mountainbikeRACER.com

September 1, 2001

TEAM OF THE MONTH

We are Team Eastern Mountainbike. We are a developmental racing team based out of New Jersey with racers located all over the country. Our objective is to give up and coming racers a chance to prove to the cycling community what talent, skills, and ability they have to offer to cycling. Eastern Mountainbike feels that the support at the grassroots level is an integral part of the overall race effort. The 2001 cycling season holds great promise for Team Eastern Mountainbike. Our racers have been making podium since the beginning of the season and continue to do so on a weekly basis.

Our racers are present at many races all over the country, including the NCS Series, Sea Otter Classic, North America World Cup Series, and the AMBC East and West Series. In addition to these national races, Team Eastern Mountainbike is represented in many state championships, the NORBA Classic Series, and several regional races located in our team member's territory. Our team is very diversified consisting of Cross-country, Downhill, Dual Slalom, Endurance, Road, and Cyclo-cross cyclists.

If anyone is interested in riding for our team please email your resume to: easternmtb@hotmail.com

During the last week before the race, all loose ends are tied down. The course is finalized (for real this time!), the prizes are sorted out by category, the payouts are calculated, and any required equipment and supplies are purchased, such as caution tape, stakes, hay bales, and water for the water stand. Radios are rented so the volunteer team can communicate with each other on the day of the event. The weather report is watched carefully and everyone crosses his or her fingers that rain is not in the forecast.

On the day before the event, the course markings are laid out. 400 stakes are driven in the ground, 100 arrows are set out, and five rolls of caution tape are used to ensure the course is well marked. Final plans are made as the lead volunteers lay their weary heads down to rest. The night before a major event like this does not bring much rest for the organizers.

On the day of the event, volunteers arrive on site at 6:00 AM to make sure the course markings are still in place and to complete the final set-up. Radios are handed out and the volunteers are provided with instruction. Since Iron Hill has limited parking, volunteers make sure the participants park without taking up too much room. As a course marshal, I was able to see some of the action on the course first hand, but missed out on the efforts of the registration volunteers, the parking volunteers, the starting volunteers, and the scoring volunteers. The day of the event is a long day that starts at 5:30 AM and does not end until after 5:00 PM.

CLICK PICTURE TO SUPPORT A TRAILCHICK AT MOAB!!

TEAM OF THE MONTH
	EASTERN MOUNTAINBIKE based in NJ with racers all over USA Felicia Raidl - Team Coordinator
	We are Team Eastern Mountainbike. We are a developmental racing team based out of New Jersey with racers located all over the country. Our objective is to give up and coming racers a chance to prove to the cycling community what talent, skills, and ability they have to offer to cycling. Eastern Mountainbike feels that the support at the grassroots level is an integral part of the overall race effort. The 2001 cycling season holds great promise for Team Eastern Mountainbike. Our racers have been making podium since the beginning of the season and continue to do so on a weekly basis. Our racers are present at many races all over the country, including the NCS Series, Sea Otter Classic, North America World Cup Series, and the AMBC East and West Series. In addition to these national races, Team Eastern Mountainbike is represented in many state championships, the NORBA Classic Series, and several regional races located in our team member's territory. Our team is very diversified consisting of Cross-country, Downhill, Dual Slalom, Endurance, Road, and Cyclo-cross cyclists. If anyone is interested in riding for our team please email your resume to: easternmtb@hotmail.com		SUBARU FALL CLASSIC VIRTUAL TOUR GUY'S BICYCLE Super Series #9 SEPT 9, 2001 RAIN DATE: September 16, 2001 START TIMES Beginner - 9:00 am 1st Timers - 9:00 am Sport - 11:00 am Expert - 1:00 pm Idlewood Enviornmental Center DIRECTIONS: From 95 North or South Exit 46B (old exit 29B) (Rte 1 South) Take Rte 1 south for a few miles and exit at OLD Lincoln Highway (Service Road) Make First Right....Follow signs for Neshaminy High School Go to Stop and School will be Right in front of You Parking Lot is at the Football Stadium From 76 North or South Take Route 1 north Go past PA Turnpike and Neshaminy Mall. Go up the hill and Exit onto the SERVICE ROAD Make first right (Langhorne SPEED SHOP) and follow road around and under Rte 1 At stop, School will be in front of you Course Description: An extremely technical 5 mile lap. Approximately 90% single track. Loose rock, roots, extremely technical downhill. 2 major climbs with 1 run-up. Extremely fast course. Registration opens at 7:30 AM and closes 15 minutes prior to each event If weather is severe check www.guysbicycles.com Promoter reserves the right to combine classes Race day registration only Will include kids race.
	ROSTER OF RIDERS (click for profile) Mandi Riddle - WV Jeff Kerkove - IO Andrew McEachern - NJ Wylie Robinson - CT Derek Bronson - WA Kendall Kuhar - CA Mike Loranty - WV Jim Marino - CA Adam Steelman - VA Michael Kirk - PA Todd Mills - GA Sean Rothe - NY Craig Allmendinger - CT Rich Dillen - NC Ryan Prendergast - NY William Garriott - OR Tony Watkins - NJ	SPONSORS: RockShox Azonic Ritchey Logic AXO Chris King Pedros Rudy Project Gaerne Louis Garneau If anyone is interested in riding for our team please email your resume to: easternmtb@hotmail.com
	CHRIS EATOUGH HAS AN INCREDIBLE WINNING WEEKEND WHICH INCLUDES WINNING THE SHENENDOAH 100!! CLICK HERE FOR HIS RACE REPORT! TALES FROM A RACE VOLUNTEER by James Ambagis Following every race in the mountainbikeRACER.com Mid Atlantic Super Series, mountainbikeRACER.com publishes a story about how the event was run, they describe certain parts of the course, and mentions the efforts of some of the racers in winning their events. This story has nothing to do with the racing action itself. It is a tale of how a race is run in this series. I have spoken to other volunteers and organizers about hosting a race in this series and we all agree on one point: It is not an easy task to run a successful event that pleases the majority of the riders. As a racer, one must prepare for an event by training to improve their conditioning and bike handling. One the actual day of a race, the prepared racer eats breakfast and drives to the race. Registration for the race takes only a few minutes and warming up may take an hour. Their preparation is long and tedious, but so is the preparation of the race organizers. First State Velo Sport has long sponsored the Iron Hill race. FSVS is a bicycle-racing club in Northern Delaware that has about sixty members and is growing every week. We have riders who participate in just about every cycling discipline. We have a core group of mountain biker racers and we are currently in fifth place in the team rankings for the mountainbikeRACER.com Mid Atlantic Super Series. Preparation for the Iron Hill race begins in early January. The park is used extensively by one of the Northern Delaware orienteering groups and we have to make sure our event does not conflict with one of their scheduled events. A few months later, the group held meetings to discuss the event. Coordinating things like insurance for the event, selecting prizes to be awarded, and the expert/pro payback schedule takes even more time. Since the park is a County Park, a permit must be purchased allowing us to use the park for a race. About two months prior to the event, we determined which trails in the park should be used for the race. Iron Hill offers many different trails from those used in the race and we try and make the course new and interesting every year. After determining the course to be used, we began to perform some trail maintenance. This includes weed and tree trimming, raking out some rocks, and cutting-out downed trees if they will pose a problem to the riders. Every event coordinator is concerned with having a course that can be negotiated by both beginner level racers and professional level racers alike. About four weeks away from the date of the event, we began to host weekly pre-rides of the course. The rides were open to anyone who showed up and we had riders from DE, Southern PA, and Southern NJ. Some of these pre-rides had over thirty riders out riding the course. A new section of single-track was added to the park this year and we chose to include this section in our race. The pre-rides that took place improved this new section of single-track since the rides packed down the trail and helped in removing the loose rocks and weeds from the trail. The course is finalized (but still subject to change) and contacts are made with event sponsors, such as Christiania Care and Barry Hooper's Body Work Unlimited. The food vendor is contacted and asked to serve food to the participants. The course is finalized and the prizes are purchased. Meetings are held with the volunteers to determine who will help with what on the day of the event.
		During the last week before the race, all loose ends are tied down. The course is finalized (for real this time!), the prizes are sorted out by category, the payouts are calculated, and any required equipment and supplies are purchased, such as caution tape, stakes, hay bales, and water for the water stand. Radios are rented so the volunteer team can communicate with each other on the day of the event. The weather report is watched carefully and everyone crosses his or her fingers that rain is not in the forecast. On the day before the event, the course markings are laid out. 400 stakes are driven in the ground, 100 arrows are set out, and five rolls of caution tape are used to ensure the course is well marked. Final plans are made as the lead volunteers lay their weary heads down to rest. The night before a major event like this does not bring much rest for the organizers. On the day of the event, volunteers arrive on site at 6:00 AM to make sure the course markings are still in place and to complete the final set-up. Radios are handed out and the volunteers are provided with instruction. Since Iron Hill has limited parking, volunteers make sure the participants park without taking up too much room. As a course marshal, I was able to see some of the action on the course first hand, but missed out on the efforts of the registration volunteers, the parking volunteers, the starting volunteers, and the scoring volunteers. The day of the event is a long day that starts at 5:30 AM and does not end until after 5:00 PM. *CLICK PICTURE TO SUPPORT A TRAILCHICK AT MOAB!!*
			Our event seems to have run smoothly. No injuries are reported, no complaints were made about riders getting lost on the course, and almost everyone seemed happy with the course layout. The results were posted ten minutes after the last competitor came across the finish line in each group, and prizes were awarded thirty minutes after the last competitor from each group finished. In addition to running a successful event, we had some of our team members competing in the event and they rewarded the team with several top-three finishes. The top riders for our team at Iron Hill were: Blake Bennett, Mark Robinson, Randy Hitchens, Adam Beattie, Lisa Vible, and Nicole Kowal. So the next time you are competing in an event and the results are slow to be posted or the course seems too difficult, please remember that a lot of work was put into this event and the event coordinators are not trying to make your life difficult. His or her goal has been to create a race experience that is a good experience for everyone. Before you make a complaint, ask yourself: "Did I have a good time at this event and did I learn something?" because that is what mountain bike racing should be about. It is not about the prizes or the results, but it is about pushing yourself to your limits and improving your performance. Rest assured that the organizers have worked hard to make their event a quality event and if you are upset about something, they are probably ten times as upset about it. And if you enjoyed the event, be sure to tell the organizers after the race. Most organizers have an email system in place and would enjoy hearing that you liked their event.