Independence Day weekend has become a tradition for visitPA.com's Mike Kuhn and the Osterling Farm. The farm seems as the venue for the 5th Annual visitPA.com Mountain Bike Stage Race and Festival Weekend. This is a beautiful private residence located in Perry County. Since it is private, it is only open for public riding during the Stage Race weekend. Volunteers from Mountainside Ski & Sport, in Mechanicsburg, spend hours riding and maintaining the trails to keep them race-ready for the big event. This year's events included the always-fun Individual Night Time Trial (ITT), classic cross-country race (XC), grueling hill climb (HC), and super-diggity short track (STXC). All members of the visitPA.com Mountain Bike Race Team were in attendance for the weekend's events.

Friday night was the night ITT. A hot, foggy night set the scene for the event. Rains from the evening before made the roots and logs especially slippery and challenging. Independent Fabrication's Harlan Price walked away with the overall fastest time for the ITT, followed by visitPA.com's Flyin' Ryan Leech, who came in a close 2nd. The remaining visitPA.com team members Wes Schempf, Mike Yozell, Ray Adams, Mike Hebe, Mike Kuhn, and Rob Lichtenwalner placed in the top 15 elite men's category. Michelle Stopper and Nancy Adams successfully tackled the course and finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, among the expert women.

Saturday was the 21-mile XC race. Twisty-turny trails with countless logs, roots, and a few rocks added technical difficulty to the trails. Flyin' Ryan Leech took second place again, following on the heels of IF's Harlan Price, who took the overall win, his second for the weekend. Mike Yozell, Wes, and Ray placed 4th, 6th, and 13th, respectively. Rob Lichtenwalner and Mike Hebe contested the Endurance XC---6 hours of racing. Rob dominated from the start, taking home a victory for the VisitPA.com team. "The Legend," Mike Hebe earned the 2nd place spot. In the elite women's XC category, Michelle "You Can't" Stopper took the win, and Nancy Adams finished a respectable 4th place.

Sunday's HC and STXC rounded out the weekend's festivities. The HC is a long, steep, off-road climb that takes the fastest riders about 16 minutes to reach the summit. IF's Harlan Price again set the pace, placing first in the elite men's category. Perry County's own Kyle Hammaker took second in the event, followed by Aaron Snyder. visitPA.com's Flyin Ryan, Yozell, Rob, and Ray rounded out the top seven spots. In the elite women's field, Michelle thought she had the win all tied up as she approached the finish line, but Guy's Racing's Janel Demeter launched a sneak attack, down-shifted, and took the win by 1/10th of a second. Nancy Adams fought her way to the top for a strong 4th-place finish in the women's field.

After a couple hours rest from the HC, the visitPA.com team was set to race again in the STXC competition. As the elite men's group shot off the start line, a lead group was quickly formed. visitPA.com's Wes, Ryan, and Mike Yozell, Scott's Racing's Aaron Snyder, IF's Harlan Price, and Perry County's Kyle Hammaker made up the lead group. Wes and Mike Yozell worked hard to put teammate Ryan in a position to pull for what turned out to be a fight for first with IF's Harlan Price. With only two laps to go, Ryan and Harlan pulled away from the group. Harlan made a small gap to take another win for the weekend. Ryan came in second. Wes was 4th, and Mike Yozell was 5th. Ray, Rob, and The Legend finished strong in the top 13.

Consider coming out for the race next year. It is totally fun and a great weekend for the whole family!

Thanks to our sponsors who make this all possible:

• visitPA.com
• Cannondale Bicycles
• Northwave footwear
• Rudy Project helmets and glasses
• Suunto
• Ergon
• Deuter Hydration Packs