PMVC Track Night

NO BRAKES....
...is the only rule in Track Racing!
Kinda!

Thanks to Oscar Swan and PMVC, another Fixed-Gear Friday Night at the Track season has begun.

After selecting Steve Brewer as the evenings go-to-guy for the sprint,

 Henry Dimmick went to work as lead-out/domestique,

while Hannah Brewer worked as SuperFan, capturing it all on "film".
 
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Story by Oscar:
Results from Friday Night Track, July 15, 2012.
Friday Night Track Night is the best-kept bike-event secret in town. The quality of racing is really good and evenly matched, and the chance for anaerobic training is unmatched. Ask Henry Dimmick, once he catches his breath. Thanks to Jacob Yundt for beer. Here are the results:

2-lap TT
5th @2.17 - Steve Brewer
6th @2.18 - Henry Dimmick

Danish Sprint
1st - Steve Brewer
6th - Henry Dimmick

Sprints
(2 heats + repechage + finals)
1st - Steve Brewer
5th - Henry Dimmick

Points Race to Infinity
3rd - Steve Brewer
6th - Henry Dimmick

8-Lap Handicap
1st - Steve Brewer
5th - Henry Dimmick

Omnium Winners:
2nd Place - Steve Brewer
7th Place - Henry Dimmick

Aliquippa Criterium

Story by Mark Briercheck

Aliquippa Criterium - June 10th, 2012

The Killa' B's!

On a sunny and warm Sunday morning in June, the 3 B's (Brewer/Brewer/Briercheck) met up at the annual Aliquippa Criterium to be a part of a frentic race.

Complete Results: http://www.usacycling.org/results/?permit=2012-1773

Cat 1/2/3
With perfect temperatures and sunny skies - the 1/2/3 race kicked off at 8:30 am. Steve and I evaluated the situation and made plans for bringing home the win. As we rolled to the line Steve noted a number of heavy hitters in the field so we discussed who to watch and who should do the work. And without surprise - the race turned very fast very soon so we sat in and rode smart.

Photo by Fred Jordan

The field had a few breakaways but despite the attempts the field always swallowed them back up.

Photo by Hannah Brewer

The biggest event of the race was a truck spilling diesel fuel in turn 3 as we came around. But corner marshals jumped on the situation like a honey badger on a snake (ewww!) and they had the corner clean and safe in no time.

 Coming into the final sprint Steve and I both tried to get a solid position and hold in for the sprint but lots of traffic and tired legs took their toll and we finished mid-pack. Overall a fast and fun race!

NOTE: (Steve's Garmin reported that the 25 mile crit averaged 24.4 mph... with the final lap averaging 30.2 mph!)

13th Place - Steven Brewer
15th Place - Mark Briercheck



Cat 3/4 Race
23rd Place - Steven Brewer



Photo by Fred Jordan



Womens Cat 4

6th Place - Hannah Brewer 

Good Job Everyone!

PMVC TT

A new Friday Night at the Track Season has begun!

The Pittsburgh Masters Velo Club (PMVC) Friday Night at the track is an alternating schedule of Individual Time Trials and Fixed Gear Track Bike nights.  The opening event was the 5 mile TT.

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Results by Oscar Swan:

June 8. 5 Mile Time Trial. Summer Kicker-Offer. Good fast weather, and 8 people under 11 minutes, but no one came close to the men’s record of 10.16. Stephanie Swan tied Sinead Miller’s record of 11.36.

3rd Place - @10.42 Steve Brewer (Personal Record)

5th Place - @10.48 Stephen Marlette

8th Place - @10.58 Steve Brewer (2nd attempt)

21st Place - @11.52 Mark Briercheck

27th Place - @12.21 Kirk Morrison

28th Place - @12.26 Raymond Sielski (Personal Record)

30th Place - @13.09 Hannah Brewer (2nd woman)

WVMBA #4

Story by Kirk Morrison

I drove down to the Race Around the Bend at North Bend State Park near Harrisville, WV. This was mountain bike event #5 in the WVMBA 15 race series.

While the drive was long (200 miles, 3.5 hours each way), the weather was great with temps around 70F, sunny skies and a nice breeze.

This was my first time to North Bend SP. It was a real treat to find such well designed Mtb trails … fast but challenging.  I was a bit concerned that the course would have lots of mud since we had 2 days of rain at the end of the preceding week. I was pleased to find that the trails were in great shape (fast, wet & tacky) with only a few muddy spots.

The course started with a loop through a freshly mowed hayfield before we entered the tight single track. The course was fairly fast with a number of steep, lengthy climbs and a few rock gardens. The most interesting part of the ride was at the beginning of a rock garden section where the course traveled between two boulders with a third cube-shaped boulder (that had fallen from the adjacent cliff) wedged overhead to create a short tunnel. Very cool. Too bad I didn’t have more time to stop and admire it !

The organization for this race was outstanding with over 20 course marshals (wearing bright green shirts) out on the course to help keep us all on track.

Results were available (immediately after finishing) on the flat screen monitor near the finish line.

I entered the Masters 45+ Sport race and ended up finishing in 6th place. After checking my result, I headed over to down a wonderful plate of spaghetti before heading for home.

Excellent organization, friendly volunteers, highly recommended !

Results link:
http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/?eid=2012/06/13903r.html

While there were a few photographers on the course, no pics have been posted yet. I’ll forward pics later if I find them.

Ft. Cherry Classic Road Race

Story by Mark Briercheck

The Ft. Cherry Classic in McDonald, PA is a rolling loop with one climb that always inflicts a wonderful amount of pain on the legs. And in typical fashion, this year’s race did not disappoint.

From countless attacks, surges, headwinds, and leg cramps – the Masters 40+ field continued to drop riders all day.

Dave Shaffer (on course marshal duty) offered super fan support by cheering me on every lap! A huge amount of encouragement from teammates always helps the pain!

Photo by Fred Jordan

Eventually a break of 4 guys escaped with 1.5 laps to go and a main field of 15 or so to chase. I held in with the main group and probably put in too many efforts to chase breaks. By the final two miles my legs ran empty and I had no gas for the sprint therefore finishing out the day in 11th Place.

Thanks to J.R. Petsko for organizing another great race as well as a big thanks to Dave Shaffer for marshaling the course all day!

Dash for Cash

...is a great x-Country MTB course, open only ONCE a year... where only 3 people have been swept away in the waist deep river crossing.  Then again, maybe I am exagerating(?)

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Fable by Mike Maher

Fire, Plague, and Petulance

Well we didn’t actually have any fire plague or petulance, but we did have some biblical proportion rain and hail the size of grapes!

Of course this just made an already challenging course that much more fun. The course was slick, rocky, rooty and frankly pretty treacherous. Couple NASTY downhills and some brutal uphills made a course that never allowed you a moment to relax or let your guard down. Exactly what you want when you sign up for a mountain bike race.

Hell if you want smooth sailing….stay on the road or your couch!

Another cool thing about this race is the time trial format. LOVE it!   Carrots all race long.

This is the first time I’ve done this race seeming to always have a conflict. This course is so fun and the vibe so cool, then throw in a post race PARTY with free BBQ, BEER and live music and, …I will not miss it again!

Rich Allen and Hanna Brewer met me at the race. Hannah true to my predictions is becoming THE mountain biker on our team. She absolutely shredded this tortuous course to take second place overall for the women. Those hours at Moraine are paying bid dividends cause on a course that had grown men whimpering…she absolutely rocked it.

Hannah Brewer - 2nd Place Woman, 28th Place Overall

Rich also tore it up and is riding as well as I’ve ever seen him . His hard work and pushing till the end earned him a solid second in the 50+ category. Amazed that someone beat him as well as he’s riding.

Rich Allen - 2nd Place 50+, 10 Place Overall

Yours truly WON the 46 year old, SingleSpeed w/ Camelback division for the third consecutive week and wound up 14th overall with two chain issues. BTW this is supposed to be the reason your run SS. HAHA!

Mike Maher - 5th Place 40-50, 14th Place Overall

I did not get any pictures but hope to find a few on the net. If I do, I’ll send them over!

http://www.smileymiles.com/2012/RES12%20DASH%20FOR%20CASH%20TRAIL%20BIKE%20RACE%20LONG%20OA.HTM

Mike Maher