Please join us May 31st – June 2, 2013 for the sixth annual Blue Knob spring campout!
Read o­n for more details. [Read more...]

Mark your calendars as we will be camping at Blue Knob State Park in Pennsylvania May 31st – June 2nd. Group Cabin Camp! No tents! Family friendly! Epic riding, beautiful vistas, free for members and non-members! More details and sign-up to follow closer to the event.

The monthly meeting that was originally scheduled for tonight has been moved to next week. We meet at the basement of the office building at this location:

Location:5755 Granger Road

Independence, Ohio

Please send me an email if you have any questions at president@camba.us.

6:30pm Tuesday July 10th. [Read more...]

I traveled to The Wilds this past weekend to participate in the inaugural Mayhem Enduro race. [Read more...]

Please join us June 1-3, 2012 for the fifth annual Blue Knob spring campout!
Read o­n for more details.
When: June 1st checking in after 4pm, thru June 3rd 2012 checking out before 3pm
Where: Group camp #1 at Blue Knob State Park, Pennsylvania. It’s a CABIN camp! No tents!
Cost: Free
Why: To ride the wonderful trails at Blue Knob State Park
Who: CAMBA, or anybody that rides mountain bikes, LHORBA, PORC, NMBA, any PA, NY, WV, MI riders that are interested in riding great trails. (Psst…You don’t have to be a member!)

Blue Knob SP trails are built and maintained by the IMBA affiliated club called the Laurel Highlands On and Off Road Bicycling Association, yeah just try to say that three times fast! (LHORBA for short). Anyway they are some of the best trails in the state. We will be staying at the group cabin camp that holds 100 people. So we are inviting everyone! Leave your tent at home!

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/blueknob/index.htm

Park Map: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/blueknob/index.htm?tab=Maps#Maps

Schedule:
-Saturday at 11 AM sharp we leave for the group ride. Distances will vary by ability.
-6-8 PM Dinner at the camp. BYO food and drink(unless you are in o­n the group meal
plan). Um, no alcohol.
-8PM-??? Hanging out by the fire
-10 AM Sunday another group ride!

What to bring:
-Gear. It’s normally pretty chilly at night, so pack accordingly. There are cabins that sleep 4, 6, or 8 people up to 100 persons. For these you will need bedding for each camper.
-Bring your own food and drink for dinner. The camp has a kitchen with
appliances, but does not have pots pans, plates, cups, utensils or linens. Cleaning supplies
must also be brought in for clean-up before departure.
-Warm riding clothes and rain gear. Weather may be chilly and/or wet.
-Lots of food and water for the trail.
-Always be prepared for epic rides: extra tubes, mini-pump, tools, etc.

Please email bill(at)camba.us as soon as you are committed to coming. Include the number of people coming with you, your name obviously, and the name of the people in your party. We want to keep track of attendees for the camp roster. (part of the rules for renting the facility) Slots will be filled o­n a first come first served basis so sign up soon! info about the meal deal here.

4/22/12 OMBC Race #2 – Mohican State Park

By Wayne Bowers.

CAMBA race teammates and swell guys Mike Kline, Rusty Brown and I meet around 10:15 and head down to Mohican Adventures in beautiful sunny Loudonville where the race starts and ends. Thank-you Mohican Adventures! We arrive around 11:20, register and get ready for the race that starts at high noon. The crowd looks very big for today’s race as the parking lot is overflowing. I get out of the car and I am assaulted by frigid wind. I had no idea that 50 degrees and wind feels like Antarctica in Loudonville. No 80+ and sunny like Mountwood WV weather today! To top it off, all I brought was my wrestling singlet, I mean team CAMBA bibs. Aaagh! Enough whining.

I lube up the chain, air up the tires, put on my winter running hat, cram my helmet over it and warm up. I ride up the connector hill which is tacky and smooth and, then hit the single track. I am immediately transported to another world. Ohio’s best trail surface surrounded by towering pines welcomes me. I love the woods, almost as much as the ocean. Now I remember why I do this.

I make it back to the start line just in time to watch the expert wave take off. 10 minutes and 4 waves later Mike and Rusty leave in the Sport Vet class. I then snag a starting line spot, wait 2 minutes and take off with the Sport “Masters”. I know this race is going to be 1/3rd longer than I am ready for, but I can’t help myself and rocket off the line. I see Jack Dalzell fly by next to me and I immediately tuck in behind him. Today’s race is going to be 26.5 miles long. I train for sport distance races up to 20 miles long. I need to be careful to avoid complete destruction.

Jack and I hit the single track 1-2 and get up the first climb, passing a few as we go. The first two miles are pretty much all uphill and I notice that my legs are objecting to this punishment. Jack is just chugging away like a Kenyan Marathoner and showing no signs of slowing. I glance at my garmin and I am disappointed to see that my heart rate is not registering so I don’t have my reference point. I still know I need to throttle down a little and I let Jack go. Dave Ruller sees this and wants to catch Jack so he and someone else go to get him. I then sit in 4th until about mile 2 where I then let Jeremy Larson go by so he will stop talking to me. He does that just to keep me out of breath I think. He on the other hand doesn’t need oxygen I guess.

Somewhere around mile 3 my heart rate monitor decides to start recording and I see that I have things under control. I follow Jeremy and someone else into the rock gardens, get slowed down by traffic a little and then have to jump off to get around a giant dude that got hung up on something. I lose Jeremy there but pass several others and I am feeling great.

Miles 4 –9 roll by and I am reminded once again why I love this sport so much. The scenery is just staggering even at 10-30 mph. Hardwood forests and steep ravines are everywhere. Around mile 9 we start descending and I am so glad I got that Kenda Karma in the mail yesterday. I rail turns, roll down the road and through the covered bridge in about an hour passing Jeremy just as he drops a gel pack on the ground and I tell him to go back and get it : > He doesn’t but I pass him momentarily anyway.

We take up the trail again and start climbing, and climbing, and climbing. As we climb Jeremy passes me and I’m not sure he’s even breathing. He’s just talking about how he did this very 2 of this 24 mile loop back to back on his single speed last weekend for fun. I on the other hand am breathing like a freight train and trying to suck down some fuel to get to the top of this thing. We finally get there and we roll in that order for pretty much the rest of the race. Somewhere between miles 12 and 16 Jeremy cut down a tree and threw the top of it across the trail to slow me down. Luckily I keep a machete in my jersey pocket and bush wacked through.

I am having the race of my life until mile 18 or so when I notice my left quad is not happy. Last week it was the right? Normally this would be the end of my race so it wouldn’t matter but I have 7.5 to go today. Anyway, I ride on since the fun part of the course has arrived and I want to enjoy it. Unfortunately, when I stand up, I get Frankenstein leg and have to sit down but it’s only one leg. I shush through the rolling pines and fuel up and the pain kinda goes away until mile 21. Mile 21 has a steep hill and I hit that hill with the momentum I can muster but spin on a rock when I try to pass someone so I get off to run. This feels surprisingly awesome and I run to the top like a gazelle, vault onto my bike and rocket off much to the amazement of the guy I pass who is riding the hill in slow motion. I of course assume the legs are back and prepare to assault the last 5-6 miles.

Only problem is, the legs burn up again, that guy I passed at mile 21 passes me and I am now spinning things I want to hit hard. I ride the last two roller coaster miles of the MSP trail and then up the last climb to the connector. I run this connector since Jeremy, Dave or Jack has obviously made it steeper to slow me down. I jump back on and ride down what was the first climb turn left onto the road and see an endless hill. It’s not really that long and not even that steep but at the end of a race it seems like it goes straight up and never ends. I can see two guys though and figure I can catch them. I can’t, and I don’t. Both legs now Frankenstein on me when I step on the gas. So, I give it what I have and roll through the finish line.

My official time is 2:35:05 for the 26.5 mile course which was good enough for 8th in my class of 18. Rusty Brown finished 9th in his class of 31 with a 2:34:05 and Mike Kline finished 26th in 3:05:05. It’s great to see Mike get all the way around MSP like this as he was injured all last year.

I can’t say enough about the sportsmanship of the riders involved in these races. When you catch someone without fail they yield and everyone asks down riders if they need help. I’ve even had a fellow rider give me both of his co2 cartridges when I flatted. This makes the whole experience so satisfying as the only excuse you have for your race – is you.

Thanks to CAMBA, Eddy’s Bike Shop, Kenda Tires, The Bistro on Main in Kent and Rudy Project Sunglasses!