2012 Volunteer Appreciation Party Recap

GORC hosted the Volunteer Appreciation Party at Greensfelder Park in St. Louis county. Over 40+ people showed up to celebrate each other's hard work in 2012. With many more miles cumulatively built all around the region, each year mountain bikers have better and longer singletrack options.

This year featured a stellar raflle with prizes provided by REI, E-Trailer, Maplewood Bicycle, Mesa Cycles and by a fellow who donated a $25 Quicktrip gas card to the booty pile. Dogfish donated a large portion of our brand new Trail Builder T-shirts which he handed out all day!

Join us on the trail to make our region the best place to get that magical singletrack fix. Here's how the day went down told through images.

 

All great parties involve cake, right? GORC doesn't skimp on cake and we ended up with a custom-built full sheet from Federhofer's Bakery.

 

To kick the day off right, a 10am poker run got everyone on the trails and guessing where the next obstacle course / deck card would appear. 

 

Matt and Lisa's poker run station involved consuming insulation biscuits that double as food stuffs. We are using the leftovers to fashion key ring floaters and selling them at Osage Beach.

 

Again, no proper GORC gathering can be without fire. The Glassberg shelter at Greensfelder offered a great outdoor fireplace.

 

Bad poker run hand? Step on up and earn your bonus card the fun, er, hard way...

 

The pogo stick was a hit.

 

JohnF brought his jump bike which was used successfully at times. Other times it sorta just made grinding noises sliding on its side.

 

Raffle winner taking the prize

 

Meats on the grill (and circular pressed vegetables) for the hard-working trail volunteers who have made a difference in 2012 by attending our numerous trail building days.

 

Kirby keeping the hungry crowd satisfied.

 

Raffle callouts lasted about a half hour with an intermission thrown in.

 

Ron accepting his swag

 

Tom won the Mesa Cycles Rockshox Recon 29er fork. Sweet! This photo highlights the inverted fork design.

 

GORC fed the fire well into the evening

 

JimB brought a bean bag game that was a crowd hit. Of course, he schooled us all! 

 

No caption needed

 

A great event that wound down in front of the fire. GORC cannot say it enough:

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS FOR ALL THAT YOU DO! 

Brown County Breakdown, Yeehaw Edition

Both Lisa and I came to the conclusion in early August that we would again attend the Brown County Break Down in Nashville, IN the weekend of October 8th. Unfortunately the BCB always conflicts with the Burnin' 12 hour race.

Demo zone featuring Giant, Trek and Felt along with other component companies. Lisa fell in love with the small-frame 2012 Superfly 100 Elite. Uh-oh...

However, the BCB is so damn enjoyable, stress-free and awesome that I have no problem traveling the four hours to hang out with other like-minded midwestern mountain bikers looking for great food, fantastic blue-grass music and legendary flowy trails.

Yep, that's her new love. She said it handled well and felt really fast on board. I'd agree with that; we were hauling!

The Brown County Breakdown is HMBA's (Hoosier Mountain Bike Association) big fund-raising event for the year where they rake in upwards of $20K to fund their ongoing mechanized trail building at Brown County State Park and other local parks. The entry fee to the BCB is steep ($80-100 depending on sign up date) but you are rewarded with the above-mentioned music, food, beer, bike demos, raffles, and organized rides.

Lisa and I signed up for the 45 mile ride (on review of the GPS the 45 miler climbed 3,600 feet. The 100 milers got something like 9,000-11,000ft of climbing!!!!!). They also offer 25, 65, 80 and 100 mile lengths, however, the bulk of the 500+ attendees typically choose the 45 or 65 mile routes. The 80/100 milers are left for the racers because you really do need to haul butt... this year the 100 milers started at 8am and rolled in between 6-7:30pm... and remember, this ride takes place on a Sunday.

Yes, Sunday. That's the only bummer for us folks in St. Louis. After the fantastic 45 mile ride and buffet-style mega dinner you can revel in some top-notch bluegrass but take note - you have a 4 hour drive home with work awaiting you the next day. Ugh!

Start/Finish zone as we all get into our respective mileage groups. We rode Pine Valley, North Tower, Aynes, Green Valley, Hesitation Point, Walnut, Limekiln and some open-only-this-weekend trails.

The musical guests this year included Danny Barnes on Saturday night (fantastic genre-bending banjo player from Austin's Bad Livers who works solo now and has travelled with Dave Matthews Band) and the White Lightning Boys from Nashville, Indiana. This large bluegrass band rocked and filled the air with the yeehaw vibe.

Beer sampling on Saturday included Uplands Brewery and a newcomer called Flat 12. Both breweries were terrific. Had we arrived Friday night, we would have been treated to Big Woods Brewery, the local and talented microbrewery in Nashville.

The camping around the pool house with hundreds of other MTBers was just right due to the fantastic mild weather. And I can't forget to mention the hot showers all weekend! Other folks from St. Louis included Luke (newport) and his friends, along with Dianna (muleskinner) and her family. Both groups ended up on the 45 mile route.

The ride on Sunday lasted about 5 hours including all of our stops.

Riding on the new Green Valley loop? Check!

Banjo in them woods

Random fiddlers and banjos in the hollers playing to the passers-by? Check!

On top of Hesitation Point chomping on cookies (5!) and getting ready for some technical Walnut

Homemade cookies on top of Hesitation Point while listening to the Whipstitch Sallies? Check!

Tech on Walnut? Check!

Ripping it pump-track style on Limekiln? Double-double check!!

Drop in to the Nebo Cabin for refreshments and music? Check Check!

The Cabin at the 45 mile turnaround. In a tight valley, this cabin is quintessential hillbilly deluxe.

At the end of the ride we both agreed that we would most likely be back next year. The vibe, enjoyable people, organizational prowess, music talentness, tasty good foodness and shred-nastic trail wonderfondness adds up to one hell of an event.

To miss the Brown County Breakdown is a bummer, indeed. See y'all out there next year??!

2011 Greensfelder Challenge: A Fundraiser Benefiting GORC

Saturday, May 7, 2011

A steady stream of 152 racers arrived at Greensfelder County Park to participate in one of the area's hardest mountain bike races. This particular race was special to GORC as the promoters of the race series, the United Federation of Dirt (UFD), turned it into a fundraiser for the club. Known as the Greensfelder Challenge, the annual race was first held in 2010.

Readying for 3 hours of Marathon bliss

This year's course was a half-mile shorter but offered over an additional mile and a half of singletrack. Members of GORC had designed a half-mile reroute that addressed a severely eroded and abused portion of the Deer Run trail. This new sustainable multi-use reroute snaked down a steep, scenic hillside from the Scenic Loop Road and connected to the super fast, technical Deer Run drop-in that catapulted racers onto the Eagle Valley gravel path. Turning left in 2011 showcased GORC's hard work from 2009-2011 to build a sustainable singletrack climb up to the Visitor's Center. This climb needed substantial armoring and drainage due to several seeps that "magically" appeared after the initial build. This long climb switchbacked three times above itself allowing for spectators to see racers climbing on three singletrack "levels."

However, the race almost didn't happen as a short but steady rain moved through the area in the wee hours of the morning. With the Marathon and Beginner Cat 3 classes launching at 10:00 the GORC honchos grilled pre-riders attempting to ascertain the course conditions. After several bouts of what-ifs it was agreed the trails would hold up quite well.

Jeff focusing on his perfection that is known as 'pulled pork sammich'

And they did! Despite the wetness during the first two laps of Marathon, the course firmed up over the course of the day as the sun came out to support GORC. Jeff Rippelmeyer, Bob and Steph manned the BBQ and brew booth all day long. Jeff's legendary grilling skills were confirmed the entire day as racers and spectators chowed down on excellent pulled pork sandwiches. The two Schlafly kegs, a hefe and pale ale, died honorably and swiftly. The thirsty crowds demanded more and so the gas stations in Eureka were raided with all available cans hauled back up the hill to the BBQ tent.

A healthy dose of GORCers represented in the race and did quite well. Scott Peipert (Cat I Expert), Jason Zoll (Marathon), Matt Hayes (single speed), Christine Ford (Cat I Women), Loreen Matson (Cat I Women), among others, all took home medals in their respective categories.

GORC members readying to single speed for two laps

The donations to GORC poured in ALL DAY LONG from racers and supporters. We raised more than enough to cover our mandatory but 'painful' insurance expense. This insurance allows us to host workdays at all the parks where we build and maintain trails. And to our surprise, Mesa Cycles donated a massive $1,000.00 to GORC. All we can say is thank you and will continue to build stellar trail for all to enjoy.

GORC crew enjoying the carbonated goodies from Schlafly.
Thanks to all those who volunteered!

The 2011 Greensfelder Challenge is in the books and with the exceptional generosity of racers, Mesa Cycles, and the UFD, we are glad to be a part of the awesome St. Louis metro mountain bike community.

Here's to a great summer of riding, racing and celebrating the singletrack trails!

Official Race Results
http://unitedindirt.com/results/UFD-E2-Greensfelder_web.htm

Race Day Photos

GORC (Matt Hayes Gallery)
https://picasaweb.google.com/matthayes4/2011GreensfelderChallenge#

Jim Krewet / DRJ Photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/rhadrj/Greensfelder#

Off The Front Photography
http://otfphoto.com/p310626450