Always up to no good...especially when Annie is around.

That one time I thought it was a good idea to race a singlespeed at the Twain Reign of Pain at Tuscazoar!

The day I got Facebook!!

Riding in the Alabama sun and making my Ohio friends jealous!

To say it was a busy year is an understatement! 

• The snake... Snapping my chain and still finishing even though Shep rode right past me. Scoring a podium with Amie.
  
• Completing the NUE Marathon Series (and one more for good measure) 5 nue races so I don't have to do it again! So amazing to ride in so many different states! All the amazing airbnbs along the way including the midwives house for Wilderness, the beautiful mansion for big frog. Getting to know some other frenimies at the trailer park, freaking Iron Mountain (I have some unfinished business there..I'll get my revenge in 2019!), and Carrabassett - so much fun!!
  
• Getting my first (not by default expert podium at OMBC Camp Tuscazoar race)
  
• Twain Reign of Pain duo race with Amie, that course it just amazing.
  
• Riding 78 miles in 98 degrees
  
• Slackercation in Brown county
  
• Girls weekend at Hocking hills

The one time I rode an ebike at Vultures Knob!

The group drone shot! This may have been our biggest party yet! Thank you to Mark & Stella for hosting the 3rd annual summer soiree! 

Josh received the "Iron Taint" award (an empty bottle of chamois butt'r and a VERY used pair of bibs. Josh just keeps racing...Big Frog 65, PMBR, Pisgah 111k & 55.5, Mohican 100k, Iron Mountain, Tatanka and Wilderness 101k and he's not done yet! 

Kendra is kicking butt this year at the OMBC Novice races - she just keeps winning! Kendra received the "Sandbagger" award! We're all about gender neutrality, but if Kendra were a dude, the team would have pressured her into the Sport class. Next year, Kendra, next year!

Our team prides itself on giving back to the local mountain bike community. You may not know but, team members are trail stewards at many local trails. Nick, Dusty, Teresa and Mike received the "Golden Shovel Award".  Nick is the steward at Quail Hollow Park, Dusty is the steward at Medina Trails, and Teresa and Mike have donated many hours of blood, sweat and tears keeping Vultures Knob pristine! (Kevin Burgess & Amie Jones are also trail stewards for Camp Tuscazoar in Dover).

Shane received the "Having a girlfriend that he brings around Award" 

Todd received the "Travel Agent Award" for planning trips - some that happen, and some that don't!

Brandon has been our King of Social Media for many years (he doesn't have any of them!) Brandon got Facebook for an award! 

Lisa received the "Always a Hoot to ride with Award" (a rug with an Owl on it!) Lisa is such a positive influence to everyone on our team. Any ride Lisa is on is always a good time and includes many laughs along the way!

Luke received the "Single Speed Starter Kit" a pair of scissors for podium shorts! 

Jordan got a mug with a elk with a monocle, that's as unique as his music playlist!

Scott got the "Where have you been award" ... 

Todd (and Austin) received the "Stop breaking shit award" .... 

TJ left before he could get his award, but it's the "Best looking posts on Strava Award"

Camp Tuscazoar got a signage makeover this year and the old signs we all made in 2014 are no longer needed! Mike & Aime got the Roost sign because that was where we first met them (trailbuilding, building the roost re-route!), Dicky got the Icky's sign...well because he can easily add D and make it Dicky's! and Angie and Kevin got the Pipestone/Pioneer Point trail because Angie used to be Cannondale Girl on Strava and Kenny and Corianne used to check out who rode at Tuscazoar and found other bad ass ladies who rode the biggest little trail in Ohio! 

Keith got the "Super Mustache Award"

Jimmy got a snickers bar that said "don't eat me!" He ate it on the way home. 

Mark got the "Party Award" for keeping the Slacker Crew rides going in Sara's absence! 

Tim got the "Team Nutritionist Award" ..some STEAK treats!

Team manager Scarlet says "not my circus, not my monkeys!"

So, we suck at updating the blog, BUT we do keep up with our Facebook and Instagram...but for those who like to read what we've been up to this quarter all in one place, this post is for you!

It's no secret, many KSD team members saw lots of screen time over the harsh Ohio winter months, some chose Trainer Road, others Zwift with some Sufferfest mixed in. Reaching those power goals means lots of hours in the pain cave. (photo above shows some motivation for Amie Jones while on the trainer!)

The harsh Ohio winter (that seemed to NEVER end), made for many trips to ride at Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park to hone in on those technical skills! (photo above Todd Davis' car and bike, we are so grateful to have this gem available so close!)

Cold, and not too deep snow made for a FUN Vulture's Knob Wish You'd Stay'd in Bed Race! Many team members braved the elements for this fun race in January!

Then came the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial in Dalton Georgia in mid-January. 11 KSD'rs traveled down to compete in the 34 mile or 50 mile options....#wedoitforthebeltbuckles! It was a balmy 23 degrees at the start, but the trail was rippin fast. 

Because we were slacking on the "skirt-of-shame" challenges, we decided to award Tim Shep the "trash bag of shame" just because. He wore it almost the whole time at the brewery after the race!

We met up with all these crazy people (Mountain Bike Trailer Park)...also from Ohio! Ohio was very well represented at the Snake this year! 

On January 20, we held our annual KSD Day at Ray's MTB - check out this video:

The weather gave us a break and a group of us were able to get out on some gravel in Mohican Country! 

Shane showing off some of his skillz at Rays MTB!

Read here about more Snake adventures from some of our friends at Trailer Park Racing: ​http://dirtragmag.com/mountain-bike-trailer-park-racing-sucks/ 

In early, February: While most of the team is indoors on trainers Teresa and Mike stepped away from Zwift and had a good day at the Bedford Fat Bike Race with a FIRST PLACE win! First podium for the year!

Kenny and Todd slipping and sliding at Vultures Knob during the last "training race" of the year!

New colors! 

So much rain made it hard to get out... We couldn't all ride together but "most" of us were able to go out and root for spring to come as soon as possible!

Seriously, MORE RAIN! ... ​Flooded roads were not going to deter Kenny and Mike from getting outside and enjoying the sun shine today!

Out with @thedirtline helping install new carsonite signs at #camptuscazoar, soon everyone will be able to get around with ease!

Another great weekend of #knobbysidedown adventures! 

We worked hard and played hard today More trailwork at Tuscazoar. !#knobbysidedown #camptuscazoar

Knobby Side Down representing at the CAMBA meeting. Nick holds the secretary position for another term. Thanks Nick! ​

The pinhoti trail is in great shape and was totally worth getting up at 4am to get here early for a pre-ride before the Snake Gap TT (rescheduled from February to March...because of RAIN!)

Doing our part to bring some medal back to OHIO! Josh was 1st 50 mile SS, Corianne 2nd and Amie 3rd in women's 50 mile...one 34 mile finisher and 8 50 mile finishers!!  @ Snake Time Trials (TM)

While some of @knobbysidedown was at the Snake; many team members were hard at work tearing down the rainbow bridge at @vulturesknob, @jimmy_gimp was cheering Lisa on for her first mtb ride since her accident in September, @billmickey54 was leading a crew at Lake Milton building trails, our team manager, Scarlet is training for a tough mudder this spring, and @mjones.tcty was being husband of the year by washing @amiec97 's dirty bike! Hope you all got to get out and enjoy the spring like weather!

#knobbysidedown was busy enjoying the sunshine this weekend! Riding in Amish Country, Tuscarawas, Stark and Wayne Counties and in Alabama (it was a chilly 62 degree start, we feel bad for Sara! ?) trail Workin at Lake Milton, hiking at Mohican, driving to MOAB and Planning the BEER ride! Cheers to spring!!!

Jim, Lisa & Dusty took a vacation to MOAB!

March 31: A great Saturday of riding for @knobbysidedown ... Teammates out traveling for spring break in Dupont NC, Moab UT, and Knoxville TN.... Others were local, gravel grinding in Dresden OH! 

April 1: More weekend adventures from #knobbysidedown from skiing in Colorado, to rocks in Moab to fun in the sun in Florida... Then back to Ohio where Angie found the Real (creepy) Easter Bunny... And Shep found #starkparks FeLeap on the Hoover Trail! Enjoy the sunshine! Three cheers for Spring!

April 2, why, snow, why? ​When the trails are yucky and you can’t ride, you may as well play in the snow with the kids.

April 7: Corianne was all smiles after the 6 hours of Warrior Creek in NC!

Wayne, Tim Shep and Josh ventured to Mountwood Park in Waverly, WV to kick off the OMBC Race Season for 2018!

Josh at 6 Hours of Warrior Creek

Trails are finally starting to dry out - got a fun weeknight ride in at Vultures Knob!

Team @knobbysidedown showed up in full force for the Mohican XC race today! Jim Costello 5th in Men's Sport (Sandbagger) 40-49. Josh Kunz 2nd in Men's Pro/Expert Single Speed. Kendra Spofford 2nd in Women's Beginner Open. Kenny also brought out the cat shorts to liven the SS party!

EARTH DAY OUTSIDE! ​Some us of worked and some played today..one thing was obvious everyone came out of hiding today! #springishere #knobbysidedown

@knobbysidedown all ready for Big Frog ? and Cohutta on April 28!

KNOBby Side Down Racing - KSD had a great weekend of racing at the Vultures Knob Grassroots series, Tim Portman took 3rd place in sport and Steve Ferguson took 3rd place in beginner in Race #1. In another state, at the National Ultra Endurance Mountain Bike Race SeriesRoost Racing, LLC Cohutta 100, Kenny Kocarek took 2nd place in Single Speed and in the Big Frog 65, Joshua Xavier Kunz took 2nd in Single Speed! All other team members that raced the Big Frog PR'd the race over last year! What a fantastic weekend! #iaminfinit #swiftwicksocks#dumondetech #rideschwalbe #chooseadventure #handupgloves

More than likely we'll be horrible at updating this blog, as we enter the season you'll see us racing locally and nationally. You'll also see us at many trail days throughout the state! See you on the trails (and Facebook or Instagram!)

​I had a great day with KSD at the Fundraiser for Brielle, then followed up at Lockport Brewery! I hope to ride more with you all in 2018. Always good times...

​2016 started off riding the gravel roads of mohican/amish country followed by beers at Millersburg Brewing Company. Next I made my first of two trips to Rothrock State Park. This was one of those trips that I never would have made without the team. The climbs were long and the downhills were steep and rocky. Never would I have thought I could ride those trails, but I did and it was awesome. Next the Mohican 100, the after party was better than the race, enough said. Next was the 112 mile NEO Solstice Ride ,great ride, coolriver soak, then beers with good friends. The tri-state six hour series was cut short due to weather. The races were tough but fun was had by all. The final big experience for the year was when Melissa and I made the trip to Georgia for the Fools Gold 100k. Other memorable experiences include my first race at Vultures Knob and besting my PR at Mohican by 11 minutes. 2016 was a very memorable year for me. It was the first year I participated on a mountain bike team and I found myself having much more fun riding with great friends being pushed to my limits. I am looking forward to much of the same for 2017. Cheers!

Kenny Kocarek Review:

I started off pretty skeptical about the Absolute Black oval, but decided to give it a try on my single speed, it definitely started off feeling goofy and it seemed to feel the oval but after about five minutes it all went away.  Just like they said my pedal stroke felt smoother and I notice the advantage of the oval most on gradual to steep climbs and technical areas of the trail.  Slower cadence it is awesome and if I get hung up in a technical area and find myself track standing or fighting the trail I just have to concentrate on pushing down and it is a lot easier to get the momentum going again.  I never notice the ovality feel unless my cadence goes really high like 110+ but that could be some of my own personal form issues spinning that fast.  Overall I recommend it and will continue to use it!

Josh Kunz Review: 
​
I love my oval ring. I run it on my singlespeed air9. I've ridden it on long 100 mile rides xc races and gravel roads. The biggest help I find from it are on the long gradual climbs.

Rich Doubledee Review:
Application
Bike: Trek Procaliber 9.9
Pros: None noticed yet. May be a good ring for "mashers".
Cons: Noticed bobbing in bike at high cadence.
Note: Giving some time to this ring to before switching back to the regular 32 tooth ring in order to give fair comparison.

Todd Davis Review:

I have noticed that my climbing has improved since installing the 32T Absolute Black Oval chainring on my Trek Procaliber soon after I received it in March. I was concerned about switching from the 3x9 setup on my old bike to this new 1x11 Sram GX drive. I immediately felt stronger climbing and very early in the season I proved it by clearing every climb for the first time in a race at Mohican State Park. I am looking forward to conquering the climbs of Mohican again in the final race of the season in October. The ring appears to be wearing well and I have not had any drivetrain issues so far this season.

Jim Costello Review:

I’ve been using the Spiderless Cinch Oval Ring on my Santa Cruz 5010 since June and can’t complain.  I feel it makes a significant difference when I’m climbing short, punchy climbs.  With the stock ring, it seemed like I would have to stand and mash more whereas the Oval lets me put down more consistent power throughout my pedal stroke. 

Another positive is chain retention.  During an enduro riding the stock ring, I dropped the chain twice within 20 yards on a not so rough section throwing off all of my timing.  Since changing over, not one problem.  Even on severe terrain.  

I can’t wait to put one on my XC bike.​

Many members on our team ride and race with their significant others, while this is not extensive, these are the one's we've captured this year. Many times we have "competitions" for KSD's cutest couple. It's been passed around quite a few times.

In 2015 I had my first experience with the Mohican 100. I had heard about the 100 before and I was excited for the opportunity to go and cheer on my husband as well as the rest of my Knobby Side Down teammates. I brought my dad along with me that day. We had a great time watching everyone from start to finish. At one point in time my dad said to me, "I suppose you will do this crazy race next year". After observing many riders come through the aid stations with the look of pain and fatigue on their faces I said, "no, this type of race is not my thing".  Also, in the back of my mind I thought I am not physically fit to even consider doing something like this.
 
As the year went on I thought more and more about doing that race. Yes, initially I remember seeing the faces of riders that were mentally beat down and physically fatigued, but the more I thought about it there was a ton of excitement associated with the race. Several people were also very high spirited and had a real sense of accomplishment as they rolled through the aid stations and across the finish line.
 
In late fall I broke the news to my husband that I was contemplating the race. Initially he looked at me like I was crazy, which is a fair assessment. After some discussion he said if I wanted to do it he would support me and help me train. I am pretty sure he thought this might be another one of my hair brained ideas that I would possibly forget about after a few weeks. 
 
I am not a strong rider. I have come a long way over the last few years, but I knew if I wanted to finish this race I would need to really need to step things up and I would have to mentally commit - all in 100%.
 
Over the winter word was out that I was contemplating doing the race for the first time.  At first there was fear, "OMG they are really going to think I am crazy?" But with this team, crazy is normal. I had a few initial conversations with some of the ladies on the team (Angie, Corianne and Lisa) about doing the race and my excitement grew. By the beginning of the year I was set on doing the race. I was also celebrating a milestone birthday in 2016, which gave me more motivation to prove to myself, you can do this.

Let the training begin... I had to put the miles in so I could make sure I could get across the finish line.  As many of the other team members do, there were endless miles on the indoor trainer over the winter months, thank you Sufferfest and Trainer Road.  There were countless mornings of getting up way too early in the morning to be the first one to get that training ride complete and uploaded to Strava in for the day.  It seemed at times that Lisa Costello, Michael Canterbury and I had an unofficial early morning competition going on.  In reality that is just when it fit into our family and work schedules for the day. Then there were the countless rides outdoors as the Ohio winter and spring weather would allow.  Mike and I are lucky enough to have the hills of T-County all around us so he made sure I did my fair share of miles outside.   At the end of February, I did the Funk Bottom Gravel Grind ride hosted by Josh Kunz. It was a good test to see where I was at physically.  It was awesome!

The closer it came to race day the more nervous and excited I became.  Shout out to my KSD team mates in that last month. The ladies kept me energized with their encouraging text messages.  Mike started helping me look at some of my training rides as well as times for some of the women that did the race in previous years. We really started talking about what goals I should set for my times. This is the first I really thought about my time seriously. Up to that point my goal was to just get across the line, I figured I'm not fast so who cares about my time. He stressed the importance of setting some basic goals for my time to keep me motivated during the race.  Kenny and Corianne Kocarek as well as Kevin Burgess sent me sample spreadsheets that they had used in the past to set targets for the race. Kenny analyzed my Strava rides and gave me some overall averages based on my previous ride data. The spreadsheet that Tim Portman created with target times based on your overall goal was just what I needed.  Over those final weeks leading up to the race I set my target times.  My excitement grew even more. 

How about that nutrition?  Ugg...race day nutrition...this is something I had been putting off, which I know is the worst thing you can do before a big race. I had tried different foods during training rides over the winter and spring. I found things my body would tolerate.  My big issue is that generally I have NO desire to eat while I am riding. I like to drink plenty of fluids, but the thought of eating any type of food makes me sick, especially on longer rides.  I was getting pretty nervous about what to do for race day.  Some of the team members were using Infinit Nutrition, so I checked it out. I answered the questions online, a few days later my first custom order came in and I had the opportunity to try it out on a few long rides before the race. My body responded quite well. I know you should not try new things like this a few weeks before a big race, but it all worked out. It was just what I needed. #IAMINFINIT ​

​

The day before.... I was so pumped and excited for the race.  Mentally I was all in and I felt pretty confident with my fitness level as well. Mike and I took the day off of work. We headed over to Loudonville and drove all the roads that were on the race course. I had ridden the trails (except for Mohican Wilderness), so this was the last piece of the puzzle for the race.  As we drove through town where the race would begin I remember the excitement from the start of the race last year. I thought to myself, last year I was a spectator, this year I am really going to be part of this! Later that evening we hooked up with some of our teammates for dinner. It was just what I needed to shake off those last minute race jitters.  At dinner Lisa and Corianne laid out what I call "Operation Jones" (AKA do anything to get Amie across the finish line). They planned to be at each of the aid stations and they were going to be at the finish line with me.  I couldn't have come up with a better plan myself!

RACE DAY IS HERE! As I was getting ready in the morning I was so set on making sure I hit my target times at the aid stations. My times may not be fast like others, but they are my goals and it is what I needed to keep me motivated. I pondered where to stash the split times so I could make sure I stayed on track. I had a card all folded up ready to go in my jersey pocket, then I came up with it. I approached Mike with a Sharpie and I told him to scribble my split times on my right bicep. At any point in time in the race I could glance at my arm and see my split times. Yep, he gave me the puzzled look I had expected but he proceeded to help me out.
 
As Mike and I drove to the race we gave each other the last minute pep talks. He then told me that he was going to do the race with me. Up to this point in time I was mentally prepared to just do this myself. At first it made me a little more nervous. I knew I would hold him back, but honestly I was so reassured to know we would be doing this together and I would have someone out there with me. 
 
When we got into town, we hooked up with the rest of the KSD crew. I was once again relaxed to see some of my KSD ladies. Angie Burgess, Corianne Kocarek and Lisa Costello gave me the last minute pep talk and high fives that I needed. 

Getting to the starting line was a bit of a whirlwind. So much excitement was going on. I really could not believe that this was really going to happen.  All of the training and preparation came down to this. I remember standing beside Mike at the starting line filling up with an amazing amount of emotion.  The race began and it was everything I had anticipated and more.  I loved every minute of it.

I rolled in to Aid Station 1 (Mile 20), it was the biggest whirlwind. As we approached I felt pretty good.  I was excited to see the KSD support team. Corianne, Lisa, Angie and Pat were all there.  All I can remember is rolling in, someone grabbed my Camelback, water bottle and bike.  I went to the bathroom and when I came back everything was topped off and I was ready to go again.  They gave me some words of encouragement and shoved me out on the trail again.  They gave Mike and I some pointers so we could get in and out of Aid Station 2 quickly.  That one is off limits to spectators.  They did not want us to spend too much time lingering there and lose our momentum. As I left the station I glanced over at my arm and I came through 15 minutes ahead of my target time.

Aid Station 2 (Mile 34), yep encountered some weird, I mean unique, riders there. Riders around us were starting to drop out of the race. We got in and out quickly. I was keeping a close eye on my target times and I was just a few minutes over my target time.  I started to get anxious about staying on track.  I knew I was losing ground with my time and I still had the hardest part of the race ahead of me.  All I could think of is I have to get through Mohican Wilderness. This was the one part of the race I had heard so much about but I had not had the opportunity to pre-ride.  Kenny was kind enough to email me a summary of the wilderness a few days prior to the race.  By the time I got there I could only remember something about a round building with a coned shaped roof being close to the end.  I kept looking for that #$%& building…it was there. 

Aid Station 3 (Mile 46), my girls were there again to greet me and get me in and out.  Just what I needed, some familiar faces.  I was still feeling pretty good but my time had slipped more.  I was 15 minutes over my target time, which left me feeling frustrated.  I left the aid station with the support of the KSD girls (and Pat).  Shortly after Aid Station 3 Mike was starting to suffer. This is the part of the race that really messes with your mind.  I knew that each time he stopped to wait for me it was taking a toll on him.  It is so important to keep moving.  I told him to just go.  I really wanted to finish the race together but I knew he needed to keep moving.
 
Aid Station 5 (Mile 56), based on the advice of my team mates, I rolled right through.  No stopping for this one.  Stopping this late in the race for a breather would just mess with my mind.  All I could think of was getting across that finish line. I kept looking at my time.  Why was my times so important to me?  Because those were the goals I had set for myself for that day and I needed to hit them.  As I rolled through Station 5, I noticed I had made up some ground and I was back on track.
 

And now for the moment I had day dreamed about for months.  THE FINISH LINE! It was all I had hoped for and more.  As I got closer I could hear the music blaring.  My Knobby Side Down team mates were screaming as I rolled down the hill to the home stretch. I was greeted with hugs and high fives after I crossed the line.  It sounds cheesy but it was truly a fairy tale ending for me.  

PS – I beat my goal by 25 minutes.

On Friday evening,  I threw out to our teammates a challenge to take some photos of their biking antics. Knowing many of us were riding all over the place this weekend. Here's a taste of what we accomplished! (In no particular order...) ENJOY! ~corianne

Slacker Saturday ride with Sara Harper, Rodney Lucketti and Todd McMillan
​25ish miles consisting of road, Towpath, Hampton Hills, a windbag and a brewery. Not too shabby and we made it back before sundown after much doubt!

Brandon Render (Sir Speedy Kitten, Juice man or Rendor) - his lovely wife Melissa, Kenny and Corianne Kocarek headed over to the first Tri-State 6 hour race in Versailles State Park ​ in Indiana.

Zachary Bastin and his wife Shelly completed the 2016 Wooster Urban Adventure Challenge: 27+ miles of biking, hiking, canoeing, running, and many fun challenges!

Scott Palmer and Dicky Dee hit up the Spokejunkie's ride at Dillon State Park in Zanesville

Awesome weekend of riding! Saturday at Dillon with the Spokejunkies, and a Sunday solo ride at Chestnut Ridge. Huge thanks to our sponsors. Mounted my Absolute Black oval ring on Friday and man what a difference. Really smooths out the pedal stroke, especially on the climbs. And thanks to Emily at Infinit for dialing in a custom formula for me. I felt great Saturday and only bonked because I underestimated the ride length. Today, I rode Chestnut with no Camelback and only a single bottle of Infinit, in 90 deg heat. Climbed faster than usual and felt better than expected at the end. Not even close to cramping. ‪#‎ninerd‬ ‪#‎absoluteBLACK‬ ‪#‎ovalthis‬ ‪#‎iaminfinit‬‪#‎fatguyproblemsolved‬

The Jones and Burgess families headed up to Hampton Hills for a MTB ride!

Slacker Sunday Ride at West Branch State Park with Rodney, Nick, Sara & Todd 

Some team-mates on the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure this week - Sunday was the first ride!

Covered bridges and skinny tires heading out for a post ride beer somewhere in southern ohio - Feeman

Hope you were able to get out and enjoy!

Back in April, Jim Costello and I raced the WVMBA Big Bear Enduro.  We had talked about racing a couple of the WVMBA Enduros and after showing interest in the 1st event of the year, we both get a message from Travis Peebles of Blazing Saddle Cycles offering us a place to sleep in the cabin that he rented for the weekend.  With the trouble of figuring out where to stay out of the way, we were in!

Since this was an Enduro, we figured it best to go down and pre-ride the 5 stages on Friday.  I thought this was a great idea, as I had never ridden big drops, roll-ins and other rock features we would face that weekend.  Once I picked Jim up, we made a relaxing trip down to Bruceton Mills, where the Big Bear Lake campground would host the event.  On the way Jim mentioned that he wasn’t sure he’d ever met Travis.  I reminded him that Travis was the guy who had Elvis at his team tent at the Vulture’s Knob 24 hour race and roasted a whole pig!  Immediately Jim remembered and got even more excited for the adventure to come!

We arrived to the parking area around noon and began changing into the appropriate EnduroTM attire.  It just so happens, with no discussion between us, that Jim and I bought the same helmet.  In the same color…  EnduroTM Blue…  For the past 2 weeks months we had been taking flak from everyone we rode with about how we were matching EndurBro’s and how the helmets matched nothing about the rest of our kits.  Before we pedaled off, we ran into Jeff Simcoe.  He is the main person maintaining the trails at Big Bear.  He gave us some helpful tips on which stages were important to pre-ride and help prevent us from getting lost. 

The climb out of stage 2 was awesome!!  It reminded me of the final miles of the Snake Creek Gap TT in Dalton, Ga.  Huge, chunky rocks on a long grinding climb.  I kept thinking how much Kenny would love this climb, but know how much he would be cursing me on the downhills to get there!  We made it back up to the top of the mountain and started down stage 4.  This was the most technical of the stages with big rock features that required some knowledge of the proper line choice to keep from falling into a crack or off an edge.  And to top it off, it ended in the same spot as stage 2, so we got to do the fun climb again!!  We were out of time to pre-ride stage 5, so we started heading to camp.

As we made our trip up to stage 4, Andrea Wenger passed by going down stage 3 so we provided the appropriate “motivation.”  Waiting for our turn to start the stage, 2 people with Walmart looking bikes come pedaling up the road, turned directly into the start and began going down the trail.  Everyone at the start gives that WTF stare and the jokes about bikes exploding commenced.  I was able to ride everything on stage 4 without any issues.  On the preride, we noticed a couple of bypasses around some muddy chutes.  By the time we went I figured the mud would be cleared out and I could just moto the ruts and be fine.  Boy was I wrong…  One of the ruts was already deep and apparently still hadn’t found solid ground underneath as after the stage I notice the bottom of my fork legs had acted like shovels and brought some of the trail with me.  For the rest of the stage, I was snickering to myself how Jim would have to break into his emergency chain cleaning kit so it didn’t trouble his OCD for stage 5!  Up until that stage, everyone had stayed relatively clean with only the occasional puddle.  This is remarkable because according to Jeff, the weekend before the area received 8” of snow!! 

On to the final stage of the day.  We didn’t preride this and were told that there isn’t anything difficult.  It was a very gradual grade, especially compared the other stages, and required a great deal of pedaling.  Two very hard days were beginning to be felt in the legs.  We both finished with only a couple of near-misses and Jim grabbed a beer from the keg that wasn’t available when Cary went by at least an hour earlier. 

At this point one would think that the adventure was over, but there was quite an experience still remaining.  Due to the distance back to the staging area, a shuttle was planned to take everyone back to the start.  Jim and I threw our bikes on and grabbed a seat on the back of the trailer.  Just as the trailer began to leave, a couple of kids came chasing after the shuttle.  We threw their bikes on and one of them sat on the edge of the trailer directly behind me.  About 30 seconds down the road, the trailer hits a big bump and I see air between his ass and the trailer deck.  I grab one arm and drag him back against my knees while Jim grabs the other.  Now that he is sitting on my lap he feels compelled to introduce himself as Nate.  I was getting to be very close to Nate.  Jokes about the shuttle trip keep flowing between him and Jim, before the topic of how you shouldn’t mention this to your mom until you are at least 25 (guessing he was in the 15-17 year old range??) to keep her from getting upset.  Well, not 30 seconds pass and a car goes by the other way.  Nate starts yelling “Hey, that’s my mom!!”  Jim and I look at each other with the ‘what are those odds’ stare and make sure we have an extra tight hold on him so he doesn’t fall off then get ran over by his mom.  Luckily, Mom doesn’t look to be too worried and follows us to the drop-off point. 
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Now all of the adventure was officially over.  We turned in our timing chips, got cleaned up and made our way back home.  I ended up in 8th in the sport class, while the dropped chain cost Jim a few additional spots.  He finished out in 18th.  I would personally like to thank Jeff Simcoe, Ben Klimer and all the others who put on a great event!!  And once we get into the summer and past some of the big races, there is definitely going to be a KSD field trip to Big Bear to go check out the xc trails and maybe even hit some of the enduro stages.  And now the WVMBA Big Bear Ultra is on my radar for August!!