Ghostly Gray Cross Country Saturday October 25th

The Ghostly Gray Cross Country Mountain Bike race will be held Saturday October 25th at the Lutherlyn facilities outside of Butler, Pennsylvania (not too far from Moraine State Park). Start time is 10:00 AM registration starts at 8:30AM. This is the first year for this race and I'm one looking forward to seeing the course. The race will be three laps on a five mile cross country loop.

Entry fee is $20 and the race will benefit the Troop D Camp Cadet youth program.

Address for Lytherlyn facility is 500 Dick Road, Butler, PA 16001

They will also be holding a 5k walk and 5k run with a children's trick or treat parade at noon.

More details at www.troopdcampcadet.org

Click here for the race application and flier

Rider Up! - Moraine Race Recap

To all the guys that I passed on the rocks, no apologies, if you can't ride the section of trail then move aside and get to the back of the line. This is a race, it's not a group ride. Still plenty of good spirited riders out there, for all of you guys; thanks for stepping aside. I know I'll see you on the climb and I'll be plenty obliged to let you by me.

I really appreciated the course reroute this year. Instead of ramming us into the single track a couple of hundred yards into the race we started with two fire road climbs. This spread things out much nicer this year. Still traffic jams in the rock gardens and technicals are to be expected.

Moraine State Park, Month of Mud 2008 Race Recap

I pushed hard at the start but still quite a few riders got out in front of me. Spent the first lap making my way through the pack in the rock gardens. The pace of the pack through the technicals for me was slow, but the upshot was it gave me a chance to recoup. The break was welcome, I had pushed really hard on the climbs at the start; hard enough to make myself nauseous. By the time we hit the power line I had managed to loose most of the pack and Josh (3rd place sport) was the only rider in sight. I got past him before the downhill and from there I just took off. Josh's comment: 'I knew when you passed me you were gone, there was no way I was catching you'. Well I was pretty sure I was going to see him again eventually but not as soon as I did. The trail was free and clear, I knew I had left the pack behind and was catching up with the leaders. Half way down I could hear the sound of bikes clanking a head of me and I was gaining but half way down the hill I road over a a stick laying across the trail found it's way into my spokes and derailleur parts. This little event tore my cable housing apart. I knew the damage was bad when I felt my bike drop into it's biggest gear. I finished the downhill and hobbled through the rocks and stopped after the spectator section to assess the damage. Cable housing was shredded; the race was a wash. I could have tried to turn her into a single speed but frustrated I just called it a day.

No luck fixing the cable

Bushwacker posted some photos and a nice series recap on the PORC boards.

Results posted on West Liberty Cycles the official home for Month of Mud 2008

Bring on the rocks! - Moraine M.O.M. Approaches

Moraine State Park Month of Mud #4 is approaching fast and I'm getting anxious. I love the rocks; so this is easily my favorite venue in the series. A few of us road out at Moraine after the Grove City race. I forgot just how much I love the place. Can't believe Matt and Jason road it on their cross bikes and still managed to leave there with their bikes still intact! We went out and road last years course but I'm not sure what the race course is going to look like this year. I know they laid down some new trial and I don't know if any of that is going to be incorporated into this years course. Last year I the course ran 2 laps and I believe went ten miles but don't under estimate it. This may be the toughest ten you've ever ridden. Here's a couple of Moraine videos I found on YouTube:

Grove City Results Posted

Grove City Month of Mud Race #3

This years course layout was very similar to last years, it was missing a turn somewhere that I just can't figure out. Last year there was a 180 that hooked you up a little bank, you needed to be the right gear or you would be left in a lurch.

Not a cross bike owner but this year I came a little better prepared. Put a set of Continental Speed King Cyclocross tires on my 29er. A full suspension mountain bike with a set of little skinnies looked absolutely ridiculous but it got the job done. Looked like my poor HiFi got neutered. Still very effective, it's like I cut my 29er loose and set it free can't believe how much faster these roll on the hard stuff and they corner in the grass like you are on rails, even better than a mountain bike tire but hit some loose dirt or gravel and you are going down.

Still no substitute for a cross bike. Mountain Bikes are are built to handle well on the trail but they are just not aerodynamic. When you are riding with your chest up catching the wind like a kite it's going to slow you down. Even in the grass I'd still be pushing 15mph, at that point air resistance really starts to matter.


Results:
[Grove City's Results posted on West Liberty Cycles]


Here's Arron's race report and some nice photo's to boot:

[Aaron's Race Report and Race Photos]