The week ahead ...

Before the monsoon rains come, here are a few quick reminders for the week ahead .... 

• We are doing some trail work on Sat., Oct. 2 at Jungle Habitat from 9-12:30 p.m. It seems crazy to think so far ahead, but these hours will be applied to your 2011 PayDirt hours for those who are racing (or thinking of racing!) - so come on out and join us!
• Also on Saturday, we are hosting our Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day ride at Jungle Habitat from 1-3 p.m. We could still use one or two more ride leader/sweep volunteers, so if you have 2 hours on Saturday, consider coming out and joining us! The kids are always so excited, and your only job is to watch them ride! If you are available, please drop us a line. 
• Next weekend, we have our trip to Kingdom Trails, Vermont - a really great trip, especially as the fall colors are just coming out! More details can be found here, and of course, let us know if you have any questions. 
• Also next weekend, the IMBA Trail Care Crew is visiting Ringwood! This is a great opportunity to learn trail building and maintenance from the pros! It is a two day event, but if you can only make Saturday, that's fine too, just let them know! Registration and more info here on the IMBA site. 

Get your rides in today, before you need something with oars - and have a great weekend!

Tuesday night ride CANCELED for September 28!!

Too much rain, too much mud, too many tornado warnings - we'll try again next week! 

Reminders for the week!

Couple of quick reminders - 

• We are scheduled to go for our first night ride of the season tomorrow night, but the weather may not cooperate with us .... Stay tuned for an update! More info on times and place can be found here . If tomorrow doesn't work, we'll give it another shot next Tuesday!
• Don't forget - the deadline for Team Town Cycle uniform re-orders is Thursday, September 30! If you need an order form, let us know. Payment is due in full with the order, no exceptions! Either get it in the mail quick (P.O. Box 557, West Milford, NJ  07480), or drop it off at the shop no later than Thursday!
• Saturday, October 2 is a trail work day at Jungle Habitat - get started on your PayDirt hours for 2011! We'll bring the tools, you bring gloves and water. Meet us at the gate at 9 a.m. - we'll work until about 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 2 is also our Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day at Jungle Habitat! We'll have snacks courtesy of Clif and goodies courtesy of IMBA and Town Cycle. Bring your kid, your neighbor's kid, your friend's kid, nieces, nephews, grandkids - whoever! We'll be at Jungle Habitat from 1-3 p.m. More details in the flyer . 
• The final race of the 2010 Campmor H2H series is on Sunday, Oct. 3 at Ringwood State Park. Come cheer Team Town Cycle on, come race (for the first time, or the first time in a long time!) - it'll be a great day either way! 

Let us know if you need any more information - info@teamtowncycle.com

Last chance for PayDirt - deadline is September 30!

Campmor H2H racers - make sure you have your PayDirt hours done - Sept. 30 is the deadline! Tom Hennigan will be leading a crew in Jungle Habitat from 10-2 p.m. on Sunday if you need just another hour or two! More information can be found here .

Time for night rides!

We might be losing daylight hours, but we're not ready to give up riding! Join Jeff Mergler from JORBA who will be leading an intermediate paced social ride on Tuesday nights (starting September 28) at Jungle Habitat. What's that mean? Well, it means it's not a training ride, nor is it a beginner ride, and we have a no-drop policy. Meet at the JH gates at 5:45, so we can be ready to roll by 6 p.m. We'll ride for about 2 hours.


Check out JORBA for more info .... and please - test your lights out before Tuesday!! 

Final King of the Mountain ride for 2010

Yes, it's that time already. Sunday, September 26 is the final King of the Mountain road ride for 2010. Just to make this ride more exciting, double points will be awarded on each of the climbs. That should shake up the standings a bit! Prems will be awarded for each climb, so shake out those legs and get ready to climb!

If you want to check out the route ahead of time, here it is. Do a little stealth training or reconnaissance, grab your road bike, and ride with us! We'll meet at Town Cycle and roll off at 9 a.m. - we won't wait for late arrivals, so be on time! 

As always, any questions, let us know. And don't be chicken - come out and climb with us!

The 2010 Rumble in the Jungle is in the books!

What can we say but WOW! Mother Nature gave us a perfect day for the 4th Annual Rumble in the Jungle, and all of our racers gave us a great show - there were some awesome battles going on out there! Thanks to all of you who showed up and gave our course your best - we hope you enjoyed our unique Jungle Habitat experience! 
We'll be updating this post with all the results as the day goes on, but for now, here are Cat. 3 and Cat. 2 results...    All categories now posted!!!

• Cat. 3 Results, 2010 Rumble in the Jungle
• Cat. 2 Results, 2010 Rumble in the Jungle
• Cat. 1 Results, 2010 Rumble in the Jungle
• Thanks to our friend James Van Zetta, some pictures of the day are posted here .

Thanks to all of you who brought items for our food drive - we'll be dropping off 4 very, very large boxes of food at the Center for Food Action in Ringwood tomorrow, and I know they appreciate your generosity tremendously!

Finally, we can't let one very important group go unacknowledged - our volunteers! As usual, we had a great group of people who helped out not only on race day but in the days before (and after!) the race - working on trails, marking the course, being course marshals, running registration and scoring, volunteering their time (and tables and EZ-Ups!), and doing many other thankless jobs - all to make this event a great success. We know we couldn't do it without you - THANK YOU!

Beginners ride, Tuesday, Jungle Habitat

We're still catching our breath from our fantastic race yesterday (more on that later!), but we still have riding to do, right? So ...

We're teaming up with Jeff Mergler from JORBA to show beginners around a bit of Jungle Habitat - and Jeff is just the guy to do it! Let's meet at 5:30 p.m. at the JH gate, and roll off by 5:45 p.m. As fall approaches, we're losing the light in the evenings, so this will be our last week. Bring a friend, spouse, neighbor, whomever - and let them work on their skills and learn a bit of JH!

In another week or so, Jeff and JORBA will start an intermediate, "social paced" night ride at Jungle Habitat - lights required! Stay tuned for that announcement, and if you have any questions on either ride, drop us a line at info@teamtowncycle.com. 

Jungle Habitat race still open !

Pre-registration may have closed for our Rumble in the Jungle race, but that doesn't mean you can't race! You can register on-site tomorrow. Registration will open at 8 a.m., and closes 15 minutes before each race. Cat. 3 racers pay $31, Cat. 2 and Cat. 1 racers pay $36. Need a USA Cycling license? One day licenses are only $5!

Jungle Habitat is open today for pre-riding, so come on out and join us for a great race - and the NJ State Mountain Bike Championships!

Got any questions? Our race flyer with start times, etc. is here, or email us at info@teamtowncycle.com . And don't forget your food for our food drive - help us give back to our community!!

Pre-registration for Jungle Habitat closes today!

Just a quick reminder that pre-registration for our Campmor H2H Rumble in the Jungle closes today, Friday, at 11 p.m. The weather is going to be great, and for 2010, our race is the New Jersey State Mountain Bike Championship - you don't want to miss it! 

If you have already registered - thanks - and please don't forget to bring your non-perishable food item for our food drive - help us give back a little!

Course marking continues today - we got rained out a bit yesterday, but we'll be back at it this afternoon. If you are pre-riding later this afternoon or evening, keep an eye out for our crew. 

As always, let us know if you have any questions - info@teamtowncycle.com . Can't wait for Sunday!!

No Clinton Road ride for Friday, September 17

Due to race prep for our Jungle Habitat race on Sunday, we're going to cancel tonight's road ride. Check back in next week to see if we can squeeze in one more ride before we give up the ghost of Friday night rides this season! 

Rumble in the Jungle Updates

First - a quick reminder for all of you who are coming out to race. Just like last year, we are having a food drive for our local food pantries. Please bring a non-perishable food item to the race so that we can help out some local families who have real need of it!

Secondly, our plan was to start putting the course arrows up this afternoon/evening. The impending rain may force us to change our plans a bit. If we do get rained out today, we'll be at it tomorrow afternoon/evening. The most important thing is that the weather looks great for Sunday, so we'll take a little rain today!

As always, let us know if you have questions - info@teamtowncycle.com .

Team Town Cycle kicks it at Blue Mountain!

We don't always talk about individual race results here, but we're going to make an exception this week, because Team Town Cycle had a most awesome showing at the Campmor H2H race at Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill. From Cat. 3 to Cat. 1, our guys (and girls!!!) showed everyone how it should be done! 


Congratulations to Amy McCann, who finished 3rd in the Cat. 3 Womens 19-39 class - nice job Amy! In the Cat. 2 race, big props to Chris Walsh, who won the 50+ Mens race - woohoo! Also in Cat. 2, a big slap on the back to Dillon Van Wart for his win and to Adam Vandenbos for his 2nd place finish in the Jr. Men 15-18 class - these kids are fast and pass an awful lot of adults when they race! Rich Vandenbos gets an "attaboy" just for finishing - he's been off the bike for more than a month, so finishing is a big victory! Finally, in Cat. 1, David Kahl was on fire and won the Men's 40-49 race, while Jason Grossi came in a hard fought 3rd. To round it all out, David Van Wart placed third in the Cat. 1 Mens singlespeed class - making it a really fantastic day for Team Town Cycle. 


If you want to see Team Town Cycle in action, don't forget to join us this Sunday, September 19 at our own Campmor H2H race, the Rumble in the Jungle! The last H2H race of the season is at Ringwood State Park on October 3, hosted by our good friends at Black Bear Cycling. Better yet - come race with us!

IMBA Trail Care Crew in Ringwood October 9-10

Our friends over at Ringwood State Park will be hosting a visit from the IMBA Trail Care Crew on October 9-10. This is a rare opportunity to get some advice and education from trail building pros! 

Chris and Leslie Kehmeier of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew will be in Ringwood for a Trailbuilding School. The Crews teach sustainable trail building, which means building trails that last a long time and require minimal maintenance. This helps reduce trail damage, protects the environment and enhances visitor enjoyment. Join the crew for a social event, day of trail building and fun ride!

If you are interested, check out the link here and register today! https://www.imba.com/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=58 - and tell your friends!

Reminder - Tuesday night beginner rides at Jungle Habitat!

Just a reminder about our joint TTC/JORBA beginner rides on Tuesday nights at Jungle Habitat. Meet-up at 5:30 - we'll try to roll between 5:45-6 p.m. Bring a friend, neighbor, spouse - we have a few nice beginner loops to take you on! 

Let us know if you have any questions - info@teamtowncycle.com !

Weekend rides for Sept. 10-12

We have two rides for you this weekend - one road, one in the woods.

• Our weekly Friday night road ride on Clinton Road! Daylight is leaving us, so make sure you join us while you can. Let's ride by 6 p.m. - meet at the old Village Square Inn on Route 23 in Newfoundland. These Friday night rides will soon disappear for the year, so we hope to see you out there
• Saturday, September 11 - Heather and David Kahl will lead a medium paced mountain bike ride over at Blue Mountain Reservation, previewing Sunday's Campmor H2H race course. Meet time is 10 a.m. They will meet in the parking lot near the start…past the entry Kiosk and bear left at the entrance. Directions to Blue Mountain are here . Even if you aren't planning on racing on Sunday, if you're up for a mountain bike ride, you should check out Blue Mountain - it's a great place to ride!
• Just a reminder - for anyone who is going riding at Jungle Habitat this weekend - the air show is going on all weekend next door, and the parking lot at JH will be used for parking. Please be aware of all the extra vehicular and pedestrian traffic as you come and go - and there may be traffic entering and exiting Airport Road during peak hours. 

Have a great weekend everybody, and good luck to everyone who is racing at Blue Mountain this weekend!

Jealous of our new kits?

Our new kits came in about 4 weeks ago, and they are awesome!

Dillon models the long sleeve jersey

So, you say you missed out on our pre-order, and now you are having kit envy? Well, lucky for you - we can help with that! We're doing a limited re-order - jerseys and shorts only - so here's your second chance!

Short sleeve jersey and shorts, front and back

If you are interested, shoot us an email at info@teamtowncycle.com, and we'll get you an order form. Forms and payment in full (orders will not be accepted without payment!) are due by September 30, so get off your duff and get your order in!

Beginnings (or Beginners!) and Endings

A quick reminder that tonight is our first Tuesday night beginner mountain bike ride at Jungle Habitat! Meet us at 5:30 at the Jungle Habitat gate - we'll try to roll out between 5:45-6:00 for an hour or so beginner paced ride. A great way to work on some skills while being shown around Jungle Habitat!

All good things must come to an end, and so we wistfully announce that Wednesday, September 8 will be the last Ladies Night Clinton Road ride of the season! It's been a great season, and we really appreciate all of you who made it out to one of our rides. Sherri Albrecht will be leading this last ride of the season, and we hope you can make it. We'll meet, as usual, at the old Village Square Inn on Rt. 23 in Newfoundland. Due to the shortening daylight hours, we'll start at 5:45 p.m.

Again, thanks to all of the ladies who joined us over the last few months, and stay tuned - we are planning a little end of season Ladies Night dinner - we'll let you know the details as soon as we can!

Save these dates!

A few date reminders to share -

• September 19 - Rumble in the Jungle - NJ State Mountain Bike Championship! Need we say more? Come out and race it, work it or watch it - we want you there!
• October 2 - Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. We had a great ride last year, and once again IMBA will hook us with snacks, stickers, etc. All the info is here - bring your kid, someone else's kid - doesn't matter!
• October 9-10 - the IMBA Trail Care Crew is going to be visiting Ringwood State Park. This is a rare opportunity to learn from the pros all the ins and outs of trail building and maintenance. We'll announce all of the info on the blog early next week.
• October 7-11 - Kingdom Trails trip! Great time of year to visit Vermont! Details are here .
• November 7 - our second annual Cyclocross at The Hidden Valley Club! Our race is also the NJ State Championship race for 2010, so all the more fun! Official blog announcement soon, but information is in the flyer .
• November 12 - our year end Team Town Cycle dinner at High Crest Lodge, 7 p.m. More details forthcoming as we get closer ...

So there you go - a few things to pencil in on your calendar! As always, let us know if you have any questions - we're happy to help!

Have a great weekend!

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day is October 2!

Our 2009 Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day ride!

We're very excited to once again partner with IMBA to host Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day! Last year's event was a great success (even if we did get rained on a bit!), so we're hoping for even more riders this year.

This year the event will be on Saturday, October 2, from 1-3 p.m. at our favorite local riding spot, Jungle Habitat. We'll have snacks, water, stickers and maybe even a few prizes for all the kids, so mark the calendar, gather the short set, and join us! All of the information can be found here, and you can always find a link to our flyer on the left sidebar.

As always, let us know if you have any questions - info@teamtowncycle.com . This is one of our favorite events of the year, so we hope you'll be able to join us!

Rumble in the Jungle GPS files now available!

As promised, here is a link to MTB Guru, where you can download the 2010 Rumble in the Jungle GPS file. There is a printable map there as well, but it doesn't have the trails labeled so might be a bit hard to follow. Special thanks to Tom Hennigan of the NJ Bike Patrol for hooking us up with the GPS file.

He also did a great aerial overlay for us with Google Earth - fun to see it over the "real" terrain! Please note - the trail overlay has a slight shift in it. When you come through the tunnels, you travel out into the parking lot to finish. Very cool to see it from this angle - thanks Tom!

Links to all of the available maps and GPS files will be on the left sidebar for future reference, underneath the heading of "Rumble in the Jungle". Any questions or problems, let us know - info@teamtowncycle.com . Enjoy!

Details for Trip to Kingdom Trails, VT

As promised - here are some additional details!

We are planning a Team Town Cycle trip for the club to go to Northeast Kingdom, East Burke Vt. The dates are October 7 – 11^th (Columbus Day weekend). Anyone who is interested would need to make lodging arrangements on their own. If you need help in this area, you can contact Laurie from Burke Mill Properties at 802-626-1161. If anyone has any questions, let us know - we'll put you in touch with Heather, our trip planner extraordinaire - she'll get you the answers you need!

As always - drop us a line with questions - info@teamtowncycle.com . This is going to be a great trip at the perfect time of year to see the beautiful fall Vermont foliage and ride on some great trails - we hope you can join us!

Rumble in the Jungle updates

With only two weekends between now and the Rumble in the Jungle race on September 19, we know some of you might be headed to our local playground (a.k.a. Jungle Habitat!) looking to get in a few practice laps. A few warnings for you as you head to the park...

1. On Saturday, September 4, the West Milford PAL will be holding fireworks at Jungle Habitat. The gates open for the event at 4:30 p.m., and of course there will be activity beforehand in the parking lots. Traffic may be heavy, and parking sketchy, especially later in the day, so plan your visit accordingly.
2. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 10-12, there will be an air show taking place next door to Jungle Habitat at the Greenwood Lake Airport. Last year, there were thousands of people at the show on Saturday. The gates to Jungle Habitat will be open, and visitors to the air show will be parking there. At peak hours, there will be traffic delays both entering and leaving Airport Road. There may be more people than usual wandering the trails as well, so please be mindful of the additional pedestrian traffic. The park will be open to all - just be aware the crowds will be there as well!
3. Many of you are looking for a course map. Well, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that we will run the course with the GPS tomorrow, and hope to have a file up for you over the weekend. The bad news is that the only other map we have to share with you until then is the one we colored with the kids' crayons ... in other words, it's bad, and yes, we know it. However, it'll give you the basic idea, so here it is. The connectors you use to jump from one trail to another may not obvious on the map or as you ride - our apologies. We appreciate your patience! Keep checking back in for GPS files, pre-rides, and course marking updates!

As always, we'll post updates as we get closer - any questions, drop us a line at info@teamtowncycle.com .

NYC Three Bridges Ride for Sunday, September 5

By Sunday, all of the hurricane threats will have passed, the temperatures will be in the 70's - perfect for a tour around NYC! We'll hit the 3 big bridges - GWB, Manhattan & Brooklyn. We will meet at KC’s Bagels on Route 23 South in Pompton Plains at 10:30am, Sunday, September 5. This ride is for experienced riders - if you haven't ridden in groups before, or in traffic, we suggest you try out one of our other road rides first. Heather Kahl will be your tour guide for this adventure - if you want any more information, you can contact her at heatherk@acdsecurity.com

Have a great weekend, and if you have a chance, check out the latest on our youngest Team Town Cycle members - they are doing us proud!!