Sept 21: Bavington MTB TT

Too little sleep and race weary legs were not enough to keep Sam Morrison from taking 3rd Place in the Expert Class of the opening race of the Month of Mud Series, an Individual Time Trial (in the dirt)!!! He and his bike are "on fire" lately :) In fact, after his finish, Sam lent his bike to a friend (a girl) whose bike was mashed during warmups by someone from another team. She then rode HIS bike to 2nd Place in the Women's Division. So, his Cannondale 29er was (on) the podium TWICE in the same race!!!

To read more about Sam's weekend, goto: SamLikesBikes

Sept 20: Race Around the Hub

Sam Morrison went with his dirt buddies to a road race... where he demonstrated that relentless attacking can bring (many men) to their knees... 7 appeared to be a lucky number for Sam this day, as he contended every prime sprint in the 7 lap race... in still took 7th in the field sprint for 12th Overall and 1st U19 in the ("Expert") Race! Check out his story at SamLikesBikes.

Sept 13: Peanut Butter Festival MTB

Rain all day Friday and Friday Night was not enough to deter Sam Morrison, Rich Allen, Brian Hopkins and Henry Dimmick from attending Saturday’s New Bethlehem, Peanut Butter Festival Mountain Bike Race. The day started off disappointing for me, Henry, because I forgot my shoes. But things began looking up when I realized I could spend the day behind the camera, then got even better when I realized that since I was not racing, I could have a cold Corona for breakfast! For Sam, disappointment best describes his last visit to the Peanut Butter race… his first ever bicycle race two years ago. On that day, Sam struggled even to finish the course, searching for strength with a 10 minute “cool bath” in one of the creeks. So this year, Sam came looking for REVENGE! Under a slight mist and a light fog, the race began with a mass start road segment out to the trailhead. After all the racers went by, Sam’s dad, Brian's mom and I jumped into a car and headed out to the first spectator location only to find that the lead riders had already passed. Whoa!

From there, we rushed to the next location, a tunnel under a local road at the race’s ½ way point. There, already waiting to direct the riders into the tunnel darkness was a 6-wheel “amphibian” from the New Bethlehem Fire Department. First to emerge from the shadows was a group of three riders …one from Dirty Harry’s, another rider from KHS Bicycles, and Ag3r’s Super Sam!!! At this point, the group of three already had built a 2 minute lead over the 4th and 5th placed riders. The next spectator area was a road crossing at the course’s ¾ distance. We got there just in time to catch the leaders blasting down off the hill and out on to the pavement. Sam was sitting in 2nd place. Back in the “press car” (!) we raced back to the Finish, a high speed drop down through a grassy park, and back out onto the pavement within a ½ mile of the finish. Coming through the grass, Sam put his REVENGE to task, and turned (two year’s of disappointment) into a race WIN! While waiting for the final results to be tabulated, it started raining HARD… and kept raining all the way through the Awards Ceremony. At the ceremonies, Rich Allen was announced to have taken 3rd place in his 50-59 Age Group. As reward, Rich collected a Medal, a Cash Prize, and a jar of Peanut Butter from the local Smucker’s plant! For Sam’s Overall win, he also collected a Medal, a Cash Prize, and Jar of Smucker’s Peanut Butter from the local plant…and also a nice trophy! Meanwhile, Brian and I we were happy just being part of the event, not to mention dry and stylish in our Ag3r kit :) Before leaving town, we all visited the Festival’s food vendors for fresh pizza, steak sandwiches, and chocolate covered frozen strawberries! While revenge was certainly sweet for Sam… the race was cruel to many other riders, each looking for their own personal payback come next year!

Sept 7th: Presque Isle TT

Ray Sielski, Rich Allen, Dave Hickey, Doug Frost, and Steve Marlette Closed out the regular road racing season in Erie at the Iroquois Sports Boosters, Presque Isle, Individual Time Trial on what appears to have been a perfect day for racing. Ray set a Personal Record by 33 seconds! Rich set a break-out time Personal Record by 1 minute, 27 seconds! Dave set a Personal record by 51seconds! ...while Doug and Steve fell just short of their PRs by 8 and 14 seconds respectively! Never-the-less, Steve's time was good enough for 3rd in his age group & 16th Overall! Bringing home "hardware" is always a good way to end the season :)

Sept 7th: Strongland Road Race

Mike Maher and Sam Morrison, Ag3r's Mtn (bike) Men, again journyed into "Strongland" territory to compete on the pavement. Looks like they will let ANYONE enter those things! Sam entered the the 35 mile, Road Race I, finishing in 7th place for his second Top 10 placing in 2 days. "Strongland" is any land where this kid rides :) Mike entered the 20 mile, Road Race II, and finished the race by winning a two-up sprint against one of Ag3r's long standing "antagonists"!!! In Mike's (paraphrased) words: (Antagonist) goes to the front on the first climb and cranks it up. But he can't shake me or 9 other guys. I attack on a fast technical downhill, cause I know the route and want to be clear in case there is a crash. I'm caught. (Antagonist) tries a couple digs on slow rollers that I easily cover. I attack 3 times on the 3-4 mile climb up 56. Really to soften the group rather than get away. It all comes back together. About 1/2 mile from the finish there is a little rise. There is one good climber in the group and he goes. The three guys I have pegged as sprinters jump his wheel. (Antagonist) jumps in 5th and I'm glued to his wheel. The climber dude implodes at about 500 meters. The sprinters are ramping it up. I'm sitting waiting. About 150 meters from the finish the course makes a 90 degree left. (Antagonist) jumps about 50 meters shy of the turn. He's out of the saddle and I'm sure he's thinking that the race will be one by whomever makes the turn in the lead. We come thru the corner at full speed. I hop out of the saddle and wind up my sprint. I'm easily coming around (antagonist) with about 100 meters. He feels me and tries to pinch me off on the inside by coming over a full traffic lane into me. I lean my shoulder into his ribs to keep upright and bump him off the line and pass him to win by a bike length or two. Man that felt good! As Mike says, "No Blood, No Foul" :)

Sept 6th: Strongland MTB

Sam Morrison and Mike Maher entered the Expert mountain bike race at the Tour de Strongland Race weekend in Vandergrift/Apollo, Pa. While Mike had a spot of difficulty with proper factory-floor operations of his Nutrient Processing and Waste Management divisions(!), Sam was able to ride strong to a 5th place finish. Sam continues to turn the local Mtn Bike Scene upside-down :)

2nd place, State TT championships

Race Report finally posted

Aug 31: Tour de Tamerak

Rich Allen traveled north on Sunday to the Tamerak road race. In Rich's words: "The race started on time and up the hill we went, I actually gained a little ground zig zaging around people on the climb but was still behind the leaders 50 yards or so. Worked with a couple other guys, one flatted and the other one dropped shortly after he jumped in. Road the next 8 or so miles solo but after the 2nd climb I could see a pack behind me which caught me with like 5 miles or so to go, and road with them till the next small hill. This one guy takes off so I jumped his wheel, and told him it was just me and you and lets go for it, so we did. The pack caught him part way up the hill before the final turn to the finish line but I was able to hold them off for 10th overall and 1st in my age group."

Aug 31: State Time Trial

Brian Hopkins traveled east to compete in the 2008 Pa. State Time Trial Championships... and his drive was well worth it. Brian finished 2nd in the State, taking a Silver medal for himself, before traveling to the "24-hour" camp site at Seven Springs to show-off his "mettle" ...or is that "medal" (?) !!! Watch for more info on that event, either here or on Brian's Blog.

24 Hours at 7 Springs Challenge

The Subaru 24 Hour Champion Challenge at 7 Springs Ski Resort...

...received two entries from Ag3r : Sam Morrison, who entered the SOLO division...riding the entire time himself... ...and Mike Maher, Mark Milliken, Rich Seevers, and Henry Dimmick, who entered the 4-man Masters division and let their combined legs do the talking!

The race started at Noon on Saturday with a Le Mans style running start (see Blog Header). Mark Milliken (hired gun!) was Ag3r's starting "runner"...

...as well as the "lucky" rider to complete the ceremonial final-lap, crossing the finish line at 12:00:25 on Sunday.

After 24 straight hours of hills, rocks and crashes, the final results shook out as follows:

Sam finished in 3rd Place of the Solo Division with 14 laps, or ~170 torturous, rocky, mountainous miles, all the while keeping an alarmingly great attitude.

Mike, Mark, Rich & Henry finished in 3rd Place of the Masters Division with 17 laps, or ~210 miles covered in the 24 hour span.

Sam could not have made it without the tireless and sleepless help of his Dad (below in blue!) ...

...while the Team was constanly motivated at the top of the ski-slope-climb pit area, by our own cowbell ringing, "Fast Like Pancakes" chanting, Cheering Section!When it was all over, we were crushed... ...but had memories to last a lifetime.
(No really, Mike ... a LIFETIME... not just until next year!!!) "Special Thanks" to Dirty Mike for building up our courage to race this crazy event! ...and remember, Ag3r / IndianaCycling.com is...

For MORE on the event, check out Rich Seevers' Blog (AFIB Rider)

T.T.F.N. (Tah Tah for Now!)

Aug 29: WB Time Trials

Steve Marlette, Dave Hickey and Rich Allen took part in a high humidity, bug-blanket infested (yuk!), and crash marred 25 mile Individual Time Trial at the Washington Blvd. Track.

Bottom line, it was not the best night for ANYONE...including the bugs stuck to Steve's bicep in the picture on the right!!!!

Official results will be reported once they are posted by the promoter.