White Christmas Adventure
4 years ago
Thursday, February 4, 2010
New site
YARRRRRRRRRRRR, everyone come on over and check out the new team blog spot. We have a new sponsor this year along with new team members. Come check it out at motownvelo.blogspot.com
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Bruceton CX
Well fans sorry for the hold up with the updates, but I am here at last. So a short while back it was the Bruceton CX race and the series blowout. A good field of riders where there to do thier damage. The weather was a bit nip, but overall LOVELY. Don Parks and JR did a great job. So, onto the report. The race started with a slight uphill into the course. Almost like always Johnny Martin got the hole shot. Followed by myself and Montana Miller. I took the lead about halfway into lap one with Montana on my tail. We tried our best to gap the other for a few hot laps trading places. Then I felt the burn of a smaller gear on the long downward sections. Young Montana got the best of me. Good job man. So, I got second and that was good enough for the overall WEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Keep Riding and wait for the news from Josh.
Friday, November 6, 2009
October Update
Welcome to the off season. For the last month or so the team has been living up the off season. I call it the off season cause most of us can't do the cross season. That's because the races are on Sat. and people work on Saturdays. Bummer for us, lucky for the other racers.
So, what's been going on during the last month..............Big J and I did the annual trip to Slatyfork in mid October. The first day was bitch'n............5 hours of ride'n the Fork. Doesn't get any better. The other two days the weather got a lil nasty and motivation dwindled and FYI don't take Turkey Point trail, not a fun trail. But one day ride'n Slatyfork is better than no days of Slatyfork.
Steve raced the Marrilla CX, SS race and brought home a win.........Good work man. Looks like he missed the sloppy stuff.
We're working on adding to the current team. As of now we are J. and S. Rowand, Tim W., Sean Z. and myself. We're considering changing the team name, so anyone have any ideas? We're not to creative so it's not so easy for us.
We are seeking sponsorship for the 2010 season, so anyone out there wanting to support some local, devoted and motivated cyclists let us know your interested. Keep in mind we do have the State Champ., WVMBA Series Champ., 4th WVMBA series, 8th WVMBA, 6th WVMBA (sport) series.
Other than that the Thursday Night'r continues every week along with long, slow Sunday rides. Come out and join us. Tis the season for long, slow rides.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Marilla CX
Yarrrrrrr, this past weekend was the Marilla CX race. Team Rowman had work duties to do. So I wrangled my way out for the early 9:30 single speed class. Hehehehe, looking at all the pictures and stories out there I am pretty happy I did. The course was prefect for the first race. Warm and dry for the most part with some light rain coming at the end. Had a pretty good field for the single speed. Don Powers, Marc Glass, John Martin, and Montana Miller just to name a few. I ended up winning the race, but Don and Montana wasn't far behind. Here are a few pictures for your looking pleasures. They are brought to you via Traci. Hope to see ya on the trails soon.
YARRRRRR!!!!
YARRRRRR!!!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Brought home the Title
Well that's it race fans.........the 2009 WVMBA season is in the books. It was a season full of excitement. Just like the typical WVMBA race it was full of lots of ups and downs. But all in all in was a real successful season for us here at Team Rowman+.
The series championship took place yesterday at Coopers Rock's on a beautiful, late summer, Sunday afternoon. There were lots of people in attendance and lots of fast guys showed up for the series finally. Jeremy was coming into the race with a four point lead over Steve H. on the overall spot. The wily ol Gunnar, who just happened to be the race directer and layed out the course, was within striking distance as well. So even though J would never admit it, I think there might have been some butterflies going into this one.
Myself, I wasn't feeling it at all. I think all the long work hours, home improvements and the long season finally caught up with me, cause I was dead dog tired. But I wanted to finish out and hopefully celebrate my teammates success. The start the the race was a long road pull up from the furnace parking lot. The pace was fairly hot but not enough to break up the elite field. I was able to hang on to the tail end though I was hurting purty good. At the top of the last roller before we hit the trail I saw Jeremy pull off and reach for the tool kit. I thought "Oh shit, not what we need". I tried to offer assistance but he was way to focused on the problem to respond. So, I continued on. Turns out it was a loose pedal that plagued him throughout the race.
I was off the road and hit the trail and made it to Scott's Run Trail a bit off the leaders but I figured I could make up some ground on the decent. Especially on the HiFi. However, dropping down the first decent I quickly caught up with some single speeders and didn't have the confidence or motivation to pass. So I settled in and tried to conserve some energy for the long pull out of Scott's Run. Before the turn up I heard someone coming up on me fast and I knew that it could only be one person crushing it that hard. It was big J. He was on the chase so I quickly pulled off so he could get by easily and the guys in front of me graciously gave way too.
For anyone who hasn't experienced the climb on Scott's run let me fill you in. It's like a consistent up hill rock garden with loose baby heads and a couple technical rock gardens thrown in for good measure. As I made the turn to head up I could see the leaders just ahead which lifted my spirits a bit. I could see Stephen was off to a good start and Jeremy was just ahead doing some hard work. The HiFi made short work of the climb, eating up the bumps making it feel like a just any other climb. But I could feel something wasn't right on the front end. The rough decent had knocked my headset loose and it felt real floppy. So I had to stop on the false flat to correct the problem. In the process I was passed by quite a few. That good feeling I had just minutes before was quickly fleeting. Got it tightened down and proceeded up the hill. My closest competitor this season, Don P. was just in front of me so I set my sights on him and tried to keep a sustainable pace.
The race continued on par through the Nature Loop, onto Roadside, Intermediate Loop (which was a surprise) to the reservoir and down Lebore. I was able to put a gap on Don and caught up with Montana M. and Benji. At this point I calculated that I was in about 8th or 9th place overall. Followed Montana down Ridge Trail, probably should have passed him but I figured he'd just catch me on the climb. To my surprise we took a left at the bottom onto Mt. Chateau which goes further down and has a super technical section on the climb back up. On the climb I could feel myself quickly starting to unravel. I hadn't kept up with my fuel intake and was starting to suffer. By the time I made it to the Rattlesnake climb I was in a world of hurt. BONK! I had to stop and suck down a goo and down some Cytomax which caused me to get passed again by quite a few. The rest of my race was just survival. I was quite pissed when I got to the bottom of Ridge Trail again and had to take another turn down Mt. Chateau. I finally finished in 2h 3min which was better than my time last year when the race was much shorter. Improvement! I was glad for it to be over and was hurt'n purty bad.
I was happy to hear the rest of the team faired well. Jeremy was able to overcome his petal woes and got a third place locking down the series title. Stephen had a good day on his new hottness and got a 5th place finish. Mr. T had a good time and got a top 10 result. Way to go team!
We hung around for the awards. Along with Jeremy collecting the title Steve came it a very respectable 4th overall for the season. Ol Chappy got 8th for the second season in a row. A bit disappointing, I was aiming a little higher but I had a good time anyway. We had some much needed celebration afterwards at Team RowMans favorite watering hole, the Fish Bowl. We consumed some tasty chicken wings and many bowls of beer. We were joined by another Champion, Robbie L. who brought the SS title to Morgantown. Nice work man, we like you even though you ride for the Cracker-dale team ;o)
There was a bit of disappointment for the day though. The boys got hosed at the series awards. There were no prizes awarded for the overall series other than a metal. Not even a bag of swag or a bottle of Hammer Gel. One would think there would be some kind of prize for sticking it out all season, paying all the entry fees, and busting your ass to make the races competitive. Not that we do it for the prizes but it would be nice to get just a little something in return. Something to keep us coming back and doing our best. I see all those sponsors logo's displayed on the web site, could they not toss in a couple of pieces of swag for the series winners? I think the WVMBA organization has some decisions to make over the off season. I think there is a lot of potential there and just in my short time in the series I've seen great strides in the right direction. Just going to throw it out there, J.R. would never let the series winners leave practically empty handed.
And while I'm at it, I have one more gripe to get off my chest. There's a solid cross schedule now to carry on after the XC season but why the hell are all the races on Saturdays. Not like there are other races on contend with on Sunday. Maybe some don't realize a lot of people that do these races don't work Monday-Friday. How many shop guys do you know that race and won't be able to attend do to work? I know of two of this team. Just saying a Sunday race may have a better attendance. You won't see any RowManians at the CX races cause we all work on Saturday's.
That's enough bitch'n..........for now. Let's focus on the positive. Great season, lots of fun, good time had by us at Team RowMan+. I think things can only get better next season. More experience, more training and more desire will carry us into seasons ahead. Expect some changes in the next season. Maybe some new acquisitions, new bikes and hopefully some more sponsorship.
What now? Relax, ride for the fun of it, get fat or in my case fatter. Oh, and the annual fall trip to Slatyfork on the duelies. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Maybe some more season wrap-up to come but that's all for now except for a big thank you to our sponsor, Cox Well Service for their support. They made those long trips down south possible.
See ya at the bars,
Josh
The series championship took place yesterday at Coopers Rock's on a beautiful, late summer, Sunday afternoon. There were lots of people in attendance and lots of fast guys showed up for the series finally. Jeremy was coming into the race with a four point lead over Steve H. on the overall spot. The wily ol Gunnar, who just happened to be the race directer and layed out the course, was within striking distance as well. So even though J would never admit it, I think there might have been some butterflies going into this one.
Myself, I wasn't feeling it at all. I think all the long work hours, home improvements and the long season finally caught up with me, cause I was dead dog tired. But I wanted to finish out and hopefully celebrate my teammates success. The start the the race was a long road pull up from the furnace parking lot. The pace was fairly hot but not enough to break up the elite field. I was able to hang on to the tail end though I was hurting purty good. At the top of the last roller before we hit the trail I saw Jeremy pull off and reach for the tool kit. I thought "Oh shit, not what we need". I tried to offer assistance but he was way to focused on the problem to respond. So, I continued on. Turns out it was a loose pedal that plagued him throughout the race.
I was off the road and hit the trail and made it to Scott's Run Trail a bit off the leaders but I figured I could make up some ground on the decent. Especially on the HiFi. However, dropping down the first decent I quickly caught up with some single speeders and didn't have the confidence or motivation to pass. So I settled in and tried to conserve some energy for the long pull out of Scott's Run. Before the turn up I heard someone coming up on me fast and I knew that it could only be one person crushing it that hard. It was big J. He was on the chase so I quickly pulled off so he could get by easily and the guys in front of me graciously gave way too.
For anyone who hasn't experienced the climb on Scott's run let me fill you in. It's like a consistent up hill rock garden with loose baby heads and a couple technical rock gardens thrown in for good measure. As I made the turn to head up I could see the leaders just ahead which lifted my spirits a bit. I could see Stephen was off to a good start and Jeremy was just ahead doing some hard work. The HiFi made short work of the climb, eating up the bumps making it feel like a just any other climb. But I could feel something wasn't right on the front end. The rough decent had knocked my headset loose and it felt real floppy. So I had to stop on the false flat to correct the problem. In the process I was passed by quite a few. That good feeling I had just minutes before was quickly fleeting. Got it tightened down and proceeded up the hill. My closest competitor this season, Don P. was just in front of me so I set my sights on him and tried to keep a sustainable pace.
The race continued on par through the Nature Loop, onto Roadside, Intermediate Loop (which was a surprise) to the reservoir and down Lebore. I was able to put a gap on Don and caught up with Montana M. and Benji. At this point I calculated that I was in about 8th or 9th place overall. Followed Montana down Ridge Trail, probably should have passed him but I figured he'd just catch me on the climb. To my surprise we took a left at the bottom onto Mt. Chateau which goes further down and has a super technical section on the climb back up. On the climb I could feel myself quickly starting to unravel. I hadn't kept up with my fuel intake and was starting to suffer. By the time I made it to the Rattlesnake climb I was in a world of hurt. BONK! I had to stop and suck down a goo and down some Cytomax which caused me to get passed again by quite a few. The rest of my race was just survival. I was quite pissed when I got to the bottom of Ridge Trail again and had to take another turn down Mt. Chateau. I finally finished in 2h 3min which was better than my time last year when the race was much shorter. Improvement! I was glad for it to be over and was hurt'n purty bad.
I was happy to hear the rest of the team faired well. Jeremy was able to overcome his petal woes and got a third place locking down the series title. Stephen had a good day on his new hottness and got a 5th place finish. Mr. T had a good time and got a top 10 result. Way to go team!
We hung around for the awards. Along with Jeremy collecting the title Steve came it a very respectable 4th overall for the season. Ol Chappy got 8th for the second season in a row. A bit disappointing, I was aiming a little higher but I had a good time anyway. We had some much needed celebration afterwards at Team RowMans favorite watering hole, the Fish Bowl. We consumed some tasty chicken wings and many bowls of beer. We were joined by another Champion, Robbie L. who brought the SS title to Morgantown. Nice work man, we like you even though you ride for the Cracker-dale team ;o)
There was a bit of disappointment for the day though. The boys got hosed at the series awards. There were no prizes awarded for the overall series other than a metal. Not even a bag of swag or a bottle of Hammer Gel. One would think there would be some kind of prize for sticking it out all season, paying all the entry fees, and busting your ass to make the races competitive. Not that we do it for the prizes but it would be nice to get just a little something in return. Something to keep us coming back and doing our best. I see all those sponsors logo's displayed on the web site, could they not toss in a couple of pieces of swag for the series winners? I think the WVMBA organization has some decisions to make over the off season. I think there is a lot of potential there and just in my short time in the series I've seen great strides in the right direction. Just going to throw it out there, J.R. would never let the series winners leave practically empty handed.
And while I'm at it, I have one more gripe to get off my chest. There's a solid cross schedule now to carry on after the XC season but why the hell are all the races on Saturdays. Not like there are other races on contend with on Sunday. Maybe some don't realize a lot of people that do these races don't work Monday-Friday. How many shop guys do you know that race and won't be able to attend do to work? I know of two of this team. Just saying a Sunday race may have a better attendance. You won't see any RowManians at the CX races cause we all work on Saturday's.
That's enough bitch'n..........for now. Let's focus on the positive. Great season, lots of fun, good time had by us at Team RowMan+. I think things can only get better next season. More experience, more training and more desire will carry us into seasons ahead. Expect some changes in the next season. Maybe some new acquisitions, new bikes and hopefully some more sponsorship.
What now? Relax, ride for the fun of it, get fat or in my case fatter. Oh, and the annual fall trip to Slatyfork on the duelies. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Maybe some more season wrap-up to come but that's all for now except for a big thank you to our sponsor, Cox Well Service for their support. They made those long trips down south possible.
See ya at the bars,
Josh
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
9.9SSL Top Fuel
Well, here it is. My new and inproved race bike. Since Trek did away with the 69er concept for 2010 I had to rub my chin and decide what I wanted to go with for next year. This is what I decided upon. The Trek 9.9SSL Top Fuel. She is real pretty.Got a handfull of rides on it and I must say it is the stiffest mountain bike I have ridden in awhile. When I say stiff it isn't a bad thing. The lateral direction is what I be talking about. With the BB90 clear up to the integrated headset. This thing doesn't flex.
The ABP pivot works amazing, keeping the travel nice and supple. With the Rock Shox Sid taming anything you can toss at it up front.
The total package as you see it in the pictures tips the scales at a bit over 23lbs. 23.3 to be exact. That is lighter then my hardtail 69er.
This weekend will be the big test. I will be racing it at Coopers come Sunday along with the rest of Team Rowman. Enjoy the pictures and hope to see ya at the race .
Yarrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
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