7th Annual Brown County Breakdown ~ Oct. 8-9, 2011

[tjuillerat]

Weather is looking FANTASTIC for next weekend!

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenda...le+IN+USIN0457

Trails should be in primo condition...

We have a HUGE bike and product demo on Saturday, Oct 8. Demo participants include Giant, Trek, Felt, SRAM, SKS-Germany, Scott, Mavic and more. You can see a complete list of all the demo bikes available on the Breakdown Event FAQ website. (http://www.browncountymountainbiking...kdown/faq.html)

We have TONS of great swag to give away this year including a Garmin Edge 800, Garmin ForeRunner 610, Saris Bones RS bike rack, a complete SRAM X0 2x10 group (including shifters, front and rear derailleur, cassette, bottom bracket and cranks), a brand new Felt cruiser bike and much more. We're also raffling a 2011 Norco Judan Singlespeed Belt Drive... and we have a few other surprises up our sleeves. You are not going to want to miss this event!

Online registration closes at NOON on Friday, October 7, but you must register by tomorrow (Sept 30) to guarantee receiving your FREE 2011 event t-shirt onsite. On-site registration is available throughout the weekend for $125. Go to www.browncountybreakdown.com for all the info and a link to register!

[tjuillerat]

This is it ladies... last week to register for the 7th Annual Brown County Breakdown! This is put on by the same folks that bring you the annual Midwest Women's Mountain Bike Clinic. It's all about meeting folks, riding sweet trail, raising some money and generally having a great time on your mountain bike!

We've got a great new punishing course put together for the 100 mile riders. We've packed more trail than ever before into the Hickory Ridge "Big Loop". Out of 25 miles in the loop, only 3 miles are gravel or asphalt.

Weather and trail conditions could not be better for this weekend. We hope to see many of you ladies at the Breakdown!

www.browncountybreakdown.com

[Catrin]

I have my volunteer assignments, and am just plain stoked about all of the good camping, riding, music, and other festivities going on this weekend! Are any other TE members attending? If so, we could have an impromptu TE mountain bike ride My assignments don't start until 3pm Saturday (and all day Sunday) so I am free for riding all day Friday and until about 2 on Saturday.

[Catrin]

I will start off by apologizing for the length

This was an awesome weekend! Friday got TWO mountain bike rides in. Rode Pine Loop down and back to warm up for the NT Connector (well, hiked and rode - there is a steep section with big roots), and rode part of the NT Loop. Then it was off to Limekiln for my reward...and a vampire tree drew a LOT of blood. Nothing broken, didn't even hit the ground, but I had no idea that bark can be so abrasive. Arm is still swollen a bit but don't think anything will get infected. Free beer Friday night from the Backwoods Brewing Company while relaxing with old and new friends. Saturday I rode Limekiln again and had a great time.

Weather was perfect all weekend! Saturday started cool, but the sun came up and the demos all went well. Felt, Giant and Trek all had demo trucks, SRAM and a few others were also set up. Two Pedals Photography (the official photographer for all Sub-9 events) was there all weekend taking pictures and doing pre-sales for photo collections. Check out thewebsite for some of the awesome work - I can't link to it because our filter appears to think it is an alcohol related site...

My volunteer work started Saturday afternoon with a 3 hour session at the sign-in table and I had fun with that. That evening saw two great bluegrass bands and more free beer from both Upland and Flat 12. The music was still going on as I hit my cot and sleeping bag as I had a 5:15 alarm for the big day.

Sunday morning was much cooler, or it seemed that way at least. It was still pitch black at 6am when we were ready to start taking registrations and signing in pre-registered people. Shortly after dawn I was at the Hesitation Point SAG, spent much of the afternoon at the Secret Cabin SAG just outside of the Hoosier National Forest.

It was an awesome weekend with around 600 mountain bikers, perhaps more. Had a great time checking out all of the great bikes and different types of tents! I love my new tent, and I found that I like using my cot far better than the air mattress. The cot really changed how the tent worked for me and made it seem even bigger than it is. Great combination.

So it was all good, great riding, I expanding my riding horizons, and good times with new and old friends. I am already looking forward to next year...when I will ride the shortest option. That is my goal at least, and I've a long way to go but I've a year to prepare