Nike Snowboarding Has Arrived at Pathfinder. We are now the exclusive Nike Snowboard dealer for the Virginias, so if you want to get your hands on these super hard to get boots, come on in and try a pair on. They are amazing boots, and they look sick!

Nike Zoom Kaiju

Nike Zoom Force One

Get em while they last!

Here are a couple vids from Torstein that have been getting me stoked on riding more. Hope everyone has a great new years and that this rain will hold off! Think Snow, and who knows it might just get cold...


Park Rubbing from torstein horgmo on Vimeo.


Game Of: In Your Face Ft. Fredrik Austbo from torstein horgmo on Vimeo.


Safety First from torstein horgmo on Vimeo.

Also make sure to check out his website at Torstein.net

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!



Enjoy!

Here's Travis Rice explaining the trip to Alaska last season to get the shot for the 200th Cover of Transworld Snowboarding. That crevasse seems pretty intense, can't wait to see Flight in 2011.

This new board from Forum is what Andreas Wigg has been riding this last year. It features one of the best cores in the Forum lineup, combo platter, and an amazing feel. This board is one of my favorites. All you parents and kids looking for the perfect holiday present. This Thing Is It!

Also I saw this ad on Forum's website and had to put it up. It pretty much sums up Combo Platter for me...

"Crafted for park dominating performance in the Holy Moly and the Honeypot, Combo Platter features the same pop, edge grip, and stable landing platform as camber, combined with the forgiving and playful ride of rocker. Combo Platter ends the camber vs. rocker debate forever. This completely new profile has unique platters running along each edge just under your feet. By lifting the edges up off the snow in those key areas, the board has a less catchy feel for butters, jibs and spins, but still maintains smooth grip and control when you put it on edge. This profile is rounded out by a powerful nose and tail for big takeoffs and stomped landings. The ultimate combination."

Still Don't Believe Me! Check the Video!

Combo Platter from Forum Snowboards on Vimeo.

Mammoth Got 7 Feet of Snow and the Pros Were Out!
Jussi, Eddie Wall, John and Eric Jackson and more. Let's hope we get this much soooooooon!

A new video from the DC Europe Team. Check it out.

So I know that we are not in Southern Cali, but these videos make me wanna ride, so i'm assuming they will do the same for you. Here are some of my favorites from the Bear Mountain Thirty-Two Am Team.

Bear Mountain Spot Check 10/11


Spot Check Bear Mountain


Enjoy!

Pathfinder is now West Virginia's exclusive Cervelo Bicycle dealer. Check out their website at www.cervelo.com and check out the full 2011 line. From the lightweight R5 to the sleek and powerful S3 there is something for everyone. And for all you Triathletes out there make sure to check out the P3.

I know that everyone was waiting on our October order and it took forever, but they're here. Also we have received what appears to be our November order as well. That being said the sizes are here but going fast. So get your pair while they are still here. See you all soon.

Riley Snyder did a really cool recap of the 2010 Motown Throwdown over at New Schoolers.com. Check out the link and read away. He also put up some pretty sweet pictures. Good Job my man!


Motown Throwdown Recap

-Andrew

The 2010 Motown Throwdown is all wrapped up for the year. It was amazing and everyone that came had a blast. We estimated that there were over 5,000 people out for the event on Saturday night, and we really appreciate everyone that came and helped make this year's event special. Ian Macy put together this awesome edit for us to show everyone what the 2010 Motown Throwdown was all about.

Winners:
Shaun Murphy- 1st Place Snowboard
Brandon Stark: 1st Place Ski

Motown Throwdown 2010 from IAN MACY on Vimeo.

MOvember 6th from Josh Zerkel on Vimeo.

After two hours of driving, Pathfinder team members Josh Zerkel, Cooper Thomas, and Ian Macy found 2" of snow and some woods to spend their first snowboarding day of the 2010 season. Here's the edit.

The Motown Throwdown is back for the 4th year. This year Pathfinder of West Virginia has enlisted the help of Oakley, Skullcandy, and Red Bull to make this year's event one to remember. With a 30 foot stage, over 100 lights, sound rigged for the entire street, 10,000lbs of snow, 40 competitors, and tons of free gear and discounts at Pathfinder, this years event will blow the doors off anything previously imagined. With musical g...uests DJ Sean Nice, and the one and only MIX MASTER MIKE performing Live on High Street from 6:00pm-9:00pm Saturday, October 30th This is going to be huge! Lets Make This The Biggest RailJam in the US! Pro Ams from New England, NC, and all over the country are competing to win two $1,000 Cash Prizes and loads of free gear. This comp is invite only, but spots are still available. For entry please send me an email with a rider resume and edit to motownthrowdown@gmail.com. I hope to see you all there. Again 10,000lbs of Snow, MIX MASTER MIKE, High Streeet, October 30th, 6-9pm. Don't Miss IT!

Relocating to Colorado gives me the opportunity to attend many of the top snowboard video premieres that skip over the ice coast. So I figure why not spread the love and tell you whats up with some of the fresh material:

Forum's F-IT!


Forum delivers another goofy action-packed banger of a video, no big surprise. Although the goofy holloywood-esqueness is a little much, the snowboarding is such that I really wasn't bothered. Stand-out parts from Andreas Wiig and Pat Moore delivering more double corks than is healthy, bone crushing rail segments from Niko Ciofi and Cam Pierce, and a backcountry ender from none other than Big Jax, aka John Jackson, make this movie totally worth buying!

Grade: A+


F.O.D.T.'s The Arena

FODT and Technine(pwn3d by Cole Taylor and MFM) delivers an astonishing video beyond anything they have produced previously with a dreamteam of street hooligans dropping an epic movie that is sure to be a contender for the Transworld Video of the Year honors. Top-notch editing, a rap and dub-step soundtrack, and all-time urban destruction make this video nothing short of awesome. Look for the parts from Derrick Dennison, MFM, Cory Cronk, and Dylan Thompson.

Grade: A

Standard Films' The Storming

Standard brings yet another heavy movie with a nice mix of freestyle and freeride snowboarding from the likes of Jeremy Jones, Keegan Valaika, the Helgassons, and Torstein Horgmo.  Each part is coupled with a sweet alternative soundtrack including a ridiculous ender from Torstein, who oddly enough got to see his part for the first time as he was standing right next to me.  Single corks, double corks for days, and even a triple cork matched with an epic top-to-bottom run at Northstar-at-Tahoe (since he is now on their team, btw) make this a contender (and likely a winner) for TWS Video Part of the Year.

C$

This last week Pathfinder has received the majority of our Burton Boards, Bindings, Boots, and Apparel so make sure to come down and pick your gear up before its gone. New Boards include the Burton Whammy Bar (Bob Marley Edition). This board is part of the Restricted Program, which means that not only is it a collectors edition but there are only a few of these things out there. Also we have the new CobraShark Binding, which our Global Domination Team Rider Corey Snyder has been riding for the last several months of last season. He loves this binding and it loves him, giving him plenty of flex but at the same time being super supportive of all that extra style that guys got to offer. Look for it hanging on our binding wall, it's pretty easy to find.


Also be on the lookout for the New Burton Hail Restricted Boot. This boot is super comfortable, is really supportive, and uses Burton's new EST Footbed to bring you closer to the board.

Todd's back for another year, but this year with a movie. Check out the webisode, and look for more Featured Todcasts to come.



-Andrew

Hello from beautiful Boulder, CO!

Travis Parker is back filming and has gone back to K2 Snowboarding in the newest video from the Airblaster crew. Respect Your Elders looks to be about what Airblaster has always been about, having a good time with friends and making snowboarding a passion instead of just a paycheck. Check out this trailer and look for the video to drop at Pathfinder later next week.

Respect Your Elders Teaser from Resourceful Gnome on Vimeo.

Just in time for the biggest rain storm in months, Pathfinder of West Virginia has received our latest shipment of Crash Pads and other bouldering accessories. We have everything that your looking for from chalk, to pads, to an excellent selection of Five Ten Climbing Shoes. So here's what we got in.

So this year marks the second year that Mr. Rice has been on a board featuring C2 Power Banana. This wonderful concoction of camberness and reverse camberness has been unleashed onto the snowboarding populous and has been doing some major damage. It always seems like Mervin MFG (Lib-Tech, GNU, and ROXY) invent it, and then it winds up on everyone else's sales radars. But in all honesty this thing is ridiculous. Allow me to explain.

First: The board is handmade in the USA! Billy Joel and The Boss hand press every one of these things, and then Clint Eastwood sharpens the edges with his teeth. But seriously, the fact that everything that goes into the board is put there in Sequim, Washington means something special.

Second: The board not only has C2 Power Banana (if you don't know what this is read the article below), it also has Magne-traction! Mag is the technology that helps you grip, and is easy to see. Just look at most Mervin MFG boards and you'll notice that the edge is "wavy". There are seven different waves on each side. On a traditional "straight" snowboard you flex the board and it makes an arc into the snow. This only gives you two contact points at the base of that arc. With Mag, the "wavy" edge turns to a straight edge when flexed. So, that not only gives you a full edge contact from tip to tail, but then it also gives you a pressure point underneath each one of those little waves. The result is a board that grips (even when you tune down your edges) amazingly well and You Will Never Slide Out Again...

Third: This board has soooo much technology in the core. Three layers of wood, at least 6 carbon stringers that run tip to tail, and a cool newer material called Golden Fleece. Golden fleece is basalt (yup 8th grade Earth Science all over again) that is heated into a liquid and then cooled into a thread like shape. They then take the basalt strings and weave them into a sheet. That sheet becomes impregnated with epoxy and is then used under the top sheet of the board instead of fiberglass. This not only makes the board perform way better in and out of turns, but it makes it lighter and sounds really cool when your talking to your earth conscious buds because your doing something for the environment.

Fourth and Lastly: The last bit about this board is that it rides amazingly well. I will admit that I was a little scared to ride this board in the past, I mean the guy uses it to do double corks on 100ft, gapped, backcountry jumps in powder. But it's actually really forgiving, and super fast. It only took me a couple of turns before you understand how the board wants you to react. Once C2 and Mag are under your feet the board literally does most of the work for you. At Snowshoe this year this board was easily the fastest and most stable board I have ever ridden, and it could handle all of the really stupid things I usually do to a snowboard. Its just really nimble and fun with a big scoop of speed and durability.

So get yourself some good ole' American Pride and pick yourself up a Lib C2 T. Rice Soon. Because others already have your's in mind.

Andrew

This new tidbit from the VideoGrass crew is truly special. Especially the Justin Benee bit at the :28 second mark. Pretty spectacular, I mean Mikey Leblanc, come on! Should have all our videos, including this one in beginning of next week. Get One or Two, Or What the hell buy em all and make me order More! These guys from VideoGrass are excellent!

This past weekend Zach Fowler and I headed into the Roaring Plains to do some backpacking. The Roaring Plains is a Wilderness Area that is located in the Monongahela National Forest on the opposite side of Forest Road 19 from Dolly Sods. The weather was great and everything was really dry, but the dryness sped up the turning of the leaves in the area so it left us with some really spectacular views.

For a long time the only shape that snowboarders had to choose from was Camber. This magical core bending process was brought to snowboards through technologies harnessed within ski manufacturing. Camber was good for many reasons. For all of you out there that would like a little visual, cambered basically means that the board sits flat on the tip and tail and the center of the board bows up off the ground in the middle. When you go and stand of the board, your weight pushes the center of the board down towards the ground, thus storing potential energy. When you put the board into a turn that potential energy is transfered out to the edge and then you release it when you come out of the turn. The more energy you put into the board the harder, faster, and more edgy your turn can become. This was the promise of Camber.

However there were negatives to this shape. The most obvious is the fact that your nose and tail are flat on the ground at all times. This puts your edges directly in line with the snowpack while cruising at speed. One little bump, nook, cranny, or undulating snow pack, and it would give you an uneasy feeling. Like you were stuck between two walls bouncing your board around and making you feel uncomfortable. Also, when turning your board it became essential to pick up the nose and tail before turning so that you didn't catch your edge and end up on your backside. I know I can speak from experience that you get lazy every once and a while and the boards edge would surprise you by bucking you around.
So four years ago, along comes Reverse Camber or better known by its sub-company names of Banana (Lib Tech), V-Rocker (Burton), Rocker Technology (K2 Snowboards), and Chili Dogg (Forum).  For a lot of people the rise of Reverse Camber was a long awaited and amazing thing. Lib Technologies released their Skate Banana and the world of snowboarding changed forever. It made snowboarding so easy! But not just for beginners, even the pros and everyday peeps were riding this new shape and loving it for everything from backcountry powder to urban rail gardens. The key to Reverse Camber's secret is that the core bends in the opposite way a Camber board's does. There is a slight pinch in the very center of the board and then the board rose gradually out towards the nose and tail. Think of a V or a Banana.

  The positive of this shape is that it keeps your nose and tail up off of the ground when you shift your weight on the board. Cruising at high speed and wondering where your edges are? On a Reverse Camber board as long as you shift your weight around naturally those edges of yours will be up giving you a free feeling that won't leave you boxed in like a Cambered board. For beginners it was like bowling with bumper guards, since most beginners have no idea where their edges are. Now, they don't have to worry about where their edges are and the learning curve is that much easier. For experienced riders it was amazing because now you had all this extra play in the board. You could ride switch easier, learn all those elusive tricks and not worry about catching an edge and paying a huge price if your edge caught. It also allowed for more float in deep snow and more room for error on rails and boxes.

But there was a downside to Reverse Camber. Cambered boards allowed the rider to put pressure into the board and have that spring called "pop". Since Reverse Camber boards were already flexed in that direction, it was hard to store energy into the core and get a lot of "pop". Reverse Camber boards almost had a noodle like feel to them when you were carving on them or getting ready to power off a jump. You just couldn't get the snap out of them like you could with a Cambered Board.

Now enter the next generation of snowboarding. If Camber is good for some things and Reverse Camber is good for others than what if a company made a board that had both. What do you know, They Have! Now we have boards from Lib Tech (C2 Power Banana), Burton (Flying-V), Never Summer (Rocker and Camber), and Forum (Combo Platter) that use both of these technologies in a harmonious blend. They are pinched like a Reverse Camber board in the center, however they rise and fall with Camber under the bindings, and then back to a Reverse Camber shape in the nose and tail. The Best of Both Worlds! Now you can lean back and get all that float that you love from a Reverse Camber board, but still have all the power and stored potential energy right underneath your feet.

So there you have it folks your three major Cambers within the Snowboard world; Camber, Reverse Camber, and both at the same time! No matter what your looking for in your next board make sure to check out all the options to figure out which version is best for you. See you all soon.

Andrew

This morning, fresh from Massachusetts, 5 boxes of Vibram Five Fingers arrived at our store. We received KSO, KSO Trek, KSO Trek Sport, Bikila, and Performa Jane models. I will tell you that the number of sizes are limited, but for the most part we have received size runs in all the models mentioned above. Also I should mention that it is extremely important to have a Pathfinder employee measure your foot to determine the correct size. The chart on Vibram's website can be very confusing, and also EVERY model fits differently. That being said, unless you already own a pair of VFFs in the size and model you are looking for, we would strongly urge you to come in and allow us to fit you. Other than that we hope to see you soon. 

The seventh installment to the Bear Mountain Park Movies. "Paint it Red" A flick with more then enough riding and fun vibes.

"Paint It Red" New Bear Mountain Park Movie from Bear Mountain on Vimeo.

New video from Transworld Snowboarding and the Helgasons out at Super Park. Double Cork off the knuckle at the end is pretty spectacular.

Enjoy!

Over the last two weeks we have been getting in our 2010/2011 Snowboard gear. With over 100 boards, boots, and bindings in stock from the top Snowboard companies, Pathfinder of West Virginia is proud to be West Virginia's largest snowboard shop. We are also excited to tell you that we will be carrying the following brands for the Winter 2010/2011 season.

Snowboards: Burton, Lib Technologies, GNU, ROXY, K2 Snowboards, Forum, DC, and Never Summer.
Bindings: Burton, Union, K2 Snowboards, and Forum.
Boots: Thirty-Two, Burton, DC, and K2 Snowboards.
Outerwear: Burton, DC, ROXY, Special Blend, Quicksilver, Nomis, and Celtek.

Please make sure to check back for product reviews, team rider videos, and general posts on everything from your local resort's park updates to new products received in the store. We look forward to serving all of your snowboarding needs, and make sure to give us a call with any questions you might have. Our knowledgeable staff is ready and waiting to help make your winter that much more enjoyable.

They're Finally Here!
  After months of waiting for them, our Fall Preseason has shipped and we now have Men's and Women's Vibram Five Fingers In Stock. All of the models too from the KSO to the Sprint, and also with two new models the Bikila and the KSO TrekSport. The Men's Bikila has not arrived yet but the Women's is here in limited sizes. We have roughly 35 pairs in stock, so make sure you come get your pair quick because we only have single units per size. If you haven't tried a pair of Five Fingers on you should, they are our favorite footwear for every outdoor activity. Going kayaking or canoeing for the weekend, grab a pair of Flows or KSOs. Looking for something new and interesting to log your running miles with, grab a pair of Bikilas or some TrekSports. These things might look weird, but they fit great and will build your foot's muscles and give you a more comfortable experience than any other footwear on the market. Come try a pair today!

July Frogskins have finally arrived! And they're sweet! I know a couple of you have been looking for these illusive things, and we got two pair. So come get them, while they still last.
Oakley Frogskins Collectors Edition
Purple/Clear Fade/ Violet Iridium
$110.00

Josh Zerkel's part in the upcoming Pathfinder Movie "Always Strapped"

Josh Zerkel 2010 from IAN MACY on Vimeo.

GIVE BACK, WIN BIG:

The Bahati Foundation was created by 2008 National Pro Criterium Champion and eight-time national champion Rahasan Bahati and is dedicated to empowering inner-city youth through cycling, education, and music. Join the cause and give back. Bid on this amazing, one-off bike on eBay from now until May 23rd. The winner will be announced at the final stage of this year’s Amgen Tour of California.

AMAZING ONE-OF-A-KIND STYLE:

Mike Giant is a name whispered in dark alleys and screamed on screens of Hollywood. An icon in the intersection of tattoo, bicycling and illustration, his works are truly art. We’re honored to have his support of Cannondale and the Bahati Foundation. 

BEST STIFFNESS-TO-WEIGHT:

Cannondale’s engineers have again shaved weight without sacrificing stiffness with the most cutting edge technology, making the new SuperSix an extraordinarily efficient road machine with a perfected “lively” road feel. For the Bahati Foundation team, the SuperSix Hi-MOD is their weapon of choice.

For More Pictures and Write Up Check out www.highsnobiety.com
Also Check Out the full Spec Sheet at www.cannondale.com
Bid On This Bike

So here's this weeks Todcast. It comes all the way from Whistler, BC and chronicles the ridiculous life of the Dingo, a man or something that no one seems to understand. Interesting to finally see what he looks like when he's not wearing a million bandanas and four pairs of sunglasses. Thanks for cutting through the mystery for us Todd.

Follow Todd as he shows you the in's and the out's of his life in Encinitas. Not to bad at Surfing either...

Just In Today!

Rootbeer/ Cyan Fade with Blue Iridium Lenses. We got three pairs, and with all of these colors there are only 500 Worldwide, so get them while they last.

So, as I sit here getting ready to go surf, I figured I would add a new Todcast up to the site. Here Todd and the other Quicksilver Guys Louie Fountain and Bryan Fox go head to head in the So-Cal Trifecta vs Todfecta. Check it out...

Over the weekend the Appalachian Bicycle Racing Association (ABRA) put on the first race in their Appalachian Road Race Series, the Morgantown Road Race. The weather was beautiful, the course was amazing, and there were plenty of smiling faces at the start and the finish. I left Pathfinder around 10:45 and headed up to Mount Morris for a 12:00pm start time. When I got there I met up with Gary and Traci Rodosta, Matt Kettering, Marc Glass, and Kean Bird at the registration. Everyone was pretty excited for the first race of the season, and we were all ready to get things started. The Wednesday Night Ride for the last couple of weeks had been extremely positive, with a showing of around 20-25 people each week, so we all wanted to see how our legs would fair in a race. As we all lined up for our respective start lines I talked with the rest of Team Pathfinder (James Braswell, Scott Benson, Nate Annon, and Ryan Flesher). James, Nate, and Scott were in the Cat 4/5 race and they have all been training hard all season long. Scott and Nate even went to Georgia over a month ago to get some extra climbing training with a weeklong spring training camp. James has also been doing a fair amount of training and racing with the WVU Cycling Team this spring. Ryan and I were in the Cat 5 race, and just wanted to race hard and get an idea where we both stood. This was the first road race I have done in quite some time, I think the 2007 Barbour Detour was the last race I had competed in.



The course for the event was 47 miles long and featured 7 major climbs and a lot of undulating roads perfect for some great pace-lines. So the course started in Mount Morris and went North on Route 19 towards the Kirby Road intersection. It then took a left and went out Kirby Road for about 5 or 6 miles. Then the race took a left turn and went up the first climb of the day on Wades Run Road. The climb featured a long first accent, with a big switch back, and then a shorter steep section up to the chapel at the top of Big Shannon Road. Then the race dropped down Big Shannon Road until a right hand turn up Mile Climb. After Mile Climb the race would then descend down to Combat (Rudolph Run Road) and continue out till the climb up to Gump (intersection of Rudolph Run Road and Claughton Chapel Road). Then after a great descent the course took a right hand turn and went along Route 218 for roughly 5 miles. Then, just outside of Waynesburg, PA the race took a right onto Cook Street and preceded to climb up to the two major climbs of the day (Sugar Grove 1 and 2). Sugar Grove 1 is just under a mile long and is fairly gradual, where as Sugar Grove 2 is much shorter and steeper than its bigger brother. I believe the grade on Sugar Grove 1 is probably somewhere around 8 or 9, where as Sugar Grove 2 starts at around 10, then goes to 15, and then back down to around 12 before a steeper section just before the top around 15-16 percent grade. Easily put, it hurts. After Sugar Grove 2 there is a long descent back down onto the Kirby Road that lasts around 4 or 5 miles. Then the race turns left back onto Wades Run Road to repeat the first hill again. The race then finished with a descent down Big Shannon like before but then instead of turning right at Mile Climb the race continued on down Big Shannon Road for 4 or 5 miles until finishing just outside of Mount Morris.

At the start of the Cat 5 race around 50 people were ready to go, and the mood was very positive. We had a neutral roll out for about a mile until we reached Route 19 just outside Mount Morris. Soon after there were 5 guys on the front from the Evolution Cycling Team in DC. I managed to get in between them and sat around the 3rd wheel back. They had one guy on their team that made me look tiny, as he was probably 6'5 and around 200lbs. It was a nice change to sit on someone's wheel and catch a good draft. As we rolled along they elevated the pace and the race began to take some shape. Then going up the first minor climb on 19 Jack Ditty took off the front on his new Cannondale Super Six. It was his first road race, and he looked great with a big old smile on his face as he came around me. We caught up to him on the downhill into the Kirby Road intersection, and he moved back into the field. Then after several miles of pace-lining on Kirby Road we reached the first major climb. Several guys from Evolution moved to the front and elevated the pace again. As the grade got steeper there went Jack again with the same smile. The field surged and as we approached the switchback in the middle of the climb two guys from Evolution surged off the front and I went after them. Just as this happened I heard the unfortunate sound of wheels and metal on the ground. Going around the hairpin turn a rider had gone down right in the middle of the pack and took out several others around him. The Evolution guys saw this and took off again. By the top of the climb the three of us were away and grouped up to attack the descent. As we moved clear three others moved up to us and we formed a solid 6 person pace-line down towards Mile Climb. At the start of Mile Climb there were probably 10 of us at the front, with no other sight of the rest of the field. We all managed to stay together until the top of the climb when Jeremy Edwards (Evolution Cycling Team) drilled it off the front. No one could respond and that was the last time any of us saw him. I sat up an conserved my energy because the Combat road section was into the wind and false flat the wrong way. When I got to the bottom of the descent I caught up with James-Sebastian Byers (Artemis Cycling) and the two of us successfully took turns doing work for each other all the way up Gump and then down to 218 outside of Waynesburg. We were sitting in probably 5th and 6th when on Route 218 four riders caught up to us in a group that was setting a blistering pace. They flew by us and it was all that we could do for the next mile to catch back up to them and work as a unit. Now in the 6 person pace-line we sped along towards Waynesburg at around 30mph. It was ridiculous how fast we were going as several cars tried to pass us but had to ramp it up to have enough speed to get around. I should also mention that for the majority of the race there was a strong headwind and the temperatures on course were around 90 degrees.

Then we reached the Sugar Grove climbs. The first climb saw several of the riders move up and climb away from me. However on the descent I caught back up to them and then worked to catch the others up the road. By the top of the second Sugar Grove Climb I could see three riders that had moved off the front of our group. Now at this point I had gone through 4 water bottles and 4 Clif Shots, and I was pretty much tapped out as far as anything resembling energy or water was concerned. Thats when the man of the hour appeared at the top of the climb. There was this guy running along with an entire case of bottled water, handing it out to the riders. I lost it! As I screamed at him with a huge smile on my face he tossed me a bottle and I preceded to drink half of it and pour the rest of it down my jersey and all over my cramping legs. That did the trick and I surged, passed the three riders in front of me and began my descent down Kirby Road towards the last climb of the race. I stood up the entire time up the last climb to the Chapel and then drilled it down Big Shannon Road. I was surprised at how my legs felt although if I stopped spinning it was obvious that my hamstrings were on their way out. After passing several riders I moved into the outskirts of Mount Morris and into the last turn, up a short climb and into the finishing straight with a time of 2:35 in eighth place.

So for the first race of the season, everyone had a blast, Nate Annon grabbed 3rd Place in the Cat 4/5 Race, and Team Pathfinder had a great start to the season. I lot of thanks go out to the Petscos for putting on an amazing race, all of the volunteers that worked at corners and turns to make sure we were focused and upbeat, and to Gunnar, J.R., and their band of dust covered street sweepers that made it possible to do this race without the ever constant fear of cinders and flats.



Thanks for Reading and Congrats to Everyone on an Excellent Race!

-Andrew