All Coming Together

The trails...the BASH...the riders...the registrations. Everything is falling into place for the 9th annual BASH! We've been collecting SWAG from our AWESOME sponsors... Bicycle Outfitters in Elizabethtown, Mountainside Ski and Sports in Mechanicsburg, Lyman Glass Sculptures, CLIF Bar, Boligs Gas and Propane (hot showers!), Shawn Withers, Spokes Bicycle is coming again with Mike Carter as the Spokes Team representative, Robin Reinhart -- trophy maker extraordinaire -- will be back with his incredible ironworks, and Keith and Rick's hard work in making phone calls to line everything up. Me? (Jill)...I'm just a slacker these days. Actually, I carry the chainsaw for Rick when we do the trailwork (ha!). No really, the trails are getting cleared and some of you are worried they are too tight...getting overgrown. We're going to try to cut back the taller stuff that slaps the face, but the underbrush -- the blueberries -- will start to die back by the BASH so we likely will not get the brush hog out for that. There's one spot that someone said is really, really overgrown that we may get at -- on Rugged Trail. Someone else mentioned poison on Hopback, so we'll search for that and banish it from the trails. Its gonna be another awesome year!

BASH - Band and Beer and Rock's Ridge

Keith did his duty -- he got the BEER WAGON reserved and found a replacement Band for Whisker Bisket whom everyone agrees wasn't quite as good without the lead singer we've grown to find quite entertaining. DEVIL'S REJECTS is the new band this year. Its a head-banging heavy metal band singing tunes of Seether, Slayer, Black Sabbath, etc. -- you know the type. Keith spent many a night looking for the best band to come to the Bash, and the Rejects got the gig. He's talking like there may be some musical entertainment prior to the band too.

Shawn and Skippy will return to run and judge the King and Queen of Rock's Ridge contest. They are talking of changing some things up this year, so watch for something different. They really wanted to move it to Wolf pond Trail, but we are saving that move for the 10th anniversary next year.

Summing up the BASH planning: we got the grub (Gonder's Grub House), the Beer Wagon, the Band, Camp Muckleratz, 2/3 of you confirming your return (NOTE: if you didn't get your registration in, you better do it soon or you may lose your spot when we sell out in the next couple weeks), four shitters, registration with DCNR is done, the insurance, a couple sponsors (confirmed is SPOKES, GRIZ, CLIFBAR, Mountainside) sweet singletrack, and some SWAG at registration. I think we're gonna have another awesome BASH! Can't wait.

Trail Work Update

Rick and I got out again today to do some trailwork. He had a tough time pulling me away from the blueberries, but we managed to completely finish up Fawn Kill. We cut logs out, trimmed back some face slappers, and re-did a ramp someone took some time to build, but it wasn't quite enough (they only ramped one side -- we're guessing to get some air, but we aren't sure). So we ramped both sides of the log. The plan is to get out again next weekend and cut the log on Rock's Ridge, and work on the face slappers on Schreffler, Dry Run, and Rattling Creek. We hope to also stop after work one night and cut back Hop Back which we're fairly certain is overgrown by now. I hate to admit, but I haven't ridden the trails in weeks. Only what we do on trail work days (for now that's only been Fawn Kill and Doc Smith) is about all I've been riding. So if you know of treefall that definitely needs attention, let us know! rebjsw@epix.net

Trailwork Update - Sunday July 27

Rick and Jill got out (finally!) to do a little trailwork. They cleared Doc Smith and started down Fawn Kill only to met with green wood, petrified wood, and a dull chain saw blade as a result. So the diagnoal log just before (or after depending on your riding direction) the biggest rock garden on Fawn Kill Trail, is still there. Next time. We have full intentions of getting out the next couple weeks on our way home from work. Sorry it took so long. Be sure to take the survey on the tightness of the singletrack. Some like it, others don't. So we thought we'd do a little survey to find out for sure.

Endurance Horse Ride/Competition in Weiser This Weekend

There's going to be a competitive horse ride on the Snowmobile trails and fire roads in Weiser State Forest this weekend. Much like the Rattling Creek Bash, Camp Muckleratz is "base" where equestrian folks will be camping and starting the competition from. It starts at 7:00 am on Sunday morning, July 27 and the horses will be off the trails by noonish or earlier -- more than likely around 10:00ish. They'll be using Deep Hollow, Wolf Pond Road, Matter, Boundary, Rim, Lukes Trail, Grim, White Oak, Minnich, Matter, and Ironmine. Rick rode the 12 mile loop for exact mileage for the competition. The horses will do two 2 loops and the organizers received the permits from DCNR (just like we do!). Its actually quite interesting -- here's how the horse competition works:

A competitive trail ride is not really a race - there is a minimum and a maximum time allowed for completing the ride. For 25 miles, the window is 4 hrs 20 mins to 4 hrs 50 mins. The winner is not the fastest but the horse that is in the best condition. each horse starts with 100 points, we have 2 judges, one of which is a vet. They check the horse before the ride and again afterwards. Points are deducted for changes in condition. In addition pulse & respiration are checked at the half way point and horses are not allowed to continue if they do not recover to the required parameters. P & R's are again checked at the end - 20 minutes after finishing the ride and points are deducted if they don't recover to normal. The horse with the highest remaining points is the winner.

The horses will not be on singletrack and given the time frames of the event, if you park in the East lot and start around 9:00ish or so, the horses will likely be out of the woods by the time you get to Rock's Ridge from the East Park Lot. But be careful if you start from the Minnich Hit picnic area 9:00 or 10:oo, the horses may be hitting Minnich and Matter between 9 and 10 and we know Minnich is a connector to Rocks Ridge. Also be careful if you head up Rim to Wolf Pond too -- the horses will be coming DOWN Rim between 8 and 10 or around that time.

Firecracker Ride report

Ma Nature did it again...she scared everyone away! Well, not everyone. Emory Ehrenfeld and Rick Begley did their own group 'cause Jill, being the handicap, kept the pace slow for Rick Brown and Dave Reed. Actually, Rick and Dave dusted Jill and had to wait on her at spots. Rick was feeling pretty full of himself! Emory and Rick Begley were out about 3 hours and the other group came in after about 1 3/4 hrs. We still grilled meat and veges, and enjoyed some socializing. Mother nature pretty much spritzed all day with some breaks inbetween. There was another group of 3 from the Lancaster area that joined in on the picnic, an yet another group of 3 that was riding from another part of the forest, stopping to get some eats. We certainly had plenty! Oh, and Emory reports there are some more trees down. Rick and Jill should be getting to them soon.

Firecracker Ride

Friday, the 4th of July, is the RCST Firecracker ride. It'll be same deal as the Memorial Weekend Ride. We meet at 10:00 am at the Minnich picnic area. Directions are here. And afterwards, the club will cook up dogs, burgers, and have some munchies for ya (chips, pretzels). Judging from other year's firecracker rides, this group is usually semi-small. So we'll decide the day of the ride on the groups. As of today, Ricky Brown is the only ride leader we have which is certainly the best person to show you the trails. Jill is still recouperating from a crash and can't ride "strenuous", so she's doing a 5 mile snowmobile trail ride if anyone wants to go slow and not far. Keith isn't sure if he's coming (WHAT!). So Rick and I will be there for sure along with some decent weather we are hearing.