2007 Mountain Bike Race Dates

With almost less than 30 days till the first Race, the season is coming quickly... And our wonderful February weather for Central Ohio has made it hard for any quality outdoor training and forced most of us indoors for any kind of work out. Thankfully March is almost here and the Daylight Savings Time change, on March 11th this year, will be a big help on improving our riding weather. Our Race season gets underway on April 1st at Mohican Wilderness, one of the most challenging mountain bike trails in the state. This 9.5-mile loop, is one of the stops of the Ohio Mountain Bike Championship Series. It is spread out over 600 acres of Glacial Valley and features over three hundred feet of elevation and huge glacial rocks and boulders! Mohican Wilderness Mountain Bike Race Course features 90% single-track, about 12-18 inches wide with tight corners, switchbacks, and obstacles such as rock gardens and log bridges that will challenge riders of all skill levels.

Our Team Race Schedule is as Follows:
Mohican Wilderness (OMBC # 1) on April 1st
Mt. Wood Challenge (OMBC # 2 / WVMBA # 1) on Apr. 15th
Harbin Park (Psycho Series #1) on April 22nd
East Fork St. Pk. (OMBC # 3) on May 6th
Vulture’s Knob (OMBC # 4) on May 20th
Mohican MTB 100 (NUE # 2) on June 1st & 2nd
John Bryan St. Pk. (Psycho Series #2) on June 10th
Lumberjack 100 (NUE #3) on Jun 15th & 16th (tenative)
S & S Trails/Mt. Perry (OMBC # 5) on June 24th
DINO #4 / AMBC Or OMBC # 6 on July 8th
Paint Creek St. Pk. 6 hr (Psycho Series) on July 15th
ALUM CREEK St. Pk. (OMBC # 7) on July 22nd
Sugar Mtn., NC (NMBS # 5) on July 28th -30th
Lake Hope St. Pk. (OMBC # 8/ WVMBA #10) on August 5th
Caesar Creek St. Pk. (OMBC # 9) on August 19th
John Bryan State Park 6 hr. ( Psycho Series) on August 26th
Dillion St. Pk. (OMBC # 10) on Sept. 2nd
The Big Valley Race (Camp Manatoc) on Sept. 9th
12 /24 Hrs of Mohican on Sept. 14th-15th
Westbranch State Park (OMBC # 11) on Sept. 30th
Harbin Park (Psycho Series Finals) on October 7th
Fox Creek (OMBC # 12) on October 14th
ClearFork (OMBC Championship) on October 28th

OMBC (Ohio Mountain Bike Championship Series) www.ombc.net
WVMBA (West Virginia Mountain Bike Association) www.wvmba.com
NUE (National Ultra Endurance Series) www.usmtb100.com/MX/
NMBS (Norba National Mountain Bike Series) www.usacycling.org/mtb/
AMBC (American Mountain Bike Challenge) www.usacycling.org/ambc/
Big Valley Race www.bigvalleyrace.com
DINO (Do INdiana Off-road) www.dinoseries.com

Gary Fisher Pro Race Team Schedule www.fisherbikes.com/team/schedule.asp

And Remember Every Day is the Day...

IMBA National Mountain Bike Patrol

Well this past weekend I complete my IMBA Bike Patroller class put on by the Central Ohio Mountain Bike Organization, the final step to becoming certified. IMBA's National Mountain Bike Patrol program organizes and supports more than 60 volunteer bike patrol groups throughout the United States and the world.

Patrollers inform, assist and educate mountain bikers and other trail users. The fundamental goal of bike patrols is to ensure trail access for mountain bikers. It's one of those things that has several aspects I like : Riding your bike. Helping other people. Being involved in the management of your local trails. Learning and sharpening such skills as outdoor first aid, trail side bike repair, off-road riding, and communication. And considering the amount of time I spent at the local and regional trails riding, doing the bike patrol was a 'given' for me, to become involved and give back to the communtity. As far as requirements, IMBA has two mandatory requirements for membership in the National Mountain Bike Patrol: Current certification in basic First Aid and CPR. And successful completion of any of the following courses: A mountain bike patrol training course (taught by a local NMBP-affiliated group). A volunteer host training program (taught by local land manager). A ski area specific mountain bike patroller training (taught by a local ski area management or ski patrol).

What can you do as a rider who enjoys riding your local trails to get involved. Join IMBA!(The link is on your lower right.) And support your local trails with you membership. IMBA has many great benefits and they can also inform you of any local MTB groups or organizations in your area.

After all, What would we do without Trails?

Meet the Team...

From Right to Left: Amanda, Joe, Judson & Jason

Amanda

Joe

Jason

Judson

Chris
(relaxing after a Trek Travel trip.)

Why 29ER ?

There's a few very good reason's why so many of us ride and race 29er mountain bikes. It's all about the big Mo, Momentum, that is... You see, 29" wheels are bigger than 26" wheels. And the bigger the wheel, the smaller (relatively speaking ) the stuff the wheel rides over, thus decreasing your angle of attack. Why is this important or why should you care? Reducing the angle of attack lets you roll over obstacles faster, smoother and easier than you can with smaller wheels. Another great thing about the 29er wheel is how it creates a longer contact patch with the trail. (think snow shoes) Now the longer-contact-patch is very key, this helps you float through mud, sand, SNOW, and also improves traction when climbing. Not getting bogged down helps you maintain your momentum, this is a very good thing. Which brings us back to momentum. The great science type people of Pepperdine University found that 29" wheels ride 6 percent faster on uphill courses and 3 percent faster on cross-country courses than their 26" cousins.* This happens because 29er wheels are less affected by dips, bumps, roots, rocks and soft terrain than smaller wheels. Oh, and the Fisher design helps stability by lowering the rider's center of gravity in relation to the axle. (Complements of Fisher Genesis geometry - a tale for another post. So, to summarize , 29er wheels equal increased momentum. Increased momentum equals more speed. More speed equals profound joy and happiness due to more singletrack ridden by sundown. And to clear up one myth, 29er bikes fit riders of all sizes, tall or short. After all I should know and I'm not tall!

*Source : Summary of the Gary Fisher Bicycles Two-Niner Project by Holden S-H. MacRae, Ph D.

Who We Are & What We Ride!

Our Mountain Bike Race Team, sponsored by Trek Bicycle of Columbus is made up of riders from the Columbus area and beyond. Our Team Riders are: Jason Barker -your blog author, Joe , Amanda , Judson and when his busy schedule allows - the local owner of our two Stores , Chris. We all ride for many reason but the most common ones would be passion for the sport, fitness, fun with family/friends, competition and cycling advocacy.
I have been working in the Cycling industry now for just over five years, most of which I have worked as a bike mechanic and I love it. My cycling career began early on with my father, doing my first race around age 9 or so on my BMX bike. Gradually I moved into road cycling, competing at the junior level of the United States Cycling Federation (USCF), racing till about age 15 and I now find myself right back in the thick of cycling but this time on the Trail instead of the Road...
I ride and race Gary Fisher mountain bikes and haven't found or ridden anything that comes close to a Fisher. I currently have a 06' Fisher Paragon 29er' as my main race bike, a 05' Fisher Rig Single Speed 29er' for single-speed races and endurance events. Joe is on a Trek 9.8 Carbon race bike and a Fisher Rig 29er' , Amanda races a Fisher Paragon 29er' and Rig 29er' , Jud has a Fisher HiFi (full-suspension) and a Fisher Ziggurat and Chris rides a Fisher Paragon 29er' and Soon to be on a Fisher Rig 29er' Single Speed. Joe, Amanda and I would be the weight wennies of the bunch and have gone to great length and cost to get our race bikes a light as possible. Right now my Paragon is around 24.5 lbs, Amanda has had her Paragon down to 23-23.5 lbs and Joe's Carbon Trek has got us all beat at 21.5 lbs!

My Fisher Rig...
Paragon - noun : A Model of Perfection