Every year I wonder why I signed up for this race. It's, in my opinion, the most over-hyped MTB race in the state of Michigan. It's changed significantly over the 5 years I've raced it. It was not usac sanctioned at first and the age groups had more ages in them. The age group factor is probably what's enabled me to finish in the top 3 over the last few years. Since the age group change for men occurred, Jimmie won his age group X2. This is why he's moved on to trying the Pro class. Parking use to be much less of a hassle and you could bring your own beer in the past as well...obviously there are ways around this but it still changes the kind of laid back do what you want MTB atmosphere, in my opinion.
One of my favorite race pictures from previous iceman races was the picture of Sue Stephens battling it out with Heather Irminger for 2nd just before the finish line...Sue won. It's nice to have local racers to look up to and see them excel and podium in races with Pros. Of Jimmie like to remind me that the Pros are in their off season when iceman arrives. Regardless congrats to Mackenzie Woodring for her 3rd place at iceman. I can only hope to be as fast a Mackenzie one day.
http://suestephensmtb.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-iceman-cometh-challenge-races-over.html
Anyhow...the weather looked grim for this years iceman, but we still headed north to beautiful Traverse City, MI for the 30 mile suffer fest. I was in wave 6 so we got there pretty early so I could suit up and slightly warm up before the start. Every year, it never fails, I am shivering so much that someone offers me their coat. A nice woman offered me her coat while I waited for my wave to line up. I thanked her and told her that I need to be cold before the start or I'll overheat during the race. It's the truth about iceman - I wore too much clothing last year and I felt terrible for most of the race. Since I overdressed at the Lowell race I knew what to wear for Iceman. Our cold weather jerseys are perfect for 40 degree temps and that's all I needed along with some knickers.
I placed myself in the middle/front of wave 6. We took off and went through the streets in too slow of a pace - 18mphs or so. Oh well...we hit the dirt and I worked my way around people to try to position myself well for the 1st turn that's always sandy. Once we rounded that turn I started moving my way through the group up until we hit some single track. Every year the single track slows everyone down so I just hung back and went with the flow of traffic. It seemed to me like many of the people in my wave were not really racing they were just riding. It can be frustrating to say the least to be around these types of people. You have to make your way around them the entire race. In fact that's pretty much my race for the most part - me and my bike weaving in and out of race traffic trying to find someone around my speed. No one worked together, per usual. I did have a little crash in some single track, sad to say, I slipped down the side of a cut piece of land and a few guys kind of crashed around me. I apologized to them and got back to moving. After the race Jimmie noticed my rear wheel was really out of true - I figured one of those guys accidentally stepped on my rear wheel. The puddles were huge this year and most of the good lines were to the right except for the last puddle. I noted what I could to help Jimmie out when he goes out to race. I sometimes wish I could race around the crowd the whole race because when I get near the crowd I get a second wind and really push myself. I knew we'd be teased by seeing the finish through the fly over and then back into some climbing. It wasn't as bad as people made it sound. I was just a bit tired more than anything. I got some air over the fly over and pushed it though the finish line. Jimmie and some team mates were there waiting. Not much time to hang out though because we needed to get Jimmie to the start of the Pro race.
After showering and eating at the hotel, we headed to the start again. Jimmie mottled over what to wear and then got started on his warm up. I walked around and talked with Jamie Galambos-Mishka and Erin Vicary before the start. I told them a little bit about the course. Erin said this was her last race and that her back/neck issues are just too much for her. I was sad to hear this, but as Jeff Carek our team captain likes to say "It is what it is."
Jimmie lined up next to Daniel Sterling, Racing Greyhounds, and per usual Jimmie was in serious racer mode. After some wait time they all took off and I drove back to the house where Jeff and Christine stay and rode my bike back to the finish line. I waited around and talked with Jim Senska and others while we awaited the Pros arrival. Jimmie finished and I went over and talked to him, He was talking to a friend from way back in the day, Brian Matter, about the race. Matter's wife Andrea was there as well as the Black Ace. Now I officially know who this guy is. Rob Selle stopped by the finish line to heckle Jimmie about Rob driving next to Jimmie in a car yelling at him to go faster. What a character.
Jimmie had a great race, kept it upright, and hung in for 60th in the Pro race and 62nd overall.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
10/27/13 Racing Greyhounds Zimmerman's ride
Sometimes we hawk the Racing Greyhounds public ride announcements forum to see if there are rides we can make that suit our training needs. There was a post for a ride to ride out to Zimmerman's in AA for coffee and back. See below:
Join me for one of the final Sunday morning coffee rides of the 2013 season. The weather looks cold but dry for a beautiful ride to Ann Arbor for a hot cup of "joe" with friends. The fall colors should add to the serenity and Zingerman's is always happy to see a bunch of lunatics in spandex on a Sunday morning!!
No Drop - Moderate pace - this will be my second ride of the month
Leave from the shop @ 9am and we should be back around noon
Hope to see you out there,
Chlorinated
We showed up at C to F and were off for a pretty even paced ride out to AA. Every now and then there was surge from Jackhammer that pushed the pace. We arrived at Zimmerman's just shy of and hour and a half of riding. Although a little pricey but the atmosphere is worth the ride; there's even places to put bikes and tools and stuff if you need to fix something. It was also nice to see bike lanes in AA. I ate a delicious bagel and had a glass of tea. Jimmie had hot chocolate and a bagel as well.
After eating, we got suited back up and headed out. There's a pretty long climb not even a mile after you leave that left me way off the back. I'm no good at taking breaks. They all waited for me and I was hoping our pace would stay around 22 or so mph. Not what happened though. We were around 24 mph and when Jimmie would go on the front I was barely hanging on. I took a 21/22 mph pull and was pretty cooked after that. There was a surge up a hill just before Beck and if the light hadn't turned red I would have been dropped fo sho. I did everything I could to hang on from there on and was grateful when we kind of chilled out when we hit Hines. Of course that was short lived. There was nice little surges here and there and eventually it was just too much for me. I didn't even make it to Stark. It was fun and spirited and I do look forward to joining that ride again in the future. That group of Greyhounds are very cool.
Here was the post last night after the ride:
Great ride this morning. A little more spirited than I thought it would be...but I can't blame anyone if I don't blame myself too
Thanks to everyone for coming out...
Jackhammer
Shoes
Miami
Bellringer
and to non GH's
Jim
Melissa
Coffee and scone at the turn were awesome...new favorite Cafe au Alla
Hope to get out to AA again real soon. Keep resting Old man Winter. Your turn will come soon enough.
Chlorinated
Join me for one of the final Sunday morning coffee rides of the 2013 season. The weather looks cold but dry for a beautiful ride to Ann Arbor for a hot cup of "joe" with friends. The fall colors should add to the serenity and Zingerman's is always happy to see a bunch of lunatics in spandex on a Sunday morning!!
No Drop - Moderate pace - this will be my second ride of the month
Leave from the shop @ 9am and we should be back around noon
Hope to see you out there,
Chlorinated
We showed up at C to F and were off for a pretty even paced ride out to AA. Every now and then there was surge from Jackhammer that pushed the pace. We arrived at Zimmerman's just shy of and hour and a half of riding. Although a little pricey but the atmosphere is worth the ride; there's even places to put bikes and tools and stuff if you need to fix something. It was also nice to see bike lanes in AA. I ate a delicious bagel and had a glass of tea. Jimmie had hot chocolate and a bagel as well.
After eating, we got suited back up and headed out. There's a pretty long climb not even a mile after you leave that left me way off the back. I'm no good at taking breaks. They all waited for me and I was hoping our pace would stay around 22 or so mph. Not what happened though. We were around 24 mph and when Jimmie would go on the front I was barely hanging on. I took a 21/22 mph pull and was pretty cooked after that. There was a surge up a hill just before Beck and if the light hadn't turned red I would have been dropped fo sho. I did everything I could to hang on from there on and was grateful when we kind of chilled out when we hit Hines. Of course that was short lived. There was nice little surges here and there and eventually it was just too much for me. I didn't even make it to Stark. It was fun and spirited and I do look forward to joining that ride again in the future. That group of Greyhounds are very cool.
Here was the post last night after the ride:
Great ride this morning. A little more spirited than I thought it would be...but I can't blame anyone if I don't blame myself too
Thanks to everyone for coming out...
Jackhammer
Shoes
Miami
Bellringer
and to non GH's
Jim
Melissa
Coffee and scone at the turn were awesome...new favorite Cafe au Alla
Hope to get out to AA again real soon. Keep resting Old man Winter. Your turn will come soon enough.
Chlorinated
Addison XC, Peak to Peak and Lowell 50
It's been a while since I've posted anything about our racing and training.
Per usual Jimmie is doing great. He raced the Pro class at Addison and then the Expert SS class. I raced Pro Women and wished I had raced Expert. There was an Expert Men's 40 to 49 guy yelling at me and Melanie B. Not sure what the jerks name. Anyway he's a used douche.
In between then and now we've replaced the roof on our house and the garage and we've been joining in on some Racing Greyhound training rides. Between the Gravity ride out in Milford, Maybury miles and the Cyclo Cross training I'm hoping to be ready for this last weekend of racing. They have a great group of people to train with and most of their rides are right by the house.
Peak to Peak
We pre-rode the course. We had a hard time finding the course due to lack of signage, but we hooked up with Lako and Jared M who pointed us in the right direction. We had a nice little hail storm during the very end of our pre-ride. Made things interesting.
The day of the race had better weather than expected. The first lap was fast. The single-track was in great shape and the climb at the end wasn't as hard as it was the time I did it in 2009. The single track after the climb is what I remember loving in 2009 - super fun! It makes up for the super flat stuff for miles in the beginning. Lap 2 and 3 semeed to go slower. The tackiness reminded me of iceman's course last year - sucked your speed away. Jimmie had a great race. He finished 11th of 24 which is awesome!
We spent sometime talking to friends after the race. Lise Selle unfortunately broke her chain during the first lap. She's still going to have a great iceman!
We went to the Mackinaw Brewery in TC after the race with Wendy and Todd. I ran into the Devost's from the Greyhounds while there. Both some very fast Greyhounds.
We tried to pre-ride some of the iceman course the next day but somehow got turned around. Not much to really learn though. All I know is I hope they have that shipping container thingy all figured out before the race on Saturday.
The Lowell 50
I raced, if you want to call it that, the 50 mile race in the Spring. That was terrible. The weather was cold with 20 plus mph winds and 22 and up wind gusts. I raced it on my cross bike and absolutely hated it. This time I signed up for the 34 miler, brought the MTB race bike and when I saw the weather forecast I knew that was the right plan. Again we had cold windy weather but this time add some rain just before the race.
During this time of year it's difficult to dress for racing, in my opinion. I had put on our long sleeved jersey and long pants, but still felt quite chilly prior to the race. My hands were by far the coldest. I decided to use a short sleeve jersey as a base layer and I put toe warmers, forgot the hand warmers, inside my winter gloves. My hope was to hang with the faster to fastest group of guys in an effort to pretty much get pulled along that 34 mile windy course. Unfortunately my plan fell through pretty quickly when I quickly started to over heat. I hung on for the first 5 miles or so and then I stared feeling slow. It took me some time to realize what was going on; I think my super sweaty hands were the big indicator. I tried unzipping some of my jerseys to see if that would help. About 45 minutes into the race I reached the top of a hill and stopped. I took my gloves off and both my jerseys off. I tucked my gloves and short sleeve jersey into the pockets of the long sleeved jersey and put it back on. Whew I felt much better already! I worked hard at that point to pass as many people as I could, especially the ones that passed me while I was on that hill. What was funny about this race was the amount of guys I pulled at some points. I wish I had a camera on me so I could take a picture. At first it was just one guy for miles and then over time as people passed and what not it turned into a train of guys. After pulling for miles I finally sat up and told the guy that had been on my wheel from the start that he can take a pull. Unfortunately our average speed went down at that point and people we had passed were passing us back. I couldn't have that so I went back to the front. It amazes me how many times I've been at races like this where no one really wants to work together in a group to try and catch and pass the people. On a course like Lowell you can see your competition most of the time. You can tractor beam them in, but people do not work together. Instead they will let you bust butt for miles until you pop or force them to take a pull. I didn't win, but I think it was good training. It was also fun talking to Jamie G-M and Bonnie V after the race. They both kicked butt.
Jimmie was with the lead group until a couple of cross riders crashed right in front of him at the bottom of a washed out climb. He chased the lead group for 45 miles until deciding it was just too much and eventually riding by himself and/or other guys along the way. Jimmie finished 13th overall and 3rd in his age group.
Per usual Jimmie is doing great. He raced the Pro class at Addison and then the Expert SS class. I raced Pro Women and wished I had raced Expert. There was an Expert Men's 40 to 49 guy yelling at me and Melanie B. Not sure what the jerks name. Anyway he's a used douche.
In between then and now we've replaced the roof on our house and the garage and we've been joining in on some Racing Greyhound training rides. Between the Gravity ride out in Milford, Maybury miles and the Cyclo Cross training I'm hoping to be ready for this last weekend of racing. They have a great group of people to train with and most of their rides are right by the house.
Peak to Peak
We pre-rode the course. We had a hard time finding the course due to lack of signage, but we hooked up with Lako and Jared M who pointed us in the right direction. We had a nice little hail storm during the very end of our pre-ride. Made things interesting.
The day of the race had better weather than expected. The first lap was fast. The single-track was in great shape and the climb at the end wasn't as hard as it was the time I did it in 2009. The single track after the climb is what I remember loving in 2009 - super fun! It makes up for the super flat stuff for miles in the beginning. Lap 2 and 3 semeed to go slower. The tackiness reminded me of iceman's course last year - sucked your speed away. Jimmie had a great race. He finished 11th of 24 which is awesome!
We spent sometime talking to friends after the race. Lise Selle unfortunately broke her chain during the first lap. She's still going to have a great iceman!
We went to the Mackinaw Brewery in TC after the race with Wendy and Todd. I ran into the Devost's from the Greyhounds while there. Both some very fast Greyhounds.
We tried to pre-ride some of the iceman course the next day but somehow got turned around. Not much to really learn though. All I know is I hope they have that shipping container thingy all figured out before the race on Saturday.
The Lowell 50
I raced, if you want to call it that, the 50 mile race in the Spring. That was terrible. The weather was cold with 20 plus mph winds and 22 and up wind gusts. I raced it on my cross bike and absolutely hated it. This time I signed up for the 34 miler, brought the MTB race bike and when I saw the weather forecast I knew that was the right plan. Again we had cold windy weather but this time add some rain just before the race.
During this time of year it's difficult to dress for racing, in my opinion. I had put on our long sleeved jersey and long pants, but still felt quite chilly prior to the race. My hands were by far the coldest. I decided to use a short sleeve jersey as a base layer and I put toe warmers, forgot the hand warmers, inside my winter gloves. My hope was to hang with the faster to fastest group of guys in an effort to pretty much get pulled along that 34 mile windy course. Unfortunately my plan fell through pretty quickly when I quickly started to over heat. I hung on for the first 5 miles or so and then I stared feeling slow. It took me some time to realize what was going on; I think my super sweaty hands were the big indicator. I tried unzipping some of my jerseys to see if that would help. About 45 minutes into the race I reached the top of a hill and stopped. I took my gloves off and both my jerseys off. I tucked my gloves and short sleeve jersey into the pockets of the long sleeved jersey and put it back on. Whew I felt much better already! I worked hard at that point to pass as many people as I could, especially the ones that passed me while I was on that hill. What was funny about this race was the amount of guys I pulled at some points. I wish I had a camera on me so I could take a picture. At first it was just one guy for miles and then over time as people passed and what not it turned into a train of guys. After pulling for miles I finally sat up and told the guy that had been on my wheel from the start that he can take a pull. Unfortunately our average speed went down at that point and people we had passed were passing us back. I couldn't have that so I went back to the front. It amazes me how many times I've been at races like this where no one really wants to work together in a group to try and catch and pass the people. On a course like Lowell you can see your competition most of the time. You can tractor beam them in, but people do not work together. Instead they will let you bust butt for miles until you pop or force them to take a pull. I didn't win, but I think it was good training. It was also fun talking to Jamie G-M and Bonnie V after the race. They both kicked butt.
Jimmie was with the lead group until a couple of cross riders crashed right in front of him at the bottom of a washed out climb. He chased the lead group for 45 miles until deciding it was just too much and eventually riding by himself and/or other guys along the way. Jimmie finished 13th overall and 3rd in his age group.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Ore to Shore vs. Maybury TT mmba.org posts
I just want to say I think it's funny that there's a 13 page post regarding the Maybury TT and probably about 1/2 of those pages were after the race filled with complaints and people just being mean.
mmba racing post for Maybury TT
There was an f'n train on the tracks during Ore to Shore that screwed a lot of people's race up (more than 75% of the field) and only one post regarding the train debacle. There was also a woman who injured herself pretty badly on the sand pit and not one post regarding that even.
It's just interesting...
mmba racing post for Maybury TT
There was an f'n train on the tracks during Ore to Shore that screwed a lot of people's race up (more than 75% of the field) and only one post regarding the train debacle. There was also a woman who injured herself pretty badly on the sand pit and not one post regarding that even.
It's just interesting...
Monday, August 26, 2013
Something you don't see everyday
A guy I work with showed me this picture. It's from a recent trip up north to Rogers City to his in-laws house. He said the mother was killed by a car so the dog started performing some motherly duties. Nature is funny sometimes.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Ore to Shore 8.10.13 and our UP vacation
Another Ore to Shore completed followed with a week of vacationing in the UP.
Jimmie's race went very well. He and the super fast group made it past the train situation and on to a smoking fast finish time of 2:39. He was 3rd in his age group and 33rd overall.
Seth was probably one of the first people to get caught by the train. He said the guy just ahead of him almost got hit by the train.
Beating the train...what is that all about anyhow?
http://www.beatthetrain.org/
We were fortunate to have great weather during the race. Last year we had some crazy wind and the year before the temps sored near 88 degrees with tons of humidity. This year I think we may have had temps in the low 70's with clear sunny skies. The rain had come through days before and left us with some muddy sections and some pretty big puddles to deal with, but other wise the course was in good shape.
I was pretty happy with my finish time all things being considered. I had originally planned to make Ore to Shore my A race for the season but "the incident" as we call it derailed that plan and I just tried to not crash.
Anyhow...about our vacation: We headed up toward the Porcupine Mountains Saturday evening. We were tired from driving and stopped off at Baraga State Park and slept in the van. The next day we headed to the Porcupine Mountains. Our campsite was a little too close to other people for comfort but it had to do since we didn't make a reservation. We headed up to the Lake in the Clouds via the road and got some serious hill work in. We ran into a couple up there who were backwoods hiking/camping. That same night we ended up seeing them again as they had decided to camp at the state campground in lieu of backwoods camping. The next day we woke up and decided to check out the supposed MTB trails. We ended up riding some XC skill trails and wondered why in the heck, when there is so much land out there, isn't there any single track. It was a big disappointment. The Porcupine Mountains are beautiful and on a clear night the skies are unbelievable. If we ever go back, we are going to go back for hiking since there are hiking trails everywhere around there.
We decided we'd had enough of the Porcupine Mountains so we headed up to Copper Harbor for the bad a$$ trails up there. We landed a sweet campsite at the West lot in the Fort Wilkins State Park. Our neighbors were from Wisconsin and were also there for the MTB riding.
We spent a good portion of Wednesday riding the Copper Harbor trails and we both rode Thursday before we left for Marquette. I found that I like the Mai Kai, Der we went, Der we go, the Bullwinkle, Woopidy woo and the Flow. On the Edge scares me and yes you are literally on the edge. I guess the locals ride down it. I've only ridden up it. Jimmie rode the Red trail and Simah down the mountain and said they are much more fun as downhills. He did something like 4000 ft of climbing at Copper Harbor.
Everyone talks about the South trails in Marquette. I have to say some of the North trails are awesome as well just in a different way. They're less technical, but accessible from Tourist Park and we literally race right next to some of them at the very end of Ore to Shore. If you pay attention to the right side of the hill when riding up Kirby's climb, you will see a trail marker for one of the North trails. Skip Kirby's climb, obviously not during the race, and ride the single track instead. The South trails are a mix of technical and super fun trails. I love the Red Trail. We rode as much as we could on Friday. We ended up riding for almost 4 hours starting at Tourist Park and riding a lot of the South trails (some of the Red Trail X2) and up to Presque Isle to visit Sunset Point where we got married a year ago.
Jimmie's race went very well. He and the super fast group made it past the train situation and on to a smoking fast finish time of 2:39. He was 3rd in his age group and 33rd overall.
Seth was probably one of the first people to get caught by the train. He said the guy just ahead of him almost got hit by the train.
Beating the train...what is that all about anyhow?
http://www.beatthetrain.org/
We were fortunate to have great weather during the race. Last year we had some crazy wind and the year before the temps sored near 88 degrees with tons of humidity. This year I think we may have had temps in the low 70's with clear sunny skies. The rain had come through days before and left us with some muddy sections and some pretty big puddles to deal with, but other wise the course was in good shape.
I was pretty happy with my finish time all things being considered. I had originally planned to make Ore to Shore my A race for the season but "the incident" as we call it derailed that plan and I just tried to not crash.
Anyhow...about our vacation: We headed up toward the Porcupine Mountains Saturday evening. We were tired from driving and stopped off at Baraga State Park and slept in the van. The next day we headed to the Porcupine Mountains. Our campsite was a little too close to other people for comfort but it had to do since we didn't make a reservation. We headed up to the Lake in the Clouds via the road and got some serious hill work in. We ran into a couple up there who were backwoods hiking/camping. That same night we ended up seeing them again as they had decided to camp at the state campground in lieu of backwoods camping. The next day we woke up and decided to check out the supposed MTB trails. We ended up riding some XC skill trails and wondered why in the heck, when there is so much land out there, isn't there any single track. It was a big disappointment. The Porcupine Mountains are beautiful and on a clear night the skies are unbelievable. If we ever go back, we are going to go back for hiking since there are hiking trails everywhere around there.
Lake Superior at Porcupine Mountains Union Bay campground
8.12.13
We decided we'd had enough of the Porcupine Mountains so we headed up to Copper Harbor for the bad a$$ trails up there. We landed a sweet campsite at the West lot in the Fort Wilkins State Park. Our neighbors were from Wisconsin and were also there for the MTB riding.
We spent a good portion of Wednesday riding the Copper Harbor trails and we both rode Thursday before we left for Marquette. I found that I like the Mai Kai, Der we went, Der we go, the Bullwinkle, Woopidy woo and the Flow. On the Edge scares me and yes you are literally on the edge. I guess the locals ride down it. I've only ridden up it. Jimmie rode the Red trail and Simah down the mountain and said they are much more fun as downhills. He did something like 4000 ft of climbing at Copper Harbor.
Everyone talks about the South trails in Marquette. I have to say some of the North trails are awesome as well just in a different way. They're less technical, but accessible from Tourist Park and we literally race right next to some of them at the very end of Ore to Shore. If you pay attention to the right side of the hill when riding up Kirby's climb, you will see a trail marker for one of the North trails. Skip Kirby's climb, obviously not during the race, and ride the single track instead. The South trails are a mix of technical and super fun trails. I love the Red Trail. We rode as much as we could on Friday. We ended up riding for almost 4 hours starting at Tourist Park and riding a lot of the South trails (some of the Red Trail X2) and up to Presque Isle to visit Sunset Point where we got married a year ago.
View from North trail
View of trail head from atop the mountain in Copper Harbor
Friday, July 26, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
MTB XC Nationals in Macungie, PA
Jimmie, Todd, Wendy and I headed to PA for the mtb xc nationals race this past weekend. We left after work on Wednesday and stopped in PA to stay in a hotel. Our first attempt to stay at a hotel was debunked by the fact that we were apparently in fracking country and there weren't any available rooms. Todd drove us quite a ways further down 80 through some thick arse fog and to a hotel that had some rooms. In the morning we ate breakfast together and got ready. I thought I lost my phone and started looking all over for it. I was accusing the two ladies at the front desk of stealing it and all this craziness when we finally located it within our luggage. Let's just say regular exercise keeps me sane. :)
On Thursday we arrived at Bear Creek resort about an hour or so before Jimmie's short track even. Everyone picked up their packets and Jimmie got dressed and ready to race. We watched Jimmie's race since pretty much the whole thing was spectator friendly except a small section of SS in the woods behind the announcers booth. He was doing great for a good portion of the race passing competition and pushing up those hills until he got pulled just before the 20 minutes was up. The 2 guys who were in the front were super fast and lapped a bunch of people in their field.
After the short track event we all got suited up and ready to pre-ride the XC course. It was blazing hot even in the woods. We headed into the course together and I was off the back not too soon into that ride. The course was a giant rock garden. It's not shoulder separation friendly and I was feeling every bump. There were lots of people heading into the woods at this time and I was just trying to stay out of the actual racers way. Jimmie would ride ahead and then wait up for me. I walked a lot of that course. It was seriously the bumpiest trail I've ever seen. I would bet $$ that 1/4 of that course was not rocky while the rest of the 6.5 mile loop was. What was even more crazy was to see that the Pro course was easier and shorter than the "amateur" xc race course. Seriously?! Does that make any sense? After we were all finished riding the course we headed to our temporary gigs in Quakertown, PA.
The roads surrounding the entire area are super twisty with little to no shoulder and appear to be built around the already existing homes so regular tight turns where the edge of a really old house was at the apex of the turn. Some crazy roads. This discouraged me because I was hoping to get a ride in every day I was there. I opted not to ride the roads due to the lack of shoulder and apparent danger every turn we took.
Our humble abode was pretty nice inside for a 5th wheeler with a bedroom, shower, toilet, and full kitchen along with a pull out couch for a 2nd place to sleep. The first night was pretty quiet. We planned on getting the guys to the course to pre-ride on Friday morning. Unfortunately we were late and they didn't get to ride. We found some supposed trails on the map to ride and it turned. We ended up going to this trail that was in the back of some neighborhood. A very nice local man let us park on his property and let us ride through his backyard onto the trails. The trails were also very rocky. In fact I think that's all they have in PA - rocks. I opted to turn around while the rest of them rode. Wendy and I eventually met up and rode together while Todd and Jimmie rode elsewhere. Wendy ended up flatting on a rocky descent and we tried to repair it to no avail. We walked back to the truck and met the guys.
The trailer owners next to us were there for the weekend. They had some supped up golf cart with off terrain tires. Saturday morning the fleet of golf carts were covered in mud. Apparently this is what these locals do - get drunk and off road in their golf carts. The whole place was weird to be honest. There were a great deal of over weight individuals. The guys and boys walked around shirtless and lets just say there was a little bit of an inbred sort of likeness to the people around us. Of course the people next door did have a Mercedes SUV. Sunday morning we saw a trailer with a white couch on it strapped down. This was additional outside seating for guests or maybe they pulled these people around via the bad ass golf cart.
So to the important stuff - the XC national race: Jimmie and Todd were set to race around 8:30 Saturday morning. Wendy's race was slotted to start at 10:30. All racers were suppose to do 3 laps. Thunderstorms blew through the area Friday evening. And as we all suspected the rocky course was a slippery mess. I don't think anyone was looking forward to racing on the terrain along with blistering hot 100 + degree temps with the heat index. I believe it was supposed to feel like 106 that day. We watched Jimmie and Todd start their races and we headed back to the truck. Wendy was doing what she does before a race and I was getting geared up to go for a run. While I was running Wendy was hoofing up a hill toward me. She said Jimmie was back at the truck. Not good of course. He was in good health and that's mostly what I cared about but I still had to learn about what happened. Apparently some douche crossed Jimmie's front wheel somewhere in the start area and we didn't even see it. Jimmie got up and got back into the race even passing people. He headed up a hill and went to shift and the chain got thrown into the wheel. He stopped to straighten his derailleur hanger and bent it one last time to straighten it again and SNAP. There went his race. Todd flatted somewhere in the 1st loop and we all got a bunch of flat repair stuff ready to help Todd fix his tire when he came around for his 3rd lap. Somewhere during his 2nd lap his drive train blew up and there went Todd's race. So now we had both of the guys done a disappointed with their race. Listening to the announcer we heard something about like 25% of the field getting DNF's. The terrain was not nice after the rain. Wendy felt the pressure to finish since the guys had issues. She got news that she only had to do 2 laps and that her start time was delayed to 10:45. She was happy about the lap reduction and on that course who wouldn't be.
We watched the women racers line up and go off in their waves. The women's SS was the last group to go. After they were off we all headed for the shade or inside for some relief from the flipping hot temps. We headed back out to watch as the women started to come in for their 2nd lap. We saw a few SS racers come in and figured Wendy was either in 3rd as she came in. We weren't entirely sure. As the 2nd lap was finishing we saw an older SS woman finish in the top 4 and then a couple more come in soon after. Wendy ended up finishing in 4th of 7.
All in all I would say it was an experience and I must say I was getting pretty riled up watching everyone else race. I hate being a spectator - it's so much more fun racing.
A couple things about PA- they do not sell beer at the grocery store but they sell 6 packs at bars (weird) and cases at some beer depot stores. It's a strange concept to have everything under the same roof. It's cool to drive hopped up golf carts around. The trails are rocky and the road riding appears to be dangerous. Michigan's trails are SO much more fun to ride.
Monday, July 8, 2013
ILRA and Kensington ride
I've dabbled in riding outside a bit. It took me some time to be able to stretch my arm out comfortably to place on the handlebar. I'm still uncomfortable on a road bike so I've been riding the SS.
We had some long harder rides planned over the extended weekend so I made sure Jimmie geared my SS a little taller to make the hills more difficult. We rode the road together on Friday morning completing the typical Tuesday night loop. The dump always smells lovely in the summer...not! Regardless of the smells I was happy to be outside and even happier to be out there with Jimmie. We don't get to ride together much anymore. Saturday he met with some friends for a road ride out in Saline early in the morning. I rode Hines again on my SS. I ran into Jim Senska (beat the train) and his lady friend out there and I also saw someone from work dabbling in a little MTB riding on the road.
On Sunday we got up super early with the intention of riding before the sun came out and the temps rose, but for whatever reason we didn't get out to ILRA until 9:30. It was raining off and on and the sun wasn't making much of an appearance. I had some long ride planned that needed lots of hills so I figured the best route was the ILRA road plus the evil hills at Kensington. I completed the loop a few times and before I knew it my allotted ride time was up. Jimmie completed his super secret training and we were both happy to be headed home to get some food.
I find I'm always looking forward to the meals after training rides. Typically the last hour of hard training rides are filled with thoughts of what food I can't wait to eat. When it's really hot and humid I always crave cold water (of course), salty foods like pickles or chips and salsa, locally grown ripe tomatoes and refrigerated oranges.
We had some long harder rides planned over the extended weekend so I made sure Jimmie geared my SS a little taller to make the hills more difficult. We rode the road together on Friday morning completing the typical Tuesday night loop. The dump always smells lovely in the summer...not! Regardless of the smells I was happy to be outside and even happier to be out there with Jimmie. We don't get to ride together much anymore. Saturday he met with some friends for a road ride out in Saline early in the morning. I rode Hines again on my SS. I ran into Jim Senska (beat the train) and his lady friend out there and I also saw someone from work dabbling in a little MTB riding on the road.
On Sunday we got up super early with the intention of riding before the sun came out and the temps rose, but for whatever reason we didn't get out to ILRA until 9:30. It was raining off and on and the sun wasn't making much of an appearance. I had some long ride planned that needed lots of hills so I figured the best route was the ILRA road plus the evil hills at Kensington. I completed the loop a few times and before I knew it my allotted ride time was up. Jimmie completed his super secret training and we were both happy to be headed home to get some food.
I find I'm always looking forward to the meals after training rides. Typically the last hour of hard training rides are filled with thoughts of what food I can't wait to eat. When it's really hot and humid I always crave cold water (of course), salty foods like pickles or chips and salsa, locally grown ripe tomatoes and refrigerated oranges.
This pic is for Jimmie:
Proof that I do smile while racing. ;)
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Bloomer XC
Jimmie contemplated going to Midland for the Sweat Shaker rather than Bloomer due to the week long rain we had. I woke up Saturday morning expecting to go watch him race, but he opted to get some sleep instead.
We rode the trainers indoors Saturday morning. Jimmie fixed his front break issue in preparation for Bloomer.
On Sunday Jimmie and I got to Bloomer earlier than I expected. The Mom & Pop Racing/ sweet Bikes team mates were already there getting prepped for their race. They had a tent set up with some chairs and other needs for an expected day long stay at Bloomer. Everyone was racing but me even the kids. :(
I've never ridden at Bloomer and never heard anyone say anything good about it either. I think the added wet conditions would have changed my mind about racing even if I could.
Jimmie raced the 40 to 49 expert group and finished 4th. Todd was 4th in the SS expert group. Wendy was 3rd in the women's pro category. Seth hated the course. Emily decided not to race it after Seth's experience was sub par.
Talked to Kati Krikke after her race. She didn't like the course. She said Sue Stephens told her she went of course a tad. I heard a lot of that. The course was not well marked according to the racers. As the elite/expert men came around for their 1st lap there was quite a bit of mumbling about the course. Still the rain stayed away for Sunday and eventually the sun came out and gave way to a very nice day.
Next up is Brighton XC...see you there!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Lumberjack 100
We headed up to Wellston, MI on Friday morning hoping to get a spot along the neutral zone to place our tent for the 100 mile race the next day. We arrived around 1:30 and pulled up next to a motorhome with Floria plates. It turns out it was Drew Edsall's vehicle. We waited about 30 minutes before Wendy and Todd to showed up. Our original spot we had selected was taken so we moved slightly down the course and under a big tree. I was happy to be there so I could remain in the shade the majority of the race. We put everything other than food and bikes under the tent.
Jimmie, Wendy and Todd got suited up and went for a pre-ride of some of the course. I decided to walk from Big M to our hotel that sits along M55 about 4 miles from Big M. During my walk I received a phone call from work about a phone problem and while I talked management through the problem a deer ran across Udell Hills rd right in front of me.
The alarm went off early and Jimmie got up to eat his breakfast. He figured on eating more than usual so he could go into the race not feeling hungry. I had some coffee and oatmeal showered and got ready to leave around 5:45 am. We arrived and moved all the rest of the stuff we needed to under the tent. Jimmie hung out in the van for a while to rest his eyes while I talked to Wendy and Todd as they prepared to race. It's funny how much we racers have to go to the bathroom before races. The lines just kept getting longer for the port-a-john's as the start of the race got closer. Eventually Jimmie, Todd , Wendy and Andy Erickson (Beat The Train) headed to the start line which is a ways down Udell Hills Rd. This gives opportunity for a neutral roll out.
I hung out around the last bend before the racers get ported onto the sandy trail awaiting the arrival of the racers. We didn't hear anything and the only indication the racers were on their way was the Subaru pace that came through the parking lot first. Soon after that a large group of racers showed up, the fast ones in the front of course, and then everyone got funneled into some sandy widened single track. So what we saw was a pretty good amount of racers clipping along at race pace and then we heard lots of breaking. Some people were at a crawl as they entered this spot. Didn't look like a race.
I decided around 7:15 it was time for my exercise. I headed out to Udell Hills rd and walked to M55 and back. It was much quieter than Fridays walk. In fact is was kind of eerie. I kept thinking I was going to see a bear or deer or something else run across in front of me. All I heard were birds and the buzzing of mosquitoes around my head. There was a sh!t ton of mosquitoes at Big M. I made sure to be back before 9:00 so I could be there when Jimmie come through on his first lap.
Jimmie came through right around the 2:30 mark. He looked fresh and ready for his next lap. He stopped handed me his camelback, I handed him the full one and he grabbed some fig newtons in a sandwich baggy and he was off. I filled up his camelback and got another baggy of fig newtons ready for his next round through. Wendy and Todd showed up about 30 minutes later. I helped fill their camelbacks and try to help out in whatever way I could. They hung out for about 10 minutes eating 1/2 a sandwich and some fruit. Andy Erickson showed up about 15 minutes after Wendy and Todd and he took some time too. He ate some 1/2 sandwiches and filled his camelback and more sandwiches for the race. He lost both of his bottles during the first lap.
I chilled out for a bit and listened to the people in the BK Training Systems tent talk. They had racers like Christian Tanguy to support so it was interesting to see how these super fast guys support teams handled everything. It was also interesting to watch their racers go through. Tanguy has it down. He goes through and they just hold out his filled camelback and he hooks it with his left arm while dropping the used one and he's off. It was a mixed bunch but all in all their racers had good attitudes as they came through. I think that's important when you race these 100 milers.
About 2:30 hours later Jimmie came through completing his 2nd lap and it was just like the 1st one except I handed him bottles this time. He still looked good - just really dirty. Wendy and Todd came through together and did pretty much the same thing. They ate some food, drank some water, peed and took off. Andy E arrived and decided he needed to sit down for a few minutes. I warned him that typically when people sit down at this race that's it. He assured me that he wasn't done. He just needed to rest his legs for a few. He did get back up and get some food and water before he headed out to complete his last lap.
I really wanted to take a nap at some point in time but before I knew it the time was a little after 7 hours and based on Jimmie's 2 lap times he was on par for a 7:30 finish time. I meandered over to the finish line and waited. Jimmie came through at 7:35 improving his time from 2011 by 30 minutes. He was ecstatic. He took off to ride around and I checked his status. He ended up in 6th barely getting beat out for a podium finish by several seconds. Wendy got 1st in the womens SS division.
I talked to Chad Aiello and Bruce Anderson from the Racing Greyhounds for a few minutes. Chad did two laps but had the misfortune of breaking a shifter and wasn't able to finish the race. Bruce broke his chain on lap 2 and walked a bit before someone gave him a link to fix his chain. He decided to not continue with the race. I walked over to the tent and Jimmie was sitting on a chair with his feet up chilling out. He really wanted to head back to the hotel and shower so we did. We made it back just as Wendy and Todd were completing their race. They finished together and both had times a tad under 9 hours - not bad for their 1st 100 mile mtb race.
6th Jimmie Colflesh Mens SS finish time 7:35:20
23rd Todd Blumerick Mens SS finish time 8:50:51
1st Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick Womens SS finish time 8:50:51
46th Andrew Erickson Mens Open finish time 10:44:57
This picture sums up how dirty some of the racers were. Joe's beard looks a little stiff...
Jimmie, Wendy and Todd got suited up and went for a pre-ride of some of the course. I decided to walk from Big M to our hotel that sits along M55 about 4 miles from Big M. During my walk I received a phone call from work about a phone problem and while I talked management through the problem a deer ran across Udell Hills rd right in front of me.
The alarm went off early and Jimmie got up to eat his breakfast. He figured on eating more than usual so he could go into the race not feeling hungry. I had some coffee and oatmeal showered and got ready to leave around 5:45 am. We arrived and moved all the rest of the stuff we needed to under the tent. Jimmie hung out in the van for a while to rest his eyes while I talked to Wendy and Todd as they prepared to race. It's funny how much we racers have to go to the bathroom before races. The lines just kept getting longer for the port-a-john's as the start of the race got closer. Eventually Jimmie, Todd , Wendy and Andy Erickson (Beat The Train) headed to the start line which is a ways down Udell Hills Rd. This gives opportunity for a neutral roll out.
I hung out around the last bend before the racers get ported onto the sandy trail awaiting the arrival of the racers. We didn't hear anything and the only indication the racers were on their way was the Subaru pace that came through the parking lot first. Soon after that a large group of racers showed up, the fast ones in the front of course, and then everyone got funneled into some sandy widened single track. So what we saw was a pretty good amount of racers clipping along at race pace and then we heard lots of breaking. Some people were at a crawl as they entered this spot. Didn't look like a race.
I decided around 7:15 it was time for my exercise. I headed out to Udell Hills rd and walked to M55 and back. It was much quieter than Fridays walk. In fact is was kind of eerie. I kept thinking I was going to see a bear or deer or something else run across in front of me. All I heard were birds and the buzzing of mosquitoes around my head. There was a sh!t ton of mosquitoes at Big M. I made sure to be back before 9:00 so I could be there when Jimmie come through on his first lap.
Jimmie came through right around the 2:30 mark. He looked fresh and ready for his next lap. He stopped handed me his camelback, I handed him the full one and he grabbed some fig newtons in a sandwich baggy and he was off. I filled up his camelback and got another baggy of fig newtons ready for his next round through. Wendy and Todd showed up about 30 minutes later. I helped fill their camelbacks and try to help out in whatever way I could. They hung out for about 10 minutes eating 1/2 a sandwich and some fruit. Andy Erickson showed up about 15 minutes after Wendy and Todd and he took some time too. He ate some 1/2 sandwiches and filled his camelback and more sandwiches for the race. He lost both of his bottles during the first lap.
I chilled out for a bit and listened to the people in the BK Training Systems tent talk. They had racers like Christian Tanguy to support so it was interesting to see how these super fast guys support teams handled everything. It was also interesting to watch their racers go through. Tanguy has it down. He goes through and they just hold out his filled camelback and he hooks it with his left arm while dropping the used one and he's off. It was a mixed bunch but all in all their racers had good attitudes as they came through. I think that's important when you race these 100 milers.
About 2:30 hours later Jimmie came through completing his 2nd lap and it was just like the 1st one except I handed him bottles this time. He still looked good - just really dirty. Wendy and Todd came through together and did pretty much the same thing. They ate some food, drank some water, peed and took off. Andy E arrived and decided he needed to sit down for a few minutes. I warned him that typically when people sit down at this race that's it. He assured me that he wasn't done. He just needed to rest his legs for a few. He did get back up and get some food and water before he headed out to complete his last lap.
I really wanted to take a nap at some point in time but before I knew it the time was a little after 7 hours and based on Jimmie's 2 lap times he was on par for a 7:30 finish time. I meandered over to the finish line and waited. Jimmie came through at 7:35 improving his time from 2011 by 30 minutes. He was ecstatic. He took off to ride around and I checked his status. He ended up in 6th barely getting beat out for a podium finish by several seconds. Wendy got 1st in the womens SS division.
I talked to Chad Aiello and Bruce Anderson from the Racing Greyhounds for a few minutes. Chad did two laps but had the misfortune of breaking a shifter and wasn't able to finish the race. Bruce broke his chain on lap 2 and walked a bit before someone gave him a link to fix his chain. He decided to not continue with the race. I walked over to the tent and Jimmie was sitting on a chair with his feet up chilling out. He really wanted to head back to the hotel and shower so we did. We made it back just as Wendy and Todd were completing their race. They finished together and both had times a tad under 9 hours - not bad for their 1st 100 mile mtb race.
6th Jimmie Colflesh Mens SS finish time 7:35:20
23rd Todd Blumerick Mens SS finish time 8:50:51
1st Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick Womens SS finish time 8:50:51
46th Andrew Erickson Mens Open finish time 10:44:57
This picture sums up how dirty some of the racers were. Joe's beard looks a little stiff...
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Addison Oaks XC
Had I not had my little over the handlebars incident over Memorial Day weekend, we both would have raced at the Stony Marathon. Although we were both registered for the Mountain Mayhem this past weekend, we had to stick around town due to my inability to comfortably ride in or drive a vehicle. I had a little set back last Tuesday when the already broken clavicle bone decided to move and I woke up at 5am in agonizing pain followed by sweat and nausea. I missed all that fun broken bone pain stuff due to the concussion. Anyhow...this would be Jimmie's first tailwind race of the year.
Jimmie and I arrived at Addison Oaks, one of my favorite trails in MI, around 8:45. I slowly walked with him to the bathrooms and registration booth and back to the vehicle while he got ready to race. We talked about racing and training and all that good stuff while he got ready. Eventually he headed out to do some warming up while I wandered over to the start/finish area. Since Jimmie is now in the expert 40 - 49 category this year the competition has changed. I believe some of the regular winners in this category are Mike Wissink and Don Cameron. Shawn Schaffert is also kicking butt this year. Jimmie was lined up in the front next to Shawn. They took off and the group headed over the bridge and out of sight. While I waited to see how things were going for Jimmie after the first lap, I talked to Mary Ann and Jen who were there supporting their racing men from KLM. The guys came through and it was still a tight knit group of about 6 racers including Jimmie. After the second lap Wissink was in the front less than a minute in front of Jimmie. That's pretty much how it stayed for the rest of the race for Wissink and Jimmie. Shawn dropped out of the race. It looked like he crashed and got hurt. I saw Christian Tanguy come through his final lap with a face full of blood. Glad to see Ronald Catlin take the win in the men's elite race. He and Simonson had a fun to watch sprint to the finish ending.
Jimmie had a great race and finished 2nd. He was happy with how the race went and is lookinig forward to Lumberjack this weekend.
Jimmie and I arrived at Addison Oaks, one of my favorite trails in MI, around 8:45. I slowly walked with him to the bathrooms and registration booth and back to the vehicle while he got ready to race. We talked about racing and training and all that good stuff while he got ready. Eventually he headed out to do some warming up while I wandered over to the start/finish area. Since Jimmie is now in the expert 40 - 49 category this year the competition has changed. I believe some of the regular winners in this category are Mike Wissink and Don Cameron. Shawn Schaffert is also kicking butt this year. Jimmie was lined up in the front next to Shawn. They took off and the group headed over the bridge and out of sight. While I waited to see how things were going for Jimmie after the first lap, I talked to Mary Ann and Jen who were there supporting their racing men from KLM. The guys came through and it was still a tight knit group of about 6 racers including Jimmie. After the second lap Wissink was in the front less than a minute in front of Jimmie. That's pretty much how it stayed for the rest of the race for Wissink and Jimmie. Shawn dropped out of the race. It looked like he crashed and got hurt. I saw Christian Tanguy come through his final lap with a face full of blood. Glad to see Ronald Catlin take the win in the men's elite race. He and Simonson had a fun to watch sprint to the finish ending.
Jimmie had a great race and finished 2nd. He was happy with how the race went and is lookinig forward to Lumberjack this weekend.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The cement hurts...
Jimmie and I headed out for a ride Saturday morning. It was suppose to be a typical ride down to Northville and back with an added TT on the latter half of Hines. We had friends coming over to spend the night. I was looking forward to having company. I had planned on finishing the ride and heading to the store to get new chair covers and a fire pit for some evening outside hangout time. Things didn't go as I planned. I woke up in the ER on Saturday afternoon throwing up as some Dr. I'd never seen before was asking me questions. I noticed Jimmie there still in his jersey with some jeans on. I was confused. I woke up in my room and again wasn't sure what had happened. Lots of Drs in and out of my room asking me questions about my vision. Apparently I had quite the shiner on my right eye. I had broken a bone above my right eye, broke my left clavicle ( again) and injured much of the right side of my body. I kept trying to figure out what happened as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I know I saw my parents at different parts of the day but I couldn't tell you when. I know I kept asking Jimmie what happened. He kept telling me the same thing. We hadn't even made it to Newburgh Rd when he heard me sliding across the pavement behind him. We didn't have a cell phone on us so after he made sure I was conscious he high tailed it back to the house to get the van to drive me to the hospital. When he got back I had been loaded into an ambulance and they were checking over me. They told Jimmie they were going to take me to Botsford hospital because it's the only hospital in the area with a trauma unit. That's right apparently I was a trauma case.
Maybe it was the black eye or the bleeding from my nose or the repetitive asking of the same questions. Regardless this memorial day weekend was going to be the worst I somewhat remember. Sunday I was again in and out of it all day with the added bonus of vomiting many times throughout the day. I wanted to go home but I couldn't even sit up without feeling super dizzy. I hate throwing up. It makes me want to cry every time. It's an awful feeling. Fortunately I couldn't eat anything - no appetite due to nausea and head injury. I threw up breakfast on Saturday and didn't eat all day Sunday. You never get sleep at night in hospitals. They wake you up several times throughout the night to take your vitals and of course I had the added bonus of heparin shots in the belly so I don't get a blood clot. Jimmie stayed super late on Saturday, basically until the nurse made him leave. I could tell he was worried. Monday eventually arrived and I was more than ready to get out of the hospital. I wanted badly to take a shower. I felt like a dirty grease bomb. After the umpteen Dr showed up to ask me the same round of questions I was cleared to go home.
My sister, Layla and Lambros showed up later on Monday with some food. They were at the hospital on Sunday and probably at the time where I was most awake. It's amazing how much family helps out when you don't even ask them for it. We talked to them for a while and eventually they left. I was finally home and cleaned up and ready for bed. Jimmie and I watched some Fringe and eventually went to bed.
Jimmie stayed home with me on Tuesday while I made appointments and just tried to feel normal.
Since the whole crash hoopla happened I've been thinking a lot about everything in life. I may be ready to make some big changes soon or maybe I'm ready to hop on the trainer and continue with my training...only time will tell.
I'm grateful to have all the wonderful family and friends in my life but mostly I'm unbelievably lucky to have Jimmie.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Tandemania and trail skills
We've had a tandem 26" mtb in the house for a few years now. Over time Jimmie has been slowly acquiring the parts to put the bike together. We decided to try out the tandem after a personalized trail skills clinic we had at ILRA. I believe this was the same day as the Willow Run TT.
We rode our race bikes through much of the trail at ILRA before we stopped toward the beginning of the short loop to go over some skill related drills. There are some really fun short downhills with corners on the short loop that we figured would be the best spot for me to get my learn on. Jimmie demonstrated how I should ride the course at that spot. I went to the top of the hill and came barrelling down it to try to repeat what he showed me. Actually it worked. I thought about what he said and applied it. Now I can see how people fly through corners as fast as they do.
After we finished our trail ride we got the tandem out of the van and took it out on its maiden voyage. Holy crap is that a weird experience. I rode as the stoker and all I can say is there is a sh!t ton of flex and you really can't see what's going on ahead of you. It's also something to try and get a feel for the spinning and timing. I was laughing a ton and having a lot of fun, but I was also kind of getting freaked out about going downhill on this thing. As we headed over spring mill pond and crossed the creek the rear tire totally exploded. It turns out it the Fire XC Pro tire was in pretty bad condition and we didn't notice. As we were stopped we ran into Gabby Bruno from Dark Horse who was doing her usual fast paced ride through ILRA. We chatted for a while and then she rode off to get more trail riding on. It was nice to catch up with her. We put a tube in the rear tire, CO2'd it up and headed back to the trail head via the road.
I've since talked to Seth about how we now have a tandem. He said we should all meet up at The Poto (it gets an article because it is such a bad a$$ trail) to ride together. Uh not so sure about that idea as of yet. Jimmie and I take very different lines on that trail and I think I would scream with him at the front.
We rode our race bikes through much of the trail at ILRA before we stopped toward the beginning of the short loop to go over some skill related drills. There are some really fun short downhills with corners on the short loop that we figured would be the best spot for me to get my learn on. Jimmie demonstrated how I should ride the course at that spot. I went to the top of the hill and came barrelling down it to try to repeat what he showed me. Actually it worked. I thought about what he said and applied it. Now I can see how people fly through corners as fast as they do.
After we finished our trail ride we got the tandem out of the van and took it out on its maiden voyage. Holy crap is that a weird experience. I rode as the stoker and all I can say is there is a sh!t ton of flex and you really can't see what's going on ahead of you. It's also something to try and get a feel for the spinning and timing. I was laughing a ton and having a lot of fun, but I was also kind of getting freaked out about going downhill on this thing. As we headed over spring mill pond and crossed the creek the rear tire totally exploded. It turns out it the Fire XC Pro tire was in pretty bad condition and we didn't notice. As we were stopped we ran into Gabby Bruno from Dark Horse who was doing her usual fast paced ride through ILRA. We chatted for a while and then she rode off to get more trail riding on. It was nice to catch up with her. We put a tube in the rear tire, CO2'd it up and headed back to the trail head via the road.
I've since talked to Seth about how we now have a tandem. He said we should all meet up at The Poto (it gets an article because it is such a bad a$$ trail) to ride together. Uh not so sure about that idea as of yet. Jimmie and I take very different lines on that trail and I think I would scream with him at the front.
ILRA XC
I had originally planned on racing the 6 hours of stony on Saturday May 11th. I woke up that morning and just couldn't fight the urge to race the tailwind racing XC race at ILRA. That place is like a giant reminiscence of times past when I began riding in 1997 on my blue aluminum Nishiki. Years ago on one of my many rides out at ILRA I saw tailwind racing signage. I tossed around the idea of racing then, but was too intimidated. I couldn't even tell you what year that was. My understanding is that it's been years since anyone has been allowed to have hold a mtb race at ILRA.
I pulled up close to the Sweet Bikes tent where Seth and Emily were hanging out. They both thought I showed up to the wrong race and I told them I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to race at ILRA. I registered, reluctantly, for the elite/pro category and headed back to the van to get geared up. Seth was making last minute bike setup changes and warming up with me here and there.
We both decided to get in our waves for the start. It was cold and rained a little that morning. I think it was in the mid 40's for our start. I wore knickers and a short sleeved jersey. I was shivering so much waiting for our start that a nice man in front of us offered to let me wear his jacket. I thanked him and explained to him that I prefer to be cold at the start than comfortable. Comfortable means I'll probably over heat - a little lesson learned from iceman.
It seemed like it took forever for our wave to lineup to start. It was on the gas from 1. Sue and Erin were in the front from the start. I hung on till about the first climb and never saw them again. At this time I figured I was in 4th since another Canadian racer was ahead of me. Abby Owsley pulled us through quite a bit of the 1st lap. We finally caught the other Canadian, Melanie Bernier, atop the climb next to the road where you see the smiley face. I was happy to catch her. The three of us rode together through the completion of the 1st lap and all the way to the sprint finish that I didn't participate in. I can say I had the most fun I've ever had racing that day. I've never actually rode with other competition the entire race. I can only hope for more racing like that in the near future.
Emily Kleinglass raced and ended up in second. It's always fun to watch new racers really enjoy themselves. She seemed to really have a good time.
I got to meet Cru Simpson, Scott and Chrissie Simpson's baby boy. Chrissie picked out the name for their son not knowing anything about the movie Rad Racing, a film about BMX bike racing, and the main characters name Cru Jones. Needless to say Scott, a very enthusiastic BMXer, was happy with the name.
I pulled up close to the Sweet Bikes tent where Seth and Emily were hanging out. They both thought I showed up to the wrong race and I told them I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to race at ILRA. I registered, reluctantly, for the elite/pro category and headed back to the van to get geared up. Seth was making last minute bike setup changes and warming up with me here and there.
We both decided to get in our waves for the start. It was cold and rained a little that morning. I think it was in the mid 40's for our start. I wore knickers and a short sleeved jersey. I was shivering so much waiting for our start that a nice man in front of us offered to let me wear his jacket. I thanked him and explained to him that I prefer to be cold at the start than comfortable. Comfortable means I'll probably over heat - a little lesson learned from iceman.
It seemed like it took forever for our wave to lineup to start. It was on the gas from 1. Sue and Erin were in the front from the start. I hung on till about the first climb and never saw them again. At this time I figured I was in 4th since another Canadian racer was ahead of me. Abby Owsley pulled us through quite a bit of the 1st lap. We finally caught the other Canadian, Melanie Bernier, atop the climb next to the road where you see the smiley face. I was happy to catch her. The three of us rode together through the completion of the 1st lap and all the way to the sprint finish that I didn't participate in. I can say I had the most fun I've ever had racing that day. I've never actually rode with other competition the entire race. I can only hope for more racing like that in the near future.
Emily Kleinglass raced and ended up in second. It's always fun to watch new racers really enjoy themselves. She seemed to really have a good time.
I got to meet Cru Simpson, Scott and Chrissie Simpson's baby boy. Chrissie picked out the name for their son not knowing anything about the movie Rad Racing, a film about BMX bike racing, and the main characters name Cru Jones. Needless to say Scott, a very enthusiastic BMXer, was happy with the name.
Willow Run TT
Seth Kleinglass, owner of Sweet Bikes in Canton, has an accomplished background in road racing. This year the Willow Run TT was one on his radar. Kim Canales enthusiam pushed the Blumericks and ourselves out there as well. Most of us registered for the classic bike category since we don't own and are not interested in owning really, really expensive aerodynamic super light carbon road bikes.
I've raced a few road races here and there and I personally enjoyed myself. I've just noticed one thing about road racing more with the men than the women. There seems to be a "my bike is better than your bike" fest going on. When someone pulls up and they're sporting a pimped out Pinarello on their BMW you kind of think somethings to yourself. Let's just say there was some serious money in TT bikes out there that day.
It was a little cool in the morning so I dressed warmer than I probably should have. My start was good I just missed the 1st turn and had to slam on the brakes and lost a little time there. As I went around for what felt like the 10th time I realized how hot I felt and how my heart rate was about 10 beats per minutes higher than it should be. Wendy eventually passed me and went on to win the race in our category. I ended up in second. That was a surprise. I was getting use to 5th places by this time.
Jimmie Colflesh ended up in 2nd in his category as well. He just keeps getting faster. Seth Kleinglass ended up in 10th and only 2 minutes behind 1st place.
Jeff Carek showed up via his cross bike to support us while we raced.
Finish Times:
Todd Blumerick 35:41.39
Kim Canales 35:46.89
Jimmie Colflesh 32:44.16
Melissa Colflesh 38:54.80
John Conlin 38:09.34
Seth Kleinglass 32:31.00
Bradley Williams 36:09.74
Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick 36:06.80
All pictures are from detroit spoke.
I've raced a few road races here and there and I personally enjoyed myself. I've just noticed one thing about road racing more with the men than the women. There seems to be a "my bike is better than your bike" fest going on. When someone pulls up and they're sporting a pimped out Pinarello on their BMW you kind of think somethings to yourself. Let's just say there was some serious money in TT bikes out there that day.
It was a little cool in the morning so I dressed warmer than I probably should have. My start was good I just missed the 1st turn and had to slam on the brakes and lost a little time there. As I went around for what felt like the 10th time I realized how hot I felt and how my heart rate was about 10 beats per minutes higher than it should be. Wendy eventually passed me and went on to win the race in our category. I ended up in second. That was a surprise. I was getting use to 5th places by this time.
Jimmie Colflesh ended up in 2nd in his category as well. He just keeps getting faster. Seth Kleinglass ended up in 10th and only 2 minutes behind 1st place.
Jeff Carek showed up via his cross bike to support us while we raced.
Finish Times:
Todd Blumerick 35:41.39
Kim Canales 35:46.89
Jimmie Colflesh 32:44.16
Melissa Colflesh 38:54.80
John Conlin 38:09.34
Seth Kleinglass 32:31.00
Bradley Williams 36:09.74
Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick 36:06.80
All pictures are from detroit spoke.
Lowell 50
Wendy really wanted to race the Lowell 50 and Todd really wanted to race the Amish Country Roubaix in Ohio. It was decided that we ladies would venture to Battle Creek, MI to stay at Wendy's parents house to race the Lowell 50 the next day while Jimmie and Todd would head south to the Mohican area to race.
When I first looked at the weather that was supposedly going to happen for the Lowell 50, I was pretty happy since it looked like it may be fairly nice for the 50 miler. Wendy and I were in the kitchen at her parents house looking at the weather on our phones. Holy crap 20 to 30 mile winds and temps in the 30's and 40's. I was not happy to read that at all. Regardless we still ventured up to Lowell, MI Saturday morning and barely made it to the start of the race. In fact we had to push through the group of starters because apparently we missed the start for the 50 miler. I hung in Wendy's draft through a little bit of the first few miles until we hit the first climb. I watched Wendy climb up and over that hill as I struggled to make my cross bike move over the loose gravely climb. After that it was literally 45 miles of a suffer fest for me. I barely had anyone to work with since; I was on my own. Again I had front brake rubbing issues but this time with the cross bike. I tried several times to get that thing to stop rubbing to no avail. I just dealt with it. About an hour into the race it felt like my hands were on fire, so I stopped and removed my gloves. That made a huge difference. Of course at that time I thought I maybe had 2 hours tops left of the race. I was way off on that estimate. Since we had 20 plus mile an hour winds with wind gusts for much of the course I realized quickly that I was going to have a hard time getting to the 1/2 way point at even 15 miles per hour. I got so frustrated at one point I was swearing out loud at the wind and wishing I had signed up for the 28 mile race. Finally other women racers came up from behind me and they were working together along the flats - actually I would say the taller woman in the FRCC jersey was working for the other woman who just seemed to stay in her draft. I latched onto their train and was grateful to catch a break for a while. I slowly began to feel better and decided to take a pull. I must have been a little too fast for the FRCC woman or she just didn't care because she dropped off the back. I then had the hanger on-er lady who I swear was having lunch while I pulled for what seemed like forever. Eventually I slowed up so she would have to take a pull. I hung on for a while but eventually her pace was too much for me and I found myself alone once again. Much of the race after that was a blur until a lady on a MTB started gaining on me. I suddenly was on some sort of personal mission to not get passed by the MTB racer. I dug deep and pushed and fortunately held her off to the finish. I was cooked. I guess it was good training...I think.
Wendy opened a can of whoop a$$ on the course and once again came in 1st. She loves those gravel grinders.
When I first looked at the weather that was supposedly going to happen for the Lowell 50, I was pretty happy since it looked like it may be fairly nice for the 50 miler. Wendy and I were in the kitchen at her parents house looking at the weather on our phones. Holy crap 20 to 30 mile winds and temps in the 30's and 40's. I was not happy to read that at all. Regardless we still ventured up to Lowell, MI Saturday morning and barely made it to the start of the race. In fact we had to push through the group of starters because apparently we missed the start for the 50 miler. I hung in Wendy's draft through a little bit of the first few miles until we hit the first climb. I watched Wendy climb up and over that hill as I struggled to make my cross bike move over the loose gravely climb. After that it was literally 45 miles of a suffer fest for me. I barely had anyone to work with since; I was on my own. Again I had front brake rubbing issues but this time with the cross bike. I tried several times to get that thing to stop rubbing to no avail. I just dealt with it. About an hour into the race it felt like my hands were on fire, so I stopped and removed my gloves. That made a huge difference. Of course at that time I thought I maybe had 2 hours tops left of the race. I was way off on that estimate. Since we had 20 plus mile an hour winds with wind gusts for much of the course I realized quickly that I was going to have a hard time getting to the 1/2 way point at even 15 miles per hour. I got so frustrated at one point I was swearing out loud at the wind and wishing I had signed up for the 28 mile race. Finally other women racers came up from behind me and they were working together along the flats - actually I would say the taller woman in the FRCC jersey was working for the other woman who just seemed to stay in her draft. I latched onto their train and was grateful to catch a break for a while. I slowly began to feel better and decided to take a pull. I must have been a little too fast for the FRCC woman or she just didn't care because she dropped off the back. I then had the hanger on-er lady who I swear was having lunch while I pulled for what seemed like forever. Eventually I slowed up so she would have to take a pull. I hung on for a while but eventually her pace was too much for me and I found myself alone once again. Much of the race after that was a blur until a lady on a MTB started gaining on me. I suddenly was on some sort of personal mission to not get passed by the MTB racer. I dug deep and pushed and fortunately held her off to the finish. I was cooked. I guess it was good training...I think.
Wendy opened a can of whoop a$$ on the course and once again came in 1st. She loves those gravel grinders.
Barry Roubaix
The majority of our team, Mom & Pop Racing and Sweet Bikes, signed up for this race due to the team competition added this year. Todd and Wendy were trained and ready for BR, Jimmie and I - not so much. We were still in the early stages of our base training, so we figured if anything we'd just have fun.
It was hard to have fun at a race with temps in the 20's and icy conditions on the road. The majority of us raced SS. Seth and Jeff raced on their green crazy tandem fat bike.
Jimmie had a good race and finished with a good time. I had a front brake rub/screeching issue starting about 45 minutes into the race and forward. I tried to make it go away, but I made it worse. Probably about 1/2 way through the race I passed Chad Aiello from the Racing Greyhounds. He was fighting off puking. I guess he and his friends had a little too much alcohol the night before the race. I was just glad to cross the finish line without throwing my bike into the woods.
Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick had an awesome time finishing 1st in the SS 36 mile race and 4th fastest overall in the women's 36 mile division. I remember hearing her say that she felt great and that she should have raced the 62 miler.
Team finish times:
Nicholas Bayma 2:04:23
Todd Blumerick 2:05:08
Kim Canales 2:05:08
Jimmie Colflesh 1:59:39
Melissa Colflesh 2:23:05
John Conlin 2:09:11
Seth Kleinglass/Jeff Carek 2:32:42
Wesley Watt 2:29:54
Wendy Zamzow 2:05:31
It was hard to have fun at a race with temps in the 20's and icy conditions on the road. The majority of us raced SS. Seth and Jeff raced on their green crazy tandem fat bike.
Jimmie had a good race and finished with a good time. I had a front brake rub/screeching issue starting about 45 minutes into the race and forward. I tried to make it go away, but I made it worse. Probably about 1/2 way through the race I passed Chad Aiello from the Racing Greyhounds. He was fighting off puking. I guess he and his friends had a little too much alcohol the night before the race. I was just glad to cross the finish line without throwing my bike into the woods.
Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick had an awesome time finishing 1st in the SS 36 mile race and 4th fastest overall in the women's 36 mile division. I remember hearing her say that she felt great and that she should have raced the 62 miler.
Team finish times:
Nicholas Bayma 2:04:23
Todd Blumerick 2:05:08
Kim Canales 2:05:08
Jimmie Colflesh 1:59:39
Melissa Colflesh 2:23:05
John Conlin 2:09:11
Seth Kleinglass/Jeff Carek 2:32:42
Wesley Watt 2:29:54
Wendy Zamzow 2:05:31
Monday, May 20, 2013
Mud, Sweat and Beers
Jimmie and I raced the MSB the first year it happened. I believe that was 2010.
We had such a fun time. I remember driving up to Traverse City through some torrential down pours thinking maybe this wasn't such a good idea. The next day the weather was awesome. In fact it was much better in Traverse City than it was at home. This year I was hoping for much of the same. We stayed at the same place we stay at when we race iceman. It's nice and close to Mt. Holiday.
We arrived early and picked up our packets and did the usual routine prep stuff we do for races. We did a little warming up and I insisted that Jimmie check out the crazy sand pit you had to go through at the end of the course. He of course thought nothing of it but I thought that it looked like it was going to suck b@lls. I rode it once just to see if there was any sort of good line...there really wasn't.
We lined up. Jimmie was a waves ahead of me. They lumped expert women and SS's together. I talked to Ali Bridson and Nicole Baker as we waited to start our wave. I previously overheard Nicole saying that she was getting married to Rick after the MSB race. I made sure to congratulate her. Just before it was our turn to line up at the start some guy hurried back in the lineup and announced that he just dropped a bunch of weight and was ready to race...TMI dude! After I chuckled about his announcement and checked the tire pressure of the SS wearing a pigs flying jersey rear tire in front of me, our wave was up to start. I looked around at all the Hagerty racers around me. We were off and into some wide trail that lead to a few hills. I dropped my bottle not even 5 minutes into the race. A fellow racer let me know but I thought screw that it's not worth it you never know those seconds may count. I followed Rachel from Hagerty into some single track and eventually the pigs flying jersey SS guy worked his way into our group. Over time Rachel and the pigs flying jersey SS guy pulled away from me. I just continued to concentrate on my race and tried to reel Rachel back in. Before I knew it I was on the paved side streets and porting back into some trail and onto the crazy sandpit area. They made us go through a mud pit at the end. My face is pretty awesome in the pictures.
After finishing and meeting up with Jimmie we talked about the race. He was in 2nd, but missed a turn and ended up in 4th. He was pretty annoyed by that. We over heard quite a few people complaining about missing turns here or there. I fortunately didn't miss any turns. After we cleaned up we headed to the results board and I was completely surprised by my finish. I could have sworn that Rachel was ahead of me. Anyhow I picked up my award and headed to the beer tent for some chocolaty right brain brewery beer.
The weather was awesome during and after the race. The Mud, Sweat and Beers promoters did an excellent job of creating a fun laid back atmosphere that includeed excellent beer and good food. We got to talk to Scott Simpson and his wife Chrissy after the race.
Post race we headed to Subway to eat fresh and then headed to Hanson Hills. It was getting warmer by the hour, but there was still snow atop the ski hill. For some reason the forest seemed eerily quiet. I didn't see or hear any wildlife until we were beside the rode at the outer edge of the course. It was a nice slow ride. Sometimes it's nice to ride to ride and not ride to train...I occasionally miss those days.
We had such a fun time. I remember driving up to Traverse City through some torrential down pours thinking maybe this wasn't such a good idea. The next day the weather was awesome. In fact it was much better in Traverse City than it was at home. This year I was hoping for much of the same. We stayed at the same place we stay at when we race iceman. It's nice and close to Mt. Holiday.
We arrived early and picked up our packets and did the usual routine prep stuff we do for races. We did a little warming up and I insisted that Jimmie check out the crazy sand pit you had to go through at the end of the course. He of course thought nothing of it but I thought that it looked like it was going to suck b@lls. I rode it once just to see if there was any sort of good line...there really wasn't.
We lined up. Jimmie was a waves ahead of me. They lumped expert women and SS's together. I talked to Ali Bridson and Nicole Baker as we waited to start our wave. I previously overheard Nicole saying that she was getting married to Rick after the MSB race. I made sure to congratulate her. Just before it was our turn to line up at the start some guy hurried back in the lineup and announced that he just dropped a bunch of weight and was ready to race...TMI dude! After I chuckled about his announcement and checked the tire pressure of the SS wearing a pigs flying jersey rear tire in front of me, our wave was up to start. I looked around at all the Hagerty racers around me. We were off and into some wide trail that lead to a few hills. I dropped my bottle not even 5 minutes into the race. A fellow racer let me know but I thought screw that it's not worth it you never know those seconds may count. I followed Rachel from Hagerty into some single track and eventually the pigs flying jersey SS guy worked his way into our group. Over time Rachel and the pigs flying jersey SS guy pulled away from me. I just continued to concentrate on my race and tried to reel Rachel back in. Before I knew it I was on the paved side streets and porting back into some trail and onto the crazy sandpit area. They made us go through a mud pit at the end. My face is pretty awesome in the pictures.
After finishing and meeting up with Jimmie we talked about the race. He was in 2nd, but missed a turn and ended up in 4th. He was pretty annoyed by that. We over heard quite a few people complaining about missing turns here or there. I fortunately didn't miss any turns. After we cleaned up we headed to the results board and I was completely surprised by my finish. I could have sworn that Rachel was ahead of me. Anyhow I picked up my award and headed to the beer tent for some chocolaty right brain brewery beer.
The weather was awesome during and after the race. The Mud, Sweat and Beers promoters did an excellent job of creating a fun laid back atmosphere that includeed excellent beer and good food. We got to talk to Scott Simpson and his wife Chrissy after the race.
Post race we headed to Subway to eat fresh and then headed to Hanson Hills. It was getting warmer by the hour, but there was still snow atop the ski hill. For some reason the forest seemed eerily quiet. I didn't see or hear any wildlife until we were beside the rode at the outer edge of the course. It was a nice slow ride. Sometimes it's nice to ride to ride and not ride to train...I occasionally miss those days.
Arcadia Grit and Gravel
I had so much fun at the Island Lake race and talked about it off and on all week that I think Jimmie was itching to race. He was down in Brevard, NC riding on some awesome trails and wasn't able to race at ILRA. We made a last minute decision to make the trip up north to the western side of the state to race on one of our favorite trails in Michigan.
After Jimmie raced the Lumberjack 100 a few years ago we made a short trip from Big M to Arcadia, MI and discovered the awesome single track at the C.S. Mott Nature Preserve along M-22. The trail is fun, fast and flows real well.
The race started at the community center in downtown Arcadia. It was a little cool that morning (but warming up) and there was still a slight chance for rain. After we picked up our packets we got our gear on, lubed the chains and headed out for our warm up. We rode the beginning roads of the race. Based on how things were going to start I figured on a hammer fest at the start.
I lined up near the back of the group next to Kati Krikke. I told her that my monies on her for beating Sue Stephens. We lined up and we were off. All of us in the first group stayed together almost entirely on the roads and the pace was surprisingly slow at first. It was sort of a mutual role out pace. As we approached the entrance to the dirt roads, the surging began. I hung on for as long as I could but unfortunately I had to watch the group ride away. Ah in the back...love it there. Nothing but work to catch up to anyone. I spun along the suck out your momentum sandy roads until I spotted Erin Vicary. I set my sites on her wheel and very slowly reeled her in. I pulled up next to her and it turns out she was waiting for the quickly approaching group of male racers. We latched onto their wheels for some fast pavement riding and again I shot out the back after a short period of time. Maybe I need to road race some more.
I didn't catch up to Erin again until just before the single track and rode behind her for about 1/2 of it. The last couple of races I've done have helped me determine my current weaknesses and one of my them was taking it's toll on me so I decided to just enjoy the trails and have some fun while I lost site of the competition. Eventually I passed Melissa Ryba on the side of the trail letting approaching racers go by. I didn't expect to see her again. She was way ahead on the dirt road sections. Again, maybe I need to do some more road racing.
Once I exited the single track I checked my computer to see how much further I had to go. I rode on some fast two-track and thought about how much it reminded me of the Great Deer Chase in Calumet, MI. There was a whole bunch of two-track in that race. I came to a hard left that sucked all my speed away and I had to work back up to a good pace for the remainder of the race. I pulled a couple of guys along the last stretch of road until they sling-shot around me and sprinted for the finish.
I was happy with the race all in all. Jimmie finished 8th and I finished 5th; Jimmie was closer to the first place time in his class than I was. Unfortunately Kati didn't beat Sue, but it's early in the season yet.
After Jimmie raced the Lumberjack 100 a few years ago we made a short trip from Big M to Arcadia, MI and discovered the awesome single track at the C.S. Mott Nature Preserve along M-22. The trail is fun, fast and flows real well.
The race started at the community center in downtown Arcadia. It was a little cool that morning (but warming up) and there was still a slight chance for rain. After we picked up our packets we got our gear on, lubed the chains and headed out for our warm up. We rode the beginning roads of the race. Based on how things were going to start I figured on a hammer fest at the start.
I lined up near the back of the group next to Kati Krikke. I told her that my monies on her for beating Sue Stephens. We lined up and we were off. All of us in the first group stayed together almost entirely on the roads and the pace was surprisingly slow at first. It was sort of a mutual role out pace. As we approached the entrance to the dirt roads, the surging began. I hung on for as long as I could but unfortunately I had to watch the group ride away. Ah in the back...love it there. Nothing but work to catch up to anyone. I spun along the suck out your momentum sandy roads until I spotted Erin Vicary. I set my sites on her wheel and very slowly reeled her in. I pulled up next to her and it turns out she was waiting for the quickly approaching group of male racers. We latched onto their wheels for some fast pavement riding and again I shot out the back after a short period of time. Maybe I need to road race some more.
I didn't catch up to Erin again until just before the single track and rode behind her for about 1/2 of it. The last couple of races I've done have helped me determine my current weaknesses and one of my them was taking it's toll on me so I decided to just enjoy the trails and have some fun while I lost site of the competition. Eventually I passed Melissa Ryba on the side of the trail letting approaching racers go by. I didn't expect to see her again. She was way ahead on the dirt road sections. Again, maybe I need to do some more road racing.
Once I exited the single track I checked my computer to see how much further I had to go. I rode on some fast two-track and thought about how much it reminded me of the Great Deer Chase in Calumet, MI. There was a whole bunch of two-track in that race. I came to a hard left that sucked all my speed away and I had to work back up to a good pace for the remainder of the race. I pulled a couple of guys along the last stretch of road until they sling-shot around me and sprinted for the finish.
I was happy with the race all in all. Jimmie finished 8th and I finished 5th; Jimmie was closer to the first place time in his class than I was. Unfortunately Kati didn't beat Sue, but it's early in the season yet.
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