Warrior Dash

Joe Sheets and his wife Nancy (along with 7 other locals) traveled to Mechanicsville, Maryland to compete in the Warrior Dash, a 5k with military-style obstacles and lots of MUD.  The weather was perfect and the race was a ton of fun!  The group tackled all obstacles as a team and ended up completely covered in mud.  The event was a great team-building experience that will not be soon forgotten!  Below are a few pictures of the aftermath.

Next up in the world of Consol Energy Racing is the Race Around North Bend mountain bike race at North Bend State Park near Parkersburg, WV, on June 3rd, then the Big Bear 2x12 Mountain Bike Festival and race at Big Bear Lake, WV, on June 16th where teams of two will complete four 12-mile laps on the rock-strewn trails.  Consol Energy Racing will be represented on 3 teams for the Big Bear 2x12.

Wisp XC Challenge

On May 20, 2012, Travis Olson made the trip across the border to Deep Creek, Maryland to test his mettle in the Wisp XC Challenge mountain bike race.  The race venue was on top of the mountain at the ASCI Whitewater Park.  Little rain the week before and high temperatures provided dry, dusty trails and very hot conditions.   Travis competed against a large field of sport-class riders and one racer in Travis's category was of particular concern as he always bests Travis in road cycling races. 

Due to the heat and length of the course, Travis chose to wear a Camelbak hydration pak filled with GU Brew electrolyte drink to stave off dehydration and cramping.  Travis's normal routine for fueling up for a race is to grab a pouch of GU Strawberry or Watermelon Chomps 30 minutes prior to race start, eat half, then eat the other half while at the starting line.  The Chomps digest well, and Travis says they taste like candy making them easy to eat.

The whistle blew at noon sending the field gunning it across a rocky access road into a tight single-track trail.  Travis redlined his bike to enter the trail in sixth place overall to avoid the bottlenecks and stalling that is common when trapped in a large pack of riders entering tight trails.

The 17 mile course consisted of two 8.5 mile laps and began with 3 miles of rocky and technical downhill, several miles of flowing singletrack terrain, then ended with several miles of steep climbing.  Travis managed to stay focused and upright to keep his place at the front of his field.  At the end of his first lap, he began to catch and pass a few of the Expert riders who had started 5 minutes ahead of the Sport class, however the persistent threat of being caught by a number of strong riders kept Travis looking over his shoulder the entire 2nd lap.  The constant threat kept Travis motivated to carry the Consol Energy Racing banner through the heat and rocky terrain to a 1st place finish in his category on the 17 mile course, and more importantly, in 9th place overall in his class.  Here are the complete results.

Clarksburg Open Hearts 5K and more Cranky Monkey Action!

For the fifth straight week, the Consol Energy team placed a racer on the podium.  Kurtis Hoffman was the lone team member in action this past weekend as he finished second in his age group in the Clarksburg Open Hearts 5K.  Kurtis put up a strong time of 22:06 in his first outing of the season.   Great job Kurtis! 

Additional details on the race and its sponsor can be found at the link below:

http://www.wboy.com/story/18364464/first-annual-5-k-run-for-open-hearts-held-in-clarksburg

To follow up on the 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey, here's Travis's YouTube Channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/cycletrav?feature=mhee where you can watch some of the action from the race.

The photos were finally uploaded by the professional photographer for the event and are found here.  Enjoy viewing all 1,149 photos to find your favorite CER rider.  If you don't want to wade through them all, here are some highlights from the race.

 Consol Energy Racing "A" Team aka Motown Niner Ninjas

Jason staying in front of the competition

Jonny's game face

Jason looking forward to a podium spot

Joe riding too fast for the camera

Travis keeping both tires on the ground this year

9 Hours of Cranky Monkey and the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

Week four of the 2012 race season was a busy one for the CONSOL Energy Racing team.  Five members traveled across state lines to compete in two separate races.  Although the venues may have been far from home, the results were exactly as expected.  We brought back hardware. 

Travis Olson, Jonathan Sheets, Joe Sheets, and Jason Steward represented CONSOL Energy in the 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey mountain bike relay at Rocky Gap State Park in Flintstone, Maryland on Saturday.  In the nine hour relay format, trios, duos, and solo riders try to complete the most number of laps around the 8.5 mile course within the 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM window.  Johnny, Joe and Jason made up one team in the trio male category while Travis teamed up with Chris Jones and Jeff Gernert from Dynamic Physical Therapy Cycling to take on the trio male 105+ (combined age) group.

The moderately technical course looped around the shore of Lake Habeeb for the most part, with a climb up the rocky face of Evitts Revenge thrown in at about the 3 mile mark.  Dry conditions made the first several hours of the race fast and dusty, but intermittent rain showers during the second half of the day turned the last mile of the track into a quagmire.

Joe, Jonny, and Jason fought mud, rocks, and gravity to finish fifth out of fifteen teams, completing 10 laps in 8:22:32.  The rain slowed us down near the end, but we were a full lap ahead of the next closest team.  A few minor mechanical issues (my rear wheel fell off at one point) and a couple minor crashes (Johnny crashed in the same spot on consecutive laps) added to our time, but at the end of the day we were standing on the podium.

Travis and his team avoided mechanical issues and serious crashes on the way to completing 11 laps in 8:03:57, good enough for second place in the highly competitive twelve-team division.  Travis is riding really well, and we expect him to keep the CONSOL jersey at the front of the pack in many more races this season.  All CONSOL Energy Racing riders saw personal best lap times for this race.  Here are the full results. 

While the rest of us were riding bikes in the mud this weekend, Mandy Anderson was running in the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon.  Mandy wore her CONSOL jersey in front of a combined weekend field of around 30,000 participants and ran the 26.2 mile distance in and incredible 4:13:36.  I think this was Mandy’s first marathon, and unless she plans on running another one this year, it will be the only marathon for the Consol team; nobody else has that level of running fitness. 

Good job everyone!  Below is one picture from the Cranky Monkey race; professional photographers were on hand and many more pictures will be available in the coming days.  Hopefully Mandy will share some marathon pics as well.

Dirty Monkeys - Joe and Travis after a wet and muddy lap

We’re going to need a bigger trophy case.

As has become normal, the third race of the season saw a strong performance by the 2012 Consol Energy team.  Four team members saw action Saturday morning in the General Lightburn CONSOL Energy 5K in Jane Lew, WV.  Conditions were cold, dry and clear early Saturday morning for the event, which saw runners starting out on the hill above the community center before winding though Jane Lew, turning around in front of the CONSOL Energy offices, then finishing near the Little League fields. 

Mandy Anderson and Jonathan Sheets competed in their CONSOL colors for the first time on Saturday.  As expected, Mandy was the fastest female on the race course.  Mandy set a personal record of 22:47 on her way to capturing the first Overall title for CONSOL so far this year.  Mandy has some big events scheduled later in the year and looks to be ready for them all.   

Johnny, who is normally a cycling specialist, made the trip down from Morgantown to support the rest of the team and to make his best attempt at the 5K distance.  As it turns out, his best attempt was pretty fast, landing him in third spot in his age division.  Great work from both of our first-timers! 

Mandy, Jason, and Jonathan rocking the hardware!

Joe Sheets and Jason Stewart also ran well in the race, making a smooth transition from offroad trails to pavement.  We both set personal records for the distance and finished in the top 5 in our division.  It would appear that Joe has even inspired his wife Nancy to begin training and competing, as she completed her first ever 5K in Morgantown on Saturday morning.  Nancy added to the family medal count for the year by claiming third in her age group.

Team Consol Energy Racing runners

Fellow CONSOL employee Jeff Owens also had a great race, finishing 4^th overall and 1^st in his age group on his way to posting one of the few sub-20 minute times on the day.  If we grow the team next season I’m sure there will be a jersey or two in his size.  Ben Hardesty also had a good performance, running a 23:50 race while smiling and shaking hands along the way.  Full results for the race can be found here.

Next week will see the CONSOL team traveling to Maryland to compete in the 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey mountain bike relay.  This will be one of the largest races of the year for the team as hundreds of riders descend upon Rocky Gap State Park to see how many laps they can post in 9 hours.  Johnny, Joe and I will comprise one team while Travis will be teaming up with two other riders in a separate division.  This is a tough race but I have a good feeling that our early season success will continue.              

Race #2 of the 2012 season saw another strong performance from the CONSOL Energy Racing team.  Travis Olson, Joe Sheets and Jason Stewart raced in the Big Bear Classic near Bruceton Mills, WV on Sunday, April 22 in the rain, fog, and 40 degree temperatures. 

Travis maintained his position atop the WVMBA Clydesdale Class points standings by rallying from a broken spoke and flat tire to salvage second place.  Given the narrow margin by which Travis missed what would have been a second straight first-place finish, he likely would have dominated the division again were it not for a bit of bad luck.  It was the third trip to the podium in three races for the CONSOL Energy colors!    

Joe continues to ride strong and posted his second top-ten finish of the year.  Joe conquered the wet, slick conditions and put up the team’s fastest time of the day in route to finishing eighth in the Sport Vet category. 

Jason fought a couple mechanical issues again this week, but gave an incredible effort considering the shifting problems.  In the end, Jason missed out on a top ten finish by two seconds, but I was able to even up the side-bet category with Joe. 

Travis showing off his team colors and hand-thrown award

Alright, the blog is finally up over a month into race season, so we're going to catch you up on what Consol Energy Racing has been up to.

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to CONSOL Energy for providing race gear for all of us this year.  The kits arrived late last week and everything fits well and looks amazing.  Apparently the promise of new race gear provided added motivation to train over the offseason, as the team is seeing some early success.   

Three team members competed in two separate events this past weekend.  Joe Sheets and I participated in the Mountain Duathlon at Coopers Rock near Morgantown, WV on Saturday.  The dry, warm weather over the previous week made for an extremely fast and fun 2-mile run, 8-mile ride, 2-mile run loop.   Joe and I both set personal records on our way to a pair of top 5 finishes.  Joe finished fifth in our division by trimming an amazing 17 minutes off his time from last year and I was able to overcome some late mechanical issues to finish in second place.  As a side bet, I spotted Joe nine minutes based on the results from last year.  I certainly won’t make that mistake again.   

On Sunday, Travis Olson wore the CONSOL colors to victory in his first-place finish at the Simonton Windows Challenge at Mountwood at Mountwood State Park in Cairo, WV.  Travis dominated the Clydesdale class by staying upright and intact for the entire lap, a trend that we hope to see continued for the rest of the season.

I also want to thank GU Energy and Honey Stinger for supplying the team with the best performance nutrition products on the planet.