And coming up next ....

Wow, it's hard to believe July 4th is one week from today! Besides our usual Wednesday and Friday rides, here's a few things coming up ....

• Yes, it's true - June 30th is the return of free Thursday Night XC rides at Mountain Creek! Make sure you go to the Mountain Creek bike shop in the Red Tail Lodge to get your free XC lift ticket BEFORE meeting us at base of the lift at 5:30 p.m., and we'll take you on a tour of the XC trails at Mountain Creek. Hangout out afterwards in the beer garden and catch the end of the Thursday Night downhill races and serenade us with your best karaoke!
• Monday, July 4th - bring the kiddies and all to our rails to trails ride up in Lafayette, NJ. We'll leave from the Millside Cafe, 12 Morris Farm Rd, Lafayette Township, NJ 07848 at 11 a.m. Bring cash for a post ride nosh at the Cafe! 
• Advance notice - Wednesday, July 6th  (NOT this week!) - our Ladies ride will instead be a ladies meet and greet at Kahl's for a lake tour and a drink! Ladies, please bring a snack and something to drink. 6 p.m. - if you need the address, send us an email and we'll hook you up! 

Happy summering, all!

Summer weekend rides

• Weather looks fantastic for tonight's MTB XC ride at Mountain Creek! Don't forget to pick up your lift ticket at the MC bike shop at the Red Tail Lodge before you meet us at the lift base at 5:30 p.m. Hang out afterwards for a beer and a brat at the biergarten - and always, karaoke!
• Friday Night Clinton Road ride - meet us at 65 LaRue Road, Newfoundland, wheels down at 6 p.m . 
• Can't make that? Join us on Saturday, July 25 - leaving from Silas Condict Park lower lot in Kinnelon at 8:30 a.m. 20-25 miles, moderate pace, no drop. 

The weather will be perfect for riding this weekend - join us!

Week ahead

July starts this week - that means it is honestly and truly summer! And with the holiday on Saturday, that means a 4 day work week for some - amen! 

Here's a few activities on the calendar for the week - 

• I Dig Tuesday trail build at JH - we keep trying and keep getting rained out, but we're determined! Meet us at the gate at 5:45 p.m. Paydirt eligible!
• Wednesday - ladies only road ride on Clinton Rd. Wheels down at 6 p.m. at our meeting place at the United Metthodist Church, 65 Larue Rd., Newfoundland.
• Also Wednesday - weather permitting - Full Moon ride at Jungle Habitat! Plug in those lights and meet us at the gate at 8 p.m. Check our Facebook and Twitter pages for weather updates.
• Thursday July 2 - XC rides resume at Mountain Creek! Get a free XC lift ticket for this ride! Make sure you go to the MC bike shop in the Red Tail Lodge to get your lift ticket, and meet us at base of the lift at 5:30 p.m. 
• Friday - of course, it's Friday night road ride, Clinton Rd. style! 

Stay tuned for more weekend fun - this should get you through the week! 

Rides and a Save the Date!

• Tomorrow, Thursday, October 2. Night ride at JH. Meet at 179 Cahill Cross Rd. (please park in the lot, but away from the businesses) - and of course, bring your lights! We'll ride for 1.5 hours, and don't worry - we'll leave no one behind! 
• Sunday, October 5 - join Quinton and Titus from the TTC downhill race team as they take you on a tour of the downhill trails at Mountain Creek! Meet them at the lift at the bottom of the hill at 11 a.m., ready to ride. They'll show you downhill trails and talk to you about all things downhill. If you are a JORBA member, you'll get a discount on a lift ticket, so bring your JORBA membership card and check it out!
• Save the date - Sunday October 19! Team Town Cycle, in partnership with Pro Power Endurance Coaching, will be presenting a mountain bike and cyclocross skills clinic at Wawayanda from 12-4 p.m. Mark the date on your calendar and stay tuned for more details! 

Questions - hit us up at info@teamtowncycle.com. 

Got rides?

• No ladies road ride this week (8/13) - yoga on the dock at Heather's instead. For more info - info@teamtowncycle.com.
• Thursday - pre-ride the XC course at Mountain Creek. Meet at the base of the lift at 5:30 - get your ticket at the bike shop before you meet us. 
• Friday - Friday night road ride - 'nuf said. 
• Hilltop Grasshopper Kids Race - North Caldwell, NJ - grades K-8 - always a great event! More info available here.
• Sunday - Jamis Bikes H2H Race #7 - Mountain Creek Summer Scramble - be there! More info can be found here. 
• Sunday, August 17 - for all you KOM chasers out there, TTC's BJ is putting together one of his famous KOM road rides! Wheels down from Town Cycle at 12:45 p.m. The route - many various up hill roads in the West Milford / Orange County area, covering such things as lakes, ski areas, fresh made ice cream, people dressed in sillier costumes than us, a manor in Ringwod, Dr. King's wife's road, Dairy Queen, and back to the shop. Ride should be about 3 hours and will regroup at the top of the climbs. Bring your climbing legs and aero helmet and throw down with the group!
• Also, please don't forget - the Greenwood Lake Air Show is this weekend (Aug. 15-17) - super fun show, so many cool planes, cars, etc. - great family event! However, if you were looking for a nice quiet ride at Jungle Habitat this weekend - this may not be your weekend. The air show will be using the lot for parking (and charging for it!), so plan accordingly. 
• Also, the West Milford Family Pump Track will be closed August 15-17 because of the air show - so take the kids to the air show instead, and use one of our other local parks for your rides this weekend! 

Ride!

Wednesday, July 30th - Ladies Clinton Road road ride, United Methodist Church, 65 LaRue Road, wheels down 6 p.m.

Thursday, July 31 - Dave VW and Jeff Lenosky leading XC ride at Mountain Creek Bike Park with free XC lift ticket - meet at the base of the lift at 5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 1 - the ever popular Friday night Clinton Road road ride, United Methodist Church, 65 LaRue Road, wheels down 6 p.m.

Be there.

Rides, more rides, and then some more rides!

• Thursday night TTC's Dillon VW is leading a XC ride at Mountain Creek - and it includes a free XC lift ticket! Hit the bike shop for your lift ticket before you meet him at the lift at 5:30 p.m. He'll give you a good tour of the XC trails at Mountain Creek!
• Saturday, July 26, TTC's Cliff and Diana will be going on an epic road ride in the Catskills. The route is 82 miles of paved and decent dirt roads. Elevation gain is 7,600 feet of climbing, with the worst grades at 14 to 16%. Road bikes with 25mm or larger tires will do fine, and you can make do with a rear cog of 26 teeth, but 28 teeth is definitely better. A cyclocross bike would be ideal! Bringing a spare tube is a good idea. The basic Strava route is here- http://www.strava.com/routes/589645. With all those hills and distance the ride won't be hard, just steady, with an average speed around 11-12 mph. They plan a deli stop or two along the way, and probably be rolling from Boiceville around 9:30 a.m. If you're interested, e-mail -diana.rooney@gmail.com, or give her a call/text at two zero one -566-five five two five.
• Also on Saturday, a special trail maintenance project is going on at Jungle Habitat. Meet at the gate at 9 a.m., bring water and gloves - we'll bring the rest. We'll work until noon. Paydirt eligible for all you H2H racers out there! 
• Sunday, July 27 is Race #3 in the NYS MTB series at Stewart, the SOS MTB Challenge. If you like Stewart, you'll love this race!
• Do you like good riding and good food? Would you like an event that combines both? Then you should definitely check out the Tour de Farm NJ! It's a cycling and tasting tour of NJ farms - gourmet farmer's breakfast, tastings at each farm, and healthy post-ride hors d'oeuvres. A few TTC members have already signed up, so join them and make it a party!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Racing recaps - distance and downhill!

We've been remiss in recapping the results of our TTC race team and club members for the last month or so, so here we go! Let's cover some endurance events and downhill racing first. 

• First up is the Wildcat Epic Events Wildcat 100 on Jun 28 - this is a great distance event just outside of New Paltz, NY, with a 50K, 100K, and 100 mile option. Lots of fun camping out, a great family run event. TTC's Norm Albrecht finished an outstanding 14th overall (11th in the Open Men Category) in the 100K race, and reported that the event is well worth the trip - check it out next year!
• Speaking of distance events, the always popular BearScat 50 took place on June 1, and as usual, TTC had a great showing. All the TTC riders finished both laps - woohoo! Norm Albrecht and Rich Vandenbos had strong showings in the Mens 45+ class, and Joe Neubig rode a strong singlespeed race, as did David Van Wart, who finished 3rd in that class. Brad Tasik, in his first BS50 at age 16, finished an awesome 20th, and Dillon Van Wart moved up a place from last year, finishing 9th in Open Men. They were joined by John Marshall, who also finished in the top half of the Open Men class. If you've ever thought of trying a distance event, this is a great one to start out with! 
• Downhill racing - our small but mighty downhill team has been rippin' it all season long! Back in May, Titus Nicholson got 1st place (U14 Men) and Quinton Johnson got 9th in 15-18 Men at the Eastern States Cup race at Mountain Creek. Quinton also finished 7th at the ESC race at Plattekill. At the Gravity East series races at Mountain Creek in June - Quinton got a 1st (U14) and Quinton a 7th in 15-18 Men. In Speculator, NY, Titus once again won the U14 class, and Quinton place 5th in the 15-18 Men's class. If you want to learn more about downhill racing, Mountain Creek has a fun Thursday night series - check it out! And you never know when people like World Cup racer Neko Mulally might show up .... just like he did a few weeks ago! 

Up next - XC, state champions and BMX!

Verge store closes tonight, plus a few ride reminders!

• The Verge store closes tonight, July 8th! If you want to get in on the lower shipping and handling, place your order by the end of the day today. Kits will be available again later, but you will pay a higher shipping cost, so take advantage of the savings, and order your gear today! 
• Ladies Road ride at Clinton Road will be on Wednesday, July 9, 6 p.m. - weather permitting. Don't forget our new meeting spot - 65 LaRue Road, Newfoundland, NJ - the United Methodist Church parking lot. 
• Thursday night, July 10, ride the XC trails at Mountain Creek with a free XC lift ticket - meet us at the lift (get your ticket first!) at 5:30. Lightning will close the lift (ask us how we know!) so keep that in mind. 
• Friday night Clinton Road ride - all welcome! Remember, new meeting spot - 65 LaRue Road, Newfoundland, NJ - the United Methodist Church parking lot.
• Next week, the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Nationals come to Bear Creek, PA. It's a great venue, and only 2 hours away. Any Cat. 3 or Cat. 2 riders are eligible to race - no need to qualify! The Nationals will head back out west again for 2 years after 2014, so this is a great chance to ride a national course, and tons of fun meeting people who have come from all over the US to race. More info about schedules, registering, etc. can be found here . 

Pump Track News and Weekend Events!

FYI for anyone who was thinking of going to the West Milford Family Pump Track this weekend - because of the Greenwood Lake Air Show, the track must be closed starting today through Sunday, as Farrell Fields are part of the safety zone for the air show. 

So - take in the air show (it's great for all ages!), or if your kids want to work on their mountain biking skills, take them down to the Hilltop Grasshopper Race in North Caldwell on Saturday. Geordie and his family put on a super event - your kids will love it! More info - http://tinyurl.com/mg4l8bm

Also, don't forget to check out the newest race in the H2H series on Sunday, August 18 - the Mountain Creek Summer Scramble. Spectators ride the lift for free, and the weather is going to be perfect so come on out and cheer (or heckle!) the racers, and then enjoy the post race awards and the biergarten! More info - http://www.mountaincreekbikepark.com/ . 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Pre-ride the H2H race course at Mountain Creek Tuesday 8/6, Thursday, 8/8 and Thursday 8/15

The Campmor H2H race series has an exciting new venue for the 2013 season - Mountain Creek Bike Park. Many people know Mountain Creek for their gravity events, but did you know they have a great cross country trail system as well? TTC's own David Van Wart has laid out the course for this race (race day is August 18), and will be leading pre-rides with Jeff Lenosky on Tuesday August 6th, Thursday August 8th (weather permitting), and Thursday, August 15th. We'll meet at 5:30 p.m. at the bike racks in front of the Red Tail Lodge. For those joining in on these pre-rides, Mountain Creek has generously offered free cross country lift tickets. And on Thursday, the Biergarten is open until 10 p.m. to enjoy some post ride beer and wings!

If you can't join us on either of these dates, a GPS file will be up on Tuesday for the course, and you can purchase a single use XC lift ticket for $7. Current JORBA members - bring your JORBA membership card and get a $3 discount on a single use ticket or $5 on a full access ticket - another great reason to join JORBA!

For those who are curious - on race day, all registered racers will receive an all day full access lift ticket as part of their registration fee. All spectators will receive a free pedestrian lift pass - no bikes, but free access to the start/finish area, feed zone, etc.

Weekend rides for June 21-23

A quick list of activities for those looking to take advantage of this awesome weather! 

• Friday, June 21 - TTC race team member Mike M. will be pre-riding the Campmor H2H race course at Lewis Morris Park in Morristown Friday afternoon. He'll be leaving West Milford by 2, and or be ready to ride by 3 p.m. at the Sunrise Lake parking lot. Fair warning - the cicadas are out in full force! 
• No Friday would be complete without a Friday night Clinton Road ride - and it's the first full day of summer! Wheels down at 6 p.m., at the intersection of Clinton Road and Route 23! 
• Saturday morning, June 22 - trail work at Jungle Habitat! Racers, don't forget your PayDirt! Meet at the gate at 9 a.m., we'll work until 12 p.m. 
• Saturday afternoon - easy downhill runs at Mountain Creek! Meet TTC's BJ in the main lot at 2 p.m. Check the Mountain Creek website for details on lift tickets, etc. These are easy downhill runs - any 5" travel bike will do fine. Rentals are also available, if you prefer. 
• Sunday, June 23 - Campmor H2H Race #4 is at Lewis Morris Park in Morristown. If you wanted to get a start in mountain bike racing, this is a great introduction! 

Enjoy this first weekend of summer, everyone! 

Easy downhill runs at Mountain Creek on Saturday, June 22

So you've been wanting to check out the whole downhill scene at Mountain Creek, but were a little nervous about heading out there alone? We've got you covered! Join TTC's own BJ as he does some easy downhill runs on Saturday, June 22. Meet him at 2 p.m. in the main parking lot. 

No downhill bike? No problem. Info on rentals, day lift passes, etc. can be found here at the Mountain Creek website. Also, ladies? 50% off for lift tickets and rentals for you on Saturday! 

Juniors in the Jungle - Done!

What a day! Perfect weather, great turnout, fantastic racers - another Juniors in the Jungle Mountain Bike race is in the books. We had over 100 racers come out to try their hand at some of Jungle Habitat's friendly trails, and they had a blast! From the great race in the Middle School Men's A class that was undecided until the very end of the last lap to the 21 racers that battled it out in the Grade 2-3 Boys race, our young racers had a great time, and showed great sportsmanship.

Photo by Steve Boshart

Photo by Steve Boshart

Special thanks go to our prize sponsors - John Florey of Highland Sports Group and Shimano, Mountain Creek and Hugh Reynolds, Jeff Lenosky and Clif, Dana DeLaRosa of Giant Bicycles, Sneaky Pete's Beverage and Town Cycle. And of course, we couldn't do it without all of our volunteers - special thanks to Tom Hennigan and Tim Warchol for once again being our favorite bike patrollers!

Don't forget to check out www.teambulldog.com for details about their race on May 11, 2013 at Kittatinny State Park in Andover, NJ - great race at a great venue!






Weekend mountain biking fun!

Lots of mountain biking fun for the weekend! Check us out! 

• Saturday, August 11 - JORBA ride at Jungle Habitat - part of the ever popular JORBA ride series! Two groups - one for those who would like the complete tour, one for those who want to go fast! Meet at the gate, wheels down at 10 a.m. Great chance to meet the good people who do the hard work at other parks in the state! More info here!
• Also on Saturday, TTC's BJ will lead a ride at Mountain Creek. Meet at 9 a.m. at the biker parking lot across from the mountain, we'll be on the lift by 9:30 a.m. $7 buys you a one time ride up the mountain, where we'll hit the cross country trails. The XC trails are pretty tame, any level should be able to handle it! At the end, we'll sneak in a downhill run or two, or if you prefer, hitch a ride on the gondola. 
• Sunday, August 12 - TTC's James will lead a ride up at Stewart State Forest, meeting at 12 noon. It will be about a 20 mile loop in a beginner/intermediate level. Weather permitting. Stewart is a great place for riders of all levels, a good place to check out! Use the Weed Road Entrance just off Rt. 207. 

Hopefully the weather will cooperate across the board! Have a great weekend, everyone!

New for this weekend!

Hi all -

A few rides to let you know of, besides our usual Wednesday Ladies Clinton Road ride and Friday night Clinton Road ride - 

• Saturday, August 4 - Ladies mountain bike ride at Lewis Morris Park in Morristown. This is a very beginner friendly park - bring a friend! We'll meet at 10 a.m. at the lower (lake) parking lot, and ride until about noon. Afterwards - Mexican food at Tito's! Rain will cancel.
• Sunday, August 5 - Mountain Creek Bike park in Vernon. Meet in the parking lot at noon. Bring $7 for a lift pass, we'll hitch a ride up to the top and ride the cross country trails for a few hours. Under 18 - please hit the Mountain Creek site to get the waiver and have it signed by your appropriate adult before you head up! 
• Looking for some weekend PayDirt? Black Bear Cycling is doing a Sunday trailbuild at Waywayanda at 8 a.m. - check out their site for more info.

Good luck to all of our TTC racers who are racing the Darkhorse 40 this weekend!