Marks -vs- Food

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perfect conditions this past weekend on Iceberg.

MTB Weekend in Virginia

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

The Specialized is riding well.

Little Miss Mark is here

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

The boys are loving it.

2010 MoCo Epic

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

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

(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

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

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

Schaeffer Farms

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!

DC or Bust

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

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

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?