Lance wins the Leadville 100

posted on Aug 17, 2009 / tags: mtb, sports, lance / 0 comments

 This is a tough race. There are tougher races out there, but in Mountain biking, this is one of the toughest. 100 miles all above 10,000 feet. Lance rode it last year and lost by two minutes to 6 time champ, and local hero, Dave Wiens. This year was different. Lance won, and won big, beating the course record by over 16 minutes.

 “He’s Lance Armstrong. And he’s just off of the Tour,” Wiens said. “Last year he was just off of the couch. That made it a pretty fair fight for he and I. This year I rode fantastic today. I’m happy.”

 That sums it up.

 I really want him to be clean. If he’s not, I’ll be terribly dissapointed. But for now, this guy is my hero.

  Posted via email  from Adam’s posterous 

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Raystown/Allegrippis Trail System = the Hotness.

posted on Jun 28, 2009 / tags: mtb, rides / 0 comments

A couple times a year, Carrie takes the girls to see her parents, and gives me a couple days to get out on the bike.  For this I am very grateful!  Today I had the opportunity of riding the new Allegrippis Trail system at Lake Raystown.  This turned out to be one of the most fun rides I’ve had.  The trails were cut by the Army Corps of Engineers, IMBA, and a bunch of volunteers.  They did an amazing job.  Here’s what we did:

The trails were in unbelievable condition.  There were maybe 3 or 4 muddy spots all day, and it was raining lightly.  From the moment we started, we saw that the trails were nicely packed, super fast and full of little rollers that made it look like a pump track.  There were so many bumps and jumps coupled with quick turns that I’ll admit… I found myself off the trail (and my bike) on more than one occasion. 

We started out on Buck.  Quick, flat, and fun.  Turned onto Doe, which was more of the same.  Then we started some climbing on Sleek Dog.  Right off the bat we got into the bumps and dips.  This is fun stuff.  You get a lot of momentum going and even though you’re climbing, you have so much momentum that it carries you up a bunch of it.  The first ‘Most Difficult’ trail was the Hydro Loop, which dipped down to the lake with more dips and rollers.  Then it got interesting.  From there we turned onto Osprey, Sidewinder and Ray’s Revenge.  This had some tough climbing, but it was well worth it.  Generally speaking, you can’t always go down, sooner or later you have to go up.

After a quick snack at the top of Ray’s (terrific view of the lake from there), we finished up with a really fast roller coaster ride down Ridge, Grippis, and Allie.  Then back down Buck to the car.

All in all, these are great trails.  Not too technical.  Very few rocks or logs, not like we are used to here in State College.  But don’t let this deter you.  What these trails lack in technicality, they more than make up for in fun factor.  This is mountain biking at it’s best.  Fast, fun, beautiful trails.  This may be my new favorite ride.  If you’re interested, you can check out more details here.

Consider these trails to be highly recommended… Enjoy!!

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Beautiful… huh…

posted on Aug 02, 2008 / tags: mtb, rides / 0 comments

Today’s ride brought me to a scenic little gem called Coopers Gap.  About a 20 minute or so drive from Tussey, in what can probably safely be called, the middle of no where, is the aforementioned gap.  Five of us met up at the side of a road somewhere between Lewistown, Penn Roosevelt State Park and Rt 322.  When we arrived, let’s just say it was raining… hard.  But we drove all the way there, so let’s mount up.  The names of the trails were a little bit of a blur, but I know that skittaka, dear tick and beautiful were all included. 
[caption id=“attachment_61” align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Coopers Gap Ride (8/2/08)”][/caption]

All in all it was yet another fantastic ride.  Unfortunately for me, I had a fair amount of trouble keeping the rubber side down on all of the wet rocks.  So after a little blood, a few bee stings, and some tired legs, I had another great time.  Beautiful was a trail I had heard a lot about.  It’s a lovely trail that rides along the ridge of what ever mountain we were on.  It was fantastic… and rocky…  I lost skin.

Big thanks to Greg for the GPS tracking and both him and Nick for waiting for me!

Get on your bikes and ride.

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A spectacular ride

posted on Aug 01, 2008 / tags: mtb, rides / 0 comments

I had a chance to ride with the Mountain Bike club this evening, and had a really great time!  Carrie and the girls went to visit Meme and Bop (that would be Carrie’s parents… no idea how those names came about), and I got a chance to get out and ride.

This was today’s ride.  The ride along the Tussey Mountain trail (also called the ridge trail) was really great. Beautiful views, rolling terrain and a smattering of tricky rock gardens all made for a good time.  Then a super fast descent on the Camp trail made me remember why I love this sport so much.

Get out and ride… you won’t regret it!

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Stoopid, Wilderness, Big Bear… oh my…

posted on Feb 10, 2008 / tags: mtb / 0 comments

Two summers ago, I had the opportunity to ride in my first mountain bike race, the annual 24 hours of Big Bear.  It was a lot of fun, and a race that I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in getting into endurance mountain bike racing.

This year, I am determined to race again.  I have three options at my disposal:

• The Stoopid 50 - a 50 Mile race through some of central PA’s great trails, many of which were never used in events (or by me!)
• The Wilderness 101 - 101 miles of fun (and more than likely, pain).  This one starts outside of Coburn, PA and winds around until you’ve ridden a century in the dirt. 2 years ago I called Big Bear, “My Everest”.  This title has been passed down to the Wilderness.  This one could be out of my league… who am I kidding… this one currently IS out of my league!
• 24 Hours of Big Bear - Round 2 - I was really pleased with how I rode last time on this course, but I really think that I could do better.  If this is the race for me this summer, then I look to turn 4 laps instead of 3 (each lap is about 13 miles) and do each lap under 1:45 or so… That’s a pretty good goal, and I think I can do it.

So that’s what’s in store for this summer.  Hopefully one of these races will have my name in the books…

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