Adventures of the Hullabaloo Crew

i have often contemplated the appalachian trail the neverending barrage of soccer events gave us a reprieve last weekend and so I siezed the opportunity to do some joint planning with my son, Jackson.  we considered overnight camping on the C&O canal, the cross race in Winchester along with some other options.  Given the choice, Jackson wanted to go hiking on the AT.  So on Saturday morning we laid out all of the stuff that we'd need in preparation for the brief adventure.  We laid out lighting, backpacks, sleeping bags, camp stove, etc... threw it all together and tossed the pack in the back of the car and off we went.  The plan was simple.  a brief stop at the local grocerie, then off to the AT.  We planned to just go to the trail, hike in a direction until we found a place to camp.  camp.  wake up and hike back to the car. which is exactly what we did. on the way back, we came upon Richard Gwozd, a thru hiker from Quebe...

I was thinking about this as I was driving the kids around getting the last of the 'back to school' stuff today. Imagine that you LOVE ice cream. Wouldn't it be really fun to have all day access to Cold Stone Creamery? You would eat ice cream until your body hurt and then you might have a little more until you don't want ANY more. The SM100 is sort of like a Mountain Bike Binge day I guess. After you are done, you absolutely don't want any more. But then, like eating too much ice cream, quickly after your stomach settles down, you wouldn't mind having a bit more. The 2010 Shenandoah 100 brought a unique combination of camaraderie, pain, pleasure and everything in between. As a last minute entry, Chris Hayes decided to enter the race for the first time and we rode down together and ended up riding the first part of the course at the same pace. Chris had done a bit of reconnaissance on the course with his wife Sherry and knew more about the course than ...

The Shenandoah Mountain 100 could easily become my favorite race of the year. It is without a doubt the most epic race in the state of Virginia. The race begins and ends at the Stokesville campground, or west of what most people may be familiar with - Harrisonburg, VA. The race is in the George Washington National Forest. Approaching the campsite, it becomes clear that you're headed into a mountainous region. The race meanders through these mountains and contains 6 major climbs over 100 miles. If you look at the terrain profile below, you'll see that one of the minor climbs is 1000 ft and the biggest climb is slightly over 2000 ft for a total climbing elevation of 12,000 ft. The venue itself is superior to that of any race that I've participated in. The entire Stokesville campground is reserved for over 500 participants in the race. Dinner, which consists of pasta, bread, salad, drinks (including a limitless supply of beer) is served on Saturday evening and race ...

Shortly after purchasing a mountain bike and doing a couple of races down at Wakefield Park in Annandale, Joe Dombrowski convinced me to race the Shenandoah Mountain 100. This race, I suspect will be the hardest ride or race that I will have ever done. It is 100 miles, 12,000 ft of climbing on a combination of single track and fire roads. The top riders like Jeremiah Bishop, Chris Eatough, Floyd Landis finish this in something more than 7 hours. It takes some 12 hours and many never get to the finish. Lance just won a like event in Colorado, the Leadville 100. He and Floyd were joking around that the Tour De France was just training for the Leadville 100. It would be cool to see Lance attend the SM100. In preperation for the SM100, Joe took me out to some of his favorite training grounds out west of Front Royal in the National Forest. He's done these rides solo before, but doesn't like to as there are trails on this route that take you 15 miles away from something ...

Here in my early 40s, I figured it was finally time to enter my first ever mountain bike race. Wednesday's at Wakefield was the venue. As I am starting to be more involved with the Haymarket Bicycles Junior mountain bike race team, I figured that I should have at least *one* real race under my belt, so I can speak with some race experience. That said, I think I'm now hooked and will race as many races as I can that doesn't conflict with road and especially in the off season. I also plan to use the new mountain bike for cyclocross rather than purchase another bike. After purchasing a Gary Fisher Paragon from the Haymarket Bicycles shop and taking it out on a leisurely ride for a couple of times...I was ready to race! So...what was my first race like? I entered the sport category and lined up next to Stephen Kendall and his brother Brad, from NCVC . It was also Stephen's first MTB race. I lined up at the front on the outside and off the start, I found myself a...

got some good miles in over the past 2 days...depending on your definition of 'good' We spent Thanksgiving at Suzi's parents place in Milton, PA and I ate too much like everyone should on Thanksgiving. Actually, I ate an entire 1/2 of a pumpkin pie, each piece with whipped topping. So, as it has become ritual, I decided to go out on a long ride the day after Thanksgiving. Danville is about 15 miles to the East of Milton and separated from Milton by Montour Ridge, over which there are several paved and gravel roads. So, I found my way to Bald Top (a residential section of the ridge overlooking Danville) and descended down the hill into my old stomping ground. I always find it quite nostalgic to take this ride. As I descended into town, I immediately came upon my old high school, which started me thinking about how I might best enjoy my trip down memory lane and I came up with an idea. I decided to ride sequentially from my elementary school, to Junior High, to Senior...

OK, well...not really...anybody who really cries on a bike in public just needs hang their clips up, but I will concede that this one did make me think twice about staying on the saddle. It's sort of like touching an electric fence and just hanging on. It's just natural to want to let go. This is one steep hill and it caused me pain today. The road is called Bear Wallow Rd. 16% grade at parts and mostly 12%. After riding 40 miles doing everything I could to keep a low cadence and stress my muscles, this was the prize at the end. At the top of the hill, it was all I could do to propel the bike forward enough to stay balanced. I can't imagine riding up hills this steep for hours every day in stages like those in the tour. Now we know why those Warrenton guys are so fast ... with a hill like this in their backyard. My first ride over this hill and we've already developed a love / hate relationship.