Dirt Rag Magazine would like to invite you to our own event: Dirt Fest. Mark your calendars for the weekend of May 21st-23rd, 2010 and head over to the Allegrippis trails at Raystown Lake in Hesston, PA.

Dirt Fest will be a fun mountain biking festival, featuring 32 miles of prime singletrack for a weekend of great riding. Camping will be available. We invite you to come and join the festivities, demo mountain bikes and check out the latest products in the industry expo area.

IMBA will be on hand to teach trail building clinics and advocacy, and other club events will take place.

Dirt Rag will be bringing the flavor of hops and barley as we host a Pennsylvania beer tasting event, complete with brew techniques and history. Other entertainment and spectacles will follow.

The cost for attending is $30 per person including two nights of primitive camping at Susquehannock Campground or $15 for the weekend without camping.

Visit dirtfest.blogspot.com for more information on Dirt Fest (and/or to contact the promoters about getting your company or organization involved in the expo area, or as an event sponsor). If you’re ready to rock and roll, click here for registration.

Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest is brought to you by Dirt Rag, IMBA, Raystown Mountain Bike Association, Rothrock Outfitters, and the Friends of Raystown Lake.

The 12th annual Jamaica Fat Tyre Festival, which combines fantastic riding with Jamaica’s unique culture, is set for February 6-12th, 2010. That sounds like great way to jump-start the spring riding season, at time when many cyclists in North America will be more than happy to say goodbye to another winter. The Festival is organized by SMORBA, a non-profit organization affiliated to IMBA that is actively engaged in locating, building and maintaining bicycling opportunities on Jamaica’s famed North Coast.

On February 7th the locals will show off their riding skills. Dubbed “A celebration of Jamaican Bicycling Culture” the Jamaica Bicycle Bash is designed to provide a unique, fun-filled atmosphere centered around all things bicycle. Highlights will include a 5-mile race looping through Oracabessa, a “Gas Done” gas cylinder carrying race, a “Big Man, Small Bicycle” race, and many other games and contests that are sure to provide great entertainment!

On February 8th riders will shuttle up to Murphy Hill, high above Ocho Rios. After taking in the view it will be time to let ‘r rip on the blistering descent to world-renown Dunn’s River Falls. After regrouping at John Crow’s, the crew will romp through SMORBA’s trails in western St. Mary. The evening’s festivities will take place at the “Conscious Corner” bar in Rio Nuevo.

The next day riders will head to Pimento Hill, St. Mary, deep in rural Jamaica, to shred some technical singletrack. The after-party will take place at Charlie’s Beach, where SMORBA Trail Guru Natty Grant will have a meal fit for Rastas ready and waiting. Accommodation for the evening will be at River Lodge in nearby Robin’s Bay.

The morning ride on the 10th will take participants along the rugged coast line featuring mellow singletrack and breathtaking views. Ancient Spanish ruins signal the end of the track, and the beginning of a 1/4 mile hike to hidden Kwaaman Falls. The rider’s next leg will take them to a top secret location in the Blue Mountains.

The action on the 11th should prove Irie, mon. For the first time ever, the Fat Tyre Festival has been given an exclusive invitation to ride (and party) at one of the most unique mountain biking locations on the planet. The promoters have agreed not to disclose the exact location, but imagine dropping 2500 feet over 6km of professionally designed singletrack.

After recovering from the post-ride party, participants will head back to Ocho Rios on February 12th, but not before hitting the Red Light downhill trail.

Spaces for this year’s event are limited. If you are interested in attending or need more information, visit www.smorba.com

More and more multi-day stage races have been coming to the surface in the past few years to challenge riders that are looking for more than the standard 24-hour or 100-mile race. In 2010, central Pennsylvania will be added to the list of premier multi-day racing venues with the introduction of the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic.

The Trans-Sylvania Epic is the brainchild of Mike Kuhn and Ray Adams. They first started working together in 1994-95 as racing teammates, and in 2005 they began the VisitPA.com race team. In 2010 the partnership with VisitPA.com will continue to exist, albeit with a more centrally located title sponsor, PAValleys.com. They also began the Outdoor Experience Organization, a non-profit with the objective to build, create, and improve trails in Pennsylvania.

I had the chance to ride a few portions of the racecourse and tour the camping area this past November. I walked away with a positive impression of the trail system and participant accommodations, and a deep respect for the mission behind the race.

The Trans-Sylvania Epic will be a seven-day stage race through the Appalachian Mountains and will be held on May 30th through June 5th, 2010 near State College, PA. (This area hosted the 2005 Single Speed World Championships and is home to the annual Wilderness 101). In addition to the 25-60 mile cross country stages, the week will begin with a 10 mile time trial and the last stage will be an Avalanche format consisting of a mass start with several short Super-D courses.

The trails are a good mix of rolling fire roads, traditional east coast rock gardens and roots, fast rollercoaster singletrack, tough climbs, speedy descents, and tight technical sections that will keep all seven days interesting and relatively different. The terrain will be tough enough to impress the experts and keep the novices motivated to finish without being totally drained. “It’s an athletic challenge that puts an emphasis on completing something that’s kind of difficult to do,” commented Adams.

If you’ve ever considered racing a multi-day event the Trans-Sylvania Epic would be the perfect opportunity to test your ability, without having to commit to riding or staying all seven days, because of the way the race categories are setup. Sure, there are the standard classes for single, duo, and corporate teams—but the open and tandem classes ensure fun for everyone.

In the open class you assemble a group of how ever many friends, share at least three timing chips, and just make sure that at least three people from your team start and finish the stage each day to be counted in the G.C. You’d still get to race as many days as you’d like, have all the fun of a 24-hour race (without worrying about night laps or adequate lighting) and save some stamina to continue through the week.

Another appealing aspect of the Trans-Sylvania Epic is that you could spin your desire to race into a family vacation. The Seven Mountains Boy Scout Camp that will be used as a home base sits atop some serious wooded acreage. Four of the seven stages will begin and end within pedaling distance of the camp. The other three stages will be within an hour’s drive and encompass trails at Raystown Lake, Bald Eagle State Forest, and Rothrock State Forest. (Shuttle to those starting lines will be available).

Not only would it be convenient to ride your bike to most of the starting lines, but it also makes the race a very family friendly atmosphere. Camp only needs to be set up once, which will allow more time for relaxing after each stage. “We want to allow for people to get out and watch the race without having to find their way around the course. We’ll take care of that. Just hop on the bus and we’ll get you out and you can cheer for someone or heckle,” said Kuhn.

Because this is a Boy Scout campground and the adults there are expert at entertaining large groups, while you’re out riding, the family could go canoeing, fishing, hiking, swimming, or perhaps try their hand at archery. After the race the entertainment will surely continue. I spotted two extremely large fire pits about 20’ apart from each other surrounded by stadium style seating and a lake. The possibilities of what could occur there are endless. Basically all you need to do is get to the race then relax. All other services, lodging, food, shuttle, and entertainment are provided.

Camping and RV space is plentiful, but for those that would rather not sleep in a tent there is an abundance of bed space. Private cabins  that hold two people, and  kitchen-equipped lodges that accommodate 20-40 people are available. The price per bed ($100) is the same no matter what style of cabin you choose, but the availability is on a first-come, first-served basis, so sign up sooner rather than later. (Kids under 12 get discounted lodging and food service).

The actual food is still in the planning stages, but will also be provided if chosen as an option. Think back to your week at camp during elementary school, the wooden décor, Indian decorations and cabin names. The mess hall will be your dining room, minus the singing and piggy-waste. (That’s what the weighed leftovers were called anyway. Don’t take more than you can eat. Remember that?) Just visualize being hungry after a race, and not having to cook your own meal. Just walk in and be served.

The town of State College is less than 20 minutes away from the campground and is stocked with hotels, restaurants, pubs, and breweries. The area is relatively cheap and in the summer the college student count will be at a seasonal low. Great trails, good food and micro-brew. What more could you want?

When I asked Mike and Ray about their motivation and future plans for the race, I was reminded that all of this is not for profit and for the good of all trail users. Kuhn stated, “ We started a non-profit around the race and the race at this point is going to be our major fundraiser. The whole purpose of the non-profit is to improve access to and contribute to building and maintaining trails in Pennsylvania for multi-use purposes.”

“If there are profits we will throw that money back into the infrastructure of the trails around here and improve upon the experience that people will have in the following years,” added Adams. “Our goal is to make sure everybody has a good time, that’s the first thing, to publicize the mountain biking in Pennsylvania, and to make sure people have a memorable vacation as they are riding here.”

Mike and Ray hope to make the Trans-Sylvania Epic into an annual race and rotate it around the state after showcasing each area for 3-5 years, thereby encouraging people to come back to the race by offering fresh trails and experiences. Sounds like they are on the right track.

Friday was the last day of the show. We saw a lot – here are just a few things to tide you over until we can take a breath and post more.

The whole week was a whirlwind. Besides all the ogling of stuff, there was also a lot of hanging out and having a good time – read Lockwood’s blog about his Thursday activities. Matt, Andrew, Shannon and Andy also took a trip to the Hard Rock and rubbed shoulders with what sounded like half the industry, from Floyd Landis to Hans Rey. There will be more photos and words posted about the after-dark goings-on, once we sort out the stuff that’s too incriminating…

Some of our hanging out and having a good time occurred on video, in fact, right in the Interbike TV studio. You’ll get to see this and the rest of our Interbike TV mini-shows sometime in the coming week, after Lockwood gets himself back to home base in Belgium and readjusts to an opposite time zone.

Here Nick Sande, Selene Yeager and Stevil Knevil expound on the pairing of bikes and beer. The nice TV people didn’t even kick us out for spilling some on their couch.

Our Interbike experience was made much better by the fact that we got to commute to the show on bikes graciously loaned to us, often traveling by quiet back streets, avoiding clueless tourists for the most part. We’ll be posting mini-reviews of these bikes in the next couple of weeks.

So keep checking this space as we decompress and debrief (and rehydrate – they don’t call it the desert for nuthin’.)

Thursday evening is usually the night to go big at Interbike. At least for me. The show closes on Friday, there’s a lot of parties and it’s the last chance to hang out with many of my bicycle friends until next year. So…it was a late night.

The fun got started around 2pm with DPow and Portland Design Works. Dan had me come over to their suite in the Venetian to have some beer and check out their stuff.

After I was done questioning Dan about all the products, he and I walked to the package store so I could get a case of beer for the day’s taping of Dirt Rag TV. And then things started to get really interesting. Though I’ve done much research on the subject, I wanted to get some professional insight into the relationship between beer and cycling. Stevil, Selene and Nick helped all of us understand a bit more. Theories were proposed, words were spoken and much beer was spilled. Thankfully InterbikeTV didn’t kick us out. I will get the videos from all the shows posted next week.

The beer pretty much flowed the rest of the day…into the evening. And then the morning.

Ran into BRose from the Shockspital over at the Surly booth. It’s always good to see Brian, and here he is showing off his newest product.

A bunch of us rolled over to the Kona Pool Party. They always put out a really nice spread of food, and a wide range of beer…everything from Pabst to Dogfish Head. Actually, it was pretty cool to see some Dogfish Head (from Delaware) out here in Nevada. About six of us sat and watched the steel drum player for about an hour. He sensed we all wanted to give it a spin and he handed over the sticks.

Our group split up there. Mo, Frank and Robert headed to the Pinball Hall of Fame and then the Gold Sprints. The rest of us headed over to the Crit Races over at Mandalay Bay. From there we moved over to the Hard Rock, where a varied and colorful collection of bicycle people had gathered. Some of us danced and some of us stood and watched.

But it was all fun.

There’s a lot of bicycles and bicycle bits here at Interbike in Las Vegas. The Dirt Rag & Bicycle Times editorial and photo crews will be providing plenty of coverage for you on that front. In fact, you can already find some of it here, here and here. In addition to that in-depth coverage, I’ve also been sending a bunch of quick updates and photos through Twitter and Facebook about everything around, and from, the show throughout the day…and evening. Not just product-related stuff, but quick shouts and photos of the people, places and things (both inside the show, and out there in the evenings and the mornings). I think it’d be in your best interest to become a fan of Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times on Facebook, and for you to follow us on Twitter, too. Because…you know…it’s the hip thing to do, of course.

Speaking of ‘hip,’ the DR Crue immediately started hazing me and asking if I needed some tight jeans when they saw my Charge Plug fixie/singlespeed, which was given to me to ride for the week. This bike is sure to delight the hipsters in the world. It’s got bull-horn bars and the rear wheel has the fixed cog on one side, and the freewheel on the other. Plus the aesthetic is absolutely fantastic. The only trick is that the five mile commute from the Dirt Rag house to the Sands Convention Center is not something where I should be wearing sandals on a fixed gear bike. I’m flipping it to the freewheels side this afternoon.

Part of the deal for me being able to ride this bike all week is that I write a mini-review of the bike for the magazine and/or web site. So stay tuned for that.

There are a lot of bicycles to ride out at the Outdoor Demo. All sorts of bikes…not just mountain bikes. For example, I decided to take out a Felt F3 carbon road bike to sneak a ride out to the Hoover Dam. Unfortunately, the most insane headwind I’ve ever experienced on a bicycle made me turn around after 4 miles.

In addition to lots of bicycle out at the Outdoor Demo, there’s also lots of beers to be had…after riding, of course. The trails in Bootleg Canyon, while very awesome, are insanely rugged and sharp. I would recommend against beer before hitting those trails. Nick and Sov from Surly were kind enough to give Mo, Andrew and I some suds, away from the sun.

There’s lots of good parties all over the place. Some of them are big, and some are more friendly. Of course some of them suck, but most are good. I made it out to the Soulcraft 10th Birthday Party, which also happened to be the same party to launch Steve Smith’s fine read: All Hail the Black Market. Of course, I didn’t get any photos or Tweets from that party since my phone was acting goofy, but I can assure you that it was a very cool affair…with wigs.

It was a late night, so let’s see what today holds…