There’s something very unique about educating oneself in trail design at these conferences. It’s a great blend of altruist volunteers, professional land managers and the humble curious – with plenty of time for hands-on (mtb) trail exploration. I like to travel sometimes for these events, make a mini “work” vacation out of it. But it doesn’t feel very much like work with all the beer drinking and riding going on, which also acts as a great ice-breaker for the various types of participants.
Being fortunate to carpool with my partner-in-crime, we tag-teamed the sessions so we wouldn’t miss any valuable information. Here’s a sneak peek some riding fun, video courtesy of Justin Scheifflee:
There’s a snapshot recap of each session in the summit, if you click the double chevron arrows below.
Hilly Billy Roubaix
This is what happens when you put a “road” race on West Virginia’s rocky, rutted dirt and gravel roads: you get dozens of short, steep climbs on fairly technical terrain and not much road at all, actually. But, that might be a good thing if you like mountain biking or cyclocross… and you’re willing to put your mind, body and bike/soul through the ringer for 70+ miles. You land yourself with an unforgettable experience that you have to document, so please bear with me while I get this experience out of my head.
Yesterday, the racers’ turnout culminated from marketing to various cross-sections of the cycling community, which is probably a big reason I even considered going. Mountain bikes and cyclocross rigs had the advantage over skinny-tired carbon road bikes. Personally, I was on the fence regarding participating in it at all, because of scheduling and a lack of training. With recent job changes, the only riding I’ve done this year was commuting and a touch of touring – which turns out to be a decent amount of (loaded) mileage, but not anything over 50 miles in a day and not focussed on efficiency. After taking the fenders and rack off my steel ‘cross bike, putting on the aforementioned skinny tires and lightening the load; my bike started resembling a road machine last month. Was I ready to compete? I very much doubted it, but racing provides ride and reflection opportunities that are too fun to pass up, sometimes. And so, knowing it was going to hurt a lot, I committed to participating about 24 hours before the race and put the fat tires back on.
At the race site, I noticed other folks’ tires were actually smaller and softer than mine, and decided to take a test-run out in the gravel parking lot (thinking it was the worst conditions I might see, and therefore a safe data point). I took my PSI from 93% to 63% of the maximum recommended pressure on the WTB Interwolf tires I had, and am glad I did. A few times over the course of the day, I considered that the ride would be signifiicantly less harsh if I had taken out another 5%, but resolved that the frequency of flat-tire repairs I saw on the side of the “road” every hour negated any comfort:efficiency savings that could be had. I gave away my extra tubes and patches to the riders that had gone through their own supply, and was glad I had thought to bring extra. I ate all the extra GU and electrolyte blocks I had brought, in addition to 4 sample-sized raw vegan food bars at the rest stops and 1 jello shot, drank 2 bottles of electrolyte fluid and 3 of plain water. I peed with the 3 C’s, but that’s enough about data. Who will remember that stuff years from now, anyways? I took care of my body and didn’t bonk, ended up recovering pretty well, even feeling stronger a couple days later.
Within 4 miles of the race start, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Really. Wow, I should know better than to start out like that, when I haven’t trained my heart or my body for such efforts. I reminded myself that I was out to finish the race, not beat anyone. I also wanted to document it, because the stories I’d heard about last year’s event had inspired other riders I knew. A lot of people hadn’t finished at all last year, so I thought that was a fair goal despite the fact that I’ve never *not* finished a race that I started. And it was a bigger challenge than any other race I’ve entered. Every 10 minutes after those first four miles, I considered waiting for the sag wagon and flagging it down, bailing out. And I would reason with myself, “Will I DIE, if I continue?” Unless I couldn’t find a way to negotiate a “No.” answer with myself, I could continue. I ended up eliminating all possible excuses not to continue, and thereby justified unlimited amounts of pain, discomfort and confusion for the next several hours. I took breaks to take pictures (about 50), but didn’t have a single mechanical. I rode quite slow and steady (11mph ave.), but performed perfectly in the process and am satisfied – even impressed – with myself. It didn’t hurt that the course consisted of mostly dirt, either.
A few times, I would trade places or paceline with other riders on long stretches, and eventually passing a few. There were some people I never saw ahead of me and some people I never saw behind me – definitely more of the former, but I held my place after those first 4 miles, didn’t look back and only walked a couple sections when no one was looking. Keeping my promise not to die but finish instead, I took the gear of least resistance through 7:26hr for 75 miles and climbed the sarcastic hill of shame towards the finish, as the parking lot was beginning to empty before me. And yet, they continued to cheer. Thankfully, it got me the rest of the way across the finish line, to the bathroom and a cold beer, which I had been anticipating, the last hour.
Thank you ABRA, you delivered one of the best races I’ve ever had the opportunity to participate in. And congratulations to the 12 other women that participated in this race – you are truly bad-asses that I admire!
Here’s another race report from MJ.
After mountain biking for about a year and a half I was ready for my very first mountain bike race. I started training in the winter by taking a spin class, going to Ray’s Indoor Mtn bike Park, and I got out on my bike a few times including pre-riding the race course a couple weeks before. I was so psyched, the first race of the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association (WVMBA) series was going to be in my home town where I ride quite a bit. Drew, my coach and significant-other went on the pre-ride with me and gave tips and tricks etc to increase my speed and to help me be a little more competitive in my women’s beginner category. My goal from the beginning was always to finish the race and not to be last, but come on – that competitive edge inside me said it wouldn’t be so bad if I pushed myself and finished in the top of my class – right?
We watched the weather like hawks in the weeks leading up to the Simonton Challenge at Mountwood on April 11, 2011. The forecasted temperatures were in the 80’s. Yay! That’s my kind of weather, no snow! The day before the race I pre-rode the first major two-mile hill in the rain, I did good and felt good; I was soooo going to do good. The trails were holding up great, the River Valley Mountain Bike Association (RVMBA) takes great care of the trails, adding new bridges and log-overs.
The day of the race I arrived at Mountwood park with a record capacity of 229 other riders, which was quite overwhelming and increased the nervous jitters. Riding around warming up with the other riders helped ease the nerves until the rider meeting and the following line-up. The first wave of riders took off at noon and then every 2-3 minutes till my group at 12:11, that was a crazy long 11 minutes. I was so focused and ready to go, then they counted down “5-4-3-2-1 and we’re off!” I took off trying to keep up with the rest of the beginner pack, still nervous but such an amazing wave of relief to be moving, though I did feel eerily alone riding with so many people I didn’t know.
After about a quarter of a mile of paved road we arrived at the bottom of the gravel two-mile climb. I was coached not to worry about staying with the pack heading up that climb so I wouldn’t blow-up. But, being competitive, it was so hard not to try and keep up with the pack – so by the time I got to the top, I was completely crushed and overheated. My body just started shutting down, which completely freaked me out and lead to an outright panic attack. I got off my bike and started walking (I had to keep moving right?). My legs didn’t want to work nor did my upper body; I wanted to lie down and go to sleep on the trail. I had no idea how the heck I was going to get off the mountain, let alone finish the race. I couldn’t even walk, and I thought I was going to die or pass out in the very least. Everyone that I was ahead of started passing me at this point and the sweeps came up to check on me. While the sweep was getting salt pills for me I started gagging and heaving and came close to throwing-up. I rested for a few minutes, regained my composure, and started walking. Yay, I could walk! Then I climbed back on my bike and started riding, walking, and resting in intervals. The sweeps kept encouraging me and Drew, God bless him, was around every corner taking pictures, cheering me on, giving me water, taking my Camelbak, and everything else I could possibly take off, including my jersey (did I mention it was hot?!).
I finally got my legs back under me and was excited to be able to clear all the log-overs and bridges and I actually passed two other riders. The trail conditions were great. The final couple miles were a fun descent so I was able to fly down the hill, past my cheering parents and down the last stretch to the finish line. Hell yeah I made it. I didn’t even have to crawl across the finish line, I was able to ride my bike! My time was 1:32 and I placed 5 of 6 in the women’s beginner class. Ok, so it wasn’t at the top of my class but at this point I was so happy to have finished the race and yes I’m off to the races next weekend, this is fun…right?
Free Webinar: Women Can Change the World through Cycling
Wednesday, March 30, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. EDT
Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/852395306
Attend this free webinar if you want to learn how to increase the number of women cycling for transportation in your community.
This webinar builds on last year’s session, “Writing Women Back into Bicycling.”* Five speakers offer compelling insights about cycling projects run by inspiring women, illuminate what women told APBP they want in a cycling environment, and suggest best practices to help you make a difference in your community. Don’t miss the stories of some of the wonderful women leading the cycling movement, and results of APBP’s 2010 survey on Women Cycling.
APBP encourages individuals to gather colleagues and friends together to watch the webinar and discuss and plan afterwards. Build your team. Check out the Women Cycling Project here:https://apbp.site-ym.com/members/group.asp?id=63197
Presenters:
Andrea Garland, Alta Planning + Design, presents women’s viewpoints on three of the open-ended questions from the 2010 Women Cycling survey: “What would cause you to start or increase your cycling?”, “What reaction do you get when cycling for transportation?” and “Why do you use your bicycle for trips?”
Kristin Gavin founded the Gearing Up program in Philadelphia, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide women in transition from drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence and/or homelessness with the skills, equipment and guidance to safely ride a bicycle for exercise, transportation and personal growth.
Fionnuala Quinn, PE, Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling, offers up a brief history of APBP’s Women Cycling Project which she helped to inspire, points to resources we can use, and suggests next steps for the project.
Anna Sibley, Masters in Public Health candidate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, summaries the results of the 2010 APBP Women Cycling Project and survey.
Carolyn Szczepanski, Communications Coordinator, Alliance for Biking & Walking, and columnist for Bicycling Times magazine, profiles some of the women leading the bicycling movement. Her talk is inspired by http://blog.publicbikes.com/2011/03/fifteen-women-who-rule-the-biking-world/
*View the recording of “Writing Women Back into Bicycling” here:
Velomuse Year in Review
People ask, all the time: what is Velomuse, what do we do, and what kinds of cycling are implied? The answer is everyone, everything and everywhere – basically expanding the current resource network in order for people to stick with their chosen sport. Here’s a summary of what we did over the last year, bringing a little bit of everything to Pittsburgh’s cycling scene to Create Lifelong Cyclists (our motto). There’s a link to more information and photos from each event, in succession below. If you want to keep tabs on our progress on a daily basis, please “like” our facebook page.
Start of the National Bike Rally 2010, Albuquerque, New Mexico
January 24: Create and donate medals for Cross’d Bite cyclocross race and provided course marshal support.
February: Create first several drafts of a Memorandum of Understanding (volunteer trail maintenance agreement) between the City of Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Pittsburgh Trails Advocacy Group.
Mar 9-12: Attend National Bike Summit in Washington DC with local advocacy representatives from Bike Pittsburgh and Dirt Rag/Bicycle Times Magazine, as a IMBA delegate for Pennsylvania. Include mountain bike access issues in meetings with Congressional staff. Report here.
April 1st: Pull a friendly prank on our readers for April Fools day.
May 4: Attend Pennsylvania Walk and Bike Summit in Harrisburg, PA with local advocates and City of Pittsburgh Bike/Ped Coordinator. Emphasize Safe Passing laws and help legislators identify concerned constituency. More info here.
May 21: Host Biker Breakfast and/or lead group rides for Bike to Work Day, and Car Free Fridays with various local bike shops and Bike Pittsburgh.
May 22: Venture Outdoors Festival: Organize and host the first Kids’ Bike Rodeo – working with Thick Bikes and Venture Outdoors, to draft and build kid-sized, rideable obstacles and borrowed bicycles from Wilderness Voyageurs. Expanded liability insurance protocol with League of American Bicyclists’ Club insurance program. Pictures and recap here.
May 2010: Host a Bike-Commute Mileage contest for Pittsburgh riders, as part of the National Bike Month. More info.
June 3-6: Attend National Bike Rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is what an advocate does for a proper vacation: 100 miles in 100 degree heat, through stunning scenery. Event report here.
June 18th: Summer Solstice Ladies’ Urban ride from Trek of Pittsburgh to Tazza d’Oro, as part of the Car Free Fridays campaign.
July: Work with City officials and local bike advocates to implement public explanation of City Municipal Code regarding off-road bicycle use in City Parks. Enhance press release distribution list, including newspaper, blog and twitter feeds.
August 12: Co-lead a MTB 101 group ride for women, as part of Bike Pittsburgh’s Bike Fest, with Dirt Rag‘s Karen Brooks and Elizabeth Klevens.
August 14: Host the City’s first permitted bicycle event Velomuse youth bike rodeo inside Frick park (bikes donated by Freeride), helping to create a system to bicyclists to apply for public space permits.
August 15: Coordinate with Thick Bikes and PTAG/PORC in an Adventure Epic connect a road ride with off-road endurance riding.
September 18th: National Park(ing) day – work with OTB Bicycle Café and Bike Pittsburgh to convert 2 street parking spaces with green space. Pictures here.
October 2nd: Lead a group ride for Girl Scouts troop leaders to facilitate training for a long-term bike program.
October 14th: Organize and coach annual Cyclocross 101 clinic, with Koeles Cycling Club, professional cyclist Barb Howe. Event permitted at Highland Park, licensed by USA Cycling and insured by League of American Bicyclists. Registration via Bikereg.com
October 27th: Velomuse Junior Devo and Team IMBA ride, Justin Uplinger WINS High School classification during the Month of Mud series.
November: Partner with International Mountain Bike Association’s Regional Leadership Advisory Council to develop Pennsylvania’s first Long Range “Shared-Use Trails Vision Plan”.
November 6: Attend the rideSFO SF Bike Expo and coordinate with local sponsors. Another vacation-type thing.
December 20th: Host Life Cycles Film Premier in Pittsburgh – the first mountain bike themed film hosted in a full scale theatre, with the help of Dreaming Ant and Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Ticket sales through Eventbrite.
Last year, Velomuse attended the National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists, and coordinated with local advocates from Bike Pittsburgh and Dirt Rag/Bicycle Times Magazine. This year,
“We Need You More than Ever”
National Bike Summit – 2011
March 8-10, Washington, D.C.
bikeleague.org/summit11
The National Bike Summit is a three day event with more than 800 leaders of the bicycling advocacy movement and industry attending. We all converge on Washington, D.C. to share ideas and experiences about how we can make America more bike-friendly. Meetings are scheduled for all attendees with their members of Congress for the third day of the event. Delegates from all 50 states, including local bicycle retailers, industry executives, elected officials and user groups have the opportunity to speak with their elected officials and put in their asks for bicycling.
Furthermore, this is possibly the most important Summit to date. On November 2, 2010, we witnessed a political course correction of historical proportions in Congress. The 112th Congress opened on January 3, 2011, and nearly 80 new members of Congress took the oath, making this the largest group since 1992.
This Congress looks very different. Not only did the bicycling movement lose its biggest champion, Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN), on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, but more than 30 members of the House Congressional Bike Caucus did not return.
This means that the learning curve is high for these new members, and the pressure is on for the 112th Congress to pass a new transportation bill. We are not certain what direction this new transportation bill will take. However, we do know that there is much work to be done in regards to educating the new members on our issues and that they need to see YOU — the nation’s bicycling advocates — next March, in Washington, D.C. Tell them about the bicycle, a simple solution to many of our nation’s persistent problems. Register for the Summit today at bikeleague.org/summit11.
Keynote Speaker Announced
Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, is the keynote speaker at the National Bike Summit’s opening plenary, Wednesday March 9. Since her appointment in 2007, the New York City has completed more than 250 miles of bike lanes and 20 miles of cycle track; passed innovative bicycle parking legislation and delivered extensive education and safety programs. Bicycle use has doubled since 2006, while fatalities have fallen to their lowest level in decades.
For more information, visit bikeleague.org/summit11.
DNS/DFL vs. DNF/DQ
What’re all those letters about? Well, the literal translation is “Did Not Start/Dead F*cking Last versus Did Not Finish/Disqualified”, and those acronyms are commonly used in bicycle race results, when no numeric placement can be identified. Having gotten my feet wet over the last few years as a professional cycling coach, I’ve had the opportunity to discuss the philosophy and psychology of racing (and goal development) with various intellectuals. It is not that I think a cyclist’s lifestyle is more quantifiable than the status quo; however, in being forced to consider the impact of one’s decisions in all actions, I believe cycling provides solutions where there would be an increasing void.
My personal interpretation relates these acronyms with an element of intention; that is, EFFORT. Basically, the largest obstacle in a race, is getting TO the event, itself. Finishing an event is the next greatest obstacle, which provides a great deal of satisfaction. The goals can also keep stacking, in smaller increments. Honor and good sportsmanship speak lengths about where your personal goals rest, and how much effort you are really willing to put forth. In essence, finishing dead last feels about the same as winning, when I look back on it. My memories are still in the smaller goals I’ve achieved, and there’s at least one thing I found to work on as a result of the race.
I have never considered numeric race results as an indication of success, as field size and conditions can vary widely. Satisfaction can be achieved with more specific goals: a particularly gnarly rockface descent, pacing a climb, nailing a twisty piece of singletrack without braking, etc. Therefore, it is important to pick events which suit your goals and skills, accordingly. And when the lack of opportunity arrives, just pick any race and focus on part of it. Numeric results may not provide the depth of satisfaction that one can achieve in a race situation, only giving a temporary interpretation. The decision to participate in the Art of Racing is a significant one. Success can be found in setting oneself against mother nature – a synergy of bike, mind and body – another good reason not to let recreational rides be replaced by competition entirely.
Click the image for bikereg link
Brought to you by:
Velomuse, ko:ǝles Cycling Club, and Barb Howe’s new self-initiated team, Ibis & The Danger Twins.
“Cyclocross 101 with Barb Howe”—the aspiring cyclocrosserʼs clinic of the year! In this clinic, participants will learn hands-on fundamental skills of cyclocross racing including ideal equipment, clothing, nutrition, fitness, and more. The clinic will be taught by 2009 cyclocross champion, Barb Howe and USAC licensed coach, Eryn Hughes of Velomuse. Knowing the skills youʼll learn here will improve bike-handling abilities for all types of riding! Proceeds benefit women’s cycling and local trail advocacy.
| Where: | Washington Oval @ Highland Park, Pittsburgh, PA |
| Why: | Teach fundamentals to beginner/aspiring cyclocross racers and spread awareness of the sport’s unique discipline. |
| When: | October 14, 2010, 6–8 p.m. |
| Fee: | $40 Registration |
| Schedule: | 6:00–6:05 Introductions and expectations 6:05–6:15 Equipment, clothing and nutrition 6:15–7:30 Hands-on skills course 7:30–7:45 Fitness guidelines 7:45–8:00 Summary and Q&A with Barb Howe |
