StrongLand Off-Road Roaring Run Mountain Bike Race Report 2012

The 24th Annual Tour de Strongland kick-started its two-day festivities with an off-road mountain bike race on the Roaring Run Trail , Kiski Township yesterday.

The Warriors
The forecast of 80% chance of thunderstorms may have kept some people away. However 36 wheeled warriors - including three kids - showed up with undeterred to battle the elements. Experts (15 mile course) were flagged off at 9.15 am, Intermediate racers (11 miles) at 9.30 am and the Novice riders (3 miles, 9 -11 years of age) about 15 minutes later.

The Course
The first one mile was double track next to the Rails Trails, then cut out on to the Rails Trails and banked sharply right before the Bridge, to a tight hill-acious single track Loop. Then back to Rails Trails for a nice downhill finish. The Loop was planned to include an exciting splash across a shallow creek, but due to the rain and burgeoning creek, Novices were diverted around that section.

Crossing the Creek

The forecasted 9 am thunderstorm arrived prematurely and had depleted itself by race time. It was a gentle drizzle for the rest of the race. This made for a refreshing jog to the creek where I lay in wait to shoot passing riders with my waterproof lifeproof cased Iphone.

I also captured a photo of volunteer race marshalls helping make sure riders stay on course.

Helpful volunteer marshalls make sure riders stay on c-

Okay, sorry, wrong pic... Here's a better one.

"I think it's this way". :p

Race Strong
It was a good race. Excellent signage, plenty of race marshalls and volunteers, grill hot dogs (with donation) and a wet but very rideable course at the riders' chosen level. The $35 race reg fees come with a quality cotton t-shirt and a chance at winning a bike from sponsor Pro-Bike. Maybe a bit steep for the novice 3 mile race, which was basically a kids race.

Race PICs!
View the rest of the pics HERE. (Most of the creek stake-out pics turned out blur. Sigh! I couldn't risk getting my Panasonic Lumix wet so had to make do with the iPhone)

Three kids, three proud winners!

xo Gracie 

P.S. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Xterra Appalachia 2012 Video and Report Part 2

People! As promised here is the second part of my Xterra Appalachia 2012 race report, with VIDEO! (Part 1 HERE with links to 500 pics)

Thanks to all of you who left comments or messages (I love hearing from you!) and who helped tag some of the pics I posted on Facebook. That was certainly an encouragement for me to hunker down and get the video edited! This will be my first video produced on my brand spanking new Mac, so I am definitely learning as I go. It has been laborious, but I think you'll like the end result. If you don't, you can still appreciate the effort I put into it! :p

Just some thoughts about the Xterra Appalachia. Looking at the results, about 17% of the 65 racers who toed the start line, did not finish the race. This DNF rate is higher than some of the Ironman races I've followed. The Xterra Appalachia covers somewhere between a Sprint (short) and Olympic (long) distance course, with its 800 m swim, 13 mile mountain bike, and 4 mile trail run. The distances are 'sprint', but the exertion level feels 'olympic' - thanks to the mountain bike portion. Adding rain as a factor, ramped up the difficulty level for mountain bike course to 9.5 out of 10 for non-mountainbikers. Fellow-non-mountain-biker, Briana Dawson found the mountain-biking 'super-challenging'. Briana is a runner who regularly runs 5 and 10 K distances and has completed a few half marathons, but she had 'no idea it would be so intense/extreme!' She and her friend Jaci, who signed up for the race as a fun way to celebrate their birthdays, successfully finished the swim and bike course after three gruelling hours, and will be back to tame the run course next time. Hats off to these indomitable girls!

Hats off, and Happy Birthday girls!

And also, a shout out to the Fans and Supporters of the Xterra Appalachia 2012 racers:

The entire family turned out to cheer on #53 Jesse Matheson

This multiple Hawaii Ironman returns after a 4 year hiatus, to attempt this Xterra

Loyal fans give encouragement to racers Briana and Jaci in the swim-bike transition

Lara Cilo (and Rich Riley, not pictured) kept runners
hydrated

And the award for most hardcore fans of the Xterra 2012 goes to: Katie and Julianne!

I really think more people should sign up for this top-notch event. For starters, this is the only off-road triathlon this side of PA. Yellow Creek State Park is only 1.5 hours from Pittsburgh where 1000 triathletes recently competed in the Pittsburgh Triathlon 2012. The organization and execution of the event (by Doug Crytzer and team at American Adventure Sports) is, as always, stellar. The course is gorgeous. The difficulty, although high, is manageable for most anyone with a decent level of fitness. You don't need to be superman to complete the course. You do however, need to be able to maintain a moderate level of physical exertion for up to 4 or 5 hours. If you have completed an olympic distance triathlon before, you are definitely in good shape to finish the Xterra Appalachia.

Check out the Xterra Appalachia 2012 Video HERE!

How did the Xterra go for you? Would love to hear your experience!

xo Gracie 

P.S. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Xterra Appalachia Race Report 2012: Part 1

One word describes the Xterra Appalachia - TOUGH. This year it was ToughER.

(You can skip the report and go directly to the 500 race pics on GOOGLE PLUS or on Facebook)

The 2012 edition of Xterra Appalachia was one of the wettest ever for the 65 participants (and hordes of fans ) who came from as far as New York and Georgia to pit themselves against the race course at Yellow Creek State Park. Racers comprised a mix of seasoned off-road triathletes, triathletes new to the terrors of mountain biking, and totally unsuspecting first-timers.

Transition area with racked bikes

The swim started out pleasant enough with warm sunshine, blue skies, and dead calm water. Swimmers assembled on the beach for the running start, different from the water start of previous years.

I'd mooted the run start to Doug Crytzer, Race Director earlier, the conversation going something like this:

Shannock Valley Mountain Bike Race Report 2012

The Shannock Valley 15th Annual Mountain Bike Race certainly had a lot in store for the 82 riders lined up at the Start this morning. The forecast '30% chance of rain' turned out to be a 100% heavens-wide-open deluge that turned the trails into a mud fest, albeit surprisingly rideable one.

(Note: you can skip the entire report and get right to the 300 Race Pics HERE)

Mark Liti, a satisfied survivor of the mud fest

Except maybe, for the hills.

Butler YMCA Triathlon 7 July 2012 Report

I think I have just found myself a new favorite sprint distance triathlon. It's the Butler YMCA Triathlon. It calls for a 400 m swim, 7 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. Not that I took part or anything crazy like that. I merely spectated and snapped about 2000 photos of triathletes as they passed me. Still, I was pretty bushed at the end of the entire thing! (Note: If you raced, there is a high likelihood that there will be a pic of you in my uploaded album, and that pic may even be flattering! If you only want to check yourself out, skip down to the end - the link to the photo album is at the bottom of the post).

Ok, why is the Butler Tri my current fav? Well, it is the most, and I mean MOST laidback triathlon ever. Ever. They don't mark up bodies like in most other triathlons. The transition area isn't barricaded or regulated even, and nobody seems too concerned either. This totally laidback atmosphere, I totally dig!

Le Tour de Brockway Bike Race 4 July 2012

Question: What's the best way to kick off your Independence Day festivities?
Answer (for about 80 plus riders and supporters): Le Tour de Brockway Bike Race. :)

The race featured 24 miles of scenic, rolling country roads, including four decent sized hills, and a peloton 'parade' on Main St cheered on by a gazillion empty camp chairs lining the street. Road bikers, mountain and hybrid bikers, and even a couple on a tandem bike lined up at the start. It was a gorgeous sunny day, but the downpour the night before left the stretch in the tunnel slick, which potentially made the sharp right at the exit extremely tricky to execute.

Fair Winds Manor 5K Quality Life Series #2

We look forward to the Fair Winds Manor 5K every year, partly because it's just down the road from where we live, the very reasonable race fees ($12 pre-reg, $15 race-day reg) include a delicious pulled pork bbq sandwich dinner and some years (sponsors withstanding) a shot at some prize money. It also feels pretty good to know that our participation goes towards helping fulfill the wishes of some nursing home residents via the 'Dream a Little Dream' program.

A steady bone-chilling drizzle was in progress as we pulled in to the parking lot. Aside from two people we spotted running down the road as we arrived, there wasn't a soul in sight and there were only two other vehicles parked there. That did not portend well for the race, I thought. 

Just a few minutes before 7 pm, when the race was supposed to start, the rain miraculously stopped. Spencer got out and started his warm up routine. Would this race be a wash? I didn't see anyone! 

Fat Tire Challenge Sigel 2012

This year's edition of the Fat Tire Challenge in Brookville PA had it all - Thrills, Spills, Gore and Glory... and the most adorable Lil Fat Tire kids on wheels to ever grace the series (now in it's 7th year). Aside from a few unfortunate ferns I sat on while shooting pics of the race, no wildlife was harmed in the documenting of this race!

Pick your poison - 14 mile (Sport) or 24 mile (Expert) promised some nice double track logging path, huge climbs on narrow single track, and the famed, notorius Rock Garden (more on that later). All that against a  backdrop of dense forest, blooming mountain laurel and overlooks so lovely that you might even forget how horribly your lungs are burning, your quads and charley-horsed calves are screaming... you might even smile! Ok well, maybe not. :p

Yellow Creek SP Monthly Race: June

We were anticipating a 100 degree F scorcher of a race this time, but conditions ended up cool with a short refreshing drizzle instead.

I photographed the bikers and runners as they partook of the immaculately groomed race course (thanks to the wonderful efforts of the Friends of YC trail maintenance crew).  Having ridden most of the race course last month (where I DNFed - and I say this with my head held high hee hee), I had in mind a couple of spots that might make for good pics. Before the 10.30 am race start, I had skulked away and made haste towards the first choice spot in the Pine Forest where I crouched silently, waiting to shoot unsuspecting athletes as they came by.

The Yellow Creek Grassroots Mountain Bike Race #3

This was gonna be my first mtb race but I DNFed! And Dave on a unicycle, completed the entire twelve bumpy, rock-studded, root-riddled miles. On a unicycle. :o

Dave Krack on his unicycle, towers over me

Still, I had a whale of a time! The organizers - Friends of Yellow Creek State Park - have been putting up these monthly races for several years now and the rides just keep getting better! ( from what Spencer says anyway). For a total noob such as myself, some sections were a lot of fun - gentle little mounds on single track. And I managed to make it up a couple of hills too! But I walked my bike down a few, and I walked over all the narrow bridges. And the baby creeks. And whenever I felt scared (which was a lot hehe). *hangs head in pretend shame*

There was this CRAZY drop into the raging river. I barely made it across alive!