Black Bear Rampage

Wow! This post is way late, but whatevs. Marshall and I left early Sunday Morning September 13^th to race the Black Bear Rampage at the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Tennessee. The drive took about 3 hours and we arrived about an hour and a half before the start of the race. Really nice to roll up and see some familiar single speed faces, 29er crew folks as well as some good Asheville buddies.

The Black Bear Rampage was on a really cool course with lots of climbing and lots of twisty sandy riding. Some bits were real technical and I loved riding beside the river that I spent two summers raft guiding and kayaking on. I had never been on these trails even with the amount of time I spent here. The race was hard. I chose to run a 33X20 and when we reached the steep climbing bits that we had already descended, I was regretting my choice as I got off and walked. I kept up with Ursula for about the first 15 miles, passed her on a technical rooty section, and then she passed me on a climb never to be seen again. That 50-year-old lady is FAST! I also met a nice lady named Rachel who also raced in the women’s single speed class. Whew, we were lucky. 3 ladies make a class.

I placed second. Pretty cool. Something to look forward to next time. Hopefully the Black Bear Rampage will continue to get more single speed women and therefore more competitors. Nothing like racing single speed mountain bikes with other single speed ladies! Thanks to the 29er crew for hooking me up with a spot! It was awesome!

ORAMM 2009

And the winner is... Carey Lowery! What does that have to do with EndlessBikeCo? I was the 4th woman across the finish line, and the only one to race a single speed. PODIUM! I took 1hour and 15 minutes off of my time from last year.



I feel good about that.

Marshall! Marshall! I won a Cowbell!

was probably the last thing Marshall wanted to hear after sweating for 6:30:51.861 as my support at the 2009 Cowbell Challenge Marathon. This race was HOT! Literally, with the heat index around 115 degrees. I couldn't have finished this race without him. Luckily for me I was able to talk him into sticking to the plan and going with me on Friday night (he almost bailed...fucker). The 2009 Cowbell Challenge Marathon started with a 6 mile road ride from the center of Davidson, NC to the course at Fisher Farm Park. Though I thought it was awesome that many local families were out cheering us on with Cowbell's of their own, I was thinking..."they must really hate us silly single speeders to make us ride on this silly road for six miles." I do understand though that it was because the community wanted to be involved. From the road, we hit the greenway and the first big climb. When we hit the climb the geared riders that had just passed me immediately got off of their bikes. Wooo Hooo! "Rider" I don't think I saw many of those folks again. It was really awesome to get to the first climb and be able to ride it specially when the gearys were walkin'. I rode every climb every lap (6) thanks to my 33x20 Kick-Ass gearing. The single track was really great! Super twisty technical with some skinnys and whoopdeedoos as well as a few steep, muddy down into muddy uphill, slide, got it's! A few wooden bridges, rock gardens, and really techy spots. Then there were the really hot field spins and the even hotter than hell Kudzu climb. That kudzu climb lasted about 20 seconds but I swear it was 10 degrees hotter and really put the hurting on at the end of every lap.

Luckily, Bruce Dickman was pouring bottles of ice water on the competitors as they passed the timing tent. Thanks again Bruce! Marshall was also there at my rescue each lap with fresh bottles of energy with ice and two fresh ice bottles for my back pockets to keep me cool. So glad he didn't really bail. 

With Marshall as my pit crew, I was able to finish all 54 miles of the race when many of the other racers were quitting. I finished first in the Women's SS category with a time that would have placed me 4th in the Men's SS category. Come on! I have to be proud of that! Anyway, back to the Cowbell... I was super stoked when I was standing on the podium in first place with

 Sherry George in second and they handed me a Cowbell (a few other things as well). What a great prize! I guess you have to really know me to understand my excitement...I rung it proudly for the rest of the weekend cheering on the other competitors when I wasn't racing. 

I raced my bicycle on Sunday too in the 2009 Kenda Cup East Cowbell Summer Solstice Cross Country race. It wasn't as hot as Saturday, but with 54 miles in the day before... two laps were way better than 3 which Marshall and the Pro class raced. I placed 1st in the Women's class and this time placed 3rd in the Mens. 

It's so fun to toe the line with a bunch of silly single speeders...I fit right in. We'll that's it for the weekend, listen for me ringing my new Cowbell at an event near you. If I'm not sweating right along with you, of course.

SSUSA 2009

And the winner is...

Wooo Hooo! What a fun weekend SSUSA was. Saturday offered up a short track race and a night time trial.

I was super confused when they called me up to stand in #1 on the podium. I placed 2nd between Kylie and Rebecca in both events on Saturday and about 4th of 5 on Sunday's 20 mile cross country race...but I won the kiddie bike bike race which was the race for the belt and SSUSA champion...Marshall "of course you did."

This weekend was awesome fun all around and I got the opportunity to meet some awesome folks. Thanks Robb for putting on an awesome event. Here's a photo of the men's belt podium.

DeJay got first and yeah that's Pisgah Works very own Bruce in third.

Bike riding in March

Well folks March has come and gone with lots of diverse weather as well as bike riding therein. Here's just a small taste of the month.

March started with some snow... on March 1.

My Cute little snow angel.

Bikes waiting while Marshall and I had a snow-day coffee at Izzy's

Me on Beaucatcher Rd. It was cold over there.

Marshall riding back into the light under Helen's Bridge.

Saturday March 7, 2009

I wasn't able to race the 3rd Snake Creek Gap due to hurting my back after the Asheville On Bikes, Bike Love party but this enabled me to watch Marshall take 3rd in the mens money class with an exciting sprint finish as well as Beth taking 2nd in her class.

Marshall's trophy and training/racing info.

Friday March 13, 2009 Alex Bryenton's Birthday Whiskey Crit!

To start this one off, I want to let you all know that I didn't participate in this one, cause I just don't drink whiskey like that...ever!

The crew!

Kylie with the start...ready GO!

I won't show the pictures of what happened next. Actually the crit went off without any trouble with Alex, the birthday boy winning. The ride afterwards was different. 

3 crashes, 1 broken collar bone, 2 broken teeth a swollen knee a swollen finger and a broken hand later...Marshall and I went home.

Sunday March 29, 2009

I have recently introduced my friend Laura to not only the world of Single Speed, but to 29ers as well. She purchased herself a Gary Fisher Rig in March and has been riding the shit out of the "Turdcicle" ever since. We have been riding a bunch together, with the Dupont Save the Trails Challenge being the most interesting so far. First we threw all of our stuff into the bug...

We thought Laura was going to stop when we reached our buddies at the 18 mile marker at rest stop 2. When we arrived, Beth was freaking out! "Where have you been? Is everything ok?" We couldn't tell why she was so upset. Well it was 4:00 and we were actually at mile 29. Laura's longest ride yet and we had no idea. It was awesome! Here are some more photos of Laura and I hamming it up in Dupont.

We're gonna go back for that sweet car...

We had the most fun of anyone all day! 

At the top of the slick rock of Cedar Rock Trail.

Snake Creek Gap Time Trial 2

Well Snake Creek Gap Time Trial #2 was totally different from the first, but no less awesome. To start off, the weather was clear and beautiful and about 60 degrees. Quite the far cry from the 12 degree weather Asheville experienced the previous week.  My body doesn't do well with these extreme weather changes, so I'll leave photos of myself out of this post...

Except for one.  This photo taken by Jason Burnette is the author and David Eifert at the start. That's Rhonda and Jubal Janes taking photos on the left. David raced the men 60 and over class on his single speed and kicked some major butt! He took about an hour and 21 minutes off of his January time, I was very impressed. I took 20 minutes off of my time. I also had a really cool person to chat with at the beginning of and after the race. I met a lot of cool people again at this race, which is always my goal. I love racing, because I get to meet lots of people with very different backgrounds who love to ride bikes. Some have been riding for years and have been many places on wicked long rides and some are just starting out and have been very few places. We all have bikes in common. Bike Love! Until next time... 

Snake Creek Gap Time Trial 1

With the second Snake Creek Gap Time Trial almost upon us, I decided that I should have added a new post weeks ago. That being said, Snake Creek Gap Time Trial kicks butt! This event was awesome! Definitely the most organized event I've ever attended. 

EndlessBikeCo. along with the Pisgah Brew Crew had a great showing on January 3. Myself and Marshall rented a car and met Beth, Jut and Kylie at the hotel. Well, Marshall and I rolled in after everyone went to bed around 12pm. We also caught up with Bruce and Rob on race day. 

This was my first fully rigid SingleSpeed race and I had a really great time! The picture above was taken by Jason Burnett of NWGASORBA. For me the whole race was foggy and mysterious. 

On to race results... they don't matter too awful much to me, but are a part of the event. 

My goal for the first race was 5 hours:

I finished with a time of 4:50:58. Placing me 18th in SingleSpeed class;

Marshall finished 3:17:28, placing him 4th in Mens Money Class;

Beth finished 4:29:55, placing her 3rd in Women 30 and over;

Jut finished 3:57:42, placing him 4th in SingleSpeed class;

Kylie finished 4:04:39, placing her 2nd in Women's Money Class (on a SingleSpeed I might add);

Bruce finished 3:57:43, placing him 5th in SingleSpeed class;

Rob finished 3:27:18 placing him 1st in SingleSpeed class.

At the end of the race we were treated with chili and mini moon pies as well as a nice warm fire. 

Well, those are the results thus far... next time I think we'll have a few more racers with the Asheville crew. Thanks for checking us out!