Single Speed MTB Century! The 2008 Mohican MTB 100

A pleasant good day to my fellow wrist-snappers, Nico Toscani is here with a race report straight from the 2008 Mohican MTB 100. Let's go back to Thursday May 29, Gino Fellino arrived at my house in his grey Nissan Sentra at around 3pm. We loaded up and hit the road, our first stop was six hours to the East in the thriving hamlet of Dayton, OH. During the drive traffic was light and the air quality level in the car was rated "green" as Mason Storm his gaseous exhaust did not sign-up for this particular journey. We arrived at the University of Dayton Marriott by 11pm and were delighted to get some rest after a few delicious PBRs.

Gino and I opted for the breakfast buffet at the hotel in the morning complete with omelette's and Belgian waffles. We were only 150 miles from the race finish/ campsite/ race ground zero at Camp Nuhop near Loudonville, OH. We were some of the first racers to arrive and thus had our pick of campsites- we chose a nice spot in the shade beneath mature trees and spent the next few hours registering and finalizing our battle plans for race day. After we had secured our bags for the aid station drops we suited up for a pre-ride. Only two miles in I got my first look at The Pleasant Hill Lake Dam and the scenic single track hugging the Clear Fork of The Mohican River. During the pre-ride I endoed twice but became well adjusted to the Ohio terrain. We returned to camp for dinner and had a great time soaking in the chill vibe that was The Mohican.

Bed time came around 10:30pm, clear skies and mild temps made for a peaceful resting environment...until midnight, at least! The heavens opened and severe thunderstorms were abundant. Camp crew drove by in golf-carts to warn us that the area was under a tornado watch through the early morning hours, they pointed out the most direct route to basement storm shelters. Lightning lit up the sky and the thunder was loud, sometimes rumbling for over 1 minute intervals. As the clock ticked closer to our scheduled 7am race start the rain began to let up. By 5am the the storms had ceased. I was up in my tent, excited and waiting to hear my alarm to go off. To prepare I consumed the following for breakfast: secret homemade smoothie, apple, banana, veggie burger and hummus burrito, espresso hammer gel, cup o' joe, Chinese Herbs, can of red bull, and a spoonful of peanut butter. We piled into the Sentra and drove to the neutral start.

We were almost late, pulling into the parking lot of the Loudonville, OH Elementary School at 6:47am. We lined up...Bang! We were off with the gun, the roll-out led us straight into the first hundred paved feet of climbing for the day. A few miles of rolling rural highway took us to the first fire road and then into the first miles of sweet singletrack. I immediately noticed the effects of the prior evenings precipitation. The trail had a very un-tidy appearance, upon riding it I noticed a considerable amount of its surface being deposited onto my legs and bicycle...oh well, that has been the story for MTB racing in '08. Gino shot ahead and was holding a very healthy pace of destruction and general wrist carnage through the slop. I could not match his pace so I settled in and slid my way on through the course towards Aid Station #1, 20 miles in. I had found my pace, now it was time to find my groove. Out came the ipod, today's tasty soundboard was Phish's The Great Went in its entirety - a full two-day, six-set marathon of a Phish show. This was a great companion, multiple times I found myself alone on the course rocking out, singing out loud having a true ball of a time just like Davey B.

About a thousand feet of elevation before Aid Station #2 (mile 34) I finally caught up to Gino. I am not sure exactly what did it but something was pushing Gino off his game. He told me was feeling fatigued - his energy level was down way low and he was starting to ignore his nutrition plan. Aid Station #2 came at just the right time. We re-grouped and re-fueled, I took the time to wipe the mud from both my drivetrain and mini-Steven's eyes. Gino dug deep to find strength and we took off onto the course with a vengeance, gobbling up the 6 mile pavement section leading us to the next patch of single track. We worked together and rode together until Aid Station #3, the halfway point for us 100 milers. A lengthy stop was necessary to prepare us for the next section of the course, which was the longest. The race field split, the 100k racers turned left onto a paved climb, the rest of us were sent across the street to finish The Mohican Wilderness Race course. It was 26 miles of some SRSLY rough terrain until Aid #4. Gino and I got separated around two miles in and I would not see him again for some five hours, back at Camp Nuhop. During that time Gino missed a turn and personally added a good four miles of paved climbing to his race course. This frustration combined with earlier fatigue pushed his pace down too low. Gino arrived at Aid #4 after the time cut-off and the race directors would not let him continue. With no shortage of Superior Attitude or Superior State of Mind Gino reluctantly accepted a ride back to our car at the start line - he had just wrestled the Mohican for 75+ miles of pure pain...WAY TO GO GINO!

I made the time cut-off and was allowed to continue on past Aid #4. It was 18 miles to Aid #5, and another 8 miles to the finish. I pushed the pace and battled some tough cramping that actually made me scream aloud. Deep down I began to feel the full momentum of the huge adrenaline boost that comes along with the realization that you are 9/10ths of the way though a massive undertaking [such as a 100 mile MTB race]. I was feeling strong and cruised straight though Aid #5 without stopping, all sights set on the finish just 8 miles and 1 damn Dam crossing away. 12 hours and 17 minutes had elapsed since I heard the start gun go off that morning, I passed under the banner and my first hundred-miler was history. I had just claimed what was mine, 23rd position out of 26 single-speed finishers.

Congratulations to a very special new friend of Team Seagal, Mr. Chris Wurster of NYC. Chris is the proud owner of the third place podium in the 50+ Masters class for BOTH the '08 Mohican MTB 100 and The 08' Cohutta 100. A member of Independent Fabrications grass-roots team, Chris is a serious contender for the Masters Division title in the 2008 NUE Series. He is a superb racer who has completed several NUE 100 milers, La Ruta, and the Cape Epic MTB Stage Race in South Africa to mention a few. Chris is also a totally bad-ass dude to hang out with. After a weekend of camping next-door to Team Seagal he is well-immersed in our unique culture. After the race on Saturday evening Gino, Chris and I toasted our newly found memories of Mohican Country [to last a lifetime] with Mezcal, Crown Royal, and delicious PBR. We also paid homage to our fallen Mohican Brothers with an offering of Chinese Herbs and the Tibetan Gogi Berries...tales of snapped wrists and sloppy trails began to flow like the Clear Fork of The Mohican River.

Follow Chris' quest for NUE Series greatness by clicking the link to his blog on the right labeled "New East Coast Syndicate." A true single-speed ambassador, Chris' sweet Ti Indy Fab is equipped with Paragon sliders. After completion of the NUE Series and converting his beloved "Beth" back to her preferred SS orientation it would not be out of the question to see Chris in a Team Seagal kit some day soon.

Results and professional write-up here.

We had a great time in Ohio, thanks for stopping by. Here are some photos of the action listed after the story, ala cyclingnews.com. Enjoy!

-Nico Toscani

Sweet Softride- spotted just a few miles across the Illinois border, just barely hanging on

Loaded Nissan Sentra, the official race ride

Gino and the tents - Team Seagal claimed some prime real estate



Nico's Rig and The Team Seagal Campsite- Thanks for the cranks Mason!

Brand new Cannondale Truck: a warranty replacement when cracks were discovered in the original trailer

Camp Nuhop Lodge: Ground Zero for race operations

Ariel view of The Pleasant Lake Hill Dam - 98 miles from the start line!

Looking down the Pleasant Hill Lake Dam - climb this before you can finish

Finish Line!

Mini-Steven survives the '08 Mohican - Looking Good!

Chris Wurster of Independent Fabrications - Podium Shot!

Blurry Single-Speed Podium, congratulations Deejay!

Spotted near the finish...dont do this to your car!

Marshall Lawson has moved to Illinois and traded his Neon for Geo Prizim

North-eastern Ohio's best breakfast is served here

No pictures taken this weekend of Nico so here is one from the archives...complete with stash and snot bubble.

From the Team Seagal Random Shit Dept.

This isn't a doctored photo in any way.
Since when do they make speed limit signs that don't end in 5 or 0? What's next, mile markers every 1/1000th of a mile?

-C. Ryback

THIS JUST IN

Limecat is just stopping by to say "Good Luck" to Gino and Nico on their treacherous trip this weekend into the depths of Ohio to race in the Mohican 100.

Good luck!

-C. Ryback

This Just In

We at Team Seagal just received news that PCP makes you super strong. In order to get to where we need to be this season, we've decided to start smoking it. A lot of it.

Our good buddy Vlad demostrates:

Welcome to Flavor Country.

Ride Report from Council Bluff

Greetings, loyal Team Seagal Fan! Days off don't come around very often. That's why when you are presented with one, you grab that crap like it was your heart during a heart attack. And on a sunny Sunday like we had this weekend in Missouri, with temps nearing 80 degrees, four representatives from our team found themselves in that very situation. The choices for Mason Storm and yours truly (Casey Ryback) were

1) drive the 6-ish hours to Lake Geneva, WI for the WORS event called "Treadfest,"
2) drive 5-ish hours to race in the first Heartland XC Race this year, to be held at St. Joseph, MO, or
3) engage in some epic riding less than 2 hours away from home at the world-famous Council Bluff trail, which will have us meeting up with our two teammates, Gino Felino and Cockpuncher.

Given gas prices and questionable trail/weather conditions at the venue in Lake Geneva, the primary use of which being a ski resort, we decided to stay local. I mean, the WORS site described the trail as "99.9% snow free." That may be so, but the thought of any snow at all in May is bullshit. More race experience would be a good thing for sure, but so would some epic riding at familiar trails that are within close proximity to the best Mexican restaurant in the state - Dos Primos. So Council Bluff it was.

The plan was to camp Sat night at the campgrounds, get in a lap before Gino and the 'Puncher got there. For those of you that have never made the trek from St. Louis to Council Bluff, you will most likely take 21 for most of the way. This road never ceases to entertain. Things like the tiny porn shack or the pile of rubble just outside of Potosi that used to be a building until a tornado knocked it down 5 years ago but the rubble is still there. This time, our favorite sight was probably the ominous molester van parked outside of Country Mart:

Pay close attention to the hood for maximum effect:


One of the great things about this trail is that unless there is a race in progress, it is very serene and secluded. Waking up in the middle of the night there was not a sound to be heard outside - perfectly still except for a pack of wolves howling in the distance. There were actually a lot of occupied campsite with mountain bikes, but we still only saw 2 groups of riders all day Sunday. Try that at Castlewood. The lake looked beautiful, as usual:


However, this trail's reputation for being supremely resistant to weather was somewhat tarnished today thanks to the wettest year for Missouri in recorded history. Soupy low spots, high creeks draining into a high lake, and long mud pits made for a very messy ride. Thank god I brought extra socks!

Mason demonstrates how to look good in our new kits even when hitting a wet stream:


Dead-fall was fairly minimal, though there were 2 or 3 chain-saw jobs:


Even though it was more messy than any of us had even ridden (except for Gino's 2nd place finish at Rim Wrecker in March, where the rain was coming down, and the trail was flowing - with water) the clean sections of trail ripped as usual, and made us feel like we were on a bmx pump track much of the time. The climb up to the campgrounds seemed to hurt even worse than at Burnin, though! Maybe it was the lack of a boombox at the bottom of the climb blasting out "Welcome to the Jungle" that made it seem worse?

The view from the dam is most excellent:


After two hard laps, the siren song of Dos Primos was too sweet to ignore any longer. Gino, CP, Mason and myself packed up camp and headed for some much earned Negro Modelo, Chili Verde, Carte Blanca, and Enchiladas Supremas. CP seemed a little unsure about it, as he had had a rough two days full of PBR, tequila, hangovers, and strenuous riding in the heat. In the end we all triumphed, and headed home to



Trifecta tomorrow...

-C. Ryback

P.S. - Stay tuned for info about the next Non-Race. We're working out personnel details.

NORBA #3 - A few Castlewood teaser pictures, and other photos

Greetings, Casey Ryback here. Saturday at Castlewood was the sight of many epic battles for what is essentially the premier NORBA race of the year. Four of our hardened soldiers (Shop Minister, Dr. Wesley McLaren, Nico Toscani, and Mason Storm) were deployed to the front lines of the Singlespeed class in search of victory slathered in glory. I, Casey Ryback, being the "responsible adult" that I am, was forced to work that day, but I did stay long enough to snap a few photos of the start of the race.

There was a huge number of racers overall - 136! - and for us to have another podium finish is HUGE! The Singlespeed class of 12 was, well, stacked. Of course Matt Keeven took first - the only way he can lose this series is if he stopped showing up. I'm convinced it is the baller-tastic white rims that match his white frame and white kit. Second was Mike Barrow, with the 3rd place taken up by our own Shop Minister! Nico took 5th, Mason 10th. Dr. Wesley McLaren must have gotten too awesome for his frame, for it went snap.

In addition to the racers at this event were also a number of spectators to this glorious sport, AND our local Pabst rep, Dave Aholt who deserves a BIG thanks for supplying the tent and all the cold PBRs! He was amazed with the turnout to say the least. Dave and PBR have been super-supportive of what we're trying to do, and we hope to try expand our relationship with them for future events! He also managed to snap a bunch of photos, which we'll post up as soon as we get a hold of them.

Shop Minister shows the proper way to position your body when talking to anyone:

Nico proves that our new kits look better than everyone else's even when having just pissed in the woods:

What a great place to spectate:
Huge sport class - notice the Wheels West jersey:

Since mountain bike racing is ALL about the looks, I'll say that Team Seagal looked pretty f***cking good on the line:

More reports to come from people that actually took part in the race.

Chris Ploch and Dave Breslin showed everyone just what a close, hard-fought XC race is supposed to look like - what an epic battle of the local mtb-ing gods!

Big congrats to Marshall Lawson who FINALLY made it through a race this year without having some sort of massively expensive mechanical failure, and managed to cross the line with Bob Arnold in the expert class! He showed everybody that when his stuff works as it should, he definitely deserves to be racing expert class.

In other news, look at my new rig:

I keep the size sticker on there so you know how huge I am. As shown in the photo, it is 23lbs 11 oz, though I expect it to drop once I put on the race tires and my super-baller hollow-link/hollow-pin gold chain!


Lastly, when you watch the movie On Deadly Ground, you will see this great image (sorry for poor picture quality):
That photo is amazing on SO many levels.

Oh yeah, I'm free on thursday and Sunday - Heartland Race in St. Joseph, MO on Sunday; the more people go, the cheaper the gas! Who wants to do a long ride on thursday? I'm thinking Middlefork or a trifecta... This is an open invitation...

-C. Ryback

The Only Way To Go

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24463225/

If the wrist-snappage during a given race becomes too much for me and I my t'aint implodes in on itself, thus killing me, I want to be buried in this casket. Too bad it's not original anymore, though...

Maybe a Pabst Light casket? Or perhaps a Stag casket...

-C. Ryback

Syllamo's Revenge: Shotguns, Rifles, Handguns, Ammo, 68 Camaro

Mason, Nico, and myself Gino made our way down to Mountain View, Arkansas this past Friday for what is one of the most badass races any of of us have been to: Syllamo's Revenge. The drive down is simply awesome escpecially once south of the border into Arkansas on Hwy 9. That is unless a storm is a brewin' inside of Mason for all of his other unknowing fellow passengers to experience:



But the scenery on those roads is unbelievable, with more twists and turns than most singletrack. As Little Buddy said, you gotta do all you can to keep your tires on the pavement. Fortunately Team Seagal's racecar driver wannabe Casey Ryback wasn't there or else we might have ended up a few hundred feet down a cliff on the drive instead of slicing our way through sweet singletrack on the way to some mega wrist-snappage.

A little PBR-infused preride on Friday evening to test out the starting .9 mile 11% climb and the stellar first few miles of singletrack, a meal at the largest Mexican restaurant any of us had seen with the worst service ever, and a good nights sleep in our hotel, and we were ready for the 8am start.

The race started with about 280 or so racers trying to get up that Forest Service road climb. It wasn't pretty for non-Team Seagal members. Our fellow racers were getting their wrists snapped less half a mile into the race. I'm damn glad I can trackstand. I got to watch a half a dozen riders fall down around me to give me a path to make my way to the top. Weaving our way among the slow toppling-over riders Nico and I made our way to the top entering the singletrack in the 20s right behind fellow STL singlespeeder Carey Edwards. Mason came up just a little behind picking his way through the stumbling riders using his aikido-heightened reaction time.

Things quickly changed for me as Nico, Mason, and a hundred others passed me as I got a flat less than 2 miles into the race. I spent the next couple of hours picking my way among the slower riders at the back of the pack eventually catching Mason, and Nico, and passing mechanically tormented DRJers Dwayne and Robert (Marshall). Dwayne was of course smiling.

This trail system is truly inspiring with awesome views, incredibly flowy singletrack, some damn rocky technical stuff on the blue loop, and some big stream crossings where Mason saw another rider go COMPLETELY underwater. In the end we all charged through the course making our goals. I got 30th overall, at about 5:50 still feeling pretty damn good and even better after a nice cold PBR. Nico was right behind at 31st after he broke his chain and ran the last 2 miles on his zerospeed, and Mason got in well under 8 hours. We're still awaiting the posted results for singlespeed placings.

Mason does an excellent job of not looking too tired while modeling the new team kit:

Syllamo's 2008 was the day that singlespeeders came out to represent. The top 4 overall (at least) were all singlespeeders with St. Louis's own Matt Keevan leading the way at a time of about 4:45 on the muddy and slippery course. Even Chris Ploch was amazed:

Or at least shocked at the ton of rock he got as a trophy for his age group.

Matt Keeven carrying away his first of 2 tons of rock:

Yes that is what you think you see on his T-shirt.

Keep checking back as Mason or Nico might add their own mind spew to this posting about the totally un-gayzorz 2008 Syllamo's Revenge.

Finally,

+

=

To end this post in style here is Nico Toscani's left cheek after a bit of a tumble out on course. Enjoy.


UPDATE the results have been posted.

$1 24ozPBR's + MRT + Fixed Gears = Saturday Afternoon

Greetings Team Seagal fans. This past Saturday 2 brothers set out on a bike ride with no route in mind and only 2 gears between each of them. These pictures will tell their story.
Enjoy,
M. Storm

Forrest Taft on Virginia Ave.

Lewis & Clark statue almost completely under water.

Mason trackstanding for the camera.

Nice view of the city from the MRT.

Our weapons of choice.

Mason riding up Washington Ave. towards home.
Bye Bye.
M Storm