It’s been about 48 hours now since I finished the 2007 Shannock Valley Mountain Bike Race, and finally I’m feeling normal again. This race must be the hardest 10 mile race I know of! For a race that only takes about 55 minutes to finish, it’s a real kick in the chamois!

Yep, the course is brutal. It’s full of steep climbs and fast descents, and if there is ever a flat part, it’s all bumpy field – and bumpy grass fields are not easy to ride!

But at the same, the course is relatively safe and non-technical, making it great for first timers. It’s one of those “fun for the beginner, expert racer, and whole family” type of races. Besides the great course and spectator spots, the Shannock Valley Community Festival offers good times and good food. Did I mention the door prizes? You can’t beat it.

And you certainly couldn’t beat the 2007 race. On top of the typical goodness, the course was altered slightly this year; it included more fun singletrack and less boring fire road. I think they had more course marshalls out this year, too!

If you’ve never raced there, the increase in marshalls might not seem like a big deal. But the course has so many turns in every direction, even race veterans can get confused – especially after the steep climbs when you can’t possibly think clearly!

Speaking of steep climbs, let’s get into the race…

After a quick ride through town, we hit the huge climb that eventually drops us into the woods. As usual, Shane Gouldthread led the way, setting a blistering pace that no one could match. I followed in second place, keeping Shane in my sights, and hoping to put some time on a few other guys that looked like podium contenders.

Everything was going as planned when we entered a new section of trail, and I shifted to my big ring to go after Shane. I saw an arrow up ahead that looked like it pointed down some nice doubletrack… but I wasn’t looking far enough around the corner! It turns out we had another short, steep uphill before we headed down.

That mistake allowed a guy to pass me on the climb. No worries, though – I followed right behind him. I realized he was on a rigid singlespeed, and after seeing him climb one hill, I figured he’d be worn out soon enough…

He wasn’t. He put some time on me, and I only saw him a couple more times over the rolling hills. Then he was gone!

Let that be a lesson: Never underestimate the crazies on rigid singlespeeds!!

Once he was out of sight, I realized I had more problems – a couple guys who couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds behind me!

So I upped my pace a little bit, hoping that they wouldn’t see me and chase harder. Every so often I would look back to keep checking, and I still had a good gap. I really wanted that gap, because in a race like this with complicated turns, they’d have it easy following me. While they wouldn’t get a draft, they wouldn’t have to worry about making the right turn. At the same time, I would be expending a lot of mental energy by scanning the trail for the markers. I wanted them to work just as hard!

I kept a steady pace for a while, planning to keep my 3rd place position till the end. After I hit the roller coaster kind of section, I scanned the long hill up ahead – no one in sight. But as I climbed it myself, I realized there were two guys closer to me than before!

That’s when I knew I had to pick up the pace. So I did. I blasted through all the singletrack and tried to stay off the brakes as much as possible. I felt a bit weak at certain points, but it wasn’t too long until the last big fire road climb. Once I got there, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I could really turn on the jets.

And I did. I flew up the final climbs as fast as ever and bombed the descents. I slowed a bit for the last tricky descent, but I was left with a big enough gap to get me to the finish line safely in third place. (By “big enough gap” I mean about five seconds!)

The seven of us hung out at the finish and exchanged tales of our personal turmoils over the last hour. A good time was had by all, and we set out for our recovery spins.

Maybe next year I’ll break past the third place barrier…

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For more information on the race, visit:

SVC Festival MTB Race Page

2007 Results

Or read my Shannock Valley race reports from 2005 and 2006.

On a very foggy July morning (last Sunday the 15th at 6:55 AM to be exact,) I set out with plans to win the second annual Tour de Susquehanna in Clearfield, PA. As you may know, this race takes place on my local training routes – a great place to win. But things don’t always go as planned…

Last year it was a dropped chain on the second climb, this year it was…

A lack of training!

This lack of training, although disappointing, provided a new dynamic to the race, which in turn makes for an interesting story to tell.

After a typical warmup, we lined up at the start at 7:55. I saw familiar faces, like Brett Baronak, the reigning champion, Jeff Miller, who has won every single King of the Mountain race we’ve had here in Clearfield, some Spokes N Skis guys, and my arch nemesis, Brian Lytle.

Things started out just like last year, and things were pretty controlled up Park Avenue as we headed out of town. I think people were even calmer than last year. I was thinking of attacking on the hill, but my mind started to wander as we climbed steadily, and before I knew it, we were nearing the top.

For two years straight, Brett Baronak has attacked right at the top of the hill before it flattens out. This attack breaks up everything. Last year I made it, this year I couldn’t hang on as the pace picked up. All the race favorites were flying down the road while Brian and I tried solo efforts to catch them. Neither worked, and we joined a small group of Spokes N Skis riders.

This made for an interesting race, because our group of five was trying to catch the lead group while simultaneously watching for attacks from behind. We didn’t work together very well, but as I found out later, the lead group didn’t work out that well either. (We never caught them though…)

As we approached the second real climb, I thought this would be the time to attack, but it wouldn’t have helped, so I just climbed steadily in false hopes that the other guys could draft me. That didn’t pan out, and as I sat up on the descent to regroup, the other guys flew by and dropped me… Maybe I should have attacked!!

So I ended up chasing yet again. I kept the four in sight on the downhill in hopes I’d reconnect for the last six flat miles.

Around one bend, one of them got a flat. Now I was chasing three.

But by the bottom of the hill, they were mostly out of sight. I got one glimpse of the two remaining Spokes N Skis riders before they were out of sight, but that was all.

Alas, I made it onto Route 879 for the final stretch, and Brian Lytle was still in sight! I was ready to hammer, so I figured I could catch him and we could paceline into the finish.

Well, my energy didn’t last very long as I cranked my big gear, and I didn’t get any closer to my competitor. But I kept hammering with everything I could muster, and after five or so miles of chasing, I finally got close to Brian!

At this point we were about one minute from the finish, and I knew he wouldn’t want to finish one spot behind me yet again, so I had to strategize. Luckily, I don’t think he knew I was getting that close, so I kept things quiet until I got real close. Then I stood up and sprinted by him, hoping to get him by surprise.

I think I did surprise him, and he was probably out of energy, so we didn’t have a sprint finish. Unfortunately, even though I beat one of my rivals, my other rivals had already finished three minutes before I crossed the line…

But I took my sweet yellow t-shirt home, ate all the food I could fit in my stomach, and went to bed! (Note: I didn’t go to bed at two in the afternoon – it just took me about eight hours to eat!)

Time to train for 2008…

Want race results?

Photo credit: Randy Hurley

Although yellow cards are given in soccer, you can give them in cycling now too. Although the point is to give them to aggressive drivers.

The image to the left is a small version of a project by Peter Miller, designed to create peace and harmony amongst those who share the roadways. What you do is take his design and get it printed on a bunch of magnets which you then carry around with you (on the bike.) Then if you see an aggressive driver, you toss one of the magnets onto his car.

The driver will later find the magnet on his car, read it, contemplate what he has done wrong in the past, and change his ways.

Well, it’s probably more likely that the driver will get even more pissed off at cyclists. But we can only hope that some people are reasonable enough to change their aggressive driving habits when pointed out.

We can also only hope that cyclists can throw a ball or toss a frisbee, and do a Wild West style “quick-draw” from their pocket, because how else are we going to get these magnets affixed to moving vehicles??

Last winter I picked up a few sets of Hutchinson Flash tires. For $5 each, I couldn’t resist! (I needed them for indoor training.)

But since I quit using a trainer and only use rollers, the tires didn’t wear out that fast. I actually used the same pair of tires for two winter seasons without noticeable wear. So, I decided to use them for some spring training this year to finally wear them out.

And wear them out I did!

Not only did all the seams start to rip, but the tread wore so thin that the tire started to deform! I had to get a picture of this…

It really did look like an “S” curve. Once I removed the tires, I realized the tread was thin enough I could almost puncture it with my fingernail!

Still want the pros and cons?

Pros of $5 tires:

• They are only $5 each.

Cons of $5 tires:

• No traction, especially in wet weather.
• They’re heavy.
• They will rip, deform, and otherwise fall apart when riding on the open road.

The only reason to get them is for indoor training, and for that, they are perfect!

(These Hutchinson Flash tires are sometimes available at Nashbar for a mere $5 each.)

It’s July and that can only mean one thing – bicycle racing! Central Pennsylvania is home to races in both Brockway and Clearfield, and I think there’s a big race in France, although I couldn’t tell you anything about it because the news just focuses on doping scandals these days. So I’ll stick with what I know…

I needed a chance to test my legs before the upcoming Tour de Susquehanna, and the (recently re-named) Le Tour de Brockway seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was excited for this year’s race (even though they raised the entry fee) due to a totally new course! A few years back they had a nice course, but recent years left something to be desired with their out-and-back route.

(Did I mention the out-and-back route led to people cheating? Yeah, it happens. It’s unfortunate when competitors at a local bike race cheat, considering the $0 grand prize.)

Onto a more positive note… the new course was a 15.5 mile loop on some very nice, backcountry roads. It even started with a “peloton parade” through downtown Brockway. Too bad the spectators for the annual 4th of July parade weren’t yet lining the streets at 10:30 AM!

I thought I was ready for the course thanks to my use of Google’s satellites, but it turns out the internet is no substitute for a proper pre-ride of the course! Things are different when you’re actually out there, especially when everyone else is beside you.

So let’s talk about the race itself…

We all lined up at the start/finish behind our police escort for the “controlled start.” The plan was to take it easy as we rolled through downtown and then the race would get going once we hit the highway. I’m not sure if it was the intense competition between the Hollyloft and Spokes-n-Skis teams or Shane Gouldthread out front on his mountain bike, but we were moving pretty quick as soon as the gun fired!

Then the pace really heated up once we passed Sheetz and got onto Route 219. I noticed a couple attacks, but I decided to just stay in the pack a while, but I got bored real fast. So I decided to follow this one guy out front. I got to actually see some of the road ahead but still had a draft, so I rode there for a bit until the pack swallowed us back in.

Soon enough we were on the twisty back roads and it was time for more frequent attacks. Every so often someone jetted out front, but every move was immediately countered by a simultaneous, almost orchestrated move by the Spokes-n-Skis team. They did a good job of keeping things together, but with the pack being a little too big, I was anxious for something to happen.

Next thing I knew there was a sharp right turn that took us up a fairly steep, twisty hill. It wasn’t massive, but I wasn’t ready for it at all. I jumped out of the pack and watched some green jerseys disappear around the turns as I struggled to keep moving. (I guess some Hollyloft guys were already out of sight.)

A few guys passed me, so I tried to catch them but everyone kept slipping away. Then I saw a group coming behind me so I decided to rest for a couple seconds and latch on to them. Those few seconds of rest paid off because I was able to tuck into this group and get situated again.

By this time we were halfway through the race, but just on #2 or #3 of the course’s 7 hill climbs. We rode in a group the rest of the race, which was either up or down for a few miles. We kept seeing glimpses of the front groups, but they were just far enough ahead that no one could catch them.

From that point on, I just stayed calm and tried to hold my position. We only had two small climbs and then a long downhill stretch to the finish. It was pretty uneventful for us as we careening through a few downhill twists and hit the big straightaway, where we could see the winners. I had two guys with me (one being Shane) and no one else close enough, so I just went hard to try to better my time.

I crossed the line with no pressure for a sprint, but Shane wasn’t far behind me. I think my time was about 41:25, roughly two minutes behind the winner.

It was good to be done, but after getting dropped on that first hill, I was fairly disappointed with the day’s outcome. It wasn’t until later that I realized all the good things that happened.

First, it didn’t storm or even rain, and the weather was beautiful. The forecast said hot and humid with afternoon thunderstorms, but the weather seemed fairly cool and pleasant. Second, the course was amazing. I would gladly go for a joy ride on those roads sometime. Third, I got to see my fellow racers I haven’t seen in probably an entire year. And last but not least, I got a nice blue race t-shirt in size medium! (A lot of races only offer size large shirts!)

I also met some relatives from Texas who happened to be in the area and signed-up for the exact same bike race, but that’s a whole other story…

I ended up in 15th place overall, but all I really wanted was a better idea of what might happen in the Tour de Susquehanna, and I certainly got that. (While I’m at it, a shout out to Mike Yankevich who placed 4th overall!)

Now I’ll just sit back and relax while checking the race results online.

P.S. Wondering why there’s no picture of me crossing the finish line, even though my mom was there taking pictures? As I was coming up to the line, a car decided to pull up beside me. So there was me on the timing mat, then a car sneaking through, then my mom on the other side of the car. Talk about bad timing! I wish she had taken a picture of the car so I could put it up here for public humiliation. I mean, who drives through the middle of a bike race, let alone across the finish line?

P.P.S. If you’re up for racing at 8 AM on the 15th, hit up the Tour de Susquehanna in Clearfield, PA.

And just one more note: a couple more pics can be seen at the bloombikeshop webshots page.