You love it. You ride it. But you've never had a chance like this before. How about cutting 1 mile of new legal singletrack in the Frederick Watershed? MORE and PATC have been working with the City of Frederick to get permission build a big chunk of new trail to replace an eroded road bed that passes it self off as a trail. We want to get at least 40 workers out on Sunday April 5th to put a major dent in this project. That's a lot of people but this is a major opportunity to show the City what we are capable of building. Building a mile of trail is tough work, doing at the Watershed is even tougher, that's why we need a big turnout to get things moving quickly.

If you want to work but can't make it on Sunday a smaller crew will be going out on Saturday April 4th to do some corridor clearing and get the site prepped for Sunday's army of volunteers. We welcome help on either or both days. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect each day and can plan accordingly.

Why is this such a big deal? Until now, authorized trail work in the Watershed has been confined to doing band-aid style fixes on the poorly laid out blue trail, fixes that should be large reroutes due to poor trail alignment. This is the first time the City has given the OK to build a major chunk of new trail. We have a cycling advocate on the City staff that is very much behind this project and has helped push this through, setting a good example with this pilot project will lead to more opportunities in the future. This project will take place between Sand Flats and Fishing Creek Road. You can see a map of the reroute here: [url]http://tinyurl.com/NewTrail[/url]

We are working on a food and beer supply for the workers. Stay tuned.

Also, if you work at a bike shop or some other business that would like to donate cash or swag to help us feed our workers or reward them for their hard work please contact me at [email]joewhitehair@yahoo.com[/email]. We will make sure everyone knows your business helped us with this project. Thanks!

*** Details ***
Contacts/Watershed liaisons:
David Kegley - [email]dkegley@gmail.com[/email]
Phil VanWerkhoven - [email]phil_vw@yahoo.com[/email]

What to bring:
Gloves, water, snacks, sturdy shoes. If you've got tools, we might need extras so we could use: shovels, picks, loppers, McCleods, rakes

Date and Time:
April 4th and 5th, 9:00 AM - arrive a bit early if you can so we can do our start our safety talk at 9am, then we'll be car pooling to the work site since there is limited parking where we will be working.

Location:
Sand Flats gravel parking lot. Gambrill Park Rd, approximately 3 miles north of Hamburg Rd. Directions from the I-70/270 junction can be found here: [url]http://tinyurl.com/sandflats[/url]

Question? Just ask! Thanks!

Destination Brewpub

Rolled up to Frederick with DKEG today. Cloudy at first with the threat of rain, then the sun popped out as we approached Sugarloaf. This has happened to David and me in the past. A questionable ride turns beautiful in the shadow of the mountain. We made good time and decided to grab lunch and a beer at the Brew Pub in Frederick. An outside table on this beautiful day seemed like a good call and patio filled up fast. Joe and julie met us for a beer and the weather changed quickly while we ate.



Dark clouds and gusty wind moved in and the temperature dropped like a rock in a matter of minutes. Our beautiful day was slipping away and we were only half done with the ride. Moving inside, we finished our beers and decided to get moving. The sun re-appeared, but, ominous clouds were ever present. Headed south we were trying to out ride a fast moving front and got caught near Urbana. A little later that same fast front passed us and the sun emerged again. This was going the be the pattern until the rides conclusion. Our only real concern was the lightning we saw off in the distance. A little rain never killed anyone, but lightning......that's another story. We had to deal with some rain, but, the lightning and thunder stayed well clear, thankfully.



For a day that started off questionably, I must say we had a great ride. Sure, I had a couple flats, we got caught in some rain, but, considering the weather yesterday, I think we came out ahead. Just under 65 miles, a couple IPA's, a plate of calamari and a chicken wrap. That's a pretty good day in my book. Thanks for the ride DKEG!

and the photos.

Riding bikes is fun

.....or at least I thought it was supposed to be. I went for a little road ride today, trying to beat the impending rain. While I was out, I passed 6 other bikers. The first one looked like a casual kind of rider, no flashy kit or bike, just out for a ride. As I passed, I said howdy and he tossed out a waive and a smile. The next 4 guys were the polar opposite. Team kits, weight weenie rides, hell, one guy was simply sporting a euro bike cap sans helmet. I tossed out the same greeting to each of these guys and nothing. No nod, waive or acknowledgment that I was even on the same stretch of road. The last guy (#6) cruising down the road on his "comfort bike", he knew what it's all about. He took the nano second required and returned my greeting.

2 thru 4.......WTF??

Sherman & Veach Gaps, EF

The EF ride was awesome, even with all the mishaps. Camp had a plan, ride up Sherman, down Veach, over to Mine and hit stuff on both sides of the valley. It was going to be a long, hard day. Weather gods smiled upon us and it was going to be a spectacular day. 28 at the beginning, high near 60 meant extra layers were going to be shed. The approach up Sherman was rocky goodness. The first section paralleled the stream with not much elevation gain. A fine technical warm up before the hard work began. As the grade increased, so did our effort and the Big Dog was owning the climbs. JoeP and I were grinding up some steep stuff and Camp suggested we pull it back and save ourselves. "Lots more climbing ahead" he mentioned and he wasn't kidding. The trail took a turn for the nasty and we were doing a lot of hike-a-bike. Way more than I cared for and I started to question the route. The final pitch was simply ridiculous and Darius resorted to portaging his bike. I opted to push, but, had to carry it over numerous "steps" were your footing was questionable.

Dkeg suffered the first two of 4 flats after we made the turn onto Veach Gap. Insanely tight tires made these flats troublesome (to say the least) and our ride organizer was getting frustrated after getting his third just moments after 1 and 2. Fresh eyes and hands took care of the potential issue as we cracked a couple cold ones to pass the time.Patched and re-fueled, we headed down the Veach Gap. Each new high speed turn down the rock strewn trail made that miserable climb a fading memory. Our hoots could be heard through the woods as our group snaked down the twisted trail. A section of high speed double track caused David to suffer his forth flat and Darius' first. I'm sure these mechanicals weighed heavily on David as we entered the last section of rocky terrain and the semi-dry stream bed.

Wet tires and off-chamber rocks are hard to negotiate when your mind is clear (just ask JoeP who went OTB on one section), when concerned with multiple flats, I know it's hard to go with the flow. I assume this is what happened to David as he stuffed his front wheel in this section and went down hard, on his face. I was trying to clip in when I saw it happen and knew there was a problem when he just laid there, bike twisted on top of his body. I pulled the bike off him and saw a lot of blood on the rocks below. A major face plant resulted in a split upper lip and a broken tooth. Joe ran back grabbed David's bike and we got him moving after locating a napkin to handle the blood. The one saving grace was that we were at the bottom, done with the rocks and had smooth double track until meeting the others at the road.

We still had 4 or 5 miles of road riding before the cars and proper first aid kits. The road through the valley is beautiful, but, narrow roads and impatient drivers can make it quite dangerous. Another casualty of the ride was my camera that got dropped while taking a picture of an old well pump. JoeP suffered an apparent pinch flat on the road (not sure how) and we were passed by a runner for the second time that day. Our humbling ride ended with Darius patching up DKEG's lip with Steri Strips and beer. We dropped off Darius and decided to hit the ER at Frederick Memorial. Several hours later David's lip was all stitched up and looking better.

After all the chaos, all the flats, all the hike-a-bike, the one memory that out shines them all was that descent down Veach. It was that good and I want to hit it again.......soon!

Man, I'm slacking. Really doesn't matter as no one reads blogs any more. Apparently Face Book (and twitter) is where all the cool kids hang out these days. I'm going to hang out under the bleachers, smoking cigs, a little longer before I make the plunge. I really like to wait until a technology is on the down-turn before I embrace it. By my calculations, should be the middle of next week.

Outlaw ride and party a couple weeks ago was fun. Ricky and I switched bikes for a little. That old Specialized he stole is nice. The chopped down bars were squirrely, but other than that is was a sweet ride...and fast. We got razed by a bunch of bikers ( the leather clad, Harley kind) when we stopped for mid-ride beers at Daniel's. By the time we left, there were small groups of us talking story with the throttle twisters. One guy even stopped traffic so we could safely cross the street. That was kinda cool. Then there was the old guy in a pickup who cut in front of us and threw his door open. RiderX was all in his face ( never seen that before). Back at Jay's the beer was flowing and the food was abundant. We even got some business done in the way of jersey fittings. Fire pit in the back yard topped off a good day.

Let's see, the weekday rides have been moved to Thursday and we had a good one last week. Shed to Gambrill through the Valley of Death. Tough for sure. Nice to do an after work ride when the sun is still shining. This past Wednesday we finished off the Gambrill Graveyard Shift rides for the year. Only 4 in attendance, DKEG, RiderX, Victor and me. Fast laps, minimal stopping left plenty of time for brews at the Pub. No table this time, hung bar side, feasted on the buffet and got $2 dollar beers......sweet!

First day of Spring was today and I hit a "not-so-quick" recon of Schaeffer. Cleared a bunch of crap off the trails, tried to use the new "unbeleiveable saw" on some big stuff that kicked it's ass (and mine). Great saw for soft woods, not so great for 8" hard woods. I lost my GPS at some point. Went to check the time and it wasn't there. Musta has some good kharma working cuz I found it on the back side of a tree I hopped. Could have been an expensive day. Trails are in great shape and only have a few trees to cut. Need to take care of that soon as people have already created ride-arounds......on the first day. Geez!



Elizabeth Furnace with a strong crew on Sunday. I'll try to take pics and post something about the ride. Should be a stellar day.

2009 SSOPBE

Ah the pain, reminds us we are still alive.

The Outlaw hosted his annual event in the woods of Frederick on Sunday. The weather people called for sunny skies and temps in the mid 40's. A brief storm rolled through G-Town the night before and, fortunately, didn't didn't deposit much rain. Packing the car the next morning, the warm sun and dry ground implied a mild day and I packed accordingly. The drive up exposed one simple truth, the mountain does not conform to suburban Germantown weather patterns. Snow had fallen during the night and it got deeper as we gained altitude. Not a lot mind you, but, enough to give concern as my winter boots were safely nestled away......at home. My summer shoes and thick wool socks would have to do as we played in Mother Natures bounty.

The lot was packed and roadside parking was the only thing left. Camps and a few of the PA boys parked behind us and laughed as I explained my footwear faux pas. "It's February...and your in the mountains" or words to that effect was his response. True, but, it was nice in my driveway. Anyway, the word was out and there were at lot of people in attendance. A couple pros from the Trek team were there as well as the usual bunch of fast guys. Throw in a nice layer of fresh snow, to make things interesting, and today was going to hurt.

I didn't know how the day was going to shake out, but, I did well on the first stage (3rd) and thought I'd push it while I had the energy. Stage two up the cut-through and down Lawnmower was fun and I finished well enough for some more points. The Big Dog contested my passing him over a log, but, all's fair at the Punk Bike if you ask me. Third stage was over the rocks and up to the entrance for Rusted Bug, I got some points on that one as well. Fourth stage was the obligatory "bike swap" stage and I was lucky enough to find one with SPD's and sorta in my size. I grabbed Sweetcheeks Linsky and with the exception of being a tad tall, it rode really well. Tommy (Tomi Cog) somehow grabbed a geared bike and was unsure what to do with the multi-geared beast. The short climb before the Rusted Bug revealed the reason so many of us ride one gear as it slipped when Tommy tried to mash down on the climb. Seizing the opportunity I jumped ahead and never looked back. Home field advantage has it perks as I pulled my only stage win of the day.

Two more stages before the beer break. First one started on Knuckle Buster and went down Blue to the pond. The road climb before the trail revealed that I was loosing steam. My asthma was acting up and it was hard to fill my lungs with enough oxygen. Light headed, I pushed as hard as I could and the descent on Blue was a welcome section. I got some points, just barely. Last stage before the break and I did everything wrong. Bad starting position, not prepared for the start and poor line choice deprived me of any points for the first time that day.

***Intermission***
RiderX and James did an amazing job with site selection this year. On top of the mountain in a secluded nook; that was the perfect place for a campfire and a keg. Peg Leg Imperial Stout was the beverage du jour provide from team sponsor Clipper City. Walsh and his lady hooked me up with some Girl Scout cookies while we waited to fill our cups. About the only thing missing was the beef jerky I left in the car. Mel's fire was a great way to warm your bones on this cold winter day. I have to wonder what was going through the gravity guys heads as they stumbled upon our little group on their way down the hill.

Dab/No Dab was the next stage after our descent off the summit. I dabbed, no points on this round. The next stage, DeLauther Rd., was a brutal climbing stage that started off with the racers going through the ford. I pushed up the hill, with soaking wet feet, and was able to pick off a few people along the way. Seconds before the finish, Tommy prematurely raises his hands for some stage points as I swooped in and snatched them from the Outlaw. Always the good sport, he laughs it off as I apologize for the maneuver.



The lungs are now burning and I'm very light-headed at the conclusion of each stage. Stephen and I line up near the front and he takes off like a shot from the start. I'm in pursuit, but, I wouldn't call it a hot one. Before a short climb, I bounce off a rock and two or three guys pass me on the short climb. Back on I chase, but, can't make up the gap. I get a couple points, however, I'm cooked. The final stage was a short one and I made no effort to line up near the front. Therefore, I had a lot of traffic to move through. After the stream crossing, I get some encouragement from Spearman and tap into some reserve I thought was spent. A couple hard kicks later, I moved up three spots and ended with some points. In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't lay down on that last stage. "Leave it all out on the course" is the saying and my dry, hacking, uncontrollable coughs are a testament I did just that.

A long slow grind up Blue got us back to the cars and the points tally. I ended up with a respectable 59 points and was happy to be done. Jeff and Anna were to be the overall leaders for the day and crowned the 2009 Single Speed Outlaw Punk Bike Enduro King and Queen. I heard Jeff had accumulated 140+ points on the day. Insane! I'd love to see a breakdown of all the points leaders. Hopefully RiderX will provide that information. Win or lose, it was an incredible day and one I really look forward to. Good times with a bunch of friends in the woods. Just doesn't get any better than this!

Additional Photos from DKEG & RiderX

More

More snow and ice for the Wednesday night ride @ Gambrill. I brewed up some studded tires over the weekend and had to give them a go. Traction was excellent and really helped on the descents, however, the studs were like talons and held on to exposed trail debris. Cutting first tracks through Styrofoam snow wasn't a picnic either. Still, the 5 brave souls pick our way through the woods and had a great time. The Big Dog and Sweetcheeks were riding strong and made some nasty climbs.

Close to the finish Frank suggested the black trail and I was the only taker. The others made a bee line to the cars as we negotiated an exposed line on the top of the mountain being pummeled with high winds and low temps. First time I ever rode that section and hope to put it into regular rotation. PLB's were minimal as the temperature (13 degrees) did not encourage socializing.



M.O.R.E winter party was this past Saturday and (as always) it was a great time. Party organizer Liz did a fantastic job with the arrangements, JoeP produced another entertaining film and the beer selection grew with DFH stepping up as a new sponsor. Add the keg donations from Shenandoah Brewing and Outlaw sponsor Clipper City Brewing into the mix and it's no wonder my head hurt so much in the morning. There was also a short video produce by a couple young guys, like 17 years old. From the opening shot you knew these guys were talented. Everything from camera work to post production was phenomenal. Hell, they made Wakefield look good and that's no easy feat. I hear they are shooting in Gambrill and the Shed now. I can't wait to see that one.

More hungover than I have been in a long time, Sunday was slated to be a big, hard ride on the gravel roads of Frederick. I picked up DKEG about 8 and seriously thought about bailing, I was so bad off. I knew the group would show no mercy and I was looking at a painful day in the saddle. Cross bikes were the weapon of choice as the recent temps were sure to melt off all the snow we enjoyed just 4 days prior. All this melt-off was going to produce some sloppy trails. On the car ride up I labored to eat a banana and drink some Gatorade. Upon arrival RiderX takes one look at me and laughs as he says I have Ricky to blame. "For what?" I inquire. For the sufferfest he has planned as payback. Payback for Ricky's last minute ride bailout the day before, I'm told. Yeah, this is gonna suck.

As we ride, the pounding in my head starts to subside and the warm sun felt good on my face. Ricky flats twice before we get to any real climbs and we take the opportunity to drop a layer before the hard work ahead. As the grade increases, so does the mud. The gravel roads covered with ice the day before are now wet, soft and slow. After the first pitch my hangover is a distant memory and there is now work to be done. Joe and I pull away from the others and push the hill as it pushes back. At the top Joe comments how we should have packed some beers. I actually agreed with him. Some 43 miles and 4600 feet of climbing later, we did enjoy a couple cold ones at the Outlaws house.