Chief Logan

Well fans this one started early for myself , Jeremy and old Timmy. A long mostly fun filled drive down with Tim. The weather was spotty the whole way down. With many a turtle spottings. Finally got there and the weather looked to be holding off. Was cool and dry. Everyone got a good warm up in and J was already feeling the curse of Logan. He was feeling the cramps coming on. Old Timmy helped him work them out before the start. The experts lined up just as it started to spit a little rain. And off we went, J had a good start followed by Joey, Steve, Morgan and myself. The trails were fast and dry. This short beginning loop saw several mechanicals. First to go was Joey and Steve was stopped with him. Then I ran across Jeremy with a flat and I realized DANG I am leading. I was so pumped. I tried to stay on the gas and remain calm as well. Sometimes a hard thing to do, but the faithfull Top Fuel kept me on track. About half way through the sky opened up and the real rain came. Not to worry though. The trails were well drained and hard packed. I managed to hold on to the lead and get my first expert win. J was there to meet me as I rolled in. His race didn't go as well. He double flatted and cramped up badly. Also heard that Timmy broke his chain on the course. Was a bit worried about that, but he managed and came in running. Turns out he ran just about half the course. Way to go little buddy. He ended up with a 5th place finish.

All and all Logan had some great trails and the park was awesome with plenty of things to do. Well worth a weekend get away. Also hope to see you at the up coming Big Bear 2 x 12. Myself and Josh will be taking it on. Wish us luck.

Double the Fun

It was a busy weekend for Motown Velo. It started out with Jeremy and Zack heading east to Rocky Gap, MD for the 9 hours of Cranky Monkey. There was some tough competition with some fast guys from D.C. Big J and Z were able to pull out a 2nd place in the Male Duo class. Nicely done boys.
But 9 hours and 60 miles each of racing wasn't enough for those guys so on Sunday the team headed west for a OMBC race, The Wilds. Jermey, Zack, Tim and myself were in for the race action. Zack and Jeremy were pretty gassed from the race on Saturday but man'd up for a lil more suffering.
It turned out to be a great day for race'n with sun and moderate temps. I decided to pull the single speed from the quiver for this race just for the experience of it. This would be my first race on a SS.
It was a good course with 98% single track, lots of twists and turns and rolly. There were no big sustained climbs to speak of and not real technical. Just smooth, fast race'n course. It is a good bit different from most of the courses in the WVMBA series. The technical degree and elevation gain and loss is lower but still a good time. It was cool to check out a new trail system. It's obvious there has been lots of trail work to groom The Wilds trials.
I thought the SS was a good choice for the race. I switched my 20t to an 18t expecting a more rolling terrain. The 18t tooth allowed me to stay on top of it on the rolling/flat parts but still hump it up the short climbs with limited hike-a-bike sections.
My overall impression of my first OMBC race was good. Well put together and the coolest perk.....Beer Van........with free beer.........SWEAT!!!! We'll be back again. Good times.
Weekend Results:
Cranky Monkey 9hr: Jeremy & Zack 2nd Male Duo 4th Overall
The Wilds OMBC #3:
Josh 2nd SS
Jeremy 9th Expert
Tim 6th Sport
Zack 1 expert lap then to beer van for recovery
Great job this weekend team. Next up Tour de Lake WVMBA #4.
Check out the pics of OMBC site and Cranky monkey site.

Mountwood Race Recap (AKA mudwood wrestling recap)

So fans the Motown Velo team headed to Mountwood the other weekend for the second race in the WVMBA series and it was sure to be an exciting race full of pleasure. Josh, Stephen and Jeremy rode together in the sport utility neon while Zach and myself headed down in my grandmothers car. We could tell it was going to be a wet one with all the rain falling. Zach and I are hydroplanning the entire way there, but we managed to make it. We arrive and it starts to rain a little harder and I'm thinking I should have changed my tires, but luckily for me Josh has a Mud X he lets me barrow. THANK YOU JOSH!! Zach helps me slip it in and I'm ready to go. All of us head out on the road to do some warming up and it seems that the rain has let off a little. We are all hoping the sun doesn't come out and make it humid and mucky. We gather ouselves at the start line and are ready to race. The expert class heads out and Stephen, Josh and Zach are all together as they head into the woods. Zach is having problems from the beginning with chain suck and still muscles his way to a 9th place finish. Josh and Stephen are racing hard and Josh is hot on Stephens tail, but after Josh fly's over the hill Stephen slips away as he finishes 5th. Josh charges on to Finish 7th. Meanwhile Jeremy is up front chasing a single speeder after he passes Jason Cyr. Jeremy finishes 1st in the expert class and has his first win of the season. Even with all the mud it turns out to be a good day as all four manage a top ten finish. Good job guys.
In the sport class myself and Scott performed well even with the conditions both placing in the top ten as Scott placed 8th and I placing 1st. Scott's brother in law Scott did well also as he placed second in the clydedale. Good job guys!

Thanks to everyone at Mountwood who put on the race. Thanks to RVMBA for keeping the trails up and helping make the race a lot of fun. It was wet and muddy, but the trails are well mantained. The course was well marked and no one had trouble knowing where to go which always makes a race that much more enjoyable. Hope to see everyone at the races!

Big Bear Recap

Well fans it has been awhile since the last post. I wanted to get the big bear results up before the next race this weekend.

The trails were in amazing condtion for the race, nice and fast. Hehehehe and believe it or not it started to snow. Mylan thanks for the super fast kits. Here are the results.

Jeremy 3rd expert
Stephen 5th expert
Josh 10th expert
Zach 17th expert

Tim 4th sport
Scott 17th sport

Hope to see you this weekend at Mountwood

Mountain Duathlon

One week before the Big Bear race Zach and I decided to to head up to Coopers this past Saturday for the Mountain Duathlon part of the MASS. Turned out to be a nice day as 60 competitors took to the trails. I was too chicken to do the run so I assigned that task to Megan as I just wanted to ride my bike without all that running. Zach was eager to test the running legs after a winters worth of hard training. I was curious as to how I would feel after last weekends road race. Also wanted to check out the new bike as well before the first race to get all the bugs worked out.

As the race started I could see it was going to be a sprint as Zach was out front. Several competitors came to the transition area for the mountain bike and Zach was in 5th and looking strong. Megan came across shortly after and tagged me and off I went. Passing several people on the road side trail I headed down to the furnace and back up. The climb felt pretty good as I passed several more people and headed back to the transition. I tagged Megan andwent to see the carnage at the finsih line. Jason Cyr came across first to take the overall win. Zach came across shortly after to finish 6th overall and 1st in his class 20-29. Megan came acrossed the line not long thereafter as we took second in the relay. It was all in all a good day and a lot of fun. Looking forward to Big Bear and hope to see all of you there.

Morgantown Road Race

First race of the season is under the belt. Saturday was the Morgantown Road Race, ABRA #1. Mr. Petsko did not disappoint with this race. The course was slightly changed from last year to remove the somewhat dangerous section of Rt. 7 into Blacksville. Though the course was shorter there was even more climbing than last year, which already had lots of vertical. There was also another fine turn out of racers for this challenging course with 250 pre-reg. riders and even a waiting list.

The members of MoTown Velo to make it to this race were Tim, Sean and myself. Others had to work on Saturday, bummer. Tim and I arrived early to Mt. Morris and scored a VIP spot close to the registration tents. We quickly got signed in to avoid the line of people that was sure to follow. Then we settled in and watched people roll in. It was cool to see a lot of folks that I haven't seen since the end of last race season. It was a great day to just sit around and soak up the sun but we were there for some bike race'n so it was time to suit up in the team kits and start warming up the legs.

Quickly it was race time. The 1/2/3 class rolled out @ 12 then the 4/5 lined up. It was a large field with 75 races. At the start I was a lot further back in the group than I was comfortable with, almost all the way at the back. Not a good place to be in a 4/5 group with lots of eager but inexperienced riders. Saw a lots of bobb'n and weave'n but not misshapes. After the first large climb past Kirby I was able to pull a little further towards the front group and by the top I was in the second group. Next up was Mile climb were I was able to maintain and had the leaders within about 20 seconds. Once back in the valley I was in a group of about eight racers. I was happy to see another MoTown Velo jersey, Sean. The group tried to make a somewhat organized chase on the lead group which was within sight but had a sizable lead.

On the next climb I decided to test the climbing legs and cranked up the watts. I was able to put a gap on the group except WVU's Bala. We worked together on down to Rt. 218 and picked up another racer on chase down the leaders. Almost to Waynesburg our original group caught up to us (including Sean) and we jumped back in. Normally, I wouldn't drop a large chase group like that but I was using the race more as a training ride than a full on race. So you young racers out there remember you can conserve more energy in a larger group and save it for when you need it.

After Waynesburg I dropped my chain and spent over a minute trying to untangle my chain from my derailleur. I had lost my teammate and the group and my legs were feeling the burn from a week of hard rides. So, I put in survival mode and just enjoyed the rest of the ride. Mostly solo, which started to hurt with the strong winds.

I got caught by my closest competitor from the WVMBA series, Donald P. on the closing stretch on Big Shannon. There was nothing I could do about it. I stood up to close and cramped up wicked bad. I had a flash back from ACE last year. You got me again Don.

I had a great time but was totally spent. Luckily there were some yummy treats and sammiches from the new Rising Creek bakery in Mt. Morris to help me recovery.

Check out the results.

Less than 2 weeks till Big Bear. Sweet!

Almost Race Time

Only a few more weeks until the first race of the year. Things have been gearing up here at MoTown Velo. Now that the permafrost is gone and the days are longer we've been able to get out and ride some trails. Been out to White Park a few time and of course Bakers Ridge. The Thursday Night'r is in full effect......so where is everyone else, there's been poor turn out thus far. Here are a few action photos.

Jeremy has total lost his mind and is now riding a fixed gear mountain bike. But of course he makes it look easy, he makes me sick. Though he has had a couple nice spills.....sorry for laughing buddy.

Everyone is getting there rigs geared up for the start of the season. There's been some pimp'n upgrades made and some completely new hotness arrived. Here is just a taste of what's going on.......

Lastly, the new team kits have arrived. I think they look real nice. Look at this handsome model showing off his new duds. Sorry ladies, he's spoken for ;o)

Hope everyone is out enjoying the better weather and surprisingly good trail conditions.

See ya at the races,

Josh