Saw this last night and just lost it. Todd Richards and Travis Rice in the same Todcast! Check out the spot where he tries to get on the horse...pretty awesome stuff. Looks like Tuesdays just got a whole lot better.

Leadville 100 Documentary: Race Across the Sky first and only showing Tonight at the Hollywood Theater at 8:00pm. Tickets are $12.50, get them while they last! See you all there!

Pathfinder of West Virginia and the Warner Theater Present: 

2009 Motown Throwdown Movie Premier Night!

All Ages Show, Everyone Is Welcome!

Doors Open:7:00pm

Cost: $5

Includes: Movie Ticket, All You Can Eat and Drink Refreshments, Entry Into A Raffle To Win A New Board or Clothing, and A Wicked Good Time!

Tell All Your Friends! I Want To Fill This Thing Up! So That Means All You College Kids and High School Kids Looking For Something To Do On A Friday Night! 

Costumes are Recommended!

See You There! 

Snowboard Premier: Standard Snowboard's BLACK WINTER

 Ski Premier: Level 1 Productions REFRESH 

Another Awesome Edit From Corey Snyder. Keep 'em coming.

Thank you for supporting your local cycling community by participating in West Virginia’s first annual Cyclocross series. The Fayetteville Cyclocross race is a great way to experience the fastest growing cycling discipline and West Virginia’s biggest weekend festival all while keeping that summer fitness rolling into the winter months. Bring your bike and cowbells to America’s, “coolest small town” for the Bridge Day festival and race. All riders are welcome and mountain bikes are welcome to race. Disc brakes, carbon this, carbon that are all fine just NO bar ends please. The Shogren's will be there racing there tandem and that worth the drive down just to see that. See you all there!
J.R. "Fatboy" Petsko

Series Class! - Men's A, Men's B, Clydesdale/Tandem, Men's Vet (40 +), Women Open, Single Speed Open.

Entry Fee:
$25.00 for Race Day Registration
$10.00 for each addition race entered

Race Times:
11:00am - Vet(40+), Women Open, single Speed Open(45 minutes plus 1 lap)
12:45pm - Men’s B, Clydesdale/Tandem(45 minutes plus 1 lap)
2:15pm - Men's A (60 minutes plus 1 lap)

Awards:
Cash awards for A Men and Women Open. (Depth is representative of attendance) + Local Artisan Made Trophy’s for top Man and Woman. Generous prize table for all other classes provide by race sponsors.

Race Dinner:
All racers are encouraged to attend post race dinner at Diogi’s Mexican restaurant where they will receive a 10% discount on food.

Deadline for WVU DC Team Kits is tomorrow!

Jackets are the DC Servo $199.99

Pants are the DC Donon $164.99

Both together are $200.00!!!!

Come in and book your size before it's too late!

Fall is back!

The leaves are turning colors, the air is starting to sting your face, and roadies, mountain bikers, and just plain crazies are back to race Cyclocross. This sport...or art form as some would possibly see it, has dominated European and American racing scenes for decades. Cyclocross can be traced back to France and other European countries as a way for competitive road cyclists to stay in shape and have something to do in the fall and winter months. As the sport gained more popularity it became its own season of racing with specialists to that dicipline. It wasn't until the 1970's that Cyclocross gained major popularity in the United States, with organized races starting in New England. Since that point, the US has staged some of the biggest 'Cross races ever over the last several decades.

What's Up With the Costumes?

It has been noticed however that where as the European 'Cross scene is more based around fast paced competition, teams, and lots of sponsorship, the American equivalent (although still being extremely competitive) has been based more on individual glory and individual flair. In the states it is not uncommon to go to a large cross race and find someone racing in a clown costume, or perhaps, as Batman and Robin (as these two sporting racers clearly illustrate above). But in all honesty, it doesn't matter whether your a spectator with a cold beverage, or a comptetitor covered in six inches of mud, 'Cross racing is all about excitement and fun.

Where Can I Find Some of These!

After reading about how great all of this stuff is your probably wondering; "Hey, where do I find some of these races?". Well your in luck because after the popularity of the Marilla Cyclocross and the Bruceton Mills CX Race last year, there is a brand new full line-up of 'Cross races coming to West Virginia this year. The West Virginia Cyclocross Series has five amazing races starting with the B.Y.O.B CX in Huntington, Wv on October 10th, 2009, and ending with the Bruceton Mills CX in Bruceton Mills, Wv on November 21st, 2009. What kind of bike to do you need to ride? Anything that has wheels, brakes, and can handle some uphill and downhill mud riding. Race organizer JR Petsco has been quoted as saying "disc brakes are allowed! Tires of any size are allowed. Bar ends are not. This is NOT a USAC race...We want every and any one to come out and ride/race their bikes and have a good time, we offer as little resistance to that as possible." So Grab your bike and get outside! It's 'Cross season in West Virginia!

West Virginia Cyclocross Series Schedule

  Pathfinder of West Virginia Would Like to Congratulate the WVU Cycling Team on a Job Well Done. After 10 Years, WVU is Still Number One!

WVU Cycling, A Decade, A Dynasty?

By: Members of WVU Cycling

 

   Every weekend of this past September for the West Virginia University Cycling team has been spent traveling to other schools in the Atlantic Central Cycling Conference to race mountain bikes. What you probably did not know was that for the last nine consecutive years (since 2000), WVU Cycling has been the Division 1 Conference Mountain Bike Champions against teams like North Carolina State University and Virginia Tech. Few wins come easy, most are hard earned, but as far back as any current member of the team remembers, none of the last nine seasons have ever been this hard fought. WVU has been wheel to wheel with Virginia Tech all season, entering this weekend's conference championships race knowing they would have to win key victories for their five home races if they wanted a tenth championship.

   Saturday's races were held at Big Bear Lake near Bruceton Mills, WV and consisted of three races in the cross-country discipline: Short Track, Time Trial, and Cross-Country. In Men's A Short Track, WVU dominated, taking top three with Robert Loehr, Ian Beckner, and Balaji Seward, respectively. In Men's B WVU's Brock Dennis sprinted for first while Jacob Brown took third. Emily Moy rode away to first in Women's A, and Anne Walker second in Women's B. The Time Trial sent riders off individually in time splits on a short technical course taking riders 11-20 minutes to complete. WVU's A-squad did not let up, this time placing top four with Robert Loehr, Ian Beckner, Balaji Seward, and Duncan Oliver, respectively. Men's B was won by course designer Chet-Mun Liew, with Jacob Brown bringing in a steady fourth. New WVU member Andrew Harbert finished fourth in Men's C. Emily Moy kept the heat on with another win in Women's A, and Trisha Lewis and Anne Walker went 2-3 in Women's B. With two down and the longest to go, the cross-country race would have the riders stretch the technical trails of Big Bear out to 22 miles for Men's A, 18 miles for Men's B and Women's A, and 11 miles for Men's C and Women's B. Men's A remained strong, placing second through fifth with Ian Beckner, Robert Loehr, Dave Light, and Balaji Seward, respectively. Another solid Men's B finish for WVU brought in valuable points with Brock Denis first, Andrew Brautigam second, and Ryan Post fourth. Men's C took third with Sean Lockard, second with Andrew Harbert and fifth with Chad Lowers. Emily Moy got the hat trick, winning Women's A with Amber Smith in fourth, while Trisha Lewis placed second in Women's B once again for the Mountaineers.

   At the end of Saturday, the results were calculated and had VT winning the Short Track, and Time Trial. WVU won the XC and had a 5 point lead (1150 to 1145) over VT going into Sunday.

   Sunday's gravity races took place at Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD, first pinning racers head to head in Dual Slalom through a track of dirt jumps and banked berm turns. WVU and VT had to fight for spots among the Division 2 gravity-strong team of Appalachian State University. Jon Zerbe finished seventh in Men's A, Tyler Alokonis, Jacob Brown, and Sean Lockard finishing fifth through seventh in Men's B. New member Michael Snyder ripped the jumps and berms for an important second place in Men's C, once having to run across the finish after getting tangled with a teammate. Emily Moy finished second in Women's A, with Trisha Lewis and Laura Kelley grabbing third and fourth in Women's B. The final event is simply known as Downhill, a time trail sending riders in intervals down a fast, rocky course taking about 2-3 minutes. Once again Appalachian State was strong, but this race would end up in WVU's favor. Jon Zerbe was the fastest Mountaineer on the mountain with a third in Men's A, with Balaji Seward chasing him in fifth. Chet-Mun Liew and Jake Brown would bring in sixth and seventh in Men's B, respectively. In Men's C Chad Lowers and new member Todd Latocha would get WVU fourth and fifth, repectively. Emily Moy would get second in Women's A. Anne Walker loved the downhill so much she rolled across the line first in Women's B with Amber Smith in third.

  The hard fought season was over just like that, and WVU came out on top of Virginia Tech, squeaking out a win by little more than 5 points. WVU Cycling President Ryan Post finally was able to breathe again; VT brought over 30 riders today and most of the season, and for us to win by a margin smaller than one or two places..whew. Overall for the season, individual mentions: Robert Loehr placed first in Omnium (Cross-Country and Gravity Combined) ahead of three of his teammates : Balaji Seward, Ian Beckner, and Jon Zerbe rounding out the top four. Emily Moy also finished the season first in Women's A Omnium.

  West Virginia Cycling hopes to continue its dynasty into next season, remembering that counting to 10 has never been harder.

  WVU is also sending four riders to USA Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in Lake Tahoe, CA Oct. 16th -18th : Ian Beckner, Robbie Loehr, Duncan Oliver, and Jon Zerbe. If you would like to help fund them, email: wvucycling@gmail.com.

  WVU Cycling is always looking for riders and racers, especially for the upcoming road season. Go to www.wvucycling.com for details on meeting times, upcoming events, and the team forum and blog.

For a number of years Burton has only offered cambered shapes on their boards. Now, these boards we're amazing, models like the FL Project, the Rippey, and the Custom. In the last couple of years the Snowboard World has been in the midst of a new beast, Reverse Camber. At first a lot of people were skeptical of how a board that was so different than everything else on the market could be better than the tradition. But after people began to ride these mythical boards it became apparent that they weren't better, but just different. So, here we go...what are the differences between a Cambered Snowboard and a Reverse Cambered Snowboard?

Cambered Snowboards have been your traditional way of looking at downhill snow travel for decades. These boards take their shape from skis, which lie flat on the snow on the tip and tail, and then the wood layers are stacked so that the board has a raised or "cambered" spot in the center. This allows the rider to preload the snowboard and then release the board thus allowing for a smooth carving motion. The postive thing about this way of building snowboards is that it gives the rider a more powerful motion. So if you're into bigger jumps, backcountry booters, or just powering through solid turns, this is the shape and style for you. The negatives of cambered boards are that the pressure spots on the snow are at the tip and tail of the board. This means that to initiate or release the turn, you first have to lift up the edges from the snow. Most riders that are just starting out have trouble with this, mainly because lifting the nose and tail while trying to setup for good edge control is not the easiest thing to do.

Reversed-Cambered Snowboards are brand new on the scene...well...sort of. Companies like K2 have actually been doing reverse-cambered snowboards for over 15 years. However, in the beginning, K2 only marketed these boards for extremely deep powder and backcountry performance. It has only been in the last three years that companies ( like Lib Tech, K2, GNU, DC Shoes, Forum, and Burton) have started to incorperate reverse-camber shapes into their lineups. These boards basically take a backwards thinking on how to build a snowboard. They looked at how a snowboarder rides and found that the stance and the pressure points were totally different than a ski. Then they figured out that if they made the board sit flat in the middle they could get a better flex point, with more contact on the edges, and a better turning radius. So now you have reverse-cambered snowboards that are called Rocker, Banana, or just plain Reversed Cambered. The one thing that all of these boards have in common is the fact that they all are flat in the middle and then rise steadily out from the mid point to the tip and tail. The positives of reverse-cambered snowboards are that first off they are great for riding deep powder, crud snow, or anything that you would normally sink into. Secondly for beginner snowboards or people trying to learn new tricks these boards are really forgiving. The tip and tail don't need to be preloaded into a turn like a cambered snowboard needs to be, and because of this they float over the snow and make snowboarding feel effortless and easy. This makes these boards great for jibbing, presses, bonks, lips, and just about anything else where you want the board to feel as loose as possible. The negatives of these reverse-cambered boards would be that they can feel too loose for some people, and they can somtimes feel too soft. For those people that want a lot of preload out of their board, or just a board that is powerful, these do not allow you to preload the back foot as much. So, again, if you're into rocking huge jumps or just want something to power huge ollies over slow signs with, you may want to check out a cambered snowboard.

So when it comes to the question of: Which Burton Custom should I buy? The easy answer is: The one that fits your riding style the best. Burton's idea works because they have taken a cult classic and made it not necessarily better, but given the rider a better range to find their perfect board.  

New 2009 WVU Snowboard Team Outerwear!

DC Donon Pant:$165

DC Servo Jacket:$200

WVU Snowboard Club Price for Both: $200

Come in and book yours while supplies last!

   

Welcome to the All New Pathfinder of West Virginia Website! This new and improved site will be your one stop adventure spot for all the latest happenings in the Adventure Sports World. Wondering what new product you should get your hands on? Our detailed and informative product reviews will keep you in the loop on all of your favorite sports. Wondering when we will be getting our new product out? Make sure to subscribe to our Twitter feeds for daily photos of new snowboards, bikes, and other outdoor products making their way to our store. Wondering what new events and community happenings are going on in Morgantown? Make sure to check out our Facebook page to attend events such as the 2009 Motown Throwdown, and to get involved in outstanding groups like the Mon Bike Club, WVU Snowboard Club and the WVU Cycling Club! Stay tuned for more updates and Welcome to Pathfinder of West Virginia!