Race To ‘Lil Moes 2011 Photos/Responses

If you have any comments or photos from this weekend’s race, feel more than free to post them!

 

While I was out doing other important things, my favorite course in WV was being raced on. That’s right, Thad’s singletrack, AKA, Race to ‘lil Moes. Moe’s is a bar in Phillipi, WV, and I don’t know if the race ever ended there, but if you have not ridden this course, I should slap you right here and now.

Joey Riddle had this to say:

Tomorrow in Philippi there is a MTB race on what could quite possibly be the best course in WV. Thad Kelly and his merry band of trail elves have the Lil Moes course in tip top shape. Come out and join in or at least spectate and chear on all the racers.

The Lil Moes race race went fairly well for team JBS today. John Weber was third place in the Vet Exp class. Sara Chua was the 1st vet sport woman. Clara Hitchcock finished third in womens exp. JJ Ford finished 4th in mens sport. Mandi had an awesome race and finished second in womens exp. I benefited from the miss fortune of others and finished third overall and 2nd in mens exp.

Also thanks to Thad Kelley and all his trail helpers for a wonderful race coarse. My favorite coarse of the year.~Mandi

Mountaineer Extreme Productions has posted some photos:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=a.132158660199871.34213.110574619024942

Showoff~

Keith Hower

This is a great photo! Thanks! To bad I double flatted before the climb!

Gunnar Shogren

So who else is going to join us in the Double Philippi Tour de Moe’s? Thad Kelley always gives a little extra coin to the person that does the best in the Barbour de Tour and then Race to Lil’ Moe’s. Racing is fun, racing twice is more fun and having it close to home is da Best!

John Impy Imperial

Would have joined you guys for both, but I am in Florida with no elevation gain to speak of. My next double header races will be Rowlesburg/Watters smith. Good luck to you and Betsy Schauer Shogren in Philippi.

I really wish I could have been there. It’s always a great crowd, and lots of fun at the park where the race is held. If you did not attend like me this year, I hope to see you there next year!

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There Is Always An Exception

Schwinn Bikes, owned by Dorel Industries has been upping their game for the past two or three years concerning their department store bikes. I enjoy speaking about these bicycles because well… I am based in West Virginia and not every person who wants to ride a bike wants to own a fifteen pound (thousands of dollars) road bike, or the latest mountain bike shown on bikeradar. There has to be a middle ground between the trash sold at Wal-Mart, and the Independent Bike Dealer products. Dorel is finally learning that mountain bikes with fifty doohickey springs, and other trash is not going to last, and if they put out a quality product, people will notice. I’m not a fan of Dorel, but sometimes you have to acknowledge a good product.

The Schwinn Solitaire fits this description to a T. It comes in Male and Female versions and retails for $239.

Check out the specs:

• Frame: Aluminum
• Fork: SR Suntour Threadless
• Shimano 7spd Trigger Shifters
• Generic Brakes and Levers
• SR Suntour Crank
• FENDERS AND RACK
• Shimano Front/Rear Derailleur, and Freewheel Cassette.
• Somewhat-Generic 700 C Wheels

As you can see, the false flashy aspects are there for the disposable items, while the wheels are somewhat disappointing. I am so proud to see that they are 700c, to get away from sizing bicycles by wheel size, but the availability of tires and tubes at department/big-box stores are still somewhat scarce. The Fenders and Rear Rack are somewhat there for decoration, but I am sure they have a functional role too. Just don’t expect much out of them. The aluminum frame and SR Suntour fork is the most impressive part. Trek, Cannondale, and several other of the large bike companies probably had their frames and forks made in the same factories as these. No Lie. Trek’s 2008 Navigator 2.0 was very, very similarly specced in 2008 but started out at $300-400. While you are not getting a wonderful warranty and lifetime service on the bike when you buy it from a big box or department store, the $50-150 in savings may be worth the ignorance.

More than likely, you will have to do the walk of shame to a bike shop to get the wheels trued, and derailleur hangers/derailleurs correctly aligned/adjusted. They will give you a look that will burn into your inner consciousness and make you wonder why you got the Schwinn Solitaire instead of a LBS bike, but then you forgot that you’ll probably end up only riding it once or twice a week at max… and that is perfectly fine.

Now think about it… This bike is more expensive than say…. a NEXT MTN X-BIKE whatever with so much useless and outdated technology that isn’t worth the metal it was stamped out of. While a Tourney derailleur is not the best that Shimano makes, it is most definitely more reliable than some $0.85 stamped metal derailleur you can find on alibaba.com.

Once again, how can you go wrong (if you have your LBS build the bike, not Wal-Mart) with a bike this versatile and well priced when trying to start riding a bike? If you have to buy a bike from Wal-Mart, use your common sense and choose something with quality, not just wacky shapes and flash. If you see this bike at your local Wal-Mart, at least take a look at it and see that there is always an exception to the rules; Wal-Mart can and may sell some quality bikes in-store…

I give this bike One and a Half Thumbs Up.

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Local Bike Shop Interview: Fat Tire Cycle

Today’s post is an interview with a LBS in Buckhannon, WV: Fat Tire Cycle with owner Gene Wells.

Gene Wells is well… a swell guy (see what I did there?) He is active in many aspects of his community as a business person should, but you can also tell he cares about everything he does. He can also kick most of the people in town’s butt in speed and distance on a bike, yet he chooses not to. (sometimes!)

(I’ll let you know before this interview gets through that he is my main mechanic, I was sponsored by him during my tenure as President of the Cycling Club/Team at West Virginia Wesleyan College with the standard collegiate store discount. I have also purchased a pretty sweet rig from him, my ’09 Gary Fisher Cobia. All in all, we have a pretty good relationship by means of business and also friendship.)

With that out-of-the-way, let’s get to the Q&A!

1.) First of all, tell us about your history, how did you get into cycling?

Well, I got into cycling in 1972. I was doing a lot of cross-country racing, and touring in the area around Pleasantville, Pennsylvania. I remember getting my first road bike in that town in 1973.

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Interview with WVU’s Cycling Team President: Ryan Post

With this blog, one of my big goals is to grab and pick little sections of West Virginia’s cycling scenes and locations, and be able to convey them to others who may not live in this state, or may not get to travel to areas that posts are created.

This time, I have interviewed the Cycling Team President of West Virginia University. WVU has around 29,000 students and the main campus is located in Morgantown WV. if you’ve been in WV at all, or follow any sport – you know that WVU is a big deal.

I wasn’t able to make it up to motown this week to interview Ryan, but I was able to speak to him on the phone, and email him some questions. Lets get started!

Ryan started competitively cycling in 2005, starting with MTB. He is a USAC Official, and often promotes races, and still has time to race himself. I remember first meeting Ryan in Phillipi in 2008, during a criterium where he was logging times and data. I volunteered to use my car to block off an entrance/exit point in the crit loop.  He became President of the WVU Cycling Team/Club in 2007, and became President of the WVU Sports Club Federation in 2008. Funny enough, in 2005-6, he logged over 300 miles on a unicycle! Talk about dedication!

20Q With Ryan Post

1.       What was it like racing with the WVU Team in the 2009 season?

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