Hilly Billy Roubaix

Kirk Morrison continues to prove he is either tougher than the rest of us, or more stupider(?)  Which one do YOU think it is?!?!!!

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The story of the day, by Kirk Morrison

I headed down to Morgantown for my 2nd ABRA Hilly Billy Roubaix. I raced in the inaugural HBR 2 years ago and was happy to simply survive and finish. This race has definitely grown to a hallmark dirt/gravel/Cx endurance event (attracting racers from all over the country) and is now a part of the American Ultracross Championship Series (http://www.ultracx.com/). As an indicator, my race category (Mens 40+) has grown from 13 racers (2 years ago) to 82 this year !

Photo by Fred Jordan

The race day conditions were good with sunny skies, a light breeze and temperatures peaking in the mid-80’s. Thankfully, the course was much drier than during my previous race so most of the monster puddle sections were much improved (resulting in 3 course records !). However, we still had a number of muddy, wet sections as well as an 8-12” deep, creek crossing.

The Hilly Billy race is appropriately named since it included (at least) 9 - Cat4 climbs (according to my Strava file) with almost 7400’ of climbing over the 73 mile course. The climbing and the gravel/dirt take their toll as it seemed that every 2-3 minutes I was passing a rider stopped by a flat, mechanical problem or overwhelming fatigue. As a reference, of the 243 starters, there were 51 DNF’s (for a 21% DNF rate). Even worse, from the Mens 40+ category, of the 82 starters there were 24 DNF’s (for a 29% DNF rate !). This is not an easy race ….

Photo by Fred Jordan

Bike choices covered the entire range including skinny tire road bikes, Cx, mountain and even one snowbike with 4” balloon tires. This year I switched (from my rim brake Cx bike) to a more comfortable Frankenbike gravel grinder assembled (as per Sam’s advice) from a Cannondale F29’r frame (with disc brakes), a rigid Lynskey fork, Stan’s Alpha 340 cyclocross wheels and Hutchinson tubeless Bulldog tires (700x35mm). The Stan’s system worked great and provided a flat-free race ! The disc brakes and wide handlebars were perfect for tackling the long, sometimes steep gravel climbs and descents. The disc’s were a big improvement over the rim brakes since they allowed me to descend faster and with the confidence that I would actually be able to stop (if needed).

Photo by Fred Jordan

The only mechanical issue was experienced at about mile 40. As I was approaching aid station #2 when I noticed that my front brake was rubbing. As I started to loosen the caliper bolts to adjust its position, I found that both mounting bolts were completely loose (and almost falling out !). I’m guessing that this was from the continuous vibration of the gravel roads. Unfortunately, after several adjustment attempts I was still not able to remove the brake pad drag (I suspect that one of the caliper brake cylinders has seized-up) so I ended up finishing the race with a bit of brake drag.

While I was on pace for a 5:30 – 5:45 finish through the first 4 hours, I started feeling the effects of the long day and jarring roads (as well as the nagging sound of the front brake dragging) after this and suffered through the final 2 hours for a 6:13 finish. This was good enough to land me in 48th place (out of the 82 racers in my group) with a 20 minute improvement over my time from 2 years ago.

Photo by Brian Parker

http://www.abraracing.com/Results/2012HBRresults.pdf

The course support was outstanding with 3 fully stocked aid stations as well as an unofficial aid station at mile 23 (including a live stringband duo and beer handups …. Yes, in the spirit of Cx I accepted). Also a big thanks to Dan Schar (course marshal) for the offer of water and shouted encouragement.

Photo by Dan Schar

Post race festivities included a truckload of pizza as well as 3 kegs of beer (courtesy of Morgantown Brewing). Outstanding !

Photo by Pathfinder

This was an excellent event with plenty of course marshals and clear course markings. Another great race hosted by JR and Gina !

Highly recommended (as long as you don’t mind a bit of suffering).  To see some suffering, watch the video HERE:
http://bigbikesmedia.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/249501-Hilly-Billy-Roubaix/video/644850-Hilly-Billy-Roubaix-2012

Two by Twelve

Hannah Brewer, Steve Brewer, Ray Sielski, Kirk Morrison and Mike Maher headed to Bruceton Mills, WV for the Big Bear 2x12 Mountain Relay.
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Kirk Wrote:
WV moonshine on the podium …… tasted great!

This was another fun year at the WVMBA Big Bear Lake 2x12 duo race.  The weather was perfect with sunny skies, temps in the low 80’s and a nice breeze.  The trails were dry, fast and much more technical than we seemed to recall from last year (sorry Ray ……. future note: never listen to course advice from us)!!!

The top honors of the day went to the Brewers who took 1st Place in the Coed Sport division in spite of Steve getting lost on the first lap (high kudo’s to Hannah for saving the day with some “hot laps”).

Mike and his (fast) friend Mark Milliken stayed hard on the gas to move up from 5th place (mid race) to finish on the podium with 3rd place in the Veterans Sport Class. The amazing thing is that both were on SS rigs (competing against geared teams !)

As for us, after Ray barely survived his first lap aboard Steve’s SS/rigid fork Cannondale (repeat …. never listen to us), he and I were able to pull out a 3rd place finish in the Masters Sport class.

After race recovery activities included a nice selection of craft brewed beer while we enjoyed the highly competitive kids race.

If you only do one mountain bike a year, this should probably be the one.

Results link: http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/?eid=2012/06/13891r.html

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While Ray Wrote:

http://skirslog.blogspot.com/2012/07/2-x-12-mtb-relay-big-bear.html

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

Yella Crick

Well...that's how we say it in these-here parts.  Others of you may pronounce the race the YELLOW CREEK Park Grassroots Racing X-County!  This month, the race was held on the South Shore course.

Six Ag3r-ButlerHealthSystem riders accompanied our "expatriate" Gear Movement/Epic Pro Cycling Team members Sam Morrison & Deidre York. 

By the end of the day, we soon realized that, as roadies in the dirt...

photo by Steve Brewer

..."we" were only there to take podium pictures ...and carry their luggage!

Steve Brewer - 9th Place

Rich Allen - 13th Place

Mike Maher - 17th Place

Hannah Brewer - 18th Place

Kirk Morrison - 19th Place

Henry Dimmick - 22nd Place

Because Deidre and Sam both WON (...top girl and top boy, in case you didn't figure that one out on your own!)  Obviously, the result of high altitude training.  Yup, that's the story we are sticking with...!!!

BTW, Sam & Deidre say "Hi"!

For winning the overall race, Sam got to put on the coveted "Green Jacket"...

...and take home the hotly sought after Cherry Pie.  Ask Leslie how good it was!

Thanks to Kirk Morrison & Steve Brewer for their photos!

The World according to Garmin

Here are two of my favorite recently ridden sections of "road"....!

Wisp XC

....and with a WISP of dust, Richy was GONE...!

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Story by Kirk Morrison:

This past Sunday, Rich Allen and I met at the Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD (near Deep Creek Lake) for JR’s series opening, ABRA Wisp XC Challenge Mtb race. The weather was great with sunny skies, a light breeze and temperatures in the low 80’s.

The race started (and ended) from the top of the mountain, near the ski lift. The course was great with nice a mix of loose rocky down hills, challenging rock gardens, flowing single track and lengthy double track climbs (which resulted in a relatively high # of DNF’s)

The Sport Class race was almost 18 miles (two – 9 mile loops) with a total of almost 2,500 feet of climbing. I was happy about the “loop” format since it gave me a chance to pick up a few full water bottles in between laps (Unfortunately, I ejected one of my water bottles during a tumble on lap 2).

In spite of any mishaps, we were both able to finish with podium positions:

Rich – 2nd place in the Sports Masters 55+

Kirk – 5th place in the Sports Masters 45+ (1st Cat 3)

This is a great venue with a coffee shop (including espresso shots) and (real) hot showers near the start/finish line. The organization was fantastic with quick registration, on-time start, quick posting of results and an early podium.

Attached are a few pics that I was able to gather (sorry, couldn’t find any of Richy). Unfortunately, Rich also missed his podium since he needed to leave quickly to pick his wife up at the airport (?!).

The results link is: https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2012-690

ABRA at the Oval

The Appalachian Bicycle Racing Association (ABRA) has added to it's calendar this year with a series of Criteriums at the Bud Harris Oval on Washington Blvd in Pittsburgh, Pa.

This past weekend, Steve Marlette and Dan Schar jumped into the Men's 40+ race...

Steve Marlette - 8th Place

Dan Schar - THE WHINER, I mean WINNER!!! - 1st Place!!!

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Steve Marlette tells the story:

If Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin were commentators for the Master's crit race at the oval today they would have picked Dan’s attack on the final lap as the big move of the day! It was brilliant!

The promoter chose the bullet course, featuring two 90 degree turns at the Bud Harris oval. This made for a tricky slow-down-and-accelerate situation for turns 3 and 4. Dan took advantage of this by not waiting to sprint after turn 4, but instead attacking after turn 2 on the final lap. The result was a first place for Dan!!

I'm glad I decided to do the race this morning. It was a thing of beauty!

Presque Isle TT

"Back in the Day", the Presque Isle Individual Time Trial used to mark the beginning of the racing season.  Leaping forward to 2012, there has been racing going on now for almost 6 weeks!  My how times have changed.

The day always starts the same...waking at 4:00 am to get to Erie by 6:30 am in order to register and get warmed up before our individual start times.

Part of the fun of TTs is checking out all the interesting "new" equipment...some readily available and some "custom"...and questionable!

Once all the "talking with our legs" was over, Ag3r-ButlerHealthSystem again went home with our fair share of the Awards :)

Steve Brewer - 3rd Place OVERALL, setting a new Personal Record.

Steve Marlette - 8th Place OVERALL, 3rd Place Men's 40-49 yrs

Hannah Brewer - 1st Place Women's 20-29 yrs, setting new Personal Record

NEW Ag3r GUY Tim Bauer, celebrating his 21st Birthday this very day - 2nd Place Men's 20-29, 34th Place Overall


Henry Dimmick - 7th Place Men's 50-59 yrs, 33rd Place Overall,

Ray Sielski - 15th Place Men's 50-59, 64th Place Overall

...and FoxVelo Club rider Randy McCracken - 8th Place Men's 50-59, 35th Place Overall.


Modern times aside, we remained true to our heritage, by being the LAST PEOPLE to leave the parking lot after the race...hanging out to socialize with our teammates in excited anticipation of the racing season ahead.  However, THIS time, no one was "brave" enough to go for a swim in Lake Erie after the race!



Afterwards, both Hannah & Steve Brewer, Ray and Henry headed to Steve's favorite 6-pack (and food!) shop for some "fine dining"!

...and were still home in time to cut the grass!

WVMBA Big Bear

Kirk Morrison and Rich Allen heard there might be miserable conditions in West Virginia, so they drove clear down there to race mountain bikes!

Rich - 2nd Place (Men's 55+) / 10th Place Overall Sport

Kirk - 8th Place (Men's 45+) / 41st Overall Sport

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As Kronickled-by-Kirk:

The temperature at race time (12:30pm) was 42F with overcast skies a light breeze and a forecast of rain in the 1pm timeframe. Fortunately, the rain held off but the trails were still wet from the previous nights rain. This resulted in quite a few slick spots including the log crossings, bridges and roots.

One of the race highlights was “Crack Trail” which included a narrow path through a 20’ deep “crack” in some massive boulders. The path was about 50’ long and barely wide enough allow handlebar clearance (including a 90 degree turn in the crevice as well as a 2’ dropoff at the boulder exit).

Our 13 mile course included a nice mix of smooth singletrack, 1500’ of climbing and a few challenging technical sections (sketchy descents and rock gardens).

I was happy to move into the top 10 after last weeks #12 finish.

This “no shoes, no dancing” sign was posted at the door of the community center which housed registration, the post race spaghetti dinner, as well as the awards presentation!

This was a well run race with good organization, well marked trails and a total of 172 racers. Highly recommended !

Green County Road Race

Dan Schar headed for the hills...of the Green County Road Race in Fairchance, Pa.

You can read all about his exploits HERE - "It isn't easy being green in Greene County"  - On the Schardar

Criterium Weekend

Steve Brewer did back to back days of criteriums... with him spending ~10 hours in the car to make it happen!

Clarksburg Crit (W.Va.) - 12th Place, including he & 80% of the field crashing at one corner or another during the rain soaked race.

ECBC Criterium (Erie, Pa.) - 2nd Place, winning the field sprint.  Yea!!!

UPDATE: 
Following these races, "Steve" cracked this frame...and then CUT his hair...and shaved. So, this is THE LAST PIC of "the old Steve"!!!

WVMBA #1 @ Mountwood

Kirk Morrison kicked off his entire 2012 Racing Season where no one would ever think to look for him...

...in West Virginia on a Mountain Bike!!!

Kirk has set a goal to become the best DIRT WORM he can be! 

YOU GO KIRK :)
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The following was Kronicled-by-Kirk:

This past weekend I entered my first mountain bike race of the season at Mountwood Park (near Parkersburg, WV). Unfortunately, Richey didn’t make the trip since he needed to be back for work at 3pm on Sunday.

While its quite a drive (200 miles or about 3.5 hrs … each way) the attendance was huge with over 220 racers. This high level was due to this being a joint race for both the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association (WVMBA) Points Series and the Ohio Mountain Bike Championship (OMBC) Series.

The weather was good with sunny skies, a stiff breeze and 82F temperatures (!). The course at Mountwood was fast with an early morning rain giving the trails an almost “tacky” feel.  Since I’ve been working to improve my mtn bike skills, I was interested to see how I would fare in the Sport Masters (45+) category.

Photo by Mountaineer Extreme Productions LLC

After making a few rookie mistakes I ended up finishing in 12th place in this 16 mile race. While struggling to pass dozens of riders on the trail, I started to understand the importance of getting into a good position before the start of the single track section ! 

The organization for this race was great and the course marshalling was very good. I especially enjoyed the pizza at the finish.

Results link: http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/?eid=2012/04/13899r.html

Future plans: I’m hoping to race the WVMBA #2 race next Sunday (4/22) at Big Bear Lake (http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/2012/04/13890.html)

Kirk

Morgantown RR

Mark Briercheck, Dan Schar and Dave Shaffer took on the Morgantown Road Race.

You can read all about their day HERE, on Dan Schar's Blog.

Yellow Creek MTB

If you would have told me that one of Ag3r's opening races of the 2012 season was going to be a DIRT race, I would have told you to "Go Eat Worms"!!!

Truth be told, Mike Maher and Dave Shaffer attended the Yellow Creek State Park Grassroots Racing opening event on the North Course.

Mike finished in 16th Place
Dave finished in 19th Place