My Area 106

Iceman Recap

 
Well, hear is a picture of the prized trophy; The Ice Sculpture for the Champion (both Mens and Womens Pro Winners receive one). JHK pretty much carried this with him throughout the evening as we witnessed the slow melting of this great hunk of ice. Pretty cool, hey?

Maybe the 2009 Iceman event will be referred to as the "Nice-man 2009", since the race went off under blue skies and temperatures in the mid 50's for most of the day. Matter of fact, this race has had great weather the past few years, but along with great weather it also brought fast times. The race was lengthened a bit from the 26 miles to something like 29 miles, with the start being moved down near "Main Street" in the city of Kalkaska, Michigan.

Ryan O'Dell (Promoter/Director of the OMBC Series) sent approximately 32 riders to this years Iceman in which several came home with podium spots. Our OMBC group competes in a multi state points contest, and I believe the OMBC group may have finished with top honors (I'm not 100% certain, but I think this to be true). This is a long trip from Ohio, so I thinks its fantastic to see this many riders venturing north to participate in the season finale mountain bike race.

This years Iceman race that had over 4,000 participants as they celebrated the "20th" year of Iceman!!!

Even our own (Area 106) local Gary Fisher rider "Lindsey Prososki" took the top podium spot in her age class and also beating her time from last year (even with the added 3 miles). I couldn't believe all the hardware this young lady brought home! Well deserved, and her support crew (mom, dad and sister) all shared in the excitement during the awards ceremony. Lindsey has definitely gotten faster this season, and I noticed her talking with Heather Irmiger (Fisher/Subaru) several times, so I think we might see Lindsey sporting a Fisher 29er for the 2010 season.

The sighting of the "finish line" at left usually gets the riders adrenaline going and the feeling of "accomplishment".

My "congrats" to everyone that competed in this years event. I plan on publishing a complete photo album of additional pictures of Iceman soon... stay tuned.

Special thanks to all the volunteers & staff at Iceman for making this event so special.

Bob

Hospitality 101 @ OMBC S&S Trails

                

If you only can make "1" OMBC event a year, you should circle this event as the ONE. Why? Well, its a challenging course that has a lot of ups and downs. Quick short climbs and a couple longer involved ones. I usually over hear half the crowd exclaim how hard the course is while the other half "loves" it. But the best reason to make this event "the ONE" is due to the hosts; Chris and Colleen Skinner (pictured above).

The race is actually held on their property in Perry County (just south of Zanesville, Ohio) and all the trails where built by the Skinners and friends of the family. Not only do they provide a great course for this event, but their family also provides one of the biggest after race feasts you'll experience for your regular racing fee. Rest assured, no one goes home hungry. You can't believe the spread they have and all the friends and family that volunteer to help with this event.

Thanks to the Skinners and their entire support group, as always a fantastic time!!

Congrats to both Dave Walker (Men's Expert Overall Winner) and Bridgett Donovan (Women's Expert Winner) for their respective victories and to all the other category individual winners.

The "true grit it out with broken shit award" goes to "John" (sorry John, forgot your last name) as he went down early and severely bent his handlebar. Just smiles from John as each lap went past and I noticed at the end the bar had broken clean off. If I'm not mistaken, John still finished 2nd overall in the Sport division. One hell of an accomplishment. John is also one of the new faces in the OMBC series this year. Congrats John!!

I took quite a few photo's, so check out my photo album here OMBC S&S Trails 09 (or on the left side of my blog).

Bob

PS: Hey Dan, I'm still here (a bit slow, but still post-in...) 

 

Awesome Mohican 100

I was a "witness".

 

No, not to Lebron James, but a witness to this past weekends Mohican 100 and 100k record setting finishes. Pardon me for not knowing exact data, but I heard that the race field was up by over 120+ riders for this years event, putting the total somewhere near the 400 total racer mark. No doubt a much larger field than last years race, and I noticed quite a few more spectators taking in the event (especially at the mass start downtown).

Race was fast, as a lead group of 6 got away about 9 miles into the race and kept the fast pace all the way to the finish. Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) won the event in record time finishing in under 7 hours!! He's the proud owner of the Mohican 100 battle ax (see pictures here). Last years NUE Champion and winner of the Cohuta 100 "Jeff Schalk" (Trek) finished 3rd just a few moments behind followed by Fisher 29er Crew rider Michael Simonson (4th).

On the local front, 29er Crew and Area 106 rider "Travis Saeler" took top honors as he completed the 100k race in record setting time as well; congrats Travis!!

Ryan O'Dell (Race Promoter) changed the finish for this year, which had the finish line located just outside of the Loudonville city limits at the Mohican Adventure Center (just across the street from the go cart track on Route 3). Big thumbs up to Ryan on this change!!

Seen a lot of familar OMBC faces at the race this year, and tried to take a lot of pictures. Keep an eye on the 2009 Mohican 100 album on this homepage for additional pictures.

Bob

Destination: Loudonville, Ohio for the Mohican 100

 

Riders are beginning to make the trek to Loudonville, Ohio for Saturdays Mohican NUE event which will begin with a mass start promptly at 7am in downtown Loudonville. The population of Loudonville is heighten during this time of the year as it tends to be a weekend vacation getaway for many as the nearby Mohican River helps lure in campers, hikers, horseback riders and plenty of paddlers (river canoe rentals are huge here) from in state and out of state.

Test Ride: Factory Demo Tour coming this weekend

Mark your calendars! The Trek and Gary Fisher Factory Demo Tour is coming to "My Area 106". Those of you in the Cleveland, Ohio area will need to make sure to schedule a "comp" day from work and make sure tojoin Trek and    (CAMBA) at Reagans Park (Medina, Ohio) for the business riders special. We'll be set up from 10am till 4pm for each of the demo days.

Make sure to bring your valid drivers license to the demo. You must have a valid license and credit card to test ride. All test rides are free of charge!!

Remember, we follow the rules of IMBA (Leave no trace), so all demo's are weather permitting. We try our best to ride, but if there's a lot of rain we will cancel the demo.

We will have two trailers this spring. We not only have the Trek Factory Demo rig on hand but the Trek Women Demo Tour rig as well.

       

Dave O'Connell and Chris Garrison (Demo Tech Reps) along with yours truly will be on hand helping to set up some of the hottest bikes going for 2009. The models that will be on hand are: Madone, Top Fuel, Fuel EX, Remedy, HiFi 26" & 29", Roscoe and of course the Superfly. Women's WSD models include the Madone, 2.1, Fisher ARC, 7.5FX, Fuel EX 8, Top Fuel and the Fisher HiFi (26"). Plenty of sizes for all riders.

Here are the dates and locations for these May Demo's:

• Friday, May 15th    10am - 4pm           Reagan Park (Medina, Ohio) in cooperation with CAMBA

• Saturday, May 16th  10am - 4pm          Alum Creek North (Columbus, Ohio)

• Sunday, May 17th   10am - 4pm                North Park (Pittsburgh, PA)

Leave a comment for me if you have specific questions.

Hope we see you there!!

Bob

"Gettin' Schooled"

I went to school (Michael Sylvester's Fit School) along with about 20 retail sales associates from in and around the "106 area" over these past couple days.

Michael Sylvester is a top bicycle fit expert that hails from Portland, Oregon who has teamed up with Trek Bicycle and some of our top retailers in an ongoing education in understanding the human body, the bio-mechanics of such and the intertwining of the two to give a rider the best fit possible on the bike.

The Fit Seminar began Thursday morning sharply at 8:30am, with a quick overview of the program and a biography of Michael. Along with being a top expert in bicycle fit, Michael is also a certified Yoga instructor and employs various yoga movements in a manner to better understand the anatomy of the human body; each individuals amount of range (flexibility), and how all these interlock with one another to create the ultimate bicycle fit. I got to say, it was a big wake up call for me personally as I have a very limited amount of flexibility. I also could feel in certain movements just how much the bike accident I suffered over a year ago has effected my range of motion.

Michael was joined by Dr. Mark Timmerman, M.D. (Madison, Wisconsin) who has been working with Michael and Trek in the bicycle science of fit, comfort and technology. Dr. Timmerman has been very instrumental in the development of the "inform" science of fit and function with the new Bontrager Inform Saddles and recently released Bontrager Cycling Shoes. Dr. Timmerman spent over an hour speaking to us on the anatomy of the body and getting a better understanding of the many muscles, bones and joints and how these work in relation with the bike and our personal performance and comfort on the bike.

Jeremiah Bishop Wins 2008 Iceman!

All smiles (Jeremiah, Travis, Michelle and Steve)

Wow!! What a great Iceman event this past weekend. In one of the faster and more closely contested Iceman events saw Jeremiah Bishop winning the Pro Mens event by a few seconds over the 2007 mens champion Brian Matter (Wisconsin).

Congrats to Jeremiah; Mr. Iceman!!

All the riders from "area 106" (and OMBC) that participated in this 2008 Iceman did quite well and I'm extremely proud of them all as they represented and wore the colors of Trek and Gary Fisher Bicycles!!

• Steve Twining (Trek) 20th (Pro/Semi Pro Men)
• Ben Ortt (Fisher) 29th (Pro/Semi Pro Men)
• Travis Saeler (Fisher) 30th (Pro/Semi Pro Men)
• Dave Hall (Fisher) 40th (Pro/Semi Pro Men)
• Brad Wilhelm (Fisher) 56th (Pro/Semi Pro Men)
• Steve Burden (Trek) 5th (Expert Men 35-39)
• Amanda Sproat (Fisher) 7th (Pro/expert women)
• Michelle Johnson (Trek) 5th Single speed Women
• Cristina Frentiu (Fisher) 17th (Pro/Expert Women)
• April Levack (Fisher) 13th (Expert Women 35-44)

• Christopher Spring (Trek) 1st (Sport Men 15-18)
• Cato Coleman (Trek) 2nd (Sport Men 30-33)
• Lindsey Prososki (Fisher) 2nd (All women 12-18)

Lindsey Prososki and Sam Schultz (Fisher)                              JHK, Travis Brown, Michelle, Chris, Jeremiah and Sam

Special thanks to Mike Shrift (Trek Sales Rep for Area 105 - Michigan) and Steve Brown (Iceman Promoter) for taking care of my riders (in my absence) and all the fine Michigan hospitality . Also to Travis Ott (Fisher Brand Marketing Manager) for all his support and efforts in bringing our group together. Thanks guys!!

Check out the related photo's under my Iceman 2008 Photo Album.

Bob

OMBC comes to a close for 2008

Smiles today seemed to be contagious. It was a great fall day for racing. A brisk chill to the air greeted the racers this morning as they prep and warmed up before the race. It didn't take long though for the group to heat up as race promoter Ryan O'Dell officially started them on their way.

Gary Fisher/Ray's MTB rider Brad Wilhelm took top honors today's OMBC finale at the Mohican Wilderness by finishing 1st today, then was able to distance himself far enough from fellow teammate and 4th place finisher Ben Ortt to claim the 2008 overall OMBC title. Gary Fisher 29er Crew team rider Travis Saeler finished 2nd overall in the race today, and also was the series champion in the Vet Expert class.

In the ladies action, Fisher/Ray's rider Cristina Frentiu captured 1st place in the womens expert race.

For additional details on the race and series, check out the OMBC site here.

Additional photo's on the OMBC Race - Mohican Wilderness icon.

OMBC Race - Foxcreek

Check out some pictures from this past weekends OMBC race (Foxcreek) held at Clays Park Resort in Canal Fulton, Ohio (just north of Massillon).

See my photo album entitled "'08 OMBC - Foxcreek"

Bob

BCAR

 

BCAR - Breast Cancer Awareness Ride

Last Saturday (October 11th) marked a special day at Trek as Trek Bicycle Corporation teamed up with many Trek retailers to help raise money for the fight against Breast Cancer. This marked the 3rd year for this event and each year we see more riders and more money raised for research in finding a cure.

It was early Saturday morning (6:30am) as Pete and Scott helped load the bikes onto the Element as we headed for the 2 hour drive to Columbus as preregistered riders for the Trek Bicycle Store of Columbus (New Albany location) and to meet the other two in our riding party (Jeff and Dawn).

What a wonderful day for a bike ride. Riders had the choice of two routes, either a 10 mile or the one we chose; the 25 mile route as it led us through and around New Albany, Ohio and then out along some great country roads. All in all, it was told that about 180 riders turned out for the ride and to partake in the festival activities that followed.

The staff at the Trek Bicycle Store did a wonderful job of turning this ride into an fantastic fall event, as they added several live musical acts (a stage was set up outside), a silent auction of numerous donated products, sandwiches from City Barbecue and plenty of great hospitality and beverages.

Check out some of the pictures we took of the event on my photo album (BCAR Columbus).

Special thanks to all of the staff at the Trek Bicycle Store!! What an awesome job gang!!!

Mark your calendars for next October, as this is an annual event.

- Bob