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…

————————————————————————–

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.

As the annual Shannock Valley mountain bike race drew closer, I was getting happier and happier that I had decided to enter. I had just had a good race (Tour de Susquehanna) and was surprised what kind of shape I was in from the six weeks of training I had done this year. At the beginning of May I didn’t think I’d be racing at all!

That excitement began to fade, though, as I awoke to pouring rain and thunderstorms the morning of the race. I really didn’t know what would happen, considering that the course had never had more than a small puddle in my past experience. But at the worst, I knew they?d still have my free t-shirt!

I hit some more storms on the way to the race, but once I got there, the skies cleared and the weather looked just fine. The course was going to be fun though – some places were a bit swampy!

I was able to get dressed and start warming up more than an hour before the start, which was great, because I hadn’t been off-road all summer! I was also enjoying my sleeveless jersey, which I had packed assuming the customary 95 degree heat, but it worked great in the rain too!

Anyway, I was in pretty good shape, motivated, and had a good bike. See, in past years, there was always something about my bike that wasn’t right. But this year everything was in great condition, plus I had tubeless tires and the fork had a lockout – very nice for the many dirt road climbs!

As the clock neared 11:00, I got to the start/finish nice and early to claim a front row spot. I had never started up front and always had to pass lots of people on the first paved climb, so I figured I better get up front from the start this year.

We had a nice start and everything went well leading up to the steep climb. I was always towards the front of the group, and within 10 seconds of climbing Shane Gouldthread and I were neck and neck.

I was content letting him lead the way and that he did. He led himself up the trail and created a little gap between us, exactly what I didn’t want to happen! There were a few guys close behind me so I tried to pick up the pace a little and stay away, maybe getting up front in the process.

Well I stayed away for a while, until I finished a downhill section and found Shane looking at two trail markers pointing in different directions… We looked around, checked some singletrack, but eventually started up a dirt road along with five or six others who had joined us.

Unfortunately Shane was at the front of this group and I was at the back, allowing Shane to slowly pull away. At the next singletrack section, I wanted to pass some riders, but my bike was feeling a little off. It was getting harder to pedal and I suspected a flat tire, but didn’t know how that would have happened.

The culprit turned out to be a jammed front disc. This is the only mechanical I can recall from any time I raced there – so much for the bike helping me out!

I pulled the lever a few times but it didn’t help, so I reluctantly pulled off the trail and began to inspect everything. There were no visible problems other than the fact that the wheel wouldn’t budge, so I just pulled the lever, pulled the cable, took the wheel off, whatever I could do. Finally, after at least 10 racers had passed me, the wheel spun freely! I don’t know how I fixed it, but it worked, so I took off!

Luckily the pit stop gave me some rest, because I had some serious gaps to close! I took off about as fast as I could and reeled in racer after racer. Once we hit a double-track climb, I passed a bunch more and figured I was getting closer to the front. Hitting another open section, I was surprised to see a group of four or five riders up ahead!

Still feeling the adrenalin rush, I attacked and passed each of those guys. There were still a few racers ahead of me, so I made a move when the trail opened up. I was setting up for a left turn, just ready to catch the Mt Nittany Wheelworks guy in front of me, and that’s when I saw a right turn arrow out of the corner of my eye!

I immediately swung right and headed up the hill through some pines, fortunately staying on the right trail. I turned up the pace again to make sure these guys couldn’t stay with me, and luckily it worked. After that attack I was on my own, no one else in sight. Which was fine because I started to crack on a long false flat leading to a short, steep climb…

But once I made it to the last big hill, I knew I was home free. I got a rush of energy and big-ringed it up the rest of the hills and rocketed down to the finish.

It was really funny on the final descent, because I was cruising down it and made a left turn at just the right spot, and almost thought I made a wrong turn. Then it hit me that I had made a mental note to “stay left on the last downhill” during my warmup. Thing is, at the next opening, I made a right! I got back on the trail though and made it back to the pavement and then the finish line.

I was puzzled because before I saw Shane, I saw another racer by the name of Alex Cox. You mean I took third? Yes I did. But I’ll be back…

It didn’t matter, though, once the door prizes started. After four years of standing and watching, I won a water bottle this year! I’m always running out of water bottles, so this was a pleasant surprise – thanks Trailz End!

And I’ll leave it at that, two pages is enough for a 55 minute race!

————————————————————————–

For more information on the race, visit: SVC Festival MTB Race Page

It was a warm Saturday a few years ago, July 27th, 2002 to be exact. The first day for me to line up for the start of a real-life mountain bike race! I was only 16 and had no idea what I was getting myself into?

Last week, three years (and many races) after that one Saturday, I ventured back to Rural Valley, PA to compete once again. The race is held during the Shannock Valley Community Festival, and although it is not one of the biggest races around, it is one of the most enjoyable.

This year I had my sights set on the podium ? preferably at the top. After previous top 10 finishes and age-class victories, I knew I had to step it up a notch this year. Only two problems stood in my way: Brad Kriley and Shane Gouldthread. Those two semi-pros took the top spots last year, but I had no intentions of giving up yet.

As the clock neared 11:00, the racers took their places at the start line. (And the sun took its place in the sky, providing us with temperatures close to 90 degrees!) I lined up a couple rows back and got ready to go. I had hoped to start up front, but I wasn’t worried because I knew the pack would thin out soon enough.

[That's Shane starting the last climb.]

After a short speech from the race director, we began our rolling start up the street. A group of 15-20 people took an early lead down the road to the first turn, which took us onto the grass but back to some more pavement. That?s where the road starts to point up… and up…

One kid took off and Shane followed on his wheel. I picked my way past a few more riders and got close to the front two. As we neared the top, Shane moved into 1st place and I immediately followed him onto the dirt. The other kid had underestimated that first hill climb and started to fade back.

It took about everything I had to keep Shane in sight through the rolling hills. I kept checking to see if anyone was behind me, and it wasn’t long before I could see Brad?s orange Speedgoat jersey in the distance. Then it wasn’t long before he caught me. I managed to hold him off for a while by keeping a fast pace on the climbs and going full-speed on the descents, but he got by me about halfway through the race.

Although I love climbing, it was starting to get to me, considering there are few (if any) flat sections on this course. The descents are worth it, though. They are steep, fast, twisty, and pretty smooth!

I settled into a good rhythm and didn’t worry too much about the riders behind me. Soon enough I exited the singletrack and began a long, open climb. I was kind of disheartened since I didn?t see Shane or Brad up ahead, meaning they had a pretty good lead on me. But the good news was that there was no sign of anyone behind me either!

The next course marshal let me know that I was about 2 minutes off the leader. With only about 10 minutes of racing left (and the fact that I had a race planned for the next day!), I kept a steady pace for the remainder of the race. Just one long fire road climb and a fast descent back down the mountain to finish it out.

[That's me on the last climb.]

Although my two rivals beat me to the line, it was a very satisfying race. I was in better shape than usual, but the course?s hills and the heat definitely took a toll!

Nick Pointon, the kid who led at the beginning, eventually finished in fifth place and Jim Sloane, Shane’s teammate from Ultimate Sports in Grove City, took fourth.

A big thanks goes out to Alan Scott and everyone else involved with the race, including the town! I can’t wait till the next one!

If you’re interested in fun for the whole family, check out the Shannock Valley site for more info.