Meet the Intercourse Brewing Crew Saturday May 1st!

For those that love their beer, and are in the Quakertown, PA area, tomorrow May 1st is the McCoole's Spring Beer Festival at the historic Red Lion Inn.  With over 40 unique beers, live food, music, and craft vendors, it's sure to be an awesome time.  There are two sessions throughout the day.  The first runs from 12pm-4pm, and the second runs from 5pm-9pm.  Tickets are $30 at the door and include a 5oz tasting glass for the event (designated driver tickets are available for $10).  Giant Mid-Atlantic Pro rider Jordan Kahlenberg will be in attendance at the Intercourse Brewing Tent during the first session, so come on down and hang outside on a beautiful Saturday with the crew from Intercourse Brewing Company and Giant Mid-Atlantic!!

More info: McCooles Spring Beer Festival Website.

Sanctioned: The Greenbrier Challenge Race Report

By Hebrew Cyclist

Sunday April 25th saw the Mid-Atlantic race scene converge in Maryland at Greenbrier State Park for the Greenbrier Challenge AMBC & Maryland State Championship XC race.  While Rich was at the Cohutta 100 racing to a strong finish, and Martin was wrapping up his road season with Penn State, Jordan and Matt made their way down for some good old fashioned XC bike gaming.

The weather was calling for thunderstorms during the race, but as we got through our warm-up and lined up at the start, mother nature was treating us well with mild temperatures and overcast skies.  24 Pros made it to the start line, and were all itching to have their day turn up roses as the countdown to the start neared zero.  A little rubbing at the start woke everyone up and we quickly made our way into the woods and up the first climb of the lap.  Both Matt and Jordan played it calm and waited for their opportunities on this climb, passing riders through the bunch-up and making their way to some clearer trails to latch onto the train.  While Matt kept it in cruise-control, steadily making his way over course, Jordan took some opportunities to make up ground before the final climb of the lap.

This course is classic, as it gets harder as the lap goes on and the final climb is a doozy, with some steeper grades climbing up over some light rock gardens (which were a little damp on race day) then finishing on a wicked fast and technical descent.  This year, the climb was the same, but the descent veered off before the end onto a new trail of loose rock and some fun twists, turns, and bumps, before dumping out onto the fire-road to take you back to the start/finish.  To do well here, a rider has to be on top of both his fitness and his technical skills.  As it turns out, we were all good on technical skills but a little lacking in the early season fitness.  Jordan took it to the limit for a top-5, but suffered leg cramps and fell back to finish 9th.  Matt continued to ride strong throughout the race, picking riders off steadily, but ran out of race in 11th.

Another strong outing for the Giant Mid-Atlantic Crew!  This weekend, look for us at the Michaux Maximus and the next MASS series race at Granogue.  Raffle tickets will more than likely make their way to Granogue, so don't forget to get yours if you're there!

Race Report: Tour de Tykes

By Hebrew Cyclist

The team rolled into Danville this past weekend for the second stop in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series, the Tour de Tykes XC.  With cool weather, sweet singletrack, and about 4500' of climbing, it was a perfect day for racing a mountain bike!

One of the unique features of this race, as opposed to most of the other XC races we do, is the one-lap format.  This helps keep you focused, since you don't get the chance to ride the same section of trail over-and-over again, and seriously ups the fun factor.  The Experience and I set off for some course recon with B, getting a good look at the first climb and singletrack sections.  Everything was to our liking as we headed back down to the start area to stay warm and loose.

As the time drew near, all the riders gathered for some pre-race instructions and after some applause for the race promoter and organizer (who did an excellent job!) we were instructed to line up and start the engines.  Getting to the line early, both Matt and I had good start positions and we put our game-face on for the next 2 hours.  START!  We jumped off the line, holding strong positions up the road climb into the singletrack.  The race was all up or down, with little flat to spin and recover.  We both seemed to yo-yo with the riders near us until the end when I was able to gap everyone to ride in solo for 8th and Matt did the same for 13th.  All-in-all a strong early-season performance and luckily an uneventful one given the difficulty of the course.

With all the tough climbs and fast descents, our Geax tires earned their rockstar status yet again, giving us confidence beyond ourselves.  The new custom Oakley Jawbone shades kept things sharp and in perspective, and the Oakley Factory Pilot gloves kept our hands comfortably secured to our ESI grips.  We argued a bit between which bike was ultimately better for the day, my XTC 29er or his Anthem X.  We called it a draw and decided they were both awesome!  And as usual, the Shimano drivetrains provided solid and crisp performance in the roughest of terrain!

Next up for the team is a split weekend.  The XC crew is headed to the Greenbrier Challenge in MD, and the endurance crew (aka Richie Rich) is headed to Tennessee for the NUE series opener Cohutta 100.  We'll be selling raffle tickets at Greenbrier for your chance to win our Intercourse Care Package, so don't forget to stop by the tent or look for us at the race!

Happy Oakley Day!

Hmmm...... I wonder what's in the box.......?

Team Oakley Jawbone Shades and Factory Pilot Gloves arrived today!  Check them out!  It's a proven scientific fact that the longer you look at these pictures the more jealous you will get.  OK, seriously, stop staring........

Mutant Strawberries and the attack of the race report!

That's right.  The secret of the Giant Mid-Atlantic team is mutant siamese strawberries.  But good luck getting your own, suckers!

This past weekend was the first official XC race of the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Super Series; Bike Line XC @ Fair Hill.  Everyone was amped to test their early season fitness, and the day did not disappoint!  With over 700 racers in attendance, it was hard to stay calm and focused on our own race!  With so many there, we made sure to be as visible as possible of course.  Flag me!

After what seemed like a bigillion sport riders took off on the course for their race, Matt and I took off for a warm-up pre-ride of the course.  What we found was what we expected:  A fast, fun course, with a small sprinkling of short punchy climbs to sting the legs and help create separations in the pace-lines during the first lap.  Before we knew it, we finished and were ready to race.

Lining up for the Elite Open, there were much more racers than normal, and a certain Hebrew Cyclist (ahem, ahem) should have been paying more attention.  After we got called forward, there were about 8 rows deep of racers for the start!  Despite the large field and it being the first real race of the season for many, the start was relatively uneventful, but was FAST!  It was a drag race for the first mile or so down fire road before we hit the singletrack.  Passing was at a premium, and drafting was used generously.  The singletrack strung things out, but didn't slow the pace, and while Matt fought near the front, I was at the back picking off riders, practicing some good-ole fashioned aggressive passing.  After finding some sweet inside lines and passing a good number of riders, my luck started running out and I found myself stuck in position while things started splitting up ahead of me.  At this point, I found myself doing intervals between groups of riders, resting in their draft, then going again.  Meanwhile, Matt was duking it out with some of the young'ns ahead of me.  This was how our respective races played out for the first 2 laps.  On the final lap, my legs finally got the better of me and started fading big time.  Matt held strong for a top-20 and a strong start to the year!  Big shout-out to my wagon wheels, Giant XTC 29er.  Best choice for this course!

Afterwards, we took another spin on the course and then cleaned up for some socializing and story telling with everyone we raced with.  Great race, great weather, couldn't ask for a better start to the season!

This weekend the team will be at the Tour de Tykes XC race!  Look for us there, and don't forget to get your Intercourse Care Package Raffle Tickets!

April Newsletter

The April Newsletter is out!  Didn't get your copy?  E-mail us at giantmidatlantic@gmail.com and ask to get added to the list, or go to our website, www.giantmidatlantic.com, and click on the NEWSLETTER tab at the top of the home page.

This first issue is aimed at introducing the team, our look, and our sponsors.  Future issues will be packed with race reports, product review from our sponsors, and will recap the previous month's events as well as keep you informed as to where we'll be in the upcoming month.  Very important information, as you'll undoubtedly be wanting to find us in order to purchase your Intercourse Care Package RAFFLE TICKETS!!!

IT'S RAFFLE TIME!!!!

Starting this weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Super Series XC race at Fairhill, Giant Mid-Atlantic will be raffling off the first of 4 'Intercourse Care Packages'.  These prize packages from Intercourse Brewing Company are killer!!  You can purchase your tickets at the race directly from our team for $5/ticket, no limit to how many you can buy, but you must be 21 years of age or older.  For more info on what you get in the 'Intercourse Care Package', be sure to ask one of the team members at the races (just look for the Giant Bicycles tent and flag).  The majority of proceeds from the raffle go to helping to fund our racing season, with a portion to go to a charity of our choice.  We'll be choosing the charity at the end of the season, at the end of the 4th raffle.

This first raffle starts this weekend and runs until May 31st.  Winners will be announced here, on our website (www.giantmidatlantic.com) and on facebook.  If you don't get a chance to buy your raffle tickets this weekend, check back here next week where we'll announce the next race we'll be selling raffle tickets at.

AND, if you don't get a chance to enter this first raffle (shame on you!), then we'll be doing 3 more raffles for June/July, August/September, and a 'cross season raffle during October/November.  That's 3 more chances to win!!

Good luck to all you rafflers out there!!  See you at the races!!

JOISEYS!!!!!!!

Here is a sneak peek at what the great people at Hincapie are cooking up for us.  Killer threads!

Gorilla Mask on a stick and some Intercourse (beer)

By: Hebrew Cyclist

Must be time for the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Team Relay!!!!

This year was my first MASS Team Relay, and I got to line up with the fellow gentleman of the Giant Mid-Atlantic squad, looking resplendent in our blue & white.  The team, in order, was as follows:

Matt 'The Experience' Miller
Jordan 'Hebrew Cyclist' Kahlenberg
Rich 'Richie Rich' O'Neil
Martin 'Speed Kells' Kell

Despite not being in costume, we did have some pretty sweet nicknames.  Even SWEETER was the fact that Matt signed us up according to our nicknames and not our real names.  Genius!  Luckily, he mentioned this to me beforehand, but it didn't seem to sink in to the people at the registration table, who were doing an awesome job but were too busy and focused to deal with our (i.e. Matt's) Shenanigans (Did somebody say shenanigans?!?!).  After moving lines 2 or 3 times I finally got my number and it was off to the giant tent with it's humungoid banner (that we somehow did not get a picture of....) to ready for the battle royale to commence.

After a lengthy wait, the gun sounded and Matt took off during the LeMans style start, looking quite chipper as he pranced along the run course to his bike.  After rifling off a quick first lap, it was my turn to take to the course.  I totally dug this course, with it's tacky soils, fun log jumps, and tricky tight corners that tested your handling skills.  My XTC 29er kept me upright and rolling fast!  After a solid 14 minute lap, I handed off the next lap to Rich and we just kept rolling.

Highlights of the day:  

- Me not clipping into my pedal while Matt tried to push me from behind during one of our lap exchanges, ending in me clipping in and Matt flipping over his bars (give us a break, we're mountain bikers not trackies!).

- Donning the monkey mask once my laps were done and heckling some of the competition

- Yi Ming's crazy delicious fried cookies

- Passing around rounds of Intercourse Brewing's Baresville Pilsner and Blue Balls Porter.  Best recovery drink!

- Getting to see everyone at the races again after a long winter!!


BIG THANKS to Mike Kuhn and the PAValleys.com crew for organizing and putting this event on.  We're already looking forward to next year!