Tour d'Liquor

Unfortunately, this year's 14th Tour d'Liquor was poorly attended.  Maybe it was the 20 degF temperature, or maybe it was just a reflection of the busy season...but no matter of attendance was going to slow down Steve Brewer, Mike Maher, the stiCk, and Henry Dimmick from enjoying themselves on this annual ritual.  In fact, as small as we might appear (see below!), we planned to have a BIG time this night!

Dropping down through the Boulevard, we found only one oasis of color amist lots of no-lights or white-only-lights cookie cutter houses.

Once in to town, we hooked up with Dirty Mike and his custom maflector wheelset!  Each time he started moving, we all fell into a trance... "You are getting very S L E E P Y ..."!!!

Halfway through the first neighborhood, we realized that stiCk's bike decoration lights battery pack was hanging from his tool bag... much like a set of "Truck Nuts"!

Upon arriving at our first stop, we began our lube job with a handfull of BLUES while setting about the only real business of the evening...our Annual Foosball Tournament!

2007 / 2008 Repeat Champion (tHe stiCkman) successfuly regained the top rung of the ladder, receiving the ceremonial winning Blue Label on the only part of his body that it would stick to!

Back out into the cold, we found a new kind of light this year...what looked to be REAL icicles...except in BLUE... seemingly the nights favorite color!

Right across the street were these really weird BLUE pipes with a strange BLUE gas coming from them...and before we knew it, we were overcome with the need to ride over the frozen gravel piles just behind them. 

Funny thing about WINTER piles of gravel...they are FROZEN. After MANY crashes...and seeing many BLUE stars, we decided to ride on before an Ambulance was necessary!

NOTE TO SELF: Frozen Gravel = Frozen Points. Most of us found "clusters" of quarter sized bruises on our legs in the "daze" following the ride!!!

Not knowing what the rest of the evening had in store for us, we thought it best to stop and say a prayer...

...before heading over the the multi-year repeat Winning Decorations house!

Problem was, that by this time in the evening, we were seeing the house more like THIS...!

Anyway, on to our next, and mostest favorite bar!

After too much time, and too much fun on "The Island"...

...we HAD to leave in order to get to the Swinging Bridge...

...where on this COLD night, we made lots of "Steam"...!

Next up, was Papa John's Pizza before they CLOSED. (In 2009, we arrived too late for Pizza, and went without food for the entire evening...which you can understand was NOT a good thing on THIS ride!)

After pounding down too much Pizza, too fast, everyone felt sick...so we put our tails between our legs and pedalled home...

NOTE TO SELF:  Pizza right before bed DOES make for a restless sleep!

So with another year's ride in the books....and a few more days for our memories and hangovers to fade, we will all be looking forward to next year's ride!

Merry Christmas!

Raccoon Park CX

Kirk Morrison, Rich Allen and Henry Dimmick ventured out in a 35 degF rain to compete in the Raccoon Park CycloCross race.

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Thanks to Mike Briggs & Sonic Imaging for the pictures
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What they discovered was Saturday's course report of: "Mostly frozen and snow covered with some greasy mud", had turned to the "Mud Bog from Heck"!

The conditions, however, were NOT able to dampen the spirits of the riders who were racing THE LAST RACE of 2010, especially when the RAIN turned to SNOW!!!

In the Men's Cat 1/2/3/4:

Rich finished in 9th Place

Kirk finished in 10th Place

...despite taking the long way around THIS particular turn!

...with Henry finishing in 11th Place

An Ag3r Sweep you might say!!!

After pealing off our WET and MUDDY clothes (6.96 lbs before the race, 14.06 lbs after!), we wheeled our bikes to a local home owners house to wash them off!

 

Now, we are having a bit of trouble with our bottom brackets being (rusted) solid!  Go figure :)

A great season, marked by a memorable Finale!

Raccoon Firehall CX

Steve Marlette was the only Ag3r rider who faced the ELEMENTS* to race the Raccoon Firehall CX.

* - Steve primarily braved the elements of WIND and WATER (eg: snow & ice!). He had brief encounters with EARTH, who was kept hidden by WATER most of the time, except in one portion of the course when it COMBINED with WATER to mascarade as MUD....or maybe as a Mochachino!  EARTH did, however, play a SOLID Best Supporting Actor role as a foundation for WATER, when together they resisted the impacts of falling riders! On the other hand, Steve did not have to brave FIRE, who was unavailable for comment, but would have been welcomed with open arms by all riders! TEMPERATURE, despite significant efforts to lobby on it's own behalf, has not yet been granted ELEMENTAL STATUS.
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Thanks to Jeff Curry, Michael Appel, and Mike Briggs for their images!  They are as brave, they are as tough, and they are as stupid as the riders!   Jealous :)
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For his willingness to suffer, Steve was rewarded with a 10th Place finish in the Men's Cat 3/4 Race.
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In Steve's Words:
Today's race was a unique set of conditions to say the least! Snow, frozen mud, ice and strong winds made it a challenge just to get yourself out of the car!

I wore legwarmers and tights. I wore an old set of ski gloves that I could barely shift in (this was the correct move, otherwise I would not have been able to feel my hands by the second lap). I wore nearly everything in the Ag3r kit to stay warm.

Staying warm and upright were the key to this race.

I moved up two places because the guys in front of me fell.

I later reciprocated by falling on the last lap and they passed me.

A fun race!..but as cold as I ever want to race again.

Dirty Dozen

Attempting to combat the effects of too much Turkey Dinner, Sam & Kirk Morrison returned to the 2010 edition of Danny Chew's Dirty Dozen hill climb "race".

Learn More by clicking on "Dirty Dozen" along the left sidebar HERE
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Thanks to Ben Stephens & Lorraine Nacey for the images, and Ryan Post for the video.
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Kirk returned on his road bike...

...finding again that at the top of EVERY climb is a GRAVEYARD ...for dead cyclists!

...while Sam returned as STOKER of a "tan-dumb" with Montana Miller as Pilot.

Check the video below of Sam & Montana tackling Canton Avenue...a 38% grade "cobble" hill that is completely closed to traffic in the winter.

PLAY VIDEO

Apparently, 170 participants attended this year, despite the 30degree, snow flurry conditions.

HATS OFF to the two of you. This is one TOUGH effort to complete.

Bruceton Mills CX

Rich Allen, Kirk Morrison and Henry Dimmick traveled the superslab down to the Morgantown, West Virginia area for the Bruceton Mills Cyclocross race.

Meanwhile, Steve Marlette entered the wrong address into his GPS and traveled to the "wrong place" in West Virginia, never making the race!!! 

If you are from Pennsylvania, right now you may be asking yourself, "Is there a "right place" in W.Va.?"  Well, we're here to tell you that there certainly is  : )
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THANKS to Ben Stephens, West Liberty Cycles, Rick Plowman & Kirk Morrison for the Images in this Post.
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In Kirk's Words:
This was a fairly fast course (approx 1 mile loop) with “mostly” dry conditions and only one mud section...

...one run-up and one set of barriers...

The weather was remarkably warm (60F+) for mid/late November with some sun and (unfortunately) some gusting winds. The venue at the Parks Farm was excellent with the ability to view almost the entire course from our camp.

For the Cat4 race my average lap times were 5’41”. Unfortunately, this effort sapped a bit of my energy which led to a 5’52” average lap time in the subsequent Masters 40+ race. I was hoping to overcome the fatigue with the help of 4 refreshing “hop enhanced electrolyte replacement beverage” hand-ups during the second race. While these ‘hand-ups” definitely helped and had other significant benefits, my pace still dropped off in race # 2.

The highlights of the day included the remarkable bike handling skills of the post-toddler competitors during the kids race, as well as the post ride swim race across the race pond by Stephanie Swan and (some guy!)

The barn tunnel was also an unexpected treat...

...with Gremlins raining down donuts and whipped cream on the passing riders!

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Cat 4 Race Results:
Rich took 18th Place

Kirk took 20th Place

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Cat 2/3/4, 40+ Race Results
Rich finished in 11th Place, winning the days Ag3r Team competition!

Henry finished in 12th Place

Kirk finished in 14th Place

Anyplace there is a CycloCross race, is the RIGHT PLACE  ...in ANY state!

Sundress Kid CX

Oh my....!!!

Steve Brewer competed in the Butch Cassidy and the Sundress Kid Cyclocross Classic to raise money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

As far as we can see (or as the case may be, glad we can't see!) ...getting over the barriers should be easier with less clothing (down there) to get in the way!

You da-Man, Steve    : )