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!

The 2008 Ohiopyle Falls Festival

Summary of post

Spencer and two hundred other boaters go over the Ohiopyle Falls in one of the biggest whitewater events in the USA. Nobody dies.

A terrifying fall

Going over an 18 foot waterfall at the Falls Race in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, is as good an excuse as any for peeing in your pants. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do it? The frothing, churning waters at the bottom of the drop look rabidly angry. There's a punishing hydraulic that sucks you in and whirls you around and around under the water. There's also an undercut that could trap and hold you underwater... indefinitely...

Somebody's gotta do it

The only time boaters can legally go over the Falls is

Ninth Annual Subaru 24 Hour Champion Challenge 2008

Summary of post

Thrills and spills... guts and glory... pushing and breaking the limits of human endurance in a 24-hour mountain bike relay race at Seven Springs Resort, PA.

(The pic above taken by Mark Dempster)

The Race

Over 300 men and women, in teams, duo or solo, tested their mettle mountain-biking repeatedly on a punishing 12-mile course this past Labor Day weekend. The aim was to complete as many laps as possible within 24 hours, which meant riding in the night. That's right - d-a-r-k. The course has a tight, twisty single-track through the woods, some extremely technical barely walkable 'rock garden' sections and a long, steep, uphill, heart-attack-inducing climb.