November

We dodged wet soggy bullet for what was forecasted to be >80% rain on Saturday and a muddfest on Sunday all turned out to be BONE DRY!  Although it was paid for with high winds gusting 20-30mph+. While the pirates and skallywags were bringing the heckling to Heather at Swashbucklers, she had a couple mishaps  like getting wrapped up in wind-blown Cannondale course tape of all things slid her down the field to finish in 9th.   Meanwhile Webb was down at Biketoberfest defending the MABRA SS jersey and stepped up to the podium with a strong 2nd place finish!!

The following Sunday, Webb took 5th down at the Lilly Ponds of Ed Sanders Memorial CX.  The rest of WWR Cross was at Stoudts - where the beer is - go figure! That JB MTB Racing team took no mercy on this year's course design, running it in reverse direction of previous years, forcing racers up goat hill 6x for the women's elite race and about 8x for the men.  Rob finished strong in the rolling Armageddon field of the 4/5 Men, finishing 24/69.  Alex and Jason raced the Killer B's (3/4 Men), where Alex had a top 10 finish and Jason was in the hunt until he ripped the cable out of the front derailleur and followed that up with a flat. Heather battled a sore back that morning, but still got rolling with expert passing up Goat Hill, and found herself finishing 6th place on the podium.

Fair Hill CX took place on Saturday with 254 racers.  The sun was out and the wind abated just enough to make for comfortable racing conditions…and great spectating! A lot of friends and family came out to watch as the racers put on a mighty good show with some spectacular falls on the off-camber turns that wound around the horse park.  WWR had great representation!  Ultra trail runner/soccer star Liz just showed up (rumor has it after running 17 miles on Wednesday) and took a solid 8th place finish while mommy Kimmie finished just a few spots behind at 11th amongst the 3/4 Women. Despite a spectacular wipe out, which was caught on camera, Jason recovered and finished 19th in the Killer B's.  We gotta hand it to Webb, who despite dislocating his shoulder last week racing, showed up to race Fair Hill, fell, dislocated it AGAIN, got up and finished the Killer B race.  Heather had one of her strongest races yet, getting a great start and hanging with the fast pack as long as she could, finishing 12th out of 21 in a particularly strong Elite Women field. 

Sunday Webb and Heather raced at Schooley Mill with a crowd of 478 racers.  Despite the shoulder, Webb showed up got a top 10 finish, which was enough to keep him in 2nd place in the SS Category of the BikeReg.com Super8 Series. Heather suffered a mechanical that cost loads of time that was to much to claw back from which ended her race just outside the top 10 in 11th. 

Kutztown MAC Race #10 took place Saturday November 15th with 222 racers.  Brisk temps, a little wind and sunny skies set the scene for Heather battling it out with the 1/2/3 Women to finish 8th out of 14.  The course zig-zagged across a relatively flat field with the addition of a newly made pump track.  If corning wasn't your strength, you may have had some trouble with this one.  

Rockburn Event #7 in the BikeReg.com Super 8 Series took place on Sundaywith 435 racers.  Grey skies made it feel colder but that didn't deter Webb and Heather from getting out and racing. It must have been Lucky Number 7 for WWR, with Webb placing 7th in the Single Speed Open and Heather placing 7th in the Women 1/2/3 field.   The course had some nice elevation gains, a log-over, barriers, single track through the woods, and several off-camber W's to negotiate - causing several racers to roll their tubulars right off the rims.  

With these races complete the 2014 BikeReg.com Super 8 Individual Standings wrap up next month at Capital Cross in DC.  Current standings have Webb 2nd in Single Speed Open and Heather 8th Pro 1/2/3 Women.

The the next weekend's races were South Germantown CX and the PACX Finale in West Chester. Webb continued to churn his single ring to propel him to a 2nd place finish at South Germantown CX. In the PACX race Heather put the hammer down to close out the month with 6th place. Both Heather and Webb have been posting up phenomenal results every week deep into the cyclocross season. Great work!!!!

Finally Wooden Wheels polished off the month of November with the strongest overall showing of the CX season at the MABRA Cyclocross Maryland, DC, and Delaware State Championships in Taneytown, MD. Heather took 5th place in her race to claim the DE state title! Kim nailed 3rd in Cat 4 and Webb kept the good WW race pace up with a 5th place finish in SS to keep a hold of the MBRA sportif SS Cat leaders jersey. 

OCTOBER

Onto Michaux Sate Forest for Iron Cross! In its twelve year it followed the new course that was unveiled last year. Including all the usual fun of the Wigwam and Powerline run-ups as well as the neverending Hogshed Road climb. As per the usual flavor of Iron Cross it finished with a grueling 11 mile climb to the line with the last two miles averaging near 14%, can you even believe that exists on the east coast!

Iron Cross 100K Finishers:
Will Neide in Single Speed finished in 11th after a leg pounding 4hrs 59 min
Jeff Burress caim across in 64th fighting through the longest 6hrs, 25 min anyone can put themselves through.

Iron Cross Lite Finishers:
Rob landed in 2nd after 2 hrs 4 min of race time.
Katrina, 3rd overall Women.

If you ever have the opportunity to race in New England, you must take it! Picture near ONE THOUSAND hardcore competitive cross racers raring to attack challenging courses in festival like atmosphere. Providence Cross is a huge event offering three days of vendor expos showcasing the latest and greatest bikes and gear, music, a mountain bike stunt show, and a wide array of food options. Simply put the cross scene up there is amazing.

Friday of that weekend kicked off the weekend with the Madison of Cyclocross - an hour long, two-person relay. Heather teamed up with Scotty Roberts to test their skills against other highly talented duos even a couple pros to keep everyone honest! We finished 36/64 - as a coed team in the open category. The course had THREE flyovers and a small table top ramp right in front of the beer garden to give the heckling audience a front row seat for the main event.

Saturday the moisture showed itself and things turned a bit cooler, damper, and cloudier. But the weather held all day up to the Women's pro race. As they called the women to staging, the rain began drizzling, and Heather was seated at the back of a the pack. After a sketchy start on the now-slick asphalt the women went down like bowling pins mid pack. Heather danced to around the crash and hung on putting in a massive effort only to get pulled with just one lap to go. Way to put down all you cards, Heather!

Sunday brought much more favorable riding conditions that revitalized Heather's energy stores. She was able to hang on to the Women's UCI Elite field and even take back a couple places on the final lap to finish up in 51st that included Delawar's own Katie Compton!!!

Meanwhile back in the Midatalantic:

At Psycho CrossWebb landed 2nd in Men's SS Open and Hyattsville Cross
Webb kept at the SS Men's Open for an 8th place finish.

As cross season rolled on into full swing at the Seneca Creek Cyclocross race in Gaithersburg, MD
Webb continued his assault on Mens SS Open with a First Place!!! 

The following day at another Maryland venue the Tacchino Cyclocross race in Rosaryville State Park Webb found a 4th place Men's SS Open while Heather stormed the Women's Cat 1/2/3 into an 8th place.  

West Chester Cross Classic was under way following that in the PACX series where Ed Williams  raced the 4/5 Men to a 39/93 place.


Also at the two day DCCX  (event #4 of the Super8 Series) Wooden Wheels go to cross racer, Andrew Webster took on the Single Speed Open field to find himself a podium worthy 5th on day 1 and a follow up 8th on day 2. Heather showed up as usual to battle the Women's Cat 1/2/3 crowd to a 9th on day 1 and 16th on day 2. Great racing down in the nation's capital. 

Finishing off October with cross racing at AACX in Maryland- Sunday Oct 26 Webb and Kim represented Wooden Wheels with another 1st Place in Men's SS open and a superb 5th place in Women's Cat 4. 

The same day at Crossasaurus Awesome Heather managed to work her way up into a 6th place finish.  

SEPTEMBER

The Wooden Wheels team hung up their fat knobby tires for some road slicks and a fast flat paved loop at the Pedal Away Prostate Cancer road race in Dover, DE. It’s not clear if the primary motivator for the large tunrout was opportunity to raise cancer awareness or free post-race beers. Either way a great race with some seriously fast speeds resulted in a couple podiums and a couple crashes. In the mens under 40 race Andrew Webser topped off the team results with a 2nd place followed by Rob DiSibio in 6th, Ricardo Gomez in 7th, Sebastian in 11th, Uriel Bohorquez in 12 after being tangled up in a crash that involved Chef Jeff Burress as well. Additionally Trevor made himself at home filling in from the Wooden Wheels Tri Team. Jenny Gomez nabbed a stellar 2nd place for the under 40 ladies division and Mags Crilley take home the whole kit and caboodle in 1st place for the over 40 ladies.

And now that the summer has wound down its time to break out that rigid off road beast known as the cyclocross bike and the 400 Acre DuPont Estate was ready! Kicking things off with Granogue Cross the girls showed up ready to roll nabbing a 9th place by Nancy DiSibio and Kim Webster 12th in the  at 3/4 field. Barriers, some punchy climbs, off-camber serpentines, and a little mud couldn't deter the Wooden Wheels Racing team. Heather started the CX season strong with a 10th place in the Cat 1/2/3 field to round out the womens results. The boys Ed and Rob raced into 19th and 26th respectively in Cat 4/5 while Andrew Webster found himself in 27th in Cat 1/2/3. 

And lots of thanks and kudos go out to our cheering & support squad: Collin, Eric, Matera, Pete, Dennis, Urion, Margo, Baby Kate, Baby Claire, Kimmie's Mom, & the always faithful parents.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled 'cross season report to also inform you of one more mountain bike race! Webb competed in the Wolf Bouncer MTB Derby in Annandale, VA, Sat Sep 20, 2014, and won the SS Open division! Wahoo Webb!

Charm City Cross was back for 2014 with two days of racing with some new and improved course features.....Both days, the course threw you right into the fire with a bottleneck hairpin right-hand turn shortly after the starting sprint. For the men's fields, with over 100 racers, it was like rolling Armageddon and they fought for position into the bottleneck. Day 1 then took you for another hair pin right up some man-made steps that seemed to get steeper each lap! Including 4 sand crossings that sucked the life right out of your legs and left you with sandbags for shoes. To throw in some fun, they added a fly over for show! Day 2 basically reversed the direction of much of the course, but the elevation was just a brutal in the 90 deg heat. Despite all the chicanery, the course was super dry and fast. Heather represented WWR in the UCI Elite Women's races, finishing 32/40 Day 1 & 34/40 Day 2. Way to go Heather!!!! 

Webb, Kimmie (& Claire) and Heather ventured down to Winchester to mix it up with the Super8 Series. AppleCross is a mtn biker friendly course - and in fact I saw several racers rocking Canndale Leftys! The course had a little bit of everything - fast dry speed sections, hair pin turns, several off-chambers, some woods and roots. Also included the "Belgian Wall!!!," which most had to run up. Top that all off to make the day complete with a post-race Apple Pie!.

Webb landed 13th for Men Open, Kimmie 20th in the Cat 3/4 women, and Heather 8th (winning some of that apple pie, nice!!) in the Cat 1/2/3 women.

AUGUST

The MASSeris came to a close at the Fair Hill Classic with ideal race day conditions the Wooden Wheels crew put the a superb final stamp on the XC race season in all categories. Brian McCoy landed a respectable 15th in Cat 3. Tom Harvey PJ Andersen finished 12th and 22nd in Cat 2 while Phil Aiken test the limits of his chain and found the limit in spectacular fashion. Andrew Webster bounded into a top ten result for Cat 1 men at 6th place. Uriel Bohorquez gave it his all on the leg burning endurance division for a 34th place finish. While the single track single speed duo of Will Niede and Edward Williams found themselves in 4th and 10th place at the end of the day. Finally the best result came from the womens Cat 1 race where Heather Heinrich stepped up her game to earn a step on the podium at 2nd place.

This wrapped up the final opportunity to earn points toward the MASS team XC competition where Wooden Wheels managed a top ten spot in 9th place amongst a number of strong teams with long rosters.

Here’s a summary of individual results for the MASSeries:

Division	Div Place	Total Field	Name	# MASS XC Races
CAT 3 MEN 30-39	5	14	Brian McCoy	7
CAT 3 MEN 30-39	8	14	Uriel Bohorquez	2
CAT 2 MEN 19-29	12	16	Jeff Meyer	2
CAT 2 MEN 30-39	10	36	Ricardo Gomez	6
CAT 2 MEN 40-49	23	39	Collin Hoon	4
CAT 2 MEN 40-49	24	39	PJ Andersen	4
CAT 2 MEN 50-59	40	41	Dave Jordan	1
CAT 2 SINGLESPEED	9	22	Ed Williams	5
CAT 2 WOMEN U40	10	16	Liz Jones	2
CAT 1 WOMEN 40+	8	13	Heather Heinrich	3
CAT 1 MEN 19-39	5	38	Andrew Webster	7
CAT 1 MEN 19-39	11	38	Alex Frigon	3
CAT 1 MEN 19-39	31	38	Jason Temple	1
CAT 1 MEN 40-49	38	40	Dennis Dischler	1
CAT 1 SINGLESPEED	7	14	Will Neide	2

Kudos to our newest WW racers this year - Brian, Uri, PJ, Ed. Great dedication guys!

JULY

MASS Summer Sizzler

Sun Jul 6, 2014, Wooden Wheels headed up the dirty Jerz for some dirty mtn bike action at the 2014 Summer Sizzler. Single speeders flew to podium finishes with Will taking 2nd in Cat 1 and Ed nailing 1st place in Cat 2. Andrew Webster took a well-deserved 11th place in Cat 1 and three solid finishes in the Cat 2 men’s field for Ricardo Gomez, Collin Hoon, and PJ Andersen for 11th, 17th and 23rd respectively.



Sufferin' Susquehanna Race

On a day when the temperature was frying racers in the saddle at Susquehanna State Park, two Wooden Wheels racers were cooking the demanding race course. With more than 1200 feet of climbing per lap Andrew Webster fought out a second place finish in the SS division Cat 1 single speed. While Jeff Meyer made his presence known claiming second place in Cat 2 men.

June

June kicked off a tough race month with the Bear Creek Challenge in Macungie, PA – one of the toughest races of the season.  For the second year in a row, Bear Creek will be the site of the USA Cycling National Championships.  So not only did this race count for the Mid-Atlantic Super Series, it was the PA state championships and a national qualifier.  Lots at stake!  Befitting its name, this course is a MAJOR challenge!  It is full of single track, multiple climbs up the mountain, fast downhills and tight, rocky switchbacks…full of hecklers!  Our racers who took on the challenge fought a great fight: Andrew Webster finished 12th in Cat 1 30-34; Ricardo Gomez 9th in Cat 2 30-34 and Brian McCoy 9th in Cat 3 30-39.  Way to go guys!

Ricardo bringing it home at Bear Creek

The following Saturday, it was a picture perfect day for a mountain bike race as nearly 300 racers set out to tackle Ramsey's Revenge, a new race this season, in Brandywine Creek State Park in Wilmington, DE. Wooden Wheels Racing made it clear this was our home course…we were exacting revenge!  It seemed as if our jerseys were on the blocks for every class. Kudos to race organizers as it was well organized and had a perfect mix of everything Brandywine is known – and feared – for.: roots, rock gardens, long climbs, wicked fast downhills, tight single track and some gravel grinds.  The ripping-fast downhill finish put a smile (or was that fear?) on every racer’s face.  The Cat 1 racers proved their mettle with Alex Frigon finishing 5th and Andrew Webster finishing 13th in the big 19-39 class.  Brendan Reilly brought home 6th in the always challenging single speed class.  Will Neide had a rough race and had to bow out of the single speed race with a mechanical.  Heather Heinrich took 1st in the Women’s Cat 1 40+ class!  In Cat 2, the team continued its podium showing with Ed Williams taking 1st in single speed open; Liz Jones taking 2nd in U40 and Collin Hoon taking 3rd in 40-49 and Jeff Meyer taking 3rd in 19-29.  Federico Pozzi battled to 10th and Uriel Bohorquez was right behind in 15th in the 30-39 class and PJ Andersen fought it out to 13th in 40-49. What a great day of finishes.  This may be the most podiums for the team in a single race.  Can’t wait till next year…WWR will exact revenge AGAIN!

Heather rollin through the rocks!

The next day was Tri-It™ Festival at Lums Pond State Park in Bear, Delaware.   The race sponsors, including Wooden Wheels Bike Shop, held the race to target first timers to sprint tri- and du-athalons.  The tri consisted of a 1/4 Mile Swim, 10 Mile Bike and a 2 Mile Run.  Kim Webster took part and came home with 5th out of 20!  Way to go Kim!

Saturday June 21st was the day for the eighth annual 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey Mountain Bike Relay Race at the Schaeffer Farms Trail System, in Germantown, Maryland.  The race challenges solo racers and teams of 2 or 3 to complete as many 10-mile laps as possible from 8am-8pm with the option for racers to race solo for 3 hours.  The course was full of roots and short elevation gains for the entire 10 mile lap. Although the venue was spared the overnight rains leading up to race day, there were periods of light showers throughout the race which made the roots extra slick.  And after about 2 hours into the race, there was a mandatory dismount & run/walk with your bike down a 500 yard rutted corn field because several racers had nasty crashes.  Heather Heinrich took the 3 hour solo option and brought home first place in the women’s class!  Way to go Heather!

Next up on the race calendar: Guys Neshaminy Classic, in Langhorne, PA.  Neshaminy always proves to be a challenge.  Mostly single-track its covered with roots, stacked logs, rocks and bridges.  Also, the Mexican Bowtie – a downhill tight switchback – always tests riders’ skills!  Ed Williams came through with ANOTHER podium taking 3rd in Cat 2 singlespeed; Alex Frigon took 5th in Cat 1 19-39; and Ricardo Gomez brought in 9th in Cat 2 30-39.  Chalk up another great race for WWR.

Collin & Ricardo preping (and posing)

Ed may be starting in the back but finished in THE front!

Thanks again to all our sponsors, we couldn't do it without you - Wooden Wheels, PowerBar, Dogfish Head, Cannondale & Tifosi!

May 2014

May kicked off with one of the team's local favorites: the Iron Hill Challenge in Newark, DE. Making it especially challenging this year was the mud, mud, mud! Not only did the race require skills - over the obstacles and mud - but it required a test of bike maintenance skills for at least two of our racers. Jeff Meyer decided to create his own race category when his derailleur broke half-way through the race and he converted his geared bike to a single speed to finish. Brian McCoy also had a test of mechanics when his chain broke fighting through the mud pits. Way to stick it out and finish guys! The team had a great showing and finishes to match. Heather Heinrich stood on the second podium spot in Cat 1 40+. Liz Jones and Ed Williams both took 5th in their categories, Cat 2 U40 and Cat 2 SS, respectively. Brian McCoy - despite the chain fiasco - finished 14th in Cat 3 30-39 while Andrew Webster fought to 15th in Cat 1 19-39, one of the largest class of the day. Ricardo Gomez finished a solid 15th in Cat 2 30-39. Jeff Meyer finished - with a 'new' single speed - 16th in Cat 2 19-39. Chris Denny, competing in Pro/Cat 1 Open finished 22 in a tough class. Jason Temple gets this race's tough-guy award competing in endurance and completing SEVEN laps in the mudfest to finish 10th!

Jason smiling through the pain of endurance!

Liz finish up lap two with a smile!

Next up for WWR in the MASS series: On the Rocks at French Creek at French Creek State Park, PA. The weather forecasters got it wrong and it turned out to be a perfect day for racing on the rocks at French Creek. Who wants to shake up their bodies on rocks and rocks on a sunny afternoon?!? Five WW racers, that's who! In Cat1 19-39 Alex Frigon took 7th place with Andrew Webster not far behind in 17th. Collin Hoon stepping it up to Cat 2 40-49 captured 13th while Uriel Bohorquez and Brian McCoy battled it out in Cat 3 30-39 and finished 5th and 10th, respectively. A great race and great finishes!

Alex showing how its done!

This year the Greenbriar Challenge in Hagerstown, MD brought extra flair up for grabs: a qualifier for MTNB nationals in Bear Creek and the Maryland state championships.  The heavily wooded course has it all – climbs, narrow single track, roots and lots of loose rocks.  Despite the beautiful weather, the previous rains provided for a very slick and muddy race.  Alex Frigon finished 2nd in Cat 1 25-29 – nice podium! Andrew Webster had a great race finishing 6th in Cat 1 30-34 and captured 3rd in the Maryland state championships!  Ed Williams finished 11th in the tough Single Speed Open class while Brian “the Real” McCoy finished a solid 13th in Cat 3.  Way to represent guys; and Brian, three weekends racing in a row – good stuff!!

Alex showing off his hardware!

Thanks again to our great sponsors: Wooden Wheels Bike Shop, Dogfish Head Brewery, PowerBar,
Cannondale, and Tifosi!

April

The first weekend of April brings the Tour of the Battenkill.  Called “Americas Toughest Race” it is the largest one-day Pro/Am cycling race in the U.S.  Racers compete over 65 miles of dirt and paved roads, speeding through covered bridges, family farms, and rural villages in Southern Washington County, New York.  Its April date makes Battenkill a tough early test of fitness…hope you’ve been training on those snow days!  And, with the rainy few days preceding the race, hopefully you’ve mastered wet, muddy roads. Undaunted, the WW team of Jeff Burress, Alex Frigon, Federico Pozzi and Jason Temple headed north to take on the Cat 5 field.  As always, Battenkill didn’t disappoint – it was a race of fitness, finesse and mettle. Jason was indeed ready, finishing on the TOP of the podium!!  Close behind were his teammates, Alex in 8th, Jeff in 22nd and Fed finishing 40th.

Jason on the top!

 That same weekend, several WW racers grabbed their mountain bikes and headed up to race in The International Intergalactic Global Open Mountain Bike Team Relay Championship of the Multi-Friggin-Verse in Marysville, PA.  Like Battenkill, this race is a great kick-off to the race season…if you prefer a more laid-back kick-off with costumed racers, hecklers, LaMans start and plenty of heckling and beer. Phil Aiken, PJ Anderson, Dennis Dischler and Colin Hoon teamed up as Weekend Pass and finished 31st which was great considering a wreck took Phil out of the race.  Heather Heinrich opted to go solo and completed 9 laps.  Way to go all!

The last Saturday of the month, Jeff Burress headed east to race in the Wernersville-South Heidelberg 100th Anniversary Road Race in Wernersville, PA.  Jeff’s Cat 5 race was 4 laps of a 4 mile circuit on the rolling hills of Berks County.  Jeff’s disciplined, rigorous training over the winter paid off…2nd place!  Awesome race Jeff!

Jeff with his 2nd place medal!

That next day, Bike Line hosted the Spring Fair Hill XC race in Fair Hill, MD.  This is one of the most popular races of the entire Mid-Atlantic Super Series.  The less-technical course brings out racers of all skill levels…its one crowded course!  Team WW didn’t disappoint, with thirteen racers and a tent full of fans, Dogfish and PowerBar.  And PJ Andersen served as an awesome grill master after racing his first race.  The highlights of the day were podiums by Uriel Bohorquez – 2nd in Cat 3 30-39 – and Heather Heinrich – 3rd in Cat 1 40+ and Matera Nefferdorf with her first cross-country race – 8th in Under 17.  WW racers competed in ten different fields with great results: Cat 3 30-39, Brian McCoy 16th; Cat 2 19-29 Jeff Meyer 11th; Cat 2 30-39 Ricardo Gomez 36th; Cat 2 40-49 Collin Hoon 35th and PJ Andersen 43rd; Cat 2 50-59 Dave Jordan 39th; Cat 2 U40 Liz Jones 6th; Cat 1 19-39 Jason Temple 12th and Andrew Webster 15th; and Cat 1 40-49 Dennis Dischler 31st.

Liz bringing in 6th

Uri on his way to 2nd in his first mtnb race!

Go Big Redz!

February / March 2014

With one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record, Wooden Wheels Racers kept warm on their trainers, in spin classes and occasionally bundled up on the road. With mountain and road racing seasons kicking off soon, there is no time to slack off now!

We are happy to have continued support from our outstanding sponsors: PowerBar, Dogfish Head Brewery, Cannondale, Specialized, and Bike360. Without these outstanding sponsors, we wouldn't be able to be the outstanding team we are! We are excited to add PowerBar's new product, Performance Energy Wafer, to our training and race nutrition repertoire. The wafer is formulated with PowerBar's C2MAX dual source energy blend: a 2:1 glucose to fructose blend found to deliver 20–50% more energy to muscles than glucose alone.

Jason Temple kicked off the race season for the team competing in the Ronde Van Mullica Road Race in Elwood, NJ, the first Sunday of April. The weather conditions for this race were so bad even 'cross racers would hesitate to compete! But despite a driving rain and puddled streets, Jason pulled in second place in the Men's Cat 5 race. Way to kick off the 2014 season!!

December 2013 / January 2014

December kicked off with the MABRA Cyclocross Championships in Taneytown, MD which include the Maryland, DC and Delaware State Championships. Freeze + Thaw = MUD! This was good 'ole peanut butter mud with deep sections that sucked the power right out of your legs.  Add to that the traditional challenging  Taneytown course and you've got a challenging Championship race!  The course was filled with slippery s-turns, up and down chicanery, power sections, and two very treacherous off-camber downhills. Spectators were lined up to watch the inevitable wreckage as one racer after another tried to negotiate down the off-camber hill, many crashing, slide-sliding, endo-ing, or sliding through the tape - this is fun, right?! Its totally hilarious...until it's your turn to race!  Andrew Webster and Heather Heinrich persevered through the challenge and took home the titles of  State Champions, respectively! Webb stood in the second podium spot in the Single Speed class and took home the Maryland and Pennsylvania State Champion title and Heather finished 6th and the Delaware title...and they still haven't taken off the crowns or stopped executing the royal wave!

Next up...the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships weekend held at various venues across Philadelphia.  The most unleashed, wild, anything-goes qualifier was held at Big Guy's Used Auto Parts behind Blinkey Cycleworks - warmly known as the Junkyard 'Cross.  This annual event is no holds barred...partying mandatory, costumes encouraged, tetanus shots recommended and rules optional. The course wove through stacks of flattened cars and aisles of hubcaps; over car hoods; through a van (rocked by hecklers harder than a toddler on a hobby horse) and ended through a front end loader. Many WW racers shiowed up to cheer on Heather Heinrich as she battled it out in the woman's field.  For Andrew Webster, Saturday was the Pizza Strength to determined who made the final on Sunday.  For Webb it was a 54 mile adventure up and down the hills of Philly on a single speed!  He qualified for the finals with 150 racers - pure insanity. Within 45 minutes, the course had two inches of snow - fun, right?  Webb is already counting the days until Kentucky 2014!

A racer's dilemma: over the hood or up/down ramps over the roof at the Blinkey race!

Webb sporting the fancy 'do for the finals!

The last race of December wrapped up the 2013 local 'cross season. It was the final MAC race: Limestone at the Kiln at Camp Olympic in Emmaus, PA...and what a sensational way to end it!  Emmaus got several inches of snow Saturday, leaving a beautiful white blanket of the white stuff on the course which quickly became churned up by cleats and spinning tires.  Straying out of the grooved, slushy, muddy path into the frozen tundra, was a mistake as your bike would slow immediately.  The course wove across the fields, over the river and through the woods..."heckle woods."  Apparently all the SSCXWC hecklers who didn't get enough last weekend, were out in full effect, cheering and tossing snow balls, high-fiving and providing a beer hand ups. The mantra of the day was to embrace the chaos and uncertainty both on and off the bike! Andrew Webster capped his competitive season with the TOP podium spot in Men's 2/3/4 - awesomeness!! Heather Heinrich finished a solid 12th in Elite Women 1/2/3. Way to close out 2013 race season!

Heather slip sliding away!

There is no better way to kick off a new year of biking than a fun relay with a great group of racers! Alex Frigon, Heather Heinrich, Andrew Webster and speedy team friend (on loan from Bike Line) Scott Roberts teamed up to tackle the Highpoint CX Relay in Forrest Hill, MD.  The course wound around the Highpoint farm fields, a little bit of woods, and all kinds of fun terrain variation. Half way through the course, riders rode through the largest letter G you've ever seen on their way to and through the barn...where the cows were replaced by a herd of hecklers and revelers. It was a cold, blustery day and after the first few laps, the course turned into Nutella. But it turns out, our team LOVES Nutella! They pulled out the win in Cat 1/2 4-person Open...and have the trophy to prove it! Way to kick off 2014...and we'll take that as a predictor of our results for the mountain bike racing season which is right around the corner in March!

Way to go - first place complete with trophy!