pa biker

2012 Pack 271 Pinewood Derby

2012-01-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

Question Mark

2012 Pack 271 Champion

Thomas designed and built his own derby car this year. He named it Question Mark and it turned out to be really fast. Question Mark was the fastest car at his Pack meet this morning. It set a new track speed record, and Thomas is advancing to the SuperDerby.

For Larry: sorry about the lack of snow, but the riding has been good...

2012-01-13T22:28:00.000-05:00

Nice winter Iceberg - F2 run on the Moots

2011-12-29T17:51:00.001-05:00

Pack 271 Cake Bake

2011-11-19T11:50:00.001-05:00

Cub Scout Pack 271 had a cake bake for fun at our Pack Meeting last night. The kids came up with the ideas and helped put the cakes together. The cakes were very original and well done. We got to sample most of them after the voting was over.

Abigail Mark

2011-11-07T21:00:00.000-05:00

Kid's Bike Rodeo in Frederick this Saturday

2011-10-20T00:14:00.001-04:00

Virginia's Great Country Roads

2011-08-28T23:49:00.004-04:00

We went for a drive today tracing some of yesterday’s 105 mile road ride route. Stopped at Philomont Country Store. Then took a tour of Oatlands Manor. It was Thomas, Henry, Carter, me, and four young women. The place is really nice and we had the best tour guide ever. She had the boys helping with the tour. Because of their good behavior they got to go around the ropes in the library and sit on the couches, hold Mr. Eustus’ racehorse hoof inkwells, and then after the tour was over she asked us to come back in 5 minutes. We came back and she showed us the basement, kitchen, and two cellar caves – “off the record”.

As we left, we saw the intro. talk for the second tour of the day, there were like 20 people and some crotchety old lady as the tour guide – we lucked out.

From there we drove to Middleburg, VA and hit the butcher shoppe for some local smoked ham and turkey which we made into sandwiches.

The road route is really amazing (kudos to Dkeg), I can’t wait to ride it again.

4th of July solo road ride

2011-07-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

Ellicottville, NY Weekend

2011-06-19T23:21:00.001-04:00

Untitled by pabiker at Garmin Connect - Details

2011 Parkway Bike Safety Rodeo - Saturday, June 4th noon-4pm

2011-05-24T08:55:00.002-04:00

Kids Bike Ride w/ MORE

2011-05-22T22:29:00.000-04:00

Tuesdays in MoCo - these are a fun time and for any kid who can ride two wheels.

Monday Night Wheel Base Ride

2011-05-09T22:49:00.002-04:00

This is just one reason why Frederick, Maryland is such a great place to live:

Click on that photo to see the road and no cars for like 10 miles straight!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-27T01:15:00.000-04:00

Visited Tony at Captiol Hill and found an Easter Extravaganza at Lincoln Park - the kids had a great time.

Tony and I did a fast 60 mile DC road ride on Easter morning from Georgetown.

Shot BB guns with the boys in Annapolis later in the day.

Marks -vs- Food

2011-03-27T21:22:00.002-04:00

The Mark boys took on a Man -vs- Food challenge today.

At Chick & Ruth's Delly in Annapolis, MD we took on a 6 pound milkshake.

In the epic struggle of Mark's -vs- Food - today the Mark boys prevailed!

Panda Cone Party

2011-03-23T22:11:00.001-04:00

We were fortunate enough to host the 2011 World Championships of Cone in our basement this year. After drinking their pre-competition Mt. Dew (thanks to my wife) the 2nd and 3rd grade boys were ready to roll.

Can't is the Cancer of Happen

2011-03-06T21:47:00.002-05:00

A wise man recently said: "Can't is the Cancer of Happen" and there were alot of reasons that this trip shouldn't have happened. It's a two hour drive and I had to be home by five would be one of them. The major storm dropping 2 inches of rain on Altoona would be another.

Tony showed up for the party only after reading the directions

All week the isobars and radar didn't look good for Sunday so we moved our regular Sunday ride to Saturday. An early 7:30am departure from Frederick in misty rain had the others a bit concerned. Todd started a "For the sake of discussion..........." conversation in Starbucks complete with horrible-looking radar images on Tonys i-phone. The weak of heart, less optimistic, or those who hadn't heard a BStimate before might have been swayed by their semi-convincing argument. To his credit, DKeg, took the bull by the horns and got us rolling as we narrowly averted a wet, slippery, and misty ride in the Shed. Dkeg has seen both the rainbows and the unicorns on several occasions.

Rattling Creek is an easy two-hour drive from Frederick and features 23 miles of the best singletrack in PA with very little climbing and just enough rocky stuff to keep you on your toes. For the most part it is fast, rolling, picture-perfect singletrack in a remote location with beautiful mountain creeks and an overall wilderness feel.

Shawn banging 7gram rocks

Shawn joined us on the road and we all hit the parking lot simultaneously. There was a light mist and a few patches of snow remaining on the ground. While it didn't look ideal, it wasn't raining, wasn't freezing, and we were going to ride regardless. It was great to have Shawn alone, being semi-local, he knows the trails better than I do, which took a little pressure of me and meant we really didn't need to worry about maps.

Frank isn't Bi-Polar, he's Bi-Winning

He rolled us out Doc Smith, which is so good in this direction; and then up the gradual Fawn Kill trail to Shale Run, Grimm, Lukes, and then the super-fun Wolf Pond. By this time, the mist was clearing, the temperatures were rising and we were able to hand out at the hang-glider launch and eat the proscuitto sandwich I had brought along.

I've got one speed - GO!

As we crossed the road to begin Rocks Ridge, the sun was actually trying to peek out. Rocks Ridge was riding really well and we were able to session both lines at the little rock out-cropping.

We bombed the Matter Trail and then linked up to Rattling Creek Trail via Dry Run. Rattling Creek trail always pleases. This early in the season I was a little too tired to hammer it the way I like, but it is so well laid out and beautiful it is hard to appreciate how much time, effort, and skill went into designing it.

Todd's stripes are a reflection of his tiger blood.

The switchbacks at the end are textbook perfect and little stream crystal clear with trout fry swimming in the sandy patches between boulders.

We jumped on Hopback and rode it back to the lot. Now it was warm, a little windy, with the sun trying to break through the cloud cover. We were all a little spent and with my yet undisclosed timeline we opted to skip the loop (another three miles of trail) and head to Al's of Hamden for pizza and beer.

Larry's Map

Als is amazing. I had a tasty mini-stromboli, but it's really the beer selection that is so impressive. They had three hand pumps going, maybe forty other beers on draft, and then a hundred or so more available by the bottle or can.

Frank and David dropped my off at the Black Hog for my brother-in-laws birthday dinner, where I found the whole family outside waiting for a table - perfect timing, perfect day.

-Thanks for all the photos DKeg. You can link to more of his great photos here

Family Fun Day

2011-02-27T23:55:00.001-05:00

We hiked a trail on private land that at friend told me about last year and what a cool scene!

Henry stockpiling sticks for some fort-building

Michele in a room with a view

The beginning of the fort

Hiking back

Tons O' Riding

2011-02-24T22:16:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the winter-motherlode of riding.

Friday was Frederick's first friday from fifth ride featuring 10 raging road riders ready to ride in the high 60's with sun - it was fun. Followed by the first Elm Street porch party of the year.

Saturday friends, much smarter than I, pulled me away from a road ride in winds that were high down to Elizabeth Furnace in the GW for a mountain bike ride.

Sunday morning we had a birthday party in Gaithersburg with friends, a trail hike in the Shed with more friends, and then more fun with the boys at home.

Monday morning was a Shed ride in the snow. A classic technical test piece in challenging conditions. My friends from Michaux and Rothrock came down to join the fun. 10 miles of super tough riding yielded much fun, albeit little sun.

Tony on Double Stuff, F2 in the Shed

Winter climbing with the boys

2010-12-30T22:11:00.000-05:00

Thomas, Henry, and I took Jason, Mehta, Doug, and his daughter, McKenzie to a local crag for some good kid-climbing on a beautiful December day this week.

Snowy MTB ride on Iceberg

2010-12-21T18:29:00.001-05:00

Perfect conditions this past weekend on Iceberg.

MTB Weekend in Virginia

2010-12-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

A bunch of riding this past weekend on the ridges that ring the Fort Valley in Virginia near Elizabeth Furnace. We rented a stone cabin and rode singletrack from the front porch for two days.

We had great food, beer, wine, music, company, and played stump (game you play with a framing hammer).

Cagney & Lacey - Rothrock State Forest

2010-11-30T22:17:00.005-05:00

The Specialized is riding well.

Little Miss Mark is here

2010-10-27T20:46:00.000-04:00

6 lbs, 12 ozs & 19 1/2 inches long.

The boys are loving it.

2010 MoCo Epic

2010-10-18T23:09:00.001-04:00

Sponsored aid station 7 at the MoCo Epic yesterday. This was the last aid station on the longer (62 mile) route. Helped out by Mic from The Frederick Bicycle Coalition, David from the Singlespeed Outlaw Factory Team, Tom and his three children (Isabella, Ian, and Sadie?). Tons of fun.

We were well-provisioned with everything a rider could need.

The official sweepers were our last customers.

And then we were off to the Grand Ole Opry, I mean after-party at the Holiday Inn.

This is how the mtb'ers roll in MoCo, MD

New SS 29'er

2010-09-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

Warranty replacement compliments of Specialized it looks like they made several signifcicant improvements with tube shaping, flawless welds, shorter chainstays, EBB, longer TT, and more rear tire clearance (+1/4").

It's light too - me likey.

Anna Michener Cabin Weekend

2010-09-20T17:39:00.000-04:00

(l to r) Larry, Oliver, Thomas, Henry

Thomas, Henry, and I went to stay at a cabin in PA’s Michaux State Forest this past weekend. Really nice cabin with no electricity or running water about a mile from the nearest road (dirt).

(l tor) Henry, Frank, Tony, Me, Todd

The trip included five of my friends and their children. We rode in on bikes, pulling trailers full of supplies. Found the cabin well-provisioned and in great condition. Split a ton of red oak, filling all the wood boxes, the tinder box, and overflowed a couple of nice stacks out front.

Saturday, we hiked to Lewis Rocks so the kids could do some bouldering and returned early enough to cook a fantastic steak dinner complete with asparagus, broccoli, rice, bread and a Super-Tuscan.

The kids played non-stop: building forts, catching toads, burning sticks, making maps, sneaking up on us.

Sunday morning we awoke to another sunny day and a warm breakfast of french toast, pancakes, oranges, strawberries, and coffee.

After breaking camp we went to Long Pine Reservoir to wade in the stream, take a hike, relax, etc. Thomas, Henry, and I got a quick out and back mt bike ride in on Breast Trail.

More photos here courtesy of Todd:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbauer/sets/72157624996825116/

Civil War Century

2010-09-12T10:14:00.005-04:00

Rode the 2010 Civil War Century on 9/11 with Chris from Frederick, Mark and Joanne from Pittsburgh. Great route with a fair amount of climbing, nice roads, and perfect temps. We all agreed that the CWC participants (over 1600) on average had the nicest bikes and best handling skills we have ever seen on a century ride. The course, with all of its climbing, must serve as a selection tool.

We ran into a bunch of friends, regrouped at rest stops, had a blast pacelining, climbing, etc.
Afterwards, we all took naps and then had a snack at Acacia in downtown Frederick.

Black Hills with Kids & Friends

2010-08-30T22:29:00.000-04:00

Frederick and MoCo came together for a fun kid mtb ride at Black Hills Regional Park near Boyds, MD.

Schaeffer Farms

2010-08-22T10:46:00.000-04:00

We rode 6 miles of trail. Thomas has a mt bike and Henry a singlespeed with coaster brakes (he is retro). Thomas was able to ride everything. Henry had to walk a couple of hills. They had a great time and are looking forward to our next adventure which will be Black Hills.

The big hill climb.

The cool trail through the cornfields.

Fetch Boy!

2010-08-19T01:58:00.003-04:00

DC or Bust

2010-08-15T00:03:00.001-04:00

Some friends and I planned a impromptu trip to DC today. The plan was to meet at Tony's house on Capitol Hill, ride bikes to the mall, eat lunch, go to a museum, ride bikes, perhaps grab some dinner and head home.

We arrived at one of the countries finest coffee shops, peregrine, around 10am. Alex sampled my macchiatto, we visited Eastern Market, and went to Tony's. Tony had italian meats, cheese, fresh baked bread, and all the accessories to make some quality sandwiches for our picnic lunch. Todd called to say he was delayed.

The bike ride began at Tony's and we rode mostly bike lanes down to the mall. Thomas on his new mtb, Henry on his old Trek, and Lexi in the trailer. Janel was kind enough to drop Michele and Alex off at the museum.

Lunch at the memorial for fallen officers (law enforcement) was fantastic. We had great food, comfortable seats, and some smuggled Sangiovese.

The National Building Museum was featuring a LEGO exhibition and, thanks to Tony, we had reserved tickets (the exhibit is perpetually booked up and tickets can only be reserved in person).

Another call from Todd, he is really running behind but departing soon. We head in for our 2:00-3:00 Lego time allotment. The exhibit is cool, some big Lego skyscrapers, some DC-centric models, but the kids head straight for the bulding section. The idea is that you build something and put it into their streetscape. Another call from Todd, this time he is stranded on the GW Parkway with car trouble and not going to make it - when it rains............ offer to help, but he's going to nurse the car into a shop for some tires. His day is a bust.

The Lego building section is pretty well laid out. Tables overflowing with Legos of all shapes and sizes, stools for little tykes, big tykes, and parent-like tykes - everyone is comfortable.

I fumble around helping the boys get situated and then come upon the idea of building a model of our house in Frederick. Partially, because there is a large percentage of red Lego bricks available.

Thomas and Henry finish several builds in the first hour and a half, then come to help me for a 1/2 hour or so as I put the finishing touches on my model house.

Afterwards, we get Michele to the Metro (right across the street) so she can ride back to Eastern Market where we plan to meet her on our bikes. We tour a couple of parks, hop some steps, ride the mall, get some lemonade, and head back East toward the Capitol. I'm hopping curbs and slam the sh*t out of my back wheel on a double. The sound is horrible and the air lasts a couple of seconds then.......flat. There are a bunch of bike cabs in from of the Air and Space Museum, but no patches or 29'er tubes.

Adjust the plan. Now Henry, Thomas, and I are riding the Metro to Eastern Market with our bikes and they are psyched! We take the elevator down at some Federal station. The guy helps us buy tickets. Things have changed a bit since the late 80's when I lived there. Through the turnstiles and down another elevator to catch our train. We only go two stops, get off, and oops........ no elevator. A helpful person offers to carry Henry's bike up the escalator - which really..... helps. Curiously, these turnstiles are narrower and the bikes don't fit through. Again, a helpful person offers to hand all of our bikes over the barrier. Again, helpful. A quick elevator ride up and we are back at peregrine to find Michele, Janel, Tony, Lexi, and Alex waiting for us.

Adjust the plan. Let's get some dinner. We decide on Matchbox, a nearby stylish place with great pizzas, beer selection, and wine by the glass. Calamari, Miniburgers, pizza, a Shiraz, a chef's special BLT (made with pork bellies and fois gras), Bell's Double-hearted Ale, plenty to satisfy all of us.

We walk back to Tony's place, load the bikes into the car, say our farewells, plan tomorrow's ride, and head home.

Great Day. Don't worry Todd, we'll do it again.

Thomas Turns 8

2010-08-12T07:18:00.000-04:00

Thomas' 8th birthday went well. A pool party at Hood College followed by a pizza party with family back at the house. Michele had a friend visiting from Ohio so we had six house guests. If you've ever been to our house in Frederick you know that is an accomplishment.

The new mtb bike.

A horrible accident

uncle David

Road Riding Frenzy

2010-08-08T22:44:00.001-04:00

Having only two functioning bikes out of ten presents some limitations. Since those two bikes are a time trial rig and a road bike - I've been logging some pavement miles recently. A couple hundred a week for the past few weeks. With road riding, the miles come fast; if not easy; and in Frederick County the road riding is beautiful.

This morning was the 8am Sunday morning Wheelbase ride from Market St. in Frederick. I spent Saturday night building up a mtb for Thomas' 8th birthday (tomorrow), but laid out all my riding gear and prepped my bike so it would be ready. I roused at the crack of 7:50 and barely had time to slap some chamois creme on my ass as the front screen door caught the rim of my back wheel on the way out. Rode down Market St. the wrong way and met up with the group at third (halfway).

It was a big group. I sensed some regulars, saw some new faces, and chatted with Danielle as Tom turned towards the regular (and safest) exit route from Frederick, Motter/Oppussumtown Pike to TJ. We were riding right past Starbucks and the temptation proved too great. I checked the route with Tom and took a side trip to grab some espresso. The sensation of caffeine pulsing through my veins was well worth the effort required to chase back onto the back of the group afterwards. The catch was made on TJ drive near Hayward Rd.

We split up somewhere after crossing 15. There was talk of a group going up into the hills climbing for 50 or so and another group hitting some nice roads down in the valley. Fresh off all of the climbing in the Catoctin Challenge - ten of us headed for the hills. The pace was how do you say in English? wicked? diablo? In the approach to Catoctin Hollow we lost four of our damn strong ten. So six of us headed up Catoctin Hollow Rd towards Mink Farm, et al. For some reason, I always want to listen to AC-DC on this particular climb. Knowing we were doing more climbing and that I like to pull the flats, I rode tempo up the 6'ish mile hill climb with 1200 feet of elevation gain. We slid down Catoctin Hollow to 77 and then up Park Central Rd to Camp David - a STEEP CLIMB. Felt better on this one and spent some time in and out of the saddle to make pretty quick work of what I recall as a fierce climb. Excellent roads, beautiful scenery, little traffic, shade, what more could you ask for?

We rolled down the other side at ridiculous speeds and found that we had lost Kyle on the descent. Jay went back for him. Jay was gone for a long time. We all went back for him. No sight of either as we climbed all the way back up and descended back down the other side to 77.

Took some nice roads back to Frederick from Thurmont - sharing pulls with Jim, John, Kevin.

Really nice ride. If you check the details, you will notice that the ride was on 8/8 beginning at 8 and was 54.66 miles and my top speed was 54.9 - should I play the lotto?

Hard Work, Heavy Rain, and a New Critter

2010-08-06T09:20:00.000-04:00

Haven't seen too many of these up in the Shed.

Catoctin Challenge

2010-08-01T23:02:00.001-04:00

Saturday 100 mile ride for charity at the 2010 Catoctin Challenge with some Frederick neighbors.

(l to r: Saylor, Me, Tim, Randy)

We left Frederick Community College a little before 8am and hit some beautiful and new to me roads up to Gettysburg. A brief tour of the battlefields and we were at our 60 mile lunch stop at the Land of Little Horses.

The last 40 included some beastly climbs including Bingaman, Zoo, Iron Springs, and Gum Springs. I rolled into the barn with a fast group of Pittsburghers. We were welcomed by amenities rarely seen at group ride events: hot (or cold) showers, assorted beverages, massage, steak & caesar salad dinner, Greg Lemond, live music, comedy show, movie montage of the day's ride.

My family rolled in as I got out of the shower. We had some fun watching Kiss, playing with paper airplanes, and eating dinner. Everyone was having a great time.

Sunday 45ish miles with alot of climbing including the partial dirt Eylers Valley and the uber steep Eylers Valley Flint and Putnam Roads.

Great event. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the event. I raised $1895 for Catoctin Charities which went into the total of $106,000 for the event which will be split between Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County and 1in6.org..

Capitol Hill

2010-07-30T00:43:00.000-04:00

Capitol Hill is the transition from Iceberg to Iceberg F2

July 4th

2010-07-07T11:07:00.000-04:00

Took Thomas and Henry kayaking at Cunningham Falls. Thomas soloed across the lake to the snack bar while Henry and I took turns paddling in the second boat.

Father's Day Ride

2010-06-20T20:50:00.001-04:00

Thomas, Henry, Alex, and Michele treated me to a Father's Day bike ride at the C&O canal. We went from somebody's crossing to north of Point of Rocks - 12.36 mile ride at close to 6mph average speed.

Fun time and then off to Hood College pool to cool down afterwards.

Thomas and Henry's first off-road ride.

Jeff Schalk in Bike Mag

2010-06-15T09:42:00.004-04:00

Business Trip

2010-06-10T09:47:00.002-04:00

State Farm hosted a 2009 recognition event in Charlotte, NC that Thomas and I attended.

While I was looking at the venue online he asked if he could go. Since I was able to take a guest, I checked with the executives and they said it would be fine so I booked another ticket.

The flight from BWI to Charlotte would be his first. He was asking alot of questions about the noise at takeoff, but things were uneventful and the flight was a brief 55 minutes.

Landing was a tense time for him. Especially when the pilot turns the engine on full blast to slow the plane.

The Ballantyne Resort and Spa is a suped-up regular hotel. Nothing really special about the layout or architecture. It looks like a Hampton Inn & Suites on steroids with a really nice golf course. The staff was more attentive, the food better, and the bathrooms were a couple levels above featuring marble and two showers.

Upon arrival, Thomas and I checked-in to the room, did a "walkabout", and headed for the outdoor pool.

Wednesday night was a buffet-style dinner with the other agents and execs in the hotel. It was supposed to be poolside outdoors, but a tropical storm hit pretty hard at 5pm so it was moved into a ballroom. Thomas and I had an early night and retired to our room for some TV and talking.

Thursday was the meeting portion with a speaker and the awards presentation. When I was called up for the photo opportunity, the VP (Brad) asked Thomas if he would like to come up too. Hopefully, that picture turns out well.

After the meeting portion was over it was still a little misty outside so Thomas and I went to the fitness center and the indoor pools. They had the indoor lap pools that have the strong current flow so you can swim in place so we gave them a shot (goggles required). We ended up at the outdoor pool again after lunch and the sun came out.

Dinner was with my local Frederick agent group. Brad, our VP, joined us for a nice family-style italian meal. Brad has two daughters in Frederick and enjoyed talking to Thomas. We got desert at the Cheesecake Factory which, if you don't already know, features dinosaur-sized portions.

Friday morning we had another nice breakfast and packed up for the return flight. We did need to secure transportation to the airport. The hotel's town car option wasn't too appealing at $66. So we bummed a ride with Ken (another MD agent) and his wife.

The return flight had us back at BWI around 1pm. Michele and the boys picked us up and we went to Whole Foods in Annapolis for lunch and then played at her parent's house for a few hours.

My brother, Nabil, and sister, Daphne, picked me up around 4pm and we headed East to suprise my other sister, Sierra, with a beach weekend in OC.

The suprise was a success and she started to cry. We had a nice couple of days together in the sun and sea.

Sunday, Daph, Nabil, and I went to Lewes for lunch and then to Cape Henlopen for a swim to honor our dad.

Great week!

Planning

2010-05-18T22:32:00.002-04:00

Bicycle-Friendly

2010-05-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

Saturday Bike Rodeo - May 15th (noon-4pm)

2010-05-12T15:15:00.005-04:00

State Farm Agent, Darius Mark, is hosting the 2^nd Annual Bike Safety Rodeo at Parkway Elementary School on May 15^th from noon to 4pm. This is a FREE event focusing on bike and bike handling for children of all ages.

bike inspection
helmet inspection
bike safety quiz
sign reading
skill stations
challenges

There is a K9 demonstration at 2pm by the Frederick City Police. Representatives from local bike clubs and shops will be on hand to inspect and tune up bikes. Bring your children, their bikes, and their helmets for a fun time!

(we have plenty of extra helmets)

Parkway Elementary School
Located at 300 Carroll Parkway

Frederick, MD
Questions call: 301-418-6370

Cub Scout Outing

2010-05-10T21:15:00.000-04:00

We took Den 10 from Parkway ES in Frederick to visit SurreyBrooke Farms in Middletown today. It is a beautifully landscaped property with ponds, water and stone gardens.

Henry took a nose dive into one of the ponds. He "didn't panic" and got out with a little assistance.

Alex planted himself in hopes of growing hydroponically.

Fun time and great sunshine.

Graduation Time

2010-05-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

Henry's first year of school was this year. He went to the Onica Prall Child Development Laboratory at Hood College for Pre-K and really enjoyed it. Yesterday was his graduation which included a family picnic and ceremony.

Alexander will be attending in a little over a year.

Henry contemplates full day kindergarten next year.

Here's the next Parkway Panda.

Monday Night from Wheelbase in Frederick

2010-05-04T22:44:00.000-04:00

Frederick's Friday From Fifth @ Five

2010-04-25T22:18:00.000-04:00

We are stretching these rides out these days and should hit 50 by the end of May.

The track on the left was a 6 hour 34 mile mtb ride the one on the right a 2 hour 40 mile road ride.

Last Friday we hit 40 miles on a route that included the beautiful Legore Bridge and were back long before dark.

Lime Kiln with the boys

2010-04-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

We visited a local Frederick County park today, here is Alex crawling around in an old rusty stone sorter:

Tony's everything but the kitchen sink ride

2010-04-19T20:29:00.005-04:00

(l to r: Batbayar, Tony, Jimmy, Joey, Dylan)

A very strong group of six headed out from Hamburg Road parking area at 10 this past Sunday. Tony wanted to go big in Frederick and this was the result.

That is alot of miles (33+), alot of hours (6+), alot of singletrack.

We went South to the very edge of Gambrill State Park via Blue through the Valley of Death, Yellow with Stegasaurus, Black with the Steps, Red all the way down, and back on Yellow, Lawnmower, Blue, Rusted Bug, and Busted Knuckles. We enjoyed a brief halftime back at the cars as we refueled and refilled our water supplies. Then we turned North on Blue, Enchanted Forest, Blue, Delauter, Golf Ball, New Blue, Cutoff, Iceberg, F2, Viper, Salamander, Skink, Sand Flats, Golf Ball, Delauter, Blue, Freeride, and the long slog back up Buck Flats to Hamburg Rd. Where Tony had some homemade IS and Joey had a Banh mi w/ hot peppers waiting for each of us (a tasty Vietnamese sandwich).

Great time with a solid bunch of riders - only two flats, no mechanicals, and no injuries.

Camp David Metric Century w/ Climbing

2010-03-21T22:57:00.005-04:00

Time: 4:54:01 Distance: 64.67 mi Elevation Gain: 4,182 ft Calories: 8,185 C (alleged)

Knowing that The Rebel Yell wasn't in the cards with a 2pm ride start there were some hidden valleys and skinny roads North of Sabillasville near the PA border that I wanted to check out. The usual route out of Frederick was as good as ever and soon I was rolling along on in the sun on quiet roads. A couple of crosses over 15 and I found myself in Thurmont. The plan was to climb 77 and take Catoctin Hollow Road back from Cunningham Falls State Park to Frederick via Gambrill State Park. I needed to refill my bottles so I stopped by the Catoctin Ranger station. While tanking up, I couldn't help notice that Park Central Road was open to traffic. This is the super smooth paved road that skirts around Camp David, the one that I have wanted to explore it for a long time, but it has either been closed or covered in snow. This was opportunity knocking and I have a penchant for opening the door.

Well if someone had told me that it was over 1300 feet of climbing and rather steep at the top, perhaps I would have stuck with Plan A. The security setup is pretty cool. At this time of year, with no leaves out, you can make out the main perimeter fence which looks like the one from Jurassic Park. The actual entrance is right at the very peak of the climb. No stopping here though. While it appears to be a pretty non-descript nicely-paved driveway, the black poles with cameras, lights, and signs that say "no stopping or standing" keep you moving right along.

Just after beginning the descent, I was buzzed by 7 or 8 "rice rockets" who probably just did that climb in 1/10th the time I did. I shifted into the 53x11 and was able to keep in touch with the last rider by carving through the switchbacks at 42mph. That fun ended after a mile or so as we hit a patch of level ground and then a short climb. A right turn on Catoctin Mountain Road and several miles of curvy downhill deposited me into the sunny and remote valley that is home to both 550 and the little town of Sabillasville.

After a short climb North on 550, I made a right turn onto Browns Quarry Road and into uncharted territory. Browns Quarry also turned upward and led me higher into yet another, more remote, hidden valley where I turned right again onto Eylers Valley Road. This is the road that looked so good on Google Earth and it did not disappoint. A single-lane hardpack dirt road that follows a meandering stream through hemlocks, laurels, and Rhododedendrons. In this direction it was a magical descent. In the other, it would be one hellish climb (some other day). A couple more turns and I was back in Thurmont where I caught the guys on the race bikes at a local Sheetz.

It was here that I decided to head home up through the mountains rather than the valley so I retraced my previous tracks for a mile or so and then turned up Catoctin Hollow Road, a beautiful single lane paved road climb by a creek with little car traffic.

Roughly 1000 of vertical later, I reached this intersection that demarcates a brief respite from the pain cave, the vertical pain cave. It gets worse from here. Mink Farm and I are getting to know eachother and with each lap we learn more about one another.

Mink Farm Road turns into dirt after the steep climb and then hooks up with Tower Road and they all quickly turn into the familiar Gambrill Park Road.

The run down to Gambrill is peppered with little climbs. The first one comes after Sand Flats and is the worst of the lot. Your legs are still stinging from the previous climbing and it is the longest one. After that things loosen up a bit. Past Hamburg road there are three (or four) more, but only the last one packs any meat. Mostly just carrying your momentum through them as if they are just big rollers. I ran into Sheldon in the tower parking lot near Lawnmower. He had just finished an epic mt bike ride and was pretty spent. He spotted me some grape Gatorade that broke the monotony of the lemon lime Gatorade I have been drinking for 4 hours. From here it's a pretty easy roll back into Frederick, only the little climb up Shookstown Road and then the fast descent into town.

The 8185 calories my HRM says that I burned is even more than what I burned a couple weeks ago on a hilly 82 miler. Not sure how accurate that count is, but if it is true I burned the equivalent of 15 Big Macs. Sweet, I consumed only 6 water bottles, two packs of Clif Blocks, and a GU Packet or around 1100 calories. God knows the other ones have gotta be coming from somewhere.

Cunningham Falls Maple Sugar Festival et al

2010-03-21T21:58:00.008-04:00

Adaptability was the theme for this weekend as kid fun, cycling, socializing, work, and enjoying the sunshine were all vying for priority in a seemingly short 48 hour period.......

Friday evening began with Frederick's Friday From Fifth at Five aptly dubbed the "Cluster F" by Jason Judd. We had a nice jaunt up to Thurmont with a nice kicker on Powell Rd on the return trip. That was followed up by a date with Michele. We went to 2010 F3 Opener at Brewer's Alley to grab some tasty eats, meet with friends, and preview some of the films to be shown this coming weekend.

Saturday I had planned to do a 100 mile ride, The Rebel Yell, but woke up to find my wife sleeping on the bathroom floor because she had been sick all night. Couldn't really check out for 6 hours and leave her alone with the boys. So the boys and I went to Starbucks, cleaned the BMW, cleaned the fishtanks, washed bikes, went to my office and they cleaned the display windows with a squeegee while I got a couple of things done, we went back home and built a lego space station, and then had some really good Chinese food for dinner.

Sunday morning there was a road ride from my neighborhood at 8:30, but things hadn't improved much with Michele so I took the boys to the Cunningham Falls Maple Sugar Festival. We arrived a little early so we took a hike around the lake, played with sticks, and threw some rocks in the water (boy stuff).

The event kicked off at 10am with a hearty pancake and sausage breakfast complete with some MD maple syrup.

We checked out their maple-sugaring demonstration, did some crafts, watched a movie, and then headed home via some back roads I wanted to check to see if they were paved the whole way (they were). Thomas had a 1pm playdate and I really needed to get a ride in so we were on a bit of a schedule.

Back at the house, I changed and headed out on the bike knowing I wouldn't be doing The Rebel Yell, but would be able to check out some faint lines I had discovered on Google Earth (see above).

North to Apple Country

2010-03-07T20:10:00.006-05:00

I left Frederick a little after 10am this morning with this group of neighbors (l to r): Dave C., Tim S., Salyer M., and Randy K. I hopped on their ride so I would have some company for the first part of my ride. They took me as far as the Sheetz in Thurmont (17.50 miles) where I loaded up on Red Bull and got something to eat.

My route was a loop North up into Adams County, PA do a tough climb and head back. Through Emmitsburg, past Ski Liberty, up into apple county. There is a heinous climb called Cold Spring Road that I have done with the Gettysburg crew, but we usually turn on Mt. Carmel about 1/2 way up. Today I went straight up and over (another two climbs) into the Michaux State Forest.

Rode past the parking lot for the Terror of Teaberry race and then up to South Mountain, PA. Down Old Forge Road and up another (steep) climb to Blue Ridge Summit. From Blue Ridge I took 550 South until I could turn into Catoctin Mt. Park. I wanted to take Park Central Road, the one that loops near Camp David, but it hadn't been plowed. A couple of more climbs and I was back near the Frederick City Forest.

Had a short section of hard-packed dirt and as you can see there is still alot of snow up on top of the mountain:

Tower Road (above) dropped me onto Gambrill Park Road for the easy cruise back down to Gambrill State Park and then up and over Shookstown Road back into Frederick.

I thought it would be closer to 100 miles, but I did the whole loop as I had pictured it in my mind. It just took a lot longer than I anticipated due to the climbing - 6 1/2 hours of fun riding and I burned 7000 calories!

Frederick's Friday Night From Fifth

2010-03-05T23:50:00.001-05:00

The First Frederick Friday Fifty From Fifth @ Four was a success.

We took advantage of the shortened daylight to stay close and head up Hamburg Road.

This climb is always a good time.

As you can see the Parking at Hamburg Road isn't looking real good.

Neither is the Blue Trail.

We headed over to the Tea House and then back to town on Shookstown - very little traffic, periodic sun, and warm temps made for a nice Friday night ride.

See you next Friday at Four.

Sunday w/Sheldon

2010-02-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

MD to PA - 1st 50 Miler of 2010

2010-02-21T18:00:00.001-05:00

Very nice solo ride up to the PA border on a sunny February afternoon. This was my first 50 miler of 2010 and it felt really good to get out after being cooped up for what seems like an eternity.

The roads were in good shape, traffic light, and the wind was cooperative. Might make this a regular Sunday ride for awhile.

Snowstorm 2010

2010-02-06T11:19:00.000-05:00

Michele and I get out for a ride

2010-01-23T18:30:00.002-05:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

Fixed in Frederick

2010-01-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays

2009-12-30T21:50:00.000-05:00

Christmas at the Fisher's house was nice. Good times with family, good food, wii disc golf, and the boys were very happy.

Sunday, I snapped this while out for a run around the US Naval Academy.

Monday, we went to the Hirschhorn Museum of Modern Art in DC

Thomas and Alex nearly caused cardiac arrest at this glass and mirror piece

Really was a fun time

H is for Henry

We capped it off with a viewing of Night at the Museum II with Ben Stiller in the IMAX theatre at the Museum of Natural History (largest screen in the world).

Snowstorm 09

2009-12-19T19:14:00.001-05:00

Street Talk

2009-12-14T21:34:00.002-05:00

Old & New

2009-12-08T19:59:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-01T10:57:00.001-05:00

This Thanksgiving was especially nice. We went up to State College to spend the holiday with my family. A couple of rounds of disc golf, a family hike, a little shopping (Wegmans), great food, and playing football made for a nice break.

Stumpjumper Marathon 29'er SS

2009-11-25T00:40:00.003-05:00

Built this up tonight, just in time for a the Sixth Annual Thanksgiving morning ride at Tussey Mountain in Rothrock State Forest near State College, PA. Decidedly better built than the Gary Fishers, On-Ones, and the Salsas that recently preceded it (note the use of plural form) - we'll have to see how she rides.

The Specialized features some nice tube-shaping, detailing, and perfect welds.

One seatstay goes all the way from the drops to the seattube thereby completely eliminating a weld and therefore a heat stress point.

The chainstays are over an inch shorter than the Salsa frames and it came with a large diameter Thomson setback seatpost.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Scouting is Fun

2009-11-21T08:30:00.000-05:00

Thomas was recognized for selling the most popcorn in his Pack. The patch is cool but he really wanted the real bow and arrow set that he also earned.

The next morning our Pack picked up food for the local food bank in the Whittier neighborhood. We filled up a pick-up truck load and dropped it off at the food bank. While unloading our truck there were over a dozen other pick-up trucks rolling in from other scouts - pretty amazing.

The annual Scouting for Food one-day collection provides the vast majority of the food bank's food for the entire YEAR.

Selma RIP

2009-11-12T21:29:00.001-05:00

After some spectacular riding the Selma has succumbed to the Frederick Watershed.

She took a little of me with her.

Some fond memories remain.

We'll send it back to the boys at Salsa and see what they say. Unlike before, this one was largely pilot error.

New Frederick Science Center

2009-11-02T21:25:00.001-05:00

Tonight was the Grand Opening for the new Frederick elementary science center. There was a big turnout for the planetarium shows and a number of other cool things to see.

This 55 gallon oil drum offers a very lucid illustration of where the oil ends up going.

Thomas uses a microscope

There was even a display featuring cycling.

Giant Slide

2009-10-11T21:22:00.000-04:00

A friend told us about a giant slide owned by Mt. Tabor Church in Rocky Ridge, MD. This place is full of old-school fun - no rounded plastic, no ground up tires, no cyanide-laced wood - just metal, wood, and sawdust. Free.

Parkway Bike Safety Rodeo Oct. 10th

2009-10-09T09:18:00.003-04:00

More kids are riding their bikes to school this year than ever so we thought it would be a good idea to have a bike safety rodeo at Parkway Elementary School. This is a FREE event focusing on bike safety and bike handling sponsored by State Farm Agent, Darius Mark and the Bike Doctor of Frederick.

• bike inspection

• helmet inspection

• bike safety quiz

• sign reading

• skill stations

• challenges

Please stop by anytime tomorrow between noon and 4:00pm – bring your children, their bikes, and their helmets (we have plenty of loaner helmets). Questions call: 301-418-6370
Parkway Elementary School is located at: 300 Carroll Parkway Frederick, MD 21701

2009-09-02T21:37:00.004-04:00

Sunday while Thomas and I were are out hiking in the Shed we come upon a single track of hoof prints on Viper. We were hiking up the trail toward Gambrill Park Road and the tracks were in the opposite direction toward Blue. The prints were surprisingly small. I was interested by these and what they meant so Thomas and I payed attention to them - studied them. A lone rider, on a small horse, going one direction with no turnaround. There were the usual rocks turned and deep holes were the soil was soft. I kept hoping that we would see prints in the other direction, a sign that the rider had been thwarted by the rock sections below and wouldn't be back. No such luck.

After taking turns calling out dozens of prints, Thomas turns to me and says "I think that someone was riding a horse back here because there is no way that a guy kept dropping his horsehoe on the ground this many times."

I had to agree.

Shroom Hunting

2009-08-30T20:47:00.009-04:00

OC 09

2009-08-21T10:48:00.002-04:00

George Edwin Mark

2009-08-11T21:19:00.002-04:00

S-Turn in the rain.

6 in a Row?

2009-07-21T18:52:00.002-04:00

Saturday - Shed cross ride
Sunday - Rothrock single-speed

Monday - Frederick road ride

Tuesday - Schaeffer single-speed

Wednesday - Patapsco single-speed

Thursday - Shed ???

Today I got a complete lap of Schaeffer in after an SEC examination in Bethesda.

Tomorrow Patapsco.

Rothrock day trip

2009-07-19T21:06:00.003-04:00

Dkeg and I shot up to the Rothrock State Forest to hit some high quality singletrack today.

Knowing that I want more of my DC/MD friends to make this trip I was cautious not to underestimate the drive or overhype the trails. Exactly 2 1/2 hours later we were met at the Tussey trailhead by the scent of pines, unseasonably cool temps, dry trails, and a couple local friends who were spinning the fireroads (as only a local would ever do).

The plan was to ride the Shingletown section of Rothrock. This area features some rocky terrain, fresh trails, beautiful vistas, and singlespeed-friendly climbs.

After the ride, we went into Boalsburg to grab a quick bit at Duffy's Tavern before the return trip home.

2009 Mega Dog

2009-07-05T16:55:00.007-04:00

This 4th of July holiday weekend began with a blast. David Kegley, mastermind of both the Fugly Dog and the Double Dog, had planned something special this year - the Mega Dog. The Dog series has began a couple years ago and while each one is unique they all begin at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Gaithersburg, MD, all are mixed-surface rides, and all involve cyclo-cross bikes. As the name implies, the Mega Dog, was to push the envelope of what is fair and decent in a mixed surface ride.

A mixed surface ride means that we will be riding on pavement, gravel, double track, and singletrack. I decided to ride down to Gaithersburg from Frederick and left my house at 7:30am. Knowing that the ride was leaving DFH at 9:00am this gave me 1 1/2 hours to get to the ride. I decided to take a straight shot down 355 - no traffic, lots of rollers, and 28 miles later I rolled into Gaithersburg with time to spare. After a quick stop by the local Starbucks to refill my water bottles and grab some espresso I met the rest of the gang in the DFH parking lot at 8:58 am. Our crew was comprised of David Kegley, Jon "Baler", Jay Williams, Todd Bauer, and I. Shortly after 9 we quickly left the asphalt behind for the first of many trails. This one led us around Seneca Creek towards Schaeffer.

After burning a mostly-complete lap around Schaeffer we took some time to ride the big logs near the parking area where David snapped this nice picture of Jon on the log. We refilled our water at the MoCo Soccer complex and took some connectors/greenways up to another lake and on to Sugarloaf Mountain. At Sugarloaf we rode some technical singletrack, doubletrack, got caught in a brief thunderstorm, and again filled our water bottles. Here is Jay ripping it up near Sugarloaf.

I got the second of two punctures out on the Sugarloaf loop.

Here is our leader, David, tanking up again at Sugarloaf.

We hit Little Bennet, Hoyles Mill Connector, the Greenway, some more gravel, and a little pavement coming back into Seneca Creek. I would say that there was far more singletrack on this ride than any of us anticipated. The group ride ended up being 75 miles long and taking 9 hours and 45 minutes - adding the 28 and 1 1/2 coming down and it was a 103 mile 11 1/4 hour ride. My longest day in the saddle to date - pretty much a 12 hour solo.

Back at DFH we ran into Ernie, Joel, Tony and his wife, Jenel who were returning from a rafting/tubing excursion on the Potomac. We were pretty whipped but enjoyed the good food, friends, and refreshment.

Snakes Alive!

2009-06-24T23:58:00.002-04:00

I've seem more rattlers this year than in my whole life.

Especially here.

Father's Day ride

2009-06-22T22:19:00.006-04:00

Michele dropped me off at Southern High School in Anne Arundel County south of Annapolis at 8:15 am for a metric century 100k (62 miles) organized by the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club (PPTC). The plan was to do the ride and then ride the roughly 20 miles back up to Severna Park.
These roads are also on the Bay Country Century ride and feature miles of single-lane paved roads with little traffic.

Advertised as a "B" ride. I spent some time at the front to insure that I wasn't out riding all day. After the second rest stop I decided to go it alone and pulled the tattered cue sheet from my pocket to wrap up the last 20 miles of the club ride. Back at Southern HS on Route 2, I headed north to Annapolis pretty much a straight shot with a few rollers.

Downtown Annapolis was pretty busy. I rode down to "Ego Alley" to grab an espresso.

There was a persistent headwind for most of the day - especially crossing over the bridges.

This is the view out toward the Chesapeake Bay from the Naval Academy Bridge.

I spent a few miles on the Baltimore - Annapolis rail trail on the way back to my in-laws house.

Finally this private path takes me from the rail trail over to Old County Rd. where they live.

Here is the view after 81 miles - pulling into the driveway for some wiffle ball, frisbee, hot dogs, fireworks, and family time.

The best Father's Day so far.

Big Bear 2009

2009-06-15T21:07:00.011-04:00

Last week I got the call from David Kegley. "Hey, we lost a guy from our five man team yesterday. Do you want to do a 24-hour mt bike race this weekend?". Since I was driving home from a three day mt bike weekend in Northern PA when I got the call, I said "let me see what Michele has planned and I'll call you back."A Quick check with the wife reveals that she has planned a last minute beach trip to her father's condo in OCMD (a place I loathe) - I'm not expected to attend. OK, the boys will be at the beach playing with cousins. Guilt-free, I call David back to tell him I'm in. I had five days to train and it rained for four of them.
Our team: the "Nitro Burning Juggernauts" was skippered by Todd Bauer and included Dave George, Frank Comer, David Kegley, and myself. A group of Frederick Watershed regulars from Montgomery County, they were all veterans of 24 hour racing at Big Bear - I was the newbie.

My riding in PA the preceding weekend led me to believe that taking my rigid singlespeed 29'er was the way to go. In our class, the 5-person open, we would be able to ride any bike we pleased and could have riders of any ability level. Other categories place limits on the ability level (sport, expert, etc.), bike (singlespeed/rigid), gender make-up (co-ed, all men, all women), or number of riders (solo, duo, four person, five person).

The race is run on a 13 mile trail loop and the team or rider that completes the most laps in the 24 hour time period wins! The timing began at noon on Saturday and ended at noon on Sunday. The rain stopped on Thursday evening and while the trails were sloppy and wet Saturday morning, it never rained during the race. The course was a mixture of double track, singletrack, river beds, and a couple of short gravel road sections total climbing 1,630 feet per lap.A couple of sections made more permanent impressions: first the fast, smooth, pump track-like, section in the pine tree forest where the trail swooped in and out of tree trunks making sharp turns on dirt banks. Second, was the long technical downhill, a very-wet steep section littered with loose mud-covered rocks and roots that ended in a streambed. My arms and hands were pretty beat from holding the brake levers by the end of this section. Third, was the big rock garden that preceded the final climb. This section was around mile 9 and featured a normally rideable garden of stone that we had to walk during the race. With the singlespeed gearing I chose (34x20) this marked the beginning of two sections where I had to carry my bike. Topping out on this climb, you had about 2 miles of fast singletrack to go before you crossed the Fourth memorable feature, the bridge. ALL riders had to ride up a rather large ramp, cross a narrow bridge suspended 20 feet up in the air, and descend a ramp on the other side - all within eyesight of the finish line/staging area with lots of spectators. This is a Big Bear tradition.Our team had three single speeders (2 rigid, 1 w/shock), and two 1X9s. We set up camp next to many friends from PA, MD, VA, and DC, a sort of a biker shantytown. There was the MBM'er, Paul, wrenching; and YBR's, Zach, doing massage. Friday night was mellow. Things were still pretty damp, folks were arriving late, there was alot of apprehension about the trail conditions and that 'one more thunderstorm' that might make conditions unbearable. After a few libations around the fire, and despite a couple of round faced snorers, most of us got a good night's sleep.

The race order would be Todd, me, David, Dave, and Frank. The first rider has to do a short run in order to spread the field out a bit and Todd was the leader so....... After Todd turned in a great first lap time. I took the baton, scanned my RFID and hit the trail. My lap was largely uneventful. Having never seen the course before put me at a slight disadvantage since I had no idea what was coming or how far I had to go, but I put in what was to remain my best lap time: 1:29:41. That is an average of 8.67 miles per hour. The fastest lap by any rider, a pro, was run in 1:10.My night lap began in the dark a little after 9pm and I finished around 10:45, a 1:42 lap. This was the most enjoyable lap of the whole race for me. The trails were drying out and it was quiet out there. Many riders were struggling in the dark conditions, wet rocks, and slick muddy sections that remained, but I was able to pass a few and move our team up a couple places. In fact, our team did especially well in the darkness, and by the end of the night we had moved up 12 places in the overall standings. This can be attributed to the fact that the five of us ride together almost every Wednesday night during the winter at Gambrill State Park - usually in snow.

The day laps were a little faster all around and we ran through the rotation one more time to complete 3 laps each for total of 15. Amazingly we had ridden a collective 192 miles and climbed close to 5,000 feet each. This put us in solid 5th place in our category which included 13 teams and 23rd out of 150 teams. 5th place gets a mention at awards time and the emcee read our names outloud, but no podium presention and no swag. Most of our friends also did well with several teams placing on the podium in their respective categories. pics here here and here

It was fun to see the whole 24 hour racing scene. Interesting to see how individuals and teams meet or fail to meet the inevitable setbacks and challenges. Hopefully, someone will bail out next year and I'll get the nod again. results here

Look at these beauties!

2009-06-01T22:26:00.006-04:00

The Crocodile Hunter would be proud.

Two sets of three Timber Rattlers encountered on my Sunday ride.

They live about halfway through this rock garden.

2009-05-26T21:31:00.003-04:00

Alex likes espresso, especially before a big trip to DC.

Thomas at the Washington Monument.Henry looking up at the top.

We had another nice trip to DC. Some Greek food in Georgetown, parked near the White House, walked down to the Mall, visited the National Aquarium, the new Museum of American History, played frisbee on the Mall, raced to the Washington Monument, walked back to the car, drove to ThaiTanic on 14th for a great Thai dinner, then headed home. We didn't even leave Frederick til 1pm so it was a short trip, but the kids were tired.

Memorial Day:

Memorial Day picnic at a friend's farm near Thurmont, MD.

Henry launching balsa wood flier, he caught three fish in the pond (by himself).

Dinos in the grass.

After fishing, eating, frisbee, we found the gravel pile - what fun!

Douthat & Elizabeth Furnace

2009-05-18T11:53:00.002-04:00

Nice weekend of riding. photo: dkeg

Henry IV

2009-05-11T20:52:00.004-04:00

Birthday boy in the heat of the party.

The crowd building around the cake.

Lollipop cake with azul buttercream icing.
Helping hands abound.

Many friends and family came to help celebrate Henry's birthday this past Saturday. Seems like we accomplished quite a bit this past weekend: trail hike on Friday, Saturday morning appointments in my office, YMCA Healthy Kids Day event, making popcorn balls, rice crispy treats, icing, etc., party, sleepover, early Sunday morning mtb ride in the Shed, mother's day bike ride to the library, sushi dinner, movie, and finally - rest.

Capitol Hill

2009-05-08T23:38:00.002-04:00

Norshed

2009-05-05T18:57:00.002-04:00

F2

2009-04-18T11:12:00.001-04:00

Stone Harvesting

2009-04-08T19:40:00.002-04:00

The MORE workday in the Frederick Watershed was well attended. We made a big dent in the Blue re-route and I got to play with some big stone.

Press Time

2009-04-06T18:20:00.004-04:00

My business sponsored a booth at the Frederick WasteNOT Expo earlier this month. Henry made the front page of the Gazette and Thomas, Michele, and Alex got a photo in the Frederick News Post. Curiously, the photos were taken at different times, by different photographers, but both were with the weaver.

This fun event was well attended by many friends and neighbors.

Boys

2009-04-04T07:55:00.004-04:00

Tussey Memorial Ride

2009-03-02T21:10:00.007-05:00

This past Sunday in the Shed, a bunch of clowns and I (head clown pictured here in purple) gathered to honor the passing of my beautiful labrabor retriever,Tussey Rally Russ.We were met with cold temps and 1" of snow at the Sand Flats lot. There were ten of us in attendance and we proceeded to hit Blue, Cutoff, Iceberg, F2, ????, Pit Trail, Supersweet, Trail of Tears, Salamander, and some fire road back to the lot.

We rode, had some Ten-Fidy at Tussey's gravesite, rode a bunch more, had some brews in parking lot afterwards, ate at Brewers Alley (smoked porter),and went to the Mark home to top it all off with some Voodoo stouts, espresso, and family - a very nice day.

There are pics and video available on Flickr - if you know the right people.

Tussey

2009-02-23T13:03:00.004-05:00

Tussey passed away yesterday and is at rest up in the Shed - where she loved to work and play.

Lincoln 2 Lincoln - MetroDC Run

2009-02-11T19:46:00.006-05:00

I had a day of continuing education training in Bowie yesterday and wanted to hit DC on the way home so I called Go Kart Mozart to see if he was available.

"Got a bike?" he asked. "No, but I have my running shoes" I replied. A couple of emails later and it was set - a Metro DC run from his home on Capitol Hill.

His home is the beige colored one. Like all Go Kart rides this one had a minor blip. He left his keys at work, so we were locked out of his house. After going through the garage and trying unsuccessfully to break in, he remembered that the neighbor may have keys - she did, and we were in.

A quick change and we were in full running regalia - me slightly overdressed for the close to 60 degree temps. Tony's plan was to do hill repeats at Capitol hill. I said I wanted to go by the White House to meet Obama and, after some prodding, we settled on a full-fledged tour of the Mall. We crossed the Mall near the Smithsonian Institution and ran into Ricky, JoJo, and some friends about to embark on an urban night ride. Ricky had a fixed gear bike he just built up and we all took a turn. I remarked that it looked like a clown bike and apparently this was solidified once I had my turn.

Funny how timing works out. The diversion with Ricky, et al slowed us down enough that as we were climbing the hill up to the Washington Monument we saw the President's helicopter drift by and come to an awkward landing on the White House lawn. We had the best view in the city and one minute later or a couple earlier we would have misssed the whole thing. What a feeling that must be as you sweep in past the monuments in the middle of the city and park it in the lawn (oh yeah, in secured airspace with combat heli escorts).

We made it to the Lincoln Memorial (which was hopping with people). Urban running is a blast, we tried some mild parcour moves, jumping steps, sprinting for green lights, etc. I was hurting a little on the final climb back up Capitol Hill and then Tony took me on a diversion to see Eastern Market, his rental property, and a great espresso bar. We stretched out in Lincoln Park (his neighborhood park) and headed back to his house.

His wife was wrapping up dinner and they kindly invited me to stay. After a nice meal, one Bell's Expedition stout, watching Lexi run the indoor obstacle course, and a stop at said espresso bar - I mainlined it back to Frederick. Easy peasy. (click on map for details)

Lincoln Park to Lincoln Memorial - 8.08 Miles. Definitely a keeper. This route ranks up there with the Philadelphia Art Museum/Kelly Drive "Rocky Run", Hill repeats in San Fransisco, South Beach/Ocean Drive (in the winter), Trail running in Marin County, CA, and that time I amost died running in Palm Springs, CA.

The Great Beer Run

2009-01-31T11:00:00.007-05:00

Prologue: My friend Mike recently told me about a good source of micro-brews located in Altoona, PA - the Brew Zoo. Last month he put an order together of assorted ales and stouts which I took part in. There were many beers to choose from, but one that no-one opted for was the Voodoo Black Magick, an imperial stout aged for 6 months in bourbon casks:It went for $130 a case and, with all the others to choose from, this one was left stranded. Something told me if I threw it out to my MD/DC/PA/VA pals, we could split this thing up and everyone would be able to try it. I sent an email and exactly 24 minutes later it was sold out - with many folks left out in the cold. Matt at the Brew Zoo emailed me to say he had another case and in another 15 minutes, that one was sold too.

This post is about my trip out to pick them up. Knowing that there was really no good time to drive 7 hours to pick up some beer I left work Thursday at 4pm. Arriving in Altoona at 6:20, I met Matt and took this photo of their microbrew aisle.
After throwing three cases of fine stout into my backseat, I hit the road for Salix where Mike lives. There was quite a bit more snow in Cambria County and I arrived at Mike's a little before 7pm. So far, the timeline was perfect. Mike and Brenda had prepared some really tasty italian meatball, spinach, portobella pizza on whole wheat crust and we dusted off a bottle of McClaren Vale Shiraz to wash it down. Around 8:30 we headed down to the Windber Hotel, a recently renovated pub with a great draft beer selection and cool atmospherics. Mike and I have a couple draft pints of Victory Storm King stout and some good conversation with owner (who used to work in Huntingdon). The place is really comfortable. Sort of like Boxer's, but with a much larger bar. The owners built the bar out of recycled bowling lanes and restored the tin ceiling panels by hand. In addition to the draft beer selection they have a nice cooler of bottles to choose from.

Left the Windber around 10pm and made it home safe and sound a little after midnight. Here is my haul from the orginal buy that Mike put together. And here is a bottle of the Voodoo Black Magick at 15.5%ABV it's a sipper (and can be aged for years if you have the patience. Call or email me if you were in on the Voodoo order.

Mike told me that there are two more watering holes of renown in the Johnstown area, one downtown with great food and taps flowing with the likes of Ten-Fidy, Green Flash, Delerium, etc.; and the other a pub that specializes in Belgian ales on draft (6+ taps of Belgians).

With three quality mt biking options nearby and three pubs of interest, I am sensing a late spring weekend trip - anyone?

Playmobil Battle 2

2009-01-13T22:42:00.003-05:00

Ice, Ice, Baby

2009-01-11T18:21:00.003-05:00

Damn ice! Kept us from our mission today and we narrowly escaped intact:
Tussey proving that "all-paw drive" trumps all-wheel drive on sheets of ice. A little digging and shoveling gravel and we were on our way again.
We made the best of our abbreviated work day with some taste testing - here two quality IPAs. And here, two imperial stouts. Hopefully, next week will prove more productive.

18 Riders, 4 Hours, 11 Miles - Priceless

2009-01-03T22:45:00.005-05:00

Nice ride in the Shed today. (photo credit: Jason Stoner)

17 Friends from MD, PA, DC cruised in for a sun-splattered winter ride on Iceberg, Grebeci, and Sally Mander. We were not disappointed.
Grabbed some quality food and refreshment afterwards at Brewer's Alley in Frederick. See you next time.

Happy New Year from Frederick!

2009-01-01T11:48:00.000-05:00

Tussey likes fresh trail

2008-12-31T17:09:00.000-05:00

Holiday Ride

2008-12-28T16:37:00.007-05:00

Great time today with many friends.

DC Tony put a Sand Flats ride together today at 10 am. I Pulled in a little late, but was met with many friendly faces and a full lot. Bek, Skipper, Dave G., Lars Von Chambersburgen, Jules (not Verne), Ricky, better half, and MORE's Stoner. No Tony. We were joined a little later by the White-haired devil of Single Speed Outlaw fame. Todd, aka Skipper, helped me install the front disc pads Speedgoat had recently sent me - the ones that were sorely needed.

Feeling pressure from the ADD crowd and not willing to leave without Tony, I tinkered with my bike for a while to kill time, and then went for a short ride to relieve my GI tract. While crouched, I saw Tony speed past. Upon returning, I realised that we had lost Todd, Dave, and the girls, but the majority remained.

We hit Sally-mander, passed the Fridge, and reconnected with our inner Icebergs. Ran into some folks at the beginning of das Berg, and later Chris Eatough and compadre near Vulture Rock. Supersweet led us to Rock Candy (where we met up with Ernie, Liz and a bunch of dumbasses climbing up Rock Candy), we went up Trail of Tears to Sally-mander to finish.

I learned several things today: From Larry's sleeves, Swobo has got to cut them shorter; From the trail, WTB Weirwolf LT 2.55's fook'in rule; some pro riders still ride 26 inch wheels; From Ricky, red pants don't mean your gay; just because it's wet, doesn't mean you can't ride it.

Great times. I wish everytime I typed Ricky's name it would auto-link to his Flickr site and Larry's blog, and Single Speed Outlaw - can't one of my IT buddies take care of that?

Shed

2008-12-22T19:47:00.004-05:00

Sunday was a beautiful day in the Shed. Cub came up and we enjoyed a nice cool ride in the sun.

Saturday, I took Thomas and his friend, Ian, up for a hike. It was only 25 degrees out, but we managed close to a 3 mile hike with some rock scrambling thrown in for good measure.

On the summit.

Ian and Tussey making friends.