November 14, 2011

New Web Site

I keep opening this blog post with the same sentence; "It's been a long time since I've posted". Since that is a true statement why break the streak.

It's been a long time since I've posted and there has been allot going on to catch you up, and like I've said before.......I'm going to start posting more frequently.

The first thing to discuss is our new Logan Mountain Bike web page. We have a new site with a new look and better content. Check out the link and let us know what you think(please keep in mind it is not complete yet). We hope to have profiles, up to date race course info, picture slide show and a section dedicated to places we like to ride (more on that later).

Next topic..............well we better save that for a new post so I'll have something to write about. Here is a little of what is to come.
  • New trail at the Chief Logan Recreation Center
  • Trail work season begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving.......extending the Wildcat!
  • Places we like to ride
  • Tentative date of Chief Logan race next season
Check back soon to here more about these exciting topics!!!!!

July 27, 2011

Davis Race

Not allot of race reporting lately, but I thought these pics were blog worthy...........everyone needs a good laugh from time to time. I gues there's nothing worse than wet feet.




With this slick move Dennis locked in 4th place in the sport vet class. As for William, a broken chain on the second lap left him with a DNF. I guess I have no room to talk..........this move is better than me setting on the cough and missing the race.

Hopefully I will be racing 5 of the last 6 races and blogging to go along with those.

Chris

May 19, 2011

Crying Wolf Challenge

This past weekend we made the trip to Bluefield for the "Crying Wolf Challenge" and encountered a wet, cold, muddy and rainy race day. There were about 61 riders that showed up that day and we were all greeted with a downpour as we lined up for the prologue. That in combination with the already wet conditions made for a very muddy race.


LMBA had 5 members present for the race; Dennis finished 1st in sport vet, William 2nd in expert masters,  Derek 3rd in sport vet, Me 5th in sport vet (I won"t mention that there were only 6 in my class, or the fact that the 6th rider was a DNF, I will however focus on the fact that I was only 10:45 off of the lead.) and  Alex was 4th in beginner class. A pretty good showing for the team at this early point in the year.

A big shout out to Josh Vance for finishing 1st in the clydesdale class. Check out this video from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph of his smooth move thru a creek crossing, be sure to listen close at the end for his excuse. http://bdtvideo.com/videos/183/crying-wolf-challenge

Next up, Tour de Lake at Spencer.........hope to see you there.
Chris

May 17, 2011

Twin Falls

Recently we took a trip to Twin Falls state park for a group ride with the "Tire On the Mountain" group, little did I know that we would be in for such an interesting ride.

Twin Falls is a WV state park with several nice attractions that make for a great ride. First up is their premier biking trail, "Moonshiner". This is one of the smoothest and best flowing trails around. The 3.5 mile loop is fast and fun in either direction and worth the the trip in it's self. Next you have a really spectacular rock cliff overlook located at the end of a trail named................. "Cliffside"

Next up, the name sake of the park......the falls. I nice double track decent and a sweet rock garden take you to a really cool photo opp.

All in all about 15-20 miles for the day and some really nice trails and beautiful scenery. I highly recomend a trip to this location.

April 21, 2011

2011 Race Season

The WVMBA 2011 race season has kicked off and the LMBA race team has jumped in with 3 members competing in the 2nd race at Big Bear Lake this past Sunday. This year the team consists of Dennis, William, Derek and myself.

I decided to sit this race out given it's long distance from Logan. The team left out real early Sunday morning and arrived in time for a good warm up before the race start. William is riding Expert Masters this year and this will be his first race after moving up from the sport distance. Starting out with the prologue and seeing several riders wrecking in the technical sections he decided to dial it back and take it easy. This proved to be a bad idea as he settled into the layed back pace for the entire race and failed to push himself to his full potential, finishing 9th in his class. Look for a much better finish next race.

Dennis and Derek are both riding sport class, vet and open respectively. Riding much of the race together they traded positions back and forth, Derek leading on climbs and Dennis regaining on the downhills and flats. With a few miles to go Derek crashed and broke his rear shifter and was forced to complete the race stuck in a single gear on the rear cassette. Dennis finished 2nd in sport vet and is setting the ground work for a great season. Derek ended up 9th in a very competitive sport open. With no mechanicals and a climbing course, Derek is likely to improve on that finish at the next race.

Looks like the entire team will be at WVMBA race #3 at Bluefield, with lots of climbing and my first race at the sport distance I'm not expecting great things but I'm sure it will be painfully fun.

Just because a blog post just doesn't feel right with out pictures, here are a couple for your viewing pleasure.


Overly staged picture of my bike on a recent training ride

Surprise visitor in my garbage can a few days ago

March 5, 2011

Thursday Fun Rides

April is quickly approaching and everyone has been busy training for the the start of race season. We are all ahead of pace compared to last year, some a little more than others. I won't go into any more detail, wouldn't want to give out any info that could be used against us (yes I agree, everyone in WVMBA is probably scouting this blog as they prepare their race season strategies).

We all love to race but that is not what I wanted to talk about today. We all also love to fun ride. Riding with a large group of people that are out to enjoy the trails is also very enjoyable. Last year we typically rode every Wednesday and toward the end of riding season we had a few rides where 5-10 people would show up. sometimes everyone seamed reluctant to ride with us, thinking that we were out to train and ride fast. This is not the case, we enjoy riding with others and sharing our enthusiasm for the sport of mountain biking.

So this year we are going to have a weekly fun ride at Chief Logan State Park geared to draw a large number of riders of all skill levels. This ride will be every Thursday at 5pm, starting the first Thursday after the time change. The pace and route selection will be geared toward everyone having a good time and enjoying a ride with friends. We hope that this regular set day will allow people to plan on riding and show up for a great time on the trails with out having to call around and try to coordinate people to ride with.

Here is a video and a few pictures from recent rides for your viewing pleaseure............hope to see you on Thursdays!!!........Chris