lap :)
After that, we headed into the woods...
... and got the brilliant idea to ride Power Lines...!!!
...which looked awesome from the top...
...and just as cool from the bottom...
...until we discovered that we would have to bushwack our way out of the valley back to civilization...
...through jaggers so thick...
...that soon, Jagger-Master Sam's only course of action became to line a trail floor with our bikes, then step on them in order to squish down the jaggers far enough for us to pass...
...making slow and painstaking progress ... foot after foot ...after foot ...until he FINALLY broke us free of the wilderness!
After all this work... I mean riding... we rode to Eat'n'Park for lunch :) Happy New Year!
Photo Thanks to Ray Sielski and myself : )

20091226

Fenders?

What used to be the target of ridicule has now become accepted equipment. Of the SIX riders who attended today's ride, FIVE of their bikes had fenders!
After starting on rain wet roads, and traversing a "No Winter Maintinance" ice covered road sprinkled with limestone gravel(!), we learned just how much traction smooth road tires can have on ice!
Since that didn't stop us, we just kept riding until the sun came out... and my legs turned to rubber :)
As always, a good time riding with the boys... Rich Allen, Sam Morrison, Kirk Morrison, Ed Johnson, Turner Johnson and me!

20091223

Merry Christmas!

20091220

Tour d'Liquor

Text By Roger Lutz Photos by Henry Dimmick Also attending were Steve Brewer, Rich Seevers, Randy McKracken, & Kirk Morrison. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Captain's Log: TdL Twenty Zero Nine (The 13th Annual) I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad that the TdL was yesterday (dry to the end with a light snow to cap it off) and not today (3 inches of snowy goodness). I'm leaning to the happy side. After finding my headlights shot for good I had to hammer in between traffic surges on Rt 8 and I made it to HD's winded but in time for a beer! Unfortunately I gave him some shit about the hippy hair and was downgraded to Pony bottle. Lesson learned. Soon Kirk arrived (wait - shouldn't he be writing the Captains Log?). Finally KD rolled in looking somewhat overdressed for the occasion. Which begs the question, what would look more out of place at the Island Bar, Fluorescence Lycra pants and an elf hat, or a well tailored suit? I think the answer is obvious. So did Ken. He bowed out of the festivities. But having previously determined that a man in a a suit CAN get in and out of there without getting stabbed, he treated us to a round at the Brick House to get us started!
Funny story: Prior to heading to the Brick House when we were gathering on the lot, and some Kranack's riders passed heading South on Main. After we yelled out to them, they realized it was us and came back to talk. They said they didn't realize they knew us at first...??? JeeBus! Here's a clue. If someone even "knows" what Kranacks is, chances are you know them! You guys look great and all, but we're not talking Astana here!
Departing the Brick House we found our track around collarbone corner and up McKain street. The ambitious uphill route selected somewhat deviously by HD to knock the Foos out of me. Unfortunately, his plan succeeded and a devastating blow to my self esteem was inflicted soon thereafter.
The boulevard was a disappointing display this year. A few restrained white light displays following the "L.L. Bean Guide to Looking Like Everybody Else" handbook to a tee... but once dropping down to Butler Health System, better lights were to be found.
Arriving at our traditional first stop we proceeded to do some stuff that we sometimes do there and it really doesn't matter and I don't want to talk about it... (!!!)
(Photo: 2007/2008 Repeat Champion Lutz, & new 2009 Champion Morrison)
Several rounds of "Canadurine" beer in the sweltering heat of the artist previously known as the Evans Inn, and we were off...
Thinking our next stop would be the Monroe Hotel we instead hosted an impromptu gathering of cylists in the middle of Cecelia and Locusts street intersection. It was "the other group" . Santa Rapp was there, and surprisingly coherent. The police stopped by to eye us up so we moved on down the road.
The Monroe Hotel was.... The Monroe Hotel. It's never been quite right since it's conversion to a Chucky Cheese with beer atmosphere. But it was necessary to go there in order to up our bar count. Especially since instruction later radioed in by the chairman of our Californistan contingent strictly forbade another visit to "My Buddy's Place"!!! Frankly I was glad to get clearance to forgo that. I'm still having nightmares from that David Lynchfest. Anyway, the Monroe peanuts were free and gave us added energy for our next adventure...
...the first annual crossing of "Lookout Bridge". Lookout Bridge is the new name of the 45 foot long span once called (albeit unofficialy and sans signage) Monroe Street. Having been declared too dangerous to traverse, then reopened even though they did nothing to it, then closed again, I guess they felt a new name was needed so we'd know they actually DID do something to fix it this time. On the ascent of the bridge our team halted for a repair of Brewer’s chain performed by Seevers while illuminated by Morrison.
This gave Henry and I time to realize that we were indeed loopy enough to ride our bikes down the snowy cliff side to the railroad tracks. So of course we did just that. We damn near had Randy talked in to doing it on his LiteSpeed road bike. HD cracked and showed him mercy. I guess one surgery a year is enough. Still, this paragraph could have been better had HD held firm a few more minutes.
"The Usual Suspects" The alley house was decorated but dark. As disappointed as we were, we showed some Christmas mercy and sang a Christmas carol to them anyway. Knowing how well that place is normally lit, I'm betting a blown fuse.
The winner running as many years as I can recall won again. Their neighbors were starting to compete though, so the next few years should be interesting.
Other houses on our route showed promise, but no focus. The winner was again crowned with a carol, and we rolled across Butlers other new bridge...to The Island Bar.
This improbable corner bar always shows us a good time. Although our hostess failed to personally appear, she phoned in some free drink chips to her stand in. Many a beer, and a fuex fight with the bushes for old time sake.
We had a nice time there, but unfortunately left too late for Pizza. How it can EVER be too late for pizza is beyond me, but the Pie Heads shut us out.
Things were getting a little fuzzy by the swinging bridge, but then, that pretty much is how it should be, so no problems there.
We decided that the emptiness of our pizza hole could be adequately filled with BACON! So we rode up to main street and pointed our bikes north...
...then...I remember talking to some dead relatives... there was this light... then I was sitting next to Steve and he was playing with a fuzzy green chicken nugget that he found in the Eat n' Park planter....
...then I was skidding donuts in the snow and then I woke up with a horrible headache. And that's the way it was. A good time with good friends… and I suppose even with that Newbie who shut me down in foos.
Merry Christmas!

20091218

TdL Prep (1.0)

Henry: So... have you been looking for your Yellow (wind) Jacket?!?!?!?! Roger: So THAT'S where it is!!! Yeah, I'll probably want to add that to the ensemble. At least I know it won't smell like hell from a whole year in the Island Bar like my gloves did two years ago! I'm so excited! This is the pinnacle of my cycling year! I actually wanted to do a ride this fall but blew it off so I didn't have to undecorate my bike : )

20091216

Fork This!

20091207

The Off-Season Season

With racing season almost over, Mike Maher, Rich Allen and Ray Sielski were able to get out for a ride just for the fun of it ... rejuvenating the childhood enjoyment that got us all hooked on bikes in the first place.
Photos by Mike Maher. Ride Summary by Ray Sielski. Great ride, but tough with rock gardens aplenty. I did better than I thought I would and finished with a nice hill climb then decended into the mud pit of Gollum. A 29'r would have been nice as my bb was bottoming out on the rock trails. Mike did a nice split when his tire found a groove in boards over a creek. This was covered by snow and caught him by surprise. Mike also fell off a boulder and was in a very precarious position, which could have been a bad 4 foot tumble. Rich had tire troubles early but rebounded to have a nice day on the tech stuff. Good thing we practiced the tire fix drill earlier in the week.

20091128

Nov 28: Dirty Dozen

The following are Text Messages, coming to you LIVE, from Kirk Morrison during the course of today's Dirty Dozen Hill Climb (Race)!!! 12:00 pm Sam (Morrison) Hill #1 - 3rd Hill #2 - 1st Hill #3 - 4th Hill #4 - 2nd Mark Briercheck and I are surviving. ------------------------------------------- 12:41 pm Hill #5 - 1st Total Points so far: Steevo leading 20 - 19 ------------------------------------------- 12:43 pm Hill #6 - Sam 2nd ------------------------------------------- 12:47 pm Sam in 1st Place. Ahead of Steevo by 3 pts ------------------------------------------- 1:23 pm Hill #7 - 2nd Sam in 1st Place by 2 pts ------------------------------------------- 1:41 pm FaceBook post by Suzanne Atkinson

------------------------------------------- 2:04 pm After Hill #8... Sam in 1st Place, leading steevo by 4 points ------------------------------------------- 2:40 pm Hill #9 - Canton. Sam forced into left line and the leaves. Steevo 1st. Sam 5th. Tied Overall. ------------------------------------------- 2:50 pm Big Field - Over 180 riders ------------------------------------------- 3:10 pm Hill #10 - Sam 1st. Steevo 2nd. ------------------------------------------- 3:32 pm Hill #11 - Steevo 2nd. Sam 3rd. Tied Again. ------------------------------------------- 3:50 pm Hill #12 - Steevo 1st. Sam 2nd. Chris Mayhew tops out the podium in 3rd.

WOW... what a battle!

20091126

Nov 22: Kirtland Park CX

This past weekend found the Ag3r Team in Cleveland, Ohio...
...at the Kirtland Park CycloCross.
Again, the day was beautiful... so unlike Cross Season!
Kirtland's claim to fame is The Amphitheatre of Pain!
Racing today were Rich Allen (7th Place Men's C)
Hanna Brewer (2nd Place Women's C)
...who was being photographed from MULTIPLE angles! That's Kirk Morrison framed in the rear wheel!
Steve Brewer (2nd Place Men's C)
Henry Dimmick (26th Place Men's B)
Sam Morrison (6th Place Men's A)
...cheered on by all his fans!
...and ALSO photgraphed from MULTIPLE angles!
THIS is MY view. (Hi Kirk... we see you there in ORANGE!)
...and THIS is Kirk's View!
...and Ray Sielski (16th Place Men's C)
... who is PROUD to have achieved D.O.R.K. status!
Thanks to ALL who contributed photos, using my camera or theirs!

20091116

Nov 14: Kent State CX

This past Saturday, Mike Maher, Steve Marlette, Rich Allen, Ray Sielski and I (Henry Dimmick) headed off to Kent State University for a CycloCross race. ...and a gorgeous day it was for a Road Trip!

Upon our arrival, Steve broke out his latest in Team Warm-Wear... a fashion risk if ever we saw one! The first race of the day was the Men's Cat 4... which is why we entered 4 riders :)

Steve Marlette...

Ray Sielski...

Rich Allen...

..and Mike Maher.

At the end of the race, Steve took 5th Place, and Mike took 4th Place ... after letting a rider pass him at the LAST moment because he thought there was one more lap to go ... gosh darn-it :)

Of course... we had to hear ALL ABOUT IT afterwards!!!

In the next race, the Men's B, my excuse was even weaker than Mike's ... as the Concrete Edge of Death and Destruction took me out with a flat in the FIRST LAP.... DNF for me :(

Soldiering on were Mike & Steve...

...cheeered on ALL OVER THE COURSE by the Ag3r Peanut Gallery!!!

All in all, an awesome day... the weather, the course and the company included!

20091104

Nov 01: Boulder Cup

Our Western Mid-Western Team Rep, Sam Morrison, competed in the Boulder Cup this past weekend. You heard that right... as in Boulder, Colorado! While some say Sam has only two speeds... FAST and OFF (!) ... it would seem that SINGLE Speeds are his strength... evidenced by Sam taking 5th Place in the SS Race!!! That makes 3 top 5 finishes in 3 ACA (American Cycling Association) Races this season! You can read & see more about it HERE :)

20091102

Nov 01: Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon

Hanna Brewer proved that strong legs and lungs can do more than just pedal a bicycle, by running in the Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon.
Finishing with a time of 1:48:09, Hanna took 32nd Place in the Women's 25-29 Division...
...508th Place Overall out of 2062 total runners. Well Done Hanna : )

Oct 31: Marilla CX

Dirty Mike Maher (and his bike!) were exactly that... Dirty ... after doing 2 races at this weekend's Marilla CycloCross Race.

In the Single Speed Race, Mike took 9th Place ... just happy that his chain stayed together!

In the Men's B Race, Mike improved on that result by taking 6th Place.

Two excellent finishes in harsh conditions... proving again just how Dirty Mike really is!